Grimm: A Family of Burkhardt's

Chapter 13: The One Who Lurks In The Shadows

The pungent smell of the basement fills my nose again, it reeks of mold and something more sinister and dark...death. I peer into the darkness that encompasses me, a stream of light filtering through the window and a pair of yellow eyes. I hold my breathe, "NO...No it can't be! Nick killed you!" I scream. The balam just chuckles as he sharpens his nails on the crumbling cement walls. "He might have killed me but I still live on in your head!" He snarls as he lunges forward.

I snap awake, feeling the sweat pool off me as my heart hammers in my chest. I swallow against a dry throat, "It was just a bad dream", I whisper to myself. I look around the room searching for something to focus on as the thought of the balam threatens to resurface. My eyes finally come to rest on Nick slumped over an easy chair, hair rumpled into a heap. I smile, staring into my interlaced fingers, like a teenage girl. "Hey honey. How are you feeling?" Nick gets out through a yawn as he stretches and walks over to my bedside. "I feel better now", I say as I reach out and take a hold of his torso. He wraps his arms around me, planting a kiss atop my head as I breathe in his scent that I fell in love with from the first time we met. We just sit there stuck like this for a few minutes before we break apart. He shuffles back over to his chair but he stops in front of the window, taking in the view of the blue sky and the sun beating down on the cars parked in the hospital parking lot. The room all of the sudden goes pitch black, despite the sunlight. I look worriedly around the room, trying to find Nick in the pitch blackness. Then I see him...and right behind him is those yellow eyes again. "NICK!" I cry as the balam laughs, shredding through Nick's chest and coming out through the other side. I awaken to the sound of me screaming bloody murder, Nick from across the room jumps to his feet ready to strike. When he sees we're not in any trouble, he rushes over to my bedside and wraps his arms around me, "He killed you!" I cry. He squeezes me tighter, "It was just a dream Adalind. It was just a dream" He soothes as he rubs his hand across my back for comfort. I clutch him closer, the only one who makes me feel safe is Nick, then why am I still so terrified in his arms? My eyes wander to the door and there are the pair of putrid yellow eyes, staring straight at me.

    The door to the hospital room creaks open, my hearts skips a beat as my eyes snap open in a panic...The balam my nightmare calls out, but it's only Rosalee cradling a sleepy-eyed Kelly, followed by Monroe trying to contain a very ecstatic Diana. A look of concern washes over Rosalee's face as she reads my expression from across the room, but before she can ask any questions Diana charges forward and is nearly in my lap in a matter of seconds. "Mommy your okay!" Diana says nearly on the verge of quite literally, bursting with excitement to have her mommy back, even if she's still a bit battered and worn from the bad man who took her. I reach out and pull Diana's small body toward mine, encompassing her into a hug with no intention of ever letting her go, oh how I missed her warmth and that magic touch of her's, it almost makes me forget about Him. But after a few minutes Diana begins to squirm uncomfortably, I inhale one last breathe of her sweet scent, oddly enough she smells like pancakes. The scent immediately makes my mouth go dry as my mind begins to race with past events, Nick and Diana making pancakes, me going down the elevator with the promise of fresh strawberries from the store, the path to the car so clear...and the hooded figure waiting for me in the alley. I can't go back. I won't go back. The machine that monitors my heart rate begins to beep, interrupting the reunion with my children. Diana's eyes begin to water as nurses rush into the room, "Mommy what's happening!" she wails. One of the nurses turns around and kneels in front of Diana, "Your mommy's going to be okay but I need your dad to take you out of the room so we can make her all better, okay?" The nurse says soothingly as she looks toward Monroe for assistance. The awkward man simply begins to stutter, "I'm not her...I'm just a...", he begins but the nurse gives him a look that stops Monroe dead in his tracks. "Alrighty Diana why don't you come with me and we can get you something from one of those vending machines we seen in the lobby?" He says as he reaches for Diana's hand and begins to shuffle toward the door of the room. As they pass, Rosalee carefully places the sleeping bundle, Kelly into his arms, a look passes his face and she shoots a look straight back, he nods before pulling the door open and whisking away Kelly and Diana to a bunch of sugary sweets no doubt. The nurse that was tending to me approach's with a syringe full of a clear liquid, she begins to press it to my IV but I pull away from her, "What are you giving me?" I say trying to shake the brain fog and the memories from my head. "It's just a sedative. It will help you get a good night's rest and it will help to lower your heart rate", she says as she moves closer to insert the needle. My eyes grow wide in a panic, "NO! NO! I DON'T WANT TO SLEEP! DON'T MAKE ME SLEEP!" I scream as the nurse recoils back, she wasn't expecting my outburst. Rosalee rushes over from across the room and places a protective hand on my shoulder, "She said she doesn't want the narcotic and I'm going to have to ask you to leave", Rosalee sternly says as the nurse begins to protest, "NOW I SAID!" The nurse immediately darts from the room, at first I thought it was because of Rosalee's stern tone but I now realize that she had woged in her frustration towards the woman's disobedience and the pain she was feeling seeing me like this. She looks down at me eyes filled with threatening tears, "Adalind I know how terrified you are...remember when Tony broke into my shop and you broke his fingers with your powers...now I know it's nowhere near the same as being kidnapped but I do know what being terrified is like. After he broke into my shop, that was my safe place, everywhere I turned I thought he was going to be there and I'd be all alone with him. It scared me for months, but with the help of you and Nick and Monroe of course, I found a way to make the shop into that safe space once again and I won't leave your side as you battle Him...I'll be right here," She says as she squeezes my shoulder reassuringly. Tears begin to roll down my cheeks as I bury me head into her shoulder as she takes a seat on the edge of my hospital bed, for now I'll be safe from Him.