A/N. Hey! Caucasian here, kicking off Asian's and my first fic! We've been working on it for a while, but neither of us are really experienced at writing mysteries, so any pointers would be awesome. We wanted to fill the niche, though, and practice is always great.

Disclaimer: We happen to be two teenage girls and thus not a middle-aged published man. Therefore, The Sisters Grimm is not the property of us.

Prologue

"Come in."

He should have never said those words. He wouldn't have said them if he had known who was coming in. He had just given himself a death sentence.

The Candle Maker was a stout man. He was on the chubby side and had graying hair. He was physically in his 40s, but was much older than that. The Candle Maker was currently in his shop alone, carving a candle. He had told his workers to head home for the evening to spend with their families.

He was working on a customer's order: an Angel. They had requested for it to look happy, pure and angelic with open arms, they did. The Candle Maker concentrated hard on the candle in front of him. He was carving the eyes at the moment, his tool slowly shaving off curls of wax. He had already done the feathery wings, and was proud of the outcome. So all that was left was the hair, nose, and eyes. He decided to leave the inside of the eyes blank.

A wry grin played around his lips. He would give the angel "Angel Hair". Pun intended. Of course, Angel Hair wasn't really hair -but the noodles were yummy- so he had to picture the Blue Fairy's beautiful hair to get it right.

Yes, the Candle Maker had a crush on the Blue Fairy. So did the Butcher. And the Baker. They 'fought' over her (when she really was owned by no one) in private, saying she wanted a man 'who had patience for art', 'who wasn't afraid of killing animals', or 'who would make wonderful sweets just for her'. Of course, the Blue Fairy ignored all of their attempts at flirting with her.

The Candle Maker gave the Angel soft and straight-looking hair. He carved every single strand of hair to make it look realistic. Finally, he was finished with that part. He nodded to himself that it looked great. Now, the nose was going to be easy. The Candle Maker could carve those simply and easily. The lips...the Candle Maker had never carved lips. He always left it blank, saying the customer could do it for enjoyment. But this particular piece would not look happy without lips. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his face, thinking. Lips, lips... The Candle Maker concentrated on his tool, carving slowly. A thin bead of sweat slid down his face.

He was so concentrated that he did not notice the figure in the doorway.

The Candle Maker frowned deeply as his hand shook, the tool cutting into the angel's chin. He swore slightly. The Candle Maker never resorted to magic. He could fix the mistake by smoothing it out, right? He frowned deeply, visualzing a flat chin on the angel. He took out a wand he'd been given as a birthday present from another Everafter (how they knew when his birthday was, he would never know), and flicked his wrist. The Candle Maker smiled as the wax fixed itself.

He went rigid when he heard someone behind him humming.

"Tut, tut, tut. I thought you were better than that. My, my, my," the figure murmured.

The Candle Maker turned around and blinked. "Ah...how may I help you?"

The figure was wearing a black hood, blocking their forehead. Their cloak cascaded around them, onto the floor like spilled ink. The only thing visible was their incredibly angelic smile.

"Actually, I'm here to help you. Please hand me your wand."

"Excuse me?" he said with a confused expression.

"The wand has done you no good. How are you supposed to learn from your mistakes if you fix them before they turn into the lessons you're going to remember? Please hand me your wand." The figure's voice was filled with malice, but they kept the same bright smile.

"Um, sir -miss -whoever you are, I don't know what you're talking about."

They laughed. "Of course I do! I know about Everafters -don't worry, don't worry. Now please hand me the wand."

"Why?"

"Why not?" The figure beamed at him, their voice going dangerously low.

"I..." He backed away as the figure grew closer.

"Hmm, you're not bad looking. Of course, you are on the chubby side." She trailed her fingers across his chest. "But, we could make it work."

"I-I'm in a relationship," he stammered.

"No you're not, silly!" she said, catching his lie.

"With the Blue Fairy."

She laughed at him. "If I do recall, you, the Butcher, and the Baker were arguing about her not long ago in the Baker's shop, correct? None of you are with her."

