Mad As A Hatter (Completed 2015) [WATTY AWARD WINNER *Featured Story*]

Chapter thirty-four: SAVAGE

There stood Grim, healthy and powerful and...glowing?

"My daughter," he said and took a step forward.

My back collided with the huge wooden column and I felt the ground split under my feet.

Grim advanced again and this shock caught me like a deer in headlights. "I know what you're thinking," he said.

"No. No, you don't," I said more frightened than I thought I was. In anxiety, I covered it with my two blades, putting them between him and I. "Don't come near me, Grim."

"I'm your dad," he said, one hand out as if that calmed me. That may have worked on animals but I was no creature of that kind. I was a monster.

"I can't believe you're tricking me, Grim," I said. I made a strike for his ribs but he jumped to another wooden column, still glowing. "Stay away if you know what's best."

"Calm down, Alice," he said, both palms facing out. "I told him to kill me," he explained.

"What?!" I said in confused frustration.

"I told Grim to kill me," he said.

In desperation, I swung both swords, Grim zipping out of reach each time. His familiar energy kept pulling at my senses but I refused to give in. "Stop messing with me!" I roared, swinging like mad now.

"Alice!" two voices came out of Grim.

He stopped glowing and his feet landed on the same wooden pole as me. I could sense pain hit his forehead and he clutched his head in one hand, blinking back and regaining control. I lowered both my swords, however I kept them ready by my hip. The familiar warm energy was faint now. He spoke, "It's me now, it's Grim."

"Explain. Now," I said coldly. This was beyond freaking me out. This was twisted. This was sick.

This was what my dad told me about.

Then I remembered when Isaac and I were observing Grim in his cell:

I glimpsed at his skin. Blue veins were now prominent, bulging even, and his face was of purple, green and blue—he was bruising. Tired eyes and chapped lips.

"You're looking human," I said.

He looks drained, Isaac's thought had said.

Like his body was fighting something, I had agreed.

"Sometimes I think a part me is already dead," Grim said, darkly.

My fingers touched the bottom of my lip, unable to take my eyes off of him. This was happening. This was actually happening.

"You know that secret power your dad shared—the one for emergencies?" he softly said. I couldn't bring myself to nod. "I refused, believe me Alice, but your dad didn't give me a choice. He considered my condition as an emergency." Any words remained caught in my throat. I knew where this was going. I desperately wanted to rip my ears off or plug out his voice. He kept talking. "As I was turning human, it was making me weak. My body isn't like yours—it couldn't maintain the human cells like you and Isaac. I was dying, Alice. I was willing to accept it too—hell, I was going to tell you. But your dad could tell I was dying before I could."