<A very alive frog was given to Melpomene, by who? Well the little dragon of course.>
-🕰️
Alright. Very good.
*He goes to get another apple slice before he gets a platter of other foods. He sets out a bunch of different foods like raw meat, grapes, an apple, and different kinds of vegetables.*
Summary: When Belle finds a strange book in an abandoned library she has no idea what hell it would unleash upon the small town.
@idesignedthefjords not as scary as I originally intended, but hopefully demon!Rumple is fun here.
Belle French was working down in the cellar of the old library outside of town. She had been given permission to see if it was some books there worth salvaging for the re-opening of the one in Storybrooke.
It was dark and dusty, clearly abandoned. Relying on her small flashlight to find her way in the boarded up building she found plenty of books, of course all of them old, but in great shape despite being abandoned for so long.
“Why would they just leave this place?” she muttered to herself. The new location in Storybrooke was nice, but it paled in comparison to this building, especially when it came to size.
“Perhaps not many would wish to go this far to visit a library…” she shrugged. It was really a shame. She would have spent hours in this place when it was opened, but she only moved to the town long after it was closed down.
It was such a shame.
Still she had several boxes of books when her flashlight illuminated a door. An old office perhaps?
She was not certain what she would find.
Slowly she walked pushing the door open. Inside there was a desk by the boarded up window, a name written on a plaque which was covered in dust.
“Mr. Zoso…” Belle whispered softly.
She had never heard that name before, not even when she had been reading up on the library. On the desk there was a single book.
Wandering over she saw that it was a book bound in a pale type of leather which had now started to discolor. There was no title on the cover.
Slowly she flicked it open, it being filled with scrawlings and symbols all of them handwritten. The pages was yellowed and the ink had turned a brown color due to the low quality of the ink.
“What are you…?” she asked it, continuing to move her fingers across the pages.
“Well… I suppose I cannot really put you in the library so you are coming back with me,” she smiled, hugging it to her chest.
It seemed like so many dreams that she had when she was a teenager… and still had if she was being honest with herself. To find something which would be the start of an adventure. She had always wanted adventure, to uncover a mystery… to be somewhere else. To experience something… different.
She was certain that this was just a bunch of scrawls someone had made, but…
Well, it was still a bunch of mysterious scrawls which could be fun to search for a meaning for. Of course… it could mean nothing.
But there had to be a reason why this Mr. Zoso was looking through it right? Even if it was abandoned with everything else.
Belle’s blue eyes practically glimmered as she let out a giggling laugh as she exited the door to the office, placing the book in her purse while she grabbed the last box of books that she would take to her car.
The young librarian was however completely unaware that yellow eyes were watching her from the dark corners.
After an exhausting day of cataloging all the new books for the library Belle was finally able to rest, putting her aching feet on her coffee table with a cup of tea.
Her eyes then fell on her bag and the book she had found sticking out of it. Her brows furrowed slightly as she cocked her head.
She was certain that she had put it in the library with the rest of the books, but… there it was.
Slowly she reached out her hand towards it, her fingers brushing along the leather of it. The sensation was… strange.
A warmth which seemed to spread up her hand and arm. It had not felt like that before. She could not remember this sensation in the library…
Belle’s brow furrowed as she took the book on her lap.
Slowly she opened the book, suddenly feeling the nagging feeling that she shouldn’t. Still… her fingers flicked through the pages.
“What sort of language is this…” Belle had never seen anything remotely like this. It seemed… old…
Old beyond history…
Slowly… an sensation came over her… an dark compulsion that had her reading out loud the foreign words.
As she sat there… unable to keep those words from flowing forth.
She then felt clawed hands start to envelop her. Several in fact. Something was leaning against her, she feeling a soft breath against her ear.
A soft voice was whispering, licking her earlobe with a forked tongue.
Belle herself could not move one inch, this overwhelming shade was pressing down on her.
Fighting against it, she was able to lift her head and look in her standing mirror.
By now the entire room was dark… no not dark she realized.
This entity was covering the entire room, three glowing eyes looking down at her. Its body was as long as a serpent, two pair of arms caressing her, even the third set of arms which were vestigial in nature was grasping at her dress.
Its large wings were covering the entire room.
A low chuckle came from the being when it realized that she had seen it.
Thank you, dearest…
We have been locked away for so long…
And now…
Its voice faded out as it vanished from her room, just giving another slow whisper in that enticing voice.
I will see you soon…
Belle had not been able to move from her place, the book still in her lap as she trembled.
What… what had happened?
She did not know.
It couldn’t be real. That thing… that twisted form of a creature.
It could not be real.
It was only when the sun started to rise before she was able to throw the book away from her.
She had to get out. Do something. Just get out!
Not even changing her clothes she simply took a jacket and her purse before she opened the door, not at all looking back.
Had she done that she would have seen three eyes glowing at her from the darkness.
Belle was sitting in Granny’s diner when she saw to her surprise Ruby serving. Her old friend came up smiling.
“Hi, Belle, what can I get you today?” she asked.