The Candle Maker stared at her with wide eyes. "How do you know that?"

She waved at him off-handedly. "You don't need to know. Now, I can help you get over the Blue Fairy. We'd be great together..."

"I-I'm sorry...no."

Her smile dropped. "Why not?"

"Because..." The Candle Maker looked at her fearfully.

"You sicken me! All men sicken me! Magic sickens me! It's all sick, sick, sick!" she shrieked, suddenly grabbing his wand out of his shaking hands. "I'm going to rid this world of magic and the magical people to make it a better place!"

"W-what are you doing?" He was backed against the wall, both wands pointing at him.

"Magic is evil. It only makes everything bad, bad, bad! It can turn yourself against you!" she shouted, her fury growing. She stopped shouting and grew still. The figure walked closer to him, and patted the Candle Maker's cheek, sighing dramatically. "I'm sorry it had to end this way, sweet cheeks. But hopefully, you get to carve some more Angels in the next world. Bye, bye, bye."

Where the Candle Maker stood was a puddle of wax. The cloaked woman rubbed some between her fingers and sighed. "Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." She then glanced at the Candle Maker's unfinished Angel, and smiled.

Using the end of her own wand, she carved a crude smile that matched her own malicious one.

Chapter 1

Sabrina was startled out of her nap by the bell ringing in her ear. She was sure it hadn't been that close to her when she'd sat down. In fact, she'd purposely sat as far away from the door and the bell as possible, because they did nothing in first period, and she needed a nap. Badly.

"Ms. Grimm, I suggest you hurry to your next class." Her Homeroom teacher, Ms. Goodall, said sternly. "This is not behavior that's going to increase your chances of the class presidency."

"Dunno, I might win the slacker vote." Sabrina muttered, sitting up and rubbing her ear. That bell had been loud. She grabbed her backpack and headed out the door, which was much closer to her than she remembered it being. She made a face. Puck.

"Well, good morning, lazybones!" Puck grinned at her, shoving himself off the wall he'd been leaning on. "Did we get our beauty sleep?"

"Why'd you move me?" Sabrina asked, not waiting for him. "Heck, how'd you move me? I should have woken up."

"Grimm, you were dead. I just waited 'til the teach wasn't looking. Easy as pie. How'd you like your alarm?"

"I hate you." Sabrina said casually, walking faster.

"You love me." Puck gave her a lazy smile, keeping up with no effort at all.

"Just as much as I love Granny's cooking." Sabrina said. "Go away, would you?"

"Why?" Puck asked. "I like sticking with you. It drives you nuts."

"Because I'm going to talk with Hannah." Sabrina said, stopping at her locker and dumping her stuff on the floor while she opened it.

Puck made a face. "I'll see you in class, Ugly."

Sabrina grinned. She and Hannah had spent a long time convincing Puck that all they talked about was boys and clothes. It had been hard, because there were much more interesting things to talk about, but it was totally worth it. Hannah was her get-out-of-jail-free card when it came to the fairy.

At seventeen, Sabrina had mostly made her peace with Puck, but with that peace had come his annoying tendency to stick to her like glue. It bugged Hannah as much as it did Sabrina, which was why they'd come up with The Plan.

"Hey!" Hannah grinned at her, opening her own locker, three doors down. "Where's his majesty this morning?"

"I told him you were coming and he hightailed it." Sabrina said. "Have you seen Hailey?"

Physically, Hannah was everything Sabrina was not. Where Sabrina was thin, Hannah was a bit pudgy, but made up for it with her 'honkers', as Sabrina referred to her curves. Where Sabrina was blonde, pale and blue-eyed, Hannah had skin that Daphne called mocha, but Puck called mud. She had short, frizzy black hair that, when she bothered with it, could turn into gorgeous tight curls, but normally just stuck out at all angles. The only thing they had in common physically was their height. But inside, the girls were almost exactly alike. Both were sarcastic and a bit volatile, tomboyish, and completely independent. Hannah was a little better at following rules than Sabrina was, and Sabrina was more mature, but they'd been partners in crime since Hannah had moved to Ferryport Landing and exploded on Puck for taping a 'kick me, I'm new' sign on her back.

