Juliette's change chapter 3
Nadine was really excited about this trip. She still couldn't believe how lucky she was to have met Juliette. All her life she had only known devious, manipulative, and fittingly, evil Hexenbiest. It had been 6 months since that night in San Diego and she has seen Juliette at least once a month since then. Juliette was the strongest Hexenbiest that Nadine had ever met and it seemed that she was still getting stronger. Nadine had been teaching Juliette zaubertranke, and Juliette was a quick learner. She had even started experimenting a little on her own. Some of her experiments had been wonderful, like a powder that you could blow in an animal's face and they would go into an immediate and deep sleep. Juliette was using that on almost every day. The potion that had melted through her pot, through the floor, and exactly 6 feet into the ground did not prove to be as useful. Nadine tried to reassure her that if she was ever looking to bury a body quickly then it would save on a lot of digging, but Juliette still listed it as one of her failures.
Nadine had been learning a lot from Juliette as well. The power of Juliette was amazing and Nadine was not able to do all of what Juliette showed her. However Nadine had made great strides in telekinesis and could now move and throw things with her mind quite easily. She wished that she could do it without woging, it would be really useful sometimes.
Nadine had alwaqys struggled with anything that wasn`t mixed in a caldron. She had just accepted that she was a zaubertranke only Hexenbiest. But that had changed with Juliette. Most Hexenbiest didn`t reveal their secrests and they deffinitely didn`t trust each other. You had a better chance trusting a Grimm than a Hexenbiest. Because of that Hexenbiest knowledge was pretty much passed from mother to daughter, and sometimes not even that. Nadine, however, had been adopted and neither of her adoptive parents were Wesen. They still didn`t know that she was either. That was probably why she always liked the zaubertranke, it was easy to pass off as chemistry practice so it didn`t make her parents worry that she was messing with the ocult or some other nonsense like that.
The best part of meeting Juliette was that she was no longer afraid. Being raised outside of the wesen world, and then trying to figure it out on her own, had been scary. She never knew if the stories she heard were true, she never really knew everything that was out there. And most of all, she had been terrified of Grimms. The thought of being hunted by something so terrible and vicious made her skin crawl. Juliette said that she didn`t think that all Grimms would be that bad. Nadine was in awe of Juliette when she said that. She couldn`t imagine how it would feel to be so powerful that you weren`t even afraid of a Grimm. Juliette never really answered Nadine when she asked if she had ever met a Grimm but Nadine was sure that Juliette wasn`t afraid of them.
Nadine had been secretly practicing how to kill a Grimm. She knew that Grimm were strong and fast and agile. She was sure that if she got into a hand to hand fight she would be overpowered. It had taken her a long time but she had finally come up with an idea to kill a Grimm that she thought would work. She kept three knives behind her belt. Nadine had been practicing using her telekinesis to throw all three at the same time from different directions. She thought that at the very worst she could hit a Grimm with at least one of them, no one could dodge all three at once. Nadine would walk through the park at night, attacking trees with this method until she felt quite confident that the next time she met a Grimm she would be ready. She knew that she really didn`t want to meet a Grimm, but at least now she was mentally prepared for the encounter.
The "Portland next stop" announcement came over the train's loud speaker and Nadine got up to look out the window. The train from California had taken longer than flying but there was no security to sneek her knives past, and besides she always found trains relaxing. Up until now Juliette had always traveled down to California to see her. Juliette told Nadine that she liked to travel and she sometimes needed an excuse to get out of Portland. Nadine liked that Juliette was so willing to come to her but was excited to suprise her all the same. Besides, it would be fun to see Juliette's boyfriend Nick. She hadn't even seen a picture of him yet, but he sounded like a really nice guy. Juliette had mentioned that Nick wanted to get married and Nadine really hoped that they would. She also hoped that Nick had a friend just like him for her to meet on this trip. Nadine took her phone out of her pocket and dialed Juliette as she stepped onto the platform. When Juliette picked up she said "Hi Juliette, you'll never guess where I am right now."
Nick walked into the squad room with a coffee in one hand and bagel in the other. It was a hive of activity as always. Setting his coffee down amongst the clutter on his desk he looked over to see that Hank was already there, busy at work. "In early today Hank?"
"I had a lot of paperwork to finish up after that sporting goods store fire. I have been having a hard time making the Excandesco self destruction sound like a bomb accident." Hank aswered as he shook his head to himself, typing at his computer.
Wu walked up with a file folder and handed it to Nick. "We got a hit on that armed robbery suspect from last week. Security spotted him at the train station 5 minutes ago. The next train scheduled to leave is bound for Seattle and takes off in 23 minutes. If you hurry he is all yours."
Nick took the file and opened it to the first page. A mean looking middle aged white guy with long, dank, hair and a poor beard looked back at him. "Well lets get going Hank."
