The dark clouds opened and rain started pouring in a light drizzle. Ariel climbed out of the car, the cool air seeping through her jumper and she instantly regretted every light article of clothing she had packed. She held the box close, as if trying to draw some unknown warmth from its metal hinges. She glanced nervously at the house.

The sun had disappeared behind the heavy clouds and with the orange glow gone, it looked more ominous than inviting. The limestone appeared dirt encrusted with vines of Wisteria climbing over a large majority of the front wall. Some parts were covered in smooth green leaves and others left bare; the thin brown skeletal branches crawling up the house and reaching towards the Victorian windows.

The garden was filled with wilted flowers; lavender, dahlias, snapdragons, daisies, hydrangeas - and more that she couldn't label. A white rose stretched along the left outer perimeter wall, cascading over the top in a white shower of petals.

Outside of the car, she realized the house was actually three levels high. Two windows adorned the highest level. Movement flashed from the second level and she saw a face in the far right corner window. It was only for a moment; but she could have sworn it was some sort of malformed dog -

Crunch.

She jumped. Dobson had retrieved her suitcase from the trunk and it landed on the gravel loudly. When she looked back at the window, the face was gone.

"Would you like me to wait with you, Ariel?" Dobson asked.

She shook her head, feeling sick. "I've got this."

"Okay then!" He smiled and pulled out a card, passing it to her. "I'll be staying in the Cotswolds for the next few days so if things here don't work out for you, give me a call and I'll help you find somewhere else to stay."

She took the card, his cheeriness no longer so annoying. "Thank you, Dobson."

He gave her a final smile and climbed back into the car. She watched as it turned back down the long white pebble drive until it disappeared into the shadow of trees. A gust of wind blew down the drive, knocking her backwards and she turned to look at the house. She suddenly wished she wasn't so stubborn and had let Dobson stay.

Grabbing her suitcase, she dragged it awkwardly across the gravel to the front step. It weighed more than the allowed flight limit and she now knew that more than half of its contents were going to be useless while she was here. Unless she layered them, she would freeze to death. Breathing heavily, she stood before the large oak wood door. Her scar tingled and she rubbed it, closing her eyes.

Don't chicken out now, Winters.

She raised her fist and knocked loudly three times. There was a moment of silence and she wondered if anyone was home. Her thoughts drifted to the strange face she had seen in the window and wondered if it would be them who opened the door. Unless he was locked in his room, just like she had suspected -

"Hello, can I help you?"

The door had opened a crack and she saw half of a man's face peering back at her. No creepy dog, so the locked in bedroom scenario was still a possibility.

"I'm Ariel Winters. You were meant to be expecting me."

The door opened wider and she took a slight step back. The man appeared to be in his late thirties; round wire rim glasses adorned his face, hazel eyes just visible behind the smudged lenses. His straw coloured hair hung limply to his shoulders, the shadow of a scruff beard lining his jaw. Everything about the man appeared unkempt. It looked as though he had slept in the white shirt and moss green pants he was wearing for several weeks. Even though she couldn't smell anything untoward, Ariel's hand twitched to rise to her nose.

"Sorry, Miss Winters." He wiped his nose, his hand smudging the glasses even more. "Please come in."

He kept his gaze lowered as she brushed passed him and didn't say a word when her suitcase bumped into him, causing him to stumble into the door. She didn't apologise either.

A beautiful oak staircase ascended to her right in the main foyer and several doorways were visible from every angle. The styling of the interior was modern, many of the furnishings in the hallway recognizable to Ariel from name brand designers. Unlike the furniture of her home, which still appeared as shiny and new as the day they had arrived, these ones had evidence of much wear and tear; as though they had been used properly and lovingly.

"Wait here."

He brushed passed her, walking down the hallway and disappearing to the right. The house was silent, the only noise discernable an old grandfather clock somewhere in the room to her left. She took a step forward to look through the doorway. Her eyes widened. The room was a library. The walls were crammed with books of all varieties. She could see blood red soft leather couches from her vantage point. One of them was occupied, its occupant's back to her. His head turned as he reached for a white teacup on the table beside him and her breath whooshed from her body; his skin was yellow and scaly. The shape of his face was wrong, but he turned before she could figure out what it was. Laughter sounded from down the hallway and she started. Before he noticed, she quickly took a step back, hiding near the front door.

If she had been holding her heart, she knew it would be pounding hard. Her body thrummed painfully in what she was learning to be her blood moving faster through her veins. This was real. Knowing that there really were others here who had problems like her - it made everything too painfully real. Her chest tightened and she closed her eyes. Breathe. She focused on steadying her breathing, her fingers trembling on the wooden box and she hugged it to her chest, afraid it might slip through her fingers.

