#imp!rumple

Her face then raised her head towards him.

“Well… in that case… I would love to meet your friends, they are my hosts too are they not?” she gave him a brave smile.

“Hmm… I suppose they are even your true hosts. It was they who insisted to let you stay the night. I was hesitant as… they usually do not care for visitors,” he explained.

“Well… you have to thank them for me in that case,” she said with a gentle smile.

“You will get the chance to thank them yourself… however… we will take it slow. You have been rather brave so far all things considered,” Mr. Gold said as he finished the meat on his plate.

“There is no time like the present do you not agree?” he asked to her.

“I suppose there isn’t…” she murmured nervously… she really had ended up far from the modern world hadn’t she.

“Very good,” he said with a bow to his head. “Just wait for a moment.”

With that he walked out of the kitchen, leaving a rather confused Belle to sip her tea, not knowing what to expect.

It was a couple of moments before Mr. Gold with something covered in a blanket. Placing it on the table before her.

“It was hard to get just one out of there… they were rather eager,” he moved to straighten his cloak which had been crumpled.

“There are many then?” she looked at the cloth bundle which sat motionless on the table.

“Far too many, but… that is just how it is,” Mr. Gold said as he was more concerned with his tea which was about to go cold rather than the blanket bundle on the table.

Belle glanced at it, reaching carefully out and lifted the blanket a bit carefully, Mr. Gold watching curiously. Under she saw a patch of gleaming golden green scales. The creature in the blanket then started to move before it poked its head out.

Blinking curiously, Belle saw the strange reptilian creature which had a rather human face, a stubby nose, but no lips which showed its needle sharp teeth.

Its eyes were really large, but one was damaged, forcing it closed.

With its one good eye it looked at her closely, before it let out a slight chirping sound, making the older man chuckle a bit.

“Uh… I must confess… I didn’t expect this,” Belle continued to observe the creature which seemed to attempt to follow her moments, while in a while making soft chirps.

“They are quite… deceptive in their looks,” Mr. Gold said. “This one, perhaps less so than most. You may call him Ore if you want. But… they do not have names or sexes for that matter,” he said with a hand movement. “If you want to call them something else they do not care. They do not have a languages either.”

“That does sound… complicated,” Belle said still a bit stunned, the creature letting out a chirp towards her.

“They argue that having all of that is needlessly complicated. I have attempted to explain it to them… yet I am certain that they think I am speaking nonsense,” he shrugged his shoulders.

“Huh… I suppose…” Belle looked down at the creature which gave her another chirp. “Hi Ore, my name is Belle… suppose that was unnecessary since you do not really get the whole… name and language thing.”

The creature didn’t seem to mind at all simply letting out a chirp.

Belle looked at Ore a bit before she reached out her hand in an offering to it. “You are sort of cute…”

She was till not certain about what how it would react, but Ore reached out its little hand and grasped her finger gently and seemed to mimic a handshake while letting out another chirp.

Mr. Gold had to slightly roll his eyes. Belle glanced over at him again.

“You must really adore them… especially with how many decorations there is of them,” she said, the small creature moving closer to her before positioning her hand over its head.

“I assure you Miss French… the décor was not my idea…” he rolled his eyes, Belle subconsciously starting to scratch, feeling its scaly hide between her fingers, where it let out a happy sound.

“Well… no offence Mr. Gold… but the mansion’s décor does seem to suit you very well.” she laughed softly.

He shrugged his shoulders. “You do not want to see what would happen if they got free range to decorate… this mansion is frightening enough.”

Belle let out a laugh as she looked at the creature completely content with her scratching.

“You seem to handle this very well,” she said.

“I must confess… Ore here is rather cute… but… what is he…? And are there more of them? Where do they come from?”

Mr. Gold simply poured her another cup.

“I suppose this is going to be a long conversation, so how about we take this in the lounge, far more comfortable,” he mentioned to follow him.

Belle looked down at Ore, who gave her another chirp before it jumped down from the counter and followed Mr. Gold.

Picking up her tea she had to shake her head slowly.

After everything was settled, she grabbed one of her books… one which wasn’t really wet as she made her way down.