"No problem with me, I can do boring paperwork anytime." Hank pulled on his coat as he stood up. "And it will be nice to go after an ordinary bad guy for a change. I have been starting to think that me and Wu are the only non-Wesen in Portland."
Nick chuckled as he handed the file back to Wu. "I'm not wesen Hank, I can only see them."
"Try and stay out of trouble." Wu shouted as the jogged out of the squad room and down the stairs to the street. 23 minutes to departure gave them plenty of time to get to the train station. With any luck they would be back at the station processing this guy before the coffee that Nick forgot on his desk was even cold.
"You're where?" Juliette repeated.
"I am standing on the platform in the train station in Portland."
"I want to say 'how did you get there?' but I am pretty sure that the answer will be 'by train'" Juliette smiled as she spoke. She looked up at the clock on the wall. 8:40am, good, she should be able to pick up Nadine and still get to the office to see Mrs. Nelson's cat at 9:00am. "I am about 10 minutes away, if traffic isn't bad. There is a coffee shop by the south entrance. I will meet you there."
"Thanks, I could uses a coffee. I thought that I could get some sleep on the overnight train but the people in the compartement next to me were having a really good time." Nadine laughed to herself. She hoped that it had been good because after what she had slipped into the drinks that those two were having this morning he wouldn't be able to rise to the occasion for at least a month. That would teach them to keep her up all night. Nadine turned a corner and saw the coffee shop. "OK I seen the shop. I'll be sitting by the window when you get here."
"I'll see you soon."
"See you soon, bye" Nadine hung up and walked up to the counter and ordered a latte. She looked around the shop while she was waiting for her drink. It was fairly empty, an older couple with coffee and muffins, a few college kids grabbing a drink on their commute, and a long haired guy with a scraggly beard hunched over his table like he was trying not to be noticed. She sat so that he was between her and the door as far away from him as she could get. She didn't want to have to worry about him passing her when he left. She picked up a paper and looked at the date, yesterday. She flipped to the world news section and scanned the headlines for something interesting.
Outside Nick and Hank were watching the coffee shop from their car. "There he is Hank, sitting at that table all alone."
"He's not doing a very good job of hiding, if that is what he is trying to do." Hank pulled out his gun and checked the cartridge. "Let's try and do this quietly. He may be armed."
"How do you want to do it?"
"Well he is watching the front pretty close. If you come in from the back and get behind him, then when I come in the front you are already there to make sure he doesn't get too excited."
Nick nodded "sounds good, give me a few minutes to get around back and get ready"
"See you in a few minutes then." Hand said as Nick got out of the car.
Hank counted to one hundred and got out of the car himself. Looking back at the coffee shop his heart sank. Juliette had just walked in and sat down two tables behind their target. She hugged the woman who was sitting at that table and they both sat down again. This was bad. Hank had to get her out of there before Nick came in from the back. Hank pulled out his phone and dialed Nick but hung up when Nick didn't answer. He must have turned off his phone, he did that so that it wouldn't go off and warn their target that he was coming. Juliette was still talking to her friend. He dialed Juliette.
"Hello Hank what's going on?" Juliette answered.
"Juliette I don't have a lot of time to get into it but you need to get out of the coffee shop right now."
"Wait how do you know I am in a coffee shop?"
"I am standing outside. Now don't freak out but there is a criminal that Nick and I are here to apprehend and you need to get out."
"I'm not really scared Hank. I know Nick tells you everything so you know I can handle myself. In fact tell me which one he is and I'll take care of it right now." Juliette looked over her shoulder at the people in the room. It wasn't hard to figure out who they were after. "Oh I see him, give me a minute and I'll get him for you." Juliette hung up her phone and turned to Nadine. "I need to help out my broyfriend and his partner for a minute. It would probably be best if you slipped out the back." Juliette didn't think this was the place for Nadine to meet Nick, not until she had told her that he was a Grimm.
Nadine didn't ask any questions, she just got up and headed out the back. She wished she had asked Juliette what was going on but it was too late now. She pushed through the back door and bumped into Nick standing in the alley with his hand on his gun ready to come in. Nadine was already on edge and seeing a man with a gun was enough to make her woge. The second she did she saw those deep, dark, souless eyes of a Grimm. Nadine had no idea that this was Juliette's boyfriend Nick, she just saw a Grimm, holding a gun, with death in his eyes.
Juliette stood smoothly and turned towards the fugitive. He didn't look up as she moved towards him, pulling a small vial of powder out of her inside coat pocket. She took a pinch in the palm of her hand and closed her fingers around it loosly. As Juliette reached the side of his table he looked up, just then she pretended to sneeze and blew the powder right into his face. She had never used it on a human before so she used the dose that would put a horse to sleep, it was more than enough. The man slumped down into his seat and his head fell forward onto the table. Juliette quickly grab him and made a show of asking if he was all right to keep him from falling on the floor as Hank came in through the door. Hank quickly moved to handcuff the man and prop him up in his seat so he could search his clothes for a weapon. Happy with her work Juliette turned to the back door to find Nadine.
