The Grimm Chronicles, Vol. 2 (30 page)

“The whale is getting bigger,” I whispered.

“Say what?” Briar asked. “What’s happening? Should I row?”

I reached down, grabbing the spear. “No. Not yet.”

The waves settled. After a moment, a body came splashing up. It was Ahab! He thrashed in the water, waving his arms in the air. “Save me!” he shouted to us. “Don’t let it get me! Don’t let it take me!”

But it was too late. Beneath him, I could see the soft glow of the whale as it surged to the surface once more with its mouth opened wide. It swallowed Ahab whole as it breached the surface once again. I held my breath and threw the harpoon as hard as I could. The barbed tip caught in the whale’s side and a burning blackness consumed the area around the harpoon. It was burning away quicker now.

But not quick enough.

“Get ready,” I said to Briar as the whale’s body hit the water again. “Hang on to something!”

Briar let go of the oars. “I do believe I’ll sit the rest of this one out,” he said, ducking underneath the bench and clutching it tightly with both arms.

I groaned, watching the line of coiled rope slip out of the boat and into the water. Attached to one end of the rope was the harpoon. Attached to the other end was our boat. A terrible sinking feeling told me maybe I should have thought about coming up with a better plan. “Boy, I wish I could join you under there,” I told him.

Briar’s whiskers twitched. “That is not your destiny, friend.”

He was right. My destiny was resting on the bench beside me: the second harpoon. And as the rope grew taut and the boat dipped down, creaking and groaning under the pressure, I felt a strange calm rush over me, steeling my nerves. This spear would do it. All I needed was a true shot. All I needed was to take the offensive, just like Chase had taught me.

“Oh dear,” Briar said with a burp. “I do believe I’m growing seasick.”

The boat surged through the water, cutting massive waves in its wake. It tipped to the starboard side as the whale tried diving deeper, nearly capsizing us. I clutched the port side of the boat, using my arm to wipe the water away from my eyes.

“We’re going to tip!” Briar said.

“I know!”

“What are we going to do!”

“Jump!” I ordered.

We jumped into the cold water. My clothes soaked through, weighing me down. I splashed with my free hand, keeping the spear clutched tightly with the other. The weight of the magic boots plunged me down and I inhaled at the wrong time, taking a good snort of water up through my nostrils. I coughed, kicking violently with my feet while clutching the harpoon with both hands. It was no use. It was either the harpoon or the boots. I pressed the toe of my right boot against the heel of my left, pulling it off and taking my sock with. I kicked away the other boot. With my feet free, treading water became infinitely easier.

Briar emerged beside me, spitting out water between his front teeth in a long stream. “What the devil do we do now?”

“Stay near the boat,” I said, kicking away from him. My eyes scanned the water, searching for that familiar soft glow far underneath the surface that would tell me exactly where the whale was. I spotted it … coming right toward me.

“What are you planning to do?” Briar asked as he crawled on top of the capsized boat. He shook his fur.

“I have a really, really bad idea!” The strain in my legs grew and I felt myself dip into the water. My mouth opened and water flooded in. I kicked harder pull myself back up, searching the water again. The massive glowing form of the whale was almost directly below me now. It wasn’t changing course.

It was going to swallow me too.

A cold shiver ran down my spine. I swallowed, fighting the urge to look down into the black water. It was coming. I could feel it swimming beneath me, churning the water. My heart raced. Here it comes, I thought, kicking the water to keep myself floating. I flipped the harpoon, dipping the barbed tip into the water. My hands clutched the slippery wood.

Suddenly, the water all around me seemed to
sink
, like I was caught in some kind of whirlpool. I saw the massive mouth emerge from the water all around me, so close that I could see the lightning-like Corruption lines around its mouth fighting against the burning blackness that was still slowly spreading. I took a last, desperate gulp of air.

And then darkness consumed me.

Time slowed down. I slipped down the whale’s slimy gullet, my toenails scraping against its tongue. I could feel the heat of the creature, and when it groaned I could feel the vibration inside its throat. I lifted the spear and held it out, running it along the soft fleshy walls. My breath held in my mouth. My eyes remained glued shut.

The whale groaned again. I felt its body begin to thrash. Through closed eyelids I could see a dull flickering light from the whale burning around me. I could
hear
the magic barb of the harpoon as it tore and scraped its way through the creature’s insides. 

I heard something else, too. A song. The words were soft but they were there, tickling my eardrums:

Laid them beneath the Juniper Tree …

That music … I’d heard it once before, back when I’d first found the magic fish. I’d passed it off as something in my head but now, here, it sounded so much louder.

