“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 bus. 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.