The Family Grimm [IC, Fantasy]

[WhatsamattaU]

Ginger Grimm

"It doesn't have to be a treasure," answered Ginger, "just something meant to be of use. I don't have anything home-made, so I'm leaving some food," she said, pulling a 'Payday' bar from her jacket pocket.

Suddenly, G.G. had the feeling that they weren't alone! "Milo! Don't turn around and carefully walk backwards to the car!"

[S i t k a]

Milo Grimm

Milo had lived in the Grimm household long enough to know what Ginger meant. There was danger here, of the inhuman kind. Or maybe it was just a mountain lion. Were there mountain lions in Arizona? Milo couldn't recall.

In any case, he did as he was told, stopping short and slowly backing up the way he came.

"What do you think it is? Something guarding the Totem?" He whispered once he was close to his sister.

[Newrey]

"Idaho isn't small for sure, but if we ask around, I'm sure people will remember seeing dad. He doesn't really have a low profile to speak of." Cyrus tried to keep a level head, but hit the steering wheel out of frustration, "Damn it, Dad! Why couldn't you have taken one of us with you."

When Noah mentioned Timothy hunting god in the afterlife Cyrus let out a chuckle, "Probably." He let the next few miles pass without words, just the low hum of the radio playing some classic rock. "Noah, have you noticed Milo acting different lately? He just seems so downtrodden."

"True, but something must've seriously spooked the man good if he had to warn us like that, with no explanation." Noah responded, looking out of the truck's window "He's a stubborn man, Cyrus, something that we have in common with him", His mind began to wander as they sat in silence, trying to figure out what it was that had spooked their dad. Cops, maybe, but he doubted that Dad would warn them like that, after all, Alex could use his own position as a way to dissuade them or Cyrus could just use his fast-talking to get them out of trouble. He snapped himself out of it when Cyrus brought up Milo;

"Not sure really, I'd say puberty but the kid's like 17, so maybe teenaged angst? Not like we were any different at his age" he joked "Then again, we hunt monsters, so he could just be wishing he had a normal life".

[The Cyberiad Council]

A desire formed in the old Skinwalker's mind but he needed to act quickly before they fled. The coyote's body began to swell as bones shifted and sinews snapped and twisted. Its hair shorted to reveal warm skin, and the muzzle shorted to form a human face. Out of the darkness, a voice called to the two teenagers, "I'm sorry, friends, It was not my intention to startle you." A handsome Navajo man stepped into the light. A feral savageness resided in the man's eyes, but his posture and friendly smile didn't betray the threat of immediate danger.

"It is a beautiful night, isn't it?" The Man walked a little bit closer to the pair but maintained a slight distance. It was then that the Skinwalker saw clearly the reason for his anger. In the eyes of the pair with burning souls, a hatred. It burned cold and grey, with the anger of several generations.

"You are twins, correct? Pardon my curiosity, but you just look too similar to be anything else. Your sister could be worth a lot, young man. Would you part of her for ten horses?

[The Cyberiad Council]

Ginger Grimm

G.G. could not believe what she was hearing, she wasn't Milo's property, or any of her brothers, and she certainly wasn't going to belong to..., to..., oh God, she hated herself but he was handsome..., and then the family curse flared to life as she felt the twinges of nausea and the flood of power coursing throughout her body. It renewed her resolve to be her own person.

G.G. hoped whatever this was hadn't noticed her momentary weakness, as she locked eyes with it and said in burning coldness, "You Will Never Have Me."

Milo Grimm

Milo felt the curse burning inside him, trying to take control, and he knew at once that this man was no ordinary human. But he resisted the curse for now. Having so little experience with it, it often seemed to make him weaker rather than stronger.

"Who... who are you?! What do you want with my sister? We just stopped here to leave an offering at the Totem. We didn't want any trouble."

He started to feel weak and woozy from the effort of fighting the curse.

The Skinwalker

The copper-haired maiden's words almost made the Skinwalker laugh, until he sensed the power growing in her. In her brother, as well, but his power was less channeled and more erratic. He felt his own temper growing as well, but he held it in check, and was almost in awe as he perceived the spiritual fire and power in her raging but contained by a will of iron.

The Skinwalker did not believe these youngsters could kill him, but this strange fire could probably make him hurt. But, it was still intriguing. He would toy with them, that could be amusing, and it seemed so long ago that he had been amused.

He addressed the boy, "Did I stutter, youth? Your sister. I would have her. I offer you ten horses for her. I think it a fair price. She would bear me magnificent sons and daughters."

Milo Grimm

"My sister is not for sale. Selling people into slavery is illegal. And even if it was, she's one of the only people I have left that understand me. Please, don't hurt us."

He started to focus more. He was suppressing the curse better now. He could stand up straight and look the man in the eye, without his powers gaining control. In a way, he felt that this gave him more strength than letting his powers win. But perhaps this was just a feeling. Either way, he became more assertive.

