Chapter Text
There once was an enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we knew.
Or thought we knew.
One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen.
Hatchetfield.
~*~
Once Upon A Time...
A princess rode her horse, trying to get to her prince before it was too late.
Stephanie rode into the woods, the mud and sticks crunching under her horse’s feet.
She has to find him. She only hopes that she’s not too late.
She continued deeper into the woods, spurring her horse on.
Stephanie pulled her fur-lined cloak tighter around her.
She arrived at the cottage where she knew he was hiding from her father.
She dismounted and tied up her horse before sprinting toward the cottage.
There was an ornate glass coffin surrounded by the dwarves that took Peter in.
Stephanie was filled with dread as she saw the coffin. Peter was in the coffin. She felt sick at this idea. Peter sacrificed himself for her. Steph felt the tears begin to form in her eyes as she saw him in that coffin, asleep beneath five inches of glass.
“…You’re too late.” One of the dwarves spoke solemnly, wiping his face with a handkerchief.
“…C-Can I at least say goodbye?” Stephanie placed her hand on the coffin, wanting a moment to say goodbye to her true love.
The dwarves nodded and removed the lid.
Stephanie took Peter’s hand, it felt so cold, so dead.
Steph felt that she could barely breathe as she gently tucked Peter’s dark hair behind his ear and leant forward to kiss him goodbye.
A bright, magical warmth emanated from the pair of them as Peter took a breath and opened his eyes.
Stephanie jumped back a little in surprise, a bright smile growing on her face as she saw him wake up.
“Hey.”
“H-hi.” Peter smiled.
“I told you I’d always find you.”
“To be honest, the coffin did give me pause.” Peter smiled, not knowing how funny he truly was.
Stephanie just sighed, her eyes twinkling as she smiled.
~*~
Stephanie and Peter stood on the circular dais in the middle of the large circular hall of the royal castle, as millions flocked to see their wedding.
Peter looked at his soon to be wife, wondering how some awkward and geeky guy like him landed someone as cool and as perfect as Stephanie, who looked gorgeous in her white dress.
They just said their I dos when the doors burst open and the Evil King himself showed up.
Everyone panicked.
Peter tried to calm the crowd down, but his new father-in-law advanced, dark smoke travelling behind him as he advanced toward his daughter and son-in-law, the guests parting in shock.
“Get out of here, dad.” Stephanie said, hand reaching for the sword at her side. “You already lost, now leave.”
“Stephanie, I would like an intelligent conversation with you, in other words, shut up.” The Evil King responded. “I came to give you all a gift. This happy … happy day. But tomorrow, my real work begins. I will take away everything you love, everything all of you love. Forever. And out of that, will rise my victory. I will destroy your happiness if it's the last thing I do.”
Stephanie prepared to throw her sword at her father but he disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke before it could hit him.
~*~
A boy was sitting alone, reading a book of fairytales on a bus, looking over the illustrations of the wedding of Snow White and Prince Charming.
“That a good book?” the lady sitting next to him asked.
“It’s more than just a book.” The boy said, only briefly looking up at the lady.
The lady’s eyes widened in surprise as she smiled politely.
The bus stopped and the driver announced the stop in Boston.
The boy closed his book and stood up, thanking the bus driver as he got off.
He found a cab and got a ride.
Meanwhile, across town, a woman got out of an elevator at a fancy restaurant, eyes scanning for her date, who was sitting at the bar, on what was his fifth drink.
“Helen?” The man said, looking surprised.
“Jake? You look surprised.”
“You know… we met online, it could have been faked.”
“True.”
They ordered drinks and got to talking. It was Helen’s birthday, and she had no family or friends to spend it with.
“I have a bit of a gift for reading people…” Helen said.
“Oh?” Jake smiled, intrigued.
“Yeah.”
“What can you read from me?”
“You’re handsome, charming…” Helen began, Jake smiling as he was intrigued by all this. “The kind of guy who… and now, stop me if I get this wrong … embezzled from your employer, got arrested, and skipped town before they were able to throw your ass in jail.”
Jake froze, caught out in his lie.
“And the worst part is you repay your wife’s loyalty and love by going on a date.” Helen sighed, annoyed by her target’s bullshit.
“...You’re the bailbondsman.”
“Bailbondsperson.” Helen corrected, quickly getting up to pursue Jake, who was already running out of the upscale restaurant.
Helen regretted not wearing her flats as the heels she was wearing slowed her a bit.
She ran over to the car where Jake was trying and failing to start his car.
“Y-you don’t have to do this… I got money.”
“No, you don’t. And even if you did, you should give it to your family.”
