Disclaimer: I do not own the existing characters that we know and love from Grimm, although I do take ownership over the new characters
A/N: I didn't want to use the same Wesen that we know from the show, I thought that I'd introduce a couple of new ones (don't forget to let me know your thoughts)
Chapter 15
Kelly was forced to bring his parents in on the Erosmius problem that had left his friends infatuated with one another. Though he was glad not to see Hannah chasing after some other guy, he wasn't pleased that a jock was pursuing her.
The Burkhardt family poured over the books and texts on Wesen creatures, trying to find more information about the new creature that was wreaking havoc. Hannah was round and curled up on the armchair in the corner, fawning over Kelly.
"What did the Erosmius' woged state look like?" Nick asked, lifting one book off the table. "This might be what we're looking for."
On the papyrus like paper, there was a rough sketch of a statue and then the porcelain face Kelly had seen with black eyes.
"The Greek god of love- another version of Cupid..." Kelly murmured as he remembered one of his elementary school history lessons. "But Greek isn't in my language vocabulary. Yet..."
Adalind held her hands out for the book, confusing the pair. "Well, I've been learning other languages too, alright?" She ran her finger over the text, silently translating the words. "At least you're don't have to kill the Erosmius like the Cupiditas."
"What do we have to do then?" Kelly asked eagerly, glancing over at Hannah beaming at him. "Because I don't know how much more of this I can take..."
"You're going to kick yourself over this."
"Why?"
"A kiss from the true object of their affection. Seems to me that the Erosmius is the catalyst to making people act on their true feelings..."
Kelly scoffed in disbelief of the simple solution. "Come on? You can't be serious?"
"And you're telling me you haven't kissed Hannah since your friend's house party?" Adalind asked, smiling nervously. "Nick, why don't you help me in the kitchen?"
With the parents gone, it was down to Kelly to break the spell. Hannah was by his side in a snap and hanging onto him playfully.
"Okay Hannah, this is going to be a fun story to explain…" Kelly whispered to her, as if she wasn't really there.
She stared up at him with big round eyes and smiled drowsily.
"Come on," he added, standing her upright so they were nearly eye to eye. "You're crazy sometimes, do you know that?"
"Only crazy for you…" Hannah replied, dabbing a finger on his nose.
Kelly laughed, cupping the back of her neck and going in for the kill. There was a zing of energy that felt like a spark of electricity was passing from one body to the other. As he pulled away, he found Hannah gawking at him with wide eyes.
"How did I- what are we- are we in your basement?" Hannah asked, looking around in confusion. "We were just at Wheeler's party…. Ah, so it was Wesen!"
Kelly laughed softly before lifting Hannah up in a tight embrace. "It's so good to have you back!" he exclaimed gleefully.
"Back? What do you mean, 'back', Kel?"
The young Grimm led Hannah upstairs as he explained what had gone on with the Erosmius. How it had caused everything to fall in love with the first person they saw. For Hannah, she had been lucky enough to see Kelly over everyone else, but for the others – it had created some tension. Megan had frozen Noah out completely out of embarrassment for the way he had behaved when she asked him to the Fall Ball. April was still missing and even though they knew that Kristoff DeLuca had taken her, the De Luca mansion had been cleared. The mirror was gone, along with most of the furniture. Diana was trying everything she could think of to find Kristoff, but every lead was dead.
"There's one more thing I should probably mention now…" Kelly mumbled, scuffing at the wood floor with his shoe. "Wheeler is kind of, sort of, maybe infatuated with you right now."
Hannah's face contorted into a look of disgust. "Oscar Wheeler?! Oh please Kelly, don't make me laugh. You're joking!" She paused and registered the room. "Oh… You're actually not joking… What does that mean for us- or me?"
-o-
Going back to school when she knew that Wheeler was going to be pestering her, and that Noah was going mental over Megan made Hannah wish that she could have been kept home like Quinn. Their parents had decided that the youngest should be kept under supervision at the newly refurbished tea shop with Rosalee. There were concerns that Quinn might go looking for April.
Hannah walked quickly up the road to school and darted stealthily towards her first class. As soon as she sat down at her desk, she heaved a great sigh of relief that she had managed to evade Wheeler.
"That was a big sigh…" a chirpy voice said from behind her.
Hannah turned around, ready to throw a snippy response. "Megan! Hey, how are you?"
Megan chuckled quietly to herself and pointed to the empty chair in front of her. "Mind if I sit?"
"For sure- of course!" Hannah exclaimed brightly, realising that this would be the perfect opportunity to get Noah in the good books again. "Can I just apologise for everything my idiot brother has done in the last couple of weeks?" She bit down on her tongue in anticipation of how the apology would be taken.