"Listen. I will not let you take my sister. I must continue on my way. A member of my family is in trouble, and I must reach him before it is too late. I cannot explain it to you, but there is a darkness within me. I have fought it off for now, but if we all stay here it will bring us into a fight that won't end well for any of us. Let us leave an offering at the Totem as we wished, so that we can travel on. Please."

There was no wavering in his voice, only determination.

Ginger Grimm

G.G. could barely contain herself. She wasn't sure who she was most angry at, this... this thing of evil or her own brother for begging it to let them go. It looked smug and self-assured, and G.G. wanted nothing more than hurt it.

"Milo!" she snapped, giving her brother a hard look, "sharks and zombies don't bargain!"

She turned her attention back on the evil in front of them. Sons?!?! Daughters?!?!

A primal scream shrieked from her throat as the curse took control and she lunged for the thing's throat, almost too fast for the eye to follow!

The Skinwalker

Faster than the evil one could have imagined, the copper-haired maiden was upon him! He fell back, upon the ground and they wrestled. She wound up on top of him. Her hands were at his throat and squeezing. Had he been a man then he surely would have died. He could not be killed in this way, but the pain was something the Skinwalker hadn’t felt in years, if ever.

He tried to scare her by taking the form of a large coyote, to bite her, but she kept her hands about his throat and his jaws could not find her. He returned to his human form but his hands could not pull her hands from his throat. The fire within her reached out and the Skinwalker gave a cry as if it was burning his spirit!

In desperation, he balled his right fist and swung upward with all of his ebbing strength, striking her just under her left eye. She lost her grip and the evil one rolled away from underneath her, coming to his feet. The copper-haired maiden regained her footing, too.

Milo Grimm

And in a flash, Milo's assertiveness was gone. The boy started to run to hide behind the car, but stopped short, looking back and forth in frenzy. The curse was starting to overpower him, and he could hardly think straight.

He shook himself and grabbed a hammer from the toolbox in the trunk, then ran back toward the disguised beast. But the closer he got, the more intense the burning within him became. It felt like the world in front of him was spinning. It felt like the curse was tearing him apart, like it was some kind of monster. Milo tried to focus. He might need the curse to help his sister, but what might it make him do? What might he become?

He used all his focus to keep it bottled up. He then swung the hammer hard at the creature's back, with his strength and his strength alone, not that of the foul curse...

Ginger Grimm

G.G. was breathing hard, not from the fighting, but from excitement! She touched her face, where the shape-changer had stuck her. It stung!

She looked at him and his expression was a combination of pain and wonder. A little girl had attacked him and had actually hurt him! G.G. smiled, saying to herself that he never expected this!

She couldn’t resist taunting him, saying, “What do you think now? Freak! Am I still worth ten horses?!?!”

The Skinwalker

The evil one stood and gave her an appraising look, before saying, “No. I could not catch enough horses to equal your worth.” Then he smiled.

The Skinwalker turned to see the youth, looking somewhat disoriented, swinging at him with a hammer. Best not to press the game, at this time. He crouched and leapt upwards, easily taking the form of an owl and disappeared from their sight. He could find her later.

[WhatsamattaU]

Ginger Grimm

It was done and whatever the hell that shape-shifting thing was, it had fled.

She looked at her brother, a hammer in his hand, and smiled..., then her stomach growled. It growled so loudly she wondered if Milo had heard it.

Ginger considered just eating the payday bar that she'd planned to leave as an offering in the shrine. It wouldn't help that much, so she actually did leave it there in the carved out space of the shrine.

She touched the right side of her face, again..., ow! Then she smiled again at Milo, and said, "I'm Starving! Let's get going! Hank's Trading Post isn't far from here and I'm going to need a lot of beef jerky!"

[S i t k a]

Milo Grimm

Milo seemed distant. He shakily sat down and took a few deep breaths.

"I... just a sec..."

After a minute or so, he got up. "Okay... okay. I'm fine now. It's just... keeping the curse away drained me."

He walked back to the car, put away the hammer, glanced back at the Totem, and rummaged through his backpack. He took out his notepad and tore out a drawing he had done some time ago, depicting the view from his window. It was rather detailed, and would perhaps surprise Ginger, as Milo rarely showed anyone his drawings.

He placed it by the Totem, safely under a rock. "There. That'll do for an offering, I hope."

He returned to the driver's seat, and once Ginger was inside they drove off.

"What was that, exactly? And sorry for talking so much. It's hard to think straight when it feels like your soul's on fire.
And... hmm, what time did we leave? Do you think we should call Cyrus soon? I imagine he'd want us to tell him about this."

[WhatsamattaU]

Milo Grimm

Milo seemed distant. He shakily sat down and took a few deep breaths.

"I... just a sec..."

After a minute or so, he got up. "Okay... okay. I'm fine now. It's just... keeping the curse away drained me."