“The hell do you know about family?” Jake spat.
Helen angrily slammed his head onto the steering wheel, knocking him unconscious.
“Nothing.” She answered to no one in particular, walking to her car.
She drove home in silence, buying a birthday cupcake on her way back to her apartment.
Helen went into her cold and empty apartment, changing into comfy clothes and tying her dark hair up before grabbing a blue star-shaped candle and placing it in the cupcake.
She lit the candle and blew it out, wishing to not be alone anymore, like she had for every one of her twenty eight years of existence.
There was a knock at the door.
Helen got up to answer the door.
The boy from the bus was standing there.
“Can I help you, kid?” Helen said, staring curiously at the boy.
“Yeah. Are you Helen Swan?”
Helen nodded. “Who are you?”
“I’m Sammy. I’m your son.”
“...I don’t have a son.” Helen began to close the door, but Sammy put his foot in the doorway and pushed past her, despite her protests.
“Ten years ago, did you give up a baby for adoption? That was me.”
Helen paled, really hoping that this wasn’t happening. She practically ran to the bathroom, just to get some space from the kid, who she couldn’t believe was the tiny baby she gave up for adoption ten years previously.
She sank down onto the bathroom floor, leaning against the shut door and taking slow, deep breaths, forcing air into her lungs and her mind to clear.
Helen eventually left the bathroom and got to talking with her son, who blackmailed her into taking him home to Hatchetfield, Michigan.
~*~
Peter stood on the balcony, nervously drumming his fingers on the railing, replaying what his father-in-law said over and over again in his head.
Stephanie walked up to him and took his hand. “You’re thinking about what he said again, aren’t you?”
Peter nodded.
“We can’t keep having this discussion. You need to let it go. We’re about to have a baby.” Stephanie moved Peter’s hand to her stomach.
“Neither of us have had a restful night since the wedding.”
“He wants to get in our heads. But it’s all just words. Trust me, I know.”
“He poisoned an apple so we wouldn’t marry each other. I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“What would put your mind at rest?”
“I wanna talk to him.”
Stephanie blanched, knowing exactly the ‘he’ her husband was referring to. “No. It’s too dangerous.”
“He sees the future-”
“He’s locked up for a reason-”
“He can promise that our child can be safe.”
“...Alright. We’ll see him. For the baby.”
~*~
Helen and Sammy were in Helen’s yellow Bug, driving along some highway in the darkness. Helen silently thanked god that there was no traffic out tonight.
“What’s that?” Helen glanced over at Sammy, who was reading his book
“I’m not sure you’re ready.”
“Not ready for fairy tales?” Helen had to laugh.
“They’re real. All of them actually happened.”
“Of course they did.”
“Use your superpower. See if I’m lying.”
“Just because you believe it doesn’t make it true.”
“That’s exactly what makes it real. You should know. You’re in the book.”
Helen stared in disbelief.
“You got problems, kid.”
“And you’re gonna fix them.”
~*~
Stephanie and Peter pulled their hoods over their heads as they descended deeper into the dark dungeons of their castle and the guard went over the rules of talking to him. Keep your face out of view and don’t let him know your name.
“Alright, Rumpelstiltskin, I have questions for you.” The guard said, to the strange man in the cell.
“No. You don’t.” The man now known as Rumpelstiltskin said, his goat-like eyes shining out of the darkness. “But they do.”
Everyone paled and backed away slightly as his full face came into view. The bright yellow goat-like eyes, the long unkempt dark hair, the long yellow leather coat.
“Hiya, Petey.”
“...Ted.” Peter said warily, removing his hood. The last time Peter had seen his elder brother was the day they locked him in there, but he hadn’t been Theodore for years now.
“And my sister-in-law too! How exciting!”
Stephanie did the same.
“Now that’s better.”
“We’re here to ask you about-” Stephanie was cut off.
“I know what you’re here for. You want to know about the King’s threat.”
“Stop playing games, Ted.”
“...You’re no fun anymore, Petey.” Rumpelstiltskin pouted. “I’ll tell you. But I want something in return.”
Stephanie protested, but Peter wanted to know the price.
“I want my niece’s name.”
“No.” Stephanie said.
“Deal.” Peter intervened. “What do you know?”
“The King has created a powerful curse. Soon, we’ll all be in a prison like this. Only worse. All our prisons will be time. It will stop and we’ll all be trapped. Somewhere shitty, where everything we love will be ripped from us while the King celebrates, victorious at last. No more happy endings.”
“What can we do?”
“Nothing, I’m afraid, brother.” Rumpelstiltskin blinked his goat-like eyes.
“Who can do something?”
