(reposting here ;D)

Chapter 12: Don’t Run Our Hearts Around

Rachel had a hard time getting up the Далее morning. She had somehow ended up back at home, and had landed on the постель, кровати and closed her eyes, trying to clear her head. And in the morning she woke up to her phone ringing, but she didn’t answer. Whoever it was, it would have to wait.
She sat on the постель, кровати and thought about Richard. He meant so much to her. еще than she’d be able to admit to herself, или to anyone else. In the short while she’d known him, he’d become her strength in that town. And now…. maybe he did like her back. He had asked her out on a date. He’d made her a pizza. He’d kissed her.
Rachel groaned, sitting up on the bed. She looked at the clock. It was already nine in the morning and she was late. She took a quick shower, put on some clothes and headed for the Sheriff’s station.

“Where the hell have Ты been?” Aline snapped as soon as she arrived.
“What?” Rachel groaned.
“Tyler is missing from the hospital”, Aline said, following Rachel all the way to the cells, where Nic was. He pretended to be asleep. He’d found that was the best way to listen in on a conversation.
“What?!” Rachel gasped. “Why didn’t Ты call me?”
“I did. Twice”, Aline said. “Is everything okay?”
“Well, no, but we need to figure this out first-”
“Holly is looking for him”, Aline сказал(-а) impatiently. “With Maria. Now, tell me. What happened last night?”
Rachel took one glance at Nic, who still appeared to be asleep, and then sat down in her chair. “He… uh.. Richard and I, we went on the date. It was amazing. He’d gone through so much trouble for me, I can’t even imagine how much work…”, she sighed. “I messed up.”
“What?” Aline asked, sitting on the chair Далее to hers. “What did Ты do?”
Rachel snorted. “Thank Ты for instantly believing it was all my fault.”
“Well, Rach, you’re my friend, but I think the one who’s been hesitant in this relationship is you.”
“I know. And I don’t even know why. He’s… amazing”, Rachel whispered, staring at the floor. “He kissed me.”
Aline smiled a little. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. And I kissed him back. And it was great… but then…”, Rachel sighed. “I left. I ran away. I was being a coward.”
Aline sighed. “You two will figure it out, I know Ты will.”
Rachel сказал(-а) nothing, just kept on staring at the floor. “Can Ты go and start up the car and we’ll go look for Tyler?”
“Sure”, Aline said, heading outside.
Rachel turned her eyes to Nic. He had his eyes open. “I suppose Ты heard everything.”
“Pretty much”, Nic shrugged. “He’s a good guy. Ты could do worse.”
“And Ты don’t think I know that?” Rachel snorted. They were both silent for a while, until Rachel remembered the reasons she wanted to have a talk with him. “Nic, do Ты know anyone named Robb?”
Nic raised his gaze back to her and cleared his throat, trying to form his words in a very careful way. He needed to make her remember. Someone had to remember. “Why?”
“I don’t know. I just… it’s just a name that sounds really familiar. Ever since last night, I’ve been thinking about it.”
“I do know a Robb. And so do you”, Nic said, standing up rather quickly. He stood right in front of the bars, staring at her. “Think. Think long and hard.”
“What?” Rachel chuckled a little.
Nic groaned, trying to remember what he knew and what he’d read in the storybook. “Think… think about winter.”
Rachel smiled at him in the way that сказал(-а) I-think-you’re-insane. “Yeah, it’s getting cold, winter is coming. So?”
Nic groaned еще loudly this time, his frustration peeling through. “Think about princes! Wolves! The forest! Marriage!”
Rachel stood up from the chair, heading for the door. “Nic, no offence, but you’re going insane.”
“Think about love! Who do Ты love?!” Nic shouted, making Rachel stop at the doorway. And for a single second, she remembered. And then it was gone.
Nic held his breath as Rachel turned around to look at him. “I don’t Любовь anyone. And I have no idea who Robb is”, with that she walked out, slamming the door closed.
“She remembered”, Nic whispered to himself. “For a секунда she remembered”, he grabbed the storybook from the floor and began flipping through it. “Is that how Ты make them remember? Is it?”
No one answered.