He walked back to the car, put away the hammer, glanced back at the Totem, and rummaged through his backpack. He took out his notepad and tore out a drawing he had done some time ago, depicting the view from his window. It was rather detailed, and would perhaps surprise Ginger, as Milo rarely showed anyone his drawings.

He placed it by the Totem, safely under a rock. "There. That'll do for an offering, I hope."

He returned to the driver's seat, and once Ginger was inside they drove off.

"What was that, exactly? And sorry for talking so much. It's hard to think straight when it feels like your soul's on fire.
And... hmm, what time did we leave? Do you think we should call Cyrus soon? I imagine he'd want us to tell him about this."

Ginger Grimm

Ginger decided to answer the easier questions, first.
She glanced at her watch. They had left home forty minutes ago. It was only about a thirty minutes from home to the spirit shrine, so they had spent only ten minutes or so in battle with the... whatever it was.

"We left home about forty minutes ago," answered Ginger. "We have plenty of time to talk with Cyrus and the others when we get to Bluff."

Ginger bit her lip as she thought about the encounter at the shrine. Then, "It doesn't die easy, if it did I would have crushed it's windpipe. It can change shape. It looks like a Navaho.... The bad news is I don't think we can kill it, not straight away. I think it's a 'Skinwalker'. A skilled Navaho shaman, who turned to evil just before becoming a priest. They gain powers and near immortality in a ritual where they kill a close family member. The good news is that it can feel pain, so us Grimms are probably safe."

Ginger remembered the look in it's eyes. She had seen that type of looks from boys at school, but not from a man. Not with such smoldering intensity. This was insane. The creature was as old and evil as sin. But it didn't look old.... The sooner she could forget about this incident, the better.

[The Cyberiad Council]

Ginger Grimm

While she and Milo were at Hank's Trading Post, picking up some snacks and drinks for the road, it crossed G.G.'s mind that it would be good to have a place to stay the night. They didn't want to show up in a strange town that was having some kind of festival, maybe, and be like Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem. Hank's had an internet connection and local Wi-Fi, which they shared with travelers, so G.G. went onto the web and scouted out lodgings in Bluff.

One of the Bluff Hotels, The Kokopelli Inn, along with the usually expected amenities, mentioned a low-key restaurant and a small convenience store. That seemed like a good place to stop. There were six of them, so they'd likely need two or three rooms. She would have booked it but Cyrus hadn't passed out the emergency I.D.s and credit cards, yet.

Ginger got out her mobile phone and prayed that she could get through to Cyrus. Ring... ring... ring...

Cyrus

Timothy had drug Cypher on enough late-night hunts that he was used to staying focused late at night, but that didn't mean he liked it. It did have a certain serenity about it. His phone brought him out of his daze as he looked at the caller ID before accepting his sister's call. "Hey, G.G. Everything alright?"

Ginger

"Hey, Cyrus," said G.G., thankful that she'd gotten through, "Milo and I are picking up some snacks and drinks at Hank's Trading Post. Do we have hotel rooms in Bluff booked? Hank's has Wi-Fi and there's a hotel in Bluff, The Kokopelli Inn, with a restaurant and a convenience store. You want to call ahead for us all?"

Cyrus

"That sounds like a plan. Text me their number and I'll call ahead. Are you alright?" Cyrus asked in a concerned tone. Her voice seemed different, a little shaken.

Ginger

Ginger could feel an ache under her left eye. She didn't want to talk about what happened at the shrine, not yet, at least. She would have to, she knew, when the family stopped in Bluff. But not yet.

"I'm worried about Dad," she said, which was true but it was also a deflection. Cyrus might want to head back an start hunting the Skinwalker, so Ginger made a lie of omission.

"Okay, Cyrus," G.G. said, "Let me hang up and I'll text the number to you. 'Bye."

Cyrus

"Bye." It wasn't long before his phone vibrated announcing he had received his sister's text. Cyrus tapped the number into his phone. It was starting to get late, but they were hopefully still open.

"Hello, This is the Kokopelli Inn, would you like to make a reservation?"

"Yeah, do you have three rooms available?"

"Hmm. Three rooms? Yes, Sir we have three available rooms, are you traveling with a crowd?" The woman on the other end of the line asked with a hint of humor in her voice. "Yeah, I am."

"Okay, Sir how many nights will you be staying?"

"Just one night."

"How will you be paying?"

"Cash."

"Okay, Sir. When will you be checking in?"

Cyrus attempted to sound apologetic and a bit innocent, "Well, I was supposed to make these reservations yesterday, and It totally slipped my mind. Can we possibly check in at about 11?"

"Uhh, well." The woman paused for a moment, "I suppose so.."

"Great, Thank you!"

"Oh, what is the name for the reservation?"

"Grimm. Like the German brothers."

"Alright, Mr. Grimm, We'll see you soon."

"Thank you." Cyrus said before hanging up the phone.

[WhatsamattaU]

Ginger Grimm,
Near 11:00 pm,
Kokopelli Inn, Bluff Utah.

