UnEnchanted (14 page)

Mina began to run and had
to dodge as slowly books, figurines, and various pottery on the
shelves started to topple over. At first it was only a few items,
and then she heard
thunks
and glass shattering all around her. The walls
began to twist, and a few papers flew past her, knocking into Mina.
She had to hurry and get out.

Running now, she saw the entrance, but by
now the door she’d first entered was two feet smaller. Mina threw
her shoulder into the red door, and it gave out with little
resistance. She flung herself out of the room with both feet,
landing in a heap on the sidewalk, scraping her elbows and knees on
the hard cement. She never knew the Grimm curse would be so
physically exhausting.

Groaning and brushing grit from her damaged
elbows, she turned over to look at the store and saw…a blank brick
wall. The building had disappeared! Sitting up, Mina looked to the
left and saw the pottery store and Rosie's Flowers, but there was
no longer an unmarked store in between them, just a plain brick
wall. Quickly getting to her feet, Mina tried to not draw any more
attention her way; she was already getting a few uncomfortable
stares. Where was Nan?

Something felt wrong. The sun wasn’t where
it was supposed to be; it was almost evening. Mina looked at her
watch and saw that it had stopped at 1:11 p.m. When she glanced at
the clock in the square, it was closer to 7 p.m. Mina had been in
the store for six hours? That wasn’t possible, was it? Why hadn’t
Nan ever come back in? Where was she?

Instead of waiting, Mina decided to head
home, cutting through the back alleys between roads, something she
had done hundreds of times before, so she could call her friend.
She never noticed when a dark shadow separated from the wall and
followed her.

Chapter 11

As the man neared, Mina felt the dread run
across her spine, giving her an instant in which to react. She
jumped back, but the attacker made a grab for her hoodie. She heard
the tear of cloth as a piece ripped off in his hands.

“
Little girl, you should
know better than to traverse dark alleys alone. Tch tch
tch.”

The familiar voice made Mina shudder in
terror. How had he found her? It was the same man with the wolf
tattoo who assaulted her behind the library. The man chuckled and
sniffed the ripped piece of her jacket, and began to rub it along
his face as if learning her scent. His hands looked longer than
humanly possible, and his nails were dark and dirty.

“
Leave me alone, or I’ll
scream,” Mina threatened.

“
Oooo. I like it when they
scream,” the wolf man countered, taking another step forward. Using
his long fingernails, he tore the piece of cloth easily, like a
knife through butter.

Mina bolted. Holding onto the notebook, she
ran like crazy down the alley, desperately hoping to make it to the
road before he caught her. But speed was on her attacker’s side as
she was jerked backward by the hood of her jacket, smacking her
tailbone against the pavement.

Mina jerked away as the man made a grab for
the notebook. She bit his hand and he roared. The notebook fell and
was flung open. Mina tried to scream, but he lunged for her throat
and began to squeeze.

“
Please, somebody help
me!” Mina choked out. The wolf man was about to backhand her when a
blurry form leapt toward him and knocked him off her.

Coughing and scrambling away on her hands
and knees, Mina grabbed the notebook and tried to make a run for
it. One part of her told her to forget it, flight over fight, save
her own skin. But another part needed to look, needed to see who it
was that was helping her. Craning her neck, Mina saw and gasped. It
was a young man who couldn’t have been older than seventeen. How
could she abandon him? Mina froze, but she didn’t know how to help.
The boy was definitely overpowered and outweighed, but he looked
determined.

Wolf man lunged, and the boy feinted to the
right and sidestepped; turning, he spun his body into the older,
stronger man and was able to land a side kick to his solar plexus.
Grunting, wolf man lowered his head and pretended to lower his
guard. The dark-haired boy ran and was going to kick him in the
face, but the man lunged forward, snapping his jaws very similarly
to a real wolf, and knocked the boy out of the air as if he were
swatting a fly.

The boy landed on the ground and tried to
roll, but the wolf man was everywhere, and soon he was trapped
within reach of the man’s huge forearms.

