The Grimm Chronicles, Vol. 1

by Isabella Fontaine

  “This is incredible,” Seth said. “I mean, absolutely incredible. I have to be dreaming this.”

  “I fear not, dear boy.” Sam took a deep breath, glancing at the tip of my saber again. “But luckily, this story has a happy ending. I continue running my business, maintaining a low profile, and Alice continues on her merry way, slaying much more dangerous Corrupted until the day she finally makes a mistake and dies.”

  “Dies?” Seth asked. “That … that …”

  “I can’t let you live,” I said. My mouth was dry. I couldn’t stop thinking about my parents. My grandparents. My stupid cousins who lived in Minnesota and were obsessed with pop music.

  “Then your family will die,” Sam said simply. “The moment I disappear, the order is sent out. I’m sorry, but like I told you before: I’m a cold, calculating businessman. I didn’t get this far with just my looks.”

  The saber shook in my hand. I didn’t know what to do. Up until this point, it had always been kill-kill-kill. And now here was a Corrupted who’d managed to get the upper hand. And now I couldn’t bring myself to kill him.

  “I’ll sweeten the pot,” Sam said. “I can see you’re a shrewd businesswoman and I respect that. I am, perhaps, not giving enough ground. What, exactly, do you want?”

  “I want you to save Fran’s house,” I blurted out.

  He cocked his head.

  “I mean … you can’t foreclose on any houses anymore. None.”

  “But that’s what my bank does when someone can’t pay their bills,” Sam insisted.

  “No. Not anymore. You’re going to help them out and figure out a way for them to stay in their homes.”

  “That would cost me millions every year. It’s impossible.”

  “How much did you make from Edward’s foreclosure?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “Well, the man was a prince in another lifetime. So a fair amount. Of course, I had to hire a special crew to dispose of those awful skeletons in his basement.” A smile crept across his lips. “Your ex-boyfriend was quite sick.”

  I ignored the jab. “Well … what if you kept the spoils of the Corrupted I kill? I bet there are more with fortunes and riches, like Edward.”

  Sam’s face loosened up. He stroked his short beard. “Ah, now that … is a fair deal. I have but one condition.”

  “No.”

  “Alice, this is how negotiations work.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Fine. What is it?”

  “If I find any Corrupted who possess a sizeable fortune … you must kill them for me.”

  “I’ll make an effort,” I offered. “I’m still in high school, after all.”

  Sam tucked his hands in the pockets of his pants, nodding to himself. “Still in school, eh? You do realize you’re the hero.”

  “I also realize that my knowledge is the only thing that’s kept me alive so far.”

  He grunted. “You did manage to kill all of Flick’s favorite assassins …” He paced in front of the desk, glancing once at Briar and Seth. “Anything else?”

  “No more subliminal ads in that stupid Castle Cats game or anywhere else.”

  “Fine. Wonderful.” Sam threw his arms in the air. “Allelujia! I was nearly run over just the other day by some careless teenager more interested in playing on his phone than driving. I’ll be more than happy to sell off our software division now that Gilbert is gone. You have a deal. Now get out.”

  I exhaled, feeling a rush of nervous energy escape my body. I followed Seth and Briar to the door. What had I done? Had I really made a deal with a Corrupted? Before I closed the door, I turned back. Sam had returned to his seat at his desk. He was staring at me. Examining me, no doubt.

  Calculating.

  Chapter 11

  “Hey!” Seth called out.

  I re-shelved the philosophy book in its proper place and hurried over to the library’s reading table, where Seth was buried in mounds of books on weapons.

  “You have to whisper!” I hissed. “Got it?”

  Seth held up the book he was reading. “See this?”

  “Yes. It’s a sword.”

  “No, no, no … it’s a gladius. A short sword the Romans used to wield in battle. It’s lightweight but durable, and it’s easier to swing than a longer sword. It would work perfectly if you ever find yourself caught in a cramped place again.”

  “Like a server room,” I mumbled, staring at the sword’s design. It had a beautiful look to it … “beautiful” this sense mostly meaning “deadly,” I guess.

  Beside Seth, a page in a history book turned on its own. Seth looked at it, shaking his head. “Man, I can’t believe there’s a giant rabbit sitting next to me. And he’s invisible right now because he’s self-conscious about reappearing on accident.”

  “Believe it,” I said, “and be quiet about it.” Briar had told Seth everything, and Seth had accepted it all pretty easily, probably because he’d already seen so much.

  I wish I could have said the same about my parents’ reaction to my new hair. You would have thought I’d cut off an ear or something. And of course, being about as pooped as I’d ever been in my life, I left my fake glasses on when I walked into the house that evening. I swear, my mom was on the verge of calling an asylum to have me committed.

  After seeing the grim reaper … maybe my mom was on to something.

  “Ms. Goodenough,” came a harsh whisper.

  I turned in time to see Fran making her way between the Military History and Biography shelves, her long polka-dot dress flowing with each step. It was wrinkled, as if she’d packed it away in a box, then pulled it out a week later and simply put it on. Rather not like the old Fran.

