Hey guys, I'm finally back! Glad you found me and my sequel (sequel to Secrets Come Haunting by the way)! Sorry for the long wait, but writers block is a killer! It definitely blows and it's VERY frustrating! Anyways, enjoy, and please review! :D
"Please Nick! I just want to try!" Erin Kessler-Parker asked her older cousin, Nick Burkhardt, as he loaded his crossbow. Nick glanced up at her and smiled a little and said,
"Uh-uh. I don't think so. It's too dangerous , especially for an eleven year old."
"Hey, I'll be twelve in a couple of months." Erin pointed out.
"Yeah, in like, five." Nick said.
"It's April, so three months." Erin corrected. Monroe, who was fastening melons to strings as targets, stopped and turned to Nick and said,
"C'mon, she is a Grimm, what could possibly go wrong? Wait, is it even legal to let an eleven-year-old handle a crossbow?" Monroe thought for a moment, but before he could come up with an answer, Nick held up a hand and said,
"Monroe-let me handle this." Monroe shrugged and went back to fastening the melons.
"Just saying. She's related to you, so of course she wants to do something dangerously stupid." He muttered. Nick rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but smile a little, and he turned back to Erin, who had her arms folded across her chest, waiting for an answer. She had a very expectant and eager look on her face, and her head was cocked to one side innocently. Nick sighed and gave in,
"Fine. But be careful." He said warningly as he handed her the crossbow. Monroe snorted,
"Give me a break; like I said, she's related to you, so warnings won't change her mind." Erin smiled at Monroe and said,
"You're right, I don't intend to change it." Monroe shot Nick a "told you so" look, and they both got out of the way of Erin. Erin raised the crossbow, single-handedly, and aimed very steadily at one of the melons. Both Nick and Monroe stood there, mouths hanging open, as the melon which she'd aimed at exploded, as she had hit it dead center.
"Well, she's got your aim." Monroe said to Nick. Nick nodded slowly and Erin turned to him and she had the biggest smile on her face he'd ever seen her have.
"So? Can I practice shooting more often?" Erin asked him eagerly.
"Practice? I don't think she needs any practice with aim like that." Monroe said impressed by Erin's accuracy. Nick ignored him, and thought for a moment, then held up his hands in surrender.
"Ok, ok, fine. You can practice shooting with Monroe and I more often." He said. He smiled a little at her, and she looked very pleased.
"Hold on, Nick. I want to try something." Monroe said, and he went over to his backpack and pulled out a blindfold, then he went to Erin and said,
"Let's see how well you do for this." Erin nodded, though she didn't know what she was going to have to do. Monroe jerked his head towards Erin at Nick, and Nick knew what he had to do. He let out a long breath and grabbed his Kanabo, which was the spiked club he'd used to kill four Hundjagers who had been working for the Verrat, and handed it to Erin, who held out her hand and immediately jerked it back when she felt the spikes.
"What the hell?!" She cried, and she lifted the blindfold and looked up at Nick as if he was crazy.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" She asked him, as she held it in her hands, examining it carefully.
"Use your reflexes." Nick said simply, smirking a little. Erin frowned at him suspiciously before he pulled the blindfold back over her eyes.
"Ok, just try and hit whatever you can, if anything. Use your reflexes. Grip it like a baseball bat. Ok, good-Monroe?" Nick said. Monroe picked up a cantaloupe melon and tossed it gently in the air to Erin's left. Without hesitation, she swung the Kanabo to her left, smacking the cantaloupe into pieces. Monroe and Nick exchanged glances, both equally as surprised.
"Am I doing it right?" Erin asked, gripping the Kanabo tighter, ready for another melon. Monroe picked one up and Nick crouched down beside him and watched as Monroe tossed the melon high in the air and Erin instantly swung the Kanabo directly at the melon, and it, too, burst into pieces.
It was ten minutes later that it came down to the two final melons, and Nick and Monroe each grabbed one and tossed it at the same time, but in opposite directions; Nick to the left, and Monroe to the upper right. Erin swung at Monroe's with lightning speed, and then swooped the Kanabo lower and smacked Nick's so hard, the remains flew over Nick and Monroe's heads.
"Ok, that's it-we're completely out." Monroe said, still in shock. Erin removed the blindfold and glanced around at all the remains of the melons.
"Not a single miss." Nick murmured glancing around. He glanced up and the corner of his mouth turned upwards into a small smile, and he and Monroe stood up.
"I just don't get it; Nick was blinded by parasitic worms that like, hooked into his eyes and then he managed to have reflexes like this, but you-you are just-I can't even explain this." Monroe said. Erin smiled, pleased with herself, and said,
"So, I didn't do too bad for my first try, I guess." Monroe snorted and murmured,
"I'll say." Nick smiled and took the Kanabo from Erin and put his arm around her shoulder.
"Not too bad at all." He admitted.
"I'll meet you back up at the Diner, ok? You head on down there, and Monroe and I will clean up this mess. We'll be there in about fifteen minutes!" Nick yelled after Erin, as she had already taken off.
"Go straight there and don't wonder off!" He added.