Footsteps approached and she opened her eyes, thankful her breathing had returned to some form of normalcy. Unkempt man returned, lingering behind a man who seemed to be his opposite. With short deep chocolate brown hair, his blue eyes twinkled brightly, seeming glad to see her. His clothing was immaculate, ironed and starched.

"Ariel. Welcome to Sherwood." He took in her protective stance and smiled kindly. "My name is Doctor Bradley Grimm and you've already met Zeke, my assistant."

Unkempt man nodded his head, attempting to smile though it looked more like a grimace. Ariel muttered a quick hello and turned back to the doctor. "So, can you fix me?"

If Dr. Grimm was insulted by her lack of manners, he made no show of it. Instead his smile turned more clinical as his gaze flickered from her face to the box in her arms. "I can't say for sure, Ariel but once I have all the facts I will certainly do everything I can to find a solution."

She was surprised. Every doctor she had ever met in the past always bragged about their abilities to cure the ill, playing right into the assumption that they considered themselves equal to Gods. Of course they knew her father was a wealthy man, the hope that he might give them some extra bonus was probably in play. She felt a spark of respect for his honesty, but she wasn't about to trust him anytime soon. Not until he showed her some results.

Dr. Grimm smiled and stepped to the side, extending out his arm. "If you follow me, I will give you a tour of the house and then let you get some rest. I won't start the interrogation until tomorrow." He said it jokingly but Ariel didn't smile. "Zeke," he continued, "will take your belongings up to your room while I show you around."

Zeke stepped forward, picking up her suitcase and he waited, looking at the box. She shook her head. "I'll hang onto this one."

Zeke glanced at the Doctor, who smiled and nodded. With a small grunt, he turned and started up the stairs. She glanced at the doctor. "What is he, like Igor or something?"

"Zeke is just a little awkward around new people. His social skills aren't perfect, but he is always professional when it comes to his job, so I would ask that you don't make fun of him." The Doctor spoke seriously but Ariel ignored him. She could feel his eyes on her but she kept them focused on the wall.

When it appeared he wasn't going to move until she spoke, she glared at him. "Are we going to do this tour or what?"

He smiled, taking her bluntness in stride and he stepped into the room on the right. Ariel didn't even know why she was being so mean to them. She was here so they could help her, but it was like all her pent up anger over the last two weeks was just leaking out before she could even attempt to say something cordial.

"This is our sitting room." He showed the large front room with a small television near the front window. It was an old one, with the large box back, not like the six flat screens in her house back home. She didn't even think they were still in existence. A dining room sat in the far end of the room, and she could hear laughter again coming through a door at the other end.

Dr. Grimm pressed on. "Sounds like the girls are getting their dinner organized. We encourage everyone to prepare their own meals and help themselves to the kitchen." She followed him through the sitting room and into a large stonewall kitchen. Two girls were standing at a kitchen island, giggling as they chopped carrots. The girl on the right had long strawberry blonde hair, all knotted up in a mess atop her head. Her blue eyes were focused on the carrots and she didn't notice them slip into the room. Everything about her appeared normal.

It was clearly apparent there was something wrong with the other girl. Her pixie cut brown hair was cut meticulously close to her scalp, and her green eyes looked tired. She seemed too thin, her clothes hung from her tiny frame. That wasn't what made her seem different though. It was her skin. It was covered in leaves - it was leaves. The outlines of leaves of all different shapes and sizes adorned her face and all visible parts of her body. Some were sticking up in the air, or curling in on them selves. All of them were autumn colours - red, brown, yellow, purple. She turned as they entered and as she did, Ariel watched as a tiny yellow leaf fell from her cheek, floating lazily onto the bench.

"Busy cooking girls?" The other girl looked up as Dr. Grimm spoke. "I'd like you both to meet Ariel Winters. Ariel this is Emily Smith and Autumn Adalsteinn. Emily here -" he pointed to the blonde girl "- will be your roommate.

"Hi." Emily smiled shyly.

"Roommate?" Ariel spoke over her, glaring at the Doctor. "What the hell?"

Emily's smile faded slightly and the Doctor stepped forward. "It's a common custom here at Sherwood for everyone to share rooms. It might take a little bit to adjust to, but I'm you'll get along great before you know it."

A telephone started ringing somewhere in the house and the Doctor grinned ruefully. "That will be for me. Excuse me for a moment."

