“ThEy nevEr wOuld have fOund you dOwn hEre. ThEy cErtainly wIll not now,” the machine leaned that monstrous face close to her own and Isabelle bit her lips uneasily, her heart practically beating out of her chest. 

“Please…” she whispered. 

Again that whirring from the back of the machine’s throat was heard as he grinned, reaching out his clawed hand as he brushed a strand of her hair away from her face. 

“DO nOt wOrrY,” his voice was lower now. “YoU jUst dO as I say, and soOn yOu will bE back tO your boOks soon enoUgh.” 

“LET ME GO! YOU MONSTER! LET ME GO!” Isabelle shouted towards him. The machine simply reached out his hand and poked her nose gently.

“JUst gEt cOmfOrtable, I hAve somE work tO do and I will seE you soOn,” he grinned before grinding those sharp metal teeth together, before standing up to his full height. 

“HavE a rEst, nO usE to trY to escApe, and scrEaming… wEll yoU can dO that if yOu wish, but… down hEre? No onE is goIng to hear yoU so, perhAps spArE yoUr vocAl cords? YoU dOn’t want to End Up lIke mE,” a manic giggle sound came from the twisted machine as he turned around and walked down the hall, out of sight of Isabelle. 

Isabelle tried to get herself out of the restraints, tugging on them until her wrists were scraped and sore. She screamed until her throat was sore, but just as the machine had told her, no one would come. 

This park was abandoned after all!

But the security guards! She knew that there were people working at the park! So perhaps…

Even as she thought about that she realized that she had no idea where she was. This was not a place which very few would have known existed. After all, they were just supposed to make certain that no one entered the park and stole from it… that they would come here, to a place which no doubt was off the map was…

Isabelle swallowed, knowing that unless she found a way to get out of here before the machine came back, she most likely never would. 

Rum was a bundle of nerves as he was cooking the food for dinner. 

He still thought that Emma coming to dinner to meet Belle was a terrible idea and surely could not end well, but his son kept assuring him that everything would be fine. 

What Rum did not know was that his son was perhaps just as nervous as he was. While he did not regret telling her the truth, meeting a completely sentient animatronic was still something one really could not prepare for. 

Even now, he could not deny that this was really strange. 

Belle was nice, clearly cared for his father and truly was someone he always hoped that his father and him would have in their lives, but… she was an animatronic, and that no doubt would come with some… issues.

Especially as they couldn’t let very many know about her. Suppose that it was lucky that the Gold family was hardly known for having guests over before this, so them not having guests over after this would simply be business as usual. 

Neal took a deep breath as he watched the clock. 

She would come soon and… well he could only hope that he was right about her being able to handle this and also keep their secret. 

The last thing he wanted was for Belle to be hurt in any way. 

Which… if they were discovered, would they have to leave? No doubt if people knew about sentient machines they would want to take them apart to figure out how that was possible, and that was not something he ever wanted to happen to Belle. 

To Neal, she was far more human than machine, hardly anything close to what he had seen of animatronics elsewhere. To think that so many would want to kill her… it sent chills down Neal’s back. 

He was certain that Emma would not want that, but…

Well… hopefully everything would be fine. 

It was clear that Emma had questions which only Belle could answer, and she deserved to have those answers. 

Neal only hoped that those answers would do more good than harm. 

Belle, in stark contrast to the two humans, was utterly excited about the dinner party, looking over Rum’s shoulder to observe how he did the cooking. 

“You think that I can learn to do that one day?” she asked, looking up at him with those glowing blue eyes. 

Rum glanced over at her. “I suppose, if you want to.” 

“Even if I cannot eat?” 

“I suppose that bit would make it more of a challenge,” Rum admitted. “But most cooks do not taste their food much while it is cooking. And should that be necessary I suppose you could ask me or Neal for help.” 

It was a bit surprising to him that a machine would want to learn something like cooking, especially as it was something that she could not really benefit from, but he had to admit that teaching her was something that he would really enjoy. 

Rum really liked to cook, and was considered quite good at it, even though Neal was really the only one to know of his father’s talent. 

It was something that he had picked up when he was quite young, and something that he took even more seriously after Neal had entered the world. The last thing he’d want was for his son to ever have to go hungry. 

That was something that he had promised himself that he would never fail at. Even if he was a failure in every other aspect, he refused to fail at this. 

Belle watched the man’s face closely as he cooked. She liked that gentle concentration on his face. It was just… nice. 

“Well, I don’t know much about food, but it looks very good… that is what they say about food right? That it is good?” 

