Chapter 10 #2
“It’s fine,” Ariel said, even though she wasn’t actually certain it was.
“I want some protection, and the leg will be useful. I’ll be sure to share with everyone.
And if taking the prosthetic wasn’t okay, I’ll take the blame for it,” she promised.
She picked up the shiny prosthetic limb, curbing the urge to hug it to her chest. Hopefully FUC didn’t disarm tinker with anything on it; seeing it had still held the knives suggested that maybe they hadn’t done anything to it at all.
If that were the case, then the tracking device Grimm put inside would still be there, activated once she reattached the electrodes to her muscles.
She hoped so, or her plan would suck. Although, if there really were spies hiding around campus keeping an eye on her, she could use that to her advantage as well.
She still had her pair of workout pants that snapped up the side of the leg for easy access to the weapons hidden inside.
While Grimm would know what it was equipped with, she hoped his henchmen wouldn’t.
The members of Ariel’s therapy group milled in, led by Jennifer. After what Jennifer had said to Ariel about how they were mad at her for not taking therapy more seriously, she was surprised that each one of them had shown up. Ariel glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost time to start.
“Help yourselves to coffee and donuts,” Joline repeated to each new person who wandered in.
“Please do, before I eat it all,” Lyla said with a laugh. Ariel assumed she must have a fast metabolism, like shrews did. Ariel’s whole family ate a lot of food to keep their shrew side satisfied.
When the clock finally struck ten, Ariel made her way to the front of the room, feeling small.
She wasn’t used to giving speeches. “Hi everyone,” she started, continuing on to introduce herself—though they all knew who she was—and also introduce Joline, and explain that while she wasn’t a survivor of Grimm, she was a big supporter of those who were.
Then, it was on to one of the most difficult parts, the apology.
“I want to thank you all for showing up, especially given the fact that I’ve not done much—if anything, really—this past year to show you that I’m sorry, or that I’ve changed.
It’s taken a long time for me to face certain truths about Grimm.
It was hard for me to believe he deceived and manipulated me.
Not only that, but it’s also taken me some time to understand that what he was doing to me—to all of you—was not a kindness, and was not based on some greater good.
” She shook her head, thinking about how prosperous it all seemed now, looking back.
How could I have been so blind? Ariel continued, pushing through her guilt and pain, “For the part I played in what happened to each of you, I’m sorry.
And for sitting in on therapy sessions with all of you pouring your hearts out while I clung to my delusions and refused to face the truth, I’m sorry.
I truly am.” As she waited to see what would happen, a weight lifted from her shoulders.
Ariel sighed, releasing all the shame that threatened to drown her had she not given it up.
“I think that’s the first heartfelt thing I’ve ever heard you say,” Jennifer pipped up from the audience.
Ariel nodded, unsure how to continue. She’d thought Jennifer would’ve been one of the harder ones to win over.
No. It wasn’t winning them over. It was having them accept her apology.
For this to work, she had to stop thinking the way Grimm wanted her to, had to stop seeing people for ways she could use them.
“Tell them why you decided to start a support group,” Joline prompted, as if reading her mind.
“Right,” Ariel continued. “I originally wanted to start a support group to feel like I was making a difference. We only have therapy sessions with our counselors or small groups of us, but we’re bigger than that.
I thought we should come together…” She trailed off, feeling disconnected from her words because so much had changed in just the short amount of time between her original conception of the idea, and where she was now, after the note at the diner.
“I thought I wanted to make up for all the wasted time I spent here, hoping Grimm would rescue me,” she added.
That sentence had a few people sharing unsure looks with each other.
Jennifer gave her a smile as if to say she appreciated Ariel was being open for a change.
“But when I was asked what I was really doing by someone who was never tricked by Grimm, I thought about what I really wanted.” She took a deep breath, unsure of how this would go over. “Revenge.”
Jennifer barked a laugh. Simon’s deer ears perked up.
Arty looked like he might faint, but it was hard to tell what he was thinking because of the permanent ostrich head.
Ariel wanted to continue the spiel she rehearsed, but she could feel Joline’s dark eyes boring into her.
She looked over to her, noticing her coppery skin seemed paler than usual, and her lips were pulled back into a grimace.
“Revenge?” Joline asked in a low, questioning tone, giving a little shake of her head, showing her disbelief, as the topic had not come up between them in any of their conversations leading up to the event.
“It won’t be as bad as you think, I promise,” Ariel said, though she wasn’t completely surprised by Joline’s reaction. In truth, it was probably why Ariel hadn’t brought it up.
“How could it not be—” Joline started, but Gabby cut her off.
“Let… h-h-her,” Gabby squeezed her eyes shut while she struggled with her words. “Finish.”
With a huff, Joline crossed her arms. Ariel had never seen the porcupine shifter so flustered before. She half expected her quills to ripple down her arms. Ariel knew it was important to get Joline to understand. To get them all to understand.
She continued, “This is no longer a casual social group. I’m now asking you all to join me in a plot to stop the man who’s hurt us all.
Grimm is planning something big. I don’t know what it is or where, but it involves children.
” Most of the shifters collectively gasped.
Jennifer and Gabby both uttered some interesting swearwords.
“I’m hoping we can prevent that from happening.
Grimm passed us”—she pointed to Joline, to indicate who she meant—“a message, inviting us to his lair tomorrow. We believe it to be a trap. My brother took the note to the FUC agents, and they are planning something.”
“So if FUC is on it, why do you need us to help you with a plot?” Jennifer pipped up from the audience.
Ariel sighed. “Because, while they do believe it is a trap, I don’t think it’s what they think it is.”
“What?” Joline gasped. “Why don’t you tell them what you think it is?” Now she was glaring at Ariel. Maybe this honesty thing wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Joline did not seem pleased.
“I did,” Ariel said through gritted teeth. “They told me that while they agree it’s a trap, they need to focus their manpower there, and they didn’t agree with me that it’s not the type of trap they think it is.”
“Why do you think it’s a different type of trap? What does that mean?” Gabby must have given up trying to get through sentences by talking, as she sang her questions. Jennifer raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Everyone else seemed to take the singing in stride.
“It means that I believe Grimm is trying to point FUC’s attention in one direction while he takes action in another.”
“Knowing Grimm, that makes sense to me.” Simon rubbed his chin carefully with his claws. “But how do we turn it around on Grimm? If he’s not going to be at the place he mentioned, then what?”
“He said in the note he’s had others watch me.
I expect he has shifters hiding around campus, keeping tabs on me—maybe keeping tabs on all of us.
” Ariel looked out at the group of faces.
She knew she was going out on a limb, trusting them all.
Any one of them could actually still have secret loyalties to Grimm, or been paid off to be a spy.
Heck, she herself was still waiting for a rescue from Grimm until just recently.
But that was a risk she was willing to take.
“What I’ve come to realize, just recently, is how Grimm truly views us.
We’re not people he cares about, but assets.
Pieces of his scientific research, his legacy.
When FUC freed you all, he was furious. Each lab that was raided, each person who was taken to safety, would send him into a fury.
I know how mad he was. Which is why I also know that he won’t be able to resist the chance to recapture those lost assets.
” Ariel looked to Gabby. The crow shifter was once one of Grimm’s prized possessions.
“How do we know you’re not just trying to lure us into a trap to return us to Grimm?
” a man whose name she couldn’t recall piped up.
“We’ve all seen you this past year. We’ve watched you refuse to open up, refuse to show any real change or growth.
It seems to me that the best way for you to get back in Grimm’s good graces would be to deliver us as a bounty. ”