#securityguard!rumple

“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. 

Shaking her head she moved towards the entrance where she found a note attached to the door on the side.

Glancing at it she found an overly neat handwriting. The author had the precision of a typewriter. She envied that as her scribbles were just passable as readable. Most of the time at least.

Reading the note it confirmed it was from Mr. Spinner.

“Hello, Belle.

I have left the door open for you.

I have some work to do in the old theater.

Please come see me there when you arrive.

If I recall it was your favorite when you were a child.

Cannot wait to see you again,

Mr. Spinner.”

Isabelle furrowed her brows as she continued to glance at the letter, having to read it over and over again to take in what the letter was saying.

It seemed that this Mr. Spinner remembered quite a lot about her.

He still called her Belle… she hadn’t been called that in such a long time, but her grandfather always called her that, so it made sense if Mr. Spinner worked with him, that was the name he would most likely know her by.

But…

Had she just… totally forgotten about him? She could not remember anyone called Mr. Spinner…

Nor had her parents ever spoken about someone like that.

Perhaps she was thinking too much about it. After all… she was a young child when she last was at Avonlea… perhaps when she saw him she would remember him.

Children weren’t the best when it came to names after all.

Still… a strange apprehension came upon her. Perhaps she should not go in there to meet a strange man all alone.

Isabelle shook her head, she was being utterly stupid…

After all… her imagination had always been rather… wild. Still… she made certain that she had the pepper spray with her as she walked into the door to the park.

  Walking through it she found that it was completely abandoned. Again… that was not a surprise. She knew that Avonlea was abandoned… but it was still strange to see it like that.

Isabelle was surprised just how much she remembered as she walked down the cobblestone streets.

While everything was different… she still KNEW this place. Intimately.

The memories washed over her.

This place had always been so dear to her. Of course she had just been a small child, but… this place felt like… home.

Storybrooke itself never really had. She had always expected that when she came back from Australia that she would feel something… but… no… there had been nothing like that…

Here however…

Here she felt that…

She was home… finally. It was totally abandoned… it was broken and forgotten… but it was home…

Isabelle in the distance saw the old theater.

She had been there several times… was that not the entrance to her grandfather’s office… or was she remembering that right?

Something about that didn’t feel right. But when her grandfather took her to work they would enter the theater and then all of the sudden… they would be at the office with all the cool stuff.

That was all she could remember at least…

But… why did the apprehension simply grow within her?

Had… had something happened in the theater?

Isabelle shook her head slightly. Again… she was just being silly…

“Get it together Isabelle…” she groaned to herself as she gathered up the courage before she stepped out into the theater.

It was dark inside, only light which came past the dusty windows was all that gave light in this place.

“Well… didn’t assume that it would be much in the way of electricity…” she muttered softly before she continued to wander further inside.

“Uh… Mr. Spinner?” she asked as she glanced around. “It is Miss French. We talked on the phone earlier.”

“AaaH… LittlE BellE! I am in the bacK!” there was the same voice on the phone… with an electronic crackle. Which… it was the same odd sensation on the phone, but… there was no phone now.

So… why did she still hear that static sound?

She continued further inside however, now her curiosity had taken over and she felt that she had to know.

In the back she saw a man hunched over working on something.

“Mr. Spinner…?”

The man… or… was it a man? He certainly did not move as one… slowly rose up and turned towards her.

He was not a man…

Isabelle was so shocked that she tried her best to scramble backwards which caused her to lose her balance and fell on the floor, but she was in such shock that she couldn’t even feel it.

“You…” she said stunned.

“So… you DO rEmEmber mE AftEr All?” the animatronic teased her as he moved closer to her, the crackling now far more prominent.

“You… you… you are not real! You are… you are a nightmare! NOTHING MORE THAN A NIGHTMARE!” the young woman was clutching her fists at the side of her hair.

He couldn’t!

This thing… It couldn’t be real!

She had been told her entire life that what she had seen as a child wasn’t real! That… that she was just having nightmares!

Everyone had said so… her parents, the therapists, her friends.

But he WAS real! He was there and…

And that meant…

It was as if it had vanished from the face of the earth. That did not comfort him at all.

Perhaps it was deactivated and rotted away in some hidden corner in the park… but… he doubted that it would be that easy.

Rum was not certain how much Belle thought about that animatronic, but he had seen her look over her shoulder when they did the rounds, her blue eyes staring into the darkness, looking for something.

They had not spoken about it… but he felt if they would have to, if they started to go down this path… no doubt they had to deal with him.

As the sun started to rise, the both of them got into the truck and then drove back to Rum’s place, where they shared breakfast with Neal, Belle eagerly telling him about how she had met her friend.

“So… are all the animatronics… like you?” he had to ask Belle. Belle cocked her head slightly, tapping her chin with her finger.

“No… I don’t think so…” she said. “Most… most were just machines I suppose. I do not know what I am if I am not just a machine, but that somehow seem right…”

“It does Belle… you are very… human…” Rum swallowed slightly. Neal nodded his head to second his father’s statement.

“Yeah… I mean… I don’t get it… but… yeah…” the teenage boy agreed with his father. Belle smiled towards them.

“Thank you both… I am very happy. I feel I have a home here…” she said, her voice making a happy crackle. “I just… don’t think that I can be happy to know that the rest of them are still back there and… like I was before Rum found me.”

Her glowing blue eyes glanced over at her dearest friend who had done so much for her.

How could she ever repay him? He had taken her from that darkened damp theater and given her a home… and let her meet his son.

She was so happy. She owed him everything.

“And we are happy that you are here,” Rum assured her, reaching out his hand before he rested it on her shoulder plate, earning him a gentle smile.

Neil was getting himself ready for school, having been made aware of the information that he had ordered had arrived at the library. He had yet to tell his father or Belle herself about his plan… he figured he could do that if he actually found something, or when he knew there were nothing to find there.

They both looked so exhausted in their own ways and with what they had told him about what had happened… they had a rough night and needed rest… or charge in Belle’s case…

He just hoped that he could have good news for them…

But he was worried that he wouldn’t.

Breakfast now having been put behind them, Neal said his goodbye to the animatronic and his father before running along to school, as they were getting ready for bed.

Rum looked over at the animatronic, giving her a gentle smile before he reached out and took her hand in his.

“Come now… time for you to get some rest,” he murmured softly. “We have a big night tomorrow…”

Belle nodded and allowed the security guard to lead her into his room… or their room now she supposed.

“Yes… I am very exited,” she smiled towards him. “But… I worry…”

“About him?” Rum asked, turning towards her. Belle nodded her head. It seemed that she worried about the same things that he did.

“I know… I worry about him too…” Rum admitted. He wanted to tell her that he was going to protect her… but he wasn’t certain what he could do against that thing.

“I… I don’t know where he is… what he is doing…” Belle’s voice box showed uncertainty with how it crackled softly. “I remember… when that happened… it was bad. I don’t remember in what ways it was bad… but… it always was.”

Rum could not keep from feeling the chill from going down his back.

“Well… we will handle it…” he attempted to comfort her, even if he was absolutely terrified of that machine and he had no confidence in his own ability to actually do something against it.