Maria and падуб, holly, холли were walking through the town, looking for Tyler, so far with no results. падуб, holly, холли was worried sick. Not only was the Любовь of her life missing, but he might also be hurting people against his own will. Then she paused for a moment. When did she start caring about what people thought again?
“Are Ты okay?” Maria asked afer a moment of silence. “I know this must be painful for you.”
падуб, holly, холли groaned. Yes, Maria was now up to дата with everything. Nic had told her everything, but she still didn’t remember. But that was because Nic hadn’t told her her own story yet. He thought she wouldn’t be ready. And maybe she wasn’t. But падуб, holly, холли knew that by telling her the truth about Maria herself, she would remember. And that was what they needed. Not belief. Facts.
“Please don’t pretend like Ты understand”, падуб, holly, холли said. “You don’t remember.”
“Well, that’s because no one’s told me about who I am”, Maria сказал(-а) after a moment of silence.
падуб, holly, холли сказал(-а) nothing.
“Do Ты really have magic powers?”
“Not right now”, падуб, holly, холли said. “Otherwise we would not be haivng this conversation.”
“Yeah, I figured you’d say something like that”, Maria chuckled softly. “So… Celine is Sleeping Beauty?”
“Yes.”
“Rana is the princess from the cartoon Aladdin?”
“I think she existed before the cartoon”, падуб, holly, холли chuckled dryly. “But yes.”
“And Rachel is Robin Hood?”
“More или less”, падуб, holly, холли said, remembering what had happened between the two of them, her father, the Evil Queen, and Derek such a long time ago. “But it’s not all black and white.”
Maria just seemed еще and еще eager to learn, which annoyed Holly. She had nothing against the girl, but they were there to find Derek. Nothing else.
“There’s no sign of him. It could be that the other волк is keeping him somewhere”, падуб, holly, холли sighed.
“We’ll find him. But to do that, we need to free Nic”, Maria said.
“And how do we do that?”
“I don’t know… Ты really can’t use your powers?”
падуб, holly, холли sighed. “Well, I don’t think so, at least. There’s no magic here.”
“That would have helped.”
They walked in silence for a while again, until Maria spoke. “Who else knows?”
“Fatemeh. But I don’t think she wants to help.”
Maria sighed. “Is there any way to make people remember? Shouldn’t Ты know?”
“There is no one specific way”, падуб, holly, холли сказал(-а) impatiently. “It happens или it doesn’t.”
“That’s stupid”, Maria said.
падуб, holly, холли couldn’t help but to agree. But then she suddenly remembered something.
“Come on.”
“What?” Maria asked, but followed падуб, holly, холли anyway as she rushed towards the direction of the library.
Nadia looked up from her Книги as the two girls rushed in. “Can I help you?”
“Distract her while I go down”, падуб, holly, холли whispered in Maria’s ear before disappearing behind the bookshelves.
“Hey, Nadia”, Maria walked over to the girl. “Keeping busy?”
“Well, there aren’t many customers around”, Nadia said, eyeing her in confusion. “Are Ты looking for something in particular?”
“Hmm, yes. The Beauty and the Beast”, Maria smiled a little as she walked over to the counter. падуб, holly, холли and Nic had told her all about Nadia, and she personally found her story very fascinating.
“Which version?” Nadia asked.
“I’ll take any. I’m a sucker for a good Любовь story. Don’t Ты agree?” Maria smiled.
“I don’t know if Ты can consider the Beauty and the Beast a traditional Любовь story”, Nadia сказал(-а) as she stood up, heading towards the shelves the look for the book.
“Why would Ты say that?”
“Well, think about it. He captures her. He holds her prisoner.”
“But he is eventually willing to let her go. And she doesn’t want to go, because she loves him for who he is”, Maria said.
“Or who she thinks he is”, Nadia сказал(-а) as she took the book. “He does turn back into a prince at the end.”
Maria chuckled. “Wow, this is very ironic.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”

падуб, holly, холли had used the entryway to go down to the hidden storage room under the library. She remembered Irene hinting at secret weapons she’d hidden somewhere. She looked around the dark for a while until she came across a crossbow. She lifted it up. She could smell the poison on the arrows from miles away. But what she didn’t remember was if this particular poison was deadly, или if it just put Ты asleep. But she knew who would know. She hid the crossbow under her куртка and got out rather quickly.
She appeared from behind the shelves to find Nadia and Maria caught up in a conversation.
“I didn’t find it”, падуб, holly, холли said.
“Oh, okay”, Maria said, taking the Beauty and the Beast in her hand and following Holly.
“Wait, what were Ты looking for?” Nadia shouted after them.
“Nothing special. Stay inside, there’s a волк outside”, with that падуб, holly, холли and Maria were gone.

Aline сказал(-а) nothing as Rachel sat quietly in the passanger’s seat. She was still deep in her thoughts.
“Okay, I have to ask”, she finally spoke. “What are Ты going to do about this situation?”
“We’ll have to figure that out when we find him”, Rachel muttered.
“I am not talking about Tyler and Ты know that”, Aline snapped. “Stop playing dumb, it doesn’t suit you.”
They stayed silent for a while, and just when Aline thought she might have gone too far, Rachel spoke: “I have never let anyone in the way I let him. I’ve never trusted anyone the way I trusted him. The way I still do.”
“Then what the hell is the problem?” Aline sighed.
“What if he suddenly decides he doesn’t want me anymore?” Rachel snapped. “And don’t Ты dare tell me that is not going to happen, because Ты and I are both too old to believe in fairytales.”
Aline was just about to say something when her phone rang. She answered. “What is it? Oh, you’re kidding…”
“What?” Rachel asked as soon as Aline hung up, turning the car around.
“There’s been another волк attack.”



