Fable

  Not happening, she thought, and quickly turned around and ran backward and slowed to get in his way.

  “Move it!”

  “Make me!” she yelled back, grinning from ear to ear. She could hear the yell of her team as Brody crossed the end zone. No one else was even near them.

  Brody ran back and high-fived her. “Nice screening. I didn’t know you were that fast.”

  “Neither did I.” She beamed, feeling glorious.

  There were others who took notice of Mina’s newfound confidence. The coach even tried to convince her to go out for track. Boys started to pay attention to her, not for her looks, but for her tomboyishness—which made her one of them. Brody didn’t like the attention she was getting, and it was obvious. He kept moving her closer to him until she was playing running back.

  It felt great the one time that Savannah had the football, and Mina got to rip both of the flags from her belt in rapid retaliation. Mina was so fast that she was snagging flags left and right. It was a close game. They were tied, and her team had the ball.

  Brody counted down, and she ran. She heard Steve yell, “Mina’s open—toss it to Mina!”

  Wait? What? OH NO! Not quite prepared, she looked up and freaked as the spiraling pigskin was coming straight toward her head. Without thinking, she reached up and confidently caught the football. Now what? Oh, yeah, run. She took off toward the end zone, both of her yellow flags still attached to her band. Frank was running toward her arm, outstretched to end her run, but no, she wasn’t going to let that happen. She pumped her legs harder and bore down the field, dodging right, then left, staying out of the reach of the other team’s defenders.

  She could see it! The goal, and nothing was going to stop her. She didn’t know what was happening, but whatever it was, she liked it. Especially when she carried the football into the end zone and still had all of her flags. Mina did a little victory dance and tried to toss the ball on the ground in celebration, only for it to bounce up and hit her in the face. Yes, she was faster and stronger, but still as uncoordinated ever.

  Her hands flew to her face and her swelling nose. She pulled her hand away and saw blood.

  Brody was the closest to her. “Ouch! Are you okay? Do you need to go to the nurse?”

  Mina rolled her eyes. Of course, he would see her act of stupidity.

  Coach Beeber had caught up to them and echoed Brody’s previous statement.

  “No, I don’t need the nurse, just a towel and some ice,” Mina mumbled through her bloody hand.

  “I’ll escort her,” Brody announced.

  “To the girls’ locker room?” Coach Beeber scoffed. “She’s a big girl, Carmichael. If she can’t find the ice pack and sit in the girls’ locker room for a spell, then I feel bad for her. Besides, there’s still ten minutes of class left.”

  Brody turned scarlet. Coach Beeber turned to her. “Now, if you think you need to go to the school nurse, don’t hesitate for a moment.

  Mina nodded her head in understanding and slowly jogged across the field to the gym’s blue double doors. She slipped into Coach Beeber’s office and headed to the small mini fridge. She was quite familiar with the location of the ice packs. In fact, she probably had one with her name on it. Sure enough, there was the cute bear-shaped ice pack. She grabbed it out of habit and retreated to the girls’ locker room. She sat on the bench, applying pressure, and replayed the last half hour over and over in her head. When her nose finally stopped bleeding, she decided to take advantage of the empty locker room and take a shower.

  She went to the last stall, turned the hot water on, and went to her locker to pull out her regular clothes, knowing the pipes needed time to heat up. With an unnatural speed, the locker roomed filled with steam, turning the ugly fluorescent white light into beautiful halos. There was something strange about the haze. The steam sparkled and glittered like gold. It was getting hard to breathe, but never before had she seen something so beautiful and unnerving at the same time.

  Mina looked at the condensation building on the mirrors and carefully ran her finger across it, leaving a clean streak of her own reflection. Her finger came away covered in gold.

  “What the…?”

  Her hands trembled slightly as she turned on the faucet to confirm her suspicion. At first the water sputtered out clear, but then transformed before her eyes into liquid gold. Frightened, she hastily turned the faucet off. A noise clanged over in the corner of the locker room and Mina spun around, her heart pounding so unnaturally loud even to her own ears. Something by the ceiling darted out and flew to another iron beam. It was a bird.

