Hey, everyone!

So this is the second installment of my Swen Tales one shot series. The first one, Masquerade, is on my profile, along with my other separate oneshots ( 1 SQ, 1 based off of FRIENDS). If you wanna check those out, let me know what you think!

This one shot below was based on/inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's the Raven. Favorite and review, please! Also, follow my profile if you want to receive Swen Tales updates! 😊

My Twitter: littlemermaidff (ff business), SWENBlTCH (general/fanpage)

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Request any oneshots you'd like through those links or in a review below! Hope you enjoy 💋

It was a blistery December night in Storybrooke, and Emma was sitting at her oak desk in her room at Granny's. The only light in came from a small, black lamp on the desk where envelopes, files, and highlighters were scattered. The blonde had been going over the case thousands of times, color-coding suspects, locations, statements. It had been three months since Robin's mysterious disappearance, and there was still no sign of him. He was living happily with Marian and Roland, and he had no issues at work, which is why Emma decided to rule it a kidnapping.

At first, the department questioned whether or not Emma was stable enough to take on such a serious case. A year before Robin was taken, Emma's love and mayor of the town, Regina Mills, was murdered by her long-lost sister, Zelena. After it happened, Emma moved out of the mayor's mansion and back to Granny's, and she never left her room until four months ago. When she finally arrived back to civilization, she acted as though this is how she had never left. She did not make her reappearance known; she woke up on a Monday morning, picked up a coffee at Granny's, and drove to the sheriff's station. After passing a demanded psych evaluation, she regained her duties. However, Emma still felt Regina everywhere. The woman was always on her mind, and the young sheriff couldn't help it. Emma always thought of her radiance, her love, her passion. It took some time for her to learn how to suppress it so she could concentrate fully on cases, even if they were mundane. She needed to have a normal life again.

Emma intermittently read the file and dozed off. She had been working on the case all night every night, and her hard work was catching up with her. She had gone through multiple cups of coffee, but her eyes still grew heavy. She flipped through the files a few more times before she opted to go to bed. She threw on her usual white tank top and kicked off her jeans. Turning off the light, she was ready to hop into her warm bed.

However, her necessity for sleep would have to wait. As she clicked off her lamp, she heard a subtle tapping at her door. Her face scrunched up, and she double checked her clock. Sure enough, it was three in the morning, and Granny never disturbed any guests after ten. The blonde waited a few more seconds to see if the tapping was just her imagination. Ten seconds passed, and Emma heard nothing. She shrugged and climbed into her toasty bed, cuddling her second pillow and red throw blanket. As she closed her eyes, the tapping came back, louder this time.

"What the hell?" she muttered to herself. She threw back her covers in a huff and walked to her door. The only person she figured it could possibly be was David or August, her deputy and one of her investigators.

"Hey, I don't know if you're David or August, but it is three in the morning, and any new case information can wait until the morning, alright?" she said through the door, leaning against the wall. She awaited a response, but only silence greeted her.

"Hello?" she called out again. Silence. She rolled her eyes, and began opening the door.

"If this is some joke-" she warned, but when she opened her door, no one was there. Emma turned on her overhead light and peered down the hallways. There was no sign of anyone, unless they headed down the stairs. She huffed again and shuffled out of her room, plotting ways to seek revenge on her trickster. The air was cold, and the red, paisley carpet was rough underneath her bare feet. She rubbed her hands against her arms, trying to warm up as she descended the staircase. Everything appeared normal; the carpet on the stairs leading down to the entry hall had not been messed with, the curtains were closed, and the lamp was turned on. Still, Emma suspected someone was there. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she looked down the three hallways where the other rooms were. All the doors were closed, and no figures stood.

"Regina," a voice hissed from the upper floor. Emma's hair on her arms stood erect, and her breath quickened. Her face lost its color, and she slowly looked at the top of the stairs. Once again, nothing was there.

"It's all in your head," she repeated to herself in hushed tones. "You just need sleep."

She walked back to her bedroom and closed her door. After clicking off her light, she turned to go back to her waiting bed.

"Regina," the voice hissed again, this time with more grit. It seemed to be coming from her room. Emma's breath hitched, but she shook her head, comforting herself by blaming it on the whistling wind. She managed to convince herself of this for a few seconds more, but then she heard the name again, and the tapping returned with intensity.

Suddenly, the air in her room grew ice-cold as the hissing and tapping continued. Emma snuck her gun from underneath her pillow, her hands shaking. She stepped to her window, pulling it open. For a brief moment, everything stopped and only the wind was heard. However, it did not last long. One second later, a bird flew to her window sill and perched there.