  But maybe this was the new Fran. The Fran who had just a few less worries. The Fran who I’d seen just a day ago having coffee with Mary down at the café by the grocery store.

  “I’m almost done, Fran,” I said. “My friend sidetracked me.”

  She gave him a quick nod, clutching a small package wrapped in brown paper tightly. “Before I forget, Alice, I was hoping I could convince you to help me with a few boxes next weekend. It turns out …” She smiled, then stuffed it away to resume her stern expression. “It turns out I won’t be moving after all.”

  “Had a change of heart, ma’am?”

  “Yes,” she said. “I do believe I’ll stick with that old house after all.”

  “It does have a wonderful library.”

  “It does. Which reminds me … this is for you.”

  “For me?” I grabbed the package. The brown paper was tied in twine. “What is it?”

  “Just open it carefully,” Fran said.

  I untied the twine, then carefully unwrapped the package. Grimms’ Fairy Tales. My heart raced. It was still wrapped in plastic. “Thank you so much!”

  “Keep your voice down,” Fran said. “And you’re welcome. And do be careful with it. And please ensure all of the Young Adult books are put away before closing time.” She nodded to Seth. “Good day, young man.”

  “Yeah,” Seth murmured. He’d become engrossed in his book of swords once again.

  We were alone once again. Beside Seth, an invisible paw flipped to a fresh page.

  “So what’s next?” Seth asked.

  I smiled. And I had a feeling my furry friend was doing the same.

  “It’s not a matter of what is next,” I said. “It’s a matter of who is next.” I thought of Sam Grayle, sitting at his desk in his tower overlooking the city. Untouchable. Protected. Calculating.

  “OK, so who is next?” Seth asked.

  I sighed, seeing Grayle’s horrible smile and cold, gray eyes in my mind. “Unfortunately, I don’t think we get to decide.”

  Click here to buy The Grimm Chronicles, Vol. 2!

  An Interview with the Creators!

  Where did you come up with the idea for this series?

  Ken was tinkering around with the idea of a hero somehow being chosen to rid the world of monsters. Classic stuff, really! But
in his original idea, he had a young man fighting demons. But there was nothing original in all of that, and this was right around the time a lot of Young Adult novels started becoming bestsellers. Specifically, Young Adult novels with female protagonists who really weren’t all that tough or smart. So we wanted to change that.

  Why was it important for you to create a strong female protagonist?

  Because Young Adult readers need one! It’s important. And it was especially important for us to show Alice using her brain to solve the problems that arise. Just because Alice is smart and enjoys reading doesn’t mean she can’t kick some butt, too. Yes, we’re fond of pointing that out. Because there’s a lot of butt-kicking to come.

  What’s the hardest part about writing this series?

  The deadlines! And the final draft. That’s when a lot of pieces start to come together. Then, when you think you’re done, you get another idea and you have to decide if you should put it in the book or just let it go. The problem is you always have another idea for the story … it’s never-ending! At some point, you have to just stop and say, “No. This book is finished, darn it.”

  Why did you include Br’er Rabbit as a sidekick?

  Ken is a big fan of the Br’er Rabbit stories. In elementary school, he had a teacher who read all of the stories in class and even had the students come up with their own stories, too. It was fun. Br’er Rabbit is a fantastic trickster who borrows a little from Native-American culture, but his origins are in the African-American culture. And Br’er Rabbit is a character who uses his wits to overcome adversity.

  We wanted Alice to have a sidekick, too. This is important because Alice needs someone to explain to her what the heck is going on!

  What are your favorite Young Adult books?

  We’re fans of the classics. The Ramona series is great, and so is just about anything by Roald Dahl. Also, we enjoy comics … especially Generation X.

  How does the writing process work?

  Ken usually writes the first draft. Then Isabella makes it good.

  What are your plans for the remainder of the series?

  Well, there are 9 books left to go. The next three books are going to deal with Alice in her senior year of high school. The following three books are going to be about a fencing tournament in Europe (along with an epic battle with a very cool Corrupted!). The last three books are a surprise, but they’re going to be intense!

  How do you find characters for the books?

  We’ve read and re-read Grimms’ Fairy Tales. From there, it’s just a matter of finding certain characters who might be a good fit for the storyline. The best way to approach the stories is to simply let your imagination take a hold of you. What would this particular character in Grimms’ Fairy Tales be like if he was living in the modern world? How would he change in an evil sort of way?

  Who’s your favorite Corrupted character so far?

  Sam Grayle, without a doubt. He’s one of the few Corrupted so far who hasn’t turned into a total monster … at least not the kind that feasts on humans. But Sam Grayle is totally evil. In the story of Snow-White, he was one of the dwarfs who spent his time in the gold mine. And when his story ended … well, he just wanted to get back to all that gold.

  So now greed drives him. It’s become an incredible force that he bases his entire life around. And he loves being alive. He doesn’t want to die. He’s gone so far as to plan ahead to make sure he never does die … and that makes him scarier. Alice isn’t the first hero he’s been face-to-face with. And he’s still alive.

  Sam was mentioned in “The Lost Diary of Grace Cohen.” Why did you decide to include that?