The man laughed evilly and grabbed the boy
around his chest, lifting him into the air, hoping to crush
him.

“
Use the book!” the boy
yelled.

“
What?” Mina
asked.

“
Turn the page.” He was
struggling and losing the fight. “Think of something you’re scared
of.”

Grabbing the notebook, which had landed
open, she flipped the page as a childhood fear flashed through her
mind. She gasped as a bright light flooded the alley and the
notebook grew warm to the touch. A loud buzzing noise grew in
volume. Mina dropped the notebook as golden bees of light flew out
of the book and straight for the man with the wolf tattoo. It
looked to be painful, because he hollered and fell backward,
crawling away from the bees. A few more whimpers followed, and then
he gave up and ran out of the alley, the light diminishing after
him.

Mina looked in surprise at the boy, who was
bent over, catching his breath. “Grey Tail will be back—there’s no
question about that. You need to be more careful.” The boy looked
Mina over. “What was fate thinking, choosing you? And BEES? Really?
That was the best you could come up with?

Mina turned to look at the boy. “What are
you talking about?” she nearly cried, her voice raised in anxiety.
“Who are you? Who’s Grey Tail, and how do you know about the
book?”

“
Doesn’t matter,” he said,
shrugging. “We all know about the book. All you need to know is
that I’m here now, and he’s gone.” The boy put his hands in his
pockets and didn’t make any move to come closer to Mina. She looked
him over head to toe.

Mina took a few steps back away from the
boy. “That’s not good enough. I’m in charge of protecting this, and
I need to know who you are and how you found me.”

The young man looked at Mina warily and
said, “Don’t worry, girl. I have no interest in the Grimoire. Or in
you.”

Mina’s mouth opened and closed in obvious
shock. She had never been treated with such disdain—okay, maybe
once or twice at school, but never from a perfect stranger.

“
So you know about the
Grimoire?”

“
More than I want to,” he
said, his lip curled in contempt. He began to walk away, but Mina
realized he might be her only chance at getting some
answers.

“
Wait! Are you a Grimm,
too?

He laughed. “Not on your life.”

“
Then who are
you?”

“
Maybe you shouldn’t be
asking who, but
what
.” He paused and looked at her.

An otherworldly chill ran
over Mina’s skin, and she swallowed nervously. “Okay, then
what
are
you?”

He smiled and crossed his arms in front of
his chest. “Now that would be too easy, wouldn’t it? I suppose
you’ll have to guess.”

“
Can’t you just tell me? I
don’t have time to play twenty questions,” Mina asked, surprised at
the desperation in her voice. The boy obviously knew the man with
the wolf tattoo and about the family curse.

“
I could, but I won’t.” He
raised his head and grinned like a know-it-all. “You’re on your
own, sweetie.”

“
Well, that’s just rude,”
Mina said, putting her hands on her hips. “Why’d you show up here
in the first place?”

“
No, rude is not saying
thank you.”

Mina blinked taken aback. Was he being mean
to her only because she didn’t say thank you? “I’m sorry, you’re
right. Thank you for saving me.”

The boy looked only slightly appeased. “It
doesn’t mean as much if I have to remind you.” He turned his head,
and his dark hair flew over his eyes in a rakish manner. He was
remarkably good-looking, with dark somber gray eyes and a perfectly
formed jaw. Thin, but with strong shoulders and a graceful
stance.

“
You won’t last a week,”
the boy said to her now, his eyes studying her. “The first tale
that the Story throws your way will be the end of you.”

“
I could, if you helped
me.”

He shook his head slowly in response, then
turned his back to her and began to walk away. Mina reached for his
shoulder, and he spun around almost instantly. One minute they were
standing in the middle of the alley, and the next he had her pinned
against a brick wall, his hand around her neck.

“
Do not touch me!” he
growled out between clenched teeth.

Mina knew she should be afraid, but she
wasn’t. “Why won’t you help me?” she pleaded, daring to stare him
in the eyes.