Nick wasn't expecting a Hexenbeist to come out the back door and the suprise cost him. Nadine had been playing out what she would do if she met a Grimm in her head so many times that she didn't hesitate a second. Nadine threw Nick back throgh the air, knocking the gun from his hand, sending him rolling. Quickly she pulled the three knives from her belt and set them to throw. She only had one shot and she had to make it count, one from each side and one from behind, so he couldn't see it coming. As Nick stood she took aim and threw as hard as she could. The knives separated as they left her hand, each one heading in a different direction, speeding towards the center of his chest all at the same time.
That minute Juliette walked out the back door into the alley. Her feeling of triumph instantly turned to deepest dread. She saw Nick getting up to his feet, saw the knives, and sensed the magic controlling them. She knew that if she did nothing then Nick would die, and she could not let that happen. She reached out with her magic and shoved Nick out of the way, it was all she had time for and it was barely enough. One of the knives parted the skin on the front of his chest as it sped across his backwards falling body, the second knife clanged harmlessly off the brick wall to his right, but the third knife, the kill shot coming in from behind, sailed unimpeded over his left shoulder, straight back to where it had come.
Nadine heard more than felt the knife as it struck her in the top of her thigh. A sickening thunk like slapping a wet towel on the ground. A hot burning pain quickly radiated down her leg. She fell to the ground clutching the knife hilt in her right leg. She could hear herself scream in disbelief. She had practiced this so many times, so many, and it had never failed. She heard another scream and looked up to see Juliette rushing towards her. Nadine didn't know that the knife had severed her femoral artery and nerve. She didn't know that was why her leg felt numb now and was going cold. She didn't know that the knife has actually saving her life right now, keeping her from bleeding out. Nadine didn't know that, but Juliette did. Juliette screamed "No!" as Nadine pulled the knife out of her leg. Blood suddenly spurted out of the wound with so much force that Nadine had to pull her head back to keep from being hit in the face. Juliette fell to her knees at Nadine's side clutching the wound with both hands, feebly trying to stop the blood.
"Juliette what is happening? What's happening?" Nadine said as she let the knife fall from her fingers. Nadine was scared, she had never seen that much blood before.
"The knife was like a dam, holding back the blood. We just have to get it to stop now." There was fear in Juliette's voice and Nadine could hear it.
"I should have left it in, I don't know what I was thinking, I was just so scared."
Yes you should have left it in Juliette thought to herself, if you had we would have a pretty good chance of getting you to a hospital.. She pushed harder down on the wound but blood just kept running through her fingers. "Don't worry Nadine, it will be OK. It will be OK" Juliette tried to sound confident but her voice faltered as she saw Nadine's eyes start to close. "Stay with me Nadine! Open your eyes! Nadine!"
It was already too late. Nadine's heart had been racing and now it was killing her faster and faster with each beat. There is only so much blood in the body, and when it's gone, it's gone. Juliette finally thought to close the artery with magic but too much blood was already lost. Nadine half opened her eyes and looked up and Juliette. With a voice so weak it was less than a wisper she said "Be careful, there is a Grimm around here. Don't let him get you too." Nadine went limp and Juliette cried. She pulled Nadine close to her, rocking back and forth sobbing. Rocking back and forth with tears rolling down her cheeks, holding Nadine's head to her chest, sobbing.
Hank exited the back door and took in the scene at a glance. Nick was pulling himself out of the pile of garbage cans where he had landed, Juliette was kneeling over a body, and there was blood everywhere. Nick got to his feet and headed for Juliette. Before he was halfway across the alley Juliette threw her head back, woged, and screamed. The noise was shattering. Nick and Hank both fell to the ground with their hands over their ears, nauseous with pain. Glass shattered and the walls vibrated. When Juliette stopped it felt like there would never be sound again. The silence was deafening. Nick picked himself up once again and started for Juliette. Hank grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Let her be Nick. I think that you just need to let her be." Hank was right, there was nothing Nick could do right now. Juliette had saved his life and in doing so her friend had died. He couldn't imagine what that felt like, he didn't even want to try.
Juliette looked back down at Nadine's lifeless body. All the pride, all the confidence, all the courage that she had felt after their fight with the Mellifer was gone. She was wrong. She could feel remorse as a Hexenbiest, she could feel guilt. Nadine had been her friend, her closest friend, and now she was dead, and it was her fault. She could feel guilt as a Hexenbiest, and it stronger than she had ever felt before. It was horrible. What had she done? If only she had told Nadine about Nick sooner, if only she had told Nick that Nadine was coming, if only she had left with Nadine instead of... if only. Nadine was dead now. Now what was she going to do? Juliette looked down at Nadines lifeless body one last time and lay her down on the ground. She looked at Nick and then at Hank and then with blood covering her from head to toe she walked off down the alley and was gone.
The End.