She had been keeping an ice pack on the left side of her face since she and Milo had left the Trading Post. Now, as Milo was pulling the old car into the hotel parking lot, G.G. felt the sinking feeling that would come from having to explain her black eye.

Scheisse.

Milo parked the car. Ginger took a deep breath and got out, ready or not.

[The Cyberiad Council]

Cyrus wasn't far behind Milo as he pulled his truck up next to the old car. "Hey, guys," Cyrus said as he opened the door of the truck and walked around to the bed and rummaged around for one of the hiding places where he had stashed some of the money. "I'll go pay and get the keys, you all just wait here."

Ginger was keeping her face turned away, but Cyrus didn't think much of it. A little while later he returned with three room keys. "I'm going to keep Solomon in my room to make sure he can't get into trouble. Noah," He said tossing a set of keys to his brother. "You and Milo get a room, and G.G. you and... Jesus! What happened to your eye?"

[Kazarogkai]

Solomon Grimm

Earlier today

Driving

Long driving

God I hate it. The car sickness ain't helping matters on this long epic to go save Timothy's old ass. Is it worth it... hard to say.

For the moment I was in the backseat of my cousin Alex's car. The man was a cop and it showed. You could see all in the car and all it's spartan fixings. I'm not a car man admittedly but even I knew this thing was a bit of a letdown. I'm sad. And I got the taste of vomit in my mouth while hanging my head out the window which ain't pleasant at all to add another dimension to things.Dammit I thought cars were supposed to be fast why does it take so god damn long to get everywhere still. Ehhh.

I'm just bitching and moaning though for the sake of it. I'm admittedly bored and quite honestly couldn't care less for such mundane matters like driving. If only I knew teleportation, that would be a racket. Sure there's probably spells for it but I wouldn't want to risk it. I'm just not good enough to do something like that. Making wards and maybe a couple curses was one thing, bending space and time and reality itself was a whole other ball game entirely. Fuck up there and your up shit creak without a paddle with a split in half log for a boat.

I just had to wait sadly. In the mean time I turned to Alex and told him in a quiet mumble.

"Turn the music up boss."

Later that day

Finally the grand gauntlet that was the drive was almost over. At least this portion of it. Were going to have to continue traveling later but atleast we get to rest from this evil monstrosity that is known as a car. Bleh. I saw the lights and the sounds of the town or small city or whatever that was Bluff. It was a bit qaint but it would do for the moment. Hopefully someone had made sure to get some god damn reservations somewhere. I'm getting my own room or sleeping on a park bench, I can't stand none of them enough to not do that.

I pulled out my wallet and started counting my money getting ready for when we stopped.

[S i t k a]

Milo Grimm

Milo glanced at Ginger, who didn't seem ready to respond. Not seeing any real benefit to hiding what had happened, he sighed and began talking, after making sure no passers by were in hearing range.

"We stopped at the Wupatki Totem to get some air and leave a little offering, like some travelers do. A Navajo man walked up and started talking strangely, saying he'd buy Ginger for ten horses or something, as if it was the 19th century. We both felt the curse starting to go wild, and Ginger eventually into a fight with the guy, who turned out to be some kind of shapeshifter thing. I think Ginger said it might have been a 'skinwalker' or something. It teleported away or something pretty quickly, and we got out of there."

[The Cyberiad Council]

The Skinwalker
Wupatki Spirit Totem

The copper-haired maiden and her brother had left some time ago. Shortly after that, the evil one, still in the form of an owl, saw two other cars with occupants carrying the angering aura had also driven north. This confirmed to the evil one the idea that something mystical had happened a number of generations passed to that family.

He considered the facts. The feeling of anger in him has been stirred in him by their presence, but he had the power to curb this anger. If this also caused other things to want to attack that family, then their physical powers were necessary for their survival. Also, some of them, or at least one of them, used magic.

He returned to the shrine and examined the offerings that the pair had left. One offering seemed to be food in a wrapping. The second offering, a drawing. was more interesting. It was a picture of scenery and carried a feelings of appreciation and a care for accuracy. It had been the work of the youth.

The Skinwalker memorized the image and the feelings he had received while examining the drawing. The youth..., Milo had said they were on their way to help a family member and they had traveled north. Others like them had also gone north. Perhaps it was safe to travel south, to see if he might find where they all had traveled from?

[Kazarogkai]

Solomon Grimm

Out of the car I went with my things(helmet, sword, dagger, and miscellaneous goods) nicely stored in a cargo carrier bag out of sight and mind of potential prying eyes that may or may not be looking out for me and my own. Sure a simply bag wasn't going to be enough to stop the small magical signals that emanated from my sword due to the various small spells that I had enchanted it with but at the very least it would keep the norms out of my hair. Still needed to worry about things that might be a bit close by but thankfully if there was anything like that I would sense it and know it just as quickly as it noticed me. From the parking lot I made my way through towards the hotel that would be are temporary abode for the night. I wasn't paying a tremendous amount of attention towards anyone or anything at the moment with my mind focused on something else entirely. At least at first. Out of the corner of my eye I saw some of the others and though I truly wasn't paying that much attention to such things, having little interest, I noticed they were talking and it appeared to be of a mildly serious manner. It didn't take much for me to look over and see ginger had a nasty bruise on her eye.