“
I. Can’t.”

“
Can’t, or
won’t?”

“
Both.” He let go of her,
and Mina slid down the wall to land on her knees in the dirt.
“Can’t because you’re in over your head, won’t because you’re a
lost cause. So you’re not worth the effort. Today proved that.” He
stepped back and looked at Mina, crouched in the dirt.

Tears fell freely down her cheeks. He was
confirming her worst fears, but she had to survive. “You’re
wrong.”

“
I’m never wrong,” the boy
answered, kneeling down to look at her closely.

“
You have to be. I have to
break the curse. I have to finish the tales!”

“
Why? What’s in it for
you? What have they promised you that would make you so determined
to risk your life?”

“
What are you talking
about? I haven’t been promised anything! I’m trying to protect my
brother, Charlie. He’s too young. I won’t let him be the next
victim.” Mina gritted it out, her fingers digging into the ground
in anger.

It was one of the first times in her life
that Mina had ever felt this angry. She was usually the
passive-aggressive student who avoided confrontation, but it was as
if something in her had been broken and would never be the same. “I
will survive–I will be the Grimm to finish the tales and live. I
will beat the Story.” Mina stood and looked heatedly in his eyes.
“With or without your help.” With strength that Mina didn’t know
she had, she pushed the boy in the chest so hard he stumbled
backward but did not fall.

The boy stepped away from Mina, giving her
room to pass. He cocked his head to the side and answered, “Well,
maybe there is a chance for you after all.”

“
Leave me alone!” Mina
yelled, and turned angrily to face him, but the boy had
disappeared.

Mina ran the rest of the way home and burst
through the door to find Nan sitting on her couch, eyes red from
crying. Nan flew to Mina and grabbed her around the neck.

“
You’re alive. I’m so
sorry—I should never have left your side. I went outside to look
for a number, and as soon as I turned around, the door, window,
everything was gone. It was a brick wall.” Nan stepped back away
from Mina, and her hands went into overdrive as she explained what
happened. “I went into the pottery store and asked them about the
building, and they gave me a blank stare. Apparently there has
never been a shop there. Same with Rosie’s Flowers. Mina, they
thought I was crazy, but I knew better. I knew that the building
was there and it had eaten you!” She hiccupped with
anxiety.

“
Nan, I’m fine,” Mina
consoled her best friend, getting her to sit on the couch once
again.

“
I waited. I waited on the
sidewalk for hours, but you never appeared. I searched the whole
block and alley for you, and I couldn’t find you.” Nan began to
cry. “I didn’t know what else to do but to come back and wait for
you. I’m just glad your mom and brother weren’t here. I wouldn’t
want to explain to them how you were eaten by a building.” Nan’s
hands flew through the air with her growing anxiety. When she had a
moment to settle down, she pinned Mina with a wary glance. “What
did happen to you?”

“
I found the Grimoire.”
Mina smiled widely and pulled out the red spiral notebook to show
Nan.

Nan frowned at the notebook. “That sure
doesn’t look like a Grimoire. But then again, how should I
know?”

“
It was in that building,
I had to solve a few puzzles to find it, deep underground. But it
was like it wanted me to find it. You wouldn’t believe
it.”

“
May I?” Nan asked,
pointing to the cover. When Mina nodded, Nan gently opened the
cover and began flipping through the pages. “Okay. There’s only one
story inside.”

“
What! That wasn't there a
minute ago.” Mina pointed to the pages. “There were pictures and
stories, but then it erased itself when I took hold of it. And now
this. What do you think it means?”

“
That it's obviously not
complete? That the Grimm brothers never made it through all of the
stories? But I guess they finished this bull story.”

“
Give me that!” Mina
snatched the book from Nan. “Nan, this is the room I was
describing. It’s all here, everything. Even me running from the
room!”

“
Way cool. Am I in
there?”

“
Nan, you know what this
means?” Mina said, ignoring her. “I solved one of the tales. It’s
officially begun.”