Homework

When Melody had finally calmed down from her temper tantrum, she was able to walk back into town and to her dad's house. She unlocked the door and found the place completely deserted.

She sighed and kicked her off shoes before stalking up to her room. Once she was in the safety of her own room, Melody emptied her school bag onto her bed. She eyed her math homework with hatred.

Although she would've loved to set her homework on fire and stab it a million times so it could feel the pain she felt whenever she looked at it, Melody knew she would only be scolded by Snow the following morning. Unfortunately for Henry and Melody, Snow White still worked as a school teacher. And having a relative at school meant the two of them had to be on their best behavior.

That meant Melody couldn't ditch classes as she did before.

After having an internal argument with herself on whether she should take a nap or suffer through math first, Melody decided to do neither and went off to find a snack to eat.

She found an unopened jar of peanut butter and Melody knew she was going to depend on the jar for just a moment of happiness. She went back upstairs to her desk after grabbing a spoon. Her math book, notebook, and jar of peanut butter were all before her and she was ready to battle her homework.

After an hour of attempting to do her math, Melody stabbed it a couple of good times with her spoon before ripping it to shreds.

She did do her Science and English homework, thinking it was definitely easier than Math.

After clearing her papers away, her eyes landed on the book Henry had given her. Her breath caught in her throat and she coughed.

Melody didn't want to read it. If she could, she would bury the book somewhere deep in the forest where no one would ever find it and it could rot away with the world.

But curiosity got the best of her.

In a matter of seconds, Melody reached for the book and opened the cover. And she began to read.

Second star to the right and straight on till morning, there is a place beyond that star. Passing the star is an island called Neverland, a place that runs on pure belief and imagination. As beautiful as it may seem, true dangers are found there as well. Nobody is truly ever safe on the island.

Melody scoffed. The paragraph was enough for her to shut the book and throw it out her second-floor bedroom. She watched happily as it hit the ground.

She walked out barefoot and stared emotionlessly at the book. With the little magic she knew, the pirate conjured up a fireball and lit the book on fire. She watched as the book diminished into nothing, and the book was forever destroyed. Only the leather cover remained.

The Wonders of Neverland was plastered in gold on the burnt leather. Melody scowled.

She snatched a shovel from her father's shed and grabbed the ashes of the book and the leather cover. Melody wrapped the cover in a white cloth and headed into the forest behind her house.

Once she walked far enough, she began to dig a hole. She wiped her sweat away before dumping the remains and leather into the hole and tossing the dirt back inside. After tapping it down with the shovel and dragging a tree branch over the dirt to disguise her tracks, Melody lit up some sage and began to purify the area. Once she had finished burning the herbs away, the pirate wiped her hands and left back to her house.

Melody stepped into the shower to clean herself of the smoke and ash she had collected. She threw the clothes she was wearing into a bag and tossed it deep into the garbage can outside. She then washed the shoes she was wearing to get rid of any remaining evidence.

She was brushing her teeth when the doorbell suddenly rang.

When she opened the door, she didn't expect to find the Charming pack looking down at her. Melody scrunched her face. Her toothbrush hung between her lips as toothpaste dripped off her chin. She stared at them before opening the door wider so they could enter.

After cleaning up, she turned to the family with crossed arms.

"What do you want?"

"You disappeared for a while. We were just worried," Snow said.

"I was here doing my homework like a good normal girl," Melody responded bitterly. The pirate walked off into the kitchen to get more food but frowned when she found herself scarce of nourishment.

"Do you want me to make you something?" Snow asked. Melody nodded her head.

"Did you finish your homework?" Emma questioned and Melody glared at her.

"No, I did not. Math is hard and I refuse to do it."

Snow immediately stopped her cooking and turned to Melody slowly.

"Mel, you better go get your textbook and papers right now and do your homework. Emma and David will help you."

Melody glanced at David, who seemed annoyed that he had to help with math. But nonetheless, he gave a grim smile to the young girl.

"It's okay, Mel. We can suffer through math together."

~        

"It doesn't matter what speed the train is going at, it will still kill you!" David spat angrily as he chewed on his pasta. Emma wanted to cry from the headache she got.

"See, this is why math should never exist. Whoever came up with it should be burned at the stake," Melody hissed.

The homework was long forgotten, and after they had finished eating dinner and Melody got a scolding from Killian and Rumple (who arrived later on), she was sent off to her room.

From her window, she watched as everyone left the mansion. She slowly shut the curtains and checked to make sure the windows were all closed before slipping into bed. The young pirate's skin suddenly shuddered as she felt a pretense nearby.

Melody carefully looked around her room for something unnatural, but when she only found her trinkets and clothes, she calmed down and tossed the blanket over her body.

"I'm being paranoid."

And she was able to sleep away peacefully, unaware of the danger already growing in the small magical town of Storybrooke, Maine.

~

It was a Saturday the next morning and Melody was ready to enjoy her weekend. She wanted to distract herself from the strange feeling she had experienced the night before and that meant she needed a double cheeseburger with extra cheese and extra fries.

After getting ready, she was dropped off at the Charming loft by Belle. Snow invited her to breakfast at the diner and of course, Melody agreed. Emma and David usually joined them but they had to sit this one out.

"We got a call from Grumpy this morning. Apparently, Bashful is missing. They were up all night looking for him," David informed as he looked for his deputy badge and gun.

"We'll be back later tonight. I'll call if something comes up," he said before kissing Snow goodbye and walking out, Emma trailing close behind her father.

Breakfast at Granny's was the same as usual. Ruby took their order, Granny gave Melody an ice cream on the house, and Snow paid before they left.

"I have to go buy some groceries. Want to come?" Snow asked and Melody sighed.

"I don't have much of a choice do I?"

"No."

"Brilliant."

~

Melody munched on a burger as she watched Emma and David go through some police files in the Sheriff's Station. She waited around for one of her dad's to pick her up after a long day of hanging with Snow. She shared her fries with David but slapped his hand away when he tried to steal one of her onion rings.

"People are going missing," David muttered and rubbed his face. Melody looked up from her food to easedrop. 

"What could be causing it? You think it's a murder on the loose?" Melody questioned, completely interested if it was a serial killer.

"I seriously doubt it," Emma responded.

"There always seems to be something going on around here," David complained.

"Maybe if we-" Emma got interrupted by the door of the station slamming open. Leroy and Doc, two of the seven dwarves, walked in quickly. David nodded at his friends before clearing hid throat.

"What can we do for you, Leroy?"

"We're down to 4 now. We can't find Sneezy," Grumpy said.

"Or Happy. He isn't picking up either." Doc said as he gestured to his phone.

"Someone's picking us off one by one again," Grumpy said with a sneer. The dwarf then turned to Melody and pointed with his stubby finger.

"I bet you're the one causing all this!" He accused. Melody stood to her feet to defend her honor but David stopped her before a fight could break out.

"Leroy, you need to calm down-"

"No! She knows what she is doing! Who else do you think works around with shadows?"

Melody's eyes widened at his last words and she could feel all the color drop from her face. She wanted to puke out her dinner.

"Shadows?" Emma asked.

"Yes, a shadow! That's what we saw carry off Bashful!"

"No, that's impossible," David mumbled lowly.

But it was obvious what it meant. The world as Melody knew it was crashing down around her and the peace was coming to a dark end, because it could only mean one thing.

"He's back."

*unedited*