Hi, sorry this update took so long I have been having some trouble writing down what I want to happen next. Anyway I hope you enjoy this update!

By the way,

Disclaimer: I do not own GRIMM, any of its characters, dialogue etc. I am merely borrowing them.

Also, Monroe makes a short appearance in this chapter.

Nick had just finished going over their victim's records and hadn't found a single thread of evidence that the man had been anything less than a law abiding citizen of Portland, Oregon; which was a good sign for the society as a whole but not so good for their investigation.

The only link of any possibility was a break-in that their victim had reported five months ago. The suspect, Alec Harrison was arrested for the theft of $508 from the safe in the office and property damage. He was currently serving 4 years since it was his second offense at Columbia County lockup.

Bringing up the arrest record he scrawled through the information until he came to the list of next of kin. Harrison had two older brothers, Mathias and Benjamin who also had criminal records but for car theft and credit card scams.

Maybe it was a revenge killing? But somewhere in the back of his mind disagreed; this killing had been about something else. The way that Martin Fitzgerald had been killed and the extreme lack of evidence spoke of an experienced killer, something that neither of the brothers appeared to be.

But it was the only lead he had so he had printed out the information.

Currently he was sitting at his desk going over the crime scene photos, his eyes scanning the photos for anything that stood out, but so far he was getting nothing.

When he came to the bloody message on the wall he leaned back in his chair and traced each letter with his mind, imprinting it to memory. He didn't recognize the language but then again he wasn't very fluent in a lot of languages.

Now that he was away from the crime scene the feeling from earlier had faded away to nothing more than a bothersome headache but looking at the photos brought back that familiar longing and pleasure again so he looked away. Feeling tainted for just allowing those emotions to resurface.

What was happening to him?

No longer able to handle looking at the photos he exited out of the file and went to Martin Fitzgerald's personal file.

His next of kin was listed as Sarah Jones, his employee, and from what Nick could see that was likely due to the close bond the two shared and his lack of children or a spouse along with being an only child.

Shutting the file he rubbed his eyes then looked over at the time on his computer. 2:30. was that really all the time that had passed? It felt like hours had gone by.

God he needed to sleep. But he was afraid to close his eyes because every time he did he would see that symbol and the lust inside him would rise and give way to other images that were dark and filled with blood.

Deciding that he needed to take a moment to clear his thoughts he picked up a pad of paper and a pen and started to draw.

He wasn't drawing anything specific, just letting his mind concentrate on the lines and curves that were randomly taking form and the darkness of the shading.

But just as he didn't want to do his mind in avertedly went back to the gruesome crime scene. The way the blood seeped into the hardwood floor, the cracking of glass with each step taken, and the horrified glazed over eyes of their victim. Soon it wasn't just images that he was recollecting but also the smell of copper, dust and if he searched deep enough he could almost make out the putrid smell of fear; not from their perpetrator, no they had no fear, but from the victim as they looked their mortality in the eyes and blinked.

His pen dug harshly into the paper, furiously drawing out jagged lines and shadowing that spoke of great distress and frustration. It was when the pressure he was exerting on the fragile writing tool became too great that the pen actually snapped in half, coating his hand, spattering the paper and along with his desk in blue ink.

The action brought him back and he looked down in surprise at the blue mess that his hand had become and the mess that he had created.

Cursing he was about to rise and get some wet paper towels to clean up when he saw the image that he had drawn, not just once but multiple times all over the paper, it was the Ancient Germanic G from the crime scene.

With shaking hands he picked the slightly damp paper up, the fallen ink dribbling down and making a further mess of his desk but he didn't notice.

Looking at the symbol once more the familiar longing returned but it was quickly followed by rage, rage that this symbol would invoke such monstrous thoughts in his mind and the history that this single letter held.

A scowl dominated his features as he tightly crumpled and flattened the paper, more blue ink staining his hand as he did so. Dropping the ruined paper back into his wastebasket he rose from his desk, however, instead of going to retrieve wet paper towels like he had originally intended he found his feet leading him towards the bathroom.

When he entered the bathroom he was grateful to find that it appeared to be empty, he really didn't want to deal with explanations, at least not yet.