Again she felt she had to thank Mr. Gold… even if she was aware it would be brushed away with the rest of the thanks she had expressed. Still… she had to.

Walking down the stairs the aroma of eggs and bacon was filling her nose, making her stomach rumble slightly.

Making her way over to the kitchen where she was saw Mr. Gold was preparing a feast of eggs and bacon which could have satisfied a small army.

“Expecting guests?” she had to ask as she sat herself down on the chair watching him. Mr. Gold cocked his head.

“Not if you are not counting the unexpected one which came to my door last night…” he said as he gave her a plate of food along with a glass of water which she gratefully took.

“Again… I have to thank you for  that,” she looked down gratefully taking a piece of bacon, eating it down.

“Mmm… I am starving,” she murmured.

“Well, there are aplenty of food… besides… it seems my friends are of the opinion that I need a bit of human company,” Mr. Gold said as he handed her some more of the delicious bacon.

Belle paused a bit, curiously looking up at him.

“Your friends…?” she asked with a pondering voice. A slight grin came upon Mr. Gold’s face.

“Is it that surprising to you that I have friends Miss French?” he asked.

Belle let out a sputtering sounds, looking down and scratching the side of her head.

“Of course not… nothing like that,” she said with a low tone, concentrating on her glass of water.

Mr. Gold let out a low chuckle.

“Do not worry Miss French. I do not have much in the way of… friends. The ones I refer to as my friends… I suppose you can call them… house spirits,” he used the same word as she had last night when referring to the decorations in this mansion.

Belle had to admit that she was feeling a shiver going down her back, those statues and decorations  was rather… creepy.

“Uh… well… many speak of house spirits, yet yours seem rather… active,” she swallowed nervously. Again Mr. Gold let out an amused chuckle.

“They can be quite the… handful,” he said in a low tone. “But they do have their uses.”

“Uh… Mr. Gold… about my suitcase…”

“Yes… it was them, they really were eager for you to stay, at least for a couple of days,” he said with a shrug.

“Oh!” Belle was not certain what to think about that knowledge. But… she doubted that it seemed unlikely that if there were servants in this place that she had yet to see a sign of them… or even hear them.

“So… do you live here alone with your… friends?” she then asked. Again her host made a slow cocking motion of his head.

“Now yes. Not many makes their way out here… and those who do end up in Storybrooke, and well… I haven’t seen someone leave,” he shrugged his shoulders.

“I am sorry…” Belle whispered.

“Do not be. Never been fond of a lot of company,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders. “My friends however…”

He paused a bit as he lifted his gaze.

“They are rather excited to meet you… very much so in fact,” he said in a low tone.

Belle felt like she was still dreaming… because… this was impossible wasn’t it?

“I have tried to convince them to wait… to be patient, but they so want to meet you,” his eyes then lifted so that those golden eyes were boring into her blue ones.

Belle stopped a bit, before she took another bite. “I have to confess… this place have rather… interesting decorations.”

“Decorations?” Mr. Gold questioned.

“Yes… those strange… uh… imps? I have seen them everywhere,” Belle mentioned her hand before she sipped the wine and let out a delighted hum. “This wine is absolutely wonderful, by the way.”

“Imps huh? Suppose that is a good word for them,” he simply shrugged. “However… well… they were here before I was and I would not be able to get rid of them.”

“They are sort of endearing I think,” Belle answered.

“Oh? That is not the usual thought about them… not that I have many visitors, I can still tell that it is unusual,” Mr. Gold commented.

“They seem like house spirits,” she chuckled a bit. Gold brought a hand up to her lips with a soft laugh.

“Hmm… you certainly have an amazing imagination, if you permit me say so, Miss French,” he then said.

“I have been told that several times… trouble when you grow up with your nose in your book,” Belle said. “Makes people think that I am rather odd.”

“Better than being boring,” the older man gave a shrug of her shoulders. Belle was a bit surprised at that, however looking around she imagined that the last word one could use to describe Mr. Gold was boring. It also seemed like he would detest the description.

“Perhaps… I have to admit I would dread to hear be trapped in a life which is… boring,” she said.

“Hmm… well… is that the reason you are on your way to Storybrooke? Certainly it would be the place if you wish to escape such a fate… however…” he paused. “I do not believe you would be able to handle the consequences.”