"Kid's be f***ing around, tsk tsk tsk" is all I said under my breathe so as not to draw much attention. Instead of gaining said attention in that manner instead the way I preferred to do it was via shouting in a rather mild mannered and jovial way while not looking towards them "I gots money! I GOTS MONEY!!! I'm getting my own room!" and from there I carried on making my way into the lobby not leaving anyone much time to respond. Into the lobby I went and well.... It wasn't no 5 star resort but that's cool since were not on vacation and hence I wouldn't want to be paying that much anyways. To the front desk I spotted a reasonably pretty gal with her hair done up in a pony tail wearing glasses, dark red lipstick, and a simply black dress. I presumed she was the front end lady and as such I levied upon her my request "Room for one, no room service I'm eating out missy." in a nonchalant manner of speaking. I pulled out my rather simple leather polo wallet and counted the money I bought along waiting for an answer.

Note: In terms of looks he's donning a rather simple get up consisting of a white T shirt, Denim Vest, black belt with a silver Texas style buckle, loose blue jeans(no sagging though), and cow boy boots with some long black socks underneath.

[WhatsamattaU]

Cyrus

The eldest Grimm stood dumbfounded looking at the twins. "You went off the road, got attacked by a Skinwalker and didn't think to call me!?" Cyrus's voice was almost yelling; he looked around, making sure no one had heard him, but Bluff was all but deserted at this time of night.

---

The clerk behind the desk looked at Solomon apologetically. I'm sorry sir, but that man that was just here rented the last three rooms we had.

Noah Grimm

Noah smiled slightly hearing his brother getting mad before speaking "Cyrus, they're still kids, I wouldn't expect them to remember every last detail and, from what Milo said, being offered to be bought for 10 horses might be a little more rattling for someone, so calling you might not be as high on their list of priorities as getting away is" he said, placing a hand on Cyrus's shoulder "Besides, it's like they're taking a note from dad's book"

Ginger

G.G.'s prediction of how Cyrus would react was spot on. Noah's remark about priorities rang true, as well. Now that Cyrus had had his shocked response, she was free to explain what she'd been thinking.

"Noah is right, Cyrus," said Ginger. "I didn't call and tell you because right after because it could wait. Going after Dad comes first. I didn't want you turning back to hunt it. Hell, we might not be able to kill the Skinwalker, because the only way on record is to find out his name. Short of that, we might imprison it for a long, long time, if not forever. That means we need a plan, not to just saddle up."

Turning to Noah, she said, "And, yeah, a serious offer to be traded for horses is kind of offensive.... Noah, I'm sorry, but you spend so much time less than sober that I forget how smart you are."
.
.

[WhatsamattaU]

Noah Grimm

"Don't worry, I also forget I graduated high school" he said jokingly "Speaking of, anyone know where's still open? I'm kinda thirsty"

Ginger answered, "There's a convenience store on the hotel property, but I don't know if it's still open or not. But are you talking about drink, or a drink? Under the circumstances, a little 'dryness' might be good, at least for a little time."

Cyrus took a breath but he saw they had a point. "I'm just glad you weren't hurt. Or worse." He started for his room and looked back at Noah, "There are some things in dad's book that should stay there. I'm going to get some sleep because I've been up for over twenty-four hours and I'm exhausted. We're leaving at seven. Don't wander off alone."

[Kazarogkai]

Solomon Grimm

"FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK you Cyrus. Buying all the god damn rooms. I ain't gay unlike you, sleeping in the same god damn room as you, I'm not risking this turning into a prison documentary. I'm taking the bench in a park or something, meh."

Starting off with a scream and slowly but surely ending in a slight murmur as if mostly talking to myself.

"Damn you cy..." mumble mumble mumble, "gay mother..." Mumble mumble mumble. As I stomped my way back to the car like a pissy little kid who didn't get his favorite toy with my bag over my shoulder. Yes if one is wondering I was very much planning on sleeping on the park bench or maybe behind a dumpster or something. It wasn't like it would be the first time considering my 4 years on the lamb back in my teenage years. Wasn't like I was considering potential consequences or anything I was just too god damn pissed and letting my temper get the better of me. Most certainly not the smartest move. Being a Grimm conferred certain... consequences and one usually had to take special precautions in most matters. I didn't really give a damn as mentioned that old temper of mine kinda was roused. There's a reason I sleep in the basement. Taking my bag to Alex's car I began to check on my stuff the most important of which was my Long Sword, "Bane's Scream", whose engraved magic I made sure to activate with a litany or two while it was still in it's scabbard. One might ask why the heck do I need to "activate" the weapon, shouldn't it already be as such at all times. Well there is a couple things to keep in mind once activated the curses on the weapons can be somewhat... psychically attractive to beasties within a given area similar to my grim curse except amplified a bit. Similar to the Curse they won't know my location exactly but they will be attracted to it and will attempt to search for it usually. Just a quirk that came with the package, probably to do with the large number of failed engraved spells I tried to place upon it. This can be useful helping me draw out enemies towards an ambush possibly but at the same time be dangerous since it can potentially lead to some nasty things finding me in the dark. On the otherhand the curses are what make this weapon an effective weapon. So it's a bit of a trade off: more effective in combat but enemies are more likely to come searching for me from a distance. Didn't really think about it too much the only words seeming to come out of me in a light murmur as I was messing around with my gear was:

