《Grimm》 Chapter 1.1 : Alone Chapter :1 Alone Alone is something I have always been. Not so much in the physical sense , I have a family. Well family is a term I use loosely , suffice to say my parents aren''t quite up to the task of my upbringing. Seeing as both of them aren''t quite mentally stable to begin with. Drug addiction would do that to you, methamphetamine was the poison of their choice. I don¡¯t really think I''ve ever seen them off it, then again I haven''t truly know them that long, our conversations usually end with some form of physical trauma being inflicted on me or abusive language. A child my age would cry loudly, but I have long since learnt that it makes it worse, trying to be as quite has reduced the frequency of my beatings considerably. don¡¯t make too much noise , don¡¯t ask for anything that you can''t do yourself and keep your head down. these are the words I''ve lived by for my short existence here on this planet. Due to the nature of my relationship with my parents, my social skills are less then stellar , so I sit In our corner of the room ,with my knees to my chest staring into the rotting wooden floorboards of my "home". Well I say my home, but in actuality I doubt my parents have the funds necessary to own a house, seeing as we tend to move from place to place I guess we don¡¯t really have a home. but for now this dilapidated bungalow in the slums is mine. not the prettiest place, but then again I have no reference of what a "good" home is. beats sleeping outside I guess, but not by much. From the cracked glass window I can see the slow fall of snow, a low blanket of white covers the broken uneven asphalt road, it seems road maintained isn''t on the list of important things for the government in this area, who can blame them honestly no one cares about these people not even themselves. there are quite a few people outside, it''s not quite evening yet, the sun has yet to set on another evening in the slums, the light burns the sky orange making me feel a sense of awe of the beauty of the world through my shattered viewing glass. my ears perk up to the sound of a shifting body inside my house, it tears me away from the scenic view outside My birth mother is sleeping in her camping roll, I get a ragged patch worked cloth, I''m starting to think they don¡¯t want me around, especially as the patchwork was done by me ,my hands still bear the scars of my achievement. She doesn¡¯t seem to have woken up quite yet, I try not to move too much. the way they live their lives means they sleep lightly and the consequences of wakening them up will not be pleasant for me at all. So I sit there trying not to breath to loudly for fear of waking her up. moments pass and she stops stirring. I release the breath I was holding in relief, I don¡¯t want to be hit again, my eye is still swollen up from yesterdays beating. it seemed my father found out that his stash of money was beginning to dwindle , leading him to be poorer than before, if that were even possible. How does he get his money ? I ask myself delving back into my mind again. he has no skills that would make him employable to anyone, his appearance doesn¡¯t exactly suit that of a working man. he owns a firearm that he keeps on his person at all times so it isn''t a stretch to imagination it is involved in his trade to some extent. He brings in money is varying amounts so either he sells some of the drugs he gets or he might be committing some form of robbery . either way my father is not going to win any awards for being a model citizen. I am surprised in honesty that were still alive with the money he brings in. it barely supports him and my birth mother.huh ? him and my birth mother, ha even in my thoughts I don¡¯t count myself in with them. I honestly don¡¯t understand why they''ve kept me around . I guess it helped when I was a child, my birth mother would use me to gain money when I was still small and cute. guess everyone cares about the baby and the poor woman begging for money. it worked less and less as I grew older, I''m still sure I net a higher amount of money by simply standing by my birth mother whilst she tries to get money but it¡¯s a smaller amount than I would have got when I was younger . that was another reason for them abusing me, I guess they¡¯ve been victims all their life and they found something that is even more useless then them they''re more than happy to vent their frustrations out on me. I would leave but as much as I hate them I need them, they give me the scraps of what they don¡¯t need, which isn''t much but it keeps me going. No that¡¯s a lie, I could leave they wouldn¡¯t try to find me, I could seek help and id find it, a better life could be mine if I just leave it all behind. but I don¡¯t. I won''t. As alone as I am here will be even more alone out there. another lie . trying rationalizing my own cowardice , I''m sacred. so very afraid that what I find out there might even be worse than what I find here. I don¡¯t know for a fact but just the threat of being even more alone out there is just about enough to silence my thoughts of a leaving. its irrational but it''s something I cannot shake. bound to these people by my own shackles and fears. I don¡¯t want to be even more alone. The front door is thrown open, the screech of the rusted hinges causes e to jolt out of my daze, my birth mother shoots up awake. My eyes travel to the door . My father stood in the doorway his disheveled hair looking even more disorderly than usual, my eyes widen. my birth father was not an attractive by means, a receding hairline, scruffy brown beard a terrible comb over, short fuse and general bad attitude made him the type of person you''d walk down the street to avoid passing by even if it made your overall journey longer. well it wasn¡¯t his less than pleasing appearance that caused my eyes to widen it was the blood on his ragged faded green overcoat that made me do that. my mind blazed into action I could feel my gears turning as my brain raced to process the information. Father . panting for air , he''s run considerably exhausted his body. Pupils dilated, he''s in shock ? Gun in hand, blood splashed on the barrel of the revolver , indicating it''s been fired at a close range to the target as backed up by the splash of blood on his front side , wounds on his face and tears on his sleeves shows struggle. All leads up to one thing. My father has shot someone and he is panicking. It''s strange seeming him not look so confident and smug, if the situation was less severe I would be laughing at the gap in my reception of him. My birth mother is up her blond hair looking as bad as my father , he words come out with a whistle of air through the gap in her front incisor "what happened?"she manages to speak out after her initial shock wears off My birth father moves into the house quickly , slams the door in , pushes aside the couch and begins to pry at the floorboards. "Jesus, Marry ", he speaks out in a panic stricken voice "fucking cop , the guy was a fucking cop. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Greg said he was good, HE WAS A FUCKING COP" he all but shouts out at the end. My birth mother is less than happy at his reply and grabs his hand stopping him from tearing out the floorboard. "what do you mean" she screams "The fuck do you think it means you crazy bitch" he screams They both start screaming at each other . I watch on in horror as I realize what this means, my father killed another person. Now this wouldn¡¯t normally mean much to me, one begins to lose value in the sanctity of life once shown the ugly face of humanity. I''ve seen people do terrible things murder is one of the least troubling things I''ve seen in my terribly short life. But this time it''s different. When a person dies in the slums no one bats an eye, nobody cares these people are hardened by life''s worst experiences if anything the dead ones are luckier to get out of this hellhole. Now law enforcement , people care about. That¡¯s not to say they''re angels themselves I''ve seen a number of horrors committed by them too. But cops have a code, not too long ago one of my father''s "friends" killed a police officer. A few hours later they came in mass. I hid away and watched as they tore the slums apart looking for them. they didn¡¯t leave for 3 days. Searching every corner even to this day the police influence is greater here, now that I think about it I wasn¡¯t allowed out much after that. I stopped spinning off in a tangent and got my thoughts together and came to one conclusion. they''re coming for us and they''re going to come now. Snapping back from my thoughts I see my father has pried up those floorboards. He reaches inside and pulls out a box wrapped up in white cloth. Knowing my father its probably money or drugs¡­ definitely both. My birth mother is in hysterics , clearly she hadn''t quite come to terms her..husband? boyfriend? The true dynamics of their relationship is never really bought up, I don¡¯t really know how they do differentiate between the two. But considering that most of my knowledge about anything is picked up here and there I suppose it doesn¡¯t really matter at all . Anyway my birth mother isn''t calm and she''s panicking , I guess it''s weird not to panic in this situation? "Cop? you killed a cop? what the fuck Rick" she yells into my father''s face as she clings on to his arm. "What are we going to do? fuck, fuck ,fuck" "Calm down you stupid bitch" he said removing his arm from her grip rather forcefully. he isn''t exactly calm himself¡­ "We just need to leave . Now" he grabs her hand and begins to drag her to the door. "I know where Tim and his bitch went , the fucker owes me so if we can just leave th-" "What about the kid Rick" my birth mother remembers me. My birth father seems to recall my presence, but I''m still too lost in thought to notice his gaze. I know how this ends, the only reason my father''s friend got any was sheer dumb luck. Police never came to the part of the neighbourhood before but now they come more frequently. were bound to get caught . I''m going to be all alone. By myself . Fear trickles into my body, panic sets in. I was unconcerned about the fate of another person but my own fear of loneliness elicits horror in me. If my mind was calm I''d think how selfish I was, how messed up my own sense of morals were. nut my mind isn''t calm, it isn''t. So I freeze up. I don¡¯t move , my mind grinds to a stop, I hear nothing , my eyes are open but I see nothing. All senses lost , just emptiness¡­. and then. Like a splash of cold water, I find myself back to the house, the smell of rotting wood, the sound of creaking floorboards , the feeling of my back against the tattered wall paper covered wall, the feeling of weightlessness on my body¡­weightlessness? I look up. Instant regret. My birth father staring right into me. Angry. More than I''ve ever seen him. "What? You think you''re too good to talk to me? You ungrateful little shits stain, listen to me you fuck" he roars into my face , spittle flying in my direction his rank breath filling the space between us. He shakes me as his grip around my shoulders tighten. I stare back at him. I don¡¯t know what he''s shouting at me for but it seemed looking into his eyes was a bad idea. "You grim faced little fucking bastard" A line he''s called me many, many times. It took a while but I learnt that my face doesn¡¯t show any outward emotion, none, I always have a cold and detached look on my face, no matter what I''m really feeling inside and it pisses my birth father off considerably. I never understood why. Until now that is. "You always were a freaky little fuck, weren''t you. So fucking weird" he continues. it seems his sense of urgency is being overshadowed by his feelings towards me. I''m almost flattered he''d think getting out of here was second to our father to son chat we are having. "Stop staring at me you beady eyed fuck". Or maybe he''s just venting again. No its different this time. The anger isn''t going away, he''s getting even more angry, it was plain to see his fury was turning into something much more sinister. My mind began to formulate an escape route. No good, can move. Struggling seems to have made it worse, he''s past angry and just plain homicidal. His hands grasp around his throat my breaths stop, the pressure increases. "I''ve always hated you , always staring you creepy shit, judging me with your eyes, you think I don¡¯t see it? You think you''re better than me ? You''re fucking NOTHING, YOU HEAR ME, NOTHING!!", he screams, his face distorted by his sheer hatred towards me. I struggle pointlessly, my legs kick out beneath me, my arms scratch his, my eyes started going dark , my struggles weakening. It dawns on me I can''t escape his grip, he''s stronger than me by a wide margin. I need help, my birth mother? "Kill the shit Rick , it freaks me out the way he stares at us. KILL HIM!", (et tu mother?)she says as she laughs hysterically, guess all the bottled up aggression is broken and so is she. No good, my vision is almost gone. I can feel my heart rate slow down, my hearing is getting fuzzy, their shouts become distant and soft. What have I done to deserve this? what have I done to be hated to so much. I just didn¡¯t want to be alone, did I deserve to die because I didn''t want that? I''ve never done anything to them, never said a word out of place, always kept my head down. I''ve never done anything to you so.. why..why are you hurting me ¡­.why are you killing me¡­.. What.. ¡­..Gives.. You.. ¡­The¡­ Right. I stop struggling .My father thinks he''s done it. But then my eyes open fully. And then, for the first time in my life. I experienced. Rage Chapter 1.2 : Alone I watched his blood leave his face. He was afraid, this towering oaf has hurt me long enough¡­ He was right to be afraid. He was right to fear me. My hands gripped his as they still had my neck in a vice grip. Liquid fire permeated the entirety of my body I put strength into my previously weak hands and applied my hatred of all the years of abuse, all the beatings , all the words all the terrible things he said to me all condensed into this moment¡­ and¡­. I .... crushed his hands in mine. I felt the bone give way as the broken pieces pierced his skin as it deformed under the pressure of my grip. He screamed and back off. I let go of his hands , and fell on my rear. All that power left me in an instant, I gasped for air my throat burned, my body shuddered. I greedily took in the stale air I had taken for granted all these years and loved every second of it. Never had I know that air would taste so good. Then I remember that my father was just injured and was still a threat to me. I turn my head. He stares in shock at his hands. He just eyes the broken mess his hands had become. Eventually his pain catches up to him and he screams louder again. The people outside probably heard that. it seems it shocks my birth mother out of whatever murder trance she was in. She screams as she makes her way towards me "I''ll kill you for that you son of a -"(then aren''t you the bitch? ""you played yourself"" ) My hands at my throat I was in no shape to defend myself against her. The power I had felt like an illusion and then the window broke smoothing rolled on the ground. Both my birth mother and I stared at it dumbfounded. Even my father put aside his "scremo rendition" to stare and then the world flashed white. My ears rang out, my eyes hurt and my vision was distorted. I think I saw a group of men walking in clad in body armor, they were yelling something but I couldn¡¯t say what exactly. The world was spinning. I clutched my head. Policewoman POV We surrounded the house, this was the place our informants told us about. On the ground I could see a blood trail turning the virgin snow crimson . If it wasn¡¯t for the blood trail I would never have guessed anyone ever lived here. This place was a broken pillar away from collapsing in on itself. we found him quickly enough, a little motivation and the other practically gave him up. I guess he wasn¡¯t very well liked around here. A cop died today murdered in the street. One of our own and this made it personal, Jim was undercover for 3 months had a wife and kid back home waiting for him to come back. I was going to have to break the news to them that my partner, their husband and father had died in the line of duty. Killed by some methed up junkie gunned down like he was nothing. He was a good man and he deserved better, much better. Almost time we were ready to break it down, I had my firearm ready, I was the first one in, I wanted to be. I needed to be there, my boss has tried to put me off this case but I assured her this is where I wanted to be. it took a lot of convincing but I was here. Ready to get even. I need this guy alive, he has been under watch for a while, he has connections to many of the drug rings in the slums if we can get him to talk, Jim wouldn¡¯t have died for nothing. I had to take him alive. For Jim. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Then Suddenly a scream rang out . We reacted quickly and fast, flash bang in first and breach the door search for hostiles ,tasers armed just like practice. A man and a woman in the living room, one of them is the guy, Rick. He''s screaming, his fingers and arms look like they''re been in a steel press machine. Jesus what could do that to him , no time to speculate, I yell my commands and the other teams handle the woman. I cuff the fucker who got rick. I got him. we fan out and search for any other hostiles. I see movement out of the corner of my eye I tense up and look¡­ "Jesus it¡¯s a kid" one of the officers say "fuck what''s a kid doing here" another one says . "Oi watch your language man" the first one replies. Honestly the concept of professionalism is lost of these two morons. "Take him , I see to the kid" I say passing off the man. I walk toward the kid and take note of the kids unusually red hair. I can''t tell what gender the kid is , the long hair obscures all the entirety of their face. I ask in a gentle tone "hey are you okay?" can they even hear me? I hope the flash bang didn¡¯t damage their ears. The scarlet mass moves aside and I find myself staring at gems of purple. ??? POV My ears are stilling ringing but I can make out some noises, it seems the police has found us..well I didn¡¯t commit any crimes so technically they found both my birth parents. Strange I said us knowing full well 2/3 s of "us" just made an attempt on my life. Maybe I''m holding onto the vain notion that I won''t be alone after this. They were terrible people, but they are really all I''ve ever had. The fear grips me again. The familiar pang of loneliness. Funny I almost die and I''m scared of losing my would be murderers ¡­.what a truly pitiful existence. I feel someone''s eyes one me footsteps coming closer. I look up and see a woman in a vest of some kind. She''s staring at me and I''m staring back at her. She blinks first and shakes her head like she''s shaking off something¡­.this woman is weird. She looks at me again and asks me what my name is. My name? do I even have one? Did they even give me a name. They''ve called me all kinds of things till now. Worthless, waste, useless, bastard(now that one doesn¡¯t make sense)... "Grim faced" "Grimm? is that your name?" she asks puzzled It seems I said the last one out loud. Grimm? well that is what I''d get called the most so I guess that counts? I mean not as up there as bastard but I guess it''ll do. "Yes, My name is Grimm" POV Policewoman Who names their kid Grimm? ------------------------------- Thus the worst superhero identity was forged. I apologise for nothing. Chapter 2.0 : The Orphanage I stand before a large wooden door, the door seems to have some designs etched into wood making it seem more like a work of art than a door, the woman to my left knocks twice and we wait outside. It''s been 4 hours since. The policewoman handed me over to a sharply dressed lady that said she was a social worker for child protective services. She in turn talked to me in for a awhile going over what will happen to me now. I''m to be placed in a home for children without parents she called in an orphanage , she told me there are others like me who stay there, that I''ll make plenty of friends . Friends , a strange word one of the many words I don¡¯t know the meaning to. I wasn¡¯t exactly taught anything from my parents, my knowledge of language is what I picked up, stray words here and there, whispers in the night from people coming and going in the various houses I''ve lived in. I had to ask what it meant. Her face told me it was something anyone my age should have known. Seems I''m lacking quite a bit of common knowledge. She asks me if I can read, to which I naturally replied no. The only thing my parents taught me is how to stay quiet, that and dodge the occasional glass bottle thrown my way whenever they wanted a target to hit. Her forehead creased over when she heard my inability to read. The talk went on uneventful till she brought me out of the room we were in and took me to see my new home. Which brings us here. There were symbols over door that read out "st Agatha''s orphanage" , me being unable to read , I had to rely on the social worker to tell me. The door creaked open and a woman dressed in a simple black dress opens the door, her head is covered in a type of headgear I''ve never seen before [he''s referring to the coif, look it up]. The lady looks to be in her late 50''s and has a soft smile on her face when she answers to door and sees the worker. "Samantha my dear , it is good to see you", her tone is gentle and her eyes narrow. She looks to me again and her I see her eyes shrink in focus¡­something about her isn''t quite right and I grip the workers arm reflexively. The worker named Samantha looks to me in surprise and then understanding dawns on her. Maybe she sees the same thing I do ? She smiles at me and says, "It''s alright Agatha will take good care of you". Or maybe not . "Agatha?", I say out loud. I stare at the woman again. She looks back at me with a smile that sends a shiver down my spine¡­I don¡¯t understand at, face value she just looks like she''s just smiling playfully. But the observation doesn¡¯t do much to calm my nerves. " A coincidence, I''m not that old child" she says with an amused smile. Of course not. It''s plain to see the building is pretty old, there no way a human could live that long. Plus I doubt anyone would name an orphanage after themselves and attaching saint to the title. I can feel my face light up in embarrassment for being seen through so plainly and for thinking such a stupid thing. It seems both Agatha and the worker Samantha seem to find this to be rather funny, much to dismay this only further increases my embarrassment. Thus adding more fuel to their laughter. "Well then we both of you should come inside, it is rather cold inside". Agatha says as she ushers us inside, the doorway lead to the foyer , the orphanage from the outside seems to be made of dull red brick, but on the inside it feels much more different , the white wallpaper and the rather ornate ceiling fixtures make it seem like a different world altogether. The red carpet stretches outward to the main living space. I take of my dirty ragged shoes as to not track mud into this pristine place. This place makes my previous "home" look more like a hole in the ground that it was before. Whilst I''m in awe of this new scenery the two adults have moved on a head of me and I hasten my foot steps to keep up. After I removed my shoes of course. This whole place makes me feel strange, I feel like I shouldn¡¯t be here, someone like me who has only know rooting woodwork and the sound of creaking walls straining to keep the weight of the roof above us. It''s all too different . I''m taken into a small office , Agatha instructs us both to sit in the chairs provided, the chairs are a deep shade of red leather, the scent of leather is new to me. So much of this room and house is. The windows are frosted, though I can still make out the slow fall of snow still¡­it''s December so it''s natural for it snow but I don¡¯t think I''ve ever seen it snow this much before. Will I be snowed in at this rate? I hope not. