"But I don't even know this girl," Maria said.
Monroe had recently gotten a call from a mother of a girl that went to Maria's school, asking if Maria would like to go to a sleep over that night. And, surprise, she would not like to go.
"Well, she apparently knows you. And she would like you to come," Monroe said.
"But, aren't I grounded? For following you to that paper mill last week? Remember how dangerous and reckless that was?" Maria tried.
"Maria, it's going to be fun! I just want you to get out more," Monroe said.
"Okay," Maria sighed, putting her head down as she went to grab a blanket and put together an overnight bag.
The truth was, yes. Maria did know this girl. Her name was Amethyst Thorn. She was blonde with blue eyes, a western accident, and an attitude that was just a bit too friendly for Maria's taste. She also knew about the sleep over that night and how Amethyst had wanted her to come. Maria had respectfully declined. She did not, however, account for the fact that Amethyst's mother would call her uncle, resulting in her going anyhow. She honestly didn't know why this girl was so interested in her, or how she knew her number for that matter, she did know that this girl had become one part stalker and it seemed that she had no say in the matter. As she packed her Chococat bed shirt and a pair of swiffle pants into a small gym bag, Maria thought of her friends in New York. Stacy and Claire. They'd gotten through some rough times. Maybe if she found the time later she'd call them or facebook them, but now she moved to a new group of girls who gave off the strangest vibe she'd ever seen. They weren't preppy per say, but something about them was just off to her. Sort of like if you were to walk into a china doll shop and you thought that you saw one of them blink. It isn't like they were scary in appearance. They just gave off that sort of feeling.
"So, when are we leaving exactly?" Maria asked, coming into the living room when she was done putting the bag together.
"Oh, Mrs. Thorn is picking you up," Monroe said. "I was going to drive you but she said that she was already picking up two of the other girls and it was on her way."
"Oh, yay," Maria said with false optimism as she looked down, thinking about the possibility that Amethyst somehow knew where she lived without her uncle telling her mom.
"Hey, don't worry! You'll be fine! And maybe make some new friends. Just try not to be a total grouch the entire time, okay?" Monroe said in efforts to cheer her up.
"Okay. I'll try to have fun," Maria said, false optimism in her words.
Then, the knock came at the door. Monroe walked over and opened the door as Maria continued to stand there. Contrary to what her uncle thought, she was quite comfortable with him and this house. And tonight, she would miss it more than ever.
"Maria? Where are you?" Monroe asked from the door, causing Maria to slowly walk to the door.
"Hey Maria!" Amethyst said in that too-cheerful voice.
And then she stepped through the door, straight into the china doll shop.
Maria hated this moment. She was surrounded by three girls in a tight back seat. She could offer to sit up front, but strange adults, yes even parents, terrified her to no end. So if Mrs. Thorn struck up some conversation, she may just have a heart attack in the car. Amethyst was sitting against the window, being in the car first, then there was Maria, Lacey, and Brooke. So, she was cramped with voices shrilling in her ear at every turn of conversation and her bag pulled to her chest under her chin.
"Do you have a boyfriend, Maria?" Brooke asked, causing Maria to snap from her thoughts.
"Uh, no," she said quickly, trying to get out of the spotlight.
"You know, you should meet my friend Trenton. You two would go great with each other!" Brooke said.
"Oh, please Lace! Don't try playing match maker again! Besides, my friend Sarah might have someone more your league," Lacey said.
"Not that kid! He's so, squirrely!" Brooke scoffed.
"I'm really not looking to be in any relationships right now!" Maria said nervously.
"Neither was I, and then I met Troy," Amethyst said with a daze in her eyes.
"Please Amethyst, no one wants to hear about you and Troy!" Lacey said jokingly, shoving Amethyst against the door by reaching behind Maria.
She looked to Mrs. Thorn for support but it appeared she was on her phone and not paying attention to anything around her.
"Shut up slut! He's the best boyfriend ever!" she said, shoving Lacey back "You don't have to ruin my fun just because your friend's mom is dope about who she dates!"
"Hey, he was adorable! And very likeable," Lacey stated suggestively to Maria.
"Yea, if you like nerds that smell like the woods!" Brooke said.
"It is an herbal scent," Lacey said pulling out her phone and selecting a picture "What do you think Maria?"
"He uh, looks fine," Maria said.
"It's okay, Mare," Amethyst said, the nickname sending shivers up Maria's spine. "You don't have to be nice, come on, what do you really think?"
I think tonight's going to be hell.