"What's with Noah anyway? I'm only asking because I have lab with him next lesson and just wanted an honest answer. You seem- more – 'with it' today."
"Call it a reawakening. And I don't know what's going through Noah's head to be honest. That whole Stacey Watson thing earlier this year really messed with his head a bit. He doesn't mean to behave the way he does but, well, he's a boy after all."
Megan put her chin on her hand. "Why can't he be more like Kelly?" She glanced sideways at the other girl. "Sorry, that was a weird thing to say. It's just that if Noah had Kelly's personality and attentive nature, then that would be the perfect guy for me."
"Maybe he'll change. Why don't you let me have a word with him?" Hannah smiled at the thought of the cogs turning and working in the mission to eradicate the lust of the Erosmius prick.
-o-
Hannah grabbed Noah on his way to the lab to give him some instructions about Megan. Unfortunately the Erosmius' spell caused her brother to have the attention span of a tiny insect. She had to cup his chin sharply in her hand and force him to listen closely.
"You should kiss her. Trust me. Kiss her."
"Hannah!" came Wheeler's enthusiastic screech, tearing down the corridor towards her as she turned to leave quickly.
Teachers and students were ploughing their way onto the narrow corridor making Hannah's swift escape almost impossible. Fellow pupils awkwardly walked into one another in the process of moving to their next lesson, squawking about a cute teacher or some nasty comment someone had made about them.
"Hannah Monroe!" Wheeler shouted, falling to her feet. "I need to tell you something."
People were quickly stopping to look Hannah and Wheeler's way.
"Hannah Monroe, I-"
"No!" she snapped, silencing him. "Not in the hallway!" Her head raced with how to make things simpler.
"One kiss and I'll go away, I promise." Wheeler held his hands up like a monk praying. "That's all it takes."
Hannah caught sight of Kelly down the corridor and tried to sought out some kind of acknowledgement that she was about to do the right thing. That by kissing Wheeler, she'd be breaking the spell of the Erosmius. The Cupid Wesen.
"Fine!" Hannah lurched and quickly kissed Wheeler, backing away as soon as possible. "And that's enough. No more proclamations of your undying love for me. I'm not having it, I have a boyfriend and nothing is going to change that." Knowing that people would immediately register the hypocrisy of the situation, she pushed her way through the crowd and absconded from school entirely. She didn't even care that she wouldn't know if Wheeler was back to normal or not.
-o-
As for Noah, he was staring at Megan during their lesson together. Daydreams of birds flying around the pair filled his head.
"Could you like- stop staring at me for one minute, Noah?" Megan whispered with her gaze fixed on the whiteboard at the front of the class.
"If you were less pretty, it would be easier."
Megan grunted exasperatedly. "Yeah, I bet you say that to all the girls in your tunnel vision ways."
"You got something... right... here..."With stealth of a ninja, Noah pulled the girl's chin towards him and locked lips, inhaling the sweet scent.
Like someone had just flicked a light switch, Noah was back in the room and aware of the fact that he was mouth to mouth with his lab partner in the middle of a lesson. Breaking away quickly, he caught Megan's hand as it swung through the air towards his cheek.
"Megan..." Noah mumbled, tumbling to open his exercise book. "Sorry, I- uh, don't know what came over me... no... do you think- I mean, please would you reconsider coming to the Fall Ball with me?"
She rolled her eyes dramatically.
Looks like I'll have to do better than that, Noah thought to himself before standing up, causing his chair to scrape the floor.
"Noah, what are you doing? Sit down..." Megan squeaked nervously, shielding her face with one hand as if it made a difference to identifying her.
He laughed, vaulting onto the bench top despite the science teacher's shouting for him to get down. "My fellow classmates, I wish you to bear witness to these events." Noah glances down at a red faced Megan. "Megan Peters, will you go to the Fall Ball with me?"
For a moment, the teenage girl debated using the same response he had used. "I would- oh my god, yes! Just get down off the table!"
-o-
With everyone except April and Quinn released from the Erosmius prick, Kelly knew that he and Diana would have to find Kristoff DeLuca quick.
"I know she's missing again but I feel like there's an even bigger reason why you're so eager to get April back from Kristoff." Diana refused to my eye contact with her baby half-brother. "You need to be honest with me."
The Grimm winced. "It's because of what she brought back from the other side of Death's Door."
"More information..." Diana prompted harshly.
"Kristoff wants this orb thing, but I think it's to open another doorway that is worse than Death's Door."
