Hello Peoples of varying degrees! I forgot to put a disclaimer in the first chapter so here it is. Disclaimer: I do not own the Sisters Grimm…bummer…
Anyway, I know I have not updated in a year or so. This is my apology. Apology: I'm sorry. There you have it. And without further ado…
Sabrina breathed in the cool morning air and loosed a small sigh. She loved the forest. Among the tall pine trees and scattered rocks, she felt both protected and free, which was hard to come by being cooped up in the house.
Sabrina had started taking these walks at the beginning of summer and now confidently strode through the thick woods. Her tree sat about half a mile from the house. The journey included crossing over a streambed, and climbing a sizeable wall of rocks. At the very top of the rocks, stood her tree.
Sabrina's breath came faster as she pulled herself up the rock wall. The sun had come over the forest's tall valley walls and was beating against Sabrina's back. Her tumble with Puck earlier was causing some pain in her upper back, but she pushed on, determined to reach the top before too long.
As she pulled herself up the last ledge of the wall, a light humming reached her ears and made her pause.
Sabrina wasn't stupid. She knew there were dangerous things in the woods, especially within the border of Ferryport Landing.
Sabrina slower turned in a circle, searching every direction for a possible threat. She saw none and allowed herself to relax minimally as the humming dissipated.
Still on edge, Sabrina quickly stepped up to her tree, and started hoisting herself up the trunk. The first time she had tried climbing the tree, she had failed miserably. Only through extensive upper body strength had she eventually been able to shimmy up the left side of the tree.
She sat on the lowest branch taking mental notes on how low the floor should be and where her supports would need to go. She was still sitting there thinking when a light breeze started up and her hair flew into her face. Pulling back her hair into a ponytail, she noticed that it kept tangling when she brushed it past her ears. That had never happened before and she rubbed the outside of her ear.
Sabrina nearly fell out of the tree. She rubbed her ear again, and then the other. They were both pointed. Her ears were pointed.
Her breathing hitched and then slowed. It was probably Puck. Most likely, he had gotten some weird potion or spell on her when they had crashed at the bottom of the stairs. He was always doing something like this.
Still, Sabrina couldn't help but scramble down the branch she was perched on. She needed to get home. Puck needed to fix it. Now.
Sabrina slid down the tree trunk hurriedly, scraping up the left side of her body. She was too distressed to care.
At the top of the rock wall, she stood warily for a second and then headed down at an unsteady speed after another breeze whipped her hair back and forth. Her hands clutched at the wall as gravity pulled her body towards the ground thirty feet below.
Descending entirely too fast, Sabrina unknowingly stepped on a loose stone and it slid out from under her foot, propelling her backwards. Sabrina clawed at the wall for a handhold as her body weight tipped toward the drop behind her.
After a second of what seemed like ever-lasting terror, Sabrina's nails dug into the dirt between two rocks and held.
Sabrina gasped and clung to the wall, her chest heaving with fright.
A shout sounded from the tree line at the bottom of the cliff and several things happened at once:
Sabrina heard the humming noise again.
Sabrina saw Puck flying towards her from the trees.
Sabrina felt something hard slam into her skull.
Sabrina tasted blood as she lost consciousness and fell towards the earth at a deadly height.
Relda was just finishing organizing her recipe drawer, when she heard the front door slam.
"RELDA! JAKE!" a hysterical voice roared from the living room.
Relda dropped several papers, and then ran full tilt into the front room. Puck never called her Relda. She arrived just in time to see Puck laying Sabrina's immobile body onto the couch.
"What happened?" Relda asked in a sharp voice as she rushed to Sabrina's side and felt her pulse. It was rapid.
Relda was joined by Jake and Daphne, who had been alerted by Puck's shouting.
"Sabrina!" Daphne shouted. She started towards her sister, but was picked up by Jake and handed to Puck.
"Hold her," Jake told him and turned to Relda.
Daphne screamed and kicked. "Sabrina! Sabrina, wake up!" The small girl was in tears.
"She's just unconscious. She has some bruising on her head, but that's it. Go get one of the wands, and a waking potion. This is severe enough that it might lead to a comatose state if we don't get her awake." Relda said to Jake.
When he returned, Jake and Relda cast a healing spell over Sabrina and then pulled out a syringe. Daphne sobbed and turned away. Puck held her to him, but watched intently.
Jake pushed the needle into Sabrina's arm and injected a light orange serum.
"Why the needle?" Puck asked.
"Because she's not going to swallow anything right now," Jake replied curtly.
"Is she gonna be okay?" Daphne asked, her voice muffled from pressing it into Puck's green sweatshirt.
"Yes, liebling." Relda said to the small child.
"The potion should start working in a few minutes," Uncle Jake said. He turned to Puck. "We sent you out to keep an eye on her. What happened?" His tone was demanding and accusing.
Puck released Daphne and the little girl ran to her sister's side. Puck looked at Jake. "I was following her, like you wanted me to. When I finally caught sight of her, she was clinging to the side of the rock wall surrounding Gorgon Hollow. I saw her fall…" Puck trailed off.
"You caught her?" Jake asked, softening.
Puck nodded.
Granny had been listening and now spoke up. "Do you know why she fell?"
"I have no idea. It looked like she just… let go." Puck turned away from them and walked slowly upstairs. A few seconds later there was a resounding smack as his bedroom door slammed shut.
"Oh dear…" Relda said. Her hands shook and her face had gone white. Jake rubbed her knee, but his expression remained blank.
The moment was interrupted as a small noise was heard from Daphne and Sabrina stirred on the couch. Relda and Jake moved to the couch.
Sabrina's eyes fluttered open. She turned her head a fraction of an inch and gasped. "Hurts… so bad…"
"What does?" Jake asked.
"Headache."
"Are you okay, Sabrina?" Daphne asked, tears still streaming down her face.
Sabrina scoffed and then winced as if the small movement had pained her. "Yeah, I'm good, Daphne."
"Oh liebling." Granny interjected. "What happened? Why were you climbing?"
As out-of-it as Sabrina was, she still didn't want to reveal what she had been doing to the family.
"Just on a walk…" Sabrina puffed out as she closed her eyes to protect her headache from the glaring lights.
Granny's voice became harder, "Why did you fall?"
Sabrina tried to think, but found it nearly impossible with the pounding in her skull, "I just slipped, is all."
Granny sat back and blew out a shaky breath. She was about to stand when Sabrina's eyes flashed open.
"Wait." Sabrina said. "My head. Something hit me."
"Something hit you?" Granny asked.
"Yeah, I remember a little bit now." Sabrina said, grimacing as she pushed to get her words out. "I was on my way down, and I saw Puck flying towards me. Then something hit me on the head… and … and… it was just dark after that. I don't even remember falling."
Jake spoke up, "Like a rock or something?"
Sabrina sunk deeper into the couch, losing strength, "I guess so."
"Do you remember anything else? At all?" he asked.
Sabrina concentrated for a minute. There was something. Something she was forgetting, but for now it was all she could do to stay awake.
"Don't think… so…" she mumbled as she began falling asleep.
A minute later, a small snore echoed from her throat.