Walking to the nearest sink he turned the faucet on and adjusted the temperature to luke warm and dipped his ink stained hands under the flow. The water became a light blue as it swirled down the drain.

Going through the motions he pressed out a generous amount of soap and attempted to get all the ink off that he could.

He vigorously scrubbed at his hands until they were raw and on the verge of bleeding before pulling his nearly red hands out and gripping the countertop, his head hung low.

Leaving the water going the temperature went up and was soon scolding hot, steam rising from the sink and rising into the air, fogging the mirror which held his reflection, the image becoming fogged as well; much like he was starting to feel.

Turning the faucet off, his hand almost burned from the hot temperature of the handle, he then used his arm to wipe off the condensation on the mirror, the image still fuzzy but clearer. He wished it was that easy to fix his perception.

The bags under his eyes were prominent, so prominent that it looked like his face was trying to sink in on itself. His eyes themselves were bloodshot and riddled with the darkness that he was battling. Along with that his skin was deathly pale and resembled a corpse more than a living human being.

In short, he looked like crap.

Exhaling he waited a few seconds then turned the faucet all the way to cold and dipped his hands in, hissing at the glacially cold water. Cupping his hands he brought his head down and splashed the focusing water onto his face, giving him the kick back into wakefulness. He turned the faucet off again this time for good then pushed himself away from the counter and ripped out a few paper towels, drenched them in water and walked out of the room and back to his desk.

As he walked back to his desk he ran into Wu who was holding a file and quickly took notice of his state, particularly that of his blue hand.

"Whoa, what happened to you? Did you squeeze a Smurf to death?" he joked, his usual blank expression on his face as he delivered.

Instead of responding Nick ignored him and continued on his way, not noticing the raised eyebrows he received from Wu in confusion/worry.

Arriving at his desk he found that at some point during his trip Hank had returned and was going over something at his own desk. Of course, every once in a while looking over at Nick's in curiosity about the ink bomb that had gone off.

Seeing that his partner had returned Hank got up from his desk and took a few steps to greet Nick, his eyes of course, like Wu, quickly zeroing in on the blue hand. He wanted to ask what happened but by the almost dead look in his partner's eyes he knew that it was best to just let it go.

"CSUs didn't find any evidence in the alley, but there were security cameras that were pointed towards the shop and alley from other stores so I have a CSU tech. compiling those; hopefully we got something on that. Did you find anything in our victim's record?" he asked, keeping the conversation strictly formal.

With the way Nick had been jumping at the smallest sound or interaction and the obvious lack of sleep he figured it was for the best.

"No, he doesn't have a criminal record so either he's never been caught or he was genuinely a law-abiding citizen. He doesn't have any living relatives so it's not a family connection, but I did manage to find a past break-in that he reported five months ago. The suspect, Alec Harrison was arrested and is currently serving 4 years at Columbia County Lockup, so it can't be him but he's got two brothers who have records for car theft and credit card scams" he finished.

Throwing the damp and ink stained paper towels away he wiped his hands off on his jeans then sat down in his chair.

"Murder is a long way from car theft and credit scams" Hank commented, reading through the files on Alec and his brothers that Nick had handed him.

Nick nodded his head in agreement, having had similar thoughts earlier.

"But they're the only suspects we have right now and there's something else that I forgot to mention…our victim was wesen" he lowered his voice at the end, not wanting to be overheard.

Hank's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he really shouldn't be considering all the other cases they had been working recently. It seemed like more than half their cases had had wesen involved to a point.

"Do you know what kind?" he inquired.

"No, he woged into something that looked like a groundhog and I've never seen one before so I'm going to have consult the books and likely Monroe" Nick explained, planning on looking at this as a possible wesen reason.

Hank nodded, "well how about we go check out the two brothers, seeing as how they're roommates it shouldn't be too hard to find out what they've been up to" clapping Nick on the shoulder the two detectives left the station and drove to the address that was recorded on their records.

~GRIMM~

On the other side of town Jennifer Miller was getting ready for work, her nursing uniform was on and she had just gotten off the phone with her boyfriend who was coming to pick her up in an hour.

The timer on the stove went off and she went over and turned it and the stove off then picked up a ladle and spooned out two scoops of granny smith apple oatmeal sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

Inhaling the aroma she smiled and walked over to her small dining room table, her glass of orange juice waiting for her along with the morning crossword puzzle.