“My niece.” Rumpelstiltskin reached out a hand to Stephanie’s stomach, which she went to slash at with a sword.
“Next time I cut it off, bastard.”
“C’mon!” Rumpelstiltskin jumped back, yellow eyes alight with fear. “Your kid is our only hope. Get them to safety and on their twenty-eighth birthday, they’ll return and the final battle will begin.” Rumpelstiltskin bleated out a laugh.
“We’re going.” Stephanie said, beginning to walk away with Peter’s hand in hers.
“I NEED THE NAME! WE HAD A DEAL! TELL ME MY NIECE’S NAME!” Rumpelstiltskin shouted angrily.
“It’s a boy.” Stephanie said, not wanting to endanger her unborn child.
“Petey… you’re my brother, and you know I’m right. Tell me my niece’s name.”
Peter paused, tempted.
“...Helen. Her name’s Helen.”
Rumpelstiltskin echoed the name.
~*~
Helen drove through Hatchetfield, trying to find where her son lived. She still couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that her son came to find her.
“How about an address, kid?” Helen said.
“Fifty Fife Nunya Business Street.” Sammy quipped.
Helen pulled the Bug over.
“It’s been a long night and it’s… 8:15?” Helen stared at the giant clock-tower in the middle of Main Street.
“That clock’s never worked for as long as I can remember. Time’s frozen here.” Sammy said.
Sammy explained the curse, that the Evil King sent everyone here and that they’re all trapped and can’t leave, because bad things would happen if they did.
“Sammy? What are you doing out this late? Are you alright?” A man walking a dog called out to them, walking over toward them.
“Hiya Duke, I’m fine.” Sammy said.
“Who’s this?” Duke pointed to Helen.
“Just someone trying to get him home.” Helen said.
“She’s my mom.” Sammy said.
“I see.”
“Do you know where he lives?”
“Right up in Pinebrook, the Mayor’s house is the biggest one there.”
Helen looked at Sammy in surprise and disbelief. “You’re the mayor’s kid?”
“..Maybe?” Sammy said.
“You missed today’s session. Where were you?” Duke asked, concerned.
“Forgot to say… I was on a field trip.”
Duke saw through that lie. “Lying and giving into one’s dark side never accomplishes anything, Sammy.”
“...I really need to get him home.” Helen said.
“Alright then,” Duke said awkwardly.”...Have a good night, and be good, Sammy?”
They said their goodbyes and got back in the car.
“That was your shrink?” Helen said.
“I’m not crazy! He’s my social worker.”
“Didn’t say you were. He just didn’t seem very cursed to me.” Helen said, not believing him.
“They don’t know they’re cursed. They don’t remember who they are.”
“...Alright. I’ll play ball. Who’s he meant to be?”
“Jiminy Cricket.”
“Thought your nose grew a little bit.” Helen smirked.
“I’m not Pinnochio!”
~*~
Stephanie and Peter had summoned all their friends and allies for a large council to discuss what they were going to do about the Dark Curse.
“We have to fight!” Stephanie said.
“Giving into one’s dark side never accomplishes anything.” Jiminy Cricket said.
“How many wars has a clear conscience won? We need to take my father out before he inflicts the curse.”
“We can’t trust what Rumpelstiltskin says.” Cinderella said.
“We can. My brother is many things, but a liar is not one of them.” Peter says.
“If you believe him about the curse, Peter, then you must believe him about our kid.”
“There’s no point, Steph. The future’s written.”
“I can’t believe that good will just lose like this. It’s bullshit.”
The doors burst open and the Blue Fairy flew in, with the guards carrying a large tree behind her.
The Blue Fairy explained that if the tree was fashioned into a vessel, it could ward off any curse.
“Gepetto, can you build this?” The Blue Fairy turned to her friend.
“My daughter and I, if we work together, can. Yeah.” Gepetto said, hugging his daughter, now a real girl after so long being a puppet.
“The enchantment is indeed powerful. But it has its limits. It can only carry one person.”
~*~
Pinebrook was a fancy and wealthy neighbourhood, home to Hatchetfield’s elite.
Helen’s beat up yellow Bug looked out of place amongst the three story grand houses and expensive cars.
They parked up at number 55, the largest house in Pinebrook.
“Don’t make me go back there.” Sammy begged as they walked up the driveway.
“Why not? Your parents are probably worried sick about you?”
“I’ve only got a dad and he’s evil!” Sammy whined.
“Bit extreme, isn’t it?”
“No. He doesn’t love me. He only pretends to.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
The door opened to reveal a man rushing out the door.
“Sammy?!” The man rushed over and hugged Sammy. “Where the hell were you?”
