CHAPTER SIX

The girl was staring at the blank page on her desk, trying to focus on the book report she needed to finalize for her English class. But no matter how hard she tried to concentrate on the task at hand, her mind kept wandering back to the letter she'd found in the woods.

'My name is Kelly Burkhardt, and I'm a Grimm.'

A Grimm. She still had no clear idea of what a Grimm really was, but her parents sure seemed to know.

'It's Nick' her mom had told her father. But never had the girl heard either one of them talk about him before. Was he a close friend? He must have been, judging by how strongly her mom had reacted to the possibility he was still alive. But if he was such an important part of their lives, why had they kept his existence a secret? What were they hiding?

All these questions were still bouncing around in her head when she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door.

"Hi sweetie, can I come in?" her mother asked, peeking her head around the door.

"Sure, Mom" the girl responded in a barely audible voice.

Her mother walked in and sat down on her bed. She had a smile on her face, but the lines on her forehead betrayed her, revealing something was weighing heavily on her mind.

"How's your book report coming along?" the woman asked her daughter.

The girl picked up the white sheet of paper and held it up in front of her face.

"Not so good, I gather?" her mom replied with a chuckle.

"I don't know where to begin" the girl sighed, lowering the paper on her lap.

"You'll figure it out" her mother reassured her. "You always do."

She gave her daughter a faint smile, and then lowered her gaze. The girl waited for her mother to speak, but she remained quiet, just staring at the ground.

"Mom, is everything ok? You don't seem like yourself… you haven't since…"

Her mother raised her head back up, and the girl noticed that her eyes were filled with tears.

"Mom, what's going on? Why are you crying? I know it has to do with that letter I found, so please don't try to deny it."

Her mother looked at her for a moment, and when she realized there was nowhere left to hide, she finally surrendered.

"You're right" she admitted. "It does have to do with Kelly's letter."

"Kelly? You say his name as though you know him… do you?"

"Yes, I do. He was… I mean, he's a very special boy."

"A Grimm?"

"Yes, among other things."

"Mom, I don't mean to push you, but you're gonna have to tell me a little more. For starters… who's Nick?"

Once again, tears quickly appeared in her mother's eyes. Hearing his name had visibly stirred up a whirlwind of emotions inside of her; painful ones. A sob escaped her mouth, which she tried to muffle by placing her hand over her lips. But it was in vain; the girl had heard it. She slowly got up from her chair and kneeled on the floor, enveloping her mother's hands with hers. As anxious as she was to discover the truth, she understood her mom needed some time to regain her composure; so she patiently waited until she was ready to speak.

"I'm sorry" her mother whispered. "Hearing you say his name caught me off guard. How do you know about him? The letter didn't mention his name."

"No, but… you did. You told Dad he was still alive, don't you remember? I was in the room with you when you said it."

"I don't recall… I'm sorry" she repeated, still shaken.

Clearly, the news regarding Nick potentially still being alive had eclipsed everything and everyone around her mother for her not to remember what she'd said in the moment she'd realized what the content of the letter implied. Now more than ever, the girl was convinced this man was much more than a simple acquaintance; no, he meant a lot more.

"Sweetie" her mother said, clearing her voice. "Your dad and I… we haven't been totally honest with you…"

"Ok" the girl murmured, dreading how her parents' lies were about to upheave her life.

"Your…" the woman started to say when a loud ring suddenly interrupted her.

She quickly reached for her pocket and pulled out her cellphone. She looked at the screen and her face immediately went blank. Springing up from the bed, she turned away from her daughter's view and answered the call.

"Hey... no, no… I'm coming right over. Don't worry, everything's going to be all right."

She hung up and turned back to face her daughter. If she seemed upset earlier, it didn't remotely compare to how incredibly overwhelmed her mother looked now.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie… I need to run."

"Why, where are you going? Who was that on the phone?"

"I can't get into any details right now, but I promise, we will continue our conversation when I get back."

"But…" the girl protested as her mother kissed her cheek and gave her a quick hug.

"I love you" she whispered before she hurried out of the room.

The girl remained on her feet, staring at the open door, until she heard her mother's car speed away. Their talk had resolved nothing; she had even more questions now, and worse, she was now terrified. Her parents had kept the truth from her about Nick, Kelly and God knows what else. Who were they? And how were they linked to her parents? To her?

Her heart had started to beat faster and she could feel a bizarre array of emotions raging inside of her; anger, fear and sorrow, all entangled together, and yet each fighting to overcome the others. The girl let out a loud sigh and turned around with the intent of throwing herself on the bed. When she caught a glimpse of herself in the dresser mirror, her heart stopped. Horrified, she immediately closed her eyes and kept them tightly shut; she was now surrounded by total darkness, which was a million times less frightening than what she'd seen seconds before. Her frenetic heartbeat resonating loudly in her ears, she took a deep breath and slowly opened her eyes again. In the mirror, she saw nothing but a helpless girl, tears streaming down her delicate face. She exhaled, wiping her tears away with the palm of her hand. Her eyes had obviously played a trick on her.

In an attempt to erase what she'd mistakenly thought she'd seen, the girl made her way back to her desk, determined to get started on her book report. She sat down, picked up her pencil, and wrote her name on the blank sheet of paper. 'There, that's a start' she thought. But soon, the words from the letter started to float around in her head, spiralling in a disordered jumble: humanity, memories, mother, survival, trapped, father, life, blood, son, loss, love, children, alone. The more she repeated them in her head, the less they made sense, even on their own.

Unable to remain focused, she raised her head and glanced outside her window. The autumn leaves were swirling around, dancing in the wind, leaving a beautiful coloured trail wherever they landed. The afternoon sun was still strong, but the girl knew it would quickly start to set, leaving another day behind. 'I need to know' she heard her inner voice whisper. 'Now.' She dropped her pencil, grabbed her jacket and ran out, fiercely hoping she'd find the answers she was so desperately seeking.