He dashed out of the room and Ariel was left standing with the two girls. She wondered if he'd set this up on purpose as an introductory bonding moment. Autumn looked at her kindly. "It's okay to be afraid of sharing a room with someone -"

"I'm not scared," she snapped. Autumn had a strange accent that she couldn't place. She glanced at the fallen leaf, eyebrow raised. "You dropped something on the bench by the way."

Autumn glanced down and picked up the yellow leaf. "I'm always losing them," she joked weakly.

Ariel felt a flash of guilt. Why couldn't she just keep her mouth shut? Emily glared at her. "Why don't you wait for the Doc in the sitting room?"

Ariel had never been good at taking orders and being told what to do. It always ignited a stubbornness her Grandfather said she inherited from her mother, and now was no exception. She was tired from the twenty-three hour flight and rather than force her mouth to stay shut, she let it have free reign. "I've only been given a brief tour so far, but I do recall the Doc saying the weirdo Zeke was his assistant, not you. So why don't you keep your orders to yourself."

Emily paled, her lips tightening and Autumn quickly intervened. "She didn't mean to be rude, so lets just -"

"Oh cut the sisterly love act," Ariel snapped, her anger in full swing. "I'm not here to make friends so you can keep your 'peace and kumbaya' crap for some other sap. You should focus more on your body dropping off."

Emily's mouth opened, eyes burning with indignation before they widened in horror. "Lucas, no!"

Something large and furry connected with her, slamming her into the wall. All the air rushed from her lungs but rather than fight the creature off, she focused on trying to keep hold of the box. Once she started to take in the creature that attacked her, holding onto the box became difficult.

It was some sort of beast. His body was nothing but black fur. He towered a decent foot above her, his lip curled in anger showing large sharp teeth. The fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood popped into her head. All the better to eat you with. She could feel his claws digging into her shoulders as he pressed her harder into the wall. It took her a moment to realize her feet were no longer on the ground.

"Apologise!" He snarled. His voice was deep, rumbling through his wide chest and his hands shook her as he spoke.

Autumn appeared in her vision, placing a hand on his bicep. It looked weak and fragile on his fur and Ariel had a sudden desire to tell her to get back, as if he might turn and bump her, causing her to explode in a shower of leaves. "Lucas you need to calm down," she said quietly. "You know this is how it always is -"

"I don't care," he growled. "I'm tired of people like her coming in here and thinking we're all freaks when she is just as screwed as the rest of us."

"You're right," Ariel sneered, mouth moving before she could stop herself. "I am screwed but at least I'm not a hideous monster so hey, at least I've got that going for me."

Lucas dropped her. She scrambled to her feet, repositioning the box so it was shielded in case he went crazy again. There was a defeat in his blue eyes, his shoulders deflated and Ariel knew she had gone too far, but she was too riled up to care. Her shoulders ached, the sensation tingling all the way down to her fingertips. He had been gripping her so tightly she'd lost sensation in her arms and hadn't even noticed. The tingling caused her fingers to weaken and she glanced down in horror as she felt the box slip from her fingers.

It fell slowly, her fingers grasped for its edges as her chest exploded in pain, anticipating the shattering glass -

Lucas' hands shot out, grabbing the box moments before it connected with the floor. Relief flooded her entire being, her body shaking as she struggled to stay in control of her emotions. She reached for the box but Lucas evaded her, moving it out of reach. He weighed the box in his hands, throwing it lightly into the air and catching it. His sharp teeth glinted in a horrid smile. "What's so special about this box then?"

He glanced at Ariel, any further snide remarks falling silent. Her body continued to tremble, eyes blurred with tears. Her focus was on nothing but the box. Her hands reached out, afraid of what he might do. "Please," she whispered, putting all her desperation into that one word. All the anger left her body, fear taking reign with the promise of never letting go.

"Lucas! Give it back." Emily had moved closer, standing beside Autumn. She looked at Ariel with pity and a spark of anger returned. Ariel hated pity almost as much as being told what to do. Normally she would have snapped at Emily for looking at her like that, but at that moment, she only cared about getting her heart back.

"I'll give it back when she apologises." Lucas stared at her defiantly.

"I'm sorry." The words were out of her mouth before he had even finished speaking. Her pride, her dignity - none of it mattered. She would hate him until the end of time for making her look weak, but if it got her heart back, then so be it.

"Lucas, what are you doing?" Dr. Grimm stood in the doorway and everyone started. "Give that back to Ariel."

Lucas silently handed the box back. Her fingers closed around the cool wood and her body started to relax. Before he let completely go, Lucas leaned forward and whispered, "that wasn't so hard, was it?"