“I found my mom.” Sammy snapped and rushed off to his bedroom.
“Miss Tessburger, check on him, please.” He said to the redheaded woman beside him.
The woman nodded and followed Sammy upstairs.
“So… you’re his birth mother.” Mayor Solomon Lauter turned toward Helen.
“That’s me.” Helen smiled awkwardly.
“Can I interest you in some of the best apple cider you’ll ever have?”
“After tonight? Gladly.” Helen walked inside the house.
Mayor Lauter poured two glasses of apple cider and handed one to Helen.
They began to talk to one another. Helen expressed that he had nothing to worry about from either Helen or Sammy’s father. Mayor Lauter in return explained that he was strict, but that’s only because he wants the best for Sammy.
“That boy needs to keep his head on his shoulders.”
“It's a bit hard considering the fairytale thing.”
“What fairytale thing?” Mayor Lauter looked intrigued.
“You know the book he has? He believes everyone in the town is a fairytale character. His social worker is Jiminy Cricket.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It’s none of my business. He’s your kid... I probably should get going.”
“Let me see you out.”
Helen got back in her beat up yellow Bug. She saw Sammy’s storybook on the backseat of the car. She had to admire the kid’s tenacity.
She slowly drove out of Hatchetfield. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up on end as she drove through the town at night.
The full moon shone as she approached the Nantucket Bridge, the only way off the island Hatchetfield was on.
Then a wolf crossed the road and Helen swerved off the road to avoid it, falling into a ditch and passing out.
~*~
While Gepetto and his daughter were finishing up the wardrobe that would save Stephanie and the baby, Stephanie and Peter were arguing.
“It has to be you, Steph.” Peter said insistently.
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“I know it’ll be twenty-eight years, but we’ll find each other. I promise.” Peter smiled.
“...I know.”
They held each other, taking solace in their last few moments together.
And then the baby came early.
Meanwhile a dark smoke streaked through with bright, lurid colours started rolling over the lush green hills.
The curse had arrived.
~*~
Helen woke up in a cell, her head pounding.
One of the other people in the holding cells of the HFPD office was chatting with a guy named Bill.
Officer Bailey came around to let Helen go.
“Mayor Lauter’s drinks were a bit too strong, eh?”
“I wasn’t drunk. There was a wolf on the road.”
“Sure.”
“Bailey!” Miss Tessburger came rushing in, red hair remaining perfectly in place despite her frantic energy. “Sammy’s run off again. And the mayor’s worried sick.”
“Can I help?” Helen asked.
“What can you do?”
“Finding people’s one of my talents.”
They started by investigating his laptop, Sammy had cleared his search history, but Helen restored it and found the credit card he used to find her belonged to Mr Spankoffski, his teacher.
Mayor Lauter showed up when they drove to the school.
“M-mayor Lauter… What are you doing here?” Mr Peter Spankoffski said, nervously re-adjusting his glasses.
“Where’s my son?”
“I thought Sammy was off sick?”
“I’d like an intelligent conversation with you, Spankoffski, in other words, shut up. Did you give him your credit card?”
Pete checked his bag, to find Sammy had stolen his credit card.
Helen introduced herself to Pete, who explained once Mayor Lauter had left, that he gave Sammy the book because he was lonely and he knew what that felt like and that hope is one of the most powerful things in the world. Pete also offered that Helen should check Sammy’s castle.
~*~
Stephanie and Peter only had a few brief moments to celebrate their newborn daughter, Helen.
“I’ll take her.” Stephanie said, getting up off the bed, holding her daughter in her arms.
“Steph… You just gave birth.”
“Does it look like we have time?”
Peter looked at his beautiful wife and fell in love with her all over again.
“...Stay safe, okay?”
“Give me my sword.”
“As my lady commands.” Peter bowed and handed her sword over.
Stephanie just sighed and smiled at her husband before running out of the room.
The Evil King’s knights chased after her as she ran.
Stephanie placed the baby in the wardrobe and prepared to fight the knights which had surrounded her.
~*~
Sammy’s castle was an old and sad looking playground in Witchwood Forest.
Sammy was sat at the top of the climbing frame so Helen climbed up to join him.
“You dropped this.” Helen placed the book in between them. “Clock’s still not moved, huh?”
“I was hoping that when you came back, things would change around here. That the final battle would begin.”
“I’m not fighting any battles.”
“It’s your destiny! You’re meant to bring back all the happy endings.”
“Cut it with all the book crap, okay?”
“No need to be so hostile. You’re pushing me away because you feel guilty. I know why you gave me up. You wanted to give me the best chance you could.”
Helen’s eyes widened, stunned at how he knew that.
