Maxs PoV

"Grimms?" Iggy said, looking confused. I nodded. "I don't get it." He admitted. "Well, you guys started seeing this shadow after your parents read these to you, right?" He nodded. "But after a while, it disappeared. The same day I start reading it, I start seeing the shadow and having the dreams? It doesn't make sense unless this is the reason." I explained. "But why? What's so special about it?" I bit my lip. That's something I hadn't considered.

"Little Red Riding Hood." Fang said, out of the blue, earning himself two very confused looks. "What?" I asked. "The wolf you kept seeing? What if that's the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood. That would explain why you also saw it killed that way." I mentally face palmed. Of course! In the original fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood had been eaten by the wolf, and had to be cut out of its stomach by the hunter. Then she killed the wolf.

Iggy started laughing. "The Big Bad Wolf isn't real, Fang." He laughed. "What if it is?" Fang argued back. "What if all of the things from this book are real? If they don't want anyone to know about them, that would explain why they're after us all of the sudden." "But the shadow and the chic with the bloody eyes aren't in that book." Iggy said. I jumped in. "So? The ones in the stories can't be the only things like them. It would be like reading a science textbook and claiming we know everything about the universe." I said. That made him shut up and think. "Ok." He said slowly. "If everything you say is true, where's the wolf?" Fang glanced at me. "Max, you have the claw marks on your shoulder." He said. "I know." I murmured, lightly touching the bandages.

I thought about how the wolf in my (let's call them visions for lack of a better term) vision had had Ari's hair and eye color. How weird Ari had been acting. How he shoved me against the door. The claws. What if Ari was the wolf? "What are you thinking?" Fang asked quietly. I didn't know if I could tell him. I mean, what if my own mental problems with Ari had been making me see things? But that still wouldn't explain why I randomly had claw wounds on the shoulder he had grabbed. "Max?" "Just a theory. You would think I'm crazy." I said with a light laugh, as though brushing it off.

"The bar for crazy is pretty high right now." Iggy said. "Come on Max." Fang urged. I shook my head stubbornly. "Not until I'm sure." "You know where the claw marks came from." Fang said matter-of-factly, studying my face. In my head, I swore. On the outside, I just sighed and said, "Maybe." "We need to know." Iggy said, unnaturally solemn. He was right. I wasn't the only one in danger, and keeping this information, even as a theory, to myself was incredibly selfish. They deserved to know. "Alright." I said in a defeated tone. "Fang, you know how Ari had me shoved up against the door?"

Fang nodded tensely. "Well, before he did that, there wasn't any claw marks on my shoulder. When he let go, there were claw marks on the shoulder he had grabbed." Iggy sat up and said, "Explain more." So I obligingly described the entire scene. When I was done, Iggy sat back in his chair, trying to compute what I had just said. But Fangs mind was already on overdrive. "So you think Ari might be the wolf?" he said. I nodded a tad sheepishly. "It's crazy, I know, but-" "It's not crazy Max." Fang interrupted. "It's being cautious. Which is exactly what you need to be."

"But if Ari is the wolf, then we shouldn't get a ride home from him." Iggy spoke up. "And calling our parents is suicide." We hadn't thought of that, but Iggy was right, technically we were skipping school. "So what, we get punished." Fang said. "Yeah, but if I get grounded I'm stuck in a house with Ari." I reminded him. "He might hurt Angel and Gazzy. And my mom's already under enough stress, I'm not going to add to that." Fang frowned down at the floor. "Our only option," I continued slowly, "Is to get rides home from him and hope he doesn't go all wolfy on us while we're in the car." "Either way, you're going to be at home with Ari," Fang said. "He could still hurt you."

"As soon as I get home, I'll lock my door and barricade it until my mom gets home. Then I'll head to your guy's house. Ok?" I said, trying to reassure him. He didn't look happy, but there wasn't many other choices. He begrudgingly agreed, but only if I was extra careful. I promised him, then stood up to call Ari.

Time Skip

We were waiting outside when Ari arrived, looking even more pale and painful than he had before. I again sat in the passenger seat, so that I didn't arouse his suspicions. Fang and Iggy were dropped off without incident, Fang shooting me a look as he got out of the car that said, 'If you aren't careful I'll kick your ass.' I gave him a reassuring one in return before Ari peeled out. As soon as the twins were out of the car, Ari's speed and recklessness picked up, making us almost crash 5 times in the mile it took to drive from their house to ours. I breathed a sigh of relief when we made it to the driveway in one piece. I pulled my bag over my shoulder, closed my hand around the door handle… and that's when Ari snapped. He roared and lunged for me, trying to get his hands around my throat.

I yanked the door open and shot out like a bullet, slamming it back on his fingers. He roared again, in pain this time, as I sprinted for the door. I slammed the front door shut and locked it. I didn't have time to make it up the stairs, already hearing his angry stomps on the ground, so I ducked behind a wall with a view of the front door. I sat on the floor, hugging my bag to my chest.

I heard Ari bang on the door and flinched, clutching the bag closer to me. He hit the door again.

Again…

Again…

Again….

(A/N BOOOM CLIFFY! MWAHAHAHAHA I AM EVIL! Reviews please. *puppy dog eyes*

UNC-

Silence)