He was keeping his taser close. “And… perhaps… if we manage to find others… they can help too. He is only one machine… we will outnumber him and I will not let him deceive you once again… and certainly not let him put you under that curse again.”

Belle blinked her eyes, making an audible click, before she pulled him into another hug, Rum having to brace himself slightly as her metal body was quite more solid  than his fleshy one. He would never ask her to stop though…

Slowly he brought his arms around her, patting her back slightly.

“But now we need rest…” He then said with a soft voice.

“Yes… my battery certainly could use a charge… almost looks like yours too need it… even if I am plenty certain that humans do not have batteries…” she pondered a bit before she released her grip on the security guard.

Rum had to laugh at her statement, before giving a shrug. “I mean… we do use that word… even if we don’t have batteries… but I suppose it is not that different.”

“No… perhaps we aren’t all that different…” she felt rather flustered at that, feeling that the parts within her ran a bit hotter than usual.

“No… perhaps we aren’t,” he smiled softly towards her. “I think that is good…”

Belle nodded in agreement. “Yeah… I think so…”

And with that they decided to go to get the rest that they so sorely needed, Belle now from the start settling down beside Rum’s best, resting her head next to his, before she went into the sleep mode. Rum remained awake for some time… simply looking into her face, smiling softly, before exhaustion pulled him into the realm of sleep.

  School ended and Neal had been watching the clock practically since he entered the classroom, so ready to get out to rush over to the library. He never quite had imagined that he would be the one eager to get to such a place.

“Where are you running off to?” Neal heard the voice of Emma behind him.

“Library!” he said, but stopped enough for her to catch up for him.

“About that abandoned amusement park?” Emma asked as she strode beside him, seemingly having decided to join him.

“Yeah… not sure if it will be anything interesting though,” he shrugged his shoulders as they were now heading into the downtown where the library was located.

“Well… can still be interesting I suppose… I mean… SOMETHING must have happened,” Emma agreed with a nod.

Neal hesitated slightly, but it was not as if he could really tell her not to join him, she seemed invested in the situation.

Again he felt guilty that he was keeping Belle a secret from her… but… it was necessary to keep her secret right now. He didn’t think Emma would tell something, and he certainly hoped that he would be able to tell her soon.

He just wanted more information about what was actually going on before he told her anything.

  As they walked, they spoke about the amusement park, as well as everything else which came into their mind, when Emma reached out to grab Neal’s arm, forcing them into a stop.

“What?” Neal looked over to her, seeing how she stared into the dark alley behind the library. “What is it?”

Emma seemed absolutely shaken, something which Neal hadn’t experienced often.

“I just…” she shook her head. “I just thought I saw something…”

“What?” Neal felt a chill go down his spine for some reason.

“Just… I thought I saw a man… but with glowing yellow eyes… I must have imagined something…” she shook her head. “I think I got tricked by the trash piled up there. Don’t worry. I was being stupid.”

“Alright…” Neal hesitated, but he was more than happy to leave this place and get into the safety of the library.

  Storybrooke public library was quiet always, and that was nothing different when the two teenagers walked into the main hall. For a moment they thought that it was completely empty, but then the librarian came in with an armful of book which she let down on the desk with a pleased sigh, before she noticed the two in the library.

“Oh, hello,” she said in her Australian accent.

“Hi, Miss French,” Neal began. “I got the message that the stuff I ordered came in.”

“Oh yes! The article about the amusement park!” she exclaimed as she rushed in the back, coming back with the armful of papers.

“Absolutely fascinating. Is it from a school project?” she asked.

“Uh… no… my dad works there,” Neal explained. “Got a bit curious y’know?”

The librarian nodded to herself. “If my grandfather was still alive, I would introduce you to him. I am certain that he could tell you stories!” she exclaimed then.

Neal and Emma furrowed their brows, sharing a look.

“Uh… your grandfather?” he then asked.

“He actually worked at the park when it was open. He was actually in charge of the animatronics. Avonlea had some of the most advanced animatronics for the time and his work was pretty secret at the time. There is a lot of trade secrets in the industry,” she went onto explain.

Neal felt a shiver going down his spine. “That is… quite interesting.”

That was all that he could really say. He now took another look at the librarian Miss French. That brown hair… even some of the facial features…

“Your name wouldn’t be Belle would it?” he had to ask.

Both the librarian and Emma looked at him surprised for a moment before Miss French burst out laughing.

“How did you know?” she then asked.

“… you are not serious…” Neal said in disbelief.

“I mean, my real name is Isabelle, but at least as a child everyone would call me Belle. I was really into the Beauty and the Beast movie, still one of my favorites, so it just became… well… easy…” she explained. “But how did you guess?”

“Well… as far as my dad has told me… that is the name of one of the animatronics too… one of those that looks… advanced…” Neal tried to choose his words carefully. Even if Isabelle French was the granddaughter of the animatronics… it was most likely best that he didn’t admit that.

“Wait?! They are still there?!” the librarian then exclaimed, making Neal realize that he had already revealed far more than he had thought. Swallowing nervously he shrugged.

“Well… it certainly seems like that according to what my papa has said…” he stuttered forth, Emma having to cock her head in surprise. It seemed Neal was hiding far more about this than he first would admit.

“I never thought that they would remain…” she pondered. “I mean… why just leave them? They had to be worth something at the very least…”

“That… uh… that is something that I have been trying to find out,” the teenage boy went on to explain.

Isabelle French nodded to herself. “I can see now why you are eager. I don’t remember much… I moved to Australia when I was quite young so… I never got to spend much time around that place… but… well this is silly…”

“What is?” Neal asked.

“I was always certain that they were alive… like… really alive. No other animatronics or something ever felt as real as they…” she then said. “I was most likely just thinking that because I was a child and they were moving and speaking.”

Emma felt almost a punch in the gut as the librarian’s description… it was far more like the one she had felt herself.

“Was it like… like when no one else were around they would… speak to you… not like recorded lines, but… like actually talk to you?” she then asked.

Isabelle pondered a bit. “Well… I mostly saw them in my grandfather’s workshop and… yeah… they always were… different there than on stage I remember. My grandfather seemed apprehensive even having them close to me… I mean no wonder really, those things have some power behind them… not to mention the weight. Which… in itself is odd since… well most animatronics use air to move… that isn’t all that strong… but these were quite different I remember… hmm… I must confess you two have quite peaked my curiosity, I might just have to see about going through my grandfather’s old stuff…”

“So… do you know what happened to Avonlea? Why it was shut down?” Neal asked. Isabelle shook her head.

“No… I don’t know. We already lived in Australia by then… but I do remember that my grandfather passed around the same time,” she then said. “We didn’t go back for the funeral. I suppose that was one of the reasons that I decided to move here. Family history and all that.”

“I am sorry…” Neal began.

“Well… It happened so long ago now,” the librarian began. “Though… I would love to see Avonlea again, do you think that would be possible?”

Neal was practically reeling at this point.

“Uh… well, it is shut down, and the security guards aren’t supposed to let someone in. My father hasn’t let me in even… then again he does work nights. Perhaps if you contact the owner… though… I am not even sure who that is… but it shouldn’t be that hard to find out,” he spoke quite quickly.

