UnEnchanted (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #1)(58)

“C'mon, I need your help!” she whispered to the book. “You are supposed to help me and now would be an ideal time.” The book was lifeless; there was no glow or hum. “Please! I beg you.” Nothing.

Mina curled up on the floor and held the notebook to her chest rocking herself. Images flooded in her mind of the variations of children's books she read in the library. Their images panned through Mina's mind like a documentary on wolves, little girls, and then hunters.

She was waiting for a hunter to come save her, but that wasn't how it always happened. Sometimes Red saved her grandma from the wolves. The story had changed. They were in Grandma's house. Babushka was Russian for Grandma right? Mina hoped so. Nan is now old enough to be Mina's grandma. The Story had worked that out and obviously she was little Red who had to outsmart the wolves in Grandma's house to save her. Jared had said Claire's story was over. It was completed, just not finished yet. So Mina needed to focus on the villain in this story, which is not Claire but the wolves.

Mina had been waiting for Jared or Brody to save her because that was what the story called for. But not if Mina had any say in it.

“I'm the hunter,” Mina whispered to herself. “I'm now the hunter, not the hunted, she whispered louder. “I will not lose!” Mina screamed those last words holding onto the notebook and running toward the side wall and the closest Fae wolf. The book thrummed once, twice, three times until it beat faster and faster like a beating heart coming back to life.

Mina believed in the power of the tale. She knew that the Story wanted her to finish this tales. If what Jared said was true, then it wanted her to complete tales so that it could gain more power. It hadn't had a Grimm to complete quests in almost a decade; it must be hungry for power. She had to trust in the Fae Story to help her finish the first quest. Her brother was too young, too easy a target, it couldn't gain power from him. The Story needed Mina. And just because the Grimoire wasn't aiding her didn't mean that the Fae book couldn't. She had to put trust in the Fae book and hoped it would aid her. It needed her, Mina didn't need it.

Mina held the book like an axe and swung down at the Fae wolf who jumped back in surprise at the glowing light that pierced from the pages. The notebook transformed into an ethereal battle axe of light. Mina giggled in a moment of pure insanity as she realized she must look like a crazy character from some anime. The wolf howled when its light touched his skin. Mina could see the light burn through the human illusion to the wolf underneath.

The light was cutting through the physical plane and hurting the wolf on the Fae plane. The skin was fur, the legs where skinnier, the eyes glowed. With each swipe the Fae wolf howled and tried to dodge the glowing light from the axe.

With another swipe of the axe, another layer peeled from the Fae wolf and he dissolved into thin air. Turning, Mina headed toward another wolf, but he panicked and ran down the hall, not wishing to be a part of the same fate as the other wolf.

Turning toward Claire, Mina held the axe and stepped forward threateningly. “Change her back!”

Claire's eyes squinted as she studied Mina. “I can't.” She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. “Doesn't work that way. But maybe if you give me the Grimoire, we can find a way to extend her life. After all she doesn't have Fae blood like me.”

“No, I don't bel...” Mina couldn't finish as she was knocked forward to the ground, the Grimoire flying out of her hands and sliding across the floor. It slowly changed back from an axe to a passive notebook lying at Claire's feet.

“Why thank you.” Claire reached down to pick it up. “I do so love it when things go my way. Don't you agree, Lonetree?”

Mina felt herself get pulled upward off the ground as Lonetree hauled her to the cold cement floor in front of Claire, grunting his assent.

Claire opened the notebook and frowned when she saw that it was blank. “Come now,” she shook it. “Show me my story. I've seen the Fae copy when I was a child; I know that this one records a duplicate. I want to see mine to make sure it gets the story right. It needs to keep a delicate record of the differences in my tale,” Claire chuckled and flipped a few more pages and ripped out a page in anger. “Show me! Or I'll rip out more!” The book stayed blank. “Never mind, as long as you understand that this story doesn't have a happily ever after for Gretel.”

“You’re wrong!” Mina spoke up defiantly.

Claire glared at Mina. “What do you know?”

“I know your story. It's finished. You are destined to die, whether it be today or tomorrow, your tale is finished. Nothing you do will change the final outcome.

“You stupid girl! Everything can be changed. Look how many times this story has progressed over the years.” Claire screeched in anger.

“But we are no longer in your story. You're in mine. And in my tale, I win!” Mina held up her chin in defiance, a small trickle of blood dripped down it onto her dress, a wound from getting tackled by Lonetree.

“I don't understand.”

Banging doors and a few crashes later, Mina heard her name being called. It sounded like Brody. He was coming!

“Do you want to know why your tale isn't in my copy of the book? It's because I finished your tale weeks ago. But the Story needed you for one more task. I don't have a living grandmother. So the Story kept you around long enough to create a Grandmother for my current quest. It used you to satisfy the needs of a different tale, to create someone that I loved enough to risk my life for. Nothing more. The Grimoire didn’t help me, I don’t know why, but it couldn’t aide me in defeating the wolves. The Fae story did. I felt its power flow through the Grimoire to defeat the wolves. And I finished that tale moments ago.”