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. As pull myself away from my thoughts again I take a better look at the room. There is a fire place to the left of me near where Samantha is seated, bringing in a gentle warmth into the room, the flames dance illuminating the room, I hear the crackle of the log as it burns. The sounds of fire all I hear lost in the flames, pulled into it. From the corner of my eye I see the two adults conversing about some legal issues. I can¡¯t understand much of it. It seems I don¡¯t quite know as much of the law that I thought I did. I manage to hear a few words understand, "custody rights" being one of them. They seem to be talking about any other members of kin. I remember the conversation I had with Samantha at the office in which she asked me a multitude of questions about my family. Nearly all the answers were "I don¡¯t know". It reminded me of how little I do know about the world, my family and myself. Then I''ve just recently been given a name so I guess I''m not doing too bad. But it''s not enough I''ve barely lived on the knowledge I''ve come by and I''m through surviving by the skin of my teeth. I''ve been give what seems to be a second chance and I''m not going to squander this opportunity. The shuffle of papers and bodies moving on leather divert my attention from my inner monologue. I seem to be losing myself in thought a lot more now. I guess since I''m not expected to dodge stray bottles and constantly and actively staying out of line of sight, I''m now given more time to think and not just react. I just hope it won''t become a habit [Flag raised?] "Well then that should be everything", Samantha says as she gathers her papers and stands up. She looks to me and says "this will be your new home now, you''ll find it to be much more fun and their children your age , you''ll make tons of friends okay?" she says with a wide smile on her face. Unlike the one I saw the other lady make this one did not send shivers down my spine. I look at the window again, still snowing, the suns gone down it must be getting pretty late. Really late. I''ve caused this woman to be dragged out of her home in order to set me in mine. I feel slightly guilty. This person has done so much for me. More than anyone really has. I feel happy and a little saddened I''ve caused her to be burdened by me. For the first time in my life someone has been genuinely nice to me, I feel a loss for words emotions I didn¡¯t know I had or could even feel well up inside me. I don¡¯t know what to say or do so I just stare at her with tears in my eyes. Just looking up to her. Then I stare down at my feet. I look back up and the tears fall freely. Before I can say anything else I''m pulled into an soft warm embrace. "It''s all right ",she whispers softly into my ear. I''m frozen stiff, tears stopping and my eyes are widened in shock. "It''s all going to be okay, nothing bad is going to happen to you now." The words sent a warm feeling in my chest, it grows further engulfing my body. A kind, soft glow. One promising warmth and security things I''ve never had. I start to think this is just a dream, that I''ll wake up on the cold wooden floor again and have to face all that I''ve left behind. I bury my head in her soft brown hair trying to purge the thoughts but in reality I''m just trying to grasp what''s in front of me, to convince myself what I''m feeling is real and weep loudly, like I was crying out the anguish I felt all these long years. The dam was broken I and I couldn¡¯t stop. I felt a hand on my head patting me whilst I cried my heart out. "It''s all alright now, you''re safe", she says softly in a tone that I could only be motherly, a tone I''ve never heard before. It makes me feel relived like all the pain I''ve felt until now was just a passing nightmare. I am aren''t I? Safe now? I''m going to be living in this amazing place, with children my age , people who care about me? Isn''t this what I''ve always wanted? What I''ve always wished for but have been too afraid to ask? I''m not alone anymore. _____________________________________________________________________________ A/N: Guess he isn''t a complete sociopath after all. Next we see Samantha''s point of view. I feel like Grimms POV is generally a bit robotic and i think that''s due to his character being a bit cold. Then again i maybe an inept author and it just sounds like crap but you know i can only hope I''m conveying it properly. I''m trying to ease it into a more child like manner eventually but for now youll have to suffer my poor storytelling. also leave a comment if you want....its not like im lonely or anything....pls talk to me -:me no cry:- Chapter 3.1 : Promises A/N note: im starting to think i dont know how chapter titles work..i mean this one has nothing to do with the chapter title.. OR DOES IT?...i wont tell...unless you ask nicely. Chapter 3.1: Promise Samantha POV Night work. I''ve been pushing papers in the office for a month now. Seriously I feel like no one else wanted to go and pushed this crap onto me. *sigh* Well works, work. I get up from my bed and fumble for the light switch. As the world turns white I rub the sleep out of my eyes. I check the time, it''s 11pm. I always sleep early at 9pm, my mother drilled this sleep pattern into me since I was a child and I haven''t been able to shake it since. Honestly everyone else is probably too wasted having a party and they leave the job to me. *sigh* They''re good people really , they work just as hard as me¡­BUT IT''S A SUNDAY Couldn¡¯t those bastards send someone else out ? urrgghhhh This is what I get for being a good little girl and not getting wasted on my Sundays. I left my mother place to become independent and my own woman..but so far I''ve been doing the same things I have when I''ve been living with my mother. NOTHINGS CHANGED DAMMIT!!! I shout loudly¡­in my mind of course I''ve got neighbours and they hate me¡­ I finish my mental exclamation and take a shower and start to get dressed. It best to have a good first impression I say facing the mirror fixing my suit. Okay first time on the job . you got this I psyche myself up in the closet mirror. I take the time to comb out the bed hair and try to generally look less like I just crawled out of bed. My brown eyes still look drowsy. So I make start to boil some water for tea before I leave, never could take that bitter sludge they call coffee* [please note that the characters words and views do not represent the authors own opinions ¡­except this one case in which she completely represent the authors own personal views, that stuff is bitter sewage and I can''t understand how anyone can stomach it without drowning in a mountain of sugar] As I leave the kettle on I try to fish out my shoes from the disorderly mess my room is. You would think with a one bedroom apartment there wouldn¡¯t be too many places for my shoes to hide. You would be wrong. After an eternity I find my shoes right beside my bed¡­..I am too stupid to live¡­.honestly I think I should just go home to mom..I can''t be responsible for myself , I need an adult¡­.. The whistle for the kettle breaks my realisation that being an adult is hard. I wake myself up with a bit of tea and put my shoes on. And check my appearance one last time in the mirror. My brown eyes look a lot livelier and my messy brown hair is arranged into a ponytail. I look like the picture of professionalism¡­or barely passable....I better go before I fall back into my well of self pity. I hail a cab and make way to the police station. In the back seat of the car I''m thinking....I could be drunk right now¡­ I mean I don''t really drink that much, my strict upbringing didn¡¯t allow for it my mother kept me on a strict ad short leash. No drinking, no staying out late with friends and most of all no boys. Yup. My leash is shorter than the ones you would use for a misbehaving dog . Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.(? ??????????? ) I sigh , a sigh so deep I feel like my soul is leaving my body. I can¡¯t keep living under my mother''s thumb all my life I''m 20 I should be having the time of my life¡­. I don¡¯t need my mother to tell me how to live my life. "I''m a strong independent woman that don¡¯t need no man!" I exclaim in my mind The driver turns around at the red light and stares back at me as if I''m insane¡­that was out loud wasn¡¯t it¡­. The driver turns back and mumbles something about not being paid enough for this. I hold me head in shame and say no more until I reach the station. I pay the man hurriedly and make my way toward the station. I get let in. the police station is in pretty high spirits , seems they nabbed a big fish. At least someone is happy to be up this late [it''s not really that late you grumpy pus] I''m called over by a police woman and escorted to the room. On the way in I''m told of what happened. Poor kid, lost both parents in one night¡­I mean they''re criminals but the kid lost his parents , no other living kin either..seriously this kids all alone. The cold rush of reality took away any remaining traces of sleepiness. Okay no big deal. I just have to comfort a some kid who just lost his home, his parents and just about all he''s ever known¡­.. no pressure¡­..I need an adult (???? ©n ????)¡­.wait a minute I''m an adult¡­.I need an more adult , adult. Bracing myself I enter the room. And see the kid¡­um¡­. He? She? Am I in the wrong room? Are there any other kids here who have also lost their parents? I''m looking for a boy aged 7.. I mean it could be a boy the long red hair isn''t really helping distinguish what exactly it I''m looking at. The police woman calls out "Grimm" the mass of hair perks up and looks towards the door "This is Samantha and she''ll be sorting you out now" she continues. I look towards the boy again and see him staring back at me , with two glowing orbs of violet. Samantha extra: Who names their kid Grimm? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N : post note Gap Moe anyone? I originally didn¡¯t want grim associating with any other characters a bit. Get him into a little isolation then introduce the main heroines. But then I started to write Sam''s character and I somehow made her a stark contrast to Grimm''s character. Which is fun to write. Also this story is listed under fantasy so expect magic to come¡­eventually¡­ I mean it''s going to be a big part of the story *cough * to use as a fix in a situation, in case I write myself into a corner *cough* i mean as a means to enrich the story of course :) (<-http://img.memecdn.com/undertale-amp-039-s-flowy_o_6173709.webp ) What do I look like a hack? Of course not , you don¡¯t know what I look like. you don''t know who i am. A prepubescent boy with illusions of grandeur ? An FBI agent pretending to be a girl(I mean it''s the internet there are no girls on here)? Some middle aged man with a neck beard ? some middle-aged woman with a neck beard? personally I''ve always identified as a red fire-truck but that just me. Chapter 3.2 : Promise Sam POV So.... is he going to say something? He looks like he wants to say something. Wait shouldn¡¯t I be saying something first? I''m the adult here..wait the police woman is here¡­.and she''s gone¡­ Okay introduction, I put on my best professional smile and try to sound as comforting as possible. "hello my name is Samantha" I say when I pull my chair and sit down facing him. "So you''re Grimm huh?" No response, he just keeps staring¡­ he does that a lot¡­he can speak right? "I''m", his eyes scrunch up as if searching for an answer inside himself. It really wasn¡¯t that hard of a question but I guess he''s been through a lot today, hell I''m surprised he''s still sane. He is sane right? I mean they wouldn¡¯t put me in a room with a crazy person would they? Wait I''m supposed to be helping him here he hasn¡¯t done anything to warrant this kind of treatment¡­yet "-Grimm , that is my name" it seems will I was thinking away the boy managed to tell me his name¡­I should probably pay attention to this , I''m a professional I can afford to screw up my job depends on this¡­and this kids health and wellbeing of course.. and my livelihood.. I don¡¯t wanna move back in with mom¡­ "Excuse me, are you okay you seem really distracted", he says facing me baring into my eyes with his. The sudden feeling of his stare breaks me out of my stumper¡­.. "Perfectly fine," crrraaaaaapppp messed up big time. Focus here Sam you''re meant to be helping him. Quick change the subject "so Grimm huh?" "Yes", he answers flatly Silence ensues¡­master conversationalist I am¡­ "s-so Grimm how much are you doing", I manage in desperation "Um how am I doing?", he says after staring at me for sometime decrypting the meaning babble that washed out of my mouth.. it''s not my fault . I''m trying my best here (? ??????????? ) "Yes that", roll with it he seems to have understood, it''s fine if this random kid thinks you''re a complete weirdo , that fine , doesn¡¯t hurt me on bit¡­(¨i_¨i) "Well, conflicted would be the word I''d use but aside from that everything is pretty much dandy". Was that sarcasm? I couldn¡¯t tell his expressions didn¡¯t change and neither did his tone. "why conflicted?" "Well I did just lose both my birth parents in one night, both of which attempted to kill me moments before they were arrested so there relief of being alive and loss at losing my parents. So there are some conflicting emotions at play here". His speech pattern doesn¡¯t mesh well from the mouth it just came from. It seems really odd hearing such a tone from a child..especially one so young. How old is he? There isn''t exactly a file on him. As far as documents go he doesn''t even exist. "If you don¡¯t mind me asking, how old are you Grimm?"I ask He looks at me blankly, well I guess even if he acts composed he''s still a kid. "I ..don¡¯t know" "You don¡¯t know?", I ask incredulously how can a person not know their own age? "I don¡¯t know", he says with renewed confidence in his answer¡­that¡¯s not something to be confident about dammit¡­ so what does he know? "Do you know any relatives of yours? An aunt, an uncle? Grandfather , grandmother?" surely he must know someone else in his family . if he doesn¡¯t know anything about himself we can always ask them. "I don¡¯t know, if I have any relatives I''ve never met them, I only know my birth parents" Birth parents again, "why do you call them your birth parents?" His face twists bitterly and says " they are my biological parents and they gave birth to me". After a bit of time like he was carefully choosing his words. "Why not mom or dad?" "I can call them a lot worse things but birth parents are what they are." He says in a tone devoid of emotion. Okay then touchy subject. Well obviously Sam you dumbass, maybe a change of approach would be in order? "okay why don¡¯t you tell me what you do know about yourself " I take out a pen and paper and slide them across the table. He just stares blankly at what I hand him... "What am I to do with this?" well good question Grimm , why did I give him the paper when I said "tell" ? all a part of my master plan to get him to open up to me. Yes . definitely. "well , why don¡¯t you write down what you know about yourself?" too late to back out of this now Sam, roll with it. "I¡­ " he starts to pull his hair to the left of his face playing with it as if it could possibly distract him from the situation at hand. ".. I can''t write, or rather I don¡¯t know how to." He all but whispers the last part. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.Honestly did his parents teach him anything? What kind of parents are they.. well they''re drug addicts¡­but still! How dare they not teach him something so basic. I have a half a mind to go and yell and them right now for being such lousy people, but then the saner part of my mind reminds me that , yelling at convicted felons ranks atop most stupidest thoughts of all time, and there is a rather long list¡­ While he is playing with his hair I can see the side of his cheek bulge out unnaturally, like it was swollen . Really bad parents it seems, why would they hit a kid like that ? who would do something like that? And he''s been living with these people all his life? Jesus. He notices my gaze and hides his check with his long hair again covering up the injury. "Do need me to get some ice for that?" I ask in an effort to break the silence. "It''s fine, I heal quickly, I''m used to it" Used to it. He says. What a cruel thing to do. And how sad it must be to expect things like that to happen to you so often you disregard it like it''s nothing. My hands clench into fists under the table. I understood this job would require me to see some things I wouldn¡¯t want to. I thought I was ready to expect it. Guess reality is a lot more grittier than my imagination. I want to help him. Well it''s my job but it feels like I''m committed to it more than I was before . nothing like a dose of reality to your system to wake you up to yourself. We finish up writing up the appropriate documents, get some information from the "parents" after talking to them I hope I never have to see them again and I''m going to make dam sure I''m not letting them see Grimm again. I of course don¡¯t have that kind of authority, I feel like I''m stepping my bounds as far as my job is concerned. But these people, are truly repulsive and despicable hitting their own child and blaming him for the things that happened to them as consequence of their own actions. These scum will get whats coming to them, I will have to make sure the mother doesn''t try to go after Grimm when shes released, she wont be able to take custody easily but it may be a problem. I''ll take care of it when the times comes. After I''ve been given the information I need I leave and take Grimm into a nearby taxi, in the cab I explain what''s going to happen to him again. But I don¡¯t think he''s listening. He''s just staring back at the police station not moving his gaze until we speed away into the night leaving it a dark shadow as we travel down the night streets of the city. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A/N : arighty then one more chapter from Sam''s perspective¡­ I''m totally not adding filler because o don¡¯t know what I''m doing with the story or anything¡­.ahahahah¡­ha *ahem* definitely not.. well ¡­see you in the next one then? Also if you like this story, do tell me your insults or compliments will fuel the dying ember that is my will to liv- I mean writing. Will fuel my writing. Also tell your friends, your family , your dog, your friend''s family dog, but don¡¯t tell their cats. They are mean little bastards. Sing the words of the story to the world . readers lend me your energy *raises hands to the sky*. I''ll stop before I make a bigger fool of myself anonymity is powerful it brings the crazy out. Also small hints to Sam''s character in case you haven''t noticed, it pretty subtle if you spell it out like this SUBTLE in case you didn''t notice I''m a crap author and you have no faults, except your face ,real sorry about that man, sorry its true (ha gottiem! DEEZ NUTZ amirite guys ? am i cool now? [please facilitate my need for attention]) Final note: I WILL EVENTUALLY get to the "promise" segment of this part(chapter? arc? feels like Naruto filler dammit) I swear (???? ©n ????) notice these A/N are getting longer and longer each chapter? I don''t know it just feels like i can really talk to you guys. all of 1 of you who follows my story, no idea who you are or nor do i want to find out. it feels like i can talk to you about anything, as long as you don''t talk back ,don''t make it weird man. Chapter 3.3 : Promise Then 8 years old Dad is not a nice person. Dad drinks a lot, mommy says it''s bad for him but he does it anyway, he shouts at me and mommy when he drinks. I don¡¯t like him very much. Mom says it''s not his fault , but it is. He got fired from his job recently and he spends all day on the couch shouting and then in his garage working on his car. He hit me the other day, my lip was cut open and I cried a lot, he didn¡¯t stop until mommy came over , she tried to help me but he hit her too. After he left mommy''s face was bleeding like me. Why does he hate us so much mommy? I ask she says it''s not his fault again, she says he''s not angry with us he''s just stressed out. It''s like mommy is making excuses for his actions. I don¡¯t like it when he hits my mommy. I don¡¯t like my dad at all. Mommy makes me feel angry why doesn''t she just leave him, I asked once. Mommy says she''s married to him and that marriage is a sacred thing. Mommy says she''s a catholic and that God is watching and he''ll make things better for us. She tells me a lot about things like that. If God is watching by doesn¡¯t he help us I ask her. She doesn¡¯t say anything and just stares into space. Then: 12 years old Mom is looking even more haggard. She looks withered you wouldn¡¯t think she hit 30 this year, she looks some much older, it''s her eyes they look tired. The man who I know as my father still is at home on his couch, watching TV as usual, recently he''s stopped hitting me but I see bruises on mommy when I come from school. Mommy says not to worry about it , but I know she''s afraid of him. She''s scared of him, I can tell. She keeps telling me he isn''t a bad person. But I don¡¯t believe her, I don¡¯t think she believes it anymore either. She says he''s just angry at his not being able to find a job, she says he''ll get better when he finds a job. She says it''ll get better tomorrow. But that tomorrow never seems to come. He doesn¡¯t hit me anymore but I don¡¯t like the way he looks at me, he just follows me with his eyes when he thinks I''m not looking. I told my mommy but she just cried and pulled me into a hug. I can hear her crying as she tells me it''s okay and that everything is fine. Then : 13 years old I got called to the hospital today, mom fell down a flight of stairs. That''s what she told me when I asked her. The hospital staff told me she had bruised ribs and had broken her arm , they say it was an unfortunate accident. Mommy smiled and told me not to worry, she told me that I should be more careful on the stairs so that I don¡¯t fall myself. My mommy really cares about me. I care about here too. That¡¯s why I know she''s lying. I ask her again if she fell down the stairs because she slipped. She smiles again and said she did. The smile, the same smile she makes when she tries to tell me not to worry about my him , when she makes excuses for him. I know who did this, it was him. It was all hIs fAulT. Mommy gets discharges from the hospital and we go home. When we get there he is there sitting on his chair watching TV with a beer bottle in his hand. He sees us opening the door and he shouts at mommy, calling her nasty mean things. He says it''s her fault for everything and she should have just died on the staircase. Mommy is crying , I don¡¯t say a thing, but pull her into my room and lock the door. Mommy is still crying , I tell her not to worry and everything it''ll be fine. I''m just like she was all those years ago, telling lies to a child to make her think everything will be okay. But I''m not like mommy. I''m not going to hope that things will get better. Next day: The car that he works on still isn''t working properly, he removed the tyres and is trying to fix the car by using a car jack to lift the wheels vehicle up will he works under it. I see this from the crack of the garage door. I watch his try pointlessly fix his car, he gets angry and throws his tools to the ground. I watch him do this as he screams in frustration and reaches for the door. I quickly hide away from him. When he''s gone I go into the garage and look at the car. It''s a mess, I don¡¯t know much about cars but I know that he is nowhere near to fixing it. I see the jack stand and look it over. In school I read about it on the internet in my free time. I made sure no one was looking. I don¡¯t touch it. I can''t, not yet anyway. He always works on it when I''m at school , when he''s not hitting my mother of course. I made sure to keep her away from him whenever I can. I make sure she sleeps with me in my room and I make sure to lock the door. I look over the jack, he left it up like that. I apply what I learnt about the structure of jack lifts from the picture on the computer and loosen the bindings ever so slightly. It''s rusted and it makes a little noise, but I know my father won''t be coming back today. I make sure to wear gloves while I''m doing it. Once I''m finished I go back to my room making sure nobody sees me leaving the garage. Tomorrow is Saturday, he won''t go into the garage on Saturday, he''ll go to the pub and come back late at night then leave for his room. He always does this, it''s his pattern, I''ve been paying close attention to it. No one else goes in the garage except for him. Ever. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I head up to my room and talk to my mom about going to church Sunday. She always goes to church on Sundays and she tries to bring me along too. She doesn''t force me by any means but she''s stopped asking me after a while. She seems happy that I asked her and more than readily replies with a yes. She seems really happy , I like it when mommy smiles she doesn¡¯t seem as tired and it''s like she gets younger every time she does. I like mommy smiling, I don¡¯t want to see her sad anymore, I won''t let anyone hurt her again. Saturday : Mommy and I stay at home because she''s hurt I make sure we stay in my room and we play games , she''s smiling and I''m smiling. I like it this way, both of us are happy. It should stay like this. Sunday: Mommy and I leave for church, mommy is having difficult moving but I help her to move. She looks at me and says I''m a good girl as she takes my hand and we walk toward the church. There is a mass going on, I don¡¯t pay attention to it much, I just look at my mom and make sure she''s okay. The priest hold a ceremony and starts talking for a while, something about how god is in us all and all sinners get thee due eventually, what a coincidence he talks about it. If gods in us all then asking for help from him is asking to do something about it ourselves and if god punishes sinners doesn¡¯t that mean I should too? All these years it suddenly comes clear to me (not it doesn¡¯t you psychopath XD) I should have done this sooner. Monday: Police investigate the accident , there is a small news report of a local man getting crushed by a car. People come over to express their sympathies, they didn''t know how he was like, some of them barely knew who he was, but they knew my mother and I guess they were here for her. Tuesday : We are the funeral. The local priest is leading the service "Thomas Howard was a good man" He really wasn¡¯t. "he will be missed dearly" Not be me he won''t. "it''s truly a shame for him to be gone" Shame it didn¡¯t happen sooner The funeral service was a joke this man got what he deserved. Did I feel guilty? Yes, guilty I cause my mother to suffer through this, even through all the pain he put us through it would seem some part of hoped he''d turn around. Funny this man nearly killed her and yet she cared this much for him. I find it hard to understand her, but it''s fine. He won''t hurt my mother again. Ever. I go over to my mother , she cries as she hugs me. "everything is going to be fine mommy" I say to her over and over till she believes it and then she stops crying wiping her tears away, " I''m sorry Sam I , I''m supposed to be strong for both us here" she says. "It''s fine mommy" I say with a smile on my face. "I''m here to help". ----"Miss Samantha"? I''m pulled into the present and I turn to the voice that called me back. Grimm''s eyes stare into mine "is everything okay? " he asks with a slight tone of concern. Aw didn¡¯t know you cared little Grimm a smile plays on my face as I look at this little child who has gone through so much. "Everything will be fine Grimm" I say with a smile as I get out of the car and knock on the door to the orphanage. After all. I''m here to help. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you guessed c) she''s a complete psychopath ding ding ding. You win. I wasn¡¯t really thinking of making her an important character but hey here you go. Chapter 3.4 : Promise Samantha POV We meet Agatha the nun. She in charge of running the orphanage with the help of the other sisters here. I''m well acquainted with many of the sisters here from my church days. I''ve met Agatha on many occasions as well and the other nuns speak very well of her. She''s very sweet and looks just like you would expect, a responsible elderly lady which resembles a kind grandma then a stern head nun. So why does Grimm have a death grip on my arm? Maybe he''s just shy of new people, I remember how he was when we first met in the station. Very different he didn¡¯t show this nervous expression before. What is he so worried about¡­ I assure him it''s okay but I can see him show a doubtful look. He seems remarkably more expressive than he was before. Perhaps he''s just like that with new people? Then again no one in his life probably even asked his name or gave him one according to his own admittance, so there was never anyone to show such faces too. I feel bad for him, I''ve personally went through my own abuse but at least I had a mother which kept me grounded[not so much apparently] but he has had no one, not a single person. But that¡¯s going to change real soon, I know it he''ll have friends here , Agatha will be there to look out for him and he will have me... I mean it''s my job to ensure his safety. Anyway we exchange some short pleasantries and I introduce Grimm and Agatha. He still hasn¡¯t let go of my arm. It''s strangely cute to watch him act so differently but I should probably assure him that it''s fine, he is going to be living here after all so it''s my job to ensure that he is comfortable. We are both invited in and I take a minute to take in the scene of the orphanage feeling slightly bitter, this place is so much better than mine! I''m super envious dammed how can an orphanage be this much better than my cubbyhole of an apartment. At least I''m not the only one who seems a little taken aback, I take that back Grimm looks like he just set foot on a foreign planet. His eyes are darting back and forwards taking on every detail like a cat darting around with its head on a swivel, I mentally hold myself back from laughing aloud. He stops and looks at his feet and removes his shoes before following us in a hurried manner . What a polite little boy. We move into Agatha''s office which is still better than my apartment I might add¡­.no I''m envious. How do they even afford this stuff seriously , they only get a state grant to run the place and ever since Agatha''s come the place has changed considerabl- Since she came? Wasn¡¯t she always here? I stop to organize my thoughts something doesn¡¯t mesh well together ..a feeling at the tip of my tongue..like I''m missing something¡­ and then it''s gone . What was I doing again? Right the paperwork, this is going to be a long, well it''s nearly the star of the new one¡­ *sigh* I look over at Grimm and he sits there staring into the fire like he''s contemplating something. A child shouldn¡¯t behave like that a child his age should be laughing and playing carelessly oblivious to any responsibility and smiling like they are having the time of their life. He just looks..tired. Just like my mother did, all those years ago. I didn¡¯t like the look in her eyes then and I certainly don¡¯t like the look on a child even any more. Seems like a little too invested personally in this , it isn''t my job to ensure he''s happy about every little thing, but every time I look into his eyes it''s the same as back then and I can''t help but get involved . *sigh* but there isn''t a lot I can do on my end. I guess visiting every now and then would be the most I can do. Helplessness just like back then fills me. I can''t do anything about this situation. I''m pulled back into the present when I see his eyes baring into mine .The color of them is very mesmerizing I don¡¯t think I''ve ever met anyone with eyes like those. Like they pull you in and see right through you. I quickly finish up the paperwork with Agatha and stand up and turn to him. I tell him how he''ll make tons of friends. And then his brightly shining pupils mist over. Great going Sam you¡¯ve made the boy cry. Nice job dumbass. I''m panicking so it just do the first thing that comes into my mind. I pull him into me and hug him. Just like my mother did when I was sad. He seems to be taken aback completely stiff in my arms..well I''m pretty sure neither of us saw this one coming so his shock is to be expected, I mean I''ve only know this kid for about 5 hours. "You''re safe now" I tell him, his parents can''t hurt him now, he won''t ever have to go through that ever again. I won''t let anyone put him through it. Guess I''m more than professionally invested into this. His situation was just like mine all those years ago. No one helped me then but that doesn¡¯t mean I can''t do something now. He eases into my embrace and weeps so loudly I feel like his being may break in two. The tears don¡¯t stop and I don¡¯t try to stop them. He''s felt so much but never shown it. Holding it in , for so long. No one should go through that. He shouldn¡¯t be made to go through this. It''s alright Grimm you can cry all you want, fall apart all you want. I''ll be here to keep you together. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/N - so do any of you actually read these I curious , I feel as though I''m just talking to myself here. Then again if any of you talk back I''ll have to respond to you and my crippling social anxiety would kick in and I won''t be able to form a coherent sentence¡­. Anyway that¡¯s the prologue done, it only took about nearly all my will to live. Not sure about the frequency of these updates but I''m an irresponsible author so, don¡¯t expect a strict schedule. I should also update the tag.. and write an actual story description ¡­I''ll get to that later This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Anyone notice by the way both the characters I''ve mentioned are all kinds of fucked up? That trend isn''t going away anytime soon I''m afraid. Sane people are no fun to write. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HA ! you¡¯ve been HAD I''ve played you all for fools! The chapters is not over yet! I just did that so you guys read my authors note. I put a lot of effort into those and it seems like no one ever really read them. Do it your other authors will be happy too and if they''re happy you get more chapters EVERYONE IS HAPPY I could sure use some more chapters for my reading list. I guess this also serves as a page break for the story too , so don''t be mad salty cause you got playyyyyed son ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While we were having a moment it seems Agatha was watching rather playfully. After we disentangled from our rather emotional embrace Grimm wiped his tears away and went back to his static personality. Honestly how is he so calm? Is it a superpower? I want it tooooooo. You couldn¡¯t even tell he was crying a while ago, but his eyes didn¡¯t seem so tired anymore it''s almost like they were glowing with new found radiance as he looked at me. It did distract me from my own embarrassment but we were brought back when I heard someone clearing their throat. "Well, then little Grimm this will be your new home now , we haven''t spoken much but my name is Agatha it''s a pleasure to meet you" she says with a gentle smile on her face. Grimm stares at her then responds in kind. They exchange a few more words and Grimm seems a lot less cautious as he was when he first met her. Ummm guys you know I''m here too you know, feeling slightly left out here¡­.. I look out the window if I had to guess....its way past my bedtime. "Well then I think it''s rather late how about we pick up this tomorrow Grimm I think our friend here would also like to go home no?" she says as she turns to me, oh right I better get moving if I want to sleep..all of 5 hours that is.. Both Agatha and grim get out of their respective seats I follow them out of the room and head for the door. I''ll meet him later to see how he''s settled in. I hear footsteps behind me and turn as a huffing Grimm meets my gaze. He looks at me expectantly "you''re leaving" he says more of a statement than a question but I answer regardless. "Yes" I say , may have sounded a little sad myself. "Wi-"he starts and stops. Clsoing his mouth midsentence leaving the word hanging in the air "Wi?" He takes a breath like the sentence was taking more out of him than running toward me from the room. "Will you be coming back?" he manages after a while, his tone almost pleading. I think for a bit. It was my job to ensure he is well acclimated to his new home and that he was safe, but my feelings of wanting to protect him go a bit beyond that at the moment, perhaps it was better to keep some distance? He takes my silence to mean something else and his eyes visibly dim. I kneel in front of him and put my arm on his shoulder. He lifts his downed head in surprise . A while ago he would have flinched but he didn¡¯t this time. "Of course , I''ll be back." I say , how could I say anything, the expression he showed felt like a nail in my heart . I can''t just walk away from that , I can''t walk away from him. Slowly his eyes begin to glow with life again, really bright they''re practically. I''m slightly taken aback and then he smiles. [iwanttoprotectthatsmile.jpeg] "Really? You will?" he ask seemingly filled with boundless energy . Still reeling in shock from what I just saw I just reply back dumbly. "uh huh" I manage "Okay it''s a promise!" It is? "Yes it is?" my brain feels like it''s still lagging. Thankfully Agatha managed to come over and save me from making a bigger fool of myself than I already have. "Come now Grimm , your scaring the poor girl" she says smiling playfully. " No- I didn''t mea- to" he begins panicking, there was no need to add that "little girl" Agatha i''m a fully grown semi-competent adult "It''s fine" I say now in full control of my senses . "I''ll come back tomorrow, there are still plenty of forms to fill in after all." I turn to Grimm addressing Agatha "I''ll be back later okay? Be good" He nods still smiling. At least he''s acting like a child now. He acting like he should be. I say my goodbyes and leave through the door , the cab I called before leaving was there to greet me. I got into the back seat and looked back at the orphanage . There I saw the outline of small child waving me off. As the car drove away into the night. I guess I''ll have to come back tomorrow , I did promise after all . ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Annnnnnnd that¡¯s all she wrote, you would think after all the . chapters the whole promise thing would be put into greater detail right? Well you''d be wrong as you¡¯ve overestimated my prowess as a writer. I''m so sorry for any lost expectations. Chapter 4.0 : Where home is Grimm POV I saw Miss Samantha off and watched her drive away into the night. A lot has happened recently and I feel like I''ve changed considerably more on this night than I have done in all my years. Then again my life hasn¡¯t exactly been very much up at this point. A new chance has fallen into my hands and I won''t let this go to waste. I turn around and the Nun Agatha is behind me, I watch her cautiously. Nothing about her says she''s anything more than a sweet old lady, but I''ve learnt firsthand that first impulses are usually the correct one and my first impulse on her was. Danger. But now it''s ..nothing. Was I wrong? Miss Samantha knew her. I trust her. Why do I trust her? When you¡¯ve been around certain people you can tell what they are like just by looking at them. I don¡¯t mean by appearances alone, the way they feel sets them apart. Miss Samantha was not like that. She felt warm and this woman¡­I can''t feel her at all. We stand there as she watches me and I watch her. "well then, why don¡¯t I show you your new room Grimm? " she says as she starts walking without waiting for me to respond. I keep up with her and fall in line beside her so I can keep my eye on her. We walk in silence down the long corridors of the house, this place is large, large enough to get lost completely , I make a mental map of the area''s we''ve vested taking into detail. This place is very well decorated, for housing orphaned children they are surprisingly rich. Where does this money come from? I''m lead to another corridor these have door numbers ranging from 104 all the way up to 150. We stop at the room at 150 . The head nun stops and turns to me and tells me in a hushed voice "We have many children here , and you are now one of them. There are many rules of this home of ours and one of them is that there is to be no leaving your designated dorms at night. It''s a big place and we don¡¯t want you to get lost now would we dear?" I just nod my head. "As you can probably tell this will be your dorm room, for the length of your stay. You will be living with 3 other boys your age, so try to make some friends in the morning, it''s been a long day for you I''m sure. So you should get washed up and go to bed. The showers the door on the left when we enter and there should be some clothes in the wardrobe that will fit you. As for what you''re wearing.." She gives me the one over and I''m inwardly embarrassed at how I must look to her. "Just throw them out dear I assure you that you will find the clothes on the wardrobe much more appealing than¡­those" she says gesturing at my rags. "Another sister will tell you about the rules here and what is expected of you in the morning." She opens the door and gestures me inside. I look in the door and see only darkness. As my adjust I can make out two bed frames on the right and left side of the room . Three of them are occupied but I can''t make out the faces of them right now due to the lack of light. I turn to the empty bed near the window . I guess that¡¯s mine? I turn to Agatha as she reaches to close the door on me. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Thank you", I say to her. I don''t completely trust her but I don¡¯t want to ungrateful for what I''ve gotten. So I give my sincere thanks. She stops closing the door and looks at me and smiles¡­I really don¡¯t like that smile at all. "There is no need to be so formal Grimm , I am truly glad to have you here. You''ll fit in just fine." Her eyes glint in the poor lighting in the room, but I sense something in them when she said she was glad to have me here. My body reacts quickly and i begin to feel my caution rising again ..why am I so cautious towards this kind lady? Why would I have reason to doubt her at all? she''s harmless¡­ I should just let go and do as..she..says..i feel like my mind is clouded over for a moment and that¡¯s when she close the door . And like that she''s gone. My mind is still hazy.. what just happened a moment I was being so cautious towards her and the next moment I feel¡­compelled almost, to like her. To trust her. To do as she told me to.. I don¡¯t understand it¡­. I shake my head to clear my head and head to the showers --------- I step out of the shower dripping wet, in the mirror I spot the myriad of scars tracing the length of my body. Wounds of the past. I touch the one near the back of my neck and am reminded of my parents. It feels like so long ago now. Like a distant memory but I happened mere hours ago, so much has happened all the change take its toll on me. The mental and physical fatigue is weighing down on me. I change my clothes into a two piece pajama that has square patterns on it. I look at the rags I wore, the only left of me linking me back to the terrified little boy sleeping in a shack with his less than model parents. And make my way to my bed. I touch the matters experimentally, I''ve never actually slept on one before .The only thing I''ve ever felt is the cold ground or wooden floorboard depending on where we managed to settle down for the night. I lay my body on it ,the mattress holds my weight up and I suddenly feel more tired than I have ever felt before. I feel myself slipping as I fall the mattress and lose consciousness. My lasts thoughts before my eyes close is that of my past, my parents , the life I''ve had. And the life I will live in the future. And with that I fall into the embrace of oblivion.
Chapter 5.0 : Night Terror Just a heads up don¡¯t worry about the footnotes till you¡¯ve read the chapter they''re not that important at all. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Grimm POV I feel..strange.. my body is sleeping but I can feel everything. My eyes are closed yet I can see through them. Where am I? What''s happening ? Why can''t I move? I try to move my arms ..nothing. I try to move my legs¡­ nothing. I try to move my eyes¡­.nothing¡­ I feel helpless and begin to feel the familiar rise in panic in my chest. Slowly choking me. Focus. I tell myself like I I''ve told myself all my life. Panicking is always the worst response. Slow down. Think. You still have your mind, start from there¡­I slowly begin to drown my panicked thoughts in a sea of calm, my mind fill with nothing and then I begin to take in the visual clues I have. I can see so let''s start from there. My body is laying flat on a surface that is supporting my body , I''m enveloped by a small blanket. I recall sleeping on a bed somewhere in the back of my head. Okay so I''m sleeping. Where? In a room with blue painted walls. Poorly drawn painting and pictures are placed on the walls haphazardly. Three other bed frames other than my own. I''m not alone. That calms me down more than it should, I''m still unable to move. The situation hasn¡¯t changed at all. Seems the mere thought of being alone is more scary than being trapped in my own body. I truly need to sort out my list of priorities but this isn''t the time to be sidetracked. What else? Window to me left , there is the moon shining down through the cracks in the curtains. It''s still dark out but I can see remarkable well considering the lack of light in the room. Okay so; mattress, painted walls, three other people , window, curtains. Where could I be ? The haze covering my mind begins to lift the key words resonating in my memories . The orphanage. Right . I went to bed immediately following the shower¡­so why can¡¯t I move? A dream perhaps? It seems to be the realest dream I''ve ever had. Footsteps echo in the silent room breaking me from my inner thoughts, I try to turn my neck reflexively but I can''t. Before I could see around the rooms but my "eyes" are now fixed in place. Staring into the white ceiling. The footsteps getting closer. My body does not react , my breaths still deep and long as one would be when sleeping. The door creaks open and I begin to feel the slow drip of terror. Something unseen , something unknown. The fear of the unknown has always haunted me , it kept me a prisoner to my "parents" prevented me from leaving even when they hurt me. It''s the first time I''ve felt the fear of the unknown in such a way, as something corporeal that is , something that is literally stalking me. The door stops creaking and I feel a chill, like the room has dropped tens of degrees. My breaths start to fog up, I can''t tell about the others anymore. Can''t see them. All I can see is the white of the ceiling. The footsteps come closer to me now. The floorboard creak with every step as whatever was walking put its weight on them. I feel the terror become stronger weakening my mind and drowning it in panic again. This time I can''t clear it this time. The tension in the air becomes palpable. And then the footsteps stop. Because it''s head looms over me. And I stare at¡­it. I try to scream but no voice comes out. I have no mouth , and I must scream. * ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It''s eyes are voids , but I can feel it''s stare on me. It has a twisted smile, crocked and so wide it reaches to each side of its face I see blood from the splitting of the skin as it''s lips are torn to its ears to allow for such a wide stretch. It''s skin is pale, deathly pale , so much so that I can see blue veins scattered along it''s ghostly visage. The angle of its head is strange, and then I notice why. It''s neck is bent at an angle that would be impossible for a human. It''s neck it broken at a near 90 degree turn with black bile seeping from the protruding bone as it pierced the flesh . I just stare in gaping horror at something that can''t exist. I don¡¯t know if it can see me like I "see" it but I dare not make a sound or even a thought for fear it could hear me in my own thoughts. My breathing becomes faster , the mist getting foggier and the temperature falling even further down, my breath condensing into a fine mist with each exhale. The cold bites into my flesh and I feel it spread thought my body. I would be afraid of dying to the cold if it weren''t for this¡­ thing standing over me. It opens it mouth and I smell it''s sulphur breath. It puts it''s gruesome maw for display showing rows and rows of pointed jagged teeth. I can dimly make out the purple flesh of his gums and a slowly moving tongue that seems far too big to fit it''s mouth. It comes out with snake like movements , a long thick trail of yellow drool following its wake. It draws near, closer and closer to my face and I feel it make contact. I shiver mentally out of disgust and horror . The sandpaper like touch threatened to tear my flesh from me and the trail of ooze burns my blistered skin. I want to scream . I want to cry out aloud . Plead for help. But my body does not respond. I can''t move a finger nor can I close my "eye". I''m forced to watch the creature as it draws closer and closer to me. It reaches for my chest with a bony hand. It''s fingers are elongated and it''s nails sharpened to points and painted black as night. It digs it''s nails across my chest tearing away the shirt like it was nothing but air. I feel my chest turn wet with blood as the nails penetrate further into me. And then stop. I don¡¯t feel the pain. I feel numb, like my sense are subdued completely. Which only serves to heighten my fear further. I feel weaker. Like my life is being drained out of me. My "eyes" grow blurry and out of focus, the creature looks at me and I see red embers where it''s pupils out to be. It knows I''m watching. The smile of his splits further fresh black ooze falls as it tears its own flesh smiling. As if it were mocking my inability to do nothing as it leeches away at my life. It ''s taking more than just my life¡­it''s taking away my memories, the old ones first. Slowly the pictures of my past are being erased . it''s not just killing me, it''s killing what makes me..Me. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it I struggle to move, but nothing happens, I try to call out for help but , nothing happens.[1] It seems to notice this and it laughs, I feel my eyes grow tired. This must be a nightmare, I''m dreaming. Yes ,that must be it. Just close your eyes . I should close my eye and go back to sleep . I can''t feel anything anymore. You''re tired rest , I''m tired I should rest . Don¡¯t struggle , it''s just a dream I shouldn¡¯t struggle. Lay your weary head to rest.[2] I should stop trying to move and just lay down. A part of me knows if I fall asleep here I won''t wake up, I won''t ever get to live out my life. I won''t see Miss Samantha again even though she promised to see me. At least I won''t see my parents again either the thought gives me some relief but at this point it wasn¡¯t much. The cold is back again biting into my body . I feel cold so very cold, I feel my bones becoming more brittle, my skin constricting so much it rips and tears making me feel paper thin. My mind slowly freezes too, all my thoughts slow to a crawl , everything happening so very, very slowly. I have to fight to keep my "eyes" open my body''s breath grows weaker, my heart stop beating as hard , the pulses getting softer and softer. If this keeps going on I''m going to die. I try one last time to move, but nothing happens . I try to shout, but nothing happens . I cry out to Samantha, but nothing happens. CLOSE YOUR EYES My "eyes" start to close as the darkness around me engulfs my vision The cold is stronger but it''s. My blood freezes inside my veins and I can feel my mind grow black. The cold is so intense I feel my nerve ends malfunction making me feel warm, the warmth threatens to pull me into its sweet embrace traveling all throughout my body, I feel myself slipping . I can''t , I mustn''t. But for all my determination I find it still lacking, as I sink further and further. Then all it all fades into nothing. My breathing stops, My mind grows deathly still , My heart stops beating in my chest, I hear nothing, I see nothing , I can feel nothing. I try again. To move, to think , to breathe, to open my eyes¡­¡­ {I''m sorry Samantha, I guess I won''t be able to meet you after all¡­..