"What is worse than Death's Door?"
Kelly snapped, "I don't know, but we need to get April back and we need to get rid of Kristoff now!" He slammed an open hand into the door of Diana's car.
"Hey! That's enough!"
"I'm sorry but- well, what have you heard on the radios about the Sentinel Group? The blood moon must be approaching soon now?"
"Montoya found something but if she goes to investigate it alone- she honestly won't survive. Sentinel Group are ruthless. Last month, the police covered up what looked like a sacrificial burial. Wesen buries alive, Kelly. They aren't messing around." Diana turned towards the passenger side. "Promise me you won't go looking for April on your own."
"God- fine! I promise!"
Diana caught a glimpse of Montoya leaving her apartment building. "Looks like we're on the move." She quickly turned the key in the ignition, starting up the engine.
Kelly frowned at her, wondering what he was really doing there. "I'm going to need you to tell me where you've brought me all the way out here to stalk your partner. I mean, if this is your way of confirmation a personal attraction, then go for it!" He stifled a laugh, trying to remain serious. "Oh come on – it's not like Clay is your boyfriend, is he?"
Diana flinched, nearly missing the gas pedal. "How do you know about Clay?"
"Yeah – you might think that by moving all his stuff about the apartment and hiding him in your room is enough to evade detection, but you clearly aren't going to be the ultimate detective. Clay's cool though, I like him."
"Yeah… He has his moments."
Kelly turned towards the window. "You like a Kehrseite," he taunted playfully, rocking forwards when the car braked. "Okay, sorry- I take it back. Geez sis."
They followed Montoya's car to a small apartment complex that was formed in 'U' shape. Diana rolled her eyes and slammed a hand into the steering wheel, confusing Kelly who gave her a quizzical look. Without another uttered word, they got out the car and strode towards the complex.
"Is this where Kristoff is meant to be hiding or something?" Kelly whispered as they shuffled along a short bushy hedge. "Because like- I'm barely equipped for this sort of fight."
Diana crept ahead, disappearing out of sight and appearing at the top of a stairway to apartments on the second floor. One of the apartment doors clicked shut, indicating exactly where Montoya had gone.
The metal stairway echoed with every step. It was silent and still outside with just the low hum of the nearby highway. The green door was drawing nearer and nearer. Kristoff DeLuca might have been on the other side of that door with April.
Without warning, a brick was hurled through the air and sent crashing through the window by the green door. Diana and Kelly fell back, avoiding the glass and turning to see Quinn standing in the courtyard below.
A gunshot ripped through the air and in an instant, Diana kicked the green door off its hinges, feeling her eyes glowing their woged violet colour.
"Amelia!" she screeched, dropping to the floor beside her partner bleeding onto the stained cream carpet.
Montoya's gun lay discarded in the doorway - thrown there as a red herring, recently fired. She lifted a finger, pointing at the closed bedroom door. Danger was on the other side.
Diana pulled out her gun from its holster and sidestepped towards the door. She signalled first Kelly to stay back. Using her abilities, Diana flicked her wrist and opened the door. Gun raised and poised to shoot.
A pink ceramic bathtub had been nearly filled to the brim. There was a lifeless body with its head submerged into the water. As Diana was about to check their pulse, a Siegbarste slammed into her, sending her rolling over the bed.
"Kelly, get Amelia out of here- to the car!" Diana screamed, watching the Siegbarste closer. "You're one of the wardens, aren't you? Peter?"
The Siegbarste chuckled, "That's me, Officer!"
"Kelly- now!"
Kelly protested, pulling Montoya out the apartment building and towards the stairs. He tried to ignore the blood that was oozing from her side and her cries of pain with every step her heels found.
"Diana's- not safe..." Montoya growled, gritting her teeth. "Go back." She tried to push the teen away, gripping the cold bannister beside her.
The trip up the stairs again was daunting - Diana was facing off against a Siegbarste. There was no way of knowing who had the advantage in that fight. With the rush of the recent events, Kelly could feel the blood pumping in his ears.
"The Sentinels will return!"
There was a loud thud and as Kelly was reaching the open door, Diana was thrown out the apartment. She slammed into the railing, sent over by the momentum.
"Diana!" Kelly screeched, both arms flailing to catch her. "No!" He whipped around to see the gun discarded on the floor. Letting instincts take over he was in a woged state, Kelly caressed the trigger, lodging the remaining bullets into the enemy Wesen and wall beside him.
"Kelly!" Montoya screamed from the courtyard.
Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Is Diana going to be okay? Let's hope so, and hopefully they'll find April so that they can break the spell on her and Quinn