UnEnchanted (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #1)(16)

Mina stood motionless, confused and angry. “That doesn’t make sense. Isn't that the exact opposite of what mothers are supposed to say? Don't you want me to succeed?”

“Our family was meant for greatness, and if I could keep you away from the spotlight, if I could keep you out of public eye and hidden, then maybe I could outrun it.”

“I don’t understand?” Mina began to shiver as a cold breeze wafted through the room.

“You are right. You are old enough to know the truth, to share the burden.” Sara waited until Charlie had left the kitchen and headed for a second round of favorite objects to pack away. “Mina, I’ve lied to you about your name, about everything. Our last name isn’t Grime, it’s Grimm and for as long as I could remember, we’ve been trying to outrun it.

“Outrun what exactly?”

“Outrun what killed your father years ago….the Grimm curse”





Chapter 5


Mina felt as if her world was spinning. Sara jumped from her chair to grab her daughter and led her to the small uncomfortable couch in the living room. Mina sat there unmoving, trying to comprehend what her mother said. Sara returned with a hot cup of earl grey tea.

Mina was about to ask more questions but Sara held up her hand to stop her. “Please sweetie, let me explain.” Taking a deep breath Sara tried to gather her thoughts before proceeding. “It goes farther back to your great great great grandfather Wilhelm Grimm and his brother Jacob.”

“Do you mean the brothers, the ones who wrote the fairy tales?” Mina asked skeptically.

“Yes, the very same. And no, they didn’t write all of them, they collected them and wrote them down. But more importantly, they actually survived the tales. It’s part of the curse that plagues the Grimm family. Each generation is cursed, chosen, fated to relive the tales. It is why the tales keep changing throughout history, because another’s action or decision changes the outcome.”

“Do you mean like Cinderella doesn’t always get the prince?” Mina felt this was too much to believe, so it was easier to make fun of it than not.

“This is serious, but yes. More often than not, the stepsisters do,” Sara argued.

“Oh, come on Mom. You really believe this stuff. This is what is making you pick up and run. Why not try and get the prince and live in the castle?”

“Because that’s not how it works.” Sara looked frustrated; she kept gnawing on her bottom lip as she pondered her words carefully. “You don’t get a choice in the tale, you don’t get a choice in the part you play and if you remember they are not all happy endings. Do you think everyone could survive reliving these tales? Your Uncle Jack didn’t.”

Mina’s jaw dropped in shock. “But I thought that it was an accident?”

Sara shook her head. “The curse followed your Uncle and then when he died it latched onto your father. Strange things started happening and he ignored the warning signs. He believed that he was smarter and stronger than his brother and could make it through the till the end.”

Is there a way to stop it, to break the Grimm curse?”

“It’s believed that if a descendent of a Grimm can survive all of the tales then the Story will be satisfied and the power of it will be broken. Your father survived ten tales before he died.” Sara started crying and buried her face into the couch throw pillow.

Mina felt her mouth go dry and she had to lick her lips and clear her throat before she could ask the next question. “How many tales are there total?”

Sara looked up, sniffed and then looked over at her daughter and her heart ached. “Oh sweetie, I won’t let it find you; it’s why I changed our last name and why we keep moving. Every time we move, it seems to takes longer for the power of the tale to find us, even longer if we don’t do anything special to get ourselves noticed.”

“How many?” Mina repeated feeling the strange tingling sensation throughout her body.

Sara reached for Mina’s hands, clasping them. “We don’t have to stay. We can keep running and it won’t drag you into the tale. You won’t suffer the same fate as the rest of the Grimm family.”

Mina stared at her mother hard.

Sara avoided making eye contact and whispered out. “Over 200. Jacob and Wilhelm together made it through over 190 but they couldn't complete all of them before they died. So then it started over again with Wilhelm’s children. Honey, they were the only ones to even come close to breaking the Grimm curse and that was almost 200 years ago. More Grimm’s have tried to overcome it, but didn’t survive, like your father. So I decided to try and run from it instead.”

“Mom, I don’t want to run.”

“Mina, we have to. I was hoping that the Story wouldn’t want you because you were a girl and a child. After your father died, it seemed we were safe because it left us alone for a few years. But then you always were gifted and kind-hearted and wanted to help others, so it kept finding you. It was the day I saw you in the backyard talking to a frog, that I realized I was wrong. Too many of the fairy tales had a female heroine.”

“You make it sound as if it’s alive?”

“It is. There is something far greater at work here than what the human mind can process. It’s ancient, it’s old, and it’s powerful. Some say it’s God, others say it’s fate, but whatever it is, it can’t be stopped.”