"Same here. Weird kind of took over when I was a kid." Claudia said, smiling wanly.
"Yeah. So, you coming?" Trubel asked again, taking a few steps toward the parking lot, which Claudia could see in the distance.
"I guess so." She nodded.
They left the park, heading toward the parking lot where Trubel motioned for her to get in a car.
"Nice! Yours?" Claudia said as they climbed in.
"No. Borrowing it. It's the folks' I'm staying with."
"Oh, ok."
"Yeah, it's kind of a uh, interesting situation." Trubel replied, backing up from the parking spot.
"So…tell me a title more about this Grimm thing?" Claudia prompted.
"Yeah, so we're like, god this is gonna be awful, but we're kind of like real life vampire slayers, only, uh, only we can see the monsters."
"Really?"
"Seriously, you're not getting ready to jump out of the car screaming 'look out crazy coming through'? Because…that's sort of what most people do when you tell them this sort of thing." Trubel said, almost cringing.
"No, I'm kinda used to this…sort of thing, like you said. I mean, I've never heard of this, but come on, I do stuff most people would never believe either. And, believe me, they've called me crazy too. Except I wasn't, and Josh is back…"
"Josh?" Trubel asked.
"My brother. He…well, see he disappeared. And everybody, everybody thought I was insane saying that he was in another universe, but he was!" Claudia explained, turning to watch the landscape roll by.
"Another universe?"
"Yeah, like I was saying, I'm not from here either. And in my line of work, parallel universes aren't exactly unheard of."
"Well, that's kind of nice to hear. I mean, you're the first person I've actually told who…yeah."
"And, well I don't really go around spouting that story either. Normally, I shouldn't be telling you this, but Im pretty sure we normally live on separate sides of the space-time continuum, so….I think Ms. F will forgive me this once."
"Who's Ms. F?"
"My boss's boss. I work in…and get ready, this really is kinda crazy—"
"Crazier than what I just told you?! I had to make a corny TV reference!" Trubel laughed.
"Yeah, trust me. I work for a Warehouse that collects dangerous supernatural artifacts from the world over. I really am like a real life Agent Mulder. Only we're Secret Service, Warehouse Agents, not FBI."
"OK, I'm starting to feel a lot more normal now," Trubel laughed.
"Yeah, me too. So, what else about this whole….Grimm thing? How long has it been going on?"
"Well, if you ask Nick—"
"Nick?"
"Yeah, he kinda took me in. He's another Grimm. And a cop. He has friends who should be able to help. That's where we're going right now, actually."
"Oh, OK. But you were saying?"
"If you ask Nick, it's been going on for like, ever. There's all this ancient stuff about it. The Brothers Grimm recorded all the sorts of tales about the monsters we see, Wessen."
"Wessen?"
"Yeah, that's what the different kinds of creatures call themselves."
"What are these creatures like?"
"They look like normal people, until they get upset. Then they have these awful faces and…ugh. It's awful. But…apparently not all of them are bad. I mean, Nick has some friends who seem like pretty good folks. Definitely the first good Wessen I've met, though."
"Oh, OK. So..it's not something new?"
"Definitely not. Why does that matter, though? I mean, I'm still getting over the fact you're not freaking on me."
"Yeah, sorry, habit. I'm used to asking this sort of question all the time. I have to track down those artifacts, snag bag and tag…since they tend to be the cause of stuff that's well, out of the ordinary like this."