“Thank you, I think I might just do that. Perhaps if I tell them who my grandfather is they will let me have a tour at the very least…” she said, finally pushing the stack of articles over to the two teenagers.

“But I should get back to work. If you find something, let me know alright? I have actually become quite interested in this little investigation of yours,” she smiled towards them.

“Sure thing,” Neal attempted to sound casual, but a lot of what he had heard actually rattled him quite a lot, and he was quite aware that Emma was quite aware of it.

Still… he chose not to speak about it right away, grabbing the stack of articles, before hurrying over to one of the tables with Emma following close behind.

  “So spill it!” Emma said, pointing towards her boyfriend, after they had sat themselves in the back of the library.  

“What do you mean?” Neal’s voice was a bit higher pitched than usually, making him cough slightly to hide his nervous tone.

“I mean… what is seriously going on? This is not just you being curious about your father’s work!” Emma insisted, grabbing Neal’s lower arm in a surprisingly rough grip. Neal hesitated for a moment.

“Uh… well… this is hard to explain… but…” he looked over his shoulder. “You have to promise that you can never tell anyone about this! Also you are going to think I am insane when I am telling you this… but everything is true.”

“Who am I going to tell? And… sure… I’ll believe you…” Emma hesitated a bit. After all… she had never known Neal to be a liar.

“Well… since my father has been working at Avonlea… he has… found something…” Neal did his best to pick his words carefully as… well this was going to sound insane regardless of how he said it, but he could at least try. Emma nodded slowly, letting out a sound to show that she was listening.

“It was… an animatronic… Belle is her name,” he continued.

“One of the super advanced ones that Miss French were talking about?” Emma sounded at once interested.

“Yeah… but… she is a bit more than advanced… she is… sentient…” he then continued.

“Sentient? Are you sure that your dad hasn’t… imagined things?” Emma found it impossible that any animatronic could be sentient. It was sci-fi stuff.

However Neal firmly shook his head. “No. I have met her! And… look… there is no faking what I have seen. She is actually… real!”

Emma shook her head. “But you said you have never been at Avonlea!”

“I haven’t! Dad… well he took her home… and I met her there,” Neal went onto explain. Emma’s eyes showed the shock that she was feeling.

“Your father stole an animatronic?!” she then asked.

“No! … I mean… technically yes…” he swallowed slightly. “But… it is not really stealing someone who is sentient and she came here willingly. He had to do it. She was in danger.”

“From what? She must have been there for… years… decades about. What is dangerous to her now?” she asked.

“Well… there is this other animatronic. A bad one. The Rumplestiltskin animatronic. He is… well… he has hurt Belle… so it was… safer…” Neal swallowed. “Look… it is more like she is a person rather than an animatronic.”

“You have to realize that this sounds pretty insane…” Emma said.

“I am telling the truth… you can believe me or not… but you said it yourself remember? That when you were young you thought Snow White and the Prince Charming were real? That they would speak differently to you when you were alone? As if they were… sentient?” Neal continued his questioning.

“I was a stupid child… that is…” Emma just shook her head.

“I am not lying. Now… papa or Belle has not said anything about them… but what if what you experienced when you were a child wasn’t just your imagination?” Neal questioned.

“You are fucking with me,” Emma said with a exasperated sigh.

“I am not…” Neal said. “Even Miss French said the same, remember? She too thought they were ‘real’.”

“Well… she was also a child!” Emma insisted.

“Look… you don’t have to believe me,” he sighed softly, turning to the articles. “But it is true.”

“If it is true… then… let me meet her? Let me meet Belle,” she then insisted.

Neal swallowed nervously, rubbing his chin as he thought.

“I have to talk with papa first… and Belle. Honestly… I do not think that Belle will mind… she seems to really enjoy company, but my dad… well… I don’t think he is going to be pleased by the fact that I have told you… after all… if people were to find out what is going on… they might hurt her… or worse. Look she is innocent in all of this and we have to be careful. Something is going on… and I think it has to do with what happened in Avonlea all those years ago. Why it was shut down… and why no one has tried to access it or sell of the assets. I mean… can you imagine what those super advanced animatronics are worth?” Neal asked.

Emma made a slight nod of her head. “I am not sure I believe that the animatronics are actually sentient… but you are right. Something is going on. If there was an accident… wouldn’t everyone know? I mean… it is Storybrooke. Nothing happens here! It would be the talk of the town for years and no one would forget it! Hell, Avonlea was the biggest attraction in this sleepy little town for ages!”

Neal nodded his head. “Yeah. So… I believe the answer is in here…” he pointed towards the stack of articles.

“Best get to reading then… I still want to meet Belle though,” she pointed towards him before she grabbed one of the articles and proceeded to read.

“I will talk to them later and let you know…” he assured her, before doing the same, silence falling upon the library with the two teenagers reading and taking notes and the librarian slowly stocking the shelves… unaware of glowing yellow eyes staring at them from the crack of the door in the utility closet.

So for the choice:  1. Shall Rumplestiltskin realize that the librarian is the granddaughter of the scientist?  2. Or shall he mistake her for Animatronic!Belle?

If you chose nr.1 he will lure her to Avonlea and show her... behind the scenes... to say it like that. If you chose nr2 Isabelle French is going to have a very interesting evening...

“I mean… she was when she knew them. Humans tend to grow as they age… at least to a certain age…” Neal explain.

“Oh! I knew that!” Belle chirped in, though Neal and Rum wasn’t entirely sure if she spoke the truth.

“But anyways, if she is the same Emma then Snow and Charming did speak about her! They told me they needed to protect her that she was their daughter… I didn’t really expect her to be… you know… human…” she shrugged her plated metal shoulders.

“Why would they say that they are her parents?” Rum had to ask.

“Well… because she asked them to be. Is that not how that works?” Belle cocked her head. Rum and Neal had to share a look.

“Not normally no…” Rum answered, while Neal having to suppress a laugh.

“Then how did you get Neal?” the machine asked. Rum had now turned a shade of red.

“Uh… now is not the time for that conversation,” the security guard was not prepared to have the birds and the bees talk with a sentient animatronic right now.

“Oh… later then. But we really should get Emma reunited with her parents!” she then chirped up.

“Belle…” Rum began. “It is not going to be that easy… they are not her parents…”

The light in Belle’s eyes dimmed a bit. “But… she asked…”

“She was a child, Belle… and human children… they grow up. They change a lot… and… they do not remain the same. She is going to be very different than when they saw her last… and I am not sure how much she actually remembers of them…” he tried his best to console her, but not to delude her in order to spare her feelings.

Neal swallowed. “She was also apparently hurt last time she saw them. She has a scar on her arm. Made by what she described as a monster with glowing yellow eyes…”

“Rumplestiltskin…” the name came as a soft crackle past Belle’s metal lips.

“Yeah… that was the last time she saw them… something happened to her… and something likely happened to Snow White and Prince Charming as well…” Neal said. “He has done something to them… have you… have you seen them at all?”

Both his father and the animatronic had to shake their heads.

“You think he did something… really bad to them?” Neal whispered.

“He doesn’t like it when we speak to humans… we are not supposed to do that… he… he can do stuff. That the rest of us can’t. Like place us under the curse…” again her voice was low. “But… I do fear he can do… more than that.”

