Page 31 of Prickly as a Porcupine

“Hey!”Ariel yelled, trying to draw the beast away from Joline.It didn’t seem to work.It was as if Grimm had told it to take out anyone who wasn’t a former experiment of his.She kicked herself for not grabbing the throwing knife from the wall of her dorm.Ariel quickly unsnapped her track pants, clicking on the compartment that held the brass knuckles.They would have to do.

She slid them on her right hand, feeling the coolness of the metal.There was no time to study the creature for weaknesses.It was already snapping its beak at Joline again.Joline tried to put the wall between her and the creature, but it smashed a strong, clawed arm into the obstacle, sending wood splinters flying in every direction.A few spayed Joline, cutting her arms and cheek.She screamed with the sting of it.

Ariel ran toward the monster, using her momentum to propel her into its leg.She gave a flying punch to its kneecap.The beast howled in pain as its leg gave out.Before it could stand, she rolled toward it, giving a punch to the haunch of its uninjured leg.While Ariel couldn’t tell what type of mammal the hind legs were from, she figured hitting it in its joints would be the most painful.And it seemed to be working.The beast cried out in pain, rubbing its aching joints.

“How do you like it?”she yelled at the beast.“You’re trying to hurt my friend.Your beak would do far worse damage to her.”

The creature blinked its yellow eyes at her.They reminded her of Arty’s ostrich eyes.

Instead of attacking again, the giant monster sat down, flicking its long, furry tail like an agitated housecat.

Joline rounded in front of it, pressing a hand to one of the wounds on her arm.“We don’t want to hurt you, but we have to protect ourselves.”Joline’s tone sounded less sure of herself, but she was doing her best to follow Ariel’s lead.That was when Ariel realized what she was doing.She was attempting to reason with it.

“Does Grimm make you hurt people?”Ariel asked, trying to keep her tone compassionate.

The beast gave a sound that was a cross between a grumble and a cry before nodding.If Ariel didn’t know better, she’d say it looked sad.“Were you a shifter?”she asked, wondering how the creature was created.If it used to be a person, then she had a chance to turn it to her side.Although, from some of the henchmen she’d encountered, that wasn’t always true.But if this thing used to be an experiment that didn’t want to be changed, there was hope.

The creature wrinkled up its white, feathery eyebrows in concern before it nodded again.It clicked its beak, as if trying to talk before letting out another whine like a sad puppy.

Joline let out a gasp.“I’m so sorry,” she said in a near whisper.“But just because Grimm changed you, doesn’t mean you have to answer to him.”

“He’s a liar,” Ariel added.“Whatever he promised you is a lie.”She waved her arm towards WANC.“These people here might be able to help, but they won’t do that if you go around eating cadets.”

The creature turned its yellow eyes to Joline, before bowing its head as if sad over its past choices.“That’s right,” Joline agreed, taking a small step forward.“No more trying to bite me, and we won’t hurt you.And we keep our promises.”She glanced at Ariel, a look of surprise on her face as if she was surprised that talking to the thing helped their situation.

Wanting to take a risk Ariel thought was worth it, she extended her hand out.She hoped the creature wasn’t playing a trick.If she lost her arm, she’d be pissed to say the least.“Deal?”she asked, hoping Joline could throw her quills in the thing’s eyes if it did try to take a bite out of her.

The creature took her hand in its clawed one, shaking on their truce.

Joline looked out to the lake in the distance.“Hear the water out there?”She pointed as she explained, “The lake is cold, perfect if you want to put your legs in.The chill will help with the pain.”

It nodded slowly as it rubbed at its aching knee and ankle.Then it got up with a groan, limping off to the lake.

Ariel still couldn’t believe they didn’t have to kill the beast to get away.She thought for a second there they were both going to be the animal’s lunch.She was glad they didn’t have to kill a former shifter who was probably blackmailed into doing Grimm’s dirty work.

She turned to Joline.“Are you okay?”she asked, taking in the scratches left by the wood splinters that sliced her.

Joline nodding.“I think so.”She gave a dark chuckle.“This must be what it feels like to be hit by my quills.”

Ariel gave her a tired smile.“Don’t think too much about it.We might need those quills.”She put a hand on Joline’s shoulder, trying to comfort her.She wanted nothing more than to walk away from this chaos and hold Joline tight.But they had a job to do and friends to protect.“We need to keep going.While the beast didn’t take us out, it left us behind schedule.”

After Joline nodded, they picked up the pace to a brisk jog, weaving through the course.Before they reached their position, a middle-aged man stepped out from behind a wooden platform.His thin lips pulled back into a smile.His eyes were so dark the pupils seemed to swallow the irises, and they stared through Ariel, pinning her in place.They both halted immediately, afraid to get close to the man.

“I’m so glad you came right to me,” Dr.Grimm himself said in his trademark reedy voice.The confidence in his tone said that he felt he’d planned this whole thing by himself.The puppet master at work, controlling everything.“And you brought your friend.”

Ariel didn’t like his tone one bit.Or the look he gave Joline.It was as if she were a meal for him to savor.Ariel’s stomach soured.“You stay away from her.”

“Or you’ll do what?”he asked, taking a step forward.

“Grimm, I’m warning you!”Ariel nearly shouted through gritted teeth.

Grimm’s face dropped into a sour expression.He looked like a toddler whose friend just stole his favorite toy.Aftercluckinghis tongue, he said, “My, how the mighty have fallen.”His black eyes found Joline.Ariel could have sworn she could hear her girlfriend’s heartbeat quicken.“Do you know what we do to our pets when they bite us, little cadet?”Before one of them could respond with something snarky, Grimm answered his own question: “We put them down.”

17

So this was the infamous Dr.Grimm.Joline seethed with hatred the second the man stepped out from behind the platform with that smug look on his face.The white lab coat was a giveaway.Only Grimm would be pretentious enough to have to look like a doctor wherever he went.Even if it was to kidnap people.While fairly even-tempered most of the time, Joline didn’t like people who hurt others.Grimm doing it on purpose for his own personal amusement made her that much angrier.She was a kettle about to boil over.

She didn’t know what the dick had planned, but it was about to backfire.As he took a step towards them, he pulled something out of his lab coat pocket.Joline whipped her right arm forward like someone throwing a frisbee.The familiar tingling spread down her arm as she let her quills out, then let them loose.There was a bit of a stinging as some of the quill punctuated her wounded flesh, but she’d deal with it.It was worth the pain if she could use Grimm for target practice.The momentum of her arm would throw the projectiles forward.While she wasn’t the most athletic person, Joline took pride in being accurate.Especially with her aim.She and her brother practiced as kids, setting up a target made from a flattened carboard box in their backyard.She was a little rusty since coming to FUCN’A, but with Grimm the only person in front of her, she was pretty certain he’d be the only one peppered with quills.