Rum nodded his head with a soft chuckle. “That is correct, and I do hope it is good. Then again Neal is a teenage boy so… well… they are hardly known to be picky eaters.” 

Belle cocked her head slightly as she considered what he had just said. 

“What?” Rum had to ask after a while. 

“Oh… nothing, I just wondered how it would be if different types of electricity felt different and there was one I preferred over others,” she then said. “Sort of the only way I can understand humans eating food. You do it to get energy right? Like we do from electricity?” 

Rum nodded his head. “That is how it is. Just… not as efficient I think.” 

“No it does seem like a lot more work,” Belle had to agree with that. Rum nodded. 

“I suppose that is the case. Well… if different types of electricity ‘tasted’ different you would enjoy the one here,” he nudged her slightly, but of course there was no way for the scrawny security guard to move the heavy machine.

Belle cocked her head, confused at his efforts, but found that she rather liked having his body press against her metal frame, even if it was just for a moment. 

“I am certain it would be splendid,” she beamed over at him. 

For some reason that made Rum’s heart skip a beat as he flustered slightly. 

“I am glad for it,” he said towards her. “Again… what I want most is for you to feel at home here. More than anything else.”

Hearing those words, Belle nodded and leaned her head against his shoulder. 

“I already do,” she assured him. 

Rum found himself staring mesmerized into those blue glowing eyes for a moment, having to take a deep breath,about to ask her something more when a ring from the doorbell interrupted the two of them. 

Emma didn’t quite know why she was feeling nervous as she walked up to the Golds’ door as she had been there several times before, even if it had been a while since last time. 

She had also met Neal’s father several times; the short timid man hadn’t talked much, but he was kind and had never made her feel unwelcome. That was more than she could say for most of the other parents in this little town. 

Still… it was different now. 

What Neal had told her still seemed impossible to Emma, and she half expected to walk through the door and find herself the butt of one of Neal’s pranks. He was the type to play them after all. 

It was the sincerity in his voice which made her have doubts though. When he was playing one of his pranks he always had trouble from grinning which always would give him away. Emma was quite good at telling when he was joking at this point. 

In this though, he seemed completely serious. Far more than was usual. In fact… he almost seemed concerned and worried, making her swear that she could never tell, because this Belle, who again was a machine, meant very much to his father, and to him as well, but more than that she was utterly sentient so hurting her was the same as hurting any living person. 

Emma stalled in front of the door. 

It certainly would be easier if it was all a prank. 

These last couple of days she had been dwelling far more on these memories than she had done in the longest time. 

Snow White and Prince Charming… 

They were just machines, animatronics, made up to look like fairytale characters and made to play some pre-recorded lines, nothing more than that. But… she had felt so close to them. 

How many times hadn’t she dreamed that they would be real and take her away to some fairytale realm where she could be princess?

Of course the jaded teen would rather die than admit to that fantasy out loud. 

Despite all of her reasons saying that it was just the imagination of a very young and scared child, Emma could never shake that there was something more there. 

The scar on her arm told that something did happen in that park all those years ago. It was deep, needed stitches, but no one ever said how she had managed to hurt herself. 

That part would remain a mystery it seemed. 

Unless… unless someone in that house had an explanation for her. 

Emma took a deep breath, thinking to herself that she would soon find out, as she made herself reach out and ring the doorbell. 

It was Neal who opened the door having practically been waiting by it for a while now, seeing Emma there made it real what he was going to show here. 

“Um… come in… uh… dinner is almost ready,” he managed to stutter forth, letting her inside. 

“Good… I am hungry,” Emma felt the same sort of way. 

It was only at this moment that Neal realized that he had really no idea how they were actually going to do this. It seemed awkward to just… bring her over to Belle and introduce her just as she was any other person, but at the same time Neal couldn’t really think of a better way to do it. 

“How about we go into the dining room?” he then suggested. 

“Sounds good,” Emma responded, following him, at the same time looking around to see if she saw any sign of the animatronic that was supposed to be here. 

Neal was feeling utterly nervous as he took glances at the kitchen.

“Uh… dad and Belle are getting ready to serve dinner so…”

Neal’s words faded out slightly as he didn’t really know what to say, suppose it was just better to get it over with. 

“Well… let us just sit down.”

Emma nodded her head, though her body was so filled with nervous energy that sitting down hardly seemed tempting, but she forced herself to do so, waiting to see if this had been all just a prank. 

As insane as it was, she found herself doubting that more and more as time went on. 

