Fairest (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #2)

The bus pulled off the main road and headed into the Mt. Adams National forest. He took the bus down back roads and unmarked dirt paths. It was unbelievable that the bus even made it down the path. Moments later the bus rolled to a stop. The Ogre stood up and ambled toward her again, his large forearms bulging with muscles, which were overly long compared to his shorter legs.

Mina was prepared this time; she pulled out the Grimoire and held it up at the Ogre, waiting for it to be sucked into the book. Nothing happened. The book was still a book. Mina screamed in fright as the Ogre reached for her jacket and lifted her up into the air. Suspending her in the air, the Ogre growled and shook her as if trying to get her attention. Instead, she began to fight back by clawing and kicking, and the Ogre just looked at her. In a moment of desperation, she hit the beast between the eyes with the corner of the notebook, and it flinched. He started to lower her to the ground, and she placed a well-aimed kick right between the Ogre’s legs. He grunted and dropped her to the ground, leaning over in pain.

Mina scrambled frantically away, crawling on her knees toward the front of the bus. She was halfway to freedom when she realized she had dropped the Grimoire. Turning, she reached back to grab the notebook and then ran out the door into the night.

Breathing hard, she raced blindly through the dark woods, branches snapping loudly under her feet, she didn’t waste precious time in trying to mask the noise she made. She heard a deafening roar split the forest from somewhere behind her. It was the Ogre, and he was on the move after her. Her hands began to shake, and her chest burned from the exertion of running.

She tripped and fell forward into a ditch; the ground seemed to disappear from under her. Desperately, she grabbed at branches, rocks, anything to slow her descent as the incline became steeper. She thought it would taper out and her descent would slow, but instead, she picked up speed. There was another sound of roaring, only this time softer, more constant, like water. Water!

She knew what it was and accidentally let out a scream of fear. She flailed out, and her fingers found purchase on a large tree root. Her body left the embankment to hang in the air, and she began to tumble over a cliff. The roaring river passed some forty feet below her. Loud crashing and snarls came from above her, and Mina knew the Ogre was closing in on her. She closed her eyes in fear.

Something brushed against her, and she looked up to see the Ogre reaching down to seize her. Mina screamed again and scrambled out of the reach of the large hands. The Ogre roared angrily and tried to swipe at her back this time. She purposefully slid down the branch farther, closer to the water and away from the Ogre. At least she knew she would rather die from falling into the river and possibly the rocks along it, instead of being eaten by an Ogre. Isn’t that what Ogres in fairy tales did --eat people?

The Ogre let out a quieter roar and became very still as if trying to remain calm. Over the rushing water, she almost missed the sound of the Ogre saying her name.

“Mina!”

She paused and looked at the Ogre as he leaned down on his stomach reaching for her. When he wasn’t roaring at her, he didn’t look as intimidating. Something magical began to happen as the Ogre started to shrink. His features grew smaller, thinner, and became more human. The Ogre, however, didn’t take the form of the bus driver, but of a handsome dark haired boy with grey eyes.

It was Jared. He reached for her arm, looking sick with worry. “I can’t get to you in this form, you’re too far away! Can you climb up farther?”

She should have felt relief, at seeing her attacker take the form of Jared; instead she was furious at being duped.

“You jerk! How dare you!” Mina argued while refusing to climb closer to him. “If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be in this predicament.”

“Stop arguing and get up here!” Jared was irritated at her again. “Now is not the time to berate me, there’s plenty of time to do that later. Give me your hand.”

Mina bit her lip, and tried to pull her weight up the tree root so she could get closer to him, but her muscles had reached their limit. She tried to reach for Jared’s hand, but she felt the root slip through her fingers and then, nothing but air. It was like being in a dream and falling in slow motion, except she didn’t wake up when she hit the cold water.

Chapter 8

Coldness ripped through her, and the shock of water made her lose the breath she was holding. It was dark, and she couldn’t figure out which way was up. She tried to kick in the direction of the surface but couldn’t find it. The current started to drag her away. She fought against it and when she didn’t think she could hold her breath any longer, she broke through the surface of the water. She gasped for breath. Her limbs felt heavy and she couldn’t get them to work. Slowly, and with great effort, she paddled for the riverbank. Finally, she dragged her body to the edge and pulled herself up the embankment.

She looked up river and saw something large, frantically diving down and up again. It was Jared, in Ogre form. He must have jumped in after her and was looking for her in the river. It was a comical sight, the giant Ogre scrambling around in the water in an attempt at swimming. The awkwardness at which he fumbled in the water revealed to her, that in either form, Jared didn’t know how to swim. The Ogre had the better chance of surviving the fast moving river than Jared. On any other night, it might be touching to see him trying to rescue her, if she wasn’t so annoyed with him.

As much as Mina wanted to laugh at the display of a frightened Ogre, she couldn’t forget his game and how he had tried to scare her on the bus. She decided that he could worry a little more. She moved down the river away from him and began to peel off her outer jacket, as it was making her cold.

Nevertheless, her movement caught the Ogre’s eye. He growled angrily, and started stomping through the water toward the embankment. He was easily over nine feet tall and looked strong enough to bench press a truck. But something about his current demeanor made him seem more childlike, instead of deadly.

He was pouting. By the time he was within a few paces of her, the giant Ogre had disappeared to be replaced by a wet and tired Jared. He flung himself next to her on the ground.

“You could have shouted to me that you were okay, instead of sitting here all safe and sound, making me look like a fool.”

“You are a fool,” Mina replied as she tried to untie the wet shoelaces so she could get out of the wet socks.

“Point taken, but I thought you were dead.”

“And I thought you were dead, so I think we’re even.” Mina’s fingers were numb and like ice, she started to shake from the cold. She got one shoe off but was struggling with the second.

“Here, let me.” Jared reached for her shoes to help her.

“Don’t touch me!” she screeched, and hit him with her destroyed sneaker. Her teeth were chattering now, and Jared moved closer to her.

“I won’t.” He froze inches from her, his hands up in the air, as if he was waiting to be arrested.

“What happened to the bus driver?” Mina sniffed, using her sleeve to wipe pathetically at her nose.

“Uh, I tricked him into getting off, a few stops ago, and I took his place.” Jared slowly sat down on the ground across from her and folded his hands in his lap.

“And you can just do that? Change into his form and take his place?”