Fairest (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 2)

by Chanda Hahn

  He leaned across the passenger seat and whispered to Mina. “We need to talk.”

  Mina glanced warily over her shoulder and watched Savannah get into her blue convertible, any minute now she would be gone. “No, I don’t think we do,” she answered out of the side of her mouth.

  “YES, we do, and if you don’t stop avoiding me you are quickly going to be in over your head again.”

  “What do you mean again?” Mina argued.

  “Can’t you feel it? The storm brewing, the accumulation of power, the Story is building up toward another quest for you.” At the word quest a small gust of wind blew against Mina, making her shiver.

  “Yeah I know. It’s not my first rodeo. I’m way ahead of you and I’ve already got it covered,” she said, impatiently patting her jacket where she had tucked the Grimoire.

  “Oh you mean taking care of it like you did in the today in the lunchroom? You are way off track and you obviously don’t understand how these things work.”

  Mina gave Jared a disgusted look.

  “Get in the car, I’ll drive you home and we can talk.”

  “How do you know there’s another quest coming?” She pointed her finger accusingly at him. “You haven’t been very friendly or forthcoming with information yet.”

  “I’ll explain later, just get in.” Jared reached forward and opened the door for her. Mina debated with herself. Jared may be the one person who could help her and if he knew what was going on, then she needed his help. But, she told herself, if he lied to her, or if she thought she was in danger, she would run from him and run fast. Somewhat happy with her plan, Mina nodded to Jared.

  “What about my bike?” Mina pointed lamely toward her red bike, sitting crookedly in the bike rack.

  “It will be back on your apartment landing before morning, but we need to talk and we NEED to talk soon.” Jared was quickly becoming impatient.

  “Just give me a minute.” Mina turned and went to put the lock back by the bike, when Savannah rode by in her car, the top down, her blonde hair blowing in the wind. Mina felt her stomach sour at the prospect of spending more hours watching her, and was somewhat grateful for Jared’s distraction.

  Mina slid into the front seat, clicked her seat belt and looked toward the school Aquatic Building. Coach Potts must have ended practice early because Brody was walking toward his car, his blonde hair still wet from the water. He was going to walk right in front of them. Mina’s heart thudded in anticipation at seeing him. The car roared to life, Jared hit the gas and raced toward Brody angrily. Brody jumped back on the sidewalk, out of the way of the speeding car. He shot Jared a puzzled look.

  Chapter 6

  He was taking the long way home, or maybe just a different route. Either way Mina was almost positive this was nowhere near where her family lived. She wasn’t even sure if Jared knew where he was driving to. It was another ten minutes before she asked him the question that had been plaguing her.

  “Where did you get the car?”

  “Huh?”

  “Don’t play dumb. I know you have a black motorcycle. I even saw you crash it, and yet somehow you’ve been riding the same bike the last few weeks. I have never seen you drive a car before today, so where did you get this car?” Silence filled the air. When he wasn’t forthcoming with an answer, she asked, “Did you steal it?”

  “No!” he barked out angrily. “I did not steal it.”

  “Then where did you get it?” She crossed her arms indignantly and glared at him.

  “It is none of your concern.”

  “Of course it is my concern. I need to know if I’m consorting with a criminal!”

  “Mina, you know I’m not a criminal!”

  “No, I don’t. You have made certain that I know very little about you. For instance, who’s the girl?” she asked.

  Jared smirked. “What girl?” He answered innocently.

  “The one you were practically making out with in the hallway at school,” Mina exaggerated.

  Jared snorted, “Jealous much?”

  “No! I just wish you would tell me things,” she answered pathetically.

  “It’s none of your business, who I hang out with. It’s safer that way.”

  Jared gripped the steering wheel and took the last turn a little too fast. She wasn’t prepared and slammed her shoulder into the door painfully.

  “No, what would be safer, is if you would slow down,” she argued rubbing her shoulder.

  Jared winced and decelerated the car. “Her name is Ever.”

