Grim and Evil Part 2: A Deal With Death



A flash of pink later, I found myself in a living room. A little boy was watching TV while a little girl was looking right at me.

"No, Grim," said the little girl. "I asked for a 'pie', not a 'guy'."

I was still a little shocked at the moment. Actually, I was close to hysterics! Since I had just been pulled out of the world of Evil Con Carne, I knew that I must now be in the household of Billy, Mandy, and Grim.

I looked at Mandy. She was a small girl with blond hair and no nose. She looked like she could beat the crap out of anyone who got in her way. I reminded myself to never get on this girl's bad side.

Then I saw Billy. He was sitting on the couch and staring at the TV set. He wore a little red hat, a blue-white striped shirt, and shoes. He had an extremely large nose, and a dumb look on his face, similar to Boscov's. How he could be Mandy's brother, I had no idea.

I then realized that the bony hand was still gripping my shoulder. I looked at the hand, which was all bones, of course, and my eyes traveled up to the face. It was Grim alright. He wore that same black cloak and had a scythe in his other hand. His skull-like face was one of surprise.

I jumped back a bit, but Grim still held on to me. "Oops! Sorry, my mistake." He then began leading me back to the vortex.

"No, wait!" I cried. I definitely did not want to be facing the firing squad again. I began to struggle free.

"Could you guys keep it down?!" yelled Billy, his eyes glued to the tube. "I can't hear Robot Bones!"

At that moment, a hail of bullets flew out of the vortex! Some of them became embedded in Grim's bony frame. Others hit the nearby walls and pictures and vases and things.

"Grim!" shouted Mandy, who was starting to get ticked off.

Just like that, Grim whipped his scythe around and closed the vortex. Afterwards, he turned to me.

"Now look at what you did!" exclaimed Grim as he showed me where the bullets had created holes in his cloak. You could see the bullets stuck there in Grim's bones. Grim sighed with frustration. "Excuse me while I remove these bullets. I'll be right back." And Grim walked off towards the bathroom.

I turned and saw Mandy staring up at me. She had a look of interest on her face. "What are you? Some sort of convicted criminal?"

"No," I said. So I began telling my story of how I got here, but I didn't get very far. It was apparent that Mandy didn't believe me, so I blurted out, "And then I woke up. And that's when Grim grabbed me."

"Whatever," mumbled Mandy. She turned and headed toward the kitchen.

I wish I could wake up, if this was all a dream. To tell you the truth, I was beginning to get tired of zapping from cartoon show to cartoon show. Sure, I was having a good time and all, but even I have limits.

Grim came back. He had removed the bullets and had, somehow, sewed up the holes in his suit.

He looked at me. "It looks like you'll be staying with us for a while."

"But Grim," I argued. "I need to get back home!"

"Very well," said Grim. "I will return you to your home."

For a moment, I thought he was kidding. This is it! Grim was able to take me back home!

"But first, you must to something for me."

Drat. The catch.

"What," I muttered.

Grim handed me a list. "The children's parents are not here right now. Go out and get these things before they come back. Then, I will try and transport you back to your home."

"Deal?" I asked.

"Deal," answered Grim.

I grabbed the list and ran out the door.

Mandy came back from the kitchen and sat on the couch with Billy. "Where'd that weirdo get to?" called out Mandy.

"He went to run some errands for us," answered Grim.

"How is going to do that without any..."

I ran back into the house. "Uh, Grim, could I have some cash?"

Grim gave me a credit card instead, so I left again.

Grim then went over and sat on the couch with the kids.

Billy giggled. "That Robot Bones is so funny."

"That's 'Jones', Billy," said his sister.

"I can't believe you two actually watch this show," complained Grim. "This silly cartoon looks like they've been colored with crayons!"

The three of them MST'd the show until it ended.



A half hour later, I returned with two grocery bags.

"Did you get everything?" asked Grim.

I let out a heavy sigh. "Let's see," I said as I emptied the bags onto the table. "A dozen eggs, milk, bread, pancake mix, cereal, shoe polish, bleach, and five pairs of socks. All here."

"Well, so they are," said Grim.

"OK, now it's time for your half of the deal," I said.

"Very well," said Grim. He grabbed his scythe and sliced a big hole in the air. Another pink vortex appeared, but this one was different. This one actually let me see what was on the other side. Imagine my surprise when I looked through the vortex and saw myself sleeping on the couch at home!

"Hey, that's me! I'm asleep!" I exclaimed.

"Anything you wish to do before you leave?" asked Grim.

Actually, I kinda wanted to have a souvenir of some kind. I quickly grabbed one of the pair of socks and put it in my pocket.

"Bye, kids!" I said to Billy and Mandy.

"Bye, Mr. Stranger!" said Billy.

"See ya," said Mandy.

"OK, I'm ready, Grim. How does this work? Do I just...?"

Grim abruptly pushed me through the vortex.

I experienced a brief flash of pink and then everything went black.

(I know. These last two chapters are short. I was kind of in a hurry.)