She leaned close, her nose inches from his own, determined to let him know she would not be afraid of him. Her voice shook as she forced all her anger into one sentence. "If you touch this again, I will kill you and use your hide to decorate my bedroom floor."

She saw his eyes widen and she stepped past him, towards the Doctor. Dr. Grimm watched them, his expression concerned. He took Ariel's arm and pulled her behind him. "I see you've met Lucas Blake. I feel now would be a good time to mention some house rules. We respect everyone's personal space, stay out of each others rooms, and no fighting."

He gave Lucas a meaningful glance, who had enough sense to look chastised - or at least Ariel thought it was a chastised look; she couldn't tell. The Doctor led Ariel away from the kitchen across the hallway and into a small alcove behind the stairs. A white door stood open and she followed him inside. A desk stood in one corner near a large window overlooking the back garden. Three big white cushioned chairs were positioned around the room and one wall consisted of nothing but books on topics such as Wiccan Curses, Pagan Gods and their retribution, Wild plants and flowers: mythology and folklore - and hundreds of other things Ariel had never heard of before. Dr. Grimm motioned to a white chair and closed the door.

"Now Ariel." He took a seat in the black office chair by the desk. "I must ask that you refrain from riling up the other patients here." She opened her mouth to retaliate but Dr. Grimm silenced her with a look. "Lucas is a troubled young man, but he is kind and quite protective of the other patients. He doesn't lose control unless provoked - so I will ask you again, don't pick fights. There are others here who are learning to deal with their anger issues and should they lose control, it would prove troublesome for all of us."

She wanted to argue, to protest that beast boy had butted in and aggravated her, but she held her tongue. She knew that the Doctor was right and she shouldn't have taken her anger out on the others, but she couldn't help it. She didn't want to be here, she didn't want to be like them. She sat quietly and listened as the Doctor explained the boundaries of the Sherwood property. They could roam it freely as much as they pleased but were asked to not trespass onto any other property. All food in the kitchen was free for all and if anything was needed, they were to write it on the notepad attached to the fridge. There were two bathrooms for all eight patients to share, and the third level of the house was off limits as it was Dr. Grimm's private rooms for him and his family. By the time he had finished listing off all the rules, the sun had finally set and Ariel's head was beginning to droop.

"Now," he finally wound down and she sat taller. "Your first official session will be held tomorrow morning at nine. I won't pester you any further tonight, I am sure you must be exhausted after your long flight. Do you have any questions before I take you to your room?"

"Three. " She sat up taller. "Firstly - do I have to share a room? Can't I have my own?"

"I'm afraid everyone shares here, Ariel. As I said earlier, everyone respects everyone's personal space so you don't have to fear anyone. Your second question?"

"Have you got internet?"

"No, I'm sorry. We find it rather distracting and while you are here, I want you to concentrate on getting better."

"I thought the healing part was your job."

He smiled. "Partly, yes. All parties will have a role to play. Your final question?"

"The library; are we allowed to use it?"

He laughed. "That I certainly encourage! You may even find that some of the books in there will be helpful in dealing with you ailment. Now," he stood up. "I think that's enough for one afternoon."

She stood up and followed him back down the hallway and up the stairs. They turned right and he stopped at the last door on the left. "This will be your room while you live with us. He opened the door, showing a large room. One side of the room was decorated with strewn clothes and books and papers stuck to the wall. A wind chime of seashells hung above the bed and Ariel thought it looked pretty. The opposite side of the room was bare of anything but a bed and small desk in the corner of the room. It looked cold and unloved.

"I guess this is my side of the room," she said dully.

"Feel free to decorate as much as you please. We want you to feel as comfortable as possible. If you get hungry or thirsty, you know where the kitchen is." He touched her shoulder briefly. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

With that he stepped out of the room and she was left alone. Wasting no time, she closed the door and jumped onto her bed. It creaked, the springs threatening to collapse and she took offense to its protest against her weight. She located her suitcase at the foot of her bed. Rather than open it, she left it there and kicked her shoes off before pulling the blankets back and lying down. The room was eerily silent and she felt tears stinging the corners of her eyes as she squeezed them tight.

Burying under the blankets, she quietly opened her box and laid her hand on her heart. The effect was instantaneous as she felt a rush of emotions flood her. Her shoulders throbbed dully, she knew they would bruise and she let her newfound grudge against Lucas fester deep inside. She focused on that anger, on everything that made her furious - her father, Paige, coming to Sherwood, the curse - she focused on it all, not wanting to think of anything else as she drifted into a restless sleep, her heart beating steadily beneath her palm.