  “Who is she?” Mina asked.

  “Nobody you should worry about,” he snapped.

  It was the last straw. Mina was fed up with Jared.

  “I’ve heard your pathetic excuses before, you sound like a broken record. You can’t tell me, or you won’t tell me!” She waved her fingers in the air at Jared. “Ooh, it’s not safe if you tell me, it’s taboo. Plus, you had no right to treat me like you did the last few weeks. You pretend that you don’t even know me at school and you won’t tell me how you are alive and what happened after you crashed your bike. All of these things are important and only when it is convenient for you do you want to talk to me. Well I’ve had it. I want answers and I want answers now.”

  “You won’t like any of them,” he stated simply.

  “Then why ask me to get in the car?”

  “Because I needed to speak with you privately.”

  “This is private. We are in a car alone.”

  “No, this isn’t private enough. There are too many people. We need to be where no one can see us.”

  “Jared, you are really starting to scare me.” Mina stated truthfully. Feelings of unease started to build.

  He hit the steering wheel hard with the palm of his hand in frustration. Mina jumped. “That is exactly what I’m not trying to do. He looked at her with a worried expression etched across his face. “I’m trying to give you answers, and I don’t want to scare you, but you are just so darn impatient.”

  Mina’s body tensed up from the sudden mood change in the car. Everything had become extremely serious. “I don’t care if I like the answers; I just want answers. I don’t even know if I can trust you, if you are on my side.” She stated softly.

  Jared’s jaw twitched and she knew by his body language that she hit a nerve.

  “Well are you?”

  “Am I what?” he answered a little too quickly.

  “On my side?”

  “Who says there has to be sides?”

  “Of course there are sides. You are either with me or with the evil Fae, who are always trying to kill me.”

  “Not all of us are always trying to kill you. It’s just… complicated. Hey, there is an ice cream place up here do you want ice cream?”

  Mina caught Jared’s slip of the tongue and how he immediately tried to cover it. That misdirection might have fooled Nan, but it wasn’t going to fool her. However, she did see something interesting next to the ice cream store.

  “Yes, actually I do want ice cream,” Mina lied.

  Jared looked relieved and pulled into the vintage ice cream shop.

  “Great what do you want, double mint chip, vanilla, rocky road?” He pulled out his wallet and turned to her.

  “Hmm, how about black raspberry chip?” She glanced out the window impatiently.

  “Great, I’ll be right back.” He slipped out of the car and took the keys with him. Mina sat in the car and waited until Jared had entered the store and stood in front of the menu board.

  Quickly and quietly, she slipped open the door of the car, grabbed her backpack, and ducked around the building toward the bus stop. She had seen the transit bus a block away and ran toward the bus pulling out her wallet. The bus had just pulled up and Mina had her bus pass ready.

  The driver was a burly elderly man with a name tag stating his name as Will, and the words, “Happy to Drive You” underneath it. Mina scanned her bus card and made her way to the back of the nearly empty bu
s. She stopped in the second to last row, tossed her backpack to the floor and slouched down.

  Two passengers got off the bus, and Mina didn’t breathe until the bus closed its doors and started to pull way. She took a quick peek out the window toward Jared’s car and the ice cream shop. There was no sign of Jared, he was probably still in the store.

  Mina smirked, and a surge of adrenaline pumped through her when she realized she’d outwitted him. It had really freaked her out to be in the car with Jared and realize that he may not really be there to help her. His vagueness and stubbornness to answer questions proved it; along with the slip of the tongue. It may not have been obvious but she had caught the slight change in his voice and his nervousness when he realized his mistake.

  She couldn’t believe how stupid she was. She knew Jared was Fae because he knew so much about her family and the Grimm curse. He had even used magic, when he tried to train her and teach her. But his elusiveness and his refusal to tell her what she needed to know put him in the dangerous category. He wouldn’t tell her who he was working for, who he was helping and even if he was one of the good guys.