"A... crow?" Emma questioned, and the bird looked in her eyes. Then it hit her. A crow, Regina's favorite bird. Whoever this trickster was, he certainly was sick.

"Who sent you?" Emma asked with confidence, setting down the gun on her dresser. She did not know why she spoke to the bird; surely, she could not receive a reply.

"Nevermore," the crow whispered. Emma swallowed hard, taking short and quick breaths.

"Who sent you?" Emma asked again, making her tone deeper and more serious.

"Nevermore," the crow answered again. What the hell was happening? The crow remained still, staring at her. Emma asked once more,

"Who sent you? Or are you your own form of douchebaggery?"

"Nevermore," it hissed.

If this was a trick, surely the doer would send a bird who could say more than one word.

"Go away!" Emma yelled, shooing the bird.

"Nevermore," it said again. Emma glared at the beast, pondering what was occurring. Perhaps, she wondered, perhaps it was sent by Regina. Yes, she was dead, but maybe, somehow, part of her sent the crow. Emma pulled up an ottoman, and she stared at the bird.

"Did Regina send you?" she inquired calmly. The black figure blinked at her and was silent for two seconds, then whistled,

"Nevermore."

Emma did not give up. Her eyes were dry and droopy, but she needed to know where this mysterious creature was from and what its reasoning was.

"Are you part of Regina?" she asked, receiving the same answer. "Are you here to remind me of my lost Regina?"

A moment of silence stood before Emma heard the answer again. She asked those questions over and over, receiving the same answer each time. As minutes passed, Emma was growing more desperate. Her heart was pounding, and she shook from the cold and the anxiety. Her questions became deeper, as stills of Regina flashed through her mind. Moments of her at her desk, at board meetings, tending to her apple tree, proposing to Emma. It was all too much to bear.

"Will she forever haunt me?" she asked, her voice was low, barely above a whisper.

"Nevermore," the crow's tone matched hers, but something about it was more ghostly. Emma knew this was ridiculous, but it's stillness was overwhelming her; tears streamed down her face, her throat was dry her lips cracked, and her eyes were swimming with a mixture of frustration and desperation.

"Will I be with my lost love again?" her voice cracked.

"Nevermore," the crow hissed. Emma threw herself off the ottoman, turning her back to the fowl demon. Her fists clenched, and her nails dug into the palms of her hands.

"Then with that, go!" Emma shrieked, turning back to the bird. "Leave me! You bewitching devil, leave me alone now!"

The crow did not budge, even when Emma attempted to push it off the sill.

"Nevermore."

And with that "Nevermore", Emma began screaming as loud as she could, and the tapping and whisper of Regina's name began again. The room felt as though it was spinning, and memories of her love flashed throughout the room. Emma could swear she could hear her laugh, her cries, her "I love you"'s. It was as if she was in that very room, and it caused Emma to believe that perhaps she was.

"Regina!" Emma sobbed. "Please come back to me!"

Everything was growing louder as Emma continued to shriek.

"Nevermore," the bird hissed.

"Shut up!" she bellowed. "Regina! Baby, please come back!"

Emma's screaming could be heard throughout the whole inn, but Granny did not allow any guest to check in on her. Instead, Ruby crept up the stairs.

"Emma?" she knocked on the door. The young woman could not hear her over the thuds and shrieks, but then everything came to a sudden stop. The brunette looked down at Granny after a moment, who gave her the nod to enter. Ruby took in a deep breath before bursting open the door. Emma was on the middle of the floor bleeding from the back of her head. Ruby screamed for someone to call the ambulance as she kneeled down to Emma. Her skin was as cold as ice, her lips blue and cracked. Her eyes were wide open, and her cheeks were damp from tears. Ruby looked around the room: papers were everywhere, the ottoman was on its side, and the word "Nevermore" was written all over the walls. No crow was at the window sill. Tears streamed down Ruby's face as she held Emma, who laid lifeless in her arms.

The next day, Emma was buried next to Regina at the town graveyard. It was a cloudy day, and the air was thick. Every one took turns throwing dirt in there until she was covered. Snow, her mother, stayed after everyone else had said their goodbyes. But Snow couldn't leave her daughter. It was so sudden; the best Dr. Whale explained was that she was either murdered or went into a state of psychosis. With Robin disappearing, the town figured that a murder was the more likely of the two. David planned on taking over as sheriff tomorrow, and his first order of business was to launch an investigation. However, Snow wondered if it would ever be solved, or if she would have any resolution if they found the killer. Her daughter was dead and buried, and nothing could change that. Snow took in a deep, shaky breath before gathering her courage.

"Goodbye, Emma," she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks as she placed a single red rose on her headstone. She turned away and walked to her car to go home and grieve. In the distance, a crow cawed.