────── ★★★ ──────

────── ★★★ ──────

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟏
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐄𝐒

────── ★★★ ──────

For the first time since she arrived, Everly walked through the streets of Hyperion Heights with a purpose. Her mind raced with a million different thoughts as she passed by the cursed citizens, who never received a greeting in return from the blonde woman. The Purest Heart's head was so far lost in her own head that she failed to notice the person watching her from across the street. Drizella just watched Everly as she wove through the small crowds that surrounded her on her way to her destination. The Tremaine woman continued to stare at the blonde woman for a moment longer before she turned around and continued on her way.

Everly just stood outside the doors of Sunshine Market for what felt like an eternity before letting out a long sigh and walking through the door. Fletcher and Dawn instantly greeted their mother the moment she walked through the door. They stayed by her side as she walked down the aisles in search of an orange marmalade sandwich.

"Did you finally figure out a way to break Dad out of the Curse?" Dawn asked, causing Everly to stop in her tracks and look down at her children.

"Not yet. Right now, I'm helping your Uncle Sam and Hook with something," the Purest Heart told them before she watched the smiles on their faces grow, "before you get any ideas, it has nothing to do with the Curse."

"We know that," Fletcher said while he and his sister continued to bounce around in front of their mother, "you just want to spend some time with them."

Before Everly had a chance to respond, the sound of the twins' cursed names being called cut through the air. The Thorne woman's entire body tensed while Fletcher and Dawn looked up at her with large grins on their faces. After letting out a long sigh, Everly turned around to face Felix as he continued to approach them.

"There you two are," the blonde man said as he wrapped his arms around the twins before his attention fell on Everly, "I hope they aren't bothering you too much, Jo."

"They're not bothering me at all," Everly responded while doing her best to keep her growing emotions at bay, "they were just helping me find the orange marmalade sandwiches."

"Let me guess, it's for Tilly," Felix said, causing the Purest Heart to send him a confused expression before the former let out a laugh, "she's the only one who ever gets those. Wait here. I'll go grab a fresh one from the back."

After receiving a nod in response from the Thorne woman, Felix turned around and walked back in the direction he came. As she watched him go, Everly couldn't help but reach into her bag and wrap her hand around the box that contained his bracelet. The Purest Heart wanted nothing more than to give Felix his possession to see if it would restore his memories. But she couldn't bear to see it fail and crush the one shred of hope she had left.

While their mother kept her eyes glued to where their father disappeared, Fletcher and Dawn exchanged a concerned look. Never in their life had they seen Everly look so defeated and they hated it. If it were up to them, they would sacrifice their memories so that Felix could remember. That way they could see their mother's genuine smile more often.

It wasn't long before the Thorne man returned with the item Everly needed. After he handed the sandwich over to the blonde woman, the two of them made their way over to the register. As the twins continued to watch their parents, an idea popped into their heads before they exchanged a look and sprinted towards Everly and Felix.

"Dad!" Fletcher shouted, causing him and Everly to turn their attention toward the duo as the twins stopped a few feet away from them, "Miley and I just had the best idea!"

"You should take Ms. Jo out to dinner this weekend!" Dawn exclaimed before they watched both their parents' faces turn bright red, "it would be fun! And Ms. Jo was telling us that she doesn't work on Saturday!"

"Uh, well, I don't know," Felix said while casting his gaze over to Everly, "I'm sure you have other plans."

"Actually, no. I don't," Everly responded, ignoring the heat that continued to cover every inch of her face.

"Come on, Dad! It'll be fun!" Fletcher told him as he jumped up and down in front of the two adults.

"Plus, you're always sitting around the house after you close the store. You need to get out more," Dawn added while the smile on her face grew larger than humanly possible.

Felix hesitated for a moment as he looked down at his children before his attention turned towards Everly. "I'd be happy to take you to dinner...if it's something you'd be interested in."

The Purest Heart just at him then glanced over at the twins, who were quickly nodding at her as they continued to jump up and down. After letting out a silent breath, Everly turned her attention back to Felix with a small smile on her face.

"I'd be happy to. Just give me a call to set up the time," the Thorne woman told him as she wrote down her number on a piece of paper before handing it to him along with the money for the sandwich. But he only took the small slip of paper.

"Sandwich is on the house," the blonde man said before a smile appeared on his face, "I'll see you Saturday."

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Everly felt like she was on cloud 9 while making her way toward the park to meet Sam and Hook. The smile on her face never faded as she passed by the citizens of Hyperion Heights. Unlike on her way to Sunshine Market, the Purest Heart responded to their greetings and waved to everyone she passed. She couldn't remember a time she'd been happier since arriving in Hyperion Heights. Well, other than discovering her children were awake.

As soon as she reached her destination, Everly spotted Sam and Hook sitting on one of the benches that overlooked the bay. She just stared at the two men for a long moment before walking across the field to join them.

"You'd think a girl hocking watches wouldn't ever be late," Hook complained as the Thorne girl approached them with the bag containing the orange marmalade sandwich in her hands.

"You know, I've been thinking about what you said before about Eloise Gardener," Sam said after the Thorne woman sat down on one side of him while Hook took the other, "this connection that you feel with her, is this like a cop thing, or is there something more going on here?"