Belle furrowed her brows. Had this come from any other man she would suspect it was hyperbole… or something he said because he thought of her as a weak woman. But that was not the feeling she got when she got from Mr. Gold. It was more like he was being gracious in warning her with what he knew. That he shared his warning out of respect, not concern.

“And… what is the consequences?” she asked, leaning closer as if they needed to keep their voices low in case someone else were listening in this empty mansion.

“Death… if you are lucky,” he man smiled. Belle half expected him to reveal his elaborate and perhaps tasteless jokes, but again she had the feeling that he was serious.

“And if I am not?” she asked.

Mr. Gold paused for a bit, cocking his head. “Oh… that depends on who you run into. But I do assure you… if you enter Storybrooke… you will not be able to leave… at least not as something anyone would recognize.”

Belle swallowed. It was true that she had read about all the people who had mysteriously vanished around the small town of Storybrooke. Hell, it was even starting to become a legend which stated that the town never existed in the first place. That it was some legend or that the town had existed at some point, but no longer did.

“They said that it might because of the mine. An accident which caused fumes to reach the surface and this may have left the town… deadly,” she swallowed. That was at least the common story.

“If you have heard of that rumor… why would you try to find a town which is supposed to be filled with deadly fumes from a mine?” Mr. Gold questioned her. Belle took a deep breath.

“Didn’t seem right… there was never any indication that this area has ever had any gas deposits, nor can I think of some who is so lethal, yet do not seem to affect the nearby area. Besides… I did not have much thoughts of where I would go. Just… gave me a destination I suppose. A mystery to uncover,” she made a hand motion.

Mr. Gold nodded. “I must confess… I cannot see that as anything other than very foolish,” he then said.

Belle chuckled as she shook her head. “Suppose it does sound rather insane now that I am saying it out loud.”

“Yes… most things do,” he said as he went back to his meal. The two ate for a couple of moments.

“So…” it was Belle who broke the silence. “Is Storybrooke far from here?”

Mr. Gold slowly shook his head. “No… in fact… had you gone the other way… I suspect that is where you would have ended up. It is just a couple of miles down the road,” he informed her. Belle swallowed.

“So… that is the nearest town then?” she asked.

“Yes… I suppose it is. But I do not go in there. I am not that foolish. It is hard to find… however…” he paused.

“What?” Belle asked, her heart in her throat.

“It would be bad if you became sick. I will make some tea and I haven’t had supper yet. I will wait for you to be ready,” he made a bow of his head.

“Again, your generosity is astonishing and I can do nothing but thank you,” she twinned her fingers nervously.

Mr. Gold simply glanced over his shoulder, before he glanced down.

“I assure you… there is no need,” he said with a low tone, before he turned his back and proceeded to walk down the hallway again before down the stairs.

“Oh,” she said with a bit surprised tone. She looked around and was surprised to find the robe and slippers by the bed as if… she has been expected. But how was that possible? Had he seen her walking up to the mansion? That could have been possible she imagined, but it seemed at first he was going to send her on her way, but had a change of heart.

It also didn’t seem that he was even wanting to have her there. It was simply something that he had accepted as necessary due to the bad weather and he could not be responsible if she died trying to find other help.

So perhaps this wasn’t for her at all… just something that he had laying out for some reason? That seemed odd as well, but… at least from what she had read people living in giant mansions by themselves tended to be a bit odd…

They also tended to be… well… if she was going to get any sort of sleep this night she should not think too closely on that.

Seated on the bed she looked at the strange sculptured bed posts, not able to keep from reaching out her hand and ran the tips of her fingers over the face of one of the carvings. She had never seen iconography like this before.

“Odd…” she whispered softly. Sleep might be a challenge.

With a sigh she started to remove her damp clothing hanging them on a chair so that they would dry.

Picking up the robe she leaned in and smelled it. It smelled clean and it was even warm. Not perhaps a surprise as the mansion itself were warm. Taking it on she felt the warmth slowly seep into her skin before he let out a long sigh.

Her shoes were dirty and her socks wet, so being able to remove them before she stepped into the slippers, moving her toes as feelings slowly started to return to them, causing them to prickle as if she was walking on needles.