“It’s the same reason Snow White gave you up.”
“Look, Sammy, I’m not some character in a book, I’m no saviour. But you are right. I gave you up to give you your best chance. Which isn’t with me. C’mon, let’s go.”
“Don’t make me go back there!” Sammy whined. “At least stay a week. A week to show you I’m not crazy.”
“I have to get you back to your dad.”
“My life sucks here!”
“You know what sucking is? My parents didn’t even bother to drop me off at a hospital. I was found on the roadside.”
“Because that’s where the portal took you through to!”
“What?”
“The wardrobe,” Sammy opened the book to show Helen the page. “When you went through the wardrobe, it took you through to the side of the street. Your parents were trying to save you from the curse!”
“Sure.” Helen said dubiously.
~*~
Peter rushed into the room where the wardrobe was. His eyes fell to the floor as he saw Stephanie laying on the floor, crimson blood staining her nightdress.
“Steph… Please…” Peter dropped to his wife’s side, kissing her, trying to wake her like she woke him just over a year ago.
“Don’t worry, in a few moments you won’t remember you knew her, let alone loved her.” the Evil King laughed wickedly as he walked into the room.
“Why did you do this?” Peter stammered, unable to tear his eyes away from Stephanie’s body.
“Because this is my happy ending.”
The knights rushed in.
“The baby. She put her into the wardrobe and then the baby was gone.”
Peter had to smile through his constant stream of tears. Helen was safe.
“You’re gonna lose. Good will always win.” Peter felt hope for the first time since the wedding.
“Are you sure about that?” The Evil King laughed as the Dark Curse tore through the castle.
Peter found Stephanie’s still-warm hand and grasped it tightly. “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere horrible. Somewhere where the only happy ending is mine.”
The curse swept everyone up in its devastating wake.
~*~
“Thank you for bringing him home.” Mayor Lauter said as Helen dropped Sammy off.
“Happy to help.” Helen said.
“He’s taken a shine to you.”
“You know yesterday was my birthday and I wished to not be alone anymore and then Sammy showed up.”
“But don’t take that as an invitation back into his life.”
“I-I wasn’t…”
“You made a decision ten years ago. Closed adoption. No contact at all. You have no legal right to Sammy and you will be held to that. So leave now or I swear I’ll destroy you if it’s the last thing I do.”
Mayor Lauter began walking back into the house, leaving Helen silently fuming.
“Do you love him?” Helen shouted.
“Of course I do.” Mayor Lauter shut the door.
He made his way into Sammy’s room, trying to find it. The one thing that would ruin his happy ending.
He tore through the room, until he found it under Sammy’s mattress.
The brown leather book with gold lettering. The book that told his story.
He cleaned the room and left.
He is not letting anyone, not even his child, ruin his happy ending. Not again.
Meanwhile, Pete was doing his volunteer work in the hospital, placing flowers by the coma patients’ beds. He enjoyed helping people here.
He turned the corner to room 2023, where coma patient Jane Doe was kept.
Peter smiled as he walked inside. This Jane Doe had been here for as long as Pete could remember, and no one came forward to say who she was, and she had never woken up.
It was rather sad, but he liked to read his favourite sci-fi novels or infodump to them about movies and games, so Jane Doe didn’t feel so alone.
He placed the fresh flowers in the vase.
Helen drove across town to Beanie’s coffee shop and BnB, hearing two of the workers arguing.
“You’re snippy to customers, and you just flipped off that guy! Get your act together, Emma!” The older of the two, clearly the person who ran this place.
“I’m just trying to make my way through community college so I can leave you!”
“Hey… I’d like a room?” She asked the older of the two women, named Nora.
“Really?!” Nora said, clearly unused to any visitors at the BnB. “What’s the name?”
“Helen Swan.”
“Helen.” A man with a yellow tie and cane said. No one noticed him enter. “What a lovely name.”
Helen eyed him warily. She got a weird vibe from him. “...Thanks.”
“It’s all here.” Emma handed him a roll of cash.
“Great. Thanks. Enjoy your stay… Helen.” The mysterious mustached man walked out of Beanie’s.
“Who was that?” Helen asked.
“Mr Gold. He owns this place.”
“Beanie’s?”
“The town.” Emma corrected. “He’s a bit of a bastard. But he’s powerful so don’t cross him.”
“How long will you be staying with us?” Nora said.
“A week.”
“Great.” Nora grabbed a room key from behind her and handed it to Helen. “Welcome to Hatchetfield.
As Helen took the ornate room key, the clock on Main Street began ticking for the first time anyone in town remembered.
Things were changing in Hatchetfield.