} But nothing happens. ================================================================================ *sorry i couldn''t resist [1]You try reaching for your save file .. nothing happens[undertale anyone? True pacifists unite?] [2]Don¡¯t you cry no more . *giutar solo*[ anyone? Really? Just me?] Well that¡¯s the end of that then it was a good run and all but it had to end sometime. Sorry about leaving at such a place but I guess it seem appropriate . Any way if you''ve like the series thus far give it a rating, if it''s crap tell what you didn''t like. =============================================================================== Oh yea I''ll probably put up the next chapter tomorrow-ish . Had to end this one here, but it''s late. By the time you¡¯ve read this I''ll have it done for tomorrows release, or maybe you want it now? Too bad I can''t be bought, but mayyyyybeee if someone gives me a review or an honest rating(key word honest here , be as real as possible I can take it, I''m a big, boy/girl/red fire truck)? *Hint* *hint* *wink** wink* I''ve always been on the receiving end of a cliff hangers so now I get to dish it out thus perpetuating this eternal cycle of cliffhang-ee and cliffhanger-er. I English the good time many. In all seriousness I''m still trying to fill some plot holes in the many upcoming events but am coming up unsuccessful ,guess I''ll just re-write at some point in time, and also trying to make the character dialogues feel more natural . So I''m just talking to myself assuming different character identities and slowly but surely, going insane. Does that make me gender fluid(no it makes you in dire need of psychiatric care and a padded cell and some friends)? I don¡¯t know, I''m still just a red fire truck on the inside though. Author- san is dedicated and or stupid. Man the formatting from word to here is just painful. my eyes were bleeding trying to decode the jumbled mass of letters ad brackets that this post turned my "work" into. Chapter 6.0 : The Void And The door Where am I ? It''s so dark, I can''t see. I can''t hear . I can''t feel. I¡­.I I Who am I? I search myself for answers but find none. Strange . I feel hallow , incomplete. Like a canvas without a painting. Like a book without any words. Like a dream without a thought. Empty . I look around me and I see, white space as far as the eye can see. Stretching everywhere. No ground no ceiling. Just white space.. I turn around and am greeted by a simple wooden door. It''s just like me , not attached to anything just¡­there. I look around it, just the same door. Yet it stands without support unconnected to anything. Defying any logic. Then again nothing here makes sense¡­it''s not as if I have a frame of reference for strange anymore anyway.. the door knob is spherical it shines dully with a bronze sheen. No keyhole present. Aside from that it seems normal¡­out of place in this bizarre space. Why do I think it''s not normal? I don¡¯t even know what normal is. It''s strange I know what it is but don''t understand why I know it or how for that matter. Who would put a door here? I reach out to touch the door, not as if I have anything else to do here anyway, with my hands and twist the handle. I hear a dull click as the lock disengages. It''s loud in the space where nothing exists. My hands are still on the handle, for some reason I hesitate to push the door open. Do I really want to go through here? What''s on the other side? Why do I have to leave here? I''m safe here. Nothing can hurt me here. Hurt me¡­why would I think that? Was I in danger? Am I in danger still? No there is no one else here but me. Nothing else. So why do I want to leave? I could stay here forever. In this empty world, without consequence , without fear, without pain, without anger, without sorrow , without regret¡­without life¡­ is this the place I want to stay? I feel like if I wanted , I can make this door go away. Make it so that I am truly alone in this place. I don¡¯t feel bad here¡­ but I can''t feel anything at all. My hands are gripped on the handle , unwilling to let go¡­what''s on the other side. What could possibly be on the other side that I''d ever want to leave here? What could possibly be waiting for me? My thoughts are tinged with rage, like I''m shouting at everything , blaming everything. Angry for reasons i do not understand This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. I HAVE NOTHING THERE WAITING FOR ME! NOTHING AT ALL! I''VE NEVER DID! So why¡­why can''t I let go of the door? An eternity seems to pass as I stand in nowhere, clutching a door to who knows where. I take a breath, calm down and think. It''s just a door it shouldn¡¯t be that difficult a decision . To open or not to open that is the question. Alright ,weigh the options, I could stay here in nothing ,in this place of absolute certainty or take my chances with this very suspicious door to absolute uncertainty. I begin to try and understand the true weight of my actions but it becomes painfully obvious that I''ve already chosen, because my hand is still gripped firmly on the door handle. *sigh* honestly I''ve just spent what seems like forever debating on whether to open a door or not. I''ve wasted enough time. I push the door I stare into it. There is nothing but blackness on the other side. I can''t see into it. I turn around and see my empty little infinite white space. A world of light or dark. Choices, choices. Too late to back out now , I say to myself knowing full well nothing is stopping me from turning back and running in which ever direction I so dam well choose. *sigh* I''m doing that a lot lately I think I may have picked up a bad habit. I wonder where it came from? Or who? I step into the dark and the world of white fades to nothing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A/n note : yes Grimm spent the whole chapter debating whether or not to open a door but it''s meant to be more than just that. Emphasis on meant here because it may have just come across as just filler due to my poor writing skillz. ...I''m trying okay (? ??????????? ) ? You maybe be thinking "wow what an idiot he should have just opened the door and be done with it", now bear in mind here he spent all that time thinking about opening the door, but you spent the whole time reading about it.. so honestly who is really the stupid one here? ================================================================================ Ps : It''s me cause I had to write it (¨i_¨i). Chapter 7.0 : Beyond The Door From light to dark. Not really much of a change other than the colour scheme , except now I can''t see¡­ maybe it''s not too late to turn bac-.. and the door is gone. *sigh* It''s official it''s become a habit. Seeing no alternative I walk in ..a direction. I''m not sure if I''m going the right way, or the wrong way. I can''t even tell if I''m walking. I just know my legs are moving. Just as I begin to think that coming here was a bad idea the world lights up again. My hands cover my eyes protectively. As I begin to become readjusted to the light I remove my hands from my eyes. And I see. Books everywhere. Piles of them stacked up reaching.. to nowhere. The scene looks like my empty space but here its filled with books. There are rows of them encased in wooden cabinets(e.i bookcases one of the many words he doesn¡¯t know his knowledge is really fragmented.) There is a single large black book at the centre on some sort of stage . I walk towards it and take a better look at it. It''s looks very heavy, the pages are numerous the width of it greatly exceeds that of an human adult arm. I don¡¯t even think I could pick it up if I tried. The cover is illustrated with beautiful designs of gold, they seem to change the more I look at them one minute they''re flowers , then they''re figure of people , animals , shapes I don¡¯t even know the names too. I put my palm up to the front cover and the lines take the shape of my hand. I pull hand away but the shape still remains. It slowly makes out some shapes, strange symbols I don¡¯t understand. I stare at them. Th more I stare at them, the more the symbols have meaning. I''ve never learnt how to read. I remember that¡­when did I remember that? I don¡¯t remember knowing that before i¡­put my hand on the book.. Perhaps the book it connected to my memories? It seems impossible but then again. I only just remembered I can''t read, I haven''t remembered what is and isn''t possible just yet, and I''ve seen some pretty strange things already. I stare at the words again. And they spell out. Grimm A name¡­my name. I slowly feel like I''m remembering. It''s just a name, but it''s my name. if just touching the book gives me my name back would opening it give me more? I find opening the book while I''m still in thought , the area around the book starts to glow slightly and the book opens completely fully. I retract my hand by reflex and watch the book go through page after page by itself, the pages are all blank but I find my memories rushing, terrible ones, the night of my birth, the days following that, the incident with the police . And then better ones , my meeting Samantha , her taking me to the orphanage , her calming embrace . Seems I''ve grown rather fond of her quickly, maybe it''s just me latching on to the first good person I''ve ever met, who hasn¡¯t looked at me like I''m scum , who hasn¡¯t treated me like I was a mistake.. Seems I''ve already dropped the miss somewhere in my thoughts as well. Guess I''m more attached than I thought. As my memories re-surface I recall the last one I had. The creature. It killed me? No if it did I wouldn''t be here or maybe I have died ? The book is still flipping through its own pages and then suddenly stops, the silence of the moving pages brings my focus to it. The pages are still blank.. and then ink starts moving around the left page. The ink moves with a certain grace as it dances along the paper, twisting and turning. I watch in fascination, as trail is left behind its wake, forming ¡­words? I can''t read them, not like I could read my name anyway. These symbols looked¡­old..very old, how can words be old? The ink moves fluidly paying no attention to my inner remarks. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. It forms a circles with many layers with the symbols moving around them. The words are no longer static and move in the rings in a circular motion. The central ring is without any symbols, the ink dances into the inner circle and the outline of my hand is etched into the paper. Does it want me to -? I place my hand on top of it and the symbols stop moving. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion? Did I do something wrong? As I''m staring at my hand that is on the book in puzzlement, the ink moves inward to where my palm it. It then shoots up and impales my hand to the page. I see the murky black ink coalesce into a spike . I scream out in pain as try to remove my hand with no success. Blood flows from the wound and stains the white parchment red. The glow begins to grow in intensity as does the pain in my hand. I begin to pull with greater strength but I can''t budge my hand. The whole place starts to shake, the book towers topple over and the pages open on the books just like the black book did. Pages are torn from the covers and they fly toward me . They surround me and the glowing circle around the book''s stand. The fluttering pages fill my head as the glow turns the world even brighter. The pain is still there but I can''t hear my screams any more over the pages flying at such speeds. I close my eyes and then I''m somewhere else. I''m getting really tired of these empty white spaces. If it was just going to be like this why have the door in the first place? I could have just stayed here. But then I wouldn¡¯t have regained my memories¡­not that it does me any good, for all I know I may still be in the bed , getting impaled by that creature again. I feel movement to my left and right , a feeling of something reaching out to me. That¡¯s not right. Nothing else should exist here. But I see two lights barrelling toward me at astonishing speed. I watch in confusion as they come closer and closer to me. I realise that they are not slowing down and are in fact speeding up. I don¡¯t know if I''m dead , dying or dreaming, but if my experience here have taught me one thing. It''s that I can still feel pain, I don¡¯t know how heavy the two giant balls of light are but I''m not about to take any chances. I begin to turn back and run but find out that I''m rooted to the spot. My legs do not obey my commands to run . As futility try to move my legs the lights have reached arms length and in the next thought crash into me. I don¡¯t feel an impact but I feel my right side burn and my left side freeze I scream out in surprise and then¡­I wake up. ================================================================================ What''s this sorcery? Mahgik ? A fever dream? yes, yes and kinda? , but don¡¯t get your hopes up. No fire balls for at least another arc. Maybe two . This is going to be a slow one. Anyway what was that creature? What happened to it ? Why are those two flying orbs rugby tackling our poor adorable protagonist? Why am I asking you all these questions? Next time on Dra**n B*ll Z (pls no sue I have no money) Also I''ve learnt that there are many stories titles "Grimm" or "grim" on this site and I''ve got only this to say. Sorry you have to associate your story names with this one o(¨i©n¨i)o . I didn¡¯t know honestly , so sorry for stealing your thunder. Chapter 8.0 : Their Respective Nights POV : Maraysa Umbrezha Dalyisea My mana reserves are nearly empty. I''ve picked this dungeon clean not a single monster remains, I don¡¯t know how long I''ve been here it. There is no sun nor moon, not a single ray of light penetrates the depth of this dungeon. I have neither seen the light day nor the stars of night for what seems to be an eternity. I can''t leave this place, they made it so I couldn¡¯t. My anger stirs when I think of their faces. Their smug and prideful faces as they cast me down here and let me to rot in the confines of this dammed dungeon. This prison of mine. My fury lasts but a second replaced by the hunger in my body. The elves are a hardy people, us dark elves in particular, but we still require sustenance to survive and my last meal was very long ago. My own large mana pool has dried up, it could provide me the energy I needed , but it would not recover whilst I used it to sustain myself. And now it''s nearly all gone and soon I would be too. I despise this. My captors go unpunished whilst I wither away to nothing. What great crime did I do to deserve this? What sin have I committed? Aside that of existence? I yell in my heads to the gods. But I know they will not answer. Just as the many times before ; my questions, my pleas , all fall upon deaf ears. So I curse them, I curse my those that threw me in here , the gods that have forsaken me to die and I curse myself for being unable to leave . It is the fate of every variant to die and it seems I too will share the fate of those before me. I grow weak, my mana gone and I know I''m on my last breaths. My hands and feet betray me as I collapse. Too weak to even move how pitiful. I curl up and pull my emaciated hands to my chest as I hear my heartbeat slow.My empty stomach not strong enough to make a single noise , all i feel is hollowness . A lone tear falls from my eyes despite my attempts. When I first got thrown here I was swarmed by the various creature of the dungeon through a bloody fight I came out on top and dragged my bloodied body to heal. Throughout all the pain , hardship I''ve never once cried. My pride would not allow it. I may have had been bloodied battered and bruised but my will , pride and stubbornness pulled me through always. I didn¡¯t know why fought I had to reason to. There was no way out of here, it was designed to keep everything in here locked up forever, once inside nothing could ever leave. It was a prison made for me. How many times had I thrown myself at the wall, hitting it with every spell I could muster only for all the damage to be repaired instantly? Even then I never cried I kept going. And so here I am, all that time later, conqueror of this prison, starving to death. How funny for all my struggles it is hunger that does me in. If I had it in me to laugh I would have. Instead I feel the bitter tears fall from my cheeks. As I slowly accept my fate to die in this dungeon. Alone.. I close my eyes and resign myself to die. Warmth spreads thought my body is I enter the embrace of death. It''s ..surprisingly warmer than I thought it''d be. Was dying always this peaceful? I open my eyes and see¡­myself hurtling towards¡­.a child? And then blackness ============================================================= POV Tabbris Solaris Fervis Our caravan was attacked on our way to the Shrine of The Fire lord, I was chosen to bear the title of maiden of flames. Our house of Fervis is a very distinguished household, my parents were of course extremely happy to hear their only daughter had been chosen for this role. I don''t really know what role a maiden of flames has to carry out, but my parents would not stop saying how great an honour it is. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. They told me that we were decedents of the lord of flames and that we carried his blood in our veins, making us much stronger than the other humans and increasing our life span incredibly. I''m still a child by my parents standard so I don¡¯t quite understand how long I''ll live, I''ve spent the majority of my life with my family and none of them look particularly old. We also are blessed with great vitality and increased magical aptitudes, it was due to my affinity with fire magic that I was chosen for the role as maiden of flames. My parents arrange for me to go to the shrine in order to conduct the final rituals for my ceremony. My parents hired a mercenary escort to bring me to the shrine in addition to my own guard unit. The bandits knew our route if I had to guess there might have been an information leak somewhere. The battle was long and bloody, the mercenaries were outnumbered and ran when it got especially dangerous. Coward the lot of them. Then again they were mercenaries and bought by coin not honour bound to serve anyone but money, they did enough of their jobs to allow my guard unit to thin out the hoards of bandits before falling themselves, only the leader remained and he was soon burnt to a cinder with my magic . But I was wounded in the fight a sword slash across my chest, the blade was poisoned and the wound deep. Which brings me to now. I''m leaning against a willow tree while I try to apply pressure to the wound . I was always no good at any magic besides fire. Healing was one such magic I never practised in. I remember boasting how I would never get hurt and even if I did I would have my guards to patch me up. How stupid I was, perhaps if I had I wouldn¡¯t be in such a predicament. I cauterise the wound with my flames through gritted teeth to stem the bleeding. the air is filled with he stench of my burning flesh. But its not enough the poison has taken root and i feel it spreading thought my body. I kneel with difficulty and try to pray to the lord of flame to grant me healing, nothing happens . No miracles today... I feel the poison spread further and I feel my eyes grow tired. But I know the lord of flames will help me, it''s fine I tell myself. I will be fine, I think as my eyes shut completely. I feel cold as the warmth leaves my body and I find myself elsewhere in an empty white void ¡­ am i¡­? going to meet with the lord of flames? Has he come to save me after listening to my prayer? I find myself moving or rather flying, my visions and I see ¡­a child? And then darkness. ============================================================================= So here it is. Suddenly magic. Say hello to these new character , and say goodbye because we won''t see them again for a few chapters. You would not believe how hard it was to name these two. Tabbris is the name of the angle of self-determination and choices , Solaris is a Latin word meaning "pertaining of the sun, and Fervis came from the Latin word fervidus or the more commonly known word fervid int he English language both words mean something of extreme heat, burning or glowing. Now why am i telling you all this? does this have some deep relation to the no doubt very well written plot that i am definitely following and definitely not making up as i go along? Nah I just like the name, fanstasy names are fun much more fun then just naming em john smith. What of Maraysa Umbrezha Dalyisea ? it just sound cool..... don''t judge me Chapter 9.0 : The Waking world Grimm PoV I wake with a start and an impact hit my head on something. The pain sends me reeling and momentarily stuns me and I cradle my forehead protectively I start to hear noise coming from the object that hit me. The offending party is complaining profusely clutching his head with his chubby arms, the boy seems to be age significantly taller than I am and dressed in pajamas. I take a minute to steady myself and start to order my thoughts. I was sleeping in my new dorm in the orphanage, I was..attacked by a creature.. I immediately bring up my guard and look around the room, watching every corner for the creature ready to jump out my bed at any notice and begin running. I feel my heart rate racing as I begin to observe everything in view, but so no signs of anything out of the ordinary, everything is the same like the night I got here, aside from the fact that the sun was beaming through the open curtains. I quickly check my arm and chest for any wounds , and find that there are none to be found. The clothes on my skin are undamaged but cling to my skin, wet with sweat and ruffled from a night of sleeping. Strange , no damage to my clothes at all, I recall the creature sliding it''s claws into my chest but I see no damage to me at all, my hand is the same, no wound from when the book cut into my hand. Was it all just a dream? But it seemed so real , the pain anyways. Thinking back it was a little too strange, a door to nowhere, a book with moving ink , a world of nothing. How could any of it ever be real? I''m feel myself being pushed backwards with force and fall over the other side of my bed onto the hard ground. I take the majority of the fall on my side to prevent my head getting hit and I try to get up as soon as the pain of the impact leaves my still semi-asleep body. I look at my attacker and see the same large boy looking at me with anger. Seems he''s upset about something. The boy is still holding one hand to his forehead clutching it, he must have been what I hit when I woke up. But what is he doing here? The other beds are empty , do one of them belong to him? I stare at the boy trying to understand what he wants. He moves toward me arms out and grabs my collar and then pushes me again against the wall. This time my head makes contact first and the pain causes me to be momentarily stunned. I put my hand out on the wall and use it to steady myself. Alright I think he is a bit more than just upset. The pain in my head calms me down and jump starts my sleeping body. "You''re going to pay for that you little shit" he starts moving towards me again. Why is he so angry? I haven''t said two words to him, maybe he''s angry about the whole head hitting? I don¡¯t know what else he would be mad about. But surely this reaction is a bit much? He gains closer to me and then the door flings open. A lady dressed in the same clothes as Agatha was wearing comes in with a angry look on her face seeing the scene with me with my back against the wall and the much older, much larger ginger haired boy standing in front of me in a threatening manner. The ginger haired boy looks at the lady and then at me. "this isn''t over kid" he says with a gruff voice as he leaves the room avoiding the gaze of the woman clad in black. The woman watches him leave and then turns to face me. Her angry expression changes into a warm countenance as she sees me. "You must be new here , I haven''t seen you around before my name is sister Kate". Her appearance is much younger than Agatha and her clothing is a lot simpler if Agatha looked like a caring grandmother she looked like a youthful and caring mother figure, not that I would know much about those. A stray tuft of black hair falls from her wimple the only disorderly thing about her entire appearance. She takes a step closer and continues "what is your name child?" Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.The strange feeling of confliction does not happen with her as it did with Agatha. She seems to radiate warmth the say way Samantha does. She looks to be the picture of holiness. Politeness does not cost anything and she did technically help from whatever just happened a while ago. I''ve been hit around my entire life by my parents, get hurt is nothing new and this much was really nothing special. I wasn¡¯t afraid of my parents hitting me, they just did it a lot. I think my lack of fear , the unchanging expression on my face was also one of the reasons they hit me. I think I sacred them but I''m not too sure. If they feared me why did they hit me? "My name is Grimm " I say to the Sister Kate. She looks at me with a raised eyebrow , "Grimm ? A strange name." Well it''s the name I have so there isn''t much I could do about it now. "Anyway Grimm since I haven''t seen you around you must be new when did you get here?" I begin to explain that I just got here the previous night and that it was technically my first day here. She nods her head in understanding. "That explains why you''re not at class but not why none of your roommates woke you up, speaking of them you haven''t seen them by any chance have you? It''s the main reason I came to the room and you''re quite lucky I did. What every did you do to Kenneth?" "I may have collided heads with him when I woke up, but I didn¡¯t say a word to him. I don¡¯t know why he was so angry", I explain to the Sister. I go over the details of my rude awakening and the sister nods her head in understanding. Her appearance changes when she hears about our little scuffle but then clears up towards the end. "Well you don¡¯t need to worry Grimm , Kenneth knows the rules and he will be appropriately punished for his misbehavior. Anyway we need to get you to class, I don¡¯t suppose you know the way?" I shake my head and she nods in understanding. "Alright I''ll take you to your class , it would be best that you get used to the layout of this little house of ours. It is rather large but I''m sure you''ll be able to learn your way about. Just ask the other sisters if you do get lost okay? You should probably change out of those clothes of yours. There are some in the closet get dressed quickly, I''ll be outside." I nod my head and move towards the washrooms, I head to the showers, quickly brush my teeth and get in the shower. I let the torrent of water encompass my body and I feel relaxed under the warm water. I wash my rather long hair quickly and clean my body before stepping in front of the mirror. Baring my thin naked body in the mirror , I study the various scars that cover my body. Some deep , some shallow the only thing that links me to my past. They will be a constant reminder of the life I''ve lived up until now. My thoughts wonder to the days of my past, the constant verbal and psychical abuse seem so far away now. The shouting , the fighting, the struggle to find my next meal , the moving from place to place. I close my eyes¡­ All of that is in the past now. This is a new chance and I won''t waste a second of it. I open my eyes with a renewed resolve and a new outlook on the future and exit the bathroom. I quickly search through clothes in the closet and find a long sleeved black shirt which fits me snugly but the sleeves are too long and cover my hands and I find some grey trousers that fit surprisingly well. I''m not quite sure what do with my sleepwear so I just fold them and leave them on the bed which i make before leaving. I open the door and go to greet Sister Kate who is waiting for me outside. ============================================================================== More characters mo development, plot? What plot? There is no plot here Chapter 9.1 : The Waking world Sister Kate POV These children are really too much, I understand that the lessons are not the most fun thing to look forward to in the morning but they are necessary for them in the future. I guess not knowing or worrying about the future is one of the best parts of being a child. So blissfully ignorant. Not all the children are like that though, we have had some very troubled kids over the years. Children that have been through things fully grown adults wouldn¡¯t have to deal within their entire lives. But still that¡¯s not a means to excuse them from their lessons, I must do everything within my power to ensure that these children have the best upbringing that they can. My search for the children brings me to their dorm room 150. I will have to properly scold them so that this does not become a habit , this concerns their future after all! I hear some shouting inside the dorm room and open the door quickly, fighting is not something that we tolerate here and it is heavily punished, anyone that is caught doing such a thing is placed in the detention room for the rest of the day and made to reflect on their actions. It''s not a pleasant thing to do. But it is something that must be done. With this