"I need something to eat, maybe a burrito?"

[WhatsamattaU]

Ginger Grimm

G.G. was tired. It had been a long and eventful day.

Cyrus had paired the family members and she had drawn Alex to bunk with. That was fine. Alex and she shared the notion that the Grimm family curse was something like Spiderman’s, “With great power comes great responsibility”. This also meant that they both wanted to try and bring some balance to their lives. What good was a secret identity if you were on hero duty twenty-four-seven?

G.G. pulled her duffle bag from Milo’s car. She and Alex arrived in their room and G.G. plopped her bag on the twin bed that she selected. She opened it up and pulled out her laptop computer, booting it up and opening her files on healing magic. A quick scan resulted in her finding something to heal bruises; a ten-minute chant to speed healing. Could she stay awake long enough before collapsing into sleep…, probably.

She considered Alex, and said, “Alex, I’m going to try some healing magic. It’ll take about ten minutes of chanting. Is that alright with you?”

Alex looked as if he was about to answer when his cell phone rang. He answered it with, "Grimm, here.... What?... When.... You sure? Uh huh, right, okay." and ended the call.

He turned to Ginger and said, "I have to go back to Flagstaff. Police business."

G.G. hoped that whatever Dad thought was after them back home wouldn't find Alex. She said, "Be sure to tell Cyrus. This night's been a real cluster. And you be careful, We don't know what Dad thought might be headed our way, back there."

She gave Alex a hug and let him go.

Alone, Ginger cleared her mind and began the healing incantation and chant. As she had imagined, it took about ten minutes to do. Going to the bathroom, she checked her face in the mirror. It was hard to tell if there had been any effect, yet. Well, she thought, wearily, I'll look for results in the morning.

With that, she changed into a nightshirt and fell asleep on the hotel bed.

[The Cyberiad Council]

Cyrus Grimm

If Solomon was adamant about not sharing a room, Cyrus wasn't going to stop him; he was too tired to give a shit tonight. He walked over and unlocked the room and simply fell on the bed. It wasn't even five minutes before Alex started knocking on the door. Mumbling profanities under his breath, Cyrus staggered over and opened the door to see his brother. "What do you want Alex?"

"Sorry to keep you from getting any sleep, but I have to head back to Flagstaff."

"Police?"

"Yeah. I'll do what I can to track dad down from home, but I can't just leave my job."

"Fine. We'll keep you posted. Have a safe trip."

"You too, man." With that Cyrus shut the door before falling asleep for the first time in what felt like forever...

[WhatsamattaU]

Ginger Grimm

G.G. was awake at six in the morning. She had set an alarm on her phone, as she didn't want Cyrus nagging her.

Before a quick shower, she checked her face in the bathroom mirror. It looked like there'd never been a black eye. Outstanding.

By six forty-five she was in a fresh set of clothes and had repacked her duffel bag.

She walked to Cyrus room and knocked. Then she shouted through the door, "Wakey-wakey! Eggs and Bake-ey! See you in the restaurant!"

She wasn't sure why she was smiling so much as she headed to the hotel restaurant.

Cyrus

Groaning at the sudden sound coming from his door, Cyrus rolled over and sat up. "Stupid alarm..." He complained, checking his phone only to find out he had forgotten to set one. "...or maybe stupid me."

He took a quick shower and grabbed a clean set of clothes before taking his bags and heading out the door. He pounded on Noah and Milo's door before throwing his stuff in the truck on the way to the hotel restaurant. Cyrus grabbed some coffee and sat down across from G.G. "How'd you sleep? And where'd your black eye go?"

Ginger

G.G. smiled back, sipped her tea and answered, "Cyrus, I'm sure Dad told you after my first trip to the Cabin that I've got a good aptitude for white magic, like removing curses and healing and wards. Just a little chanting before bedtime and I'm ready to go the next morning."

Then G.G. asked, "How did you sleep and did you rouse the others?"

[S i t k a]

Milo Grimm

In spite of all that had happened, Milo was having fairly good dreams, but they quickly departed when Cyrus banged his fist on the door.

