UnEnchanted (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #1)(30)

Mina covered her ears and ran down the aisle, putting as much distance as she could between the bewitched birds and herself. She didn’t stop running until she was in the aquatics department.

“Finally!” Mina muttered. The sound of the birds dissipated into nothingness among the hums of the stacked fish tanks. Looking around at the fish tanks Mina was relieved. There was nothing here that could talk and spew out frightening words. The fish, either because they have small brains or were numb to humans, ignored her presence next to their tanks. “This seems like a safe area to wait for Nan,” she spoke to no one in particular.

Mina walked aimlessly, staring at the different fish and thinking back to what had just happened. Did she imagine the birds speaking to her? Or was this more of the Story’s magic trying to take control? There wasn’t any way the canaries could talk, so maybe she had imagined it.

A thumping noise drew Mina’s attention towards a shelf of tank along a side wall. There wasn’t a tag identifying the species in the tank, but the presence of logs and moss gave her an idea it was some kind of amphibian. Thump, thump. The noise came again and Mina leaned closer to look into the dark tank to see what was making the noise. Something smacked itself against the glass causing Mina to scream and step back. It was a toad! The toad croaked and then threw himself against the glass again as if trying to break through.

Thump! Thump! More thumping sounds came from the tank next to it. Mina stared in horror as frog after frog, came out of hiding and began to throw themselves against the tanks. Eight tanks full of frogs in various sizes began to shake and move with the vibration of the frenzied frogs. Even the tree frogs in mass were causing their smaller tank to shudder the slightest bit.

“Stop it!” Mina hissed out. “You will hurt yourself.” She reached forward apprehensively to push the tank with the large toads farther back on the shelf. The toads took this as a rally point and began to climb on each other’s back as a way to reach to top of the cage and lift the lid off.

Mina looked around in horror and grabbed a large aquarium rock to weigh down the toads' lid. The other amphibians must have got the same idea as the toads because they began to hop straight up or climb and maneuver themselves into escaping through the lid.

“No, no, no, no,” Mina frantically called out and looked for other decorations to keep the frogs from escaping. She put a pink mermaid statue on the tree frogs' tank, and petrified wood on the poison dart frogs', which could have been disastrous. It wasn’t until something slithered past her foot that Mina looked down and abandoned her efforts. A large striped snake was disappearing under a shelf and from the looks of the snake tanks, more were dropping from them by the second. While she had been occupied with the noisy frogs, she never noticed the sly reptiles making their epic escape. When the boa slid to the floor and came toward Mina’s legs she screamed and ran toward the front door. All effort to keep the frogs contained left her the instant that boa made an appearance. She only hoped the frogs where smart enough to stay in their tanks, once the snakes were loose, but that wasn’t her problem anymore.

Mina slowed by the puppies long enough to grab Nan’s arm by the elbow, who was handing back the American Eskimo pup to Greg.

“Nan, we have to go NOW!” Mina whispered under her breath. A little louder she called out toward Greg, “I think there is a clean-up in aisle eight!”

Greg looked up in surprise and went to get a doggy bag and broom, to clean up whatever present a customer’s unattended dog may have left for him. Unfortunately it wasn’t going to be that kind of surprise. Mina secretly hoped Greg wasn’t afraid of snakes.

Once they were back on the sidewalk Mina kept up a fast pace, causing Nan to run behind her. “Mina? What’s the matter? What’s going on?” Mina didn’t answer until they were three blocks away, and by then she was out of breath.

“Birds," Mina huffed, "Doom. Frogs! Snacks, I mean snakes!” Mina tried to make sense but her lack of breath and her own disbelief made it hard for her describe. How could she explain to Nan what she hardly believed herself?

“He gave me his number,” Nan commented dryly, while staring back in the direction of the pet store, clueless to Mina’s anxiety. “Totally not my type though,” Nan continued. “But his glasses were very cool and trendy. I guess I could call him, if I find myself without a date.”

Mina was taken aback at the calm way Nan spoke; apparently she never noticed the craziness that happened in the store. Nan shook her head and looked at Mina. “What were you saying again?”

Mina’s mouth dropped open and the she stuttered. “U-uh forget about it.” Nan grinned and grabbed Mina’s arm.

They walked arm in arm until Mina had settled down. She let Nan’s mindless chatter calm her nerves until she could focus on the matter at hand. “Please”, Mina prayed quietly to herself. “I need to find the Grimoire. I can’t do this alone.”

Mina tried to hold back the tears that started to form in her eyes. The search for the Grimoire seemed hopeless and after the scare in the pet store and alley, she knew she probably wouldn’t live through one Grimm fairy tale. She had just about given up when her feet started in the opposite direction. Mina wasn’t prepared for the shift of balance beneath her and stumbled over a welcome mat.

Biting back an angry reply, she kicked back the mat she tripped over and glanced up at a building. There wasn’t a marquee or name on the building front, just a precariously hung wooden sign with a picture of a bull and stag. The same tingling sensation that took over her body at the bakery was back and was trying to force Mina to enter the building.