187Ello! I TOLD YOU I WOULD UPDATE SOON. I AIN'T LYIN'. A thanks to the lovely reviewers of the last chapter: Curlscat, Lara D, LittleRaven13, and EverafterDemigod!
I hope you all like this chapter. Sorry if its sucky, and the characters are OC. I haven't written in a long time, but I'll get better, I promise!
Also, I'm making changes in the previous chapters such as grammar, detail, blah blah blah, and I already merged two short chapters together.
I'll pretty sure I'll make changes to this chapter because I'm not completely happy with it. So go back and read if you want!
Enjoy!
Sabrina was on her way down for dinner, when she decided to drop in and say hello to Mirror. Opening the door, the first thing she spotted was her parents in their deep spell-ridden sleep. Sabrina tried not to stare at them too long, for she would tear up. The full-length mirror hanging on the wall across from the girl rippled and a face appeared, smiling when it saw Sabrina.
"Hello, Mirror." Sabrina greeted the man.
"Hello, Starfish," Mirror said, voice warm as always. "Where have you been the past few days? You haven't dropped by, and I finished all my cross-word puzzles."
"It's a long story," Sabrina puffed. "What happened was-"
"'Brina, better come eat before your sister beats you to it." Uncle Jake warned, stopping in the doorway from his way downstairs, he waved at Mirror before continuing on.
"I'll tell you after dinner," Sabrina promised, heading towards the door.
"I'll be here, of course." Mirror nodded, disappearing.
Sabrina took her usual seat at the dinner table, as her grandmother came in from the kitchen bringing in the plates. The old woman fixed Sabrina with a careful look.
"How are you feeling, liebling?" The old woman questioned, serving Sabrina a large helping of steaming mashed potatoes. The gravy was bubbling.
"Fine." Sabrina answered, staring down at the table.
"Good. Perhaps Baba Yaga's prediction about your magic addiction was askew. The storm is over, it seems."
Sabrina nodded quickly, eyes still averted. Though, Sabrina knew better. The horrible physical suffering she endured the night in the Ferryport Landing Jail was not normal. She constantly thought about it, and if it would strike again randomly. Sabrina was having second thoughts on this whole entire thing. What if Tristan couldn't find a solution to her problem? What if Anita couldn't pacify Sabrina's addiction? Yet, her family had enough to worry about. The Scarlet Hand threatened them more now than ever before. Her problem was trivial next to the threat hanging upon the Grimms.
As Sabrina took the first bite of her dinner, Daphne pushed her already empty plate away and burped, patting her protruding stomach. "Ah, that hit the spot."
Uncle Jake let out a snorty laugh, and Sabrina smiled.
Puck flew down from upstairs, and took the seat across from Sabrina. Granny Relda sat his dinner in front of him, yet instead of digging in immediately with his hands as he usually did, he peered at Sabrina with his bright green eyes.
"What are you looking at?" Sabrina questioned him, her attitude already taking a turn for the worse even though the boy did nothing yet. Still, she couldn't help it. It was practically an instinctive reaction now.
"Nothing special," Puck shrugged, taking a fork, and scratching the back of his neck with it. "By the way, one of my minions informed me of some very interesting news today."
Sabrina gaped at him, then regained her composure, instead fixing him with a menacing stare.
Puck grinned.
Before Puck could spill her under-wraps secret, there was a earsplitting knock that made the whole family jump out of their socks. Elvis bolted to the front door, and started barking as Sheriff Nottingham's voice came from behind the wood.
"Grimms! Hand the blond brat over into custody before I have this house dismantled!" the Sheriff demanded, continuing to wham on the door.
Mr. Canis arose from his seat, his frame shaky. "They are here for the girl." He mumbled, nodding to Sabrina.
Uncle Jake peered through the blinds. "Nottingham has a battalion of card soldiers with him."