падуб, holly, холли and Maria knocked on Fatemeh’s door, and when she answered, she couldn’t look еще surprised.
“What’s going on?”
“Let’s get inside”, падуб, holly, холли pushed past her friend, and Maria followed.
“Why is she here? What’s happening?” Fatemeh snapped
“We need your help”, падуб, holly, холли said.
Fatemeh raised her eyebrows. “Not before Ты tell me what the hell is going on.”
And so they did. It took the better part of an час to get Fatemeh on track with everything that had been happening, and most of that actually went to telling her that the Evil Queen had taken some memories away from Fatemeh as well.
“No. We had a deal.”
“She broke it. It’s not a very big surprise”, падуб, holly, холли said. “She wanted us to forget the people we loved, so we would have no reason to fight against her. Because we’d have nothing worth fighting for.”
Fatemeh sighed. “Do Ты know who she took away from me?”
“I do.”
Fatemeh thought long and hard. “I think I know who it is.”
“How?” Maria asked.
“Even without your memories, Ты people are still drawn to the people Ты loved the most. Look at Celine and Paul, Rachel and Richard, Aline and Colin. It’s Sam, isn’t it?” Fatemeh closed her eyes, trying to remember. She kept seeing flashes of him. Of them together. But they disappeared just as quick as they arrived. No matter how desperately she wanted to remember.
“Yes. His name is Finnick”, падуб, holly, холли said, wrapping an arm around her friend. “Do Ты remember?”
Fatemeh bit her lip, trying to choke back the tears. “No.”
“You will”, падуб, holly, холли promised. “I promise Ты will. We’ll find a way to make Ты remember, make everyone remember.”
“We can’t do that without killing the Queen”, Fatemeh сказал(-а) roughly. “We have to kill her.”
“Not yet. We don’t know how the curse is linked to her”, падуб, holly, холли said. “We don’t know if our memories will die with her permanently.”
“Or if the curse will break with her death”, Fatemeh argued.
“It’s not worth the risk.”
They stayed in silence for a while until Fatemeh cleared her throat. “What do Ты need my help with?”
“Do Ты know what poison this is?” падуб, holly, холли took the crossbow and handed it to Fatemeh. She took a sniff at the arrows and raised her eyebrows. “Well, it’s been a while, but I would definitely say that this is deadly to humans.”
“What about werewolves?”
“No way. It’ll taze them, I think. For an час или two. Maybe not even that. It might weaken them, but it’ll never kill them”, Fatemeh said. “Not even if Ты shot one with ten of them.”
падуб, holly, холли nodded. “No one gets to kill him.”
“We know”, Maria said. “What about the other one?”
“That one we can kill.”
“Should we give a few of these to Rachel?” Maria asked. “From what I hear, she’s a pretty good shooter.”
“Yeah”, падуб, holly, холли nodded. “We should get back to the station anyway”, she turned to look at Fatemeh. “Are Ты with us?”
Fatemeh took a glance at both of them before nodding slowly. “Yeah.”
“Good”, падуб, holly, холли smirked in satisfaction, as did Maria. “Let’s go!”

Rachel saw Richard’s car in the parking lot of the hospital and shook her head. “I’ll go back to the station. Colin will give Ты a ride back.”
“You’ll have to talk to him eventually”, Aline said.
“I know. But first I gotta figure out what to say to him”, Rachel smiled softly. “Go on.”
“Okay, if Ты insist”, Aline сказал(-а) as she got out of the car. She got inside the hospital quickly and headed for the room Colin had mentioned on the phone.
The person who had been attacked had been a man in his fourties. He had a huge wound in his stomach, and claw marks all over his body.
“He’s going to die”, Colin whispered as soon as Aline got inside. “They took him to surgery but they couldn’t do much. He’s in a coma, but…”
Aline sighed. “And we’re sure this was the wolf?”
Colin nodded. “Are Ты okay? Ты shouldn’t be wandering around alone.”
“It’s fine, Rachel drove me here”, Aline said.
“Why didn’t she come?” Richard suddenly spoke up. He was standing a few feet away from them.
“There was something going on at the station”, Aline said. “But she… she wants to talk to you.”
Richard smiled a little, either in disbelief, или in hope. “She сказал(-а) that?”
“More или less.”
Richard сказал(-а) nothing, just turned back to look at the man in the coma. He looked so distressed. He certainly hadn’t picked the best time to become mayor.
Colin suddenly pulled Aline out of the room and into the hallway. “Do Ты think we should call for some extra help?”
“What do Ты mean?”
“I mean, should we call for someone outside this bloody town to come and help us?” Colin asked. “We can’t just let the волк run around, doing whatever it likes.”
“I know”, Aline said. “We’ll figure something out.”
Colin smiled a little.
“What?”
“You look nice today.”
“Oh, bite me. People are dying”, Aline chuckled.
“Yes, exactly. It’s very rude of Ты to steal the Показать with your beauty”, Colin smirked.
Aline rolled her eyes. “You always have something to say, don’t you?”
“That’s what Ты Любовь about me.”
Aline сказал(-а) nothing, just smiled a little. Just then Richard walked out of the room and walked towards the pair.
“This can’t go on. So here’s what we’re going to do”, he сказал(-а) as he took out his phone. “Tonight we’re going to gather up the entire town to the Town Hall. We’ll put guards at the doors, we’ll make sure everyone’s inside. And then we go hunt down the wolf.”
“I agree with the locking everyone up in one place”, Aline said. “But we didn’t catch the волк the first time. What makes Ты think we will this time?”
“Nothing. But I refuse to just sit down and watch people die”, Richard сказал(-а) seriously. Without saying anything else, he walked away, probably to call Sam and let him know about the plan.

