UnEnchanted (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #1)(28)

Mina ran her hands over her head,“…dead serious.”

“Like this isn’t some ploy to try and punk me or anything right?”

“No, I wish it was, I really do, but it’s not.”

“Okay, start from the beginning.” Nan crossed her legs Indian style and waited patiently through Mina’s whole tale. She barely fidgeted, never once interrupted and even didn’t immediately grab her phone to tweet the update. “Whoa,” was all she said.

“You can say that again,” Mina mumbled unhappily.

“Whoa!” Nan repeated and ducked as Mina threw a pillow at her. “So you were actually attacked outside the back door of the library? That must have been awesome.”

“Nan!” Mina gasped unbelievably. “NO! I could have been killed.”

“But you weren’t, Brody saved you. So if Brody saved your life and all, then why is he in such a fit?”

“I’m not sure why, but I have probably something to do with it. He wanted me to go to the police, but if I did and my mother found out that would be the end of us here. She would have shipped us out to Canada, before you can say Canucks.”

“So you two fought,” Nan stated.

“Yes, we argued and I demanded he drop me off. And with a huge bruise on the side of my cheek, I couldn’t very well go to school like that.” Mina paced her small bedroom and kept passing her bedroom mirror to look at the bruise.

“So in other words, he hasn’t called you, spoken to you or seen you since he dropped you off after the attack.” Nan ticked off the words on her hands. “Yep that would explain why he has been out of sorts. MINA CALL HIM! Let him know that you are still alive.”

“Nan, I can’t.” And Mina truly felt that she couldn’t. She had burned her bridges and burned them badly.

“Nonsense, all you do is pick up the phone and say 'Brody, I’m not dead.'” Nan grabbed her phone and held it up to Mina’s face jokingly. “Here, you can use my phone.”

Mina glared at Nan in response.

“Fine.” Nan put her phone away. “Since it seems you have a lot to do maybe we should get cracking and find this Grimoire or whatever and prepare you to meet the Story and break it’s curse.” The way Nan said it, made it sound as if Mina was going on a camping trip and needed to find supplies, instead of possibly meeting her destiny. “But I think before we do anything else today, we need to eat!”

“You just ate,” Mina teased.

Nan made a gagging face. “That is not what I would call eating. That’s biting the bullet to win a bet. I’m starved, let’s grab food first, you owe me.”

After lunch they walked the rows of small shops in the various districts.

“So your dad…?” Nan let her question trail off. It was too delicate of a question to ask outright.

“Yeah, my Dad was chosen by the curse before me and was caught in one of the more viscous tales and didn’t live through it.” Mina walked a little slower.

“Do you remember the night?”

“No, I don’t. I guess I must have suppressed a lot of those memories and my mom won’t speak about it. What I do remember was that my dad was happy, loving, and carefree until my Uncle died. That’s when it all changed. He changed, he was driven, obsessed with trying to finish each tale and break the curse so that I wouldn’t have to suffer the same fate as his brother.

“He must have loved you a lot.”

“That or he wanted revenge for Uncle Jack. I don’t know.” Mina felt at a loss, confused, and a little angry. “So I HAVE to do this Nan, I have to finish the tale and break the curse because if I don’t, it falls on Charlie and I can’t let that happen. I have to protect Charlie.”

“Sign me up, where do we start?” Nan spoke.

“Nan, you don’t have to help, you don’t even have to get involved. I only told you because I needed your support, in case I have more episodes where I can’t go to school.”

“You can’t tell me about this curse and then NOT expect me to get involved and help. I’m your friend, I care about you and I care about Charlie. It’s a done deal.”

“Nan?”

“Don’t you 'Nan' me; I’ve got two semesters of Karate under my belt, a serious case of attitude and mace on my keychain. I’m ready to tackle any giants that come my way. Fe Fi Fo FUM!” When she said Fum, Nan did a karate kick in the air and landed with a chest punch.

“I think that’s the wrong story.” Mina laughed.

“What, there’s no giants? I was really hoping to tackle some giants.” Nan looked devastated.

“From what my mom said, it doesn’t necessarily have to follow the same Grimm tale guidelines. Yes there are giants, but it maybe instead of a 30 foot giant, you may find that the Story has a different idea and you may be facing a six-foot six-inch, 300 pound New York Giant football player instead.”

“I’ll take that!” Nan gushed excitedly. “Bring ‘em on.” When she had quit jumping around on the sidewalk doing martial art moves and knocking into complete strangers, she stood up suddenly and looked at Mina. “Why did you say the Story may have a different idea?”

“I guess because it’s real? The Story is what found me in the Babushka's Bakery. It made me drop my pencil and the following chain of events. It was also the Story that seemed to spur me into action and react in time to save Brody. For some reason the Story is the driving force behind all of this. We can never underestimate and never trust the Story.”