  She knew that she probably shouldn’t be angry at him, but he had ignored her. He also knew more about the Story than anyone she knew, and still refused to tell her about it. That made him a traitor in her book. As long as she had the Grimoire, she didn’t need Jared. It was the Grimoire, not Jared that helped her battle Claire and LoneTree. She was the one who’d found the magical book that was supposed to help in time of great need. It was the one artifact that could help her complete the quests and banish the Fae back to their own plane. It’s what had started it all.

  Maybe, that’s what he was secretly after all along? Maybe, he was trying to build her trust so that he could steal the Grimoire for the Fae?

  Mina leaned forward and hit her head against the bus seat. It was too much to ponder, she was going to need years to gain ground and finish the quests if she wasn’t going to let her ancestors down.

  The Brothers Grimm were the first to discover the existence of the Fae in the human world. Through research they discovered a way to cross to the Fae plane, and they confronted the ruling Fae, known as the Fates. They demanded that all Fae return to their own plane. The Fates agreed, if Jacob and Wilhelm could complete a list of quests. The Brothers agreed and traveled the world completing the innumerable quests. For every one they completed, it was logged into a magical book on the Fae plane.

  When the Brothers began to struggle with their tasks, a kindhearted Fae, split the magical book into two and gave one of the copies to the Brothers Grimm, to help them. This book was the Grimoire. It became the one thing that evened the playing field on the quests. And soon, everyone wanted the Grimoire; Fae on both sides wanted the book.

  To make matters worse, the book on the Fae plane, became self-aware and meddled with the Grimm’s quests, forcing them to become part of the tales, over and over again. For the more tales the Story collects, the more powerful it became and the more deadly. For the book, known as the Story wants the Grimms to continue to live them out forever. For there was one loop hole, the Brothers didn’t cover. If they didn’t complete the stories then the next living Grimm would have the chance to complete them….all over, from the beginning.

  It was a never ending cycle of quests, stories and tales to overcome. It became known as the Grimm curse; one in which Mina’s own father and uncle failed to complete and sacrificed their lives for. Now it was Mina’s turn.

  ***

  The bus let out a loud bang, and exhaust blew into the air as it pulled away from another stop. Mina woke up. She looked up from her seat and was taken aback by how much time must have passed. She must have fallen asleep. It was starting to get dark, and the bus was now completely empty. She didn’t recognize any of the stops as being close to home and realized that she had rode the bus line too far. They weren’t even in the city but along back roads. She would have to get off and catch a different one home. Mina pulled the cord to ring for the next stop.

  “Excuse me! I’d like to get off!” Mina yelled from the back of the bus. The bus driver ignored her. His large form, which took up the whole driver’s seat, looked larger than she remembered. She hesitantly stood up and made her way to the front of the bus.

  “Sir, if you could pull over at the next stop, I would like to get off now.” She gripped the pole by the seat.

  The driver’s body began to shake and shift as if he was trying to control his own form. There were loud slurping sounds and guttural growls coming from the driver. Scared the driver was having a seizure Mina reached for him and touched the back of his quivering uniform.

  The driver reared up unexpectedly and turned toward her revealing his true form. What she saw underneath the black bus cap was a large green head with grey eyes, large protruding teeth, and bulbous nose. He was still wearing the striped driver’s uniform and the same name tag. He opened his mouth and roared at Mina exposing large bottom incisors.

  “Behind the yellow line,” he commanded in slow forceful words, barely recognizable by the lisp he had from his protruding teeth.

  Startled, she fell onto the floor of the moving bus as the Ogre turned his head toward the road and continued driving.

  Chapter 7

  Holy buckets, she was on a bus being driven by an Ogre! When the Ogre made no more movement toward her, threatening or otherwise, she turned and hurried toward the rear exit door. There should be a safety feature where she could pull open the door, and if needed to- jump. Mina gripped the rubber lined door and pulled, it slowly slid opened exposing the rushing pavement beneath her. She looked toward the Ogre bus driver. He still hadn’t moved.