“Cinderella! Come here this instant!”
Ella winced as she got up. She had spent all день cleaning the rooms and she felt really sore. Sighing, she realized she was anywhere near finished. Belle was dusting the библиотека this time so thankfully that was something less to do. How could their father have left them with their awful step-mother? She didn’t know but ever since he had died, Ella longed for the день she and her sister would be free from her grasp and finally be happy.
“I’m here mother.” Ella сказал(-а) while entering the dining room. She hated calling her that, but her step-mother had been very clear on that matter and Ella knew what it cost to not comply.
“Have Ты finished cleaning all the rooms? I need Ты to go feed the horses.” Lady Tremaine сказал(-а) while taking a sip of wine. At this moment, Ella noticed Belle standing on the other side of the room, a worried look in her eyes.
“Not yet. I- I was going to feed them after I eat something…”
“I want this done by noon. Ты can skip the lunch.” At that, her step-sisters sniggered and Ella saw Belle roll her eyes.
“What shall I do?” Belle asked, hoping to relieve some of the work off her sister. For some reason, their step-mother enjoyed a lot еще torturing Ella than her.
“Nothing.” The step-mother сказал(-а) with a wicked smile. “Your sister has to learn how to do all these tasks by herself, Ты won’t be able to help her after Ты are gone.”
“Gone?” screamed Ella and Belle at the same time. “What do Ты mean?” Belle сказал(-а) suspiciously.
“Our kingdom is not doing so good, your father left me with so many troubles on my hands.” Lady Tremaine сказал(-а) dramatically. The sisters stiffened. Ever since their father’s death, their step-mother had not shown any respect for the deceased, especially when it came to take care of his two daughters.
“So I struck a deal with the Beast. I agreed on sending one of Ты to him and in exchange he agrees on forgetting all of the debts I owe him. Isn’t that wonderful?” The step-mother continued. “Of course I couldn’t let my beloved Золушка go.” Now she was smiling wickedly again.
“You can’t make me go.”
“We shall see.” The step-mother rose up from her seat, menacingly, and the sisters had no other choice than to look at each other fearfully.

At the Town Hall, Rachel was pacing. They still had half an час before the beginning of the lockdown and the meeting room was already packed with people. Most of them had brought sleeping bags, Книги and board games to entertain themselves, still almost all of them were talking quietly. Even the kids were quietly grouped around Amber and Albie - both having agreed on watching them during the lockdown.
Near the stage, the ones that volunteered for the Поиск party were quietly planning their Далее move. Rachel hesitated to Присоединиться them. Richard was there, listening to Aline who was dividing them into groups. They had not spoken since the Kiss and she didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t act like nothing had happen, because something did happen, something big… but she couldn’t deal with it right now either, not when a killing волк was wandering around. Besides, she had to figure out what to say to him first.
“… Pedro, Ты go with Paul and Ian, and падуб, holly, холли Ты go with-”
“Me and Rachel” Richard finished, turning his head to lock eyes with her, while she froze on the spot, not sure of what to do.
“Yeah…” Aline сказал(-а) while looking at Rachel herself, shrugging her shoulders as if to say sorry. “Okay guys so be there at the entrance in twenty minutes.”
падуб, holly, холли was nervous. The bow was safely in her bag but she dreaded the moment when she would have to use it. What if she misses him? She couldn’t possibly ask Rachel to shoot without raising suspicions. What if it kills him? Fatemeh сказал(-а) it wouldn’t but she was hardly a werewolf specialist. How she missed her powers. If she had them, she could do something еще useful but a tiny part of her was relieved. Even though Irene taught her to control them, she never had used them for good and she wasn’t sure if she could.
“Holly.”
“Oh Эй, Maria. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. I just wanted to know if Ты saw Nic around.”
“Not since Rachel brought him. Why?”
“I just don’t see him anywhere and I just have a weird feeling about this.”
“I’m sure he’s fine. He knows what he’s doing.”
Maria nodded and turned back to her spot.
“Wait! I wanted to ask you… How come Ты believe what Nic says? I mean it’s the truth but why aren’t Ты thinking that we are nuts? Anyone else would.”
“Because he’s my best friend. Why would he come up with a story like that?”
“Could be insane.”
“He’s not. And besides… True Love, happy endings, who doesn’t want to believe in that? Ты know a long time ago, Nic сказал(-а) something to me… He said: ‘Belief must come from within, and if Ты do, the impossible is possible.’ At that time, I thought he was just being weird but now…” Maria trailed off and found herself looking at Darren “I just believe that’s all. I just have a feeling about this too.”
“Feelings are good. Feelings is what will make Ты all remember.” and with that, падуб, holly, холли headed towards the entrance.