Milo woke up confused, startled by that brief moment when you wake up and have no idea where you are. Scarcely a second passed before he remembered, but the shock was only replaced by other worries. Dad's situation was at the top of the list, followed by his sister's condition following the fight and then the whole debacle regarding Jacqueline.

Shelving these thoughts for the moment, he got up, showered quickly and dressed in a fresh pair of jeans and a 'Space-X' t shirt, along with his ever-present hat. Checking his backpack to see if anything was missing (nothing was), he grabbed it and started out the door... and then whirled around as he realized he had only put on one shoe. Milo wasn't a master at the art of waking up early.

After fixing this issue, he headed for the restaurant; the commotion he'd heard as the others got up before him suggested they were heading out, so they'd either be there or by the cars just outside.

He yawned. "Mornin' everyone..." he said, still a bit sleepy as he got himself some toast. "So what's the plan for today?"

[The Cyberiad Council]

Cyrus

Cyrus raised his coffee mug halfheartedly in greeting when Milo joined them. "Driving. Lots of Driving." Cyrus answered, still groggy from waking up. "If we make it to Oklahoma City today, we'll be making good time."

Cyrus got up from his eat and grabbed himself a mountain of food and started digging in.

"Has anyone seen Solomon? I don't think he ever came into the room last night."

[Kazarogkai]

Solomon Grimm

Early in the night

As I made my way away from the hotel, all hot and bothered after not getting what I wanted like a pissy little toddler, I made my way through the unfamiliar streets of town. My belly growled like a tiger demanding or a warlord demanding tribute in the form of sustenance, this was something that I was more than willing to pay. I had been thinking of Mexican food before but for some strange reason my tastes instead shifted over to Italian-American more specifically pizza or maybe a calzone to fill up my belly in the right way. I was sorta kinda lost albeight in the good way in town at night as such the only thing i could do was wander till I found what I was looking for

Some time Later

After a bit of a search I finally found a destination that would a provide a solution to my current predicament. Specifically the one related towards my stomach, the one related towards my need to sleep was something that needed to be dealt with later. Continuing on I made my way into the local Pizzeria titled "Fat Mario's" and went right in. It was still open at this time of night so that made it good enough. Sitting behind the counter lay a man of around 50 or so and who the name of the store clearly represented quite nicely with his fat hairy bear belly and greasy wife beater. A walking stereotype if there ever was one. Albeit with a odd difference coming from his blue eyes and reddish tinged brown hair. I ordered from him a whole pizza, an "Extreme Supreme" as he put it albeit with extra fixings of feta, basil leaves, and some fried mozzarella sticks on the side with an ice tea to wash it all down. Paying for it in cash I sat myself down and pigged out quite nicely watching the TV. Some late night re runs of football basically. It was pretty solid.

A little after that

Sometime after I had finished I decided to finally check the time and found it was about 11 pm. Figuring it was about time to find somewhere to sleep I set out looking for some bench or something of the like to crash in suddenly being to cheap and lazy to get a motel. What's the worst that could happen is what I figured. Ohh such a stupid man you might say unto me. As a I made my way along cruising down the streets on foot I found myself on the other side of the tracks so to speak. looking like something out of a war zone one might say. Not a great neighborhood but it would serve the purposes I figured.

As I made my way along I found a narrow allow which I figured might be a potential place to rest. As I went I found myself faced with a figure of what one would say had been a man at one point but who at this point was quite far gone. His lips were chapped and his eyes were glazed over hidden somewhat behind ratty brown hair. Around the time when I finally saw him was also the time he saw me and almost immediately soon after he began a conversation with me with a voice like that of a frog with sand in his mouth:

"Got some spare change man?"

"No" I said in a flat tone

"PLeaSe maNn, I got these cheese burgers." He held up a brown paper bag which clearly was quite soiled and greasy

"No"

"PLEASE mAnnN, I suck yo dick!" His voice rose in an almost pathetically sad tone

"What the... GET THE F*** OUTA HERE BEFORE I BUST YOUR FACE OPEN F****t!" I stated in a menacing tone

And with that he left shambling off while waving his hand like it was my loss or something. I said under my breath "god damn trick" and with that I looked around for a place to rest but sadly the bastard kinda ruined the thrill so to speak and hence I made my way out. As time passed by I found myself on the rail ray tracks but rather than going past them I traveled along them balancing atop them like a little kid providing myself some mild entertainment making sure to jump off and scramble to the side whenever I heard a train in the distance. Eventually I made my way over and found an interesting little spot. An old neighborhood full of abandoned houses near the tracks which I figured had been housing for the railway workers at one point but which had fallen on hard times just like the railway sadly. I walked my way way through the rather spooky place filled with what had in their heiday been probably rather quaint little cottages but now boarded up with broken windows and faded paint and even old rusted toys laying out in the front yards. The grave of are dreams one might say. Quietly to no one but myself I began to recite a bit of poetry in tune to the surroundings:

"The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms..."