Silence surrounded them for a long moment as the Jones man stared at the two young adults sitting next to him. It wasn't long before Hook let out a long sigh then he opened his mouth to respond.

"It isn't just a cop thing," the raven-haired man admitted while Everly and Sam watched him with curiosity in their eyes, "the night she vanished...I was drinking. Instead of patrolling her neighborhood, I was en route to the bottom of a bottle. It's my fault she disappeared."

As soon as Hook finished speaking, all three of them caught a hint of movement out of the corner of their eyes. They instantly turned around to find Alice staring at them from the other side of the park. However, right as Everly, Sam, and Hook got to their feet to meet her halfway, the blonde girl spun around and started walking in the opposite direction. That caused Hook to instantly pick up his pace while shouting out to her. Everly and Sam instantly exchanged a concerned look before sprinting after him.

"Hey! We were waiting! Did you find anything?" the raven-haired man questioned Alice as soon as they reached her.

"Yeah, I found something. But you don't wanna hear this!" the blonde girl exclaimed after turning around to face the three police officers.

"Of course, I do."

"No, I should go."

"Hey, stop!" Hook pleased, making the girl stop in her tracks while she continued to stare at him with sadness in her eyes, "whatever you've got, just get on with it."

"Okay," the blonde girl responded then she let out a sigh and stared down at the grass near her feet. That lasted for a long moment before she found enough courage to look back up at them. "I spoke to a few of the runaways from the old group home. There was a guy who used to go out with a girl, going by the name of Rain. She wrote poetry, loved Salinger, was constantly drawing in her notebook. So...I checked him out, okay? And...and he gave me this."

Alice hesitated for an almost unnoticeable second before she reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. Everly and Sam shared another uncertain look while Hook took the paper then they turned their attention back to him. The raven-haired man instantly unfolded the paper to reveal a neatly-drawn sunset. After staring at the artwork for a long moment, Hook opened Eloise Gardner's journal and flipped to one of the pages. Everyone watched as the Jones man brought the ripped edges together, revealing that they fit perfectly together.

"This...this drawing's from her. This is from Eloise," Hook announced as he looked over at his blonde partners before turning his attention back to Alice, "that guy, did he say where she is?"

The blonde girl just stared at the man in front of her for a moment before breaking her gaze with him. Hook just stared at her uncertain look until Everly could see his patience wearing thin.

"Hey. What?" the raven-haired man questioned, causing Alice to let out another long sigh before forcing herself to look Hook in the eyes once again.

"She's dead," the blonde girl confessed, making Hook take a step back as a sullen look began to form on his face.

"How?"

"Car accident," Alice answered while trying her best to hold back her tears, making Everly take a step forward and place a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, "there was a stolen car and...since her real name wasn't Rain..."

"They couldn't identify her," Sam finished for the young girl before he looked away from her and toward his partner, "hey, I'm so sorry."

Hook instantly held up his good hand, signaling for the blonde man to stop speaking. The raven-haired man just stared at them for what felt like an eternity before announcing he wanted to be alone and walking away. Alice didn't move for a moment as she watched him leave then she pulled her hood over her head and walked in the opposite direction.

────── ★★★ ──────

When Everly finally arrived back home, she found Cassie hovering over a sleeping Roland with her eyes glowing bright pink. The Thorne woman just watched her daughter as her hands moved around above the Hood boy's head.

Back when she first saw Cassie use her magic, Everly was terrified by what she could do and she hated that. She never wanted to be scared of her daughter, but not many people could manipulate people's dreams. But now things were different. Instead of trying to get her daughter to stop Cassie from using her abilities, Everly let her run free. Her only condition was that the sleeper allowed the Thorne girl to have access to their dreams.

It wasn't long before Cassie noticed her mother's arrival, causing her to stop what she was doing and straighten up to his full height. "Roland said it was okay to practice any time he fell asleep."

"I know. I just like watching you," Everly responded as the smile on her face grew before she made her way into the kitchen to grab a water bottle, "is he dreaming about anything interesting?"

The Thorne girl hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh and made her way over to sit down at the counter across from her mother. "He's, uh, he's dreaming about his father. His dreams are always about his father."

Everly's entire body tensed as she stared at her daughter. However, before she had a chance to respond, her phone rang, making both women jump and Roland fall off the couch. After managing to slow her breathing, the Purest Heart looked down at her phone to see an incoming call from Ella. Confusion formed on the Thorne woman's face before she answered the call.

"Hey, Jacinda. Is everything okay?" Everly said, only to be greeted by the loud sobbing of her friend, "what's going on?"

"My stepmother was arrested for the kidnapping of Eloise Gardner," the Mills woman explained, making the Thorne woman's eyebrows come together in confusion before Jacinda continued, "Social Services are taking Lucy. She's going into the system."

"What? No. Jacinda, you need to stop them," the Purest Heart told her as a wave of fear for her niece washed over her.

"I tried but they won't listen. I don't know what else to do."

Everly paused for a moment as she looked up at Cassie. The two of them just stared at each other before her eyes traveled to Roland, who was standing behind the Thorne girl. As the Purest Heart stared at her adopted son, the only possible solution for helping Lucy popped into her head.

"Tell Social Services that I'll take her."

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