Rachel had tried to avoid Richard as long as she could, but now that they were both waiting at the entrance, it was ridiculous.
“Hey.”
“Oh do I exist now?” Richard сказал(-а) while turning around towards Rachel. He wanted to be angry at her but he couldn’t, he was еще angry at himself for screwing things up.
“I guess I deserve that. Look, I shouldn’t have avoided you, I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too. For how I just spoke to you.” Richard сказал(-а) with a sad smile.
Rachel nodded “Hum… Can we go back to be normal around each other? I mean at least while a волк is on the loose…”
“Yeah, it’s not the best timing. But we’ll have to talk about the Kiss at some point.”
“We will. After the Поиск party. I promise.”
“Hum… Am I interrupting something?” падуб, holly, холли сказал(-а) while joining them.
“No. We’re ready.” Richard said, still looking at Rachel.

“LET ME OUT!” Belle shouted for what seemed the millionth time. “Please…”
She stopped pounding on the door and let herself fall on the floor and cry for a while. She couldn’t understand what went wrong. She had arrived at his замок a few weeks назад and that man - the one everyone called Beast for some reason - had been nothing but kind and charming to her. She had even started liking it here еще than back home. Of course she missed Ella very much but the prince’s welcome made her hope that he could strike another deal to get her sister as well. And there was the library. Oh, the library. She had never seen one so magnificent and she would have stayed in that room forever if allowed, which he usually did.
Now everything was different. All hope was lost. He had changed, she had seen it in his eyes. She didn’t know what had happened, but he became angrier, darker somehow. At first he was just moody - he started shouting at her for no reason. Back then, she was able to manage but now he was keeping her in this cell. The worst part is that she had come to like him, but how could she now that she was his prisoner? Since he had put her there, he had been nothing but cruel to her. He didn’t torture her или anything but he played his games - mind games they were and now she was starting to see the Beast inside.
Belle didn’t know how long she had been in the cell, thinking about all that happened, when she heard a loud bang, as if a door was shut forcefully. Trying to focus on the sounds coming from outside, she tried to calm her breath. She heard light footsteps coming closer to the door before stopping right in front of it. Her breath became еще erratic and for a while that’s all she could hear.
“I’m so sorry…”
Belle held her breath. She couldn’t have heard right.
“You have to go.”
She then heard a key being put in the keyhole and then being turned. секунды later, the door was wide open and the prince was standing on the other side, shouting at her.
“GO! Just go, for your sake!” But she couldn’t move. “Leave. Quick, before it comes back.”
He didn’t make sense, but she had to get out of there. Getting up, she felt as if her legs were going to give up under her weight and yet somehow she manage to get passed him - she could swear she had seen sadness in his eyes - and run as fast as she could through the castle. She turned her head a few times to make sure he wasn’t following her and when she arrived at the gate, she felt relieved. Suddenly, a black smoke appeared in front of her and the prince materialized, a wicked smile plastered on his face.
“What? Is this Dark Magic? What-”
“Leaving already? I don’t think so.” He сказал(-а) while grabbing her by the arm “You’re mine and you’ll always be.”
Belle couldn’t believe how foolish she had been, of course it has been one of his games.



