The Grimm Dossier

Chapter 37 - The Shot

England, West Coast
Devonshire, Dartmoor
St George, Skirrid Inn
5 November 1898, 6:34 pm

Rumbles of thunder and thunderstorms of lightning. Pounding rain, the buzz of flies, shouting, and quivering heartbeats. All of this could have been loud enough to drown out the soft clicking, but at that very moment, the world decided to hold its breath for a tiny second. As if everything had conspired against the seekers, even the weather and fate.

The click echoed treacherously loudly in the room and at that moment Elly's head suddenly turned to the side. Her eyes caught the doctor, whose fingers had gripped the gun at his side, and pulled back the hammer.

Crowford was not quick enough to interfere in time as Elly flung Ben aside with a mighty blow. He crashed into the Andrews' wardrobe and the inhuman force behind the impact caused the wood to collapse noisily beneath him as if he were made of paper. Ben felt the bursting of the wardrobe panels. His bones cracked and a pained scream escaped his throat. A picture fell clattering from the wall to the floor as he lay in the rubble. Groaning, he tried to pull himself up. The cupboard lost its remaining stability and collapsed and broken wood scattered into the chaos around the soldier's body.

Groaning, he lay there, squinting his eyes. His shoulder hurt excruciatingly, and as soon as he tried to touch it he felt dizzy. Dots flickered before his eyes as he held his arm, gasping, and rolled to the side in the mess of broken boards and clothes. God, she had nearly broken every bone in his body! Elly was superhumanly strong and physically superior to them. 

"Kyle... stay away from her!" he pressed out between clenched teeth. They couldn't get within her reach!

Ben's ears rang and buzzed. He felt dizzy. His senses and thoughts were confused and would not obey him. Love spells... how could he let himself be spun by this! How could he resist? "Stop it!" the soldier gritted out between clenched teeth. Wood fell clattering to the floor, splinters slipping from his shoulder. Still, he did not want her harmed. There was infinite pity in his chest for the girl. Even though there was a dead body dangling there, a corpse lying in the marriage bed. Even though she had done unspeakable things. He wanted her to be happy. He felt as if his mind was torn in two. Was it because of her spell?

"Stop it! Surrender to Mrs. Oldren! If you haven't killed anyone, then you have nothing to fear! But you have to cooperate with us and calm down!" he groaned, propping his unharmed arm on his own knee. It took too much strength for him to sit up. Pain throbbed like his own heartbeat in his muscles.

"You liars!" roared Elly meanwhile, her eyes appearing almost black in the dull darkness. She screamed so loudly and beside herself that saliva sprang from her lips. "They just want to take me away! They want to lock me up, just like YOU!" everything about her posture changed, then suddenly she spoke another language. Fluent English was lost in foreign words, similar in places and Kyle was reminded of Mrs. Jäger's German words. Then Elly's fingers suddenly pointed at Ben. "But I'm not going to be locked up! I'm not leaving here!"

"Miss Oldren!" Crowford's voice cut into the tense atmosphere. This time it was unusually cold and his gaze was on the girl with a new expression. Ben had only seen him like this once before. It reminded him of the situation in the forest. Transformed from one moment to the next. "I won't say it again. This far and no further. Stop it. Now."