A silence fell between the three of them as all of them were certain that he could have done something like that.

“But… regardless of what happened… I want to meet Emma! At least to tell her that they talked about her… and that they missed her… and if he hasn’t done something too horrible to them… no doubt they still miss her…” she then turned towards Rum, a pleading tone in that electronic voice.

Rum let out a long sigh, before he nodded his head. It wasn’t as if he could deny her that. It was important to her it seemed… besides… it seemed his boy had already told his girlfriend everything, even if she did not seem to believe him. Not that he could blame the girl for that. He still wasn’t certain if he believed all of it himself at times…

“Alright…” he then responded. “How about you invite Emma to dinner after school tomorrow? I think that should give her time to… well… come to terms with all of this.”

Neal gave his dad a soft smile.

“Thank you papa… I knew you would understand,” he said before he gave his father a hug… which soon was joined in by the animatronic, who happily embraced the both of them.

Rum could not help but to chuckle slightly.

“Still… me and Belle have to get ready for work soon,” he then said.

“Yes!” Belle agreed. “I can also talk to Ruby. She was far closer with Snow White than I was! She might know what happened!”

“Thank you Belle,” Neal said… though found he was actually quite stuck since… well the animatronic hadn’t let go of either him or his dad yet… and it was a hold that the teenager had no hope of breaking.

“No problem! Happy to help!” Belle chirped.

“Though… if we are going to do so… you kind of have to let us go…” Rum was just as stuck as his son. Belle blinked in confusion a bit, before she realized and let the both of them go.

“Sorry!” she exclaimed, still with that smile present on her faux lips.

“It is fine… let us just… get ready,” Rum smiled towards her before they gathered their stuff and the security and the animatronic was headed towards another night at Avonlea.

  When they arrived it seemed that Archie had already left.

“Well… I didn’t think that he would hang around…” Rum let out a soft sigh. Again… he could hardly blame the security guard. At least his car wasn’t there anymore… so it was unlikely that he had gotten himself into anymore trouble.

“Hmm… it would be nice to speak to him…” Belle said with a soft tone cocking her tone. “You think he visited Ruby? I know she would have loved to see him again!”

“I do not think that he would. He is still rather scared when it comes to… well… all of this…” the security guard said as they slowly moved towards the park.

“I suppose… hopefully he will be alright…” she sighed. “Not everyone will be… like you or Neal, huh? Like… they won’t all accept us?”

Rum let out a long sigh. “Sadly… no… which is why I worry about too many knowing about you and the rest…”

Belle nodded. “I think you are right… I am happy I was found by you Rum… I wouldn’t know what to do had you not been the one to find me.”

“So am I…” he whispered.

  The rest of the shift progressed rather quietly. Belle had spent a couple of hours speaking with Ruby, Rum finding that they needed time to catch up.

He was happy that she was able to have a friend… even if she was still under the so called “curse”.

He himself was trying to go through some of the records in the security office, especially trying to find some maps or any indication of where the other animatronics might be… or any notion of where the underground place that they were taken to where. Or what that might be.

However… there was no sign of anything and the best map he could find was an old map for visitors.

Well… at least it was better than nothing. It had the old names of the buildings and what to be found there… again… something…

Then again… both Belle and Ruby had been hiding pretty well… not to mention that terrifying Rumplestiltskin animatronic… which they still hadn’t seen any sign off…

He always wondered where he would be hiding… no doubt if any of the animatronics knew how to get into that hidden underground lab… or… whatever the place was… sounded right. No doubts where they got repaired.

That was another worry of his…

What if something were to happen to Belle? Like she needed some part replaced… or got damaged…

Rum could not even bear to think about that.

Of course she had remained functional after all that time in the abandoned theater, but…

At this point he could not bear to loose her… so… if there was tools there to help her… he needed to find that place… no doubt everything was left… after all… if they left the animatronics…

Rum could still not understand… no doubt it had something to do with whatever happened to make the park shut down…

Though what that was…

All he could think that it had to do with Rumplestiltskin… and where he was hiding… which meant at some time they might have to confront him…

And Rum already dreaded that day.

  After Belle had returned from her talk with Ruby, they simply wandered the park, stopping at the castle.

“That is where Snow White and Prince Charming is supposed to be right?” Rum asked.

“I mean… I think so. They said they lived in a castle at least…” she explained. “Not that I went to meet them there. But Ruby said too that they lived in there…”

Rum walked up to the big doors of the castle though it seemed that they were locked… or bolted closed from the inside.

“Well… we are not getting in this way… not without power tools in any case…” he sighed. “Though it would be good to look for another way in.”

“Why… would it be locked from the inside?” Belle had to ask.

“I… I don’t know…” Rum had to state. “We can’t be certain if it is indeed locked from the inside… but if it is… perhaps they were trying to keep something out…” he then suggested.

“Perhaps they are inside…” Belle went up and tried to knock. However there was no response.

“Or perhaps not…” she cocked her head.

“They could still be hiding… after all… if Rumplestiltskin did something to them…” Rum swallowed. Belle looked towards him.

“I hope they are alright…” she whispered.

“So do I…” Rum whispered. “Tomorrow night… I will bring something to make us able to enter this castle… get a bolt cutter or something. There should also be another entrance… a fire escape. At worst that should have the hinges on the outside so they can be taken off if nothing else… let us just hope that this place follow fire safety procedures…”

Belle simply looked at him and made a shrug which made Rum let out a sigh.

“Or if that doesn’t work we break a window somewhere… either way… the bolt cutters should help us…” he then sighed.

“I am sure they will,” Belle smiled at him.

“Well… I suppose we should just rest up… there isn’t much more left of the shift…” Rum said as they started to make their way back to the security guard office.

“I like that plan, we need to be well rested for the dinner with Emma tomorrow too!” Belle could not hide her excitement.

“Yes…” Rum was rather more worried about that than Belle was, but now was not the time. “That is true…”

With that both the machine and the security guard settled into the office until the sun started to rise on the horizon when they were able to leave for home.

  Isabelle French had just woken up around 9 am, when she decided that she would make a call to the amusement park office to see about a meeting as it was her day off.

It was on the third ring that it was picked up.

“Hello, this is Mr. Spinner talking, how may I help you?”

“Hello, Mr. Spinner, my name is Isabelle French, I am aware that you do not know…”

“Oh… little Isabelle French. I remember you. Mr. Zoso’s grandchild, unless I have mistaken you for someone else.”

The voice on the other end responded. Isabelle French blinked in confusion.

“I mean… yes I am. I am sorry I don’t quite remember you…”

“You were a very young child the last time we met.”

Isabelle noted that Mr. Spinner’s voice was a bit… off… but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Perhaps it was the connection which made his voice sound a bit more… static.

“I suppose… still… I do apologize.”

“You really does not have to. But what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

Isabelle swallowed slightly.

“I am aware that Avonlea has been closed down… but I was wondering if it was possible to get a tour of the place… I am writing a paper about my grandfather’s work and wanted to see the place where he worked,” that part was a lie, but she felt as if she needed some sort of excuse.

There was a soft pause at the other side.

“I am actually at the park today if you are able to get here. I could give her a personal tour.”