“So how far this волк is supposed to be?” падуб, holly, холли asked to try to break the silence that had lasted for at least twenty минуты now.
“Well if we knew where it was, we didn’t have to look for it” Rachel сказал(-а) a bit harshly. But she didn’t mean to, she was just anxious. What if someone got killed tonight?
“At least we know it might be in this area.” Richard сказал(-а) while pointing at a few trees in front of them.
“Great. Still half of the forest to go.” падуб, holly, холли muttered but neither Rachel или Richard listened.
Half an час later, they still hadn’t found anything.
“Do Ты think the others are еще lucky than us?” Rachel asked Richard.
“I hope so.” Richard сказал(-а) but when a loud gunshot was heard, they stopped dead in their tracks and turned around towards where the sound came from.
“Where’s Holly?” Rachel asked, noticing that she was gone.
“She wouldn’t go find the волк by herself, would she?”
“Let’s go” and they ran towards where the gun was fired.
When they got there, they found Pedro, Paul and Ian Оружие out, aiming at some trees.
“What happened?” Rachel asked as she was reaching them.
“There was a волк so I shot” Ian explained.
“But then we saw another…” Pedro added.
“Wait what? There’s two wolves?” Rachel said, looking around “Where are they?”
“They were going to attack, so we fired to scare them off.”
At this moment, Fatemeh, Sam, Aline and Colin reached them as well.
“What the hell is happening?” Aline сказал(-а) while putting away her gun.
“We hear shots and saw two wolves.” Colin said, putting his own gun away as well.
“You saw them too then?” Pedro asked.
“We have to go back to the Town Hall. It’s not безопасно, сейф anymore, who knows how many Волки are out there.” Richard said, starting to pull Rachel with him.
“Yeah, let’s go back.”
“Wait. Where’s Holly? I saw her going after the Волки with a crossbow.” Fatemeh interrupted.
“Perhaps, she went back to the Town Hall.” Sam said, trying to reassure Fatemeh
“We’ll go back to the Town Hall and we call her. If we don’t hear from her, we’ll come back.” Richard decided and everyone nodded, heading back to the Town Hall, a feel of defeat hanging in the air.

“Hey.”
James looked up from his book and found Amber standing right in front of him.
“Hey.”
“What are Ты reading?”
“Through the Looking Glass. One of the kids lent it to me.”
Amber sat down on his sleeping bag, Далее to him.
“That’s nice. Though I thought Ты would be out with the others searching for the волк and not here Чтение children’s stories.” she added with a small smile.
“And get myself killed? I don’t think so.”
“Yeah, but Ты live in the woods. I- I’m worried about you.”
“Don’t worry about me. If it comes down to it, I’ll be alright.” James сказал(-а) with a little smirk.
Amber nodded. “So glasses huh?” Gesturing towards James’s face.
“Hum. Yeah…” James сказал(-а) a bit embarrassed while taking them off. “Can’t do much Чтение with them.”
“Didn’t really picture Ты with glasses, but Ты look cute.”
“Not what I was going for but I’ll take it.” James smiled widely and Amber smiled back.

“Are Ты okay?” Richard сказал(-а) while sitting down Далее to Rachel on the Town Hall stairs.
“Yeah…” Rachel sighed tiredly “You?”
“I don’t know. Two wolves? I’m not sure I’m cut for this.” Richard сказал(-а) while looking down, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders.
“Hey. You’re a great Mayor.”
“Am I? Because I don’t feel like I’ve done anything except throwing a ball.”
“The ball was a success.” Rachel pointed out, smiling a bit. “You’ll get us through this.”
“You think so?”
“Yes. I believe in you.”
Seeing that Richard was still worrying about this, she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him gently “Trust me.”
When Richard opened his eyes, he tried to find doubt in Rachel’s eyes but found none.
“What does this means for us?” He finally asked.
“It means I’m sorry for running away after we kissed, and sorry for freaking out so much. But I have to warn you, I’m not good at this, at… relationships. I just want to take this slow.”
“Slow is good for me.” Richard said, smiling widely. “Does that mean I get to Kiss you?” He сказал(-а) jokingly.
“You don’t really have to ask, Ты kno-”
But Rachel couldn’t finish her sentence as Richard was already Поцелуи her again.

Aline was sitting in the city hall, her back against the Стена when Colin sat Далее to her.
“Two wolves. That is not good.”
“No shit.”
Colin snorted. “Are Ты okay? или is that a stupid question?”
“It’s not a stupid question”, Aline smiled softly. “I am very thankful that Ты care, I hope Ты know that.”
“I do”, Colin said. “But I also know you’ve got this Стена put up. Ты want to cast me aside because you’re scared I’m going to hurt you-”
“Oh, please don’t”, Aline sighed. “Don’t try to analyze me. I am not afraid of getting hurt, I’m just…. pretty used to being alone.”
Colin smiled sadly. “Why?”
“I don’t know”, Aline said. “It’s just the way I’ve always remembered my life. And I’ve been fine alone, I have, but…”
“It’s not the same as having someone who loves you.”
Aline turned to look at Colin with a smile. “No. Ты speak from experience, don’t you? Did Ты have someone?”
“How about we talk about this some time when we’re actually alone and not surrounded by our 500 closest Друзья and family?” Colin cracked a joke, but Aline knew that inside he did have some baggage he had not shared with her.
“Sure”, she whispered. “That sounds good.”
“Good”, Colin said, and without hesitation he wrapped an arm around her. “Is this okay?”
“It’s quite alright”, Aline said. It did feel nice to have someone, she had to admit. Especially if that someone was Colin.