“Well… if I am going to die tonight… I prefer to do it warm and cozy and not into the pouring rain…” she jested to herself as a way to calm herself down. Feeling her stomach rumble softly, she moved out of the room.

The mansion though light up by candle light was rather dark, but she could easily make her way down the hallway, the carpet thick and soft that she imagined that she would hardly would need the slippers at all.

Walking down the stairs she looked around now noticing that the carvings had been more than simply on the bedposts. Now it seemed that everywhere she looked there were carvings of the little odd creatures everywhere. Especially up against the roof where some were larger and… well… almost life like.

Belle shook her head, before she heard Mr. Gold speak to someone… however said someone did not answer back. Could he be speaking to himself? If he usually lived alone in this place she could hardly blame him for doing so. She often did this as well when she was alone. It helped when it came to thinking.

“Uh… Mr. Gold?” she asked. The speaking abruptly stopped.

“In the dining room, Miss French,” he answered her, while she did not know where that was exactly, she heard his voice easily enough.

However… when she took another glance at the carvings up by the roof… that was rather odd. She could have sworn that they were in a different position than before. As if… they had moved.

“I must really be exhausted…” Belle muttered before she finished walking down the stairs, unaware of several glowing eyes following her.

  Entering in the dining room she was surprised that there was full meal waiting for her, especially a large pot of what smelled like meat stew.

In fact… there seemed like all of the dishes were meat… she was able to see a single whole vegetable or fruit. Still… she was in no position to be picky.

“That is a lot of food…” she said. Mr. Gold looked at her, she now noticing how intense his eyes were, especially with that yellow eye color.

“Hmm…” he looked over the food. “I assure you it will eventually be eaten.”

“Still… thank you, for all of this,” she said, walking towards the chair which he mentioned towards.

“Again… you do not need to thank me,” he simply said as he poured her some of the meat stew into the plate before her.

“Well… I am still grateful. And this smells wonderful, what is it?” she said as she lifted a spoon to her face to smell it.

“Deer,” he responded as he sat himself down and started on his own meal.

“Oh, I have not had deer before,” she said as she took a bite. The meat was absolutely wonderful, especially with the warm spices and wine in the stew.

“It is good meat,” Mr. Gold said, his golden eyes falling on her as he ate.

“It really is,” Belle nodded her head. “So… Mr. Gold, do you know about the town of Storybrooke?”

Soon she saw a sign which gave her hope, mentioning towards a mansion, Caisteal Dorcha… she did not know what that meant… or if there were even people living there still. Anyway… it might give her some shelter until the rain passed.

But… there were a hope that there was a possibility for someone to live there, and if it was a large mansion they must have a phone right?

Turning onto the gravel path she hurried along up towards the mansion where she swallowed nervously. She could only hope that she would be able to get some help.

It didn’t take long until an absolutely massive mansion came into view. It looked like it was more like a castle than a mansion.

While it looked like it had come into disrepair, what made Belle’s heart fill with hope that she could get some help was the fact that she was able see some light flickering behind the thick glass of the windows.

Already she was absolutely freezing, so in hopes of perhaps getting some warmth in her she hurried along the path until she stood before the great door. Reaching out a hesitant hand she reached over and knocked on the door.

Unsure if she was being heard she reached over and knocked again.

Leaning in and listening she could hear movements on the other side… but it wasn’t the sound of humans moving about… more like… animals? She supposed… though the sound didn’t match with any animals that she was familiar with.

Deciding that she should knock again, her knuckles almost touched the wood door when it slowly creaked open.

Feeling rather nervous she took a uncertain step inside.

“Hello?” she asked, looking for the one who had opened the door, but it seemed to have done so by itself.

“Is anyone there?” she took further steps inside. The mansion was a lot warmer than she had expected, as she had always imagined that a large place such as this and made of stone would have to be cold. That was how the books described them anyway.

Belle almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the door slam shut behind her follow by the sound of the lock snapping shut.

“Oh… no! No… no, no, no! NO!” Belle said with fear in her voice as she ran over and tried to open the door, but it was indeed locked.

