UnEnchanted (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #1)(29)

“So what happened on the tour was the consequences of a fairy tale? So cool, which one?” Nan was walking backward and kept throwing quick glances over her shoulder.

“I have an idea but it doesn’t make sense.” Mina put her fingers in her jacket pockets. Shaking her head Mina decided it was nothing and kept walking.

“So how do we go about finding this book? You said your father found it in the library. What about your Uncle? How did the Grimoire come to your Uncle?”

Mina face turned down in anger and she bit her lip. “It never came to my Uncle.”

“But I thought you said that it comes to the Grimm descendants and it helps them?”

“I did, but it doesn’t always decide to help them. It chose not to reveal itself to my Uncle Jack, it didn’t help him and now he’s dead.”

“But Mina, it came to your father and he still died.” Nan put her hand on Mina’s shoulder and looked into her face. “All we can do is pray that it chooses to help you.”

Mina nodded her head and wiped away the tears that had started to form in the corner of her eyes. “I’m just so scared. Nan, what if it doesn’t choose me to help me and I’m stuck trying to fight off more people like the man with the wolf tattoo alone. I can’t do it, I need its help and I’m scared it won’t help me.” Mina sniffled trying to hold back the tears, but they kept coming.

Nan grabbed her friend in a huge hug. “Mina, you are the sweetest, most kind-hearted person I know. The Grimore will come to you, how can it not? And if it doesn’t you’ve got me, and I’m ten times, no, twenty times more helpful than a book. I told you not to wear that hideous dress to homecoming and you didn’t. I kept you away from that disastrous looking egg salad at the buffet and then everyone else got sick. I even stood up for you when you someone made fun of you for always wearing hoodies.”

“Someone made fun of me?” Mina gasped. This was the first that she had heard about that.

“What matters is that I’m here for you and with me on your side, you will always win.” Nan grinned and put her arm through Mina’s.

Her best friend was right, with Nan’s gumption and determination they could face anything. There were times where Mina felt as if she was kryptonite to anyone who came near her, except for Nan. Nan was immune to Mina’s bad luck and seemed to thrive off of warding it away. It’s almost as if Nan was her personal good luck charm.

“Oohh! We have to go in here and see the puppies!” Nan squealed and forcefully dragged Mina into Pawpers Pet’s. The pet store was white, with animal prints painted in blue on the sidewalk leading up to the front door that jingled when they walked in. The scent of dog, urine and cleanser made Mina wrinkle her nose in instant distaste. She fought the urge to breathe through the sleeve of her red jacket, knowing it would give Nan a reason to tease her.

Mina didn’t care for pet stores. She loved animals but hated going into and seeing hundreds of caged dogs, cats, birds and mice. To her it was the same as walking into a prison and being asked to pick out a cute inmate to take home and care for. She sighed and walked over to Nan who was gushing over a playful Pomeranian and American Eskimo puppy.

“Oh aren’t you the cutest? Yes you are! You are the sweetest thing since cotton candy,” Nan baby talked. The pups yipped and crawled over each other in an attempt to lick the glass window where Nan’s hand rested. A cute red haired boy with glasses spotted Nan’s interest. Greg, according to his employee name badge asked if she wanted to take one out and play with it in the viewing pen. Nan squealed with glee. “Did you hear that Mina? We can hold them and play with them.” Nan turned her back and was now as excited as the pups in the glassed kennel. Her enthusiasm was so contagious that Mina didn’t think she wanted to be stuck in a 4x4 cubicle with Nan and two pups.

“Uh, I think I’ll pass this time. I’m going to check out the rest of the pets.” Mina backed away from Nan who was in her own world. She got an indifferent look from Greg, who was busy trying to score Nan’s number.

Sighing, Mina walked past the parakeets and canaries. A melodic whistle made her stop and turn in surprise. The canaries where singing. She leaned in toward the birds slowly to listen to their song, careful to not startle or interrupt them. They fluttered about their white cage, seeming impervious to Mina’s nearness. And then the singing stopped. Mina froze, hoping that they would continue their song, but the canaries weren’t the only birds to stop singing. All of them stopped making any kind of noise at all. The macaws, parrots, doves, and parakeets were silent and stood unmoving in their cages. Never in her life had Mina walked into a pet store and heard this kind of silence.

She swallowed nervously and began to back away from the bird aisle and make her way toward Nan. The canaries turned their heads and watched her retreat. Being under the scrutiny of hundreds of black beady eyes was enough to make anyone a little jumpy. “It’s just a coincidence,” Mina chanted to herself. It’s just a coincidence”. Mina was so nervous that she stumbled into a large fake tree stand with a gray macaw. The bird crooked his head and snapped his beak a few times before it spoke one word. “Doom.”





Chapter 11


The hair stood up on the back of Mina’s neck. “Doom, doom, doom.” The parakeets echoed. The silence disappeared as all of the birds seemed to chirp one word over and over. "Doom. Doom. Doom." Even the canaries seemed to take up the banter.