Just as she was about to tuck into her breakfast and start her daily crossword her doorbell rings.

Not expecting company, at least for another hour, she rises from her chair and walks towards the door, a distorted figure visible through the stained glass windows that adorned the door.

Unlocking the lock and deadbolt she opened the door and was greeted by the sight of a young man, looking to be in his late teens standing there with a charming smile on his face, which was curiously outfitted with a pair of dark sunglasses.

This was odd because the sun was only just starting to come up.

Warning bells were going off in her mind, warning her that something was very wrong here and that she should close and lock her door now.

But curiosity had always been a potential character flaw of hers and right now that flaw was gnawing at her to take a closer look at this stranger.

"Yes?" she asked, keeping the door partially closed and only part of her head sticking out.

The charming smile remained on his face, "hi, I'm sorry to bother you but I'm trying to find Briars Street. I've been driving around for about an hour now and I'm completely lost, could you help me out?" he laughed.

"Yeah sure, you just drive up the street here towards Myers Lane then turn left once you reach the Andy's market then keep driving straight and you'll be there" she was about to close the door but was startled when he stuck his foot in the door, preventing her speedy retreat.

"Sorry to bother you more but I have the worst memory, would you maybe write it down for me?" he asked, his smile now becoming a little too bright.

Her heart rate accelerated and the danger vibe she was getting off this man was becoming so tense that she lost control and wuge into a reinigen.

"I'm sorry but I'm busy getting ready for work but I'm sure someone down at Andy's market will glad to help you" the store wasn't even open but she didn't want to talk to this man any longer.

Not caring about the teen's foot she tried to pull the door closed, in an attempt to force his shoe out from the doorway but she was not prepared for the blow that was dealt to her exposed face.

In an insanely clear moment she only just noticed as his fist met her face that he was wearing black gloves. It wasn't cold outside and there was no need for sunglasses. Her mind put together in only a length of a millisecond where she put together that this man had planned this.

Stumbling backwards into her house, blood flowing from her broken nose she lost her balance and fell to the floor. The teen slammed the door closed and stalked towards her, removing his glasses as he went and taking out a shining ax.

Eyes widening in fear she tried to push herself up from the floor but cried out in pain when he stomped down on her ankle, grounding down on it until she was sure that he had broken her ankle.

Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the blood that was continuing to flow from her bruising and swelling nose.

He merely wiped the running the blood off his lips, removing his glasses and pocketing them. Looking down at her with malice.

It was then she looked into his eyes and she knew in that instant, that she was going to die.

He was a Grimm.

Flight instincts kicking in she tried to crawl away, her movements smearing the blood as she tried to get as much distance between her and the Grimm.

She screamed in terror and denial as he grabbed her ankles and pulled her back to him, her broken ankle throbbing in his hands as he dragged her down the hallway and into the kitchen where he dropped her ankles then proceeded to kick her repeatedly in the ribs until she felt fluid filling up at the back of her throat and she started to cough up blood.

It was only a small blessing when he stopped kicking her but that blessing was turned into a curse as she watched him kneel down to her level once more and raised the ax.

Her body was frozen in fear, she couldn't move so much a finger. Reinigen weren't fighters, they didn't seek out battles, they ran and when met with confrontation the only action they could manage was to flee in the opposite direction. That method had failed her, and now she was going to die at the hands of a Grimm.

The ax came down and severed the arteries in her neck, the arterial spray fizzing out of her like a fountain, the blow did not kill her immediately but the blood that was quickly filling her airways was drowning her and in her last moments she watched as he raised the ax back one more time then delivered the blow that chopped her head off entirely.

All functions and thoughts ceased.

Staring down at the dead Reinigen he smiled in satisfaction then leaned down and coated his gloved hand in blood and walked over to the right side wall in the hallway.

The message he wrote was the exactly the same as the one in Moe's bookshop, along with the ancient Germanic G that was added at the bottom.

He then calmly washed the blood off his face, gloves and clothes the best he could at the sink then walked out of the house and out of the still slumbering neighborhood.

It would be an hour later that Jennifer Miller's boyfriend arrived and discovered the horrific scene.