  Her hand flew to her heart in relief. This wasn’t the first time a bird had found its way into the girls’ locker room and scared quite a few girls. They’d had the oddest animals, birds and snakes, creep in through open locker room windows. This bird was large like an eagle, but its wings glistened, reflected as if it was made of an unnatural material, and the tips were glowing like flames.

  The sound of the metal shower knob cranking, followed by the silence of the previously running shower, alerted Mina to the presence of another person in the locker room, which drew her attention from the bird. The tingling building within her warned her it was Fae.

  “Hello,” Mina called. “Is someone there?” No answer came forth, but she could hear the echo of boots on the cement floor. She couldn’t tell from what direction it came, though. The steam had become unnaturally thick, and the gilded haze was starting to leave trails of golden dew on her skin. She looked down, and goosebumps rose up on her arms. Mina flung open the nearest locker and reached in to grab the first object she could find to defend herself. It was a baseball bat. She’d take it.

  There! She saw it. A slight movement to her left. She shifted her feet and kept the locker at her back, and tested her grip on the metal bat. Something was moving toward her out of the haze. Mina had just taken aim at the shadowy figure walking toward her when something flew from above and attacked her. Pain laced through Mina’s hand as the bat fell from her grip. She looked down and saw three bright red slashes along the top of her hand. The maniacal bird turned in the rafters and came back for another attack. Out of self-preservation and instinct, she dived and rolled out of the way.

  She jumped to her feet without her weapon.

  “Why, hello, dear, looking for this?” The haze had parted to reveal a man, smiling profusely while holding her baseball bat. He was good-looking, in his mid-thirties; his copper-colored hair was pulled into a ponytail. His pale skin did nothing but accentuate his haunting hazel eyes. Even in the heat of the sauna-like locker room, he wore a three-piece suit embellished with a cornucopia of golden trinkets, leather, and pockets that completed his odd ensemble, making him look a mixture of dashing and hodgepodge. But it was his hat that told her he was her midnight stalker. With the top hat and its gold feather, the silhouettes were identical.

  “Who are you? And why are you following me?”

  “Temple. My name is Temple, and I have a proposition for you.” He held up his gloved hand and tipped his top hat toward her. “Hear what I have to say first, and then I promise you, if you want to scream, then do so. But I think you will be extremely interested in what I have to offer.”

  Mina hesitated when she saw that he held the bat and slowly took off a gloved hand and touched it, turning the aluminum bat into gold. She swallowed and then faced the stranger. So far he hadn’t made an attempt to harm her, and it wouldn’t hurt her to at least listen.

  “Okay, what is it that you want?” she asked hesitantly.

  “I want you to procure an item for me. That is all. Say you will get this item for me, and I will give you all of this,” he motioned to the golden bat, “and more.” He reached toward her shoulder; even his fingernails were long and golden.

  Mina flinched, but he reached past her into the opened locker to withdraw a single expensive sandal that she recognized as belonging to Savannah. As soon as his hand touched the sandal, it immediatel
y turned to gold. He smiled crookedly when he saw her eyes widen, and dropped the sandal into her hands. Mina immediately tossed the shoe back into the locker.

  “The Midas touch?” she asked.

  He frowned at her. “No, more like the family trait. So you see, you can be rich beyond your wildest dreams. Rich enough to impress your young human and maybe even steal him back from your best friend.”

  “How do you know about that? How could you possibly—”

  “I make it my business to know these things. So, what do you say? Procure the item for me, and I’ll make you rich.”

  Mina looked at the gold sandal and bat, and back at the man. Every inch of her knew better than to make a deal with the Fae, no matter what the cost.

  “No, there’s no amount of money in the world that would make me enter into a bargain with you.” She tried to step around him, but he held out his arm, blocking her.

  “Wait! Everyone has their price, and no one says no to me.” He frowned at her.