As I continued on my way along I heard a sound off to the side and turned my head around and saw... what appeared to be a man crawling out from under one of the old houses porches. This "man" ,who I presumed was a drifter of sorts, in question was not in anyway in good shape appearing to have quite a bit of his face scared or even straight up gone in what looked like a reddish dry gore of sorts. If one had seen pictures of advanced syphilis sufferers you would know exactly what I was talking about. He seemed to with eyes barely there but which appear to have a rather strange yellow glint to look right at and through me and assesed me slightly before speaking in a strange raspy voice eeriely reminiscent of the man from before:

"Want a blowjob? Give it for a dolla"

I stopped right in my tracks and sighed giving myself a slight face palm. "God dammit I guess all the freaks come out at night" in a rather exasperated manner. And with that I responded.

"No" in a rather flat tone similar to the one before

"Come on, 50 cent" and with that he started to walk quite quickly in my direction making a beeline straight for me

"I said F*** off you F****T!" and I quickly started to make pace.

"Come on toots, Give it to ya for a dime" And at that point I saw something I probably;ly should have earlier. Something was wrong with this "man" and it wasn't necessarily the disease. I couldn't put my head on it, things like this not being my strong point, but I was rather sure I was in quite a bit more danger than I had originally figured. His eyes had this freakish glow to them and something seemed to glow in his mouth. Ginger probably would have a better Idea for she was decent at these things. I thought a moment that maybe I might want to bring out my sword. But then I pressed those thoughts away knowing full well whatever it was it would be best not to face such things with effective only one type of weapon, it just might be immune. If Timothy had impressed upon me any of his advice and consul that was one. All while I was in my head thinking the man/creature/thing started to run and only nearly at the last second did I realize it and even then only because it began to scream and shriek the words forthcoming

"FOR FREE, FOR FREE, I GIVE IT FOR FREE!!!"

And with that I kicked it as best I could trying to make time the best I could. I Figured if I found a more populated area that I could lose it in the streets. Typically from what I had read beasties of the stalking in shadows variety like this didn't like to take their prey where others could see em and hence sometimes the best move was to get away. Though I had a nice head start it was slowly but surely gaining screaming it head off in this monstrous chant: "FOR FREE, FREE!!!" in a voice that slowly but surely began to morph into something a bit more sinister and dark. Sure I'm a bad ass but I really did not want to fight this thing.

Attempting to get it off my tail I took what looked like a shortcut through the yards of one of the Houses and hopped the fence. The front fence was easy. The second one not so much especially since unannounced to me I had actually been going up a small hill and hence when I did land on the other side there was a wicked steep drop that I had not predicted. I landed bad and began to tumble down the hill for a bit of time rolling and hitting rocks in a painful consortium of well... pain until eventually I seemed to fly out onto the black road. I picked myself having skidded my legs and arms and feeling as if I had broken a rib possibly and looked behind me and found nothing there. I was safe. For now anyways. At least I thought I was until I head a horn blaring and lights coming off from my side. I had landed practically in the middle of the road pissing off the few drivers still around this time of night.

I got out of the middle of the road though not apologizing most certainly to those punks and walked my somewhat injured ass onto the side walk where I continued my search for shelter. Eventually I did find something. Specifically it was a park bench in well the park. Putting my traveling bag down as a pillow I laid my ass to sleep thankful for some rest finally after all this god damn time. That was right before midnight.

Current Time

I woke up at some time past 6 Am like I usually did with the sun just barely starting to rise. About the time for roosters to begin crowing which strangely enough is Something I actually heard right about then. I got up and figured it would be best to start heading back to the hotel. Rest assured the bastards would leave behind in this s**T hole if they could. But I had to get fresh of course. I made my way over into an alley and making use of an errant garden pipe washed myself off a bit. Left me shivering and cold but good enough. I wasn't that hungry having eaten so late into the night and hence didn't care that much to bother though I figured I would get myself a nice snack when I arrived.

Took me a bit but it wasn't too far. At a bit past 7 am I had finally made my way back into the parking lot of the hotel and leaned up against cyru's truck to rest myself a bit noticing for the first time Alex's car seemed to be gone....

[WhatsamattaU]

Cyrus

Cyrus raised his coffee mug halfheartedly in greeting when Milo joined them. "Driving. Lots of Driving." Cyrus answered, still groggy from waking up. "If we make it to Oklahoma City today, we'll be making good time."

Cyrus got up from his eat and grabbed himself a mountain of food and started digging in.

"Has anyone seen Solomon? I don't think he ever came into the room last night."

Ginger Grimm

The mention of Solomon and his whereabouts shouldn't have concerned G.G. very much. He was a consistent pain in her ass. That said, besides being her cousin, Dad had seen something in him. Also, truth be told, when the rubber hit the road Solomon's could be counted on. So, even though she'd deny it if asked, she said a quick and silent prayer for his well-being.

She included Alex in that prayer, too.

Ginger turned to Milo, "Where's Noah? Did you actually trust him get dressed and out of bed?" She smiled and shook her head.