  Because, first off, we wanted to make sure readers buying the paperback edition get their money’s worth. But we also wanted to start fleshing out the history of the hero. There are a lot of great stories to tell. Grace’s was fun because she lived during the Great Depression. She was fearless. And that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

  We’ll do more with each of the volumes. This definitely isn’t the last time a “lost” diary is found!

  What’s the promotion process like?

  Lots and lots of pointing and clicking. We’ve contacted hundreds of book bloggers, sending out emails and offering free review copies. We’ve had tremendous feedback, too. And we try to make a point of continuously thanking the book bloggers who work with us. They’re great, and they’re doing a great thing. We can’t stress that enough.

  * * *

  [i] Little Snow-White

  By the Brothers Grimm

  Once upon a time in the middle of winter, when the flakes of snow were falling like feathers from the sky, a queen sat at a window sewing, and the frame of the window was made of black ebony. And whilst she was sewing and looking out of the window at the snow, she pricked her finger with the needle, and three drops of blood fell upon the snow. And the red looked pretty upon the white snow, and she thought to herself, “Would that I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood of the window-frame.”

  Soon after that she had a little daughter, who was as white as snow, and as red as blood, and her hair was as black as ebony; and she was therefore called Little Snow-white. And when the child was born, the Queen died.

  After a year had passed the King took to himself another wife. She was a beautiful woman, but proud and haughty, and she could not bear that anyone else should surpass her in beauty. She had a wonderful looking- glass, and when she stood in front of it and looked at herself in it, and said, “Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall, Who in this land is the fairest of all?” the looking-glass answered, “Thou, O Queen, art the fairest of all!”

  Then she was satisfied, for she knew that the looking-glass spoke the truth. But Snow-white was growing up, and grew more and more beautiful; and when she was seven years old she was as beautiful as the day, and more beautiful than the Queen herself. And once when the Queen asked her looking-glass, “Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall, Who in this land is the fairest of all?” it answered, “Thou art fairer than all who are here, Lady Queen. But more beautiful still is Snow-white, as I ween.”

  Then the Queen was shocked, and turned yellow and green with envy. From that hour, whenever she looked at Snow-white, her heart heaved in her breast, she hated the girl so much.

  And envy and pride grew higher and higher in her heart like a weed, so that she had no peace day or night. She called a huntsman, and said, “Take the child away into the forest; I will no longer have her in my sight. Kill her, and bring me back her heart as a token.” The huntsman obeyed, and took her away; but when he had drawn his knife, and was about to pierce Snow-white’s innocent heart, she began to weep, and said, “Ah dear huntsman, leave me my life! I will run away into the wild forest, and never come home again.”

  And as she was so beautiful the huntsman had pity on her and said, “Run away, then, you poor child.” The wild beasts will soon have devoured you, thought he, and yet it seemed as if a stone had been rolled from his heart since it was no longer needful for him to kill her. And as a young boar just then came running by he stabbed it, and cut out its heart and took it to the Queen as proof that the child was dead. The cook had to salt this, and the wicked Queen ate it, and thought she had eaten the heart of Snow-white.

  But now the poor child was all alone in the great forest, and so terrified that she looked at every leaf of every tree, and did not know what to do. Then she began to run, and ran over sharp stones and through thorns, and the wild beasts ran past her, but did her no harm.

  She ran as long as her feet would go until it was almost evening; then she saw a little cottage and went into it to rest herself. Everything in the cottage was small, but neater and cleaner than can be told. There was a table on which was a white cover, and seven little plates, and on each plate a little spoon; moreover, there were seven little knives and forks, and seven little mugs. Against the wall stood seven little beds side by side, and covered with snow-white counterpan
es.

  Little Snow-white was so hungry and thirsty that she ate some vegetables and bread from each plate and drank a drop of wine out of each mug, for she did not wish to take all from one only. Then, as she was so tired, she laid herself down on one of the little beds, but none of them suited her; one was too long, another too short, but at last she found that the seventh one was right, and so she remained in it, said a prayer and went to sleep.

  When it was quite dark the owners of the cottage came back; they were seven dwarfs who dug and delved in the mountains for ore. They lit their seven candles, and as it was now light within the cottage they saw that someone had been there, for everything was not in the same order in which they had left it.

  The first said, “Who has been sitting on my chair?” The second, “Who has been eating off my plate?” The third, “Who has been taking some of my bread?”

  The fourth, “Who has been eating my vegetables?” The fifth, “Who has been using my fork?” The sixth, “Who has been cutting with my knife?” The seventh, “Who has been drinking out of my mug?”

  Then the first looked round and saw that there was a little hole on his bed, and he said, “Who has been getting into my bed?” The others came up and each called out, “Somebody has been lying in my bed too.” But the seventh when he looked at his bed saw little Snow-white, who was lying asleep therein. And he called the others, who came running up, and they cried out with astonishment, and brought their seven little candles and let the light fall on little Snow-white. “Oh, heavens! Oh, heavens!” cried they, “what a lovely child!” and they were so glad that they did not wake her up, but let her sleep on in the bed. And the seventh dwarf slept with his companions, one hour with each, and so got through the night.