Nick didn't know what to expect as he walked up to Monroe's door. He thought the Blutbad may have been asleep, then he heard the faint sound of music from inside and proceeded to knock on the door. The music stopped soon after, and he knocked again to assure that Monroe had heard him as the music began to play again. The door was opened to reveal the tired looking Blutbad.
"Really?" he asked.
"Look, if there was anyone else I could talk to about this, I'd go there," Nick began.
"You know, I feel like I should complain but, I'm just not in that mode right now. Maria's not home, so come on in," Monroe said, leaving with the door open behind him as an invitation. "You know, you're really lucky. The first time you knew she wouldn't be, but now you just picked a good time."
Knowing the Blutbad probably didn't want him asking too many questions about the girl, he got to the point "Do you know anything about Ziegevolk?
"A little, mostly that they're usually preachers, game show hosts, you know, actor types. You know, guys that like to be in the public eye," Monroe said "Why did one goat-out on ya?"
"Yea, do you know some?" he asked.
I knew one, in high school. Elvis Greenspan, got all the chicks! Like, every hottie in school! Okay? Kid was five four and weighed like, two eighty. It's hard to believe but Ziegevolk give off this, sort of scent!"
"You mean like, pheromones?
"Yea, they secrete it in their sweat or something chicks can't resist it! And if one of these goat guys touches you, look out man! They own you!" Monroe warned, a serious look on his face. "Why do you think those Holly Wood types are always hugging everybody?""
"Would they ever kill?" Nick asked, trying to get them back on track.
"Nah man, bluebeards got a bad rep. They're lovers, not fighters, you know? They like to have a lot of females hanging off their every word. Not exactly the monogamous type, they live for the rut."
"The what?" Nick asked.
"Picking out the choicest females! You know, for breeding! You see em' in bars all the time! They're players! One-night-stand type guys," he said, reaching for his cello.
"So did you have fun?" Monroe asked as they drove back home.
"You left me there all day," Maria said.
"I had to call you," she pointed out. "I had to ask Amethyst for your number."
"I thought you may have wanted to stay another night!" he excused.
"It is Sunday. Tomorrow is Monday, and it isn't a day off from school. I know you wouldn't let me if I wanted to," Maria said, still no anger in her voice as she put him in a corner.
Yes he'd forgotten his own niece was at a friend's house. It had been Sunday, and he had a few projects to work on. She was just so quiet in the house, and he'd forgotten her. Maria had finally called him, like she would have sooner if she'd known his number, and now they were driving home in the early night. As the phone rang, he answered it without a thought.
"Hello," he said, Maria sulking in the passenger's seat as he did.
"Hey, it's Nick," a man's voice came over the speaker.
"How'd you get my new cell phone?"
"Are you kidding me? I'm a cop," Nick said.
"Isn't there a law against police finding private information without cause?" Maria asked.
"I'm on speaker?"
"I'm driving! Now what do you want?" Monroe asked, tiredness in his voice.
"I need your help," he said, causing Monroe to laugh a bit, throwing a smile to Maria that said 'not this time'. But then he had to say "and I'll pay you."
"Seriously? What do I gotta do?" Monroe caved in quickly.
"All you have to do is go to a bar."
"I have Maria in the car."
"I'll watch her! I just really need you to watch this guy for me."
Monroe thought about it for a while before turning to Maria who shrugged her shoulders before saying "Who's buying drinks?"
"Me."
"Where do I have to be?"
"Blue Moon Bar, do you know it?"
"Do I know it? Dude, I'm there!"
Nick walked down to meet it the yellow beetle as it pulled up to the curb, Monroe getting out with Maria coming from the other side.
"Okay, who am I supposed to be?" Monroe asked, rubbing his hands in excitement.
"I thought you were just watching someone," Maria said "Not talking to them."
"He isn't talking to them, and I just want you to be yourself."
"Well, that's a little disappointing," Monroe said, turning to Nick.
"Look, there's a Ziegevolk in the bar, okay? He's of average height, kind of on the skinny side-"
"Yea, I know a Ziegevolk when I smell one, okay?"
"Wait, Ziegevolk? Those guys are jerks," Maria said, rolling her eyes. "What he do?"
"Look, that's not important," Nick said before turning back to Monroe "Just call me when you get inside, tell me what he does, who he talks to."
"How come you're not doing this?" Monroe asked.
"He probably knows Nick's a Grimm," Maria said "and a cop. I mean, he must if Nick has a warrant for this. Right?"
"I don't have a warrant," Nick said. "I don't need one, this is just surveillance. And I also want you to do it because you know about Ziegevolk."
"Ah, Grimm work!" Monroe said, excited once more.
"Oh, there's one more thing, I saw him eating a toad," Nick trailed off questioningly.
