Everything was surreal, misty and cloudy like a dream. Mina decided to step off the stone and approach the chest. Fortunately, it opened as soon as her fingers touched the lid. The scroll began to unwind of its own accord, and the yellowed paper seemed to resonate with a hum of power. Upon the scroll were words written in many different languages and dialects, along with beautifully crafted pictures.
As she stared in awe, the painted pictures began to move and walk and speak. She heard voices and singing, the same children’s laughter she’d heard upstairs, all coming from within the scroll. Reaching a tentative hand up to touch the scroll, Mina recoiled as it shifted and fell heavily to the bottom of the coffin, now a large leather-bound book.
Wow, that’s huge, Mina thought. How am I supposed to carry that around? She watched in amazement when the book, as if hearing her thoughts, slowly began to shrink into a smaller, thinner book. Mina felt like cheering. She had done it. She had found the Grimoire, and it was even shape-shifting to suit her needs. It would help her.
“Thank you,” she whispered to the book. Then, after some thought, “That’s still rather conspicuous,” she said out loud. Another bright light appeared, and the small book morphed into a school math book.
Mina laughed out loud. “Better, but not quite. I’m terrible at math.” Mina encouraged the book to keep trying, and it finally changed again, this time into a slim red spiral notebook.
“Perfect. No one will expect a notebook.”
She picked up the notebook and was surprised by how light it felt. She was even more surprised to learn that it was blank. The pictures were gone, the writing—everything had completely disappeared.
“So how are you supposed to help me?” She held up the book to the light as if expecting an answer. Feeling slightly let down, she touched the cover lightly and whispered, “I hope you know what you’re doing, because I sure don’t.” The book seemed to warm up in answer.
Mina took the notebook and tucked it under her arm while stepping back onto the stag platform, hoping and praying it would take her back up into the world above. She breathed a sigh of relief when the stone rose into the air, taking Mina with it. It thudded softly as it clicked back into place. Mina was now back on the first floor. But as soon as her feet left the seal, the color seemed to fade from the room. It was as if she had unplugged the store from its battery source, and it was now draining. Walking a little faster toward the front of the store, she tripped on a rug and saw that the store itself was shrinking! The shelves had gotten closer together, and the rugs were moving beneath her feet.
Mina began to jog and dodge books, figurines, and various pottery from the shelves as they started to topple over. At first it was only a few items, and then she heard thunks and glass shattering all around her. The walls began to twist, and a few papers flew past her, knocking into Mina. She had to hurry and get out.
Running now, she saw the entrance, but the door she’d first entered was two feet smaller. Mina threw her shoulder into the red door, and it gave out with little resistance. She flung herself out of the room with both feet, landing in a heap on the sidewalk, scraping her elbows and knees on the hard cement. She never knew the Grimm curse would be so physically exhausting.
Groaning and brushing grit from her damaged elbows, she turned over to look at the store and saw…a blank brick wall. The building had disappeared! Sitting up, Mina looked to the left and saw the pottery store and Rosie’s Flowers, but there was no longer an unmarked store in between them. Quickly getting to her feet, Mina tried to not draw any more attention her way; she was already getting a few uncomfortable stares. Where was Nan?
Something felt wrong. The sun wasn’t where it was supposed to be; it was almost evening. Mina looked at her watch and saw that it had stopped at 1:11 p.m. When she glanced at the clock in the square, it was closer to 7 p.m. Mina had been in the store for six hours? That wasn’t possible, was it? Why hadn’t Nan ever come back in? Where was she?
Instead of waiting, Mina decided to head home, cutting through the back alleys between roads, something she had done hundreds of times before, so she could call her friend. She never noticed when a dark shadow separated from the wall and followed her.
Chapter 11
As the man neared, Mina felt the dread run across her spine, giving her an instant in which to react. She jumped back, but the attacker made a grab for her hoodie. She heard the tear of cloth as a piece ripped off in his hands.
“Little girl, you should know better than to traverse dark alleys alone. Tch tch tch.”
The familiar voice made Mina shudder in terror. How had he found her? It was the same man with the wolf tattoo who had assaulted her behind the library. The man chuckled and sniffed the ripped piece of her jacket, and began to rub it along his face as if learning her scent. His hands looked longer than humanly possible, and his nails were dark and dirty.
“Leave me alone, or I’ll scream,” Mina threatened.