  “Well, I just did say no.”

  “That’s only because you haven’t heard my other offer.” Temple took off his hat and brushed imaginary dust off it.

  “It wouldn’t matter, because the answer is still no. You have nothing I want,” Mina said.

  “Ah, and that’s where I beg to differ. I do have something you want. I make sure to always have something someone wants.” He placed the hat back on his head.

  “Are you deaf? Because I just said no.” She placed her hands on her hips and raised her chin.

  “What about your brother Charlie? Such a quiet boy, but charming all the same. He misses you, I can tell.”

  Mina came alive with anger. “What do you mean, Charlie? He died in the fire!”

  “Come now, you can’t really believe that!” He touched his hat and fingered the golden feather. “I sent my servant to retrieve the boy for me and destroy your home. Now he is mine. I will trade him to you for the item I want you to procure, and nothing more. His life for my item. It’s fair—what do you say?”

  Mina stared at Temple in horror. “You did this? You planned this from the beginning, stealing my brother to make sure I couldn’t say no! What kind of monster are you? It’s been weeks. Why now? You could be lying. Why didn’t you come to me that night?”

  “Because you’ve been surrounded by Fae. What’s a few weeks in the life of an eternal Fae? I’m patient. I’ve been waiting for hundreds of years—what’s a few mere weeks? But if you fail, Charlie is mine forever.”

  Tears of relief started to trail down Mina’s cheeks. “What is it I have to do?”

  “A favor, one itsy-bitsy, teeny-weenie favor. A piece of cake for a Grimm.” His smile was so sweet it was sickening.

  “What is it?” Mina said, her heart dropping into her stomach, since she already had an idea.

  “You have a wonderful book. The Grimoire—its power is unmatched…except for one other book. Its twin. I want that book.”

  “Impossible,” she blurted out quickly.

  Temple’s expression started to get angry, but then he was able to calm himself down. “Unfortunately, I know you are wrong. My plans are always...perfect.”

  “How do you expect me…? How could I possibly…?” She couldn’t finish; she knew nothing about the Fae world or how to cross into it. It was a hopeless quest.

  But weren’t all quests hopeless at one time or another? If her ancestors hundreds of years ago figured out how to cross over, then how much harder could it possibly be now, in the twenty-first century?

  “I don’t know how to go about it. I don’t know how to cross over,” Mina said.

  “Ah, where’s the fun in that? Besides, I’m confident you’ll figure it out. I find that those with the most to lose tend to be the most motivated. So are we in agreement?”

  “I have no choice,” Mina mumbled. “I have to try to save Charlie.”

  Temple bent down and picked up a bobby pin, and motioned for her to hold her finger up in the air. She did so, and he pricked her finger, drawing blood. As her blood soaked the bobby pin’s edge, it began to turn gold. He smiled and opened his jacket, revealing an array of pockets and containers with various gold objects, each with a small bloodstain on them, evidence of other bargains and transactions he’d made. She could see a pencil, a knife, a large spindle, and her heart stopped cold.

  “Lest you not know what you have done. You’ve made a deal that cannot be undone.” He patted his jacket happily.

  “Who are you?” she asked in dread, knowing deep down who she’d just made a bargain with, but needing to know if she was right.

  “I told you my name is Temple.”

  “No, what’s your full name?”

  “Ah, that. Well, I’m not as famous as the rest of my family, and I’ve sort of inherited the family gift. But I would think you know all about that, taking on the family business and all. So I think you know what I am.”

  She knew—his words confirmed it. Taking of a child, items of gold, bargains. “You’re a Stiltskin, aren’t you?”

  Temple smiled widely, revealing gold molars, removed his hat, and bowed. “Templestiltskin at your service, and by the way…I would figure out a way to cross over sooner than later. Your kind aren’t meant to survive on the Fae plane. Something happens to them. They change, and not for the better. So I would get crackin’, because according to my watch, you’re already two weeks behind. And I want the dark prince’s book.”