Belle was in her cell when it one день opened to the prince gazing at her with no hostility in his eyes. She sat up, anxious to find out what he would do. He had never looked at her like this before. или had he? Before this nightmare had begun? Perhaps back then. But she hadn’t seen this look in anyone’s eyes for such a long time. It was kindness, she realized.
“Are Ты alright?” he asked weakly. He stood by the door, doing something to the lock in it.
“I…”, Belle didn’t know what to say. “What… what’s happening?”
“I’m changing the lock”, the man explained softly. “That way, when it comes back, it’ll be harder for it to come in here and torment you.”
“I don’t understand”, Belle said.
“If Ты try to leave, it’ll just come back. I don’t know why, but it does. But if Ты don’t leave, if I just try to keep Ты безопасно, сейф inside this place, maybe that’ll work”, the prince said. “There”, he handed her the key. “This is the only key to this door. Ты keep it here. Maybe this will protect Ты for a while.”
“I just don’t understand”, Belle insisted. “Is there something wrong with you? Because sometimes you-”
“The thing I speak of, it’s in me”, the prince said. “I can’t explain it, I don’t have time, but please, please just try to be safe.”
Belle saw the desperation in his eyes, so she nodded. “Alright.”
“If Ты hear или see something that scares you, run. Don’t tell me where, just run. Ты have the key. Only Ты can let yourself out of here. And remember”, the prince seemed like he didn’t want to say this, but he forced it out anyway, for her protection: “don’t come near me. It’s for your own good.” With that he left the cell, closing the door after him.

Rana was sitting around in the city hall, sitting on her sleeping bag when Theo walked over to her and sat Далее to her. “Hello.”
Rana blushed a little. “Hi.”
“So, are we going to talk about what happened between us?” Theo smiled softly.
“We could. But what is there to say?” Rana shrugged.
“That I really like Ты and I’d like to do it again?” Theo offered.
Rana chuckled. “You don’t really even know me. Aren’t guys supposed to be into one-night stands?”
“Maybe, but not me”, Theo said. “We don’t have to get all serious. Let me just take Ты out again.”
Rana hesistated for a moment before smiling. “That might not be so bad.”
“Yeah? Okay”, Theo smirked. “Just so Ты know, Ты are excellent company.”
“The fact that you’ve seen me naked makes that Комментарий worthless”, Rana сказал(-а) lightly, which made both of them laugh.

Celine and Paul were sitting in the corner, drinking the суп she had brought along from the cafe. “Are Ты scared?” he asked.
“Not as scared as I probably should be”, Celine said. “But that’s just because I’m with you.”
Paul smirked. “We saw the волк and did nothing. I don’t think I’m very capable of protecting you.”
“Oh, stop”, Celine kissed his cheek softly. “You are every bit capable of taking care of yourself, and me, if needs be.”
“Well, I am quite willing to let a волк eat me just to save you”, Paul said.
“See? Very heroic”, Celine giggled as she pulled him in for a kiss.
“Oh, god, stop!” Ian groaned. He had been sitting a few feet away from them, but as soon as he saw them kiss, he stood up, the суп in his hand, and…. crashed into Atie, resulting in all the суп ending up on her blouse.
“Oh, my God!” Ian shouted. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I-”
“You can’t catch a break with me, can you?” Atie asked in amusement. “Well, I’m grateful it wasn’t hot.”
At that point Ian smirked. “Something here is hot, though. или should I say someone?”
“Are Ты seriously hitting on me right now?” Atie sighed. “Ian, I like you. Believe me, I do. But Ты have got to stop being an idiot sometimes.”
“I am not an…”, Ian froze as he saw the суп on Atie’s рубашка and sighed. “Alright. I am an idiot sometimes.”
Atie smiled. “Wow.”
“What?”
“When you’re not trying to hit on me, you’re actually kind of hot”, she said.
Ian smirked. “Really?”
“Yeah. Okay, but Ты owe me a shirt, Ты do know that, right?”
“I do”, Ian nodded. “I would get Ты one right now, but since we are in lockdown…”
“How about some of that soup?” Atie smiled.
Ian smiled back. “I’ll be right back.”

Albie and Logan had joined Amber and James on the floor, and they were now drinking a bit of hot Шоколад and discussing literature. James had never really been in any sort of group. He never really had a lot of friends. Not that he remembered, anyway. But being here, especially with Amber, it felt right.
“What if they never catch the wolf?” Albie asked.
“Maybe we’ll have to stay here forever”, Logan joked. Albie smiled at this.
“Oh, would that be so bad?” Amber smiled, turning to look at James, who met her gaze. “We have a lot of nice people here, and a lot of good food, some games.”
“And that’s all we need, then?” James asked with a smile.
“That’s all we need”, Amber agreed.
Albie and Logan exchanged a look. They were hitting it off quite well. “Want to go get some soup?”
“Oh, yeah”, Logan said, helping Albie up. It was their excuse to both leave Amber and James alone and to spend some time alone themselves.