Sabrina arose to her feet as well, as did the rest of her family. Granny Relda's face became forlorn, yet unsettled, as if she wasn't sure what to do.
"Sabrina, go upstairs and find a place to hide, while we figure out something."
The girl didn't question her grandmother, even though she was doubtful they would convince Nottingham to leave. He was her to get her. To lock her away for the town's own safety.
Sabrina dashed upstairs, and into her room. Fumbling for the genie's lamp, she pressed it against her chest and shut the closet door. In the dark and the momentarily silence, she could hear her heart thump in her ears. How could she have let this happen? She should've told her family the truth. Now they were in peril on her account. Suddenly, the closet door was flung open, and Sabrina threw a punch at her adversary only to realize it was Puck who caught her wrist and dragged Sabrina out of her hiding place.
"We gotta get out of here," he explained, rushing over to the bedroom window. He quickly undid the latch, and flew out, reaching back for Sabrina's hand. The girl hesitated when she heard a clamorous commotion from downstairs, followed by full-mouthed shouts.
"Come on!" Puck demanded, yanking her out of the room. He flapped his wings a few times and soared into the forest behind the Grimm Household. They raced by trees and foliage until the sun had set, and the night was upon them. Finally, the pair touched down in a small clearing where the brush wasn't so dense. Sabrina dropped to her knees, palms sweaty. The genie's lamp glittered in the moonlight.
"We have to go back," Sabrina demanded, rising to her feet. "I have to help them, its my problem, not theirs".
"Grimm, you really need to stop trying to fix everything on your own," The Trickster King said, his pink wings fluttering, agitated. "Don't you realize that it just makes everything seven thousand times worse?"
"Are you kidding me?" Sabrina snarled at him. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!"
Puck curled his lip. "Me? I didn't do anything!"
"You just had to snoop into Baba Yaga's things, and knock over the big shelf, sending who-knows-what into the air!"
"IF I DIDN'T PUSH YOU OUT OF THE WAY, YOU'D BE A PANCAKE BY NOW, GRIMM."
Sabrina huffed, and spun around, eyebrows furrowed together. She knew the boy was right. If he hadn't been next here, she would have been crushed. A little light appeared in front of Sabrina, buzzing loudly. It was the two-faced pixie that had following her around.
"You!" Sabrina seethed.
The pixie twittered a greeting to Sabrina, ignoring her anger.
"Ah," Puck said, floating over to his minion. "I see you've met one of my special brown-nosers. Its told me many of your dirty little secrets you've been keeping." Puck glared at the genie's lamp gripped tightly in Sabrina's hand. "Especially what that hobogoblin gave you." The blond headed boy suddenly laughed. "Did it ever cross peanut-sized brain that maybe this whole 'good-guy' thing is an act? What if he is setting you up and that," he pointed at the lamp, "Is making your addiction worse?"
Sabrina scowled at him, but said nothing.
"When Baba Yaga transported you to Nottingham a couple of days ago, she said it was because it was for your own good, as well as everyone else's. Nobody took her seriously, not even me at first, that's why I tried to rescue the first time. But the more I realized, the more I understood. If Baba Yaga really did hate your family, wouldn't she had just let you die, or let you become dangerous and rampage across town? She could have sent you do the bottom of the Hudson River if she wanted. Obviously, she cares about the well-being of the Grimms, and has your interests in mind, even if she has a funny way of showing it."
Puck tilted his head up at the genie's lamp. "And yet, Tristan Hood broke you out the jail, the most safest place for you at the moment, entrusted you with a genie's lamp, which the Scarlet Hand would gladly kill for and now Nottingham shows up at your front door with a squadron of playing cards behind him." Puck's face was an angry red, yet his eyes were dejected. "And where is Tristan Hood now? Not here. He isn't here."