~GRIMM~

Hank and Nick pulled up in front of the brother's home; the house was really just a small shack like structure that had two vehicles stationed out front, one a beat up red truck the other a rundown jeep. The finishing touches was the nearly dead grass that was straw yellow and a rusty mailbox that was missing its flag.

"I like what they've done with the place" Hank sarcastically commented as they walked up the small hill to the house, the grass crunching and flaking off with each step.

Stepping up onto the porch the whole structure seemed to groan, wheezing at their combined weight on the ancient supports.

They shared a look, one that spoke of disbelief and amusement.

Reaching out Hank rapped on the side of the fraying screen door, the hollow sound echoing along the remains of the building.

"Who is it?" a male voice demanded, likely one of the brothers. The voice was coated in distrust and malice, years of being a criminal making them wary of any unexpected 'guests'.

"Detectives Hank Griffin and Nick Burckhardt with Portland PD, would you mind coming to the door sir?" Hank responded, looking into the dark house to try and see the inhabitants.

A loud curse was hissed and the sound of objects falling to the ground, shoes scuffing the floor and the slamming of a door was heard, which meant that just like millions before them, they were running.

No longer needing an invitation Nick, with gun in hand, kicked the flimsy door down and sped inside with Hank running behind him, brandishing his own weapon.

They ran through the house and out the back door, arriving just in time to see the two brothers jumping over a short metal fence and making a mad dash through their neighbor's yard, one brother continuing forward and the other splitting off for the street, Hank and Nick mentally synced and split off.

Nick continued the chase, leaping over the fence in one bound and quickly regaining his footing as he blurred across the lawn in the same direction the perp. had gone. He was gaining ground quickly, and he could almost make out the hairs on the back of the guy's neck.

"Freeze, Police!" he shouted, in a vain attempt to get him to stop, which they never did.

His breathing and heart rate had barely changed and his muscles were singing in praise at the adrenaline that fueled his actions. The Grimm inside him was jolting in aggression and the thrill of the chase, the darkness that sided it was also the high of the coming kill.

Putting all of his strength into the soles of his feet he pounced onto the perp.'s back and they both tumbled to the ground, grunts of pain from the perp. and grass, leaves and rocks were kicked up into the air as Nick fought to gain control over the flailing man in his arms.

It was during the fight that the man actually met his gaze for more than a second and he immediately stilled, his eyes wide in terror. As usual the response to him was for the man to woge into a Jagerbar.

"Grimm" he roared, his efforts to get away increased and he tried to claw at Nick's arms and face with his elongated claws but Nick grabbed his arms and twisted them until he cried out and arched his back in pain.

The Grimm in him responded to the fear that he saw in his eyes and its hunger increased, wanting blood, wanting the jagerbar's head on a stick with blood dripping in rivulets down to the ground.

Something in him, something that knew between right and wrong, shut down and Nick found himself giving in to the urges that his inner Grimm was hungering for.

The jagerbar could tell the moment the switch flipped because Nick's eyes became hollow and he knew in that moment that he was going to die.

Releasing one of his prey's arm's he was about to pull his arm back and deliver the first of many brutal blows to the wesen's face but was stopped and whipped back into reality by the firm grasp of Hank's hand around his wrist.

Seeing that Nick had come back to himself Hank released his hand and watched as Nick turned back to their perp. and flipped him over onto his stomach and slapped his cuffs on the man and hauled him up from the floor.

"You're under arrest for evading police" he growled.

"I caught the brother. He's in the backseat of the car. Want me to take him off your hands?" Hank offered, seeing the adrenaline that was still coursing through his partner.

Nick shook his head, "no, I got it" tugging the man forward Nick led him out of the neighbor's yard and back to Hank's car where the other brother was sitting in the car, a glare dominating his features as the two detectives approached the vehicle with his brother in cuffs.

Hearing the beep of the lock unlocking Nick yanked the door open, almost a little too hard and was in danger of ripping off its hinges.

He none too gently forced the jagerbar into the back of the car and slammed the door shut. He purposely kept his back to Hank as he took a moment to try and cool down before getting in the car.

"You okay man?" Hank asked, watching his partner and friend suffer silently.

