Prologue: An Empty Town…

"Alright Henry," she said with a smile, "No T.V., no sweets, do your homework, brush your teeth, wash your face, and get to bed." She turned from me walked over to the kitchen counter. "Your food's in the microwave. Okay? Momma's gonna be back home late tonight."

"Okay, where are you going?" She turned onto me suddenly.

"It's none of your business where I am going. And anyhow-" The microwave went off, signaling its contents were ready to be devoured. Or at least that's how Emma described it to me once. "Looks like your foods ready… Goodnight Henry." She gave me a kiss on the head and strolled over to the front door.

"Goodnight…Mom." It keeps getting harder and harder to call he mom ever since Emma showed up. She gave me a toothless grin and walked out the door, down the front steps and over to the black car parked in our driveway. I watched her as she pulled out and drove down the road. 5…4…3…2…1…gone. Well, now what? I usually do all my homework before I get home. I could always work on "Operation Cobra". Now let's see. Mary Margret…Snow White. Archie…Jiminy Cricket. Regina…Evil Queen, heh, no doubt about that one. Mr. Gold…I never could find out who he was. I think I'll go investigate. I almost went out the back door until my personal alarm system went off. That is, my stomach started rumbling. Maybe I should eat first. I wonder what Regina put in the microwave…

I walked over, well more like sneaked over to the sheriffs' office, hoping to find Emma there. Aww, where is she. Oh, I bet she's with Regina. Well, I could always head over to the library. I think she said she's staying open later tonight. Something seemed out of place as I walked down the street. Everything looked so empty.

Well duh Henry, look! Everybody's closed. I wonder why. I looked at my watch Regina bought me for my 8th Birthday. It's only 8:19; most of the shops here don't close until 9:30. That's almost an hour from now. I looked around at all the closed windows. There's probably a Town meeting, that's why everyone's closed. It made sense…But then, why wouldn't Regina tell me there was a meeting going on tonight. It's not like she's never gone to a town meeting before. I kept on walking down the streets until I found myself in a part of own that no one visits too often. Not that it wasn't nice place or anything… It's just that this is where Mr. Gold's Pawn shop resides. Funny, out of all the places that would be open when everyone else is closed. Talk about a dim light in an empty town.