Nadia was Чтение a book when she felt someone sit Далее to her. She turned around in surprise to find that it was Stiles.
“Oh, hey”, she smiled. “Enjoying the lockdown?”
“It could be worse”, Stiles agreed. “What are Ты reading?”
Nadia smiled a bit. “The beauty and the beast.”
“Oh, really?” Stiles smiled. “It’s a good story.”
“You know it?”
“Of course. I think there’s something tragic about it, but it’s still a beautiful Любовь story.”
“I don’t see how everyone thinks of it as a Любовь story”, Nadia pointed out. “He locked her up.”
“But he fell in Любовь with her. And he let her go”, Stiles said. “He loved her enough to let her go.”
Nadia smiled, tearing her eyes away from the man. “I guess that’s one way to look at it.”
“It’s the only way to look at it”, Stiles smiled, and for a moment there was this tension between them that neither of them could explain, but they both enjoyed it.



Inés was heading towards the room where everyone was staying in when she heard footsteps from behind her. As she turned around, she saw Joseph walking towards her.
“Where have Ты been? Lockdown started hours ago.”
“Sorry, I was looking around”, Joseph said, but Inés could tell he was lying.
“Are Ты alright?”
“I’m fine”, he gave her a smile that was clearly a fake one. “But, I actually have something I want to talk to Ты about. или more, Показать you.”
“Now?”
“No, not now. Tomorrow.”
“But tomorrow is lockdown, too”, Inés reminded him.
“It’s a big city hall”, Joseph smiled. “Will Ты come tomorrow?”
“Alright, alright”, Inés was еще than confused as she watched Joseph walk off. What was up with him?

Maria sat in the hall when Darren suddenly walked up to her. “How’s your friend?”
“I haven’t heard from him”, Maria sighed. “I was under the impression Aline was bringing him here, but…”
“Maybe he already left”, Darren сказал(-а) as he sat down.
“What?”
Darren froze. “He didn’t tell you? I ran into him on the street. I figured that maybe Rachel let him out или something. He сказал(-а) to give Ты this”, he handed her the letter, and she froze.
“What is it?”
Darren sighed. How he wanted to tell her everything. About why Nic was gone, about what was going to happen, about who the волк really was, and about how much he loved her. But he couldn’t. He could only be there for her for this. “Just read it.”
And Maria did. She sighed, closing her eyes in exhaustion as soon as she was done. “He shouldn’t have run. Especially not now with the волк out there.”
“He had to.”
“Why?”
“It’s hard to explain”, Darren said. “But, I swear, he’s alright.”
“How do Ты know that?” Maria snapped. She stood up, looking at Darren in suspicion. “How?”
Darren stood up with her. “Maria, it’s too soon. I will tell Ты everything once Ты remember.”
Maria froze. Did he mean…? “What?”
Darren cursed himself for saying too much. “Nothing. Nothing. He told me not to say.”
“No, Darren, wait-”, but he had already walked out of the room. Maria stood there, shocked. He remembered. He was one of the people who remembered, and somehow she knew that what he remembered had something to do with her.

Aline was very close to falling asleep on the floor with Colin’s arm still around her. He had found a blanket and placed it around them, and at that moment Colin merely enjoyed the feel of her close to him, especially now that he knew she trusted him. Maybe not as much as he trusted her, but they were getting there.
“Are Ты watching me sleep?” Aline mumbled, her eyes half-open.
“Maybe. Does that bother you?”
“Only if you’re going to eat me while I sleep”, Aline yawned, closing her eyes again. “That would be bad.”
“No way”, Colin smiled. “In fact, if someone tries to eat you, they’ll have to go through me.”
“Good”, Aline smiled, and this made Colin laugh a little. They stayed like that all night, snuggling up together. Neither of them really knew what it meant, but neither of them complained.

Fatemeh and Sam were walking around the city hall late at night when they were both having trouble sleeping.
“What if we never catch it?” Fatemeh asked. “That would be… bad.”
“To say the least”, Sam chuckled. “We will, though. It’s just one wolf.”
“Two.”
“Oh, right, two”, Sam sighed. “When did the other one Показать up?”
“I don’t know”, Fatemeh muttered, thinking about the true nature of the wolves. “Well, we’ll get through this.”
“I know”, Sam said, and just as he was about to reach out to touch her hand, they heard footsteps behind them.
падуб, holly, холли was standing in the room, breathing heavily.
“Hey, are Ты okay? We even sent people to go look for Ты when Ты weren’t here!” Fatemeh сказал(-а) in shock.
“I’m fine. And I shot it. One of them”, it hurt падуб, holly, холли so much to even say such a thing, but it was true. Now the only thing she could do was pray Derek was okay. “But I Остаться в живых it.”
“Okay, alright”, Fatemeh said. “We’ll go out first thing in the morning. Sam, would Ты excuse us?”
After Sam was gone, падуб, holly, холли walked over to Fatemeh, her face pale. “If Derek dies, I am never forgiving any of you. или myself.” With that she walked out of the room, leaving a concerned Fatemeh behind.