I landed in the stomach. My lungs desperately wanted to breathe. My throat convulsed. I swept the spear across the soft flesh and the stomach seemed to melt away.

I heard the music again, louder this time:

My mother, she killed me …

My hand brushed against something hard and I reached out instinctively, my imagination expecting it to be the captain’s hook. My eyes opened. The burning blackness was spreading quickly now, and in the soft red light I could see the insides of the whale. I could see the object in my hand and knew immediately what it was.

The Juniper seed. It had been inside the fish all along. That’s why the stepmother had always heard the music everywhere she dug.

I stuffed it in my pocket and traveled deeper inside the beast, more of its insides burning away as my magic barb tore through its slimy entrails. Where was the captain? Had the stomach acid killed him? Was it possible? Would it have done the same to me had I not snuck in a contraband harpoon?

There was no time to think about it. The burning blackness was spreading faster than my harpoon could cut. I had to be near the tail now—nowhere to go but out, and I’d rather make my own exit than use the one provided to me by the whale’s digestive system! I was growing dizzy. The stale air felt like fire in my lungs, and I silently begged them to hold out for just one more moment. I reached out with the harpoon, weakly stabbing at the surrounding flesh in hope of a way out.

The pressure changed. I closed my eyes. Cold water crashed in all around me, forcing the harpoon out of my hands.

I kicked my way to the surface, emerging just in time to take the biggest, sweetest breath of my entire life. Briar was sitting on the capsized boat, shivering as his soaking wet vest and pants clung to his fur.

“That was incredibly … daring,” he said. “Downright
heroic
.”

I grabbed the boat, holding myself up and giving the muscles in my sore legs a much-needed reprieve. “I’m a heroic type of gal, I guess.”

“Look.” He pointed over my shoulder. I turned—the ship was approaching us, cutting slowly through the water with only a single sail catching wind. Ishmael was standing at the starboard bulwark, staring at us.

Smiling.

The shadows on his face were gone.

Chapter 8

It took a full hour to get back to Milwaukee’s docks. Two of the sails had been damaged when the whale crashed into the ship. The hull had sprung more than a few leaks, too. As for the crew? Well, they were about as happy as a bunch of formerly cursed sailors could get. I was pretty happy, too, after watching the shadows slip from my own skin.

“We’ll fix the ship well enough,” Ishmael said cheerfully, helping me carry Chase onto the pier. Chase was coming to slowly, groaning about the magic fish.

“What will you do?” I asked.

Ishmael shrugged. His fingers found the deep lines on his face. “It’s been years. Most of us are from the east coast, so we’ll start there. Try to piece together what we can of our lives. No more fishing. We’ve done enough damage.” He sighed. “We’re all just so glad to be free.”

“Good luck,” I told him, giving his calloused hand a firm shake. When he pulled his hand away, there was something in my hand: a gold coin.

“How?” I asked, staring at the golden dragon etching.

“I lifted it from the captain’s pocket,” Ishmael said. He shrugged, smiling. Now I realized why he had such pronounced wrinkles around his mouth—his natural “curse-free” smile fit his face perfectly. “It’s the captain’s own fault for being so preoccupied with the fish.”

“Whale.”

“Whatever.” He returned to the ship, giving me one more nod as the sailors—now quite normal looking—pulled the plank away from the pier.

“All hands!” Ishmael called out. “Blood and thunder, boys!”

I watched the ship slowly pull out of the harbor. The sailors ran with purpose across the deck, throwing ropes and setting as many sails as the damaged masts would allow.

Briar reappeared beside Chase.

“Do you think the captain is dead?” I asked.

The rabbit tapped his head with his paw, one eye narrowed as he scanned the surface of Lake Michigan. “Strangely enough, it would appear that way, although it’s extremely rare for a Corrupted to kill another Corrupted, given their, um,
unique
qualities.
Extremely
rare. Unless, of course, it was written in the Grimms’ story.”

“The curse is gone, too,” I said. “You know what? Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it. We have more pressing matters.”

“What do we do now?”

“His parents will need to get his car some other time.” I leaned over, wiping Chase’s sweaty hair away from his face. “He’s … this isn’t going to be easy.”

“And what about the seed?” Briar asked.

My hand instinctively went to my pocket. The moment my fingers touched the seed, I could hear the same song again. “I’ve been thinking about that. Maybe the stepmother found the magic fish in an underground waterway, and that was why she thought the seed would be underground, too.”