The librarian had never been expected that it would be this easy.

“I would love that. I can be there in an hour,” she was quick to respond.

“I will be by the old theater… please just make your way inside. The door by the security office will be open,” he explained.

“Alright. I will see you soon, Mr. Spinner,” she said, excitement filling her.

“I am looking forward to it,” the man on the other side said before hanging up the phone.

 In Avonlea’s abandoned theater the phone hidden in the back room was hung up, the only light being two glowing yellow eyes.

“No… I am alright…” she assured him with a gentle smile. “My memory isn’t the best… but I remember this place… underground. We would be taken there… at times. Usually if something had happened to us… but it happened from time to time…”

Rum leaned closer to her, taking her segmented hands in his own, gently rubbing his fingers over it. Belle smiled gently towards him. She could not really feel it… but… there was comfort there. No one had really done this to her… and now she could not keep from wanting more.

She didn’t really know how he would think about how much she adored these touches that she couldn’t quite feel. But she was eternally happy that he did not really have any trouble sharing something so… human with her.

“Underground… here in the park?” he asked, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible as he knew that this would be very hard for her. But he could not deny that his heart was pounding rather loudly.

She nodded her head. “Uh… yes… I think so… but I just sort of woke up there. But… I do not think they took us far.”

“Do you remember something about riding in a car… something moving like my truck?” he tried to figure out what he remembered, but however he was well aware that it was quite possible that she was shut off or in sleep mode when she had been transported.

However Belle shook her head.

“No… we were just sort of… lead there. But… I cannot really remember where we were lead. But we just knew that when “they” came, the ones who dressed in black… then we would go to that place. They didn’t even show their face. I remember I was scared of them… but we had to go with them…” Belle said. Rum sat there astonished by there new revelations coming from the animatronic.

“You never told me this before,” he said, still trying his best to take in all this new information.

“I just… didn’t quite remember… and I think… I don’t really want to remember them,” she looked almost ashamed as she turned those glowing eyes downwards, but he was quick to rest his hand on her chin.

“That sound absolutely scary… I cannot really imagine what you have been through. You are so strong Belle… far stronger than anyone that I have ever known,” he looked deeply into her blue glowing eyes. “But… I will do my best to make certain that those days for you is over. Hopefully soon you do not have to remember any of this.”

Belle couldn’t really help herself as she pulled him into a hug. Rum really could not do anything against it, since she was so much stronger than him. Still… it did not take him long before he gently reached around her and gently patted her shoulder plate.

“You are so kind to me, Rumple… you do not know how much you mean to me,” the sound coming from her voice box was so low that it had a slight crackle in it.

The security guard had to lower his head, hiding in her shoulder so that she would not see the tears gathering in the edge of his eyes.

Never in his life had he been so… wanted. So needed…

“You don’t know how much you mean to me either…” his voice was slightly raspy forcing him to swallow to ease this throat.

Both of them remained like that for some time, Rum being a bit surprised at how warm her chest was. it was even more comforting.

Finally they released the other… even if both of them would not have minded staying longer in each other’s arms, and both hoped that they would be able to experience this again soon.

“So… it was in this underground place that you met Ruby?” she asked with a shrug.

“Yes… among others. We were all rather nervous being down there… so… well… we would talk to each other. That was actually nice,” Belle said. “It was interesting hearing all of their stories.”

“I remember that you have spoken about other animatronics…” Rum said, now looking across the park.

“What about… him?” he then asked.

“He was down there as well… he didn’t like it. I think… I think he was more aware about what was going on than the rest of us… I…” she stopped her voice box crackling.

“What?” he asked nervously.

“I think it was down there… down there something happened. That he did something that made all the visitors leave… and I think… I think I was there… but… but I cannot remember what happened. It is… it something missing…” she reached slowly towards the back of her neck where the plate was.

“Uh… could he… have… uh…” he hesitated a moment. “Deleted your memory of what happened?”

Belle stared at him, before she nodded her head. “I… I think that was what he did… and put me back under… the curse…”

Rum swallowed, still holding around her hand, clutching it. This was getting more than he was able to really comprehend.

“So… what… what do want to do?” he asked her. Honestly… if it was up to him… they would think about getting out of town and never look back…

“We need to find them,” she said firmly.

“Find them?”

“The others! Like me and Ruby! They must still be here! We must find them and then… then… well I don’t know… but we cannot really just leave them here… if something were happen to them… if something has happened to them… if they are broken…” she clutched his hand a bit too hard and he had to grit his teeth slightly due to the pain, but he refused to let it show on his face.

He was still at an utter loss as to what he should do… but the look in her eyes… the fact that she wanted him to help her…

He still did not know what he could do… this was becoming so far above his head…

He was just a security guard… he had no skills or abilities… and she was expecting him to save her… and her friends… and he honestly didn’t know what he would do.

But as he looked into her glowing blue eyes… he just nodded slowly.

Rum swallowed nervously still holding on Archie who he feared was going into shock at this time, but he managed to get out a slight: “Very nice to meet you.”

Archie was simply staring widely clearly not able to deal with it in this moment.

“Uh… I should get Archie back to the office… um… if you want you can catch up with Ruby and… I will talk to you in the while,” he swallowed nervously as he glanced over at her. Belle glanced down at Archie and nodded her head slowly.

“Alright…” she said with a smile.

Rum nodded in appreciation where he practically lifted Archie to his feet and proceeded to drag him out of the haunted house.

  Archie did not make a single sound until Rum had placed him in the chair of the office and put a blanket over him.

“Gold… what the hell is going on?!” he finally asked.

Rum leaned against the desk before he crossed his arms slightly.

“Honestly… I don’t quite know… but uh… it seems that the animatronics here are… sentient…” he finally admitted.

The other security guard jumped up. “So we have been watching over this place with dangerous machines walking around!”

Gold held out his hands slightly trying to calm him down.

“Just… take a breath. Look, I don’t know much, but they are not… bad. They don’t want to hurt us… well most of them…” he swallowed.

“Most of them?” Archie demanded.

“There is one… but, you cannot tell anyone!” Rum was at this point blocking the door.

“Oh, you bet your ass I am not going to tell anyone! I will get locked up at a mental hospital if I start going on jabbering about that the animatronics are alive! Which! I am not sure if I am not insane!” Archie exclaimed.

Rum couldn’t blame Archie for his outburst. After all… he had wondered himself at times if this was just some sort of insane dream when he first got to know Belle.

Archie finally just slumped back in his chair.

“Just cannot believe the rumors were true…” he sighed…

This caught Rum’s attention.

“What rumors?” he had to ask. Archie glanced over at him.

“Well… suppose you wouldn’t know. But… well… I remember when this place was still open. It was rumored that these animatronics was… alive. That they would act… different, if you were alone with them,” he swallowed. “Suppose that was right…”

Rum swallowed, scratching the back of his head.

“Did you ever see anything then?”

“I mean… I visited once or twice… but it was over ten years ago. Hasn’t been the first time where I have been left locked in that haunted house…” Archie furrowed his brows. “I was really drunk at this time… like… really drunk, and some of my… well… they weren’t friends I suppose, locked me inside one of the backrooms. I was scared out of my mind… I thought I would never be found. Luckily there was this woman… big woman in a werewolf costume who helped me out…”

A silence fell between the two men, before Rum had to voice what was on both their minds.