It took a few moments before Nick was able to answer, his mouth set in a grimace as he thought over what he had been about to do the jagerbar. He had wanted to kill him, sate his thirst for blood and that had terrified him, just as if not more than with what had happened at the crime scene.

He needed to get his mind under control. He couldn't afford to lose it, for his sanity, his consciousness and the safety of those around him.

"Ask me in an hour" he responded, not able to articulate how he was really feeling, not yet anyway.

Accepting the answer Hank walked around to the driver's side and got inside, Nick following his example and climbing into the passenger's seat.

The ride back to the station was spent in silence.

~GRIMM~

The two detectives were leading the two brothers towards separate interrogation rooms, planning on questioning them until the one flipped but were stopped by Wu who looked to be on his way out.

"You guys might want to lighten your load, we got another one"

"What? Where?" Nick asked, gut clenching in dread.

Hank pawed off the two brothers to a passing officer and told him to take them down to a holding cell.

"A residence: 1015 Wilbur Avenue. From what I got so far, the victim is a young woman" having relayed all the information he had he walked away.

Changing directions they headed for Hank's car.

"Do you think the brothers did this before we got to them?" Hank questioned, keeping in step with Nick as they jogged down the stairs.

"It's possible, could explain why they ran when they found out we were cops" Nick offered. Not that deep down though, Nick knew that the case wouldn't be this easy to solve.

"Or they did something else and we're barking up the wrong tree" Hank added, hoping that they had truly caught the guys. But knowing their luck this case was far from over.

~GRIMM~

The young man dressed in casual black jeans, a gray t-shirt, black biker boots, a leather jacket and donning a pair of black gloves and sunglasses along with a messenger bag slapping against his thigh, jogged across the road and into a familiar forest.

The morning sun peaked through the full branches and collection of leaves which created a natural disco ball effect on the lush ground covering.

Going by memory and instinct he walked past the several moss encased trees, bushes and panicked animals that could sense the evil he was capable of.

Brushing the bushes aside he stepped over the threshold and entered the camp where the rest of his clan was waiting for him. All eyes moved to him as he approached their leader who was waiting for him by a boiling pot of oatmeal.

She didn't look up as he approached, continuing to stir the oatmeal in the pot.

"It's done" he stated, taking out the bloody ax and rag, presenting them to her.

Stopping her stirring she set the wooden spoon aside and looked up at him, eyeing the objects in his hand.

"Were you seen?" she demanded, her eyes steely black and her voice cold.

"No, I made sure of it" he swore, knowing and accepting what would happen to him if he had failed her in any way.

Taking his word and knowing that he wouldn't dare lie to her, she picked up a bowl filled with a clear liquid concoction and took the ax from his outstretched hand then, dipping the blade into the liquid the water turned a dark blue.

"Excellent" she handed the ax over to the young woman who was seated beside her, and she hurried off, adding another piece to the collection.

Instructing him to kneel she repeated the same phrase from earlier along with the marking of the Ancient Germanic G in the blood of the wesen who's life he had taken.

After the ritual was over she sent him away with an order to bring her Isaiah.

~GRIMM~

Entering the house Nick and Hank walked around the CSUs in the cramped hallway who were photographing and analyzing the scene, their eyes stopping when they came to the bloody message on the wall.

"Same message as the other scene, we really need to get a translation on this thing" Hank commented, going through his mind as to who could be a possible candidate.

The tugging of his Grimm instincts was trying to bubble to the surface, to revel in the violence that coated the aura of the home, but he grinded the urges down, not allowing a repeat of what had happened earlier.

"Yeah, how about we check out the body" it was meant to be a suggestion but instead it came out as a statement and he turned away from the enticing message and entered the kitchen to look over the remains.

This one was just as gruesome as the last. Her head had been completely severed from her body and was lying on its side a few feet away, blood smeared in a line from the rolling that occurred after it had been decapitated.

The blood that was still slowly trickling from the body was filling the air with its coppery scent, arousing the Grimm in him to take a closer look at the artwork that lay before him. Whoever this artist was, the Grimm was a fan.

Crouching down beside the body Nick couldn't help himself as he reached out and was about to touch the glistening blood but was suddenly stopped by Hank who had noticed his movements and had pulled him back up, not wanting him to risk contaminating evidence.