“A reasonable deduction,” Briar said proudly. “Hold on to it. My intuition tells me it has some important part to play yet.”

I rolled my eyes. “Rabbit sense tingling. Got it.”

We went to Chase’s car and used his phone to call Seth.

“You know,” Briar said, “if you had a driver’s license, you could drive us.”

“I’ll file that away,” I murmured, putting Chase’s phone in my pocket.

When Seth arrived, he helped us get Chase into the backseat of his car. I let invisible Briar take the front seat, buckling Chase in and clutching his cool hand. He was wide awake now, not saying anything, staring at the back of Seth’s seat.

“Do I … ah, even want to know what happened?” Seth asked. He made a U-turn, heading away from the port and toward downtown Milwaukee.

“No,” I said. “At least, not yet. Let’s just get Chase home.” I squeezed his hand. “Chase? Chase, are you there?”

He swallowed. His eyes lowered. He took a deep breath.

“Does anyone need a sports drink?” Seth asked. He reached over, near invisible Briar’s feet. “I don’t know what kind you guys like, so I bought a couple different ones. I prefer the purple myself.”

He handed me a bottle of the lemon-lime stuff. I took it and mumbled a “thanks” before downing half the bottle. It was perfect. Nothing better than a little electrolyte replenishment following a battle with a Corrupted whale.

“Chase?” Seth asked. “I got a few more.”

“I don’t know,” Chase whispered.

“Suit yourself.” Seth sped up as we hit the freeway, heading back toward our suburb. “So what was it? Giant monster? Big bad wolf? Demon prince?”

“Ixnay,” I said, running my hand across my throat. Zip it, Seth.

“Oh. Got it. I just figured … you know.”

I took one more look at Chase, then closed my eyes and rested my head against the window. My hand went to my pocket, checking for the fountain pen and finding something else as well.

The coin. I pulled it out, staring at the terrifying creature taking up most of its surface. Definitely a little more imposing than, say, George Washington’s head on a quarter. What was the Order of the Golden Dragon?

“Um …”

There had to be a connection. The orphanage, the fish, the captain …

“Hey, Alice …”

I put the coin back in my pocket. “I’m sorry, what?”

Seth glanced in the rear-view mirror, then took the exit for Mooreland Road. “OK. Not to sound like a total lunatic or anything … but I’m pretty sure the same car has been following us since we got on the freeway.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s been changing lanes every time I do. It just got off the freeway with us.”

“Go around the next block,” I said. Seth put on his blinker, then turned right just past the neighborhood pizza place that my parents loved so much. “Now make a left,” I said.

He turned left at the next street. We passed a bunch of small houses. I knew where we were. We could double around the next two blocks with ease and not have to worry about any of the dead end cul-de-sacs.

“My house is over here,” Chase murmured. “It’s another ten blocks away.”

“Make a right,” I ordered.

We turned right. The music on Seth’s radio went in and out, like we were traveling through a valley. The streetlights were out and the car’s headlights only cut through the darkness right in front of us, illuminating the old yellow lines on the street. Seth was breathing quickly, eyes wide and searching the darkness beyond the headlights.

“Well?”

His eyes glanced at the mirror again. “Still following. Crap, dudes. Crap.”

“OK.” I reached into my pocket, grabbing the fountain pen. We passed an alley and something caught my eye—multiple somethings. Garbage cans. Big, green ones full of garbage. Tomorrow was garbage day, so they were all rolled out next to each garage.

Perfect.

“Pull into the alley at the next street,” I said. “Speed up, then stop long enough for me to get out. Text me Chase’s address once you get there.” I glanced at Chase. His eyes were closed. His chest rose and fell slowly. “Try to get him inside if you can.”

“What are you going to do?” Seth asked nervously.

“I’m going to create a diversion,” I said. “Go! Now!”

Seth sped up to the next block, slowing quickly at the alley and turning into it. He sped up, then stopped. I opened the car door, jumping out and slamming it shut. He sped up, reaching the other end of the alley just as the mysterious car turned, its headlights burning my eyes. I rushed to the nearest garbage can, pulling it and throwing it in front of the car. It crushed the can, then its tires began squealing as the can got caught underneath the front bumper.

I stepped back, ready to bolt through the nearest yard. The car’s windows were tinted black but there was no glow inside, no glowing trail behind the car.

Whoever was inside was human.

“Who are you!” I demanded.