Belle continued to peak out from the door to the kitchen, peeking out from the kitchen door to see if she could catch a glance of this Emma that she had been hearing so much about from Snow White and Prince Charming. 

Rum took a deep breath as he would rather just hide her away as that was the safest option, but at the same time… looking at her like that… he found that difficult. 

“Well… dinner is ready so…”

“I will bring it out!” 

Watching Belle grab the big plate of hot food made Rum’s eyes widen. 

“Belle, NO! You are going to-”

It was the puzzled look on Belle’s face which made him realize just what he had said and he took a deep breath. 

“I suppose you can’t really burn yourself…”

Belle cocked her head. “No, I do not think so.”

Rum let out a soft chuckle at himself as he gathered up the plates and such. 

“Let us go then,” he said, hoping that nothing bad would happen to her as… he really could not bear to see her hurt. 

“YOU ARE REAL!” 

The words burst out the moment that Emma saw the security guard walk out with one of the animatronics, who was holding the food. 

Belle gave her a big smile and nodded her head. 

“I am,” she confirmed, taking a bit of a nervous glance over at Rum who nodded at her, telling her to go ahead. 

“My name is Belle, I have heard a lot about you Emma and it is very nice to meet you!” 

Rum put the stuff down at the table, while at the same time was making sure that Belle wouldn’t be too overeager and get too close to Emma before she was ready. From the young teenager girl’s face she was dealing with a lot. 

“Uh… uh…” 

“Take your time,” Rum said with a soft sigh towards her. 

Emma simply nodded her head, as she stared wide eyed at the machine, who simply smiled back at her. 

“Belle really is nice, I know it is a bit to take in… was for me when I found her standing in the kitchen one morning… but… you get used to it… sort of…” Neal attempted to explain. 

“I am having trouble believing you get used to stuff like this…” Emma muttered before shaking her head, when to her shock tears started welling up in her eyes and she found herself starting to cry. 

No one had expected this reaction, Belle being very worried that she had done something wrong. 

“I…”

“I don’t know why I am crying,” Emma sputtered out after she shook her head. “Just… just… if you are real… then… then were they too? Snow White and Prince Charming… were they… are they… are they like… like you?”

Belle nodded. “They are… they are locked up in the castle, but before that, they spoke a lot about you. They care about you very much and have missed you, but… I think something happened. There is a curse… or… not really a curse, but…” 

Belle glanced at Rum for help. 

“We are… trying to figure out what is going on. We haven’t learned much, but… it seems there is something which makes the animatronics believe they are characters in a fairytale… or… not see reality as it is,” he tried to explain. “Honestly we do not know much yet…” 

He was unsure if he was going to tell her about that evil animatronic who seemed to be behind all of this, but… as he didn’t know where he was or what was behind it… he chose not to. 

Not until he had to at least.

“But we are going to save them!” Belle said with unwavering conviction in her electronic voice. “Me and Rum have been working on that, we are just not entirely sure how yet, but we are looking for a way to get into the castle!” 

“I want to help,” Emma stated after a couple of moments of silence after Belle had spoken. “Let me come with!” 

To this Rum shook his head. 

“No, it is too dangerous… and we do not know what state we will find them in… and how they will react upon seeing you, since… since you were close to them.” 

It was clear that Emma wanted to protest, but Rum shook his head again. 

“It has to be this way. If someone finds out what is going on, it will be bad. For… all involved,” he kept looking at Belle as he said those words. “It is a… difficult situation.”

“But we will find all of them and save them. Promise. They are safe, just… under the curse, but… they are safe,” Belle repeated.

It was clear that Emma did not like this one bit, but nodded her head. 

Because… what else could she do? As much as she hated it… she had to wait, but what's more it was rather insane that she might be reunited with people that she cared so much about… even if they weren’t really people. 

“I want you to tell me!” she then burst out. “The moment that you figure it out, I want you to tell me!” 

Rum gave a nod of his head. 

“We can do that,” he promised her. “The moment we know, you will know.” 

This seemed to satisfy her ever so slightly and she quieted down for quite some time before she looked over at Belle, who cocked her head softly as she noticed.

“Can you… can you tell me about them? How they really are? Just… everything?” 

Of course this was a big ask, but Belle nodded her head as she carefully sat herself down on the chair close to Emma and started telling everything she knew about the other two animatronics and what they had said about her. 

There were plenty of more tears streaming down Emma’s face, but she encouraged Belle to go on, that she wanted to listen and that it was nice. The tears just continued coming without her control, but she really shouldn’t mind them, and continue telling the story because she really wanted to know everything that the animatronic could tell her.