"Hailey's hanging up posters for you, Madam President." Hannah grinned at her.

"Oh, shut it." Sabrina said, slamming her locker shut again. "The election hasn't even started yet. I probably won't win, anyway. It's not like FLH has had a female school president before."

"Which, of course, has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that it's only been around for five years." Hannah said dryly, slamming her own locker.

"Nothing at all." Sabrina agreed.

The bell rang.

Sabrina cursed, rubbing her ear again. Why was it, she wondered, that she'd managed to be right by the bell both times it rang? Then she remembered that she was late, and cursed again.

"Jeesh, potty mouth." A voice said from behind her, and Sabrina spun. Hailey stood behind her, a stack of posters under her arm.

Sabrina smiled. Hannah might be her best friend (twin?), but Hailey was the only person outside her family that she could really be herself with. They'd gone through the Everafter War together, and after that, what was the point of secrets?

"I think I changed my mind about being your campaign adviser," Hailey teased. "I think I'll go vote for Jason. Potty mouths shouldn't be in charge of the freshmen. That's just wrong."

"They curse worse than I do." Sabrina said. "And so does Jason."

"Yeah, whatever." Hailey said. "Listen, you wanna bail on history with me? You can help me hang up posters."

Sabrina shook her head. "I can't. I've already missed two classes this month, any more, and I'll get detention."

"You can join Robin," Hannah teased. "Get up to all sorts of nasty business while the teacher's not looking."

"Does he have one today?" Sabrina asked, ignoring the 'nasty business' comment. Hannah didn't mean anything by it. Unlike everyone else. "That was fast."

"He got it in homeroom." Hailey explained. "I heard the kids talking about it. But- don't you have homeroom with him?"

"I may possibly have been asleep." Sabrina hedged.

"Gosh, child." Hannah teased. "What were you up to last night?"

"Writing the- history essay! I'm going to be so late!" Sabrina straightened up and ran for her classroom, which was halfway across the school. "Dangit dangit dangit!"

Hailey and Hannah laughed at her as she ran off.

"Nice of you to join us, Ms. Grimm." Mr. Bailey said as she arrived in the classroom, panting. "That's two unexcused absences on days when the computer says you're in school and three tardies for September. You've earned yourself a detention."

Sabrina groaned, making a face. "Really?" She asked, half begging. "Can't you let it slide?"

"No." Mr. Bailey said, and his voice told her there would be no argument. "Put your essay in the pile and take a seat. You did do your essay, I assume?"

"Yeah, of course I did!" Sabrina protested, brandishing it a bit before laying it on the pile already on his desk and going to her seat.

"Nice going." Puck grinned at her.

"Aw, shut it." Sabrina said, sitting next to him. "At least I did my report."

"He only takes off ten points if it's a day late." Puck pointed out.

"Yeah, which means that you'll get a ninety at best, and that's if I edit your report for you once you're done. And that's a big if."

"You will." Puck said, leaning his chair back so that it was only on two legs.

"No I won't." Sabrina said. "I have detention, remember? And after that I have my own homework to do, and Hailey's coming over after dinner to help me work on my campaign strategy. So you can write your own essay, buddy."

"Eh-hem." Mr. Bailey said, looking over his glasses at the two.

They shut up. Mr. Bailey resumed his teaching.

This was Sabrina's life now. Sometimes she wondered if she missed the excitement of the war, but most of the time she was happy. It wasn't as if thing were boring now, anyway. Granny still did her detective thing, and Everafters would never be able to live peacefully in this tiny town. Now, though, she wasn't constantly afraid for her life, and she had normal friends, a social life, and normal problems.

Like detention.

Actually, she could get most of her homework done during detention if she wanted to. It would certainly be more productive than what that couple in the corner was doing. Seriously. How were they not getting in more trouble than they were already in? Nobody wanted to see that!

