Chapter Eleven - Among The Wolves

Wow. Dagger still is able to write on her other stories that aren't just a collection of one-shots? I thought she had forgotten how! I thought she had lost interest! I thought maybe she'd quit doing that!

Woah, guys, I've been gone for so long, and I'm super sorry about that! I should've been updating, but I have been rather busy. However, school is wrapping up, and I'm pushing myself to write more, as I've been slacking off with that recently. Hopefully this makes up for the lack of updates! I'll try and update some of my other stories too, but no promises on when. I will try though.

Evx : Ah, yes. Well, we'll probably be having a perspective from him at some point, but not just yet. It would spoil some stuff that is supposed to be a surprise. c;

Anyways, on with the story! Because that's what you guys are all reading for, right? xD

Also, I apologize in advance if this isn't up to my usual level of writing. :/ Hopefully it is close though!

She shoves me to the ground, and once again I react instinctively. I grab her neck before she can grab mine, and she screams in pain. I don't let go though. Actually, I can't let go. She continues to scream for a few minutes, and even when I try to pull my hands away it doesn't work. She tries to pull my hands off and roll around with me on the ground for a little bit, and then she goes cold. It's almost like the life was sucked out of her.

I manage to pulls my hands away, and gasp when I see they're glowing red. I sit up and push Ever away, refusing to think about the fact that I might've just murdered her. Standing up on shaky legs with a queasy stomach, I call out, "N-Nix? Are you there?"

"Mina?" The tired and pained response sounds ever so slightly hopeful. "Is it really you?"

"Yes! Where are you?" I call back.

This game of Marco Polo continues for a bit of time till we finally find each other. We then help each other stumble out, and I get a good look at him. His face and arms are all bruised, but besides that he looks to be okay. Once we're in the light, he gives me a big hug, which almost catches me off guard.

"Where are we, Mina?" He asks, looking me straight in the eye when he asks.

"We're inside a book, Nix, and it's the last place anyone would ever want to be." I respond, and he trembles a little.

"You mean, the boy in gray really did suck me into a book?" His eyes widen a little bit.

That makes me stop short. "The boy in gray?"

Nix nods. "He was dressed all in gray, and he had these stormy gray eyes. He told me that what he was about to do was completely necessary, and then I remember not being able to move. He got this book in his hands, and when he opened it these white tendrils came out and pulled me towards it. Everything went black, and when I woke up I ran into that pixie girl, Ever. She used to go to our school, didn't she?"

"Oh gosh, Nix, things are a lot worse than I thought they were."

Mina's POV

Three days after Nix and I found each other - and I learned the answer to the mystery of his disappearance, which was extremely upsetting - we'd been exploring the Grimorie. I explained how my dilemma was that I could either make it out or not, and end up dying in here, and so Nix decided he would accompany me in my search for an exit. Not that he has anything else to do, especially if he wants to get it's super nice to have a friend along for the ride, because he makes it seem a lot less horrible.

At first, we were really cautious, seeing how Ever was. But after not seeing any Fae the first two days, we gave up the wariness. It didn't seem like anyone else was around here. Eventually, we stumbled upon what appeared to be an ocean - there was a beach, and the water seemed endless, so we decided it was an ocean - and decided we'd rest there, because it was getting close to night time. We just fell asleep on the sand, a few feet away from each other, not really caring that we were out in the open. That was a mistake.

Laying on the sand, I have part of the same nightmare I had before I entered the Grimorie. And, like it did then, it frightens me.

I'm standing in a field, where a beautiful, crystal clear stream bubbles. I walk over, smiling a little when I see it. But then, the water takes on a crimson quality, and I gasp. What just happened? When I turn my head, I can see there's somebody laying in the water. Is somebody injured?

I run over, and instantly I wish I hadn't as I sink to my knees, covering my mouth to try and muffle my scream. Nix is laying in the stream, coloring it red with the blood from a wound on his neck. His red hair is all wet, and that's not even showing his clothing.