resolve in my mind I open the door and see inside. It was Kenneth again that makes it the third time this month. He truly is one of the problem children in this house of God, our own little black sheep. I will have to personally take care of this his behaviour is becoming more and more unruly as the days go on. He isn''t alone of course there is a child there also up against the wall. The face of the child is hard to see under their long hair but it seems to be in pain. My anger peaks and I shout put his name. Kenneth looks behind in fear , my expression must be rather frightening at this point. He quickly leaves and runs past me. It''s fine I will find him later. His actions will have severe consequences. The other beds are empty , seems the trio of trouble makers are not here. I look back at the child and try to make out his face underneath the scarlet mass of hair. The child looks at me with deep purple eyes ,an unwavering gaze. I stare at them for a while getting lost in their strangely mesmerizing and then collect myself. I look over the child''s face now that I can see it. I can see the pale white skin softly reflecting the light of the midday sun the child looks to be out of painting with features you''d find in a porcelain doll. This is the boys dorm wing so the child can''t be a girl but his face looks neither male nor female. The Child unchanging facial expressions only make him feel even more statuesque. I don¡¯t think I''ve seen this child before, I don¡¯t think I''d really ever forget nearly every part of them stands out, burning red hair, deep mysterious purple eyes and a face that could bewitch anyone . I ask the child''s name, Grimm the child replies their tone as unwavering as their gaze. It seems they just got here recently , just the other night in fact, they explain to me that Agatha had taken them here and they had just woken up to Kenneth staring down at them. They bumped foreheads, which would explain the lump of red forming on the child''s head, though it was barely visible underneath all that red hair. I wonder who the parents of this child were to bring forth a child with such features. After wards I inform them to change quickly, it''s too late for the morning lessons but afternoon classes will start at 2. I assume breakfast was missed seeing as pajama''s were still around the child''s body. But lunch will soon be served quickly. I wait outside and start to tackle a major task that has come to my attention. The gender of this peculiar child. If he was put in the dorms by Agatha , he must have been a boy¡­.right? what if she was mistaken? Agatha knows what''s best for all the children I shouldn¡¯t doubt her judgment ¡­.. I shouldn¡¯t question it¡­why shouldn¡¯t I question it? My mind halts as I try to make sense of it. I am interrupted by the opening of the door, there stands Grimm donning a simple black long sleeved shirt and brown trousers. The dark colours in contrast to his bright red hair and deep amethyst eyes were truly eye catching and I think my gaze stayed on him a bit too long as he notices me staring , in turn he stares back and there is a silence between us for a number of seconds¡­.. "Shall we go?", he asks with his head cocking his head every so slightly. Truly an adorable little child. "Let''s " I say and lead the way to avoid staring. I explain to him about the schedule he will be following his various classes, covering a basic education. I begin to ask him about his background in terms of education for me to see which class he belongs in. I''m more than a little shocked when he tells me he was never taught how to do basic addition. Seems he''s going to have to work much harder than the rest to keep up with the classes, I''ll ask the teaching staff here to try to see if I can''t get him into some cram sessions with the younger ones. Education is the foundation of a good future I tell him. He just looks at me with his big eyes, he really doesn¡¯t say much, nor does he show much emotion. What could have made him like this? It''s reaching 1 o''clock only an hour left to the next lesson, but knowing now how little he knows perhaps it best to hold off on attending a few lessons. While I''m thinking of such things he asks me a strange question which I wouldn¡¯t expect a child of his age to ask me. "Is there a place with lots of books?" he asks me while we navigate the long corridors. Does this mean he''s taking my advice on a building a good foundation seriously? I''m rather happy , anyone would be after all , a child willing to learn is a good child in my books. I happily tell him we have a really large library, lots of people donate old books to the orphanage and Sister Agatha has collected a number of books by paying from her pockets¡­she sure has a lot of money I wonder where she gets it? It takes a lot of money to renovate an entire orphanage.. and all those books don¡¯t come cheap either..i..i shouldn¡¯t worry about it.. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it."Are you alright?" I hear Grimm say as I blink back to reality, concern seems to formed on his face bringing a change to the otherwise unchanging landscape of his face. I smile lightly, making such a good child worry is not something I should be doing "Perfectly fine dear, if we want to go to the library we should head this way", I say tuning around and heading back the way we came. A thought comes to me that stops me in my tracks. If he came late at night , and didn¡¯t wake up till around mid day ¡­.then must have skipped breakfast. Those troublesome trio didn¡¯t even wake him up for that! They are going to be in so much trouble when I find them! This is unacceptable a growing child needs to eat properly! I turn to him sharply, I don¡¯t know quite how I must look but Grimm seems to backpedal a little bit. Seems I''m making a frightening face again. It''s not my fault I''m just concerned. Concerned I tell you, don¡¯t look at me like that¡­ "Grimm have you eaten at all since you got here?", I look over him and notice just how thin he looks for a boy, no wonder I thought he was a girl. Where his parents starving him? "No but I''m sure it can wai-", while he begins to disregard the importance of lunch time I get ready to scold him. A child should eat three square meals , they should be cared for and protected! But before I can get to that I hear a soft rumbling sound¡­ did his stomach just? He stops mid sentence and his eyes widen in shock, whatever excuse he seemed to have died in his throat as I see his cheeks flush with colour. He looks down to avoid eye contact. This sudden change in form made nearly made my eyes widen out in shock. His mature fa?ade seems to be replaced with childlike embarrassment and innocence [gap moe is strong]. It brings out my desire to tease him further . "What can wait Grimm?" I ask mischievously as a smile plays on my lips. He squirms further and I see his face flush deeper. He''s avoiding making direct eye contact and he seems to be shifting his body weight nervously from foot to foot. My smile evolves further into a full on grin as I watch him . "We should do as sister Kate says", he says in a quiet voice , barely a murmur. Looking directly at the ground. I may have taken it a bit too far with my teasing, oh well. "As you should", I say triumphantly , don¡¯t underestimate us adults! I take his hand and I jumps back in shock, reeling away from my touch as if it burned him. He stares at me with his purple eyes in fear. The color gone from his face. I stare at him openly in shock. To reel at the slightest touch , what must of his life been up to now? What could have his parents done to him to flinch at as so much as a touch? The answer is plainly obvious but I daren''t think it. To such an innocent child how truly cruel . I stand there not moving but watching as he slowly calms down. He seems to realize what just happened and he looks down again but not In embarrassment this time , his eyes are clouded as if he is lost in painful memories . The sight of a child shouldering such burdens would move even the most stone hearted and at this time I wanted nothing more than to embrace him and tell him all would be right. But I can''t heal such wounds so easily , it would take time and I want to help him, he would have to let me in first. He looks at me, his eyes tinged with uncertainty he stares fixated as if mulling over things.. and then his eyes harden with resolve. He moves his hand toward me and I reach out to take accept it. I smile glad he was willing to trust me. He seems still shocked that I took his hand without hesitation, without flinching , without words. His eyes narrow and he smiles back. And what a beautiful smile it was. ===============================================================================So couple of points I would like to clear up, Grimm isn''t scared of pain but he''s conditioned to accept it like it''s a normal thing, that¡¯s why he flinches at the gentle touch of someone while he would just shrug off most pain like it''s nothing, he''s just a damaged character that can''t understand why anyone would ever be nice to him. It''s something completely new to him. The reason I''ve said this outright is because I don¡¯t really think I have the ability to express it fully in the story through my poor narrative so, hopefully this clears up things a bit more. If you see any inconsistencies in the story please do tell me! Really , I want to be called out when something doesn¡¯t make sense . Alright time for me to give my crappy opinions on the story thus far, I know my personality is what keeps you guys coming back ¡­right? ¡­..don''t answer that. Firstly Grimm ..IS A FILITHY IKEMEN , ALL RAIAJUUU MUST DIEEE . EXPLODEEEEEEE We learn sister Kate is a very harsh and caring for her little ones and maybe have finally awakened as a S¡­ hitting all the fetishes today : rather beautiful older woman- check onee-san character - checkidy check nun- check closet sadist- *nosebleed* You know I was going to end it here today but I just got my first rating, I personally think 4.5 is pretty high but I''m glad you like it , AND my first commenter (? ???? ?? ???? )? You both know who you are and you¡¯ve made me a very happy little red fire truck, so for that moar chapters GET!! \(¡ñ???¡ñ\) (//¡ñ???¡ñ)// WHO NEEDS SLEEP! I run on pure positive vibes and about 12 pounds of cocaine, but just keep that between us okay?* ================================================================================ * author does not condone the use of illegal stimulants in order to substitute for sleep. Don¡¯t drink coffee either that stuff is liquid dirt. Tea> coffee Chapter 9.2 : The Waking world Grimm POV As long as I have lived I''ve learnt to expect the worst out of people, that way the pain of losing your expectations can never really hurt you. But ever since leaving my past behind I don¡¯t know if that line of thinking is completely true, sure there was that one child Kenneth. But compared to the beatings I''d get daily back then this doesn¡¯t even phase me. What I found unexpected was the kindness of people like Miss Samantha..or rather Samantha calling her by Miss just doesn¡¯t seem right at least I don¡¯t want to call her that in my head. I shouldn¡¯t just call her that out allowed, it might be rude¡­ Sister Kate is just like that too, kind and patient qualities I''ve not seen in any people before. She''s nice to me, even if she is slightly mischievous, I should take care not to be the target of her teasing though. I don¡¯t particularly dislike it either[when the S is willing a M will arrive*] , I get the feeling she does that to everyone she cares about. We walk down more corridors as she shows me the various departments of the orphanage . It really is a big place and the departments are numerous. We arrive at the canteen where I can see a few children my age sitting around tables discussing and laughing in their own conversations, the atmosphere is different here, almost calming even though it''s anything but quiet. All of them are just lost in merriment without a care in the world. I observe them all them, their actions ,their laughter ,their smiles, their happiness. Will I ..ever be like this? I wonder, will I be happy here too? Sister Kate tugs on my hand and smiles at me knowingly. "This is your home now too Grimm." My home she says. My home. I feel my chest fill with something, so light and fluffy is the texture of this feeling that I think I make take off in flight, that I could be burst with happiness. I feel my eyes mist and my mouth curl into a smile. I think I like smiling, whenever I do Sister Kate''s eye widen and so does her smile. I want to see her smile more, I want to share this feeling of happiness. Sister Kate pulls me in the direction of some trays," come on you let''s get you something to eat". I follow her lead. We pick up our trays and que up to the line. There is a large woman on the other side of the table serving food into the trays of people in front of me. She has a cheery smile on her face as she happily puts food on the plates of the other people making casual conversation as she does. Sister Kate greets her when we arrive. "Afternoon sister Margret" The woman somehow manages to smile even deeper and answers back "well if it ain''t sister Kate, come to grace us with your presence have ya? Bought time, I was wondering why we still had so much food leftover" Sister Kate pouts " I don¡¯t eat that much" she says in a huff "Sure , sure your holiness, you don¡¯t eat much when compared to a grown adult elephant" . "That¡¯s big coming from you" Sister Kate mocks back "Of course it is, I do everything big and I still manage to eat less than you" she says back with no ill will present in her tone at all. They go back and forth for a while but eventually Sister Kate makes way for me to get my food, but not before filling her tray to the brim with one of every type of food on the menu, it seems sister Margret wasn''t kidding about her appetite being rather large. Almost to the point of it being borderline gluttony[oi that¡¯s a sin you know..].Sister Kate seems to notice my glance and hides the tray defensively and blushes slightly "I won''t give you any so don¡¯t ask " . The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Sister Margret''s roaring laugh is what meets Sister Kate''s unwillingness to part with her lunch." That¡¯s not very sister-like now is it Sister Kate ". Sister Kate is pouting and I stifle my own laughter, but the change from her usual demeanor is just too much to bear and I laugh out loud.[gap moe is best moe] Both Sisters look at my direction as my own laughter dies down, my face still holds a smile though and it shows no sign of leaving. "And who would this little angel be?" Sister Margret say finally , "you been hiding this one away from us now Sister Kate?" she says accusatorily towards Sister Kate, who just smiles in response and introduces me to the very cheery lady. "Say hello Grimm , Sister Margret doesn''t bite ¡­much" "Oi , watch your mouth , I''m harmless ", she turns to me again "hello little angel I''m sister Margret." she reaches out her hand and I hear Sister Kate draw in a breath. I stare at the hand for a second . If it were me a day ago, I would have recoiled completely away from the hand as if it were the worst poison on the planet. But I''m not the same person I was back then, I''m not the sad little boy who is scared of being alone anymore. So I reach out and grasp the large hand that is extended before me and shake the hand of this overly enthusiastic woman with a smile on my face. "It''s a pleasure to meet you Sister Margret, my name is Grimm " ================================================================================ * when the S is willing a M will arrive, play on the old saying when the Student is ready the Master will arrive but the S&M stand for sadomasochism and Grimm is the M here because the S (sister Kate) has awakened and I''d have to masochistic because I just killed my own joke by explaining it . THEY GROW UP SO FAST (¨i_¨i) Grimm is turning into a complete normie ! dammit!! .Turning into a functioning human being and shit Seriously though , this is character development the limit of my ability. So for now that is that. my writing playlist decided to play "c''mon -panic at the disco " just when they hit the lyrics about " all the possibilities" when I wrote the last part of this little chapter. It''s the little things that really make me happy . prefect little moments like this. My basic taste in music aside This was a good chapter, some more shoddy character development. Grimm awakens to the wonders of an M (no police no .I was just kidding¡­ he said he was sixteeeeeeeennnnn) none of that though ¡­What he''s like 7 ! seriously I''m trying to write a professional amateur story here I''ll make this clear right here and now. There will be no depictions of sex in any way shape and form at all in this novel¡­. For Now( ?¡ã ?? ?¡ã) =============================================================================== Chapter 9.3 : The Waking world Sister Kate Pov When I see Grimm reach his hand out and take in the hand of Sister Margret. I feel myself fill with pride. I barely know him, but I feel like I truly care for him. This simple action of shaking another hand probably took a great deal of courage from him. To put his faith in another even through all the pain he''s endured , such a brave little boy he is. We manage to find a seat near the back of the cafeteria and eat our lunch in peace , sit in with my back to the rest of the cafeteria with grim sitting against the wall. Why this particular order? Well because a certain someone is beaming a smile so bright it might blind someone. I know that he needs to talk to others for him to become more trusting but they way he is now he''ll attract them in hordes and troves no sense in overwhelming him¡­. What a frightening person he will become in the future. At least he''s still cute and adorable right now¡­I''d better keep an eye on him now so he isn''t influenced by any bad eggs. And I better keep an even closer eye on the bad eggs and beat them into good ones. We eat our lunch in peace and quiet and we sit for another 20 minutes , talking about nothing , stupid things like jokes, from me of course , how good the food was and how we should go get seconds¡­.okay that one was just me but still Sister Margret is a culinary artist and it''s her fault I eat so much. Stupid delicious food. We finish eating and Grimm gets up and leaves , I stand there in confusion where is he going? I watch him go to the dinner line, which is now empty , and dissipater behind a wall, what is he doing? Then I hear the booming laughter of what could only be a very happy Sister Margret. I see . what a sweet little boy he is. After , I have to go get Grimm who is locked in a bear hug by the large woman, honestly that woman is too much sometimes. We leave for the library. The halls are empty everyone is at their afternoon classes . I stare at my watch and see it''s 2 pm . I briefly tell Grimm about the watch after he asks me what I''m looking at. After a brief lecture about time and days we arrive at the library . I don¡¯t know how much he understood about it but he seems to understand the gist of it. At least I think he does¡­ When we enter the library we are greeted by the scent of old books and the quiet calm of the rather large room . Normally the quiet doesn¡¯t sit well the younger kids and they tend to avoid this place but Grimm seems to be a lot more relaxed here than I thought he would be. "It¡¯s a lot smaller than my dream", he says absentmindedly as he soaks in the atmosphere of the library . Such a strange little boy." So I can take any book and read it yes?", He asks without turning his head and staring right at the books. I don¡¯t think I''ve ever seen a child so fixated on books before. Truly a strange little child. "Sure Grimm , pick anyone you like just put it back when you''re done okay ?" as soon as I''ve said it, like a miniature tornado he''s off. He smiles gleefully as he picks out a huge book from the shelf, on the cover of the book it''s a skeletal view about the human body. The cover reads biology encyclopedia 1 of 15 . A textbook¡­. I recall him asking about the watch a while ago and him not understanding the numbers on the clock¡­I ask a question that should be obvious.. "Grimm , have you been taught how to read?" if he couldn''t read a clock how could he read a textbook? "I didn¡¯t know how to read , but I do now", he answers as if it''s nothing at all. That¡¯s not how learning works Grimm , I want to say but looking at how happy he is right now I stop my words. I don¡¯t want to break his little heart so I''ll just play along. I''ll supervise for now I guess , I pick out a book of my own and pull up a chair next to him. He takes notice of me, smiles and goes back to reading the book. I look at my own book and begin to read. As I read further and further, I feel myself yawning..and then I close my eyes¡­¡­.. ------------------------------- I wake up with a start and look around myself in confusion, where ? Oh right the library, I was here with Grimm ¡­where is he? Did he run off? Did he get lost ? what if something happened to him while I was sleeping? What was I thinking?!?. "Ah you''re awake, did you have a good rest Sister Kate?" I hear his voice but can''t locate him. "Grimm! Where are you?" I search left and right, but see no scarlet haired youngster. "Sister Kate please, your voice we''ll get kicked out at this rate". I lower my volume and ask where he is again. "Right in front of you" the voice replies, I follow it''s trail and see in front of me a wall of books of various sizes and topics block me, and from the gaps between them I see, a red haired boy still reading. I stare in wonder at the amount of books surrounding him, they nearly completely block out him entirely. At first I think he''s playing construction with the books , but there are half opened books all over his desk and he flips through the books casually reading through them. I take a peek at the and am shocked at the complexity of the diagrams and illustrations. "Did¡­did you read all of these Grimm ? do you understand all of this Grimm?" I ask in shock and disbelief. How could a child who couldn¡¯t read the hands of a clock a while ago be reading books that even I couldn¡¯t understand mere minute-, "wait how long was I out?" did I secretly sleep for years in a cationic state ? "You¡¯ve been sleeping for 3 hours 33 minutes and 34 seconds" says an absentminded Grimm, still staring at the pages. I just stare at him and look at my watch¡­well he''s right. Wait never mind that right now! "Grimm !" I say grabbing his shoulders and forcing him to tear his eyes away from the book Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "Yes?" he ask slightly reeling from being shaken from his reading trance. "What is it Sister Kate?" "Can you understand all of this?" I ask incredulously, how could anyone expect a child to understand such complicated books. He looks at me with a smile and starts " I didn¡¯t understand a word of it before, I could read the letters but the words didn¡¯t make much sense to me. Then I read some dictionaries and it all started to make much more sense, the various arrangements of letters held meaning and then it all came together." I think it''s the longest I''ve ever seen him speak in once sentence too bad I didn''t understand a word of it. I was only asleep 3 hours and he''s learnt this much? I didn¡¯t believe it. How could I? but the excitement with how he spoke about how much he learnt , the way he recited passages in the books, the way he spoke about how funny the concepts of a certain book were , which passages contradicted each other in separate books on the same topics, it made it clear he wasn¡¯t lying. Then again why would Grimm lie about it in the first place¡­ He keeps going on and on, before he would speak for more than a few sentences at a time and now he won''t stop talking about it. Well it''s too be expected. He is still a child, though he has a weird way of showing it¡­ He tells me he isn''t quite finished yet with all the books. And that¡¯s why they''re still around. He asks if he can take them to his room to read¡­.no matter how much you look at it.. THERES WAY TOO MUCH TO TAKE!! He''s pleading now, asking so sweetly with those big round eyes of his that just about pull you into them and I know I''m losing, they''re just a few books, no one reads these anyway, what''s the harm right? I feel like I''ve been completely overpowered in this department and I know I''ve lost when I tell him it''s fine. He squeals in delight and rushes into, me saying thank you over and over again. This child¡­ how am I ever going to say no to him? How can I?!? those eyes are cheating!!! I have lost this battle and will have to be at least 10 times as cautious as before. But¡­this isn''t exactly bad either¡­.No I can''t, I must be strong!