"What are you doing? Contaminating evidence is a rookie mistake, especially blood. C'mon, let's talk to the boyfriend" Hank tried to physically lead Nick away from the body but Nick tugged himself free, taking a step away from his partner who was looking at him with both concern and tiredness.

His eyes tried to keep going back to the gruesome remains of their victim but he forced himself to only look at the hardwood floor, following all the lines that separated each individual board.

"Actually I'm going to head back to the station and try to get that message translated" not waiting for his response Nick strode past his partner and out of the house.

Walking down the short path to the end of the front lawn Nick's instincts were churning within him, the feeling that prey was near was so strong that he couldn't fight the compulsion to turn his head and be in just time to see the victim's boyfriend woge into a Fuschbau.

Without his permission his legs started to walk towards the wesen, his hand sliding over to his holstered gun.

Just as he was about to pull his weapon out and shoot the Fuscbau point blank, witnesses be damned, he could just kill them all and be done with it, his cell phone rang.

And with that reality check Nick grounded his feet into the grass and pulled his hand away from his holster and retrieved his ringing phone from his jacket pocket.

Looking at the caller ID Nick was extremely relieved to see that it was Monroe.

"Monroe?" his voice was raspy, his emotions at a boiling point concerning what he had been about to do.

The other line was silent for a moment before Monroe spoke.

"Nick? Are you okay? You sound weird. Is something going on?" he asked, concerned for his best friend.

Nick couldn't help the dark chuckle that escaped him, "oh yeah, yeah everything's fine. Listen um, I'm working a case right now, one that's similar to that case we worked about 5 months ago, the Ryan Smulson case" he added, turning his body around and walking in the opposite direction.

Seeing as he hadn't driven here he was lucky that the station wasn't too far on foot from here.

"Of course I remember! How could I forget? I had nightmares for weeks that an Endezeichen Grimm was going to come and cut my head my off" he responded, leaning back in the chair he was sitting in.

At his words Nick involuntarily flinched, the name singing to his Grimm instincts.

"Someone is going around killing wesen and leaving a message in blood in some language that I can't read along with an Ancient Germanic G" he relayed, his nerves close to frying with all the emotions that were coursing through him.

Monroe's throat went desert dry, his eyes widening in shock and fear of the implications this could mean. He swallowed a few times in an attempt to bring some moisture back to his throat before speaking.

"Are you sure this isn't just a copycat? I mean…are really sure?"

Nick was afraid to tell him how sure he was. If he told him that he knew because his Grimm was keening and demanding to get closer to the evil that had perpetrated these horrific crimes he knew that Monroe would never look at him the same way again.

He himself didn't.

"Yeah, I am. Look I got to go but I'll come by your place tonight at about 8" Nick decided, not feeling like it was the smartest idea to be talking about this out in the open.

"Okay Nick, I'll see you tonight…are you sure you're okay?" he had to ask again, give Nick one last chance to come clean about what was really going on with him. He could hear the whirlwind of emotions that Nick was trying to keep a lid on through the line. That was how bad he sounded.

Nick hesitated a moment before he replied, a second of hope that maybe Monroe could shed light on the darkness that was slowly but surely consuming him. But that was snuffed out when he recalled the way the man was sure to feel, he would never tell him to his face that he was afraid of him but there would be no denying the terror he was sure to show in his eyes.

"I'm fine, just concerned that this will be a threat that not everyone is going to walk away from" he admitted, and he wasn't just talking about lives but his own soul as well.

"Okay, I'll see you tonight. Do you want me to call Rosalee?" he asked.

"No, not yet anyway, not until we're sure that we really are dealing with one" he answered, feeling bad enough that he was involving Monroe on this one, he didn't want his best friend getting hurt or worse, killed because of him.

"See you then"

"Bye"

Both hung up and Nick continued the walk to the station in silence, trying to get a hold on the Grimm that was trying to reach out and grind his human soul to ash.

A/N: So, what did you guys think? I'm not as happy with this one as the last but I hope that you enjoyed it. Please review, I really love to check my account and see new reviews, as sad as it is it really does make my day.

BTW Sean will be in the next chapter, so think about that along with the fact that I only feel motivated to write more when I get reviews.