“Archie… are you certain that it was someone in a costume?”

“I should go home…” Archie shivered, not meeting the other man’s eyes.

Rum simply nodded, it had been a rough night for him. He needed time… at least he wouldn’t go tell anyone about this. Rum was pretty certain that he was telling the truth about that.

“Are you going to come back tomorrow?” he then asked. Archie already had his hand on the door knob, hesitating for a moment.

“It is not like we have choice is there?” he glanced over at Rum who gave a nod. It was a feeling which he knew very well.

“Suppose not… will see you tomorrow,” he gave him a slow nod. Archie did not respond him, simply walked out of the office.

  Belle was walking back after having spoken at length with Ruby. She was very happy that her friend was alright. It had been eons since they had been able to talk… and even when they were… it was not often…

She had been almost forgotten that she was still here…

Could it be that the others was here too? After all… if the curse had been broken…

She supposed it wasn’t quite like a curse… but she didn’t have another word for it. Her eyes blinked when she saw someone coming closer. She tensed a bit, but when she saw the light of the flashlight she smiled as he bounded over happily.

“Rum? Is your friend alright?” she asked, twinning her metal fingers nervously.

“Well… he is not going to tell anyone… so you are safe… but… it is a bit of a shock,” he gave a slight nod, his heart still beating a bit quickly.

“Oh, that is good!” Belle nodded her head quickly. “Ruby really didn’t mean to scare him. She had met him before and thought he would be alright with… you know… us.”

Rum let out a low sigh, before he nodded his head.

“He thought she was a person in a costume…” Rum then noticed the confused look on Belle’s face. “Uh… he was drunk.”

That part did not seem to alleviate her confusion.

“It does not matter…” he smiled softly towards her. “But Belle… is there more animatronics here other than… him?”

Belle paused a bit.

“Uh… I suppose so… my memory is still fussy…” from the glow of her blue eyes he could imagine that she was searching her memory.

“Yeah… you did think for the longest time that this place wasn’t quite… like it is…” Rum attempted to do his best to comfort her.

“Yes… Ruby sees it like that I think… I… I didn’t know if I should wake her. Not until…” her voice faded out. “I am also worried about… him. If more wakes up…”

Rum swallowed. “Suppose we should go back to the office and…”

He glanced out into the empty park, but knowing now that it was far from empty…

“No. I don’t actually remember much. I was like… five. Ran away from another home. Hey that is hardly new. I used to believe that my parents were prince Charming and Snow White. I was… a rather strange child. The orphan who had found parents who didn’t reject her… too bad they were not real,” she sighed. Neal swallowed. He knew Emma lived in a youth home, having run away from all the foster homes she had in the past.

“But…”

“What?” Neal asked.

“You are going to think I am insane,” she then said.

“Look… I am not going to think  that,” he assured her. What could be more insane than a living sentient animatronic who he had eaten breakfast with?

“It is just… I could swear that if no one was around they… the animatronics I mean, would act different,” she then said.

“Different how?” Neal moved even closer. Could it be… that Belle was not the only one?

“Like… real? They would speak to me, like… not voice lines… but actually respond and praise me, ask questions and such… look I must have just imagined that part, but… the memories feel pretty real,” Emma then admitted. “I… I think that was why I thought they were my parents and I wanted to go live with them. But… something happened.”

Neal was practically at the edge of his chair. “What?”

“There was this monster… this monster with yellow glowing eyes. He tried to take me, but they protected me. I was found by them in the morning. I was scratched pretty badly on the arm,” she rolled up the sleeve showing a couple of old scars going across her forearm. “See. I have no idea where they came from had it not been from that monster. I cannot remember being hurt except for when that monster grabbed me.”

She took her sleeve down, Neal staring astonished. His father had said Belle could not remain at the amusement park which was why she was staying with them now.

“And you haven’t gone back since?” he had to ask.

“No… haven’t had a reason… and I haven’t dared to be honest. Hey, are you looking into this because your father has seen something?” she asked.

“Yeah… there is something strange going on there,” Neal had to admit that. Emma breathed out slightly leaning her chin on her hand as she thought.

“Hey, have you checked the library? They must have records of whatever happened right? Old newspapers and stuff like that?” she asked after a while. Neal light up at once.

“No. I haven’t. But I will, the moment school is out,” he nodded.

“I’ll come, you have me curious,” Emma nudged him. “Still class is starting. Miss Mills is such a pain.”

She rolled her eyes, Neal sighing too before they wandered to class.

  Rum Gold stirred softly, and seeing someone close caused him to startle, his forehead slamming into a metal skull, causing him to groan.

Belle’s glowing eyes widened with worry as Rum was clutching his head slightly.

“Rumple! You alright?” she asked, resting her arms on him, trying to figure out why he was acting so odd.

“I am fine… just… not used to waking up next to someone so close,” he rubbed his forehead, finding that he was actually pinned to the bed by the animatronic’s arms laying across his chest.

“I am sorry I was just… I wanted to be close,” Belle could not say why she wanted to be closer to the human, they were in the small room together and it was certainly not a big room. Rum gave her a gentle smile before nodding his head.

“It is fine,” he assured her. “I will get used to it.”

A smile came upon her faux lips.

“So… what are we going to do today?” she then asked as she watched him sit himself up when she allowed him to get up. Rum still had to rub his head, aching still. The human skull really did not have anything against metal it would seem.

“Well… I haven’t planned anything,” he shrugged her shoulders. “However…”

He hesitated slightly.

“I have to go back to Avonlea in the evening… being a security man… that is my job,” he then said. It was a job he would gladly quit… but living paycheck to paycheck… he had no other choice, but to go back. At least until he could find something else.

Not that there were anything other work in this little town.

The animatronic sat herself up, her blue glowing eyes meeting his.

“I’ll come with,” she said firmly. Rum visibly hesitated.

“Belle…” he began.

“I have to. I can keep you safe, trust me!” she grabbed his hand.

“But what if he hurt you?!” he then blurted out his fear. Belle shook her head firmly.

“He won’t. He won’t hurt me,” she said.

“How can you know that?” he said.

“Because I am like him… I...” her eyes looked down. “I do not want to stay there anymore. I do not want to be under his spell anymore. His curse… but more than anything I do not want him to hurt you.”

Rum lowered his head, her strong metal arms holding him in place.

“I… I do not want you to be hurt either,” he admitted his fear, looking into her glowing blue eyes.

“We… we can just stay in the office… I also have a taser. I do not know what that would do to him… but it is something…” he then said. “Also… we are close to the truck so we can get away if he appears,” Rum then said, though his face was filled with worry.

He didn’t want to go back. Belle was the only good thing about that place and now that she was here…

But he had no other choice.

“Yes, that sounds like a wonderful idea!” She light up, the glow of her eyes growing stronger. “We could bring some books to pass the time!”

Rum had to give a soft laugh as he nodded. “Yes… we can certainly do that.”

  The hours before work started had gone far too fast in Rum’s opinion. Once Neal came back from school, no doubt having had some fun with his friends too as he was a bit late, they had all had dinner together.

