Grimm Games

Chapter 31: Big Bad Beast

The stark howl of the Big Bad Wolf and his steps near the safe house door made my skin crawl. It wasn't just the grotesque appearance—scrunched man face, canine snout, and thick claws on human hands—that terrified me. It was the creature's unmatched strength and speed that filled me with dread.

"Oh my god. Millie's out there!" Jade pulled her overalls up over her nearly naked body in seconds, securing the narrow straps on her slender shoulders.

"I gotta find her." I dropped the bloody tissue and took the crescent blade into my grip, flinching as sharp pain surged up my arm from the trickling, double-sided wound. It was then that I realized Sonya's betrayal impacted the use of my dominate hand, my throwing hand.

Jade placed her arm on my shoulder as I winced in pain. "Please, be careful."

A rush of panic overtook me upon a sudden realization. "I don't think I can use my hand."

The howl was closer, much closer than any Grimm creature should have been. We stood in silence, our eyes glued to the door of the small hut. If Millie was nearby, the Wolfman was nearer. She wouldn't be able to get to the safety of the shack even if she wanted to.

Footsteps outside the door were nothing like the stomping of the massive Troll we had come accustomed to. This time, the strides were doubled and dragged the strewn straw that covered the ground in the vicinity.

As we stood silently, barely daring to breathe, our eyes tracked the creature's every move. It paced around the hut, never pausing, its path a relentless circuit from one corner to the next.

The sound of his mucus-filled breaths grew louder and closer, right outside the door. "Little pig," a deep voice rumbled, startling me, and bringing me back to the red room at Arcanum where it all began. "Let me in."

Jade looked at me with utter fear in her large round eyes.

"He can't get in," I assured her. "We're safe."

"Little pig..."

Jade stared at the door, her chest rapidly rising and falling from fright.

"Let me in." The husky words were punctuated in a low growl.

Jade's sight landed on me again, as if waiting for direction.

I quietly gestured to the door, ignoring the throbbing pain in my palm as I gripped the sharp crescent blade. I mimed a throw, silently demonstrating my plan and motioned for her to open the door.

She shook her head vehemently. Her lips formed the word no.

I knew I had to convince her and took my stance, standing with my legs shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and blade raised. I was more than prepared to aim right between the eyes of the beast from where I stood.

I nodded toward the door. "Open it."

Reluctantly, she crept to the door and placed her hand on the lock. She looked at me again, I nodded my encouragement, and she unlatched the lock. She paused as if half expecting the creature to ram the door open on his own, but he didn't.

I nodded again, signaling my readiness for the impending confrontation.

With even more hesitation, she hooked her fingers around the door handle and slowly pulled it open to reveal more than my imagination could conjure.

The musky odor of wet dog engulfed us as strings of saliva dripped from the Wolfman's bared teeth. The massive fangs in the jaws of the enlarged human head were what my sights locked onto first.