  Could she do it? Could she really jump from a moving bus into the street? Would she die? Did it matter, if she might die anyway by being lunch for an Ogre? No she was going to have to jump for it. Sliding her backpack on, she closed her eyes and counted to three. One-two-three! She leapt into the air and felt a jolt on her back as something grabbed her from behind forcefully mid jump.

  Opening her eyes, Mina looked down and saw her feet dangling mere inches from the rushing pavement. She screamed in fright as she dropped farther, and her shoes dragged on the asphalt. Turning, she met the eyes of the angry Ogre. He hauled her back onto the bus and forcefully pushed her into a bench seat, grunting at her to stay. He ambled back to the front of the bus and slid into the driver’s seat again, just as the bus began to veer into a ditch. He gripped the wheel, grunted, and maneuvered it back onto the road.

  The bus pulled off the main road and headed into the Mt. Adams National forest. He took the bus down back roads and unmarked dirt paths. It was unbelievable that the bus even made it down the path. Moments later the bus rolled to a stop. The Ogre stood up and ambled toward her again, his large forearms bulging with muscles, which were overly long compared to his shorter legs.

  Mina was prepared this time; she pulled out the Grimoire and held it up at the Ogre, waiting for it to be sucked into the book. Nothing happened. The book was still a book. Mina screamed in fright as the Ogre reached for her jacket and lifted her up into the air. Suspending her in the air, the Ogre growled and shook her as if trying to get her attention. Instead, she began to fight back by clawing and kicking, and the Ogre just looked at her. In a moment of desperation, she hit the beast between the eyes with the corner of the notebook, and it flinched. He started to lower her to the ground, and she placed a well-aimed kick right between the Ogre’s legs. He grunted and dropped her to the ground, leaning over in pain.

  Mina scrambled frantically away, crawling on her knees toward the front of the bus. She was halfway to freedom when she realized she had dropped the Grimoire. Turning, she reached back to grab the notebook and then ran out the door into the night.

  Breathing hard, she raced blindly through the dark woods, branches snapping loudly under her feet, she didn’t waste precious time in trying to mask the noise she made. She heard a deafening roar split the forest from s
omewhere behind her. It was the Ogre, and he was on the move after her. Her hands began to shake, and her chest burned from the exertion of running.

  She tripped and fell forward into a ditch; the ground seemed to disappear from under her. Desperately, she grabbed at branches, rocks, anything to slow her descent as the incline became steeper. She thought it would taper out and her descent would slow, but instead, she picked up speed. There was another sound of roaring, only this time softer, more constant, like water. Water!

  She knew what it was and accidentally let out a scream of fear. She flailed out, and her fingers found purchase on a large tree root. Her body left the embankment to hang in the air, and she began to tumble over a cliff. The roaring river passed some forty feet below her. Loud crashing and snarls came from above her, and Mina knew the Ogre was closing in on her. She closed her eyes in fear.

  Something brushed against her, and she looked up to see the Ogre reaching down to seize her. Mina screamed again and scrambled out of the reach of the large hands. The Ogre roared angrily and tried to swipe at her back this time. She purposefully slid down the branch farther, closer to the water and away from the Ogre. At least she knew she would rather die from falling into the river and possibly the rocks along it, instead of being eaten by an Ogre. Isn’t that what Ogres in fairy tales did --eat people?

  The Ogre let out a quieter roar and became very still as if trying to remain calm. Over the rushing water, she almost missed the sound of the Ogre saying her name.

  “Mina!”

  She paused and looked at the Ogre as he leaned down on his stomach reaching for her. When he wasn’t roaring at her, he didn’t look as intimidating. Something magical began to happen as the Ogre started to shrink. His features grew smaller, thinner, and became more human. The Ogre, however, didn’t take the form of the bus driver, but of a handsome dark haired boy with grey eyes.

  It was Jared. He reached for her arm, looking sick with worry. “I can’t get to you in this form, you’re too far away! Can you climb up farther?”