Loki's Daughter, Mortem and Mischief

Chaptet Thirty-Five

For a brief moment, I felt calm. With his tender touch and lips upon my own, I could hardly focus on anything else. The pain all subdued and all there was was Grimnir.

This is what I was fighting for. The little fire that danced in my heart whenever he touched me or looked at me, it told me I was on the right path. I couldn't let that fire die. Not without a fight.

Grimnir rested his forehead on mine and tightly grasped my hands. His hands were shaking fiercely and I could hear the rapid beat of his heart. I could tell he was terrified, and honestly- I would've felt the same if I were in his position.

"We're gonna get your out of here," I promised him as I squeezed his hands tightly. I kissed him once more before I took the two knives I had stored on my belt and placed their hilts in his palms. "You're going to use the Bifrost, go wherever you can," I instructed.

"I'm tired of running, Hela," Grimnir said softly as his voice shook. His icy eyes searched my own, looking as if he were just begging me to let him stay. But I knew there was no way, no way I could have him be here and be safe. "I know....I know," I sighed, "But there's no other way."

"They'll hurt you, Hela," he warned as he pulled me close once again. "Because you're helping me and I can't let them do that, I can't know that my actions brought you harm," he stammered anxiously, his breathing was becoming ragged as he began to panic.

I bit my lip, racking my brain for any sort of lie. I knew there was some way we could both get out of this, alive and without the TVA hot on our trail. There was always a way out, I knew that now and I knew that applied here too. My eyes landed on the two daggers I handed him and an idea struck me like lightning.

"Stab me, Grim," I demmanded, taking his wrist. His eyes went wide as he shook his head. "No, no. I'm not stabbing you," he said as I brought the knife to my stomach, gently guiding his wrist.

"You have to," I insisted firmly as I felt the dagger's sharp tip pierce my corset and just gently knick my skin. Grimnir's skin turned green as if he was skickened by the thought. "Have you gone mad?" he whispered cautiously.

"No, I'm perfectly sane," I stated, he only gave me a weary look. Grimnir didn't seem too sure about my answer. "Listen to me. If you stab me, they'll just assume you took advantage of me in trying to escape. They'll be off my ass and it'll buy you time," I explained.

Grimnir nodded slowly, heaving in a deep breath.   He looked green with nausea, gulping down his anxieties as best he could. "You can do this. It's the only way," I said quietly, holding his shoulder as I braced myself as best I could. "Twist it too, it'll make it more believable," I added as I leaned against the wall.

"Hela-"he attempted once more but I shook my head and cut him off. "Okay...on the count of three," Grimnir said softly, holding my shoulder as he positioned the knife.

"One..." I took a deep breath, meeting his soft gray eyes. I knew this was about to hurt like hell, but I was doing my best to convince myself that it was all worth it.

"Two..." I steadied myself between him and the wall. With one hand, I gripped his shoulder as tightly as possible. With the other, I held myself steady against the wall.

I gave him a nod just as he said, "Three." The knife burrowed deep inside me, sending a painful coldness through me. My breath shuddered as I knew collapsed, barely able to hold myself up. I looked down to see the hilt pressed firmly against my skin. I could easily feel that the knife had made its way clean through me, it's too just barely coming out of my back.

"Now twist," I squeaked, my voice no more than a breathy twist. He grimaced before he turned my knife, twisting it further within me. As he let go of the dagger, I stumbled back into the wall. Grimnir's face was stricken with horror as he looked at his blood covered hands.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," I breathed, struggling a small smile at him. His eyes met mine, they were giant pools of fear and worry. "You gotta go, Grim," I said softly, doing my best to keep my breathing steady. "You gotta go..."

"Will I ever see you again?" he asked as he sheathed the other knife. I smiled a bit and promised, "I'll make sure of it." He nodded before he took my face in his hands once more and pressed his lips to mine. I savored the feeling as long as I could and by the time I finally opened my eyes, he was gone.

I sunk against the wall as my legs failed from under me. My dress was now sopping wet with crimson red blood and a pool of it was beginning to form around me. I was seeing stars.

My head was pounding even more so than it was before. I felt like my mind was going to explode at any second. My entire body had become one whole throbbing mess, between my broken nose and now stabbed stomach-I could hardly place the source where I hurt the most. I wanted to cry out, scream for help but I had to buy him time. Grimnir needed to run as far as possible before I drew all the attention to me.

I had sworn to myself that I would give him just five minutes of time. I watched the clock carefully, tracking the minute hand closely. One minute passed, then two... I was trying desperately to keep my eyes opened and focused. I couldn't faint, I had to stay alert and ready to scream out. But damn, I wished that the little minute hand would just move a bit faster.

As soon as I saw five minutes go by, I finally let out the blood-curdling scream I had held within myself. In the seconds that followed, people immediately began to flood into the dark and secluded room. Their faces were horrified and I could barely hear them scream for my mother and father over the sound of my own heartbeat.

My Father ran in first, closely tailed by none other than Mobius. Their faces went white as they knelt besides me. I couldn't hear a word they said, just the muffled sounds of their voices.

Despite my delirium, I knew I needed to sell the story even now. I gasped for air and said as firmly as possible, "Grimnir did this to me."

Then, it all faded to black.