As I begin to cry, I try to shake him. "Nix! Nix! Nix, answer me! Please!"

There's no response from him though, and then the stream bubbles into a river, pulling him away.

"No, Nix, no!" I scream, standing waste deep in the water as his body is ripped away. "Nix, come back! No! Please!"

I can feel myself starting to get dragged under, and gasp when my lungs fill with water. Lungs. Normally when I go underwater, my gills emerge. But they don't this time. I claw at my neck, trying to pull myself upwards. It doesn't work though, and I find that the more I try, the further down I go. When I try to scream, more water comes in.

Suddenly, air bursts in as I find myself in a room that seems to be made of gold, although there's practically nothing in it. There's a golden throne in the middle though, and someone is sitting in it. I can't see who though. I walk around slowly, and when I see who it is, I gasp.

"Miss me, love?" Templestiltskin stands up, dressed in gold like he was when I met him before.

"You!" I back up, but the walls of this room have suddenly come much closer, and the throne has disappeared. "Jared got rid of you!"

"So you hoped." He reaches out with an ungloved hand, touching the strand of hair he touched before. It turns to gold, and I cry out in pain, because this time it hurts. Actually, it doesn't just hurt. It burns. "But I'm afraid it will take a lot more than that to get rid of me."

Then, he touches my face. It feels like all of me is on fire, and slowly I find that I can move less and less. It's getting hard to breathe, and when I do, it hurts. I want to cry out, but I can't move my lips at all. My silent screaming fills my own ears, but no one else's.

And then, like everything else so far, the scene slips away...

...And I wake up screaming.

Except, there's one issue. My scream is muffled, and I can feel a hand covering my mouth. Presumably the other arm of the hand's owner then swings around my neck, keeping me in place and choking me slightly. People just love choking me, don't they? You'd think, as a siren, guys would stop doing that, although I am making the assumption that this is a guy. Maybe the Grimm blood cancels out the Siren abilities? I don't know.

"Alright, sweetie." The growl in the voice reminds me a bit of a wolf's, and I shudder. This guy is creepy. "We've got a special request for girlies to get caught recently, and I do believe you qualify."

There's a snicker from nearby, and out of the corner of my eye I follow the source. I see Nix, held in a similar position to me, but I can't see super well, so I can't figure out what on earth is holding him. No doubt whatever is holding him captive is working with whatever is keeping me captive. I struggle a little, but I can tell it's hopeless.

My head is suddenly shoved down towards the ground, and it is held down a little bit above the ground as someone walks up. I see bright, red heels that seem horribly inconvenient for walking on sand, and then the wearer of those heels - or so I think - speaks.

"So we've got a girl and a boy, Lonetree?" It's definitely a woman, but I can't figure out what's going on. "Well, hopefully we'll have found a girl that suits his interests." What is that supposed to mean? "As for the boy, well, I'm sure no one will notice if I take a few of his years away, and he'll probably sell for a good price."

"What on earth are you talking about?" I exclaim, only to get a smack to the head that sens my head spinning.

There's a rather disturbing laugh from the two men holding us captive, and the lady says, "Well, you'll just have to see what that means, won't you?" She pauses, and then adds, "Knock them out, boys."

I go out like a light before I can even protest anymore.

When I wake up, I'm in the dark. Both literally and figuratively. It takes me a moment to gather my bearings, and then I remember what happened before I was knocked out. I'd been taken captive, and Nix had been captured as well. But where is he?

"Mina, is that you? Are you awake now?" I hear the familiar voice of my best friend, and a little bit of a relief flood into me.

"Nix?" I ask, trying to move forward, only to find I can barley move at all due to the fact that I'm chained up. "Where are we?"

"We're on a ship bound for...somewhere. I don't know where." He sighs. "Are you okay?"

I try to do a self-evaluation of how I am, and then shrug. "I don't know. Right now I think so, but I can't move all that much." I pause, and then ask, "What about you?"

