Chapter One:

Standard Protocol

"This is Ryan, he's my science buddy," Daphne said. "Ryan, meet my family."

Ryan gulped and wondered what he had done wrong as everyone in the living room glared daggers at him. He wished he had never agreed to do research at Daphne's place. He edged closer to his friend.

"Is he a local?" Veronica asked. Does he know about Everafters?

"No, but his grandma is. She was friends with the mayor, I think." Descendant of a good Everafter. Doesn't know the truth.

The tension in the room didn't relax, but Daphne apparently did not notice. "Come on; let's go up to my room. It's totally awesome."

Henry Grimm seethed as Ryan grabbed his daughter's hand and the duo ran upstairs.

Without a word, Puck and Veronica cuffed Henry to the ping pong table in the basement.

"It's for your own good," they told him.

Henry nodded consent and pleaded them to shut the door before the Rage took over.

"I need to go toilet."

"Downstairs, door at the end of the hall."

"Can… can you go with me?"

Cue the weird look. "What?"

"N-never mind."

Ryan got up very slowly, in severe internal conflict. Eventually, the call of nature won, and he stepped outside the safe haven of Daphne's room.
Immediately, a hand shot out and grabbed his ankle. Another smothered his scream, and dragged him into a dark room.

"AAHH! Let me go!" he shrieked.

"Silence!" a commanding voice ceased his yelling. "Silence! I have a weapon, and will use it should I choose to!"

Ryan immediately stopped wriggling. "Who…?" he asked fearfully.

"That is none of your business. It has come to our attention that you may share some affection with a certain Daphne Delilah Grimm, who is under our care. As her friends, we ask you to kindly leave her alone, and will carry out our threat to kill or severely injure you should you choose not to heed our orders. We repeat our request: stay away from Daphne Grimm. She is also not to know of this meeting. If she finds out, we will find you and kill you, slowly and painfully. Am I understood, you fool? Answer me!"

Ryan nodded weakly, though he had no intention of being romantically involved with Daphne. They were practically strangers!

"Very well. You are now at liberty to leave."

A hand guided him to the door, though the owner of it stayed in the shadows. Ryan dashed out hurriedly, terrified.

Meanwhile, back in the room, a small boy turned on the lights. "Do you think you were too scary, Pinocchio?"

Pinocchio shook his head. "I needed to properly terrify him. I'm glad he believed us, because he could have easily strangled both of us at the same time with a hand tied behind his back."

"Oh. Okay. Good job, then."

The two young boys high fived and exited the room.

Ryan rushed down the stairs toward the toilet. Fortunately, he did not meet any adversaries demanding he kept away from his science buddy on the way.

Ryan washed and dried his hands slowly. He knew Daphne must be wondering where he was. He must hurry back.

This time, he did not step out recklessly as before. No, this time Ryan held out a bathroom slipper in front of him menacingly as he slowly opened the door and crept out into the open. Alas, his foes were not deterred by the ominous bathroom slipper.

Someone stepped out from the shadows, blocking his path. Fortunately, they did not grab Ryan's ankle or drag him to a dark room.

"Listen here, punk," the person said. The voice was distinctively feminine. "You don't mess with my sister, you hear? You don't and I'll leave you alone, but if you do I'm gonna make your life a living hell, you understand?"

Ryan nodded meekly once again. This must be the famous Sabrina Grimm of whose right hook he'd heard of so much.

She stepped out of his way and Ryan dashed upstairs as fast as he could; wondering what in the world he could have done to provoke the wrath of the eccentric family in the process.

"Oh, I can't believe we finished so quickly!" Daphne grinned. "Did anyone ever tell you your brain is super-powered? I'm so going to be your partner next time!"

Ryan nodded wordlessly. He would throw himself into a nest of fire ants before that happened.

"So… can you go to the door with me?" he asked.

Weird look.

"Do you have something about old houses, or the dark, or something?" Daphne queried.
Ryan nodded again, that being the only reasonable answer he could come up with. Fortunately, his partner looked sympathetic and led him out of her room.
Unfortunately, she was holding his hand in what she supposed was a comforting gesture. Try as he might, Ryan could not extract his hand from her grip without appearing rude. He groaned inwardly at what would appear as a romantic indication on his part; and the consequences if he was caught. Just as he was about to whisper that he didn't feel comfortable holding hands with her, someone else crossed their path.

"Oh, hey, mom. We've just finished doing our science project. Ryan is so smart, you know."
Ryan cringed. Was he being a total paranoid, or did Daphne's mother have brass knuckles on? They can't hurt me. They're not going to be doing anything violent to me. They can't.
Somehow, even this thought did not bring much thought to the terrified fourteen year old youth.

"That's great!" Fake enthusiasm. "Daphne, can I want to talk to your science partner a bit? You know, privately."

"Okay, mom!"

Ryan watched with despair as his only defence tripped off down the hall.
"I'm not looking to be romantically involved with your daughter, ma'am. Really. It's all strictly educational between us," he said desperately.

Veronica smiled grimly. "Is that so?" she asked, now twirling the brass knuckle around her pinkie idly. "That's fantastic, Ryan. I hope you keep it so. Daphne is young and not ready to have any love interests. I hope not to ever catch you two holding hands again. Have I made myself clear? Brilliant. Good afternoon."

She watched Ryan as he walked down the hallway, so he couldn't run. As he turned around the corner… yes. There stood another man. This house was infested with over-protective family members!

"Hey, kid," he said. Unlike his predecessors, he was making no move to be threatening. "You friends with the Marshmallow?"

Assuming he meant Daphne, Ryan nodded. "Again, not romantically. We're just science partners, okay? Just leave me alone!"

The man laughed. "Have the Grimms been giving you a hard time? Thought they would. They've always been too defensive. But they're right about one thing—you should stay away from Daphne. It's not that we think you're not good enough for her... actually, it is. But don't be offended."

Ryan was really extremely offended, but decided he had to get out of the house as soon as possible. "Yeah, I understand. Thanks for not dragging me into a closet."

Puck laughed as the youth made his way towards the door hurriedly. The little jerk had no idea how tempted the fairy had been to do just that.

Ryan gave a large sigh of relief as he exited the old house. Finally, he was safe! Never had it felt so good to be out in the open; safe from foes convinced his spirit animal was some creepy old man.

"Ryan Henderson!" a hoarse voice hissed.

Ryan froze. What in the world…

"Ryan Eugene Gilbert Henderson!"

Suddenly, an old woman with a crazed expression leapt out from behind a bush. Her hair was unkempt and her eyes had a wild, bizarre look about them. Her face had extraordinary moko swirling up and down its wrinkled surface. She wore a straw, woven, tribal dress. Most importantly, she held a large battle axe in her shaking hands.

"Ryan Eugene Gilbert Henderson!" she yelled. "You stay away from my Daphne, you hear? Stay away!"

Ryan dropped his bag and ran, screaming all the way.