Hooked

She could see him walking away from her, and as much as she tried to go after him, she just couldn’t move. She was frozen to the spot.

She could feel her heart breaking, shattering inside her chest, and she fell to her knees silently screaming his name. Her voice wouldn’t work. It was gone. He was gone.

Ariel woke up, panicked with tears already wetting her cheeks. She climbed out of bed, trying to shake off the nightmare, which unfortunately wasn’t your typical nightmare. It just happened to be one of the many memories that haunted her.

She wished that just once she could sleep through the night. She was so tired.

She went into the bathroom as her tears tapered off, turning on the sink and splashing some cold water on her face. She returned to her bedroom afterward, but as she stared at the bed she just knew trying to sleep would be a fruitless effort.

She had tried sleeping pills for a bit, but if anything, those just made things worse.

Ariel went to her closet and pulled out a jacket and a pair of shoes, putting them both on before heading out of her apartment. The best way to calm herself down was to go for a walk, and she knew this time to at least stay away from the ocean though that’s where she really wanted to go. She just couldn’t risk running into Hook. Though she wouldn’t care to admit that she was curious about the newcomer, she just knew the risk wasn’t worth it.

She had shocked herself when she had spoken to him just yesterday. She hardly ever talked anymore. It’s not like she had any friends here anyway. It was hard to make friends when you really just didn’t trust anyone. She had trusted Eric after all, and look what that got her…

It didn’t take her long to realize though that her feet were carrying her to the town line, her second go-to place. When the spray painted line came into view, she stopped about a foot away and sat down on the edge of the road. No one ever came through here, so no one would question her reasoning for being there.

It was usually while she was here, her inner dialogue would argue the pros and cons of crossing that line, but she always managed to stop herself before it got that far.

---

Hook wasn’t really one for sleep either. But his lack of sleep was by choice. It was a waste of the precious time he could be using to exact his revenge. He was closer to the crocodile than he had been in years, and all he had time for was planning his attack.

He spent his evenings in town, scoping out the different locations. Sleep was an unnecessary distraction from this job.

But tonight was different, he had found a distraction and wasn’t sure why he was letting it take him away from his task. He supposed watching a sleeping town wasn’t all that important, so he was surprised when he saw it: the bright red hair that stood out even in the dark, illuminated only slightly by the street lights. He had tried to ignore her, had tried to continue on with his plans, but curiosity got the better of him.

He followed behind her quietly surprised she wasn’t heading towards the water where he seemed to keep running into her. He was surprised to follow her all the way to the town line, where she simply sat not far from it.

Cora had gathered some information and had told Hook that if anyone who had been affected by the curse were to cross it they would lose their memories. He was actually kind of hoping he’d be able to use it against Rumpelstiltskin in some way.

He thought about approaching the girl, but thought better of it. He could tell she was hesitant around him, that he scared her… but something he had seen in her had him believing that she’d probably come to him at some point. He just had that affect on some people.

Besides, someone who considered losing all of their memories couldn’t have much else to lose.

---

She had drifted to sleep at some point, but she knew it must not have been for long. It was still dark and she was cold. But that’s what you get for going outside in the winter and not putting on warmer clothes.

Ariel stood from the solid ground, stretching and savoring the feeling of a few joints cracking. She headed back to town, back to her apartment, back to the bed she was afraid to sleep in.

When she was back in her apartment, she pulled out a bottle of liquor she tried to not use too much. While it did help on occasion, it wasn’t something she wanted to rely on. She poured herself a drink, and made her way to the window in her apartment that overlooked Storybrooke. She took a large swallow of the drink, savoring the burn in her esophagus as the alcohol warmed her insides before pooling in her stomach.

She looked carefully at each building in her view, taking in everything that was so familiar to her. But as she finished her drink, she couldn’t help but think she saw a shadowy figure and the glint of silver by Gold’s shop…