"I'm fine, besides my head aching. Those wolves hit hard, don't they?" There's typical Nix, trying to put a positive spin on the situation.

Then I register what he said. "Wolves?"

He seems to be caught off guard by the question. "Ya, wolves, Mina."

"Um, what do you mean?" I'm almost afraid to know.

"That's what the Fae that caught us are. Wolves. Well, the lady wasn't, but the men were definitely wolf Fae. They're a part of the pack, no doubt. I'd heard some of them had disappeared from one of my Fae friends before I myself was caught, but I didn't even think about the fact that they could be hear. They're dangerous and monsters." Nix sounds like he doesn't like them at all, and so I take that as a cue not to like them either.

"Wow." I lean back against the wall, frowning at the new, tiny flood of info.

"So, what's the plan for escape?" Nix asks, and now it's my turn to be caught off guard.

I turn my head in the direction of his voice. "Plan for escape?"

"Ya, the plan for escape, Mina." He sounds like it's obviously something I have to have thought of.

I shake my head. "I don't know. I wasn't really expecting to get chained up on a ship bound for somewhere I don't know in a place I am unfamiliar with on an impossible journey." This just causes Nix to laugh, and my cheeks burn a little from embarrassment. "What's so funny?"

"I knew you didn't have a plan for escape yet. But I've got one." I can almost hear the wink in his voice.

Which, of course, only makes of Jared. My heart aches a little, till I remember that he's Prince Teague, and he lied to me. Not to mention he's the reason I'm in here. The ache fades, replaced with frustration. Why is this happening to me?

"Alright, wise guy. What's the plan?" I tilt my head a little as I ask.

Now, I can imagine the grin on his face - although I don't know if he'd actually grin in this situation - and my heart dully aches again. "Well, they've given me chains fit for a Fae. I can't preform any magic. You, on the other hand..." He trails off. "That is, if I've been right all along, and you're full Fae."

"Fine. I'm a full Fae Siren, Nix, and I'm the chosen Grimm." This doesn't seem to throw him off as much as I thought it would, and I have to ask, "That doesn't throw you off?"

"I figured that out before this, I just didn't tell you." There's a hint of a shrug in his voice.

"How?" Confusion lights up in me, as well as curiosity. Has he been paying closer attention than I think?

I hear the rattle of chains as someone - probably Nix - shifts positions. "Look, we can discuss how later. I need you to try and use magic."

"You want me to use magic when I can only transform sticks and stones into legitimate weapons?" I ask, a hint of ridicule in my voice.

"I want you to test your chains, and if they're normal, I want you to drill a hole in the ship and make it start to sink." That's a scary thought.

I hesitate. "Shouldn't I just remove our chains and then we run for it?"

"I don't know if you can do that, Mina." He says in response.

"Then I'll be sending us to our doom!" The alarm in my voice makes me speak a little louder than intended.

"You seem important. I'm banking on them saving us, or at least you, since that's the case." His response sounds simple, and very un-Nix-like.

I shake my head. "No, we won't do that unless absolutely necessary."

And it turns out it's not, because that's when the wall of the ship - is that even what it's called? - a few cells away from me is suddenly smashed open, and water comes crashing in. Naturally, I do the first thing anyone should do.

I scream as loudly as possible and pray that someone comes to help.

Uh oh, what's going on with that? How did the ship wall open? And what's up with Nix? Anyone have any suspicions on what's going to happen later, or why Mina had that part of the dream again? What did you guys think of the chapter?

cx Sorry for the bombardment of questions, but if you even want to answer one, please review! I'll try and update soon - if there are reviews, I'll be more likely to update sooner, and the more reviews the quicker I'll try to respond - as well as update my other stories! If you want to see a specific one updated, feel free to add that in your review as well. c;

Thanks for the support! Hopefully you guys all can forgive me for leaving you hanging for so long, as well as for not having my writing up to it's usual standards. And I hope the cliff hanger of what's going on will make you guys excited for the next update!

~ Dagger