¡­..buuuuttt¡­isn''t it fine ? it''s just this once and it''s only books.. this much is fine right? I think trying to convince myself. "So this is where you¡¯ve got too", a voice says near the entrance of the library. I turn around to see an unfamiliar brunette woman in her early twenties. Who is she? I''ve never met her before. Then again I don¡¯t exactly greet guest here. Grimm puts down the stack of books on the table and all but sprints to her. She kneels down to his height and embraces the boy. "You came!", he says excitedly The young lady smiles and says "Of course, I promised right?" The two starts talking about various things, the woman notices me as Grimm points to me and introduces me. "Well Sister grace, thank you for taking care of this one, I am Samantha Grey." =============================================================================== "Miss grey will see you now." I know I know, why is Grimm suddenly so chummy chummy with ol Sam? Well he is a kid, he''s been treated like shit his entire life and then some people treat him like a normal human being, so he''s bound to be latching to them and not letting go. I understand it''s not a very logical reason, but human beings are entirely irrational creatures at times. Sometimes we feel too much and think too little, and sometimes that''s alright. Other times , man does it end badly, like seriously badly. Also regarding the amount of books he read in such a short time¡­seriously ? I''ve wrote about death defying magic, literal super hot girls (get it? Cause she shoots fire) a monster that could only have crawled out of Satans own ass-hole and you pick this point to criticise? Okay it''s still a weak point but let me have this dammmmiiiiit. you may have noticed i really don''t to one pov, and a lot of these chapters have more and more povs of other characters , well this is because i find it difficult to develop the characters through their own viewpoints. i think that were the majority of stories fall short on character development. its really difficult to show how much one''s self has changed because usually you wouldn''t notice a change in yourself due change being a gradual process . other are more likely to notice change in this regard as they have an outsiders viewpoint on the matter and can see changes in character overtime. Then again this whole thing might be a complete lie that ivd deluded myself into believing and there is no character development in my stories , the characters are all 2-d cut outs and my story telling sucks, so i should get off my high horse and stop criticising others , which i have to say is a very large possibility, its hard to be objective on something you yourself work on and spend considerable time producing, thus i''ve lost the ability to be very critical in my own story due to my own ever present bias towards this project of mine. its why i would truly appreciate it if you can tell me on area that i can improve on. Feedback would be appreciated. well id better stop my rant there, can''t have you people thinking I''m a semi intelligent human being now. ill go back to the lame jokes and offhanded comments in the next one. Anyway As always if you see something you didn''t like, see something that doesn¡¯t make sense , feel free to leave a comment, I''ll know where I went wrong and I''ll Endeavour to do better next time. Next chapter is tomorrow , Have a nice day! Chapter 9.4 : The Waking world Sam POV FINALLY! I yell out , in my head of course, when I close the last piece of paperwork on my desk and put me head to rest against the cool glass table. *sigh* It''s done, I can finally leave, FREEEEDOOOOOMMMM I seem to have gone through my workload today, various files had to be made due to yesterday''s incident, since technically Grimm doesn''t exist in the government files I had to ensure that records were made in his place. It is was painstakingly long process to say the least. Well at least it''s done now, I suppose. I pick my head from the table and get ready to put the various documents on my desk to the appropriate places to make it look less messy, I gather the document I need and get ready to head on out. I exit my work cubicle and say my goodbye to the various coworkers in my immediate surroundings when i come across a certain co-worker. "Come on Sam, you''re wasting the prime of your life here", says very nosy co-worker. "You''re working too hard you know? You need to cut back some time ". "Maybe next time, George", I say offhandedly I say the man, George works in the cubical to my right, and we often exchange idle chatter, when our boss isn''t breathing down out necks of course . We not exactly friends but not total strangers either. "You say that every time Sam" he says with a sigh, "I''m starting to think you actually enjoy shifting through papers more than you do having fun". We do good work here taking care of the youth, making sure they get the right type of care, sort out the appropriate health care, consoling sessions and the like, even if I''ve only ever done the heavy paper work. George means well, I know he does, he enjoys working with here because he knows he''s helping people, even if he does complain on the paperwork a few times. "Seriously Sam you''re going to burn yourself out" "I know , I know George, but you know I don¡¯t drink . And I''m taking the rest of the day off, I have somewhere to be today." "You sure you''re not just going straight home?" he asks as if doubting I actually have places to go and friends to see¡­.well I mean I don¡¯t have friends to see ¡­but I DO have a place to go. Honestly.. I have a life¡­sometimes¡­.. "I do have a life outside work George.. " He raises his hands defensively and shrugs his shoulders " hey, whatever you say Sam" He really doesn¡¯t believe me at all¡­ I see something come up behind him and I smile. "Besides, I think you''re gonna have your hands full by yourself" I teasingly say when I see who it is . George looks confused and then is surprised when he is pulled back into an embrace. He is startled and nearly jumps out of his skin but calms down when he sees who it is. "Jesus, John you sacred me half to death", he says with a playful smile on his face. John is George''s boyfriend, how did know this? He wouldn''t shut up about it. He just going on and on. Christ we get it you found someone, Good for you¡­ I''m not envious of your relationship or anything..I''m not bitter you found someone ..not bitter at all..so what if I''ve never had a boyfriend myself, I don¡¯t need no one , I''m perfectly happy myself¡­definitely, just me myself and I... God I''m lonely. "Well what can I say, when I saw you just standing around so defenselessly I couldn''t help myself ", chuckles John , he looks my way "hey Sam, you still pretending you have a life to get out of George trying to take you out of your shell? You really should come along, well have fun". Seems even John thinks I have no life¡­ I''m not going to cry¡­*sniff* o(¨i©n¨i)o "For your information John I do have somewhere to be, I promised I''d meet someone today" I say rather smugly, leaving out the fact that the person I promised to meet was a 7 year old boy at the orphanage. I just wanted to see the shock on their faces that I''m not just leaving immediately after work for once. And it was truly worth it, their mouths were agape and their eyes widened to a point I felt they''d burst out of their sockets¡­okay it''s not that surprising, I have friends too¡­well I visit my mom sometimes and her new husband sometimes¡­ they count as friends right? The shock finally ends and they start looking excitedly and ask various questions regarding the identity of the promised individual. As said before, my very nosy co-worker has no sense of boundaries. And neither it seems does his overly enthusiastic boyfriend . "Come spill who is it?", "tell us tell us tell us", "what''s he like?", "does he work here?", "where did you met him". Facing their barrage of questions I decide that the only course of action here is to beat a hasty retreat. I can hear George''s voice trailing in the distance. "You can''t run from the truth!" *sigh* I feel as though my work life has just become slightly more stressful, in the future I''ll just have to keep my loud mouth shut. ---------------------------------------------- I approach the orphanage while still in a gloomy mood. I knock on the door and a sister I''ve met before lets me in. I ask her about Agatha ''s whereabouts sine I see her office door is open and no one is inside. The nun informs that Agatha left this morning on some important business..what business what could cause her to leave urgently? I shouldn¡¯t worry about Agatha. Yea I shouldn¡¯t worr- huh? What? "Is there anything I can do instead?" the sister asks¡­what was I doing? Oh right the papers. I hand them over to her and she says she''ll get a senior nun to sign them as Agatha is away. While she does that she asks if I''d need something else and offers me some refreshments to which I politely decline. I ask her about the other reason I came here. I ask her if she'' seen Grimm. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "I don¡¯t heard of a child by that name here , are you sure there is one?" Well seeing as he only got here yesterday night I doubt his name has spread much around here. But I''m sure she must have heard of him another sense, his features do tend to stick out. After I tell her about the peculiar little boy. Her eyes light up in recognition. "Oh sister Margret was talking about a little angel she saw this morning with the same features as that." Angel? Well I guess you could call him that, he didn¡¯t seem it at first but the child really is innocent and just adorable. So I guess this Sister Margret has some good eyes. The very animated sister tells me at length about the encounter between Sister Margret and Grimm, seems even the very pious nuns do love a little gossiping here and there. She tells me, he and another sister were heading to the library. So that is my destination it seems. I may have gotten lost on the way¡­. But a passing sister points me in the right direction. On the journey there, my thoughts wonder. Is he okay? How is he feeling? Did he get enough to eat? Are the other kids being nice to him? Are the sisters treating him kindly? What if they''re being mean to him? I recall the image of the night before, when I held on the glass like body of a crying child that was crying his poor little heart out, baring his pain and soul for me to see. My thoughts grow dark and I''m enveloped with the same coldness I felt the day when I made sure he could never hurt me or my mother again. I''m not going to anyone hurt Grimm ever again. ------------- I walk into the entrance of the library and see a young sister carrying a stack of books in her hands that is taller than her and struggling to do so. But what really catches my eye is the head of red hair that sticks out from a smaller stack of books being carried. I feel my lips curl up in a smile as I call him out. The one carrying the smaller stack up books perks up at the sound of my voice. The stack of books are put down and I see Grimm eyes wide as his smile, and I now understand why the Sister called him a little angel. He comes running as fast as his little legs can carry him and sticks his hand out . I''m surprised he seems so comfortable, it was just yesterday he would flinch at the slightest touch and today he runs into my embrace like it was the most natural thing to do. Children really are trusting, I have to make sure no takes advantage of this sweet little boy. I won''t let them Grimm starts talking excitedly about what he''s done today , just talking and talking . Like he couldn''t hold himself back if he tried, this new side of Grimm , this childish side was new to me. If I recalled correctly he told me he couldn''t read nor write, but he tells me all these things about what he''s learnt all the things he''s read. When I ask him when he learnt to read he said simply that he couldn''t before but he could now. I feel like telling him how that isn''t how learning to read works.. but seeing the enthusiasm and his childlike wonder when he spoke about the books I can''t bring myself to tell him. It should be fine I tell myself, the orphanage has an educational system and he should be able to learn through that in no time. No need to break his little heart now.. He tells me about Sister Kate And I take notice of the sister now that she has put down the book stack to a closer table near us. I introduce myself and she does the same. She looks at me suspiciously and asks how I know Grimm , as I see her slowly putting herself between me and Grimm. She tells Grimm to go get his books and hardens her gaze towards me. I get the sense this sister doesn¡¯t like me very much.. "So how do you know Grimm?" I don¡¯t like her tone, or the way she looks at me right now. Why is she stopping me from seeing Grimm? I feel the coldness grow in me more as my gaze turns icy. What right does she have to stop me seeing Grimm . I feel my thoughts grow darker, why is she trying to take him from me? The sound of falling books snaps me back from my thoughts and both I and the sister turn to see the falling body of Grimm. Both our screams sound out as his body hit the ground. ================================================================================ Welp Sam is Falling deeper and deeper into insanity , then again she did murder a person in cold blood, even if he wasn¡¯t exactly a great person. The character of Sam is a bit strange she seems completely normal and then if you push her buttons she''ll push you back¡­into a ditch. I guess yandere is the term id use to best describe her? Her strange attachment to Grimm is far from what one could call "healthy" and me thinks it will only become worse from here on out. At this point, even I don¡¯t know how far I''m going with this. The story just storta writes itself. She wasn''t even going to be a recurring character! But it seemed weird if the social worker that was in charge of bringing him to the orphanage didn''t meet him again. then again i made the protagonist a red haired purple eyed character when both his birth parents had blonde and brown hair and pretty normal coloured irises. so much for realism. Gregor mendel is probably rolling in his grave. And you don¡¯t have to say it I know. John and George? Yea I get it , I don¡¯t have the most creative naming sense but I can''t just call them Zerrok the slayer of worlds and Mevenderus the blood drinker now can? REALITY SUCKS > ,< Chapter 10.1 : The Sleeping World Grimm Pov Strange, I feel ..weak. I feel like the room is spinning, Kate and Samantha are arguing about something, but it all seems so far away. And the distance between us seem to be growing larger and larger every second, my vision distorts and elongates as if I''m in a bizarre stretched out world. Their voices grow softer and I can''t make anything out any more. My legs seem to be unable to hold the weight of my body and they shake in protest, my arms collapse under the weight of the books and they fall down around me with a large responding thud. I Feel myself fall, legs finally giving way. The next feeling I have is weightless. The seconds are stretched out, my perception of time distorting so much that my fall is in slow motion. I watch the floor rise up, closer and closer , inching its way towards me as it reaches up to meet my collapsing body. Then , after what seems like eternity in free-fall ,I hit the floor, but I''m gone before my body can tell me about the pain of the impact and I''m somewhere else. ---- I''m here again, in the white void, laying on my back. Things have changed though, calling it a white void would seem to be rather unfair, I''m not floating like I was when I first got here there is a surface where I lie. Ripples like raindrops on a still body of water ,pan outwards from my body. The ground before me reflects a sky like a huge mirror casting images of the moving sky. A pale blue hue ,so light it''s almost as if it were white, with clouds strewn about the moving canvas . but my eyes are not stolen by this, not moved by this picturesque scene . Because my eyes stared forward onto.. a person? A woman. A woman with snow white skin, so pale was it that I couldn¡¯t believe it belonged to a living person, it was as if she was not of this earth, an otherworldly being. Her face was suspended before mine , Her silver hair draped over her shoulder obscuring my view of the sky. Her brilliantly bright sapphire eyes shone through in stark contrast to her skin, adding to the feeling she was not , could not be human. Her face was close, too close, I could make out every detail, the curve of her cheeks, the soft tinge of pink on her lips, the dimple below her left eye, the only blemish on her other-wise flawless face She was beautiful, any less of a word would do her no justice. And even that word would only barely convey enough meaning. There are not many things that would render me speechless, I''ve seen terrible and ugly things and lived through it, but in this instance I was well and truly , breathless¡­ Why? Her beauty ? No, not that. She is beautiful yes, her unearthly beauty could not be questioned. But there are many kinds of beauty in this world. The kind in which a total stranger would help another. Where a person would embrace another and dry their tears. How a person could bare their soul in front of another and they would not look away. There are many kinds of beauty in this world that I''ve come to now recently. No. It was not her beauty that caused me to become breathless, not close proximity of our faces, not the flawless glow of her eyes. It was her thin, delicate hands. That were clasped tightly , around my throat. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.------------------- The pressure around my neck is getting stronger, her face twists up in effort. It gets harder and harder to breathe as she slowly chokes the life out of me. I don¡¯t panic though, the way I did when my father straggled me. I don¡¯t know why but I don¡¯t feel the same fear or anger but something¡­different. I begin to organise my thoughts and I think: My body is weak from malnutrition and years of neglect . I''m overall thinner than what I assume is normal for children my age, my weight should also be less than it should be for other kids. All my attributes are weaker than they should be, then why is this woman who is older than me be having so much difficulty in strangling me? Point she''s weak. Her arms are thin, a lot thinner than I think is normal for adults, going by the adult women I''ve seen so far, though her clothing consist of Tattered rags I can''t make out any body shape i can''t tell how well her muscles are developed or undeveloped for that matter . But she seems very weak. Much more than it should be for a woman of her stature. She out of breath, she''s weak but her grip is a vice I can''t break out of it with my current strength, no point in trying futility and wasting precious seconds, her arms are stretch out but her face is near mine. Though she is weak, she is stronger than me considerably, fighting her in term of strength will end badly for me. I look at her neck, close enough within reach , my arms can strike out. I don¡¯t know if she''s human or not but I can tell by her haggard breath she needs oxygen to some extent. A swift blow to the neck will collapse her windpipe and obstruct airflow , causing massive pain in the process, she will automatically recall her hands to protect further damage to her neck. I can''t let her recover from this, I will need to disable her eyes, using the nails on my fingers. While she blinded, out of breath, bleeding and in pain I will have a greater advantage over her. It won''t be a fight from then on. My eyes harden and I begin to execute my plan my hand shoots out and then stops. As I begin to notice something that really causes me to falter in thought and in body. My hand reach out to her face and my thumb slowly wipes the skin surrounding her eye. She''s startled at my touch unable to understand, her wet sapphire eyes grow wider and her vice like grip loosens. I feel it her pain, her sorrow..so familiar . Like I''m looking in a mirror, the twisted face of grief I''d only ever showed one person. Myself. I''ve really only ever cried like that for one reason. So I ask her barely managing it , though her strength has gone slack my voice comes out weak. But we are so close there is no doubt in my mind she''d here it. I ask "Why are you crying?" ================================================================ turns out im an idiot(what else is new?) i put the comedy on the tag with this story, the only thing funny here is how little the author knows about''s about the plot of his own story. :noei: Chapter 10.2 : The Sleeping World Maraysa Umbrezha Dalyisea I was dying... And now I''m not. What is this? Had I finally lost it? It would make sense. I hadn''t eaten in days, It would make sense that my own mind play tricks on me. Or perhaps this is a dream? I look around myself, and find myself ¡­nowhere. The sky is vastly spread out before me, something I had not seen in years, was it always so clear? So bright? So..open? I stare for a long time, savoring the sight before me. It took me a while, but I realized there was no sun, and still the sky was bright. As if light existed everywhere. I looked at my feet and turned around. Not a single shadow cast. I paused a second. As timidly put my foot out from where I stood. As I shift my weight from one foot to the next, the ground ripples. I watch in a trace as I take in this new change. As I gaze into the ground I see my reflection in it. Pale white skin, the likes that hadn''t seen the light of day in years. My own two eyes reflecting in strange surface. I touch my face in the mirror not believing what I see. The image is my own but it is not as I remember. Then again I don¡¯t think I''ve looked at myself in sometime, locked in my prison for so long¡­ I was there wasn''t I? I should have died. But I haven''t¡­ did I escape? No . There was no escape from that place. I searched . I looked. And I failed. Many , many times. So why am I here? Where is here? I look to both my right and left. It looks like this places stretches out forever, on and on with no end in sight. I start running and then falter. My body is still weak, not eating for extended periods of time would do that. Mana could sustain me, but it would only barely manage. My body would still waste away. I could not expend further mana to reinforce my body. I have to save, holding onto every last bit of it. Thus my body has suffered and withered away. I catch my gasping breath. I don''t feel hunger anymore. The hallowing feeling in my gut gone. But my body is still the same. Though I ran I see no difference in my landscape. Have I really passed on? Is this where I am to be after going through all that suffering. Is this my fate, is this the fate of a Variant? I feel myself collapse, to my knees. Have I just traded a cage with bars for a cage without them? Did I trade one prison for another? Why must I be put through this. Have the promise of release, only to have it cruelly taken from me? ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­ .. . I won''t allow myself to be a prisoner any longer. Something brought me here. I don''t know why or how but I know someone did. I won''t be their prisoner. They will come and I will be ready. So I''ll wait. I''ve waited a very long time, and patience is something I have in abundance. Dark elves are a very long lived race. Time is on my side. So I will wait. I will kill whatever brought me here. Fate has taken everything from me, and now. I''ll steal it all back. I won''t be anyone''s prisoner any more. I WONT LET ANYONE TAKE FROM ME AGAIN. ---------------- For the first time I see something other than myself. How long has it been since I got here? Irrelevant. The time I''ve sent waiting is of no consequence . all that remains is to take back what mine. I grab whatever is in front of me by the neck. And push in, into the ground. I can''t tell what I''m doing this too. All I see are faces of the past. I see , my mother , my father , my sisters, that dammed village elder their faces mock me. They took everything from me. My home, my choice and my life. All of it! IT''S''ALL YOUR FAULT. yOu ToOk iT aLl fRoM mE. EveRYTHiNg. No MoRe I feel the thing that is under me squirm as it tries to escape my grasp, but I hold on like my life depends on it. I''ve struggled for years, this much is nothing. I feel my back give out I fall further on top of what this is. I must be right in front of it, my face a few inches from it. But I can''t see out of eyes, all I see is red and the faces that cast me into hell. I WoN''T Let YoU TaKe AnYthING mOre. Nothing more will be taken from me. Yes , I can take it all back. From the gods that curse me. I woN''t LET yoU lOCk mE up. . I won''t be locked up in a prison The struggling seems to get fiercer, whatever it is , is slowly dying and it won''t be long now Yes I will be free. Take it from the family that cast me away I WoN''T LeT YoU TaKe mE bACK . I Won''t let you put me back in some hole to rot forever. I will have my revenge and let them rot in the same hole they dropped me in. The struggling stops, have¡­ have I done it? I DoN''t Want To gO BacK. I don¡¯t want to go back. I can''t go back. I don¡¯t want to. If I go back¡­. It must be¡­.Now I''m all I¡­ I¡­I''ll be all¡­ Alone Alone I feel a hand touch my face and wipe at my face, such a tender and soft touch. It breaks me from my maddened state. My eye''s regain focus and I looks at what I''m doing. It''s the child¡­the same child. The one from before¡­What is a child doing here? I stare at it and it stares back, the gentle hand still there. It''s hands are on the left side of my face, creasing my cheek softly. And my hand''s are at its throat¡­what am I doing? I feel weakness return¡­have I been? I was strangling the demons of my past in my mind, their twisted smiles , their mocking eyes. So why have I got my hands around this child''s neck? What have I done? My grip loosens in shock, my face is mere inches away from this child and it looks directly at me. Straight through me. Like it can see everything and I can hide nothing from its gaze. I.. I .. I can''t think, my mind is stuck in a loop of the same questions, how? And Why? The hand still remains there as if casting back all the malice I''ve felt but a moment ago. Like everything was a dream¡­ It speaks, a quiet hoarse voice, a pained voice "Why are you crying?" Crying ? Me? Why would I cry? And then I realize why my eyes are so wet. Why the hand is softly wiping at my eyes. My hands have left the neck of the child and I stare down at it while it stares back at me, it''s purple eyes shine brightly and pull me in.. I feel the child tugging at me, but It hasn''t moved its hands from where they were¡­ it''s the eyes they''re pulling me in. The tugging grows stronger, the pull irresistible and I feel myself fall into those deep purple eyes and lose myself. ------------ Then Aged 13 location: Chamber "The orb!" shouted the Elder It was my 13th birthday, they day I would be tested for my magic aptitude, I was so excited I could barely sleep the following night. I was 3rd child of my parents. The third born child of the house of Dalyisea , a mid ranked noble household in the kingdom of dark elves, unlike our forest elf counterparts we did not stray from advancement but embraced it. The other elves favored the old ways and long ago a war was brewing between the two races , everyone was standing on thin ice, one step and all out war would begin between the two factions. The great battle between the two order of elves, however did not happen. Leaders broke off and decided to allow others to follow whichever path they choose, they deemed it only fair that elves should be able to choose their own fate and respected their wishes. At least that''s what my mother said when I asked her. I personally think it''s because there were so very few of us at that time, war would bring extinction to our race. We don¡¯t reproduce very fast like the humans or beastkin, and our numbers at that time were very few. Whatever the reasons, those who left. Changed their skin turned dark in color, a midnight blue hue that set us apart from our forest elf counterparts. We became stronger and more hardy but lost our affinity for nature magic along the way. We built castles, and homes and embraced change , and we became changed. The relations between the dark elves and forest elves have been strained ever since. Me being the third born , I would not inherit much land. I would have seek my own fortune. Make my own name. I had shown some ability for magic in the past, much to the envy of my two older siblings, I thought at the time it was just a form of sibling rivalry ..how wrong I was. My parents however were too busy working and sorting thing up for my older two siblings, education , etiquette, the like. I was not ignored by any means, being the third meant less responsibility on me. Though I did want some attention from my parents at times. I understood my role and I decided I would win their favor when I was tested for my magic aptitude. When a person''s aptitude is measured the person is also blessed by the goddess of their faith. And a divine blessing would bring forth great power onto the individual. I wondered what mine would be as I stood on the stage as the orb was presented to me. My parents were in the stands, a small crowd was present, I of course was not the only one here, many other youths had done the ritual and it was currently my time. I stood up to the orb and placed my hand. And I knew immediately something had gone terribly wrong. The orb turned pitch black and cracks started forming in the glass. A pit formed in my stomach. Nothing like this had happened to the other children why is it happening to me? I turn to the elder his eyes were wide with shock , he tore his gaze from the orb to me and shouted the words "VARAINT" The crowd exploded into shouts and shrieks. My parents stood up with shock evident on their faces. I felt an impact to my gut, blowing the wind out of me. Huh? I looked to my attacker and see the elder''s fist come down on me again. I fell down to the ground as the impact prevents me from retaliation. I cried out aloud but no one helps me. I screamed for help from my parents, but they stare out in disgust. Why is the elder hitting me? Why were the people just watching ? Why aren''t my parents helping? Why ? Why ? why ? why ? I felt something in me break, power explodes outwards and the air turns to ice, the elder attacking me gets blown back and impaled on large shard of ice, piercing his chest killing him instantly. I feel no remorse for him. None at all¡­why don''t I feel remorse? I just killed someone. I still felt the pain of the blows and I spat out blood. Sensing some damaged internal organs I got to work on healing myself. Guards surround me and I''m cornered, they point their spears at me and I stop and stare. Why did they not help me when the elder attacked me? Why are they attacking me? The same power rises in me again. But this time I feel my skin burn. Pain stopped me from channeling the powers. I fell to my knees and scream. From the corner of my eyes I see the guards fall back in fear, fear of me. But the pain is too much and I scream even louder . I felt myself change, my body change, my hair change and even my magic. The pain subsided and I looked at my hands. The dark blue pigmentation on my skin was gone, and I looked at my new flesh. It was white, as white as snow. I grabbed my hair and looked, my raven black hair had turned into silver strands. I grabbed my ears and sighed as they were still present. Ha. How stupid all of these changes and I could still find some comfort in knowing my ears were still present. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. I looked around and saw the guard that stood before me had fallen to their knees, some backed away entirely in fear. What had I become in their eyes? I saw my father walk through the guards towards me, his eyes cold. I retracted my power to ask what had happened to me. Surely my father of all people would know? He was a very distinguished mage in his time. Surely he''d be able to help me? My father came closer with my mother in tow. I move towards them with great expectation in my heart and called out to them "Father I -" I started but could not finish, because the pain in my chest killed the words in my throat. I looked into the eyes of my father in question , not able to understand what just happened "Do not call me father, YOU MONSTER" he shouted, my eyes widened in horror. My neck moved towards the source of the pain slowly and in twitchy movements. I saw my chest pierced by a blade. Connected by my "fathers" hand. His blade. His hand. My father had stabbed me. I look at him again. Tears coming out of my eyes "w-why?" I managed between the tears in my eyes , the pain in my chest and the blood filling the inside of my lung. He did not responded in words but twisted the blade in his arms, causing me to gasp out loud. His eyes were still cold, like I wasn''t his daughter, like he had just wounded a monster. A monster. That what he thought I was. I turned to my mother. I reached my hand out to call her. "Mo..ther¡­ I don-" but before I could finish The blast pushed me away and I landed on the ground a few feet away from the two I once knew as "parents". Flames burned at my flesh as I desperately rolled on the ground , to put the flames out. I screamed and screamed my parents names, the names of the other dark elves, the names of the gods. And then I felt a kick aimed at my chest connect with the snapping of my bones. My chest caved in unnaturally and I stopped screaming. I was sent flying again . And when I landed I felt my vision fill with black spots. With my chest caved in, it was hard to breath but I did anyway. With every aching breath my vision grew clearer and I saw two figures stand before me. They were my siblings. Nalaei and fyalae. Both of them stared down at me , with contempt. I understood now their gazes all those times in the past now, they despised me and I was too stupid to see it. All this time, they laughed with me , they would "accidently" push and shove me during our playtime. Huh I''ve been quite a fool. So blind to the truth. "AH , HAHAHAHAHAHAAHHA" I broke. As the tears slid down my cheeks as my ribs stabbed me at every heave I laughed harder and harder . All this time they played me for fools. The two of them said their words, it may have hurt me, but I was way past feeling now . "AH AHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH haHAHAAHHAhahahaAHAHAHAHahahahAHAHAHAHAHAHAH" I kept laughing, until a guard hit me with the back of his spear. ----------------- Then Age 13 Location ??? I woke up to pain. I couldn''t identify where it came from, just that it was there . I couldn¡¯t feel my right hand. My body was in a pitiful state. My magic is back now, under control. I willed it into my body and slowly heal. While I tired make sense of my situation. My skin knits back while I go through what happened. I was in the chamber, I placed my hand on the orb, it tuned black and my father¡­stabbed me. My mother cast her magic on me and my sisters¡­ I stop the tears won''t stop flowing. The agonizing pain I felt in my body fades away to this new pain. It hurt¡­hurt more than getting stabbed, more than getting burned. The pain of betrayal. They tried to kill me¡­all of them did. The way they looked at me¡­as if I was a monster..like I was less than them. Like I meant nothing to them. The tears fell, faster now my chest heaving deep sobs as the pain in my heart and the pain in my body combined. I started to feel numb. Like it''s too much and my body had shut down. All the pain gone away, all that remained was the stiffness of my body. My body was changed and it continued to change. A normal dark elf would have died from such wounds. Yet I was still alive. This was a testament to the hardiness of this new body of mine. Stronger. They were afraid of me. And they tried to kill me. Because they were afraid. Yes ¡­afraid..of ME. I looked around me to get my bearings. Rocks overhead and rocks bellow me. Propped my bruised body up and looks at the luminous fungi that provided this cave with a small quantity of light. It was dark, but I could see¡­what was I becoming? A variant? That is what they called me¡­ I recall the faces of those I called my family, and I walked deeper in the tunnels laid out before me. ----------------------- Then Age:13 Location:??? It''s had been a day. At least I felt like it had. It was hard to tell time when there was no sun or moon . I came across some monsters which I had to eat to calm my stomach. They were large boar like creatures , that traveled in a group. I lured the stragglers into a dead-end and tried to kill them. I was successful but I ended up getting gorged on my side. The pain is dull. It should have felt more but I didn''t it was like my very perception of pain was changing. Perhaps my parents were right to be afraid. But now they¡¯ve given themselves reason to be afraid. I will. Get out of here. ------------------------------------ Then Age:??? Location: Prison Dungeon I don¡¯t know how long I''ve been here. I don¡¯t even know how far I have traveled. The tunnels change , from time to time. Going back the way I came , led me to another place entirely. I''ve gotten better at hunting. My magic control is much better now that it was ever. This new body is very adaptable. I''ve been thinking of my "family" a lot recently. What they did to me. Where they put me. This¡­dungeon prison¡­ The way I feel of them has changed significantly. When I first came here I was confused ,angry, sad. But now¡­now I feel a lot more numb¡­I''m changing more and more. This new body of mine has changed the way I can employ magic. But it has also changed the way I think¡­.or maybe I was always like this? I can''t tell. And it doesn''t matter. All that does is to survive. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Then Age:??? Location: Prison More time had passed. My body had changed further. I''ve grown in size . No longer am I little girl, this might have been something the old me would have been excited about. But all this means I have the ability to kill bigger enemies. My mana pool has grown with age, my spells still consist of only ice and healing magics, but my ability to use the magics I have, had improved. Even with novice ranked spells I learnt I was able to destroy my foes with ease. My days consisted of simple tasks. Hunt. Kill. Sleep. repeat. --------------------------------------------- Then Age:??? Location: Prison KILL --------------------------------------------------- Then Age:??? Location: Prison KILL ----------------------------------------- Then Age:???? Location: Hell KILL ----------------------------------------------------------- Then Age:???? Location: Hell How long has it been? ¡­¡­¡­.. It doesn''t matter Have I been here already? ¡­¡­.. It doesn''t matter Nothing else is here¡­where is everything?.... The luminous fungus seemed to dim as well.. How much longer can I go on? ¡­. It doesn''t matter¡­ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Then Age: It doesn¡¯t matter Location: It doesn¡¯t matter Get out of here? Did I ever have such foolish thoughts? Revenge? Did it matter? I laugh at it now, thoughts of getting back so foolish¡­ There is no way out of here¡­There never was¡­.This place was meant to be my burial ground¡­ I stand in a corridor I''m sure I''ve run past countless times¡­ my body weary and tired my mind defeated¡­. All alone here..even the monsters are gone¡­even the corpses disappeared..everything is gone¡­except me.. Everything is gone. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Then Age: Location: My Grave ¡­¡­. It''s cold¡­so very¡­. very cold Even my voice has left me¡­what did words sound like? What was the sun like? The birds? The soft breeze of the wind? The sound of rain hitting the hard ground..the rustling of leaves¡­ All seems like distant dreams, or things that happened a lifetime ago¡­ I lay here..too weak to move¡­ nothing moves but myself..and then..even that stops I''m dying here.. in a grave no one will find..all by myself.. All alone All¡­alo- "NO!" What? "You aren''t alone anymore". Where is this voice coming from? Is this a ¡­dream? Not alone anymore? How can it be¡­nothing else exists¡­it must be lie¡­.a dream right? .. Maybe ¡­. Just maybe¡­I could believe such a sweet lie, such a hopeful dream.. just this once? It''s all going to end soon..may as well go along¡­.believe a lie¡­.dream a dream.. "I won''t let you be." And like that... Just like that My nightmare shatters and I awake ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS CHAPTER WAS A NIGHTMARE TO WRITE UP Man it was really difficult to convey the what I wanted into words. English is my strongest language(I speak it the good very much) and it still was borderline impossible to finish this chapter. I just wasn''t happy with it AT ALL . The whole point about this thing was to go into details of how Maraysa was slowly going insane . the location and age part were there to hint at this, it was meant to be subtle but it''s as subtle as a 14 wheeler truck going through a glass shopping hall at 12pm on a Saturday. So yeh.. I''ll have to re-visit this at some point . I actually feel bad uploading this but don''t want to seem I''ve dropped this novel. I has a small following now, what would you guys to without me? Whets that? You''d Have more time to read more interesting novels? Well ouch that hurts but it¡¯s technically true and that hurts even more. Well rest assured the only reason I''ll ever stop posting is if im in the process of figuring things out for this novel or I''ve died a horrible death. Im pretty sure im dying from this cold anyway so, you have been told in advance . if I drop dead , be sure to check out my new works in my next life ^^ Or heaven¡­or more likely hell¡­..what ever read my shit, I desperately crave validation for my sub par writing skillz ----ps. this author doesn''t know how decimals work, ill get to it......eventually Chapter 11.0 : To Believe Maraysa Umbrezha Dalyisea Where? Am I? Everything is different..what was I doing? Why is it so warm? I was ¡­attacking something¡­someone¡­but¡­why? Every thought seems so far away as I try to make sense of the situation. I remember a hand, reaching out¡­ a pair of eyes and then I was back¡­there And now? I''m not. Dazed like waking from a nightmare and awakening to reality, my foggy mind clears. A voice called me back. A voice that broke me from my prison. Words that could break the walls which my magic could not. What power was held in such simple words? What manner of being would be capable of such a thing? And if such a being existed why would they be here? Two soft hands rest on both sides of my skin. The touch of these two small hands pulls me into the present . I see, a child. With hair like the burning sun and eye of amethyst, baring into my own. A stare that sees everything from which I could not hide from. A human? It''s skin was pale, it''s ear''s short. Can''t be elfin , it does not have any tell tale signs of a beastkin. Was this the owner of the voice that called me? The little human child''s lips move using a language I''ve never heard before but understood as clearly as if I had heard it a was one I''d grown up listening and speaking. "It''s okay you''re safe now" Safe? What did that feel like? I''ve ran, killed and hid for so long. Faced with constant danger at every turn , every second passed in strained vigilance. Waiting, watching, listening for beings of horror, for traps that could kill instantly. How could I ever be safe? "They can''t hurt you now" I hear the voice say Of course they can''t . I''ve killed everything. Nothing can hurt me now¡­no-one can hurt me.. there isn''t anything left¡­ I''m All.. Alon- "You aren''t alone anymore" the voice cuts through my own thoughts breaking them while they form . Not alone anymore? Alone is all I''ve ever been. In that prison , the hell I called home, I was by myself. I relied on myself. I had to change, the little girl that first arrived could not survive. I couldn''t rely on anyone else¡­ I won''t rely on anyone else. Why would anyone help me? Why would anyone be with me? I ..I can''t believe that, I won''t believe that¡­ I can''t afford to believe that¡­if I do, I''ll turn back.. Back in to that little girl that believed in her family, her mother , her father , her siblings. I can¡¯t , if I do that¡­I''ll be hurt again..I don¡¯t want to believe it If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. I don¡¯t want to¡­ hope. I won''t believe¡­ The hands leave my face and I feel myself being pulled into an embrace. The action feels alien to me, a sense of security that I haven''t felt fills me. My heart, my feelings, my pain all resurface. All this time my bottled emotions rise and begin to overpower me. NO I struggle in the arms of the human. I won''t let it, I can''t . there is nothing for me, believing will only get me hurt, trusting will only get me hurt, hoping will get me hurt. I won''t be hurt anymore. I have to be alone, I can''t trust anyone again. I don¡¯t want to be betrayed again¡­ I feel tears stream down my cheek , I don¡¯t want this, I don¡¯t want to go back. But I..don''t want to be alone either¡­ "I won''t let you be alone anymore" a quiet whisper that overpowers me , stopping my struggles and my breath. Such simple words, but they''re the words I''ve always wanted to hear. Words I wanted to all this time but never hoped to hear, for fear that my hopes would not be answered and the disappointment would stop me completely, hurt me more than mere wounds ever could. I can''t believe such words, I shouldn''t. But at this moment I want to. I decided at that moment. If this is a lie. I choose to believe it. If this is a dream. I choose to never wake. My hands wrap around the of the human child and I hold on to it like it would disappear if I let go. Such small shoulders yet I feel as though they could carry the weight of the world. I tower over the being , but I feel smaller than I ever have. The tears fall without end, each drop melting my cold self and thawing my frozen heart. The feeling of being so vulnerable fills me with dread. But the hands holding me radiate the warm feeling of comfort and I feel the fears I have kept slowly disappearing I choose to believe And I dare to hope ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A bit shorter than usual more icky feelings in this one. Man feelings are hard to put into words. Anyway this is the last one for today. sorry for the late post, I''ve been reading some guides on this forum and i have just now realised how little i know about anything regarding storytelling. there feels like there something im missing when im writing this story, i can''t quite identify it yet but it makes everything i write feel a bit hallow. if any of you can see it please do let me know , its been driving me crazy this past week. Chapter 12.0 : Unspoken words Maraysa Pov I close my eyes and savour the feeling of closeness for what seems like eternity, I don''t move , I don¡¯t want to move, I fear the moment I do this feeling will be cruelly ripped away from me so I hold on with my trembling hands. The small beings to move and unlatches itself from me, the feeling of warmth lingers in me but I feel a piece missing from me as it leaves my grasp. I hold off the feelings of panic and try to still myself from leaping back into its arms, for fear I might scare off this little companion of mine. As if sensing this fear inside me it smiles and wipes at my tear stained cheeks stopping them falling and then takes my hands and holds them in its. The child stares at me with its large eyes as it continues to smile. The scene is so vastly different to anything I''ve seen I just stare in wonder back at this strange little human. "Are you okay?", it asks in its childish voice. I try to form words, but find I can¡¯t . My lips move but, no words come out, my throat strains in an effort to try but nothing happens. I just pointlessly move my lips and grow frustrated at my own inability to speak. I give up trying and just nod in acknowledgement. " My name is Grimm . It''s nice to meet you." I try to talk again..but no words come out. The child named Grimm seems to notice this and asks "Are you unable to speak? " It asks in concern. I slowly nod my head. And hang my head¡­ it''s been so long since I''ve actually met anyone and yet I can''t even talk. I can touch , I can see but I can''t say anything. Strange a while ago I would have given anything to just see another person but now just seeing isn''t enough. Perhaps I am asking too much.. The child continues to watch me in silence and then it''s eye grow unfocused as if lost in thought. What is this human thinking? I want to ask but my voice fails me again. I stare back at the child ,which seems to have stopped moving all together . As if it''s thoughts were so deep it left its body entirely. If Grimm''s eye weren''t open I would have thought he had fallen asleep, so still was it that even the breath leaving its tiny body grew quieter and quieter. "I''ve got it!" Grimm exclaim loudly , the still body suddenly moving like a statue given life. The child''s hand leave mine and reach for my face , both palms rest on my cheeks and I feel the soft glow of warmth transfer to my face. What is Grimm do- "Can you trust me for a little bit? I know we''ve just met, and I know I''m asking quite a lot.." Grimm''s voice trails off growing less and less certain.. It''s true that we''ve just met, but I''m the one that attacked Grimm first..Shouldn''t it be me who should be asking to gain Grimm''s trust ? How can Grimm be so trusting to someone like me? I just nod my head keeping all my other thoughts to myself. Grimm''s bright smile returns again, and Grimm closes both eyes as his(?) face inches closer and closer¡­ I feel my skin flush red against my better judgment, it''s just a child, I remind myself. Grimm''s forehead touches my own and stops there. I feel it¡¯s soft breath tickling the skin on my face as I grow more and more aware just how close the two of us are. It doesn¡¯t feel unpleasant at all, I find myself beginning to like the closeness, the warmth of another being against my own skin. A strange calm spreads around me , like everything is going to be well. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ????:Can you hear me ? Grimm''s voice echoes in my mind shaking me from my thoughts, I don¡¯t see hear Grim so much as I feel it. I think back on impulse. Maraysa: Yes Grimm: It works! The thoughts jar me and I jerk away from Grimm in surprise, my eyes wide. Grimm heard me? Was it some form of magic? I don¡¯t recall any form of magic that would allow one to talk to someone else without using mana, I certainly didn¡¯t feel any magic. I look at the human in front of me as it just looks back at me. "Are you okay? It shouldn¡¯t have hurt you, I''m sorry for surprising you. Is should have told you before-hand but I didn¡¯t even know it would work, sorry" I shake my head in attempt to convey it wasn¡¯t his fault, but it seems Grimm doesn¡¯t notice my intensions this time and just hangs her(?) head. I put my hands around Grimm''s head and do the same thing we did before and try consciously to transmit my words. Maraysa: it''s alright, I was just surprised , it¡¯s not your fault please do not feel like it is. Grimm : o-oh okay then. Um ? Maraysa : yes? Grimm: well, you haven''t told me your name. My name. My name is something that is part of my old life. The house of Dalyisea , the home I belonged to so very long ago. I remember it clearly even though it has been so long. The house I was raised, where I learnt to crawl, walk. How my mother used to sing me to sleep at nights, where my father would teach me about the world. How I played with my siblings unknowing just how much they loathed me. How they reacted to my awakening, the fear in the faces of the people, the disgust my father showed when I called out for him to help and the utter contempt both my parents had as they washed their hands of me. The sneers of my siblings as they struck me, blow after blow. The house, the name. I want nothing to do with it. They already cut me out and cast me away . I don¡¯t need something that ties me with them anymore¡­. But I am myself, and I will not let them take that form me. Maraysa: I am Maraysa Umbrezha. ---------------------------------------------------------------- i haven''t slept properly in 3 days, my head hurts, my eyes hurt, pretty sure i''m speaking to a figment of my imagination . but since I feel bad for not posting here is another chapter, so he you go. I may need to edit this, but I''ll do that in the morning. enjoy Chapter 13.1: Dreamed a dream Chapter 13 Grimm PoV Maraysa Umbrezha , she introduces herself as. I don''t think I have not really met enough people to know if this name is common or not, but I have a feeling that I''m not going to pass anyone by that name on a walk around the town. Well it''s not like I am one to speak on strange names. It¡¯s a strange feeling knowing so much about someone but not something like their own name. I saw a lot from her. A lot more than I probably should have. I saw her as she was before and how she is now. All of her suffering , all of her pain ,all of her yearning. Looking at the person before me now I find it hard to believe I ever saw her as a threat, she seems so fragile like she could break if I hold her to forcefully. She doesn''t seem like a threat now, she just looks like a scared little girl. One who is holding on to whatever she can. I guess this is how I must have seemed on that night, just a little boy wanting someone , anyone to tell me I was going to be okay. Miss Samantha was there for me at that time. Now it''s my turn to be there for the one in front of me. The past me would not have been moved, death and suffering where common place, everyone was a stranger to me. Why would I care for a complete stranger? But that night a complete stranger cared for me, a person they had never met. Perhaps it was the kindness that moved me? No. Were it another stranger that needed my help. I don¡¯t think I could truly say that I would be able to do the same kinds of actions as her. But then again. She isn''t a stranger. Not anymore My hands still hold her in place as I try to communicate with the woman in front of me. The idea of transmitting thoughts. Where did I even come up with that? How could I have know it would have worked? Entertaining the idea that one could talk to another person by thinking it in their minds would have been entirely ridiculous to me in any other situation. But at the moment I simply knew what I had to do. Much like how I knew what I was reading in the library with- Sister Kate¡­right . I had fainted in the library. Miss Samantha was there too. ¡­. One problem at a time. I want¡­need to get back, but I can''t do everything at once. Alright . I open my closed eyes and stare at the woman in front of me, to find she is staring back at me, her sapphire eyes bore into mine while I feel the cool touch of her forehead against my own. A question looms in my mind , one that has been in my head when I first saw her. Grimm: Miss¡­ Maraysa was it? Um. It''s a lot harder than it should have been, the words seems to get stuck . I really don''t want her to take this the wrong way, but I do want to know. Just say it, I tell myself. She''s clearly waiting for me to finish my sentence. Grimm : What ..what you doing here? The woman looks confused at my question, and looks around for the first time. Her eyes begin to grow wider and wider as she looks around her. From her actions she clearly doesn¡¯t know why she was in this¡­place for lack of a better term. Seems she is as lost as me. This place was where I woke up after the nightmare I had. A dream within a dream. I look around and take in the view , the clouds are still moving , tiny ripples form on the ground as I shift from a kneeling position to a standing one. There are no other sounds aside from the two of us. Nothing else. Just like last time. So am I currently dreaming? I did remember the world shifting away in the library , so perhaps my body is unconscious? And all this is a dream? I''d doesn¡¯t feel like it, it feels very real. No door this time it seems. Just me and her in this little world of white. Alright , collect yourself. What do we know? I was here once before in a dream within a nightmare. Was I afraid form the nightmare so much I made a.. safe space? Somewhere nothing could hurt me. Yes the last time I was here there were strong feelings of safety and ..isolation. But. There is someone else here.. The door. It was in the last dream. Was it there because I wanted to get out? If that¡¯s true and it''s not here anymore¡­wouldn¡¯t that mean I don¡¯t want to leave?.. but I have to go back¡­ I need to go back. They''re waiting for me.. I have to- No . One thing at a time. I need to focus on the now. Okay. This place changed considerably. The ground and the sky. They weren''t there before. Change. In a world where everything was once a constant I introduced change. So my actions have a consequence on the structure of this place. But if that were true . Wouldn¡¯t I be able to leave just by wanting it? Maybe I don¡¯t want to leave this place just yet? But what would be keeping me- Right .Her I shake myself from my thoughts and turn towards Miss Maraysa. She seems to not be moving, standing wide eyed at the sky. The sky. When was the last time she saw it? She was in that place for who know how long, stuck in the dark . It''s a miracle that she''s still sane in that sense at all, well she did technically attack me. Then again me being hurt isn¡¯t exactly new.. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The sanity of my companion here aside, I need to know what she knows. I bring my hands towards her to shake her from her trance , making my actions as slow as possible to avoid startling her. She seems to notice and looks at me again. Her eyes shimmer with child like wonder from the scene she saw above us. Her mouth is slightly agape and her lips move , producing soundless motions. She notices her lack of voice and her shoulders drop a bit, the wonder in her eyes dims and become downcast. I place my hands higher on her arms and motion her to kneel down. She cautiously follows my motion as both my hands reach to her head again and pull them towards my own. I hear a sharp intake of breath as the two of us inch closer together, which gives me a brief instance of pause as I stop coming any closer. Her eyes bare into my own and hold my stare. Soundless words are exchanged before the of two us as she looks into me and I do to her. She can''t talk back to me in this state , and I''m not sure how much of me she can understand either . I gently extend my thumb under her eye and slowly incline my head in order to try to get my point across. I''m not quite sure how effective that was in terms of communication, but from the subtle motion of her head I''ll take it to mean she understands. I close my eyes and close the distance between us as I feel the touch of her skin on mine. The cool sensation spreads from her to me as I feel the strange sound of a click , as her mind opens to me. Creating a path between us. Linking us to each other. Maraysa: The sky , Grimm . I can see the sky. Her projected words seem different almost childlike, as she tells me about the sky above us. From her words I can hear how much she wanted to see it. Maraysa: Am I? Am I dead Grimm ? Have I passed died? Her words are soft ,her voice so terribly quiet. As if she fears me answering her question. Grimm: I¡­ I don¡¯t think so , I''ve been here before. Even if it was a bit different it still feels the same, yes I was here once before . In a dream. She does not speak any further. Through our link I can feel her panic rising, a terrible feeling of sorrow growing stronger and stronger in her. Maraysa: A dream then? Am I dreaming still? When I wake ¡­ "NO" I shout aloud. Alarming both her and myself. Grimm : No. Maraysa, you''re not going to wake up there again, I won''t let you go back. I don¡¯t really know why I feel so protective over her all of a sudden, but the thought of her going back into that prison makes my heart grow pained, my mind cry in outrage and my soul grow wrathful. I won¡¯t let her go back there. She is safe here with me, in my¡­dream¡­ My dream, not hers. Mine. My mind. Grimm : You''re in my dream Maraysa. Not the other way around. How I could be sure on this fact I did not know. But somehow I knew that it was true. Grimm: Try to remember, what is the last thing you remember Maraysa ? Maraysa: I ¡­. I was there. In that place, dying and ¡­ Her voice falters mid sentence. Grimm: You''re here now Maraysa, you''re here in front of me. I know this is a lot of to ask, but I need you to remember . Please, this is important. Making her think of her time back in that place , the memories . I can feel it through our link. It hurts her and in turn, it hurts me. I don¡¯t want to make her do this. It''s not right , it''s not fair. But I need to know. If I am to help either of us . I need to know. Maraysa: I was dying, and then I felt warm. Like I was being taken away. Then I remember flying, towards¡­you. Flying towards me? Something about that feels familiar. I think back to my dream, the door, the world filled with books, the one book resting on top that lectern. The two orbs of light¡­flying at me Was one of them her? I couldn''t really make out any details, they were too bright for that. So was what I saw all real? The books? The lights? If she was one of the two lights¡­where is the other one? And if the lights were real..what happened to the monster? ================================================================================ New chapter fresh off the print , careful it''s hot. Grimm PoV here, so we learn a bit more about the whole dream sequence thing, but let''s be honest y''all saw this coming. Anyway got my first review ! Yay I''ll start working on the next one but I''m not quite sure I''ll be able to post another one today. Soweeeeeee P.s Pokeholmes if you''re reading this can you please tell me what the term playable means . can''t really find the definition of it that makes sense in the context. Maybe I''m just being stupid. (¨i?¨i£») Chapter 13.2: Dreamed a dream Maraysa PoV A dream Grimm says. His(?) dream. If this dream is his and not mine then what am I doing here? It doesn¡¯t seem like a dream. It feels real..too real. Grimm is quiet now, not a sound comes from his mind. Through the link I feel Grimm grow tense, his(?) mind is lost in thought. The silence remains until I can¡¯t take it any longer. Maraysa: Grimm ? Grimm: ¡­Yes? Maraysa : You''ve gone quiet. Do you by chance know what''s going on? Grimm: I''m ¡­I''m not too sure myself but I have a feeling.. =============================================================================== A monster, a door and a book. Grimm recounts the events from her(?) perspective. A book that had no pages, but could write itself.. A magical object perhaps ? There exists various artifacts that have unknown origins, remnants of a by-gone age . Such things are not common by any means, but they do exist. But what would Grimm be doing with one? If what Grimm says is to be true, the book could be the reason I am here. Magic that can call beings from great distances. Summoning magic. A form of magic that can bring what the user desires to them. The cost of such a magic is great, so much so that it would require the sacrifice of mana so great it would kill any person who would attempt such a ritual. I don¡¯t sense a shred of magic from this child. Even if he did have the magic for it, his(?) body is almost as thin as mine, the burden would have surely killed her(?). If the book is the source of such magic, it must truly be an object of great power. But then why does Grimm have it? Who would give such a dangerous artifact to a child? Maraysa : Grimm , where is this book now? Grimm : I don¡¯t know, it was in the other room behind the door. Summoning beings from an inescapable prison , doors that defy sense. The more I think the more confused I become on this matter. The monster Grimm mentioned, a nightmare as he(?) put it. It was the cause of all of this. Perhaps the fear he(?) instinctively acted out? A creature that attacks dreams, monsters that can attack one''s mind are common. The use of magic to influence the mind is a trick that is employed frequently, one of the first things I had to protect myself against. But it would not leave unless it was fended off. Creature like that don¡¯t leave their victims alive..so why is Grimm here? There was another "light", as Grimm put it. If I was one of them , there should be another. But aside form the two of us, I don¡¯t see anyone else. In this world of nothing, Grimm and I are the only one here. There is no mana and yet I don¡¯t feel weak anymore. Being near Grimm is accelerating my own recovery, breathing life into my body . I feel it flowing into me from the link. Maybe.. Maybe staying here wouldn¡¯t be so bad, Grimm says nothing can hurt me here. And I believe him. In this dream it''s just the two of us, here I feel safe. I''m away from everything now, the prison , my family, the monsters. And I have Grimm now. Someone I can talk to, someone I can touch, someone I can feel. I want to stay here, in this dream. Grimm: Maraysa.. Grimm''s voice shakes me from my thoughts, and I dread the words that will follow. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Grimm: we can''t stay here Maraysa Why . WHY? Why can''t we stay. I''m happy here can¡¯t you see? I feel safe here. Nothing can hurt me , nothing can cause me pain, here there is nothing to fear. Why does he want to leave? Why does he need to leave? We can be happy here. In this little world of ours. Grimm : Maraysa! We can''t stay here. No. I don''t want to listen. I push Grimm away severing our contact. I can''t . I don¡¯t want to leave. My hands clasp around my ears, trying to block out Grimm''s voice. I don¡¯t want to listen, I don¡¯t want to hear. His voice gets fainter and then stops altogether. No sounds can be heard. Silence . I take a take a glance to see Grimm . But I can''t see his face, he(?) has his head turned not facing me but facing¡­a door The door looks unremarkable, but it stands there, by it-self, not connected to anything. It the door . Grimm clasps the handle it and turns it , unhesitantly . The door pushes inward and a blinding light shines through , making it hard to see, all I can see is a shadow cast by Grimm as he stares into the light seemingly unaffected. He''s going to leave. It''s going to be the same all over again. I need to stop him, I don¡¯t want him to go. He can¡¯t . I won''t- But my legs can''t move, my body refuses. Just like last time. I''ll be all alone again, powerless to do anything. My hand reaches for the shadow, my eyes can''t see anything else, the world of white seems dim compared to the space beyond the door. I don''t.. want My outreached hands grow heavy, and I feel strength leaving me. To be.. Alon- As my hand falls, I feel something clasp it, such a soft and warm touch. A small hand that grabs mine and pulls me toward it. "It''s okay. We do this Together , you and me." The light shines brighter engulfing the world, I can''t see anymore. But the hand that hold mine is still there guiding me along, into the light. Through the door. ================================================================================ Relatively shorter one today. The whole point of this chapter? I don¡¯t know more character development? Yeah lets go with that. Notice how both Grimm and Maraysa don¡¯t want to leave the void when they first got there? You never really want to leave a place when you feel safe there. you can stay your whole life in certainty and never really live or you can take a chance in total uncertainty knowing full well you could fail, sometimes just the thought of that could make you want to never leave. Maybe you''ll live a longer , safer life but when it;s over can you really say its one you enjoyed? well shit i don''t know I''m just a red fire ruck that writes stories about pointless things, and im okay with that. So yes this chapter had to be done, for the story "or maybe you ran out of ideas, and had to reuse themes in order to develop both characters" huh? Wh-wha do you mean? O- Oh would you look at the time I must be off. ============================================================================= Chapter 14.1 : Thinking Of You Quick poll i just want to know what you guys think, it has no importance to the story i just want to know. ============================================================= Grimm PoV: Passing through the door I feel the bizarre shift in perspective from standing vertically to waking up from a downed position. The first sensation of waking up was the pain I felt, seems my head broke my fall and the fall in turn broke my head. The red carpet of the old library is the first thing is see as I open my heavy eyes. The light from the chandeliers overhead make it hard to see ,as my eyes strain to adjust the newfound stimulus. I feel hands holding me and voices I can¡¯t quite make out. The silhouettes of two people are all I can see in my groggy state. The long red strands of hair on my head constantly brush up against my eyes making it even more difficult to make out the faces of the people in front of me. My ears ring with noise further preventing me from discerning the identity of the two people in front of me. I shake my head in an attempt to bring myself out of it and begin to organize my jumbled thoughts, as I begin to piece together the fragment shards of my memory , a voice rings in my head. One I can understand. ???: Grimm? A familiar voice , Maraysa Umbrezha. Grimm: Maraysa? Maraysa: Where, is this Grimm ? It doesn''t look like the dream. Grimm: St Agatha''s orphanage, we''re in the library. Maraysa: Orphange? "Grimm!" "y-yes?", I manage after being pulled from my thoughts from the two voices saying my name. My eyes focus and the blurry figures I once saw begin to resemble the faces of Sister Kate and Miss Samantha. I don¡¯t know how much time has passed but their worried faces makes it clear it was lengthy enough to cause alarm. "Are, you hurt?", "are you okay?" , "can you stand?" "what happened." Under the barrage of questions being fired at me , if find it difficult to form a response. "I''m okay, I just felt a bit weak", was the best excuse I could come up. It was a rather poor attempt, even I felt it was. Their faces showed their doubts and I feel Miss Samantha pull me up and onto my feet. Her arms still hang around my waist to steady me as I get my bearings. "Maybe you should get some rest Grimm, you don''t look well at all." I hear sister Kate say. I''d like to say I am fine to re-assure them, but from the worry evident on their faces I feel that it wouldn¡¯t help my case at all. I look at the large clock and see it is well into the evening. "Let''s get you to your room Grimm", sister Kate says as she take my hand in hers. "But what about my books?", I ask as I stare at the pile of books that rest on the nearby desk and the books that lay strewn about during my fall. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. To answer my questions Miss Samantha releases me and begins to carry my stack of books, Sister Kate goes to get her stack too. Both refuse my attempts to help. ""Let''s go Grimm"" Each of them carry a stack in one hand with a free hand outstretched toward me. The two of them eye each other tensely, not breaking eye contact. I don¡¯t quite understand, but they don¡¯t seem to like each other much. As far as I know, this should be the first time they''ve met¡­ The silence seems to stretch as the two of them stay unmoving. I take both their hands and ask softly trying to break the silence and ease the tension. "Shall we go?" ============================================= the way back was a little better than I thought. Sister Kate and Miss Samantha seem to be talking , but they still don¡¯t get along too well. It was getting late, Miss Samantha had to get home, I felt a little bad we didn¡¯t get much time to talk, even when it was me who asked her to come. I apologized for wasting her time, but she assured me it was fine and that we could meet again some-other time . I¡­. may have been a little bit too happy when she said she''d come to visit , but Miss Samantha didn¡¯t seem like she minded much, well she was a bit surprised. Sister Kate didn¡¯t seem too happy about that, and Maraysa hasn¡¯t spoken since the library. I can still feel her through my link though, she seems to be debating something . Unfortunately the link doesn¡¯t quite let me read her mind her emotions are reflected on me. Though she hasn''t said much I can tell she''s taken aback from the house itself, the various halls and rooms are well furnished. I suppose it paints a stark contrast to what she''s grown accustomed to. I remembered my first day in these hall myself, so it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t understand these feelings. Sister Kate left for her chores and to find the three other roommates of mine, seems they still haven''t returned yet. She seemed rather mad that the trio would miss an entire day. Id said goodbye to both of them and then went straight to bed as per their instructions, my little feinting spell seems to have worried them more than I thought. Which brings things up to the present. I''ve gotten ready for a full night of rest. It''ll be my second night here, I''m a little apprehensive of going to bed. If I have to go through another nightmare sequence again, I''d rather stay up all night. I lay down and stare at the ceiling, wondering what I''ll be doing the day after. As my thoughts wonder about the day to come, I''ve already fallen asleep. ========================================================= Double release in one day! Sort of... the story is reallllllyyyy slow i get that, but it''s the childhood arc so yea... maybe i should change the fantasy to slice of life at this point.. anyway if you guys have any suggestions to this story do feel free to comment! also made a new synopsis...kinda... if any one else has a better one please post it... Chapter 14.2 : Thinking Of You Grimm My eyes slowly open in the dark of the room. Memories of the night before cause me to bolt out of the bed and stand with my back against the far wall of the room for any signs of the creature. I feel the air in the room grow suffocating, my heart rate elevates and the only sound I can hear is the beating of my own heart in my chest. Eyes wide , I search the poorly light room for any signs of the abomination. Tense seconds pass by, I feel the trickle of a bead of sweat down my forehead. Nothing. Nothing at all. No creature breaks down my door, nothing grabs my foot in the dark. As the pounding in my heart stills I feel relief wash over me, causing my body to relax and slouch, my shoulder and back lean into the wall as I slide down against it, into a seated position. A breath I did not know I was holding escapes my mouth as my heaving chest begins to quiet down. No longer on such a high alert I begin to take in my surroundings. It''s just like the night before, the three other beds empty with no occupants , the moon slowly shining in through the window by my side, the cold frost creeping up the glass, distorting the white world below. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. A hand falls on my shoulder. My head snaps to the direction and my heart stops in my chest. All thoughts are lost as I fear the worst. No sound escapes me as I feel a pit form in my stomach and the scream die in my throat. I almost jump out of my skin, but the cold hand holds me firm. I reflexively close my eye''s preparing for the end. ¡­ I feel a pressure against my forehead and a voice resounds in my ears. ???:Grimm? The voice sounds ¡­familiar. The cold touch, not sinister¡­almost..comforting¡­ I open my eyes and crouching beside me , under the pale light of the moon creeping in through the window is Maraysa Umbrezha. ========================================================================== IT WAS JUST A PRANK BRO ??.???? Shorter chapter, will upload one more today, it''ll be longer¡­. probably. Chapter 14.3 : Thinking Of You Maraysa PoV Grimm : Maraysa ? Grimm''s thought seems jumbled. Confusion. Fear. Relief. Happiness. Anger. Grimm''s thoughts tinged with contradicting and conflicting emotions. Feelings wash into me through the link we share. It''s strange, being able to sense someone so ..intimately. Sharing thoughts, emotions, state of mind. If I can feel this much from a single word¡­how much can Grimm feel from me? How much does Grimm know about me? Does Grimm know what I am? No if Grimm did¡­. No Grimm can¡¯t know. I''m still alive after all. I can¡¯t let Grimm know.. I don''t know if I can come back another time¡­ Maraysa: Yes Grimm, it''s me. I manage a smile, however underneath I can feel dread. How much of that did Grimm hear? Could Grimm hear my own thoughts outside my projections? Grimm''s tense body eases, relief escaping in a single sigh. Grimm : I had thought it was¡­ you nearly scared me to death! Fear ? From me? Could Grimm kn- No, Grimm was relieved to find it was me. Afraid of another reason¡­but what? Maraysa: I''m sorry Grimm. It was not my intension to startle you. But you didn¡¯t notice my presence. You seemed panicked and I ..reached out without thinking. The child looked liked it was fearing for its life, Grimm''s heart was racing, chest heaving in laborious breaths. My inability to speak is yet to be resolved, due to this I was required to transmit my thoughts, the way Grimm showed me. Grimm''s face ,that was twisted in anger, began to soften as understanding of this fact dawned on him. Grimm : I''m sorry Maraysa¡­ you were trying to help and I... I''m sorry. Sincerity. That¡¯s what I felt. How long has it been since I felt anything at all? Emotions . The touch of another person. Long forgotten things that seemed so alien to me now. I take a look at the small figure in front of me, so close to myself that I could feel it¡¯s breath tickle my skin, the warmth of its body where our heads touched. A child. It¡¯s name is Grimm, it¡¯s scarlet hair cascading over its face, like a curtain obscuring the finer details of its face, it¡¯s amethyst eyes glinting through the strands, shining in the moonlight. How much do I know of this child? How much could I trust it? It hasn¡¯t hurt me, quite the opposite really. I''m the one who hurt Grimm , and yet it''s not been brought up once¡­ no matter how I look at it.. I can find any malice, no hatred, no ill-intent. What does its eyes show? Is it pity? No it¡¯s eyes show no condescension. "I won¡¯t let you be alone anymore" The words resound in my mind. Alone . Sympathy¡­understanding¡­ But why .. why would it be so trusting. Perhaps it is because it¡¯s a child?.is it due to Naivety? Then why does it seem in front if Grimm..I feel just like the little girl again, crying out for her mother, her father , her siblings¡­won¡¯t I be betrayed again? Cast aside..thrown away? "I won¡¯t let you be alone anymore" The same words. Again." Won¡¯t let be alone anymore"¡­can Grimm see I was alone too? Does Grimm know that I am a..monster? Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. No ¡­ Grimm can¡¯t ¡­ I need to know about what it knows¡­what Grimm is.. Maraysa: Grimm ? Perhaps it was the tone of my voice, perhaps it was the tension through the link, but Grimm notices. Grimm: yes? It''s too late now. Maraysa: Who¡­What are you? ======= The question hangs in the room, the silence between us weighs down on us with greater force as the seconds pass. The only sound of the gentle wind blowing outside the window, rustling the tree branches painting strange and bizarre shadows in the room as they obscure dim light of the moon. Eternity passes and the silence breaks. Grimm: I¡­don¡¯t understand..what are you asking me? What I am ? Maraysa: Yes. More silence¡­. Grimm: Why are you asking me this? I don¡¯t understand how I''m supposed to answer that¡­ Grimm trails off the thought growing softer and softer till it stops altogether. Grimm searches for an answer for my eyes, baring into them. Under the gaze I feel..exposed, like Grimm could see straight through me..through my darkest secrets, my past, my everything Grimm: "What I am" not who. Grimm eyes feel different . Even the thoughts are different. The tone.. Grimm: You asked what. Not who. You''re not sure what it is I am. Though it should be clear I am human..but you''re not are you? It''s as if it''s reading off a list. Like it can read me. The tone shift jars me. It doesn''t seem right. It doesn¡¯t feel like Grimm at all. Grimm: I think the better question is. Grimm: What are you Maraysa Umbrezha? ============================================ "another chapter later today" Sorry about that. having a little bit of an issue with character diologues in case it doesn''t seem obvious from the exchange between these two. thing is Grimm is supposed to be very awkward in terms of talking and maraysa has been locked up for a pretty long time, being both subject to physical and psychological trauma . Both have difficulty talking and trying to be as close to character as possible when writing these dialogues, makes my job painful. i''ll probably do a little time skip in order to have some time for them to develop off screen, its a bit of a lazy way to tie it in, but i can''t really see this going away in a few chapters, no matter how much magic memory reading dues ex machina i try to incorporate. If any of you guys have a type of method you''d like to share please do give your input.