The window rolled down, revealing a man with a pale face and a heavy black hood hanging over his head. Around each of his eyes was black paint. Around his neck was a pendant. I didn’t need to read the Latin words to know what it said. The picture of the dragon was a dead giveaway.

He lifted one hand, then slipped on a steel weapon that fit over his hand. His fingers clutched the handle. Four sharp steel claws jutted out over his knuckles.

“Right,” I said. “Well, good luck with that!”

I turned, cutting through the nearest yard. I heard the car’s tires squeal and the crunch of the garbage can underneath the car, but by the time their car screeched out of the alley, I was already through the yard on the next block. I looked both ways, then ran another block and made a left, doubling back and slipping into the alley. The car was gone.

Chase’s phone buzzed. I ducked behind a garage and pulled it from my pocket. My heart sped up as I read it:

2244 E ESTES ST. COME QUICK CHASE IS FREAKING.

“Crud,” I hissed, checking the street before breaking into a run. I found Estes Street and turned right. My breaths caught in my chest and my lungs burned. My already sore legs screamed for rest. Tears welled up in my eyes. I pushed everything back, forcing my legs across the street and searching desperately in the darkness. The streetlights on this block were out, too, as if the entire neighborhood was trying to hide. Where was Seth’s car?
Where
?

There, up ahead! Seth’s awful parallel parking was recognizable even with the street lights out. I slowed and squinted in the darkness to read the addresses on the little two-story houses, hoping Seth wasn’t foolish enough to park right in front of 2244.

Yup. Sure was.

I burst through the door, locking it behind me. The lights in the hallway were on. Along the walls were tons of photos of family. Parents and a little sister at the zoo. Parents sitting on a tropical beach. Chase and his sister swimming. Chase, younger, playing T-ball at the local park.

“You don’t understand!” came Chase’s voice.

I hurried down the hall, turning into a small living room. On one end was a TV. On another wall was a fireplace. Above the mantle were baseballs, more than a dozen of them. Hanging next to the fireplace was a Washington High jersey with Chase’s last name printed on the back.

Chase was sitting on the couch. Seth was standing beside him. Briar stood behind the couch, one ear up, obviously concerned.

“Chase,” I said. “You have to be quiet right now. And we need to turn out this light …”

He laughed. “I have a better idea. Leave. Please.
Please
.”

“His parents aren’t home,” Seth said.

“They’re
never
home!” Chase yelled. His fist pounded the arm of the couch. “They go out with the parents of the other baseball players after every game. It’s what they love to do. When I got hurt, they stopped going. When they get home tonight and find out I can’t walk again, they’ll be so
disappointed
.”

Seth nervously shifted his weight. “They could still go, dude.”

“No,” Chase said, laughing and shaking his head. His face was red. His ears were red, too. One hand went to his sweaty, tussled hair. “They already said they couldn’t go anymore. Wouldn’t feel right. Like it was
my
fault or something. Like I was the one who ruined
their
good time.”

I walked closer, reaching out. I wanted to touch his shoulder. I wanted to be near him. “You’ll walk again. It’ll just take time. Your doctors … they …”

“I’ll never walk,” Chase said. He shook his head again, more viciously this time. Tears streamed down his cheeks. “I lied. The doctors told me the night that drunk driver hit me, that was it. I might get to use crutches someday. Maybe. But that’s it. I lied because I didn’t want anyone to know.”

I stepped closer. My hand found his shoulder, squeezing tightly. I sat down beside him. He tried to shrug my hand away but I moved closer, grabbing one of his shaky hands. “Chase … I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to live like this. I don’t want to be without my legs.”

I squeezed his hand tighter. “Chase. Look at me.” He didn’t at first, so I reached out and grabbed his other hand, pulling him toward me. He turned. His normally resolute green eyes were wet with tears. He looked so lost and hopeless that I had to fight back the tears welling up in my own eyes. “Chase.
Chase.
What happened was awful. But there are reasons to move on. Baseball isn’t who you are, I can see you’re
so much more than that.
I know what it’s like to feel trapped in a life you didn’t choose, to have to give up things that are important to you …” my voice cracked. I took a deep, shaky breath to steady myself. “You didn’t choose this, it’s not your fault. But you
can
choose to not give up. Because there’s still so much to experience. There’s so much about life that’s still wonderful.”

“I’ve always wanted to see the castles in Germany,” Seth offered.

I smiled. “I’ve always wanted to go back to Yellowstone.”

“I’d really like to get a Boston Terrier,” Seth added. He gave me a conspiratorial wink. “Or maybe just a lizard.”