“Great…” she sighed to herself scratching the side of her head. Now she had to also explain to whoever lived in this place that she had managed to lock herself inside their house. She could only hope that they wouldn’t arrest her for trespassing or something.

That would have to be a problem for when it came up… after all… she was already locked inside so…

“Also… if they are able to call the police… that means they have a phone… I suppose that is good,” Belle said to herself… trying not to think about if that if they decided to kill her no one would ever find out what happened to her.

“At least it is warm…” she thought, delighting in feeling how the warmth spread through her body.

“Um… hello?” she asked as she looked around. “Hello. My name is Belle French! I do not mean to intrude, but… well I got locked inside!”

She continued to walk further into the mansion, trying to catch a view of the people living there. In such a big mansion there should be people everywhere, shouldn’t there?

Belle swallowed. This place… despite not looking the part… almost seemed abandoned. But still… how come she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched?

Shaking her head she wandered down the hallway.

“Um… hello?” she was starting to doubt that she would find anyone else… what if this was haunted? With the door opening by itself and everything else…

The young woman felt the hairs on her back stand up. No… there wasn’t such a thing as ghosts were there?

Swallowing she continued on.

“At least I can warm up…” she kept speaking to herself, trying desperately to ignore the fact that she was utterly alone.

She found herself in a large living room, glancing around. It had a lot of stuff in it… mostly things that were antiques… and rather valuable.

Did someone leave all this stuff? That wasn’t possible. This place couldn’t be abandoned, she reminded herself when she looked at the myriads of candles placed all around. If this place abandoned they would surely have burned out long ago and it didn’t look like someone had left in a hurry.

Still… she could not shake the feeling that she were being watched… by several eyes digging into her skin.

“Um… is anyone here?”

She glanced around, her fingers playing with the tip of her hair, swallowing nervously.

“What are you doing here?”

Belle almost felt herself jump out of her skin at the sound of the voice. Spinning around she saw a man standing in the door opening.

She hadn’t even heard his steps! Her hand over her chest she attempted to catch her breath.

“I am terribly sorry. My name is Belle French… my car… it broke down not far from this mansion,” Belle spoke quickly to make herself calm down so that she did not seem like an utter lunatic.

“Bad luck…” the man cocked his head towards her.

“Very… but I found this mansion and… I was knocking… and the door opened and… locked behind me,” Belle said with a nervous tone. The man practically rolled his eyes at this.

“Of course they did…” he said in a low tone.

“They?” she asked nervously.

“It,” the man seemed to correct himself. “However… it doesn’t seem like your luck has grown any better sadly.

“Oh…” Belle said with a shiver go down her back. Was she in danger? Was this some madman? Unknown for her she started to back away nervously.

“Yes…” the man made an exaggerating movement with his hand. “No electricity I am afraid. No phone… so I am afraid that I cannot call anyone to come assist you with your car.”

“OH!” Belle exclaimed… well that certainly explained all the candles around… “I am sorry for the intrusion…”

“It is getting late… I should perhaps head out… do you have a map or something to the nearest town?” she asked.

“Yes, I should, I will…” the man’s voice faded out, glancing behind himself.

“Uh… excuse me for a moment,” he excused himself before he walked away. Belle was left standing there and furrowing her brows. She certainly hadn’t heard anything.

“Odd…” she whispered to herself. The man looked to be in his fifties, dressed head to toes in heavy robes which seemed to be out of date in the last centuries. It must have been absolutely sweltering to wear however. Belle was certain that she would be able to wear her summer dress in here and still feel nice and warm.

The man was even wearing gloves.

The wait seemed to be long however, before the man came back.

“Uh… it seems that it might be unwise for you to go out in this weather. If you want… you could stay. It might be better weather in the morning, and… well light. For a woman to walk alone… something could happen. It will also get easier to help with your car,” he hardly met her eyes.

While Belle was very happy at the prospect of not having to go out again and be able to stay in a warm place for the night. But… what had changed his mind.

“Thank you. I really do appreciate your generousness Mr… uh… I do not have your name,” she said, wondering if staying there was a good thing as she knew nothing of this man. However… it certainly wasn’t better freezing to death in this weather… no matter who she could encounter in the middle of the night.