Neal had gone to the library like he had planned earlier in the day, but they had to order the papers they needed from the archive on the other side of the town, but they should arrive tomorrow. They had asked the librarian if she had known what had done on there, but she had only moved to Storybrooke from Australia a couple of years ago.

Still… what happened must be in the archives right? The newspapers certainly must have written about what was going on.

For now he had decided to keep his investigation secret from his father and Belle. Best not to let them know until he was certain that he had something.

“Are you certain it is wise to go back dad? Didn’t you bring Belle here for a reason?” he asked. His dad and Belle hadn’t really said why she couldn’t stay at Avonlea anymore… not that he minded… the animatronic was really nice.

“I have no other choice, laddie,” Rum sighed.

“But don’t worry we will be careful. We will be in the guard office and read,” the animatronic mentioned to the stack of books that she had eagerly picked out for tonight.

“Well… that is good, just… be careful alright?” Neal clearly had a worry in his voice.

“We will,” his father informed him. “Reading is all the excitement we will have tonight.”

Neal really didn’t know how that was possible when you would be spending time with an actual living animatronic.

“Alright… but be safe… and if some animatronic… you know… other than Belle, promise you get out of there!” he then insisted.

Rum nodded.

“Yes, we will,” he said, swallowing nervously. It was nothing which could have him stay if that… thing, showed itself. Rum knew he was a coward, but in this instance, he was certain that no one would blame him.

“Alright then…” Neal swallowed as he nodded his head. “You two have a safe night, I will see you in the morning.”

“Tomorrow lad,” Rum nodded as he ushered the animatronic out to his truck. Luckily it was already getting dark, not that there were many who walked past the small house even during the middle of the day.

Most of the time… the street was practically abandoned.

Still with making sure that no one could see her they piled into the car and drove off towards Avonlea.

  Pulling into the parking, quite the large lot with the asphalt cracking and weeds growing up between them. Rum drove slowly, not wanting to hit a pothole, or the like… especially with the added weight of the animatronic seated next to him.

Finally they pulled close to the entrance where a car was already parked. Rum let out a sound of surprise.

“Huh…”

“What is it?” Belle asked curious.

“That is Archie’s car,” he muttered in reply.

“Who is Archie?” she cocked her head towards.

“He works the shift before mine… he usually has gone before me… perhaps he is running late?” Rum didn’t believe this himself. Archie may be a bit of an airhead at times, but he was very eager to get away from the amusement park.

Rum didn’t know Archie well… but he did know that he was scared of the park, but like Rum needed the money. Finding work in a small town isn’t easy after all…

Belle’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“So… is he still here…?” she asked. Rum froze. Archie seemed like a nice guy as far as he knew, but he didn’t knew how he would react to a sentient animatronic. He was rather… skittish.

“I suppose he is…” he glanced around. From where they were parked they could look into the office and there were no one there, but the light was on.

“But he should be in the office… unless something has happened,” Rum swallowed the dread building in his throat.

Belle was completely silent, the soft sound of the mechanical parts inside her.

“Um… you don’t think…” her mechanical voice came without her moving her lips as she stared at her.

Rum froze, gripping his hands on the wheel, his nails digging into the fake leather.

“I do know…” he whispered slowly.

“We have to help him!” Belle was already moving out of the truck, Rum feeling it move.

“Belle wait!” he rushed out the car before he followed her closely, grabbing her arm, glancing over at her. She stopped looking over at him, and Rum didn’t really know what he should say.

“We have to be careful!” he then burst out.

“I know! And we will, but… I… I believe… I believe that he was the reason… for all of this… and we cannot let him do the same thing again!” Belle insisted.

“Belle, you have to be careful! If he is in there…” fear was twisting his stomach making him practically tremble. He hated how scared that he felt. How many times had he been called a coward in the past?

Far to many… but here he didn’t care.

For the longest time Neal had been the only good thing in his life… and he still was the most important to him, but she… she had become so immensely important to him during the time he had known her.

More important than he could imagine.

So loosing her?

What worse dread could there be in this world?

“But your friend!” she insisted, continuing to walk on, pulling him along, hardly noticing the weight of the man she was dragging after her.

“What if he sees you! We do not know if he is going to keep you a secret… and if you are exposed…” Rum tried to get her to stop, but he was not strong enough. Belle turned towards him, blinking her eyes.

“It doesn’t matter if he is in danger! Look… you know him don’t you? Isn’t he a good man?” she then asked.

“I don’t really know him…” Rum hesitated.

“But do you believe that he is a good man?” she repeated. Rum hesitated for a moment.

“Uh… I mean yes… but…” he stuttered nervously.

“Then he will understand, come on!” her metallic hand wrapped around his hand and pulled him into the park. Rum still had a bad feeling in the bit of his stomach… but… if Archie was in danger… then again… what could they do?

He unlocked the door to the office, still feeling his hand tremble slightly. He prayed in his mind that Archie’s things wouldn’t be there… that perhaps his car had broken down and he had gotten another ride home.

But as he opened the door he saw the other guard’s coat, his thermos and his book… but no sign of the guard himself.

Rum took his taser out, feeling himself tremble so much that he struggled to keep his hand steady.

“Alright… let us just… look around…” he swallowed the animatronic nodding her head.

They started to walk into the depths of the park.

  Like always Avonlea was silent as the two walked along the paths, Rum holding the taser tight as he moved his flashlight around.

But there were no sign of the other guard.

“Where could he have gone?” he whispered.

Most of the attractions in the park was boarded up, so it was impossible to get inside them and they seemed so far to be undisturbed. The old theater which was where he had seen the monster animatronic was also silent. No sign of him.

Belle shrugged her metallic shoulders.

“I don’t know,” she whispered back. She kept close to the guard, trying to silence her steps as much as possible on the paved road.

“Archie hates this place,” Rum muttered, shaking his head. “He would never leave the path and would do his rounds as quickly as possible… or so he told me… I have no reason to believe that he was lying about that…”

“If only there was a way that we could contact him…” Belle tried her best to look in the windows of the abandoned attractions. She jolted a bit surprised when the security guard beside her slammed his and against his face and groaned.

“The phone!” he fished up his old flip phone. “Why didn’t I think to call him!”

At times he was marveled by his own stupidity.

“Oh that is a good idea!” the animatronic said as cheery as ever. Rum simply rolled his eyes. It would have been when they had first noticed the abandoned car… still… better late than never he supposed.

He pressed Archie’s number and called.

There were no one picking up. However they could hear a faint chime not far off.

“I hear something!” Belle tugged at Rum. “It is over there, by the Haunted house!”

Rum had never explained the buildings in the park and he was surprised that she knew the term… but she was correct.

The sound was coming from the haunted house… and he didn’t like it one bit. Still there weren’t really much that he could do, as he found himself pulled along by Belle.

The haunted house of Avonlea was a massive mansion of a building, clearly inspired by Old Hollywood horror movies. It had been boarded up for as long as Rum had worked there… and probably far longer than that.

However this night was different… this night the door was opened the sound of a ring tone coming from inside along with a very terrified whimper.

Something else were also moving inside… something large… heavy… metallic.

Rum was absolutely frozen in terror.