"Dude, he's a toad eater?"
"Gross."
"No, that means he's not just a breeder," he said, turning to Maria and then Nick "he's a herder! That's actually kind of rare for a Ziegevolk."
"Well rare or not," Nick began in a tone of voice that caused both Maria and Monroe to look at him "This guy is a serial rapist. You gotta get inside, I gotta know what he's doing."
"Okay," Monroe said, putting his hand out, into which Nick put a few dollars "Seriously? Come on, that's like a beer and half an onion ring."
"You'll be driving home with a minor in the car," Nick said with a smug grin, causing Monroe to throw him a look before he just walked across the street to the bar.
"Do you really not need a warrant for this? Because you kind of also thought you didn't need a warrant to search our house," Maria asked once he was farther off
"That was different."
"Really? I mean, can't you get demoted for that? It isn't like we didn't hear your partner drilling you outside."
"He's calling, want it on speaker?" he asked, causing her to shut up and nod.
"Got him," Monroe's voice came over the speaker as soon as it turned on.
"What's he doing?"
"Patrolling, and talking to a very attractive woman, he's got game tonight. Whew! That must have been one potent toad he ate, I can smell it from here!"
"Well, can you get closer to him? I need to hear what he's saying."
"Heh, check this out" Monroe said, causing Maria to chuckle at a mental image of her uncle popping the collar of a leather jacket. The chuckles continued as soon as he did. "I am moving in on the bar, 'scuse me pal. There is an opening directly to her left. I am about twenty feet from the bar right now, I can be at that opening in-"
"Okay, I don't need to know everything you're doing," Nick said with a large grin on his face.
"Well excuse me for being thorough!" Monroe snapped back before mumbling "Sorry, I'm not talking to you," and causing the chuckles Maria had been making to erupt into a small burst of laughter.
Then Nick's phone rang and he put it to his ear, off speaker.
"Yea? You're inside the house?" he said into it, causing Maria's eyes to go wide "Yea he's at the Blue Moon Bar. Yea. Yea I'm being careful."
"Does your partner have a warrant to search that guy's house?" she asked once Nick hung up.
Nick rocked on his heels a bit before saying "We have probable cause," and putting Monroe back on.
But, it was not Monroe's voice they heard. The one they did hear, was a bit nasally and it came in from the middle of a conversation "Human beings are malleable I just, I think that everyone needs an emotional and physical leaver."
"What a maroon," Maria said with a laugh in her voice.
"I totally agree!" a feminine voice came over the phone.
"That must be some toad," she mumbled to herself.
"But you gotta have some place to do it!"
"Barkeep, 'Double Dead Guy' please," Monroe said.
"Bar keep? Really?" Maria said, quieter.
"A sanctuary. A place where the world can't intrude. A retreat, for people just like you."
"What's that, his slogan?" Maria joked, laughing a bit more as she did.
"Actually, he does own a bread and breakfast. So it could be," Nick said with a grin.
"What a great name, Bramble House?" the woman said over the speaker.
"And that would be the name."
"Do you know the bramble bushes? They extend these long arch-like vines, that at first don't flower, but then, with a loving touch, they produce these succulent fruit that's just bursting with flavor."
"'Double Dead Man'" a strong voice came, signaling Monroe's drink had arrived, but the Blutbad didn't have a reply.
"Wow," the woman said, breath taken away by the man's speech.
"Any time you wanna stop by, just call the number or… stop by," the Ziegevolk said.
Silence followed then before a small beep, signaling Monroe had hung up. Nick did so as well, before he and Maria looked at the door of the bar expectantly.
"What are you doing?" Nick asked when they saw Monroe come out.
"No way! Dude, I can't be around that guy! He's way too potent. Almost bought him a drink!"
"No, I need you to go back inside! I need to know what he's gonna do!" Nick insisted
"He's hitting on a girl, she's buying the full toad! You know, he gave her his card, what more do you want to know?" Monroe said, and then Nick turned around abruptly "What? What now, you're mad?"
"He's coming out," Nick said calmly, causing Monroe to freeze.
"Want me to track him?" Monroe asked once the Ziegevolk had driven off.
"No! No, you're done. You did good, thank you. You can go home now," Nick said, leaving.
"I don't wanna go home now," he said, wishing he hadn't as soon as he saw Maria getting excited.
"Me neither," she said, much like a child.
"Well, I guess he told us to, so we have to!" Monroe said quickly, causing Maria to deflate. "Come on, you remember our deal."
"If he asks for my help, I can," Maria sighed.
"But until then, not a chance Maria."