“Um… the usual,” she said trying to shake the feeling that something was off. “Uh… Ruby… weren’t you supposed to go to Boston today?” Belle remembered that her friend had been so excited to get out of the small town of Storybooke, and yet… here she was.
The waitress furrowed her brows, scratching her head.
“Uh… yes I suppose I was…” she looked truly confused.
“Did you change your mind?” Belle asked, a bit unnerved that her friend was so confused.
“I must have…” Ruby’s voice was tinged with uneasiness. But then something seemed to come over her, as if making her forget the entire conversation had taken place.
“I will get your order right away, I know how much you love your pancakes.”
Before Belle could ask her any more questions the waitress wandered off as if nothing strange had happened.
Looking around in utter confusion, Belle’s eyes met that of a man’s, who looked at her with an amused expression as he sipped his tea.
The man looked to be in his fifties, having graying half long hair, dressed in a sharp suit. Belle found that she did not recognize this man… which was strange in a small town such as Storybrooke.
But those eyes…
She swore that she had seen those eyes before.
There was something in that gaze that she swore that she would never forget.
The man glanced after Ruby as she walked to get the food, he stood himself up, Belle noticed that he was leaning heavily on a cane.
Slowly he sat himself on the other side of her booth.
Belle felt herself freezing in place, only able to make some stuttering noises as she was utterly surprised.
“Well… hello dearest.”
Belle knew that voice. It was the voice that she had heard last night.
The voice of that thing.
And those eyes! She now knew where she had seen those eyes before… when that thing was pressing down upon her.
About to stand up she felt herself a clawed hand pressing down on her legs so she was forced to remain seating.
“Please… sit,” he grinned towards her.
Belle shivered nervously, knowing that she was before something clearly inhuman.
“What… what are you?” she whispered, not daring to raise her voice in case she would draw attention to her situation.
She knew that no one in the café was able to help her. Not against this thing.
He let out a low laugh before he leaned his head closer to her as if to whisper something in her ear. Belle moved closer to him, unable to pull away.
Once his face was all the way close to her, he snapped his jaws with a short gruff answer.
“Hungry!”
He then leaned back and let out a laugh.
Belle widened her eyes as she looked at all the people in the diner who somehow hadn’t noticed it.
“You don’t mean?” her voice trembled.
The man’s eyes followed the people milling about.
“Of course.”
His eyes then settled on her again.
“But do not worry,” he grinned towards her. “I would not hurt you… after all… you were the one that let me free.”
He looked her up and down.
“And you are indeed… very beautiful…” he murmured softly towards her.
“I… I didn’t… I didn’t want to!” she insisted. “I didn’t know!”
“Hardly matters,” he shrugged. “You did and I am free from my prison… I cannot wait to have a proper meal…”
The creature’s eyes went over the residents.
“Please! Do not hurt them…” she whispered.
“I do apologize dearest… but once you have been starving for centuries… well… I am going to have my fun with this town… some may consider it shooting fish in a barrel, but…” he shrugged his shoulders.
Fish in a barrel…
A chill ran down Belle’s back.
Why Ruby hadn’t left for Boston… was it…?
The creature’s grin grew greater.
“Oh… yes…” he chuckled. “Now you understand.”
“You are going to…” Belle swallowed.
“I haven’t fully decided yet… but… I certainly need to make this place more like…” he paused as his eyes fixated on her again. “… home.”
He then stood himself up, still leaning heavily on his cane.
“But… I should go get some dinner…” he licked his teeth slightly as he looked down at her.
“See you at home… dearest.”
And with that the creature picked up her hand, placing a kiss on it before striding out of the café leaving Belle there looking at her hand where a mark had formed.
Tears started to well up in her eyes.
What had she unleashed upon the world… and would she be able to stop it before it devoured the entire town?
We don't know fully where she's gone or what has happened to her. We have only taken a replacement till we can find her or what happened to her.
All we know is Vee took her. The trail of ichor Vee left blended into the ground till it was unrecognizable, same with her tracks in the mud!
We've done our best to keep the search up... but with the arrival of the new monster in the Forest.. it may be harder to find her now there is somebody new to distract us..
We may be able to help him recover from his injuries... I mean I recovered just fine!..
I did as well! And, he has a great sense of style. Despite the ink covering the suit hes in.
Though he thrashed around a bit when we tried to take the litter of 'caterpillars' he had with him, especially the oldest little boy like you do with kittens from a litter of strays
I dont blame him. With what hes been through, i wouldnt either. He calls them the 'Harveylings' because they look just like him. They dont have names. And the little boy is 'Toby'.
How do you know this, Donita?
I got to talking with him after a few days. Thought I'd get information out of the bug.
That is quite Useful, Donita. In private you can tell me about what he has been through.
He's just afraid, That's all.
Is this working? Yes! Finally! Pasiely! I got it working again!
That's good sprout.
Hi everybody!
Hello, everyone. Apologies for the sudden radio silence. We had lost our internet for quite some time. A big... butterfly and his caterpillars had slammed head first into most of our internet related wiring.
He is... doing alright now, hes in quarantine due to the major wounds all around his body, and the ink that filled those wounds...
We havent gotten his name just yet, but we have some good news on the plus side! Donitas recovered fully!