  Temple laughed, and disappeared as abruptly as he’d materialized.

  Mina stared at the single drop of blood still on her finger, a painful reminder of the bargain she’d just made with a Stiltskin.

  In seconds, the room was back to normal, the haze gone as the double doors leading outside burst open and girls filed in, grumbling and complaining. Mina took the gold sandal on the floor, and kicked it into the locker and slammed the door while moving over to her own locker. Hurriedly she changed, not even bothering to fix her hair or get out of her shoes. Tears of relief poured out of the corners of her eyes, and she turned to rush out of the locker room, but not before she heard a loud shriek from Savannah White.

  “What in the blazes happened to my Louis Vuitton sandal?”

  Chapter 9

  Her mind was numb, her heart beating uncontrollably, but somehow she made it out of the locker room and stumbled in a stupor into the hallway. She let her panic rise to the surface, and she called Jared. He appeared within seconds, took one look at her face, and grasped her arms as she almost collapsed.

  “He’s alive!” Mina rushed out after the shock had worn off.

  “Who is?”

  “My brother. That man, the one who’s been following me, came here to the school. He told me he kidnapped my brother, and he’s alive—on the Fae plane. All I have to do is cross over to the Fae plane and trade an item for him. Jared, I have to get him back.” Her hands gripped Jared’s jacket, and he very carefully separated her fingers from the jacket.

  “Are you sure? I mean, how can you know that he’s telling the truth? And what happened to your hand?”

  “Because I know. I heard a strange sound the day of the fire. I heard it again today. It’s his weird golden bird.” She held up the back of her hand, showing Jared the scratches. “I know it’s them. They took Charlie to the Fae plane. I have to get him back. You have to help me cross over so I can save my brother.”

  Jared’s face paled, and he whispered his brother’s name. “Mina, I can’t let you do that.”

  “No! You have to help me, help my brother.” Her words rushed out and slurred together in panic.

  “Whoa, back up there, Mina. You can’t go to the Fae plane.” He carefully helped her stand up and took two steps away from her. The distance he was physically creating between them felt as if it was miles.

  “You have to,” she whispered, confused by his behavior.

  “No, you can’t. You don’t know what’s over there. It’s not like your plane. It’s not safe,” Jared
replied, and began walking away down the hall.

  Mina shook herself out of her reverie and chased after him, trying to keep her voice down. “So, what? Are you saying that I should just abandon Charlie?

  “No…yes…I don’t know. I’m saying, think things through before you try to jump into something you know nothing about. Into a country where you don’t know the rules or the lay of the land. You can’t go. I won’t allow it.” He barely turned to answer, his hands waving in finality.

  She was losing him, and they both knew it. “Just help me get over there. I can save Charlie and come back.”

  Jared opened his mouth to answer, but the second bell rang, announcing their tardiness. “Jeez, Mina. Let him go—he’s just a human. There’s a million more just like him. ” He turned and walked toward his next class.

  ***

  Jared avoided her for two days, refusing to come when she used the Grimoire. She had tried begging, calling, and even faked being attacked by a Fae wolf, but nothing. Jared didn’t budge or show his face. Finally, on the third day, he reappeared at their cafeteria table, purposely trying to make lunch conversation awkward. Mina kept staring at Jared, who pretended to be extremely interested in his spaghetti, spinning the noodles on his fork at least a hundred times before taking a bite. She couldn’t help herself—she was a bundle of excited energy and couldn’t help but fumble with her straw, drop her fork on the floor twice, and even accidentally step on Brody’s foot under the table. Ever giggled at Mina’s obvious lack of grace and kept elbowing Jared to watch her, but he refused to budge or look.

  Mina sighed and watched the clock, waiting for school to be over so she could go back to cornering Jared into helping her. Maybe she could blackmail him? Hmm, the idea had merit. Maybe even Ever would help her do it?

  Nan Taylor’s voice cut through their table’s quiet melancholy. “Okay, someone’s gonna have to scoot, ’cause you’re both in my seat.”