"No question what they're here for." Puck muttered in her ear, seeing where she was looking.

"Back-talking a teacher?" Sabrina guessed. "Or, no wait... I bet they drew on the desks!"

"And here I was thinking they missed five of Colluchi's homework assignments." Puck said. "Gosh. What was I thinking? It's obvious that they WEREN'T PUT IN HERE FOR PDA!" He said, shouting the last bit.

The couple broke apart and stared at Puck. The boy had the decency to look embarrassed. The girl, though, flared her nostrils and glared at Puck.

"Well, at least we're dating." She said. "Unlike certain couples in here I could mention."

Puck started to stand up, but Sabrina put a hand on his arm. "Leave it." She muttered. People were staring.

"Exactly!" The girl taunted.

Sabrina rolled her eyes and sighed, then turned and stood up, not even bothering to put on her intimidating face.

"Look." She said. "None of us wants to be here. Do you have to make it harder by being difficult? I mean, even if Robin and I were getting dirty with each other in secret, which we aren't, at least we'd be doing it in secret, instead of sticking our tongues down each other's throats and our hands down each other's pants in public. It's disgusting, it's rude, and if you're going to let other people watch, at least film it and make some money? You'll be doing us all a favor."

"You'd be watching it, then?" The girl shot back.

"With you in it?" Sabrina gave the girl a raised-eyebrows, lowered eyelids look. "Please. If I were going to watch that kind of stuff, it would at least have someone I could stand to look at in it."

The girl opened her mouth to reply, but stopped, speechless. Sabrina sat back down, smiling smugly.

"Wow." Puck said. "Rawr. Catfight much?"

"That's a vote I've lost in the election." Sabrina muttered. "What's with the teacher?"

"Asleep." Puck said. "Very asleep. Like, Daphne-level."

Sabrina made a face. "That's not helpful."

"Time was you'd have punched that girl in the face." Puck commented, leaning back in his chair again.

"Yeah, but then you happened." Sabrina smiled sweetly. "And then I learned how to insult people. Come on, lead brain, do your homework so we can go home."

"Nah." Puck grinned. "How about you do it for me and I go find David?" David was a mutual friend who idolized Puck a little more than was healthy.

"That'd be a no." Sabrina said. "I'm not doing your homework for you."

"Why not?" Puck asked, tapping his pencil on one of the desk's legs. "You did it last year."

"Because this is senior year." Sabrina stressed. "And it matters, no matter what you think. I know you can't get out of here, but I can, and I want to be able to get into a good school. Which means I have to concentrate on my work."

Puck grew quiet for a bit, letting Sabrina work on her math homework in peace. Or it should have been in peace. In reality, she could barely concentrate, because she was sure he was up to something. She didn't know what, but it couldn't be good.

"You're really going to leave next year?" He asked.

"I have to." Sabrina said, not looking up. "If I want to get a job, anyway. I can't just be like Granny and live off being a Grimm. Plus, I want to see the world before I come back here. Why?" She looked up at him, finally, and saw his expression. He looked... sad?

"Nothing." Puck shook his head. "You're not gonna run off or anything, are you? Disappear like your dad did for a while?"

"Of course not!" Sabrina protested. "Daphne needs me!"

"I'm..." Puck started, then trailed off. "It won't be the same without you, Grimm."

"Well," Sabrina grinned, "We'll just have to make this year the best one ever."

"Deal." Puck said.

"Part of that includes homework." Sabrina said pointedly. "Get to work."

Puck made a face, but pulled out his book. "Yes, mistress."

"Ooh, I like that." Sabrina teased. "Call me that more."

"What, are you a dominatrix now?" Puck asked. "Gosh, Grimm, I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff!"

Sabrina slapped him with her math book and was about to make a cutting retort when Daphne ran into the room. That was strange. Daphne was still in middle school. Sure, they shared the same building, but the eighth graders didn't go in the high school hallways.

"Sabrina!" She shouted, slamming the door open, "Someone's been murdered!"