"Ok!" She shouted back as she sprinted out of the forest. Nick smiled as he watched her skinny legs carry her so quickly out of his sight. He turned and began helping Monroe pick up the bits of melon scattered everywhere, and Monroe said,
"You know, Nick, I never thought I'd say this, but-you're actually doing really good with Erin. I mean-I can-I can just see it in her face when you're around her, she just-lights up. Anyways, all I'm saying is, you're not too bad of a Grimm, or a cop, but you're really good at being a-I don't know, a guardian, I'd call it." Nick smiled. It meant a lot to him for Monroe to be saying this to him, so he couldn't help but smile.
"Thanks Monroe. And you know, I'm really sorry about dragging you into all my problems, but I really do appreciate all of your help." Nick replied. Monroe snorted and smiled modestly,
"Damn right you do." He muttered. Nick smiled and huffed a little and rolled his eyes.
Erin entered the Diner and received a welcoming smile from Ron, the nice old guy who ran the place, and took a seat in her and Nick's usual booth. Before five minutes had even passed, two kids walked into the Diner, laughing and pushing each other around. Erin glanced over the other booths and felt the color drain from her face as she recognized the two kids; Kyle Martin and Reece Callard.
"Please, no." She whispered to herself as she tried to sink as low as she could in the booth. Kyle noticed her almost immediately, and once her realized that Scott wasn't with her, he quickly walked over to her, and Reece immediately followed.
"Well if it isn't the Grimm girl." Kyle sneered. Erin's jaw tightened, and she faced the other direction, refusing to look at either of them.
"Go away Kyle." She said through gritted teeth.
"Or what, you're daddy is going to arrest me?" Kyle taunted, referring to Nick. Erin's head snapped in his direction and she shot out of the booth like a rocket. She stepped right into his face, so that their noses were mere inches away.
"Listen. To me. She said slowly and clearly.
"I don't ever want you to say anything about my family, ever again. You don't know anything about me." She hissed.
"I know more than you think." Kyle hissed, pressing his face even closer to hers. Neither of them backed down from each other, and they stood there scowling at each other for a minute, then Kyle said,
"Grimms' killed my grandparents, and I promised that if I ever met one, I would tear their throat out. I'm here to follow through on that promise." He Woged and growled at Erin viciously, but she pointed her finger at him and said,
"I am not like my ancestors, ok? And you won't be tearing any throats anytime soon. Like I said before, Kyle, you don't know me. I've got a family who I know will always have my back." Kyle snorted and shifted back into a human, then laughed coldly.
"Grimms don't have families. They kill each other, everyone knows that. You're daddy probably beats you every chance he gets, just hoping that at one point you'll die." He sneered evilly. A wave of memories of Ben hitting Erin rushed back to her mind, making her relive the feeling of pain and hate, and she knew that Nick would never hurt her like Ben did, and for Kyle to say something like that was enough for her.
"You sick bastard! Nick would never hurt me like Ben did!" She yelled angrily, fully aware that neither Kyle nor Reece knew who either Nick or Ben was, but she didn't care. She tackled him to the ground, and socked him in the nose, and at that moment, both Nick and Monroe walked into the Diner, and as soon as they saw Erin on top of Kyle, and Reece trying to pry Erin off of Kyle, they both rushed over and each grabbed one of her flailing arms and yanked her off of Kyle.
"Erin, what is going on here?!" Nick yelled over Erin, who was still yelling at Kyle. Monroe and Nick stood her upright and managed to control her, and Monroe began to help Kyle up, but Erin broke away from Nick and shoved him back down again.
"Nick, hold her back." Monroe directed Nick. Erin began yelling objections, but Nick and Monroe ignored her and Nick picked her up by her waist and carried her outside.
"What happened in there?" He demanded, looking at Erin's bloody knuckles and busted lip; Kyle had managed to slip one good punch in that fight, it seemed. At least, for now.
"Nick, am I-I mean, are we really like Kyle says we are?" Erin asked him with a sad look in her eyes. Her hands were still shaking with anger and rage, but she ignored them and waited patiently for an answer. Nick sighed and crouched down to face her.
"Erin, we need to talk about this fighting, and about the Grimm world, but not here, ok? C'mon, let's go get Monroe and we'll go home." He said with a tired tone, and they went back into the Diner and Nick motioned for Monroe to come with them, and Monroe turned to Kyle and said,
"Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Puny Grimms don't hurt me." Kyle snapped rudely and Reece joined him at his side and the two of them left the Diner, and Nick couldn't help but notice that they seemed to walk quicker than one normally would. Erin made a face at Kyle's back, and Nick put a hand on her back and quickly steered her out of the Diner and they went home. On the way home, Erin peered at Nick and said in a matter-o-fact tone,
"I'm glad you showed up Nick. Or I would be dead." Nick swallowed hard, knowing that she wasn't talking about him showing up at the Diner.
"Well you're living at my house, don't I get any credit?" Monroe asked, and Nick and Erin both smiled at him and laughed a little.
Well, that's my first chapter for my sequel! There's more on the way! Hope you enjoyed it! :)