Sabrina for once, had nothing to say to the fairy boy. Everything he said registered deep within Sabrina. In these rare moments, he was dead serious, jawline clenched, steadfast. As much as she didn't want to admit, his words made sense. Over the past weeks, Sabrina's judgement has been wavering. She used to able to tell if someone was a rotten egg when she first met them, and now she didn't even have assurance in herself.
Sabrina looked down at Anita's lamp resting her hands. The lulling energy emitting from it seeping into Sabrina's skin seemed unsettling now.
"You could be wrong," Sabrina defiantly told Puck. Yet, with a shaky arm, she handed the lamp to the fairy boy. Puck took it away from her, shoving it into roughly into his hoodie pocket. The absence of the genie's lamp made the eldest Grimm sister feel empty inside.
Sabrina sat down as Puck used his little flute to summon more of his minions to bring them some firewood. He settled himself behind Sabrina, and let his large wings cover her, just like the time they were hiding from the Jabberwocky. It reminded Sabrina of a less distressing time, compared to now. Sabrina's eyelids drooped, and she thought she heard Puck say something, but sleep already took over her.
Sabrina awoke when something poked her cheek. She mumbled and waved it away, yet it poked her again, more persistent. Sabrina opened her eyes and was face-to-face with Anita. The genie's hazel eyes were urgent, but she stayed silent as she pointed to Puck. The fairy boy was asleep, snoring so loudly it rattled leaves on the trees. Gray mist seeped out of his hoodie pocket, which was conjoined with Anita's bottom half. The genie must have been scared when she dispersed from her lamp only to be inside a sticky boy's pocket. Sabrina tried to reassure her.
"It's okay," Sabrina whispered. "He won't hurt you."
Anita sniffed, and gagged. "I'm not worried about that." The genie pinched her nose. "He reeks to high heaven!"
Puck blinked his eyes open, drool spewing out of the side of his mouth. He spotted Anita hovering over the children and sprang up quickly, taking his little wooden sword out of his pocket and waving it menacingly at the magical being.
"We don't need you anymore, spy." Puck hollered at Anita, who stared at him with wide eyes.
"Spy?" Anita gasped.
"Don't play dumb with me," Puck huffed, waving his weapon by her face.
"I really don't know what you are talking about!" Anita said in a little voice, looking like she was about to cry. She looked over at Sabrina for help.
"Puck thinks that Tristan only gave you to me to worsen my magic addiction." Sabrina explained. She averted her gaze. "And I'm starting to think so, too."
"What? No!" Anita yelped, her energy crackling around the children. "Tristan would never do that. I would never do that!" Fat tears rolled down her cheeks as she started to cry.
"I don't have any sympathy for you!" Puck announced, but looked over at Sabrina with a frown. Sabrina returned the same look.
"Sabrina needs me," Anita explained, rubbing her face with the back of her hand. "She's going to become dangerous!"
"Everyone's been saying that," Sabrina fumed. "I'm waiting for it to actually happen!"
At that moment, a sharp pain enveloped Sabrina, causing her to drop to ground. The anguish she remembered from her time in the jail returned to her body, but this time more intense and constant. Sabrina let out a scream as it felt as though someone was stabbing her repeatedly in the stomach with hot knives. Anita grabbed Sabrina's hand, and even though she felt magic seep into her veins, the agony did not relent. If anything, it was intensified. The genie started panicking, letting go of Sabrina's hand as the girl was wailing, tears steaming out of her eyes.
"It's not working!" Anita bawled, but Puck was already in action blowing harshly into his little flute, then picking up Sabrina carefully. Pixies swarmed out of the forest by the thousands and picked Anita's lamp, as the took aloft in the air. Sabrina let out a wail, almost punching Puck in the face.
"Where are you taking her?" Anita urgently asked, as they all took off into the night, flying north, The Trickster King in the lead.
"To Baba Yaga!" Puck responded over the wind. He glanced down at Sabrina, who was borderline conscious. She'd had tried her hardest to fight the paroxysm, but it was useless. The girl had no control over her body anymore.
The change had already begun.