“That must be Archie!” Belle exclaimed and without concern rushed inside.

“BELLE!” the cry coming from the security guard betrayed the terror which came from the man as he ran after her into the haunted house.

There just beyond the hall laid Archie clutching his bleeding arm, looking frozen with fear into the distance, the phone was continuing to ring, but this went totally ignored by the terrified man. he didn’t even seem to notice them coming in.

Not daring at all to look away from whatever was terrifying him in the dark.

“Mr. Hopper! Archie!” Rum was the one to rush over to him, Belle standing a bit back, not wanting to scare the man more than he already was. When the security guard put his hand on him, Archie was able to pull his eyes away from whatever terrified him.

“Gold! We have to get out! It is here! There is more! The animatronics! They are STILL HERE! THEY ARE ALIVE!”

Rum swallowed.

“Calm down… we will get you out alright… alright?” he attempted to calm the guard down, so they could get to safety. However… explaining Belle would be hard… but he could not think about that right now.

Archie then let out a terrified sound as he clung to Rum.

That was when he heard it.

Very heavy steps moving closer to their position, and then he saw it. Yellow glowing eyes from the darkness… but this thing was much larger than the Rumplestiltskin animatronic. Closing in further he saw it looked like a big bipedal animatronic wolf. A werewolf.

He was frozen in fear when he saw Belle walk over, but she actually seemed excited to see this monster, waving her hand towards it.

“Hello Ruby!” she smiled happily. The large werewolf lifted its clawed hand and waved back excitedly.

“What happened to them?” Neal asked.

Belle had shrugged her shoulders.

“I do not know… I haven’t seen them in so long… I think they are hiding as well… there is a bad one… or… he wasn’t always bad… but he turned bad, told us insane things which could not be true… that they, the visitors and the owners just used us and would destroy us. Then he did… he did a bad thing, and since then there were no more who would come to see us. I… I don’t remember much. He had… powers so… he did something to me… could have done something to all of us… perhaps a curse?” Belle looked towards Rum for guidance, blinking her large glowing eyes.

Both Rum and his son shared a glance then. Rum knew that Rumplestiltskin was very much real… and from what he had seen he had also tampered with the plate back on Belle’s neck. The security guard had also done his best to do research, but all he could find was that it was an ‘accident’ which closed down the park.

But… no word on what that accident was… but it was clear that it was pretty dire.

“He cannot hurt you here Belle,” he assured her softly, resting his hand on her shoulder plate. She then proceeded to give him an absolutely brilliant smile, gazing up at him with absolute amazement.

“Thank you, Rumple,” it was a bit hard for her to remember that wasn’t his real name… after all she had gotten to know him under it.

But… he did not mind.

Neal had had to roll his eyes at his father, but again… he too was happy.

“Well… better leave you two too it. Cannot be late, Miss Mills will have my head if I do!” he excused himself as he rushed towards the bathroom before grabbing his bag from his room, before he ran out the door.

Rum looked after him, smiling softly, before he started to clean.

“You look happy,” Belle said as she stood beside him.

“I am…” Rum nodded his head slowly.

“I am glad. I am happy too, that I am here,” she stood all close to him, finding herself leaning slightly against him. Rum glanced over his shoulder, seeing how this machine looking at him with adoration with glowing blue eyes. It was such that Rum had to look away for a moment, blinking his eyes.

With the exception of his son… he was not used to being… liked.

“I am very glad that you are here too Belle,” he assured her softly. She smiled and proceeded to lean her head on his shoulder.

“I like that,” she smiled back at him.

  After he had finished cleaning up, Rum was starting to feel tired. He swore that he was never going to get used to working all night. Especially since he hadn’t slept well the day before. Or really at all.

Belle had seen him yawn like that before of course… but she never knew quite why he did it. It almost seemed he did not want to most times. It was rather amusing and adorable to her.

Still… now he was doing it more than she had seen before, and had started to rub his eyes.

“Hmm… Belle… I have to go sleep, is that alright? Do you need something?” He seemed concerned about in a sense leaving her alone.

“Oh, sleep, yes, you should that!” she had read about sleep, so she knew what that was. “I should sleep too.”

Rum blinked surprised.

“Uh… you sleep?” he asked confused.

“Yes. Keeps me going. It is easier to charge that way,” she mentioned towards her side, where she pulled down a sipper hidden on the side of her dress showing a small panel. Popping that open she showed him a cord clearly for charging.

“Oh… well… that is good. Uh… can you use one of those?” he pointed at the power outlet.

“That will be wonderful,” she said. “How do humans sleep exactly? The books just say to lay down and… do it.”

“Well… that is pretty much it,” Rum walked towards his room, the animatronic following closely. Opening the door she found a sparse room, with a bed and a dresser. It was clearly the smaller of the two rooms as Rum had meant it was far more important that Neal had a sufficient space for himself.

“I sleep on that,” he mentioned towards his bed which was neatly made.

“Looks cozy,” she wandered into the room. “Should I sleep in here too?”

Rum stuttered slightly, having not expected this. But… perhaps it was for the best… she would be safer if she was close to him. And… just in case someone were to enter his house she would be hidden in his room… this was something he doubted as he did not have much in the way of friends and no family outside of his son.

But… his room’s window was facing the back where no one would walk… this meant she could not be seen from the street…

However, the truth was that he wanted to be with her. Even when he slept. But he was not ready to admit that, even to himself.

“If you want to, I think it would be good,” Rum nodded towards her. Belle beamed back towards him.

“Thank you, I feel safer when you are here,” she continued to look happily towards him. Rum nodded slowly.

“Alright… just… just make yourself comfortable, I will be right back, just have to head to the bathroom and change out of this guard uniform,” he mentioned towards himself.

“Ok, I will plug into the wall,” she looked as he walked out of the room. Slowly she sat herself down on the floor, plugging into the wall and waited. Her battery was low, so it was nice to be able to charge.

She did not have to wait long, Rum coming back wearing a loose pair of pants and old t-shirt.

“Well, then… good night Belle. Or… good day, as it were. If there is anything… wake me,” he told her as he sat on his bed. She nodded.

“I will go into sleep too. I will see you soon,” she said and as she sat back against the wall and the glow in her eyes shut off and she was utterly motionless. Almost like a doll.

Rum remained looking at her for some time from his bed, before he laid into the bed looking at her for some time before he closed his eyes and went to bed, falling asleep easier than he had done in a long time. He had been up for quite some time at this point… and to know that she was safe and his son has accepted her.

Rum had never been happier for quite some time.

He did not even think of the danger looming from the Rumplestiltskin animatronic. It could not reach them here.

A couple of hours later, with Rum still being fast asleep, Belle’s eyes flickered on and she saw him still sleeping. Smiling she slowly started to move closer, her cord was quite long enough for her to move in this small room without having to unhook herself.

Slowly she settled down beside him, looking at him closely as he slept. He seemed so relaxed in a way that she had not seen him.

“Sleep well, Rumple,” her mechanical voice was low and gentle as she reached out her segmented hand and gently caressed his brow. He let out a murmur, moving his head against her hand before he settled down again.

“Sleep well…” she repeated as she rested her head next to his, looking at him with her glowing eyes lighting up his face in a soft blue light.