UnEnchanted (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale 1)

Brody was immediately at Mina’s side. “Mina, are you hurt? Are you okay?” He ran his hands gently up and down Mina’s arms searching for broken bones, but his touch sent shivers up them instead.

“I’m fine,” Mina answered, trying to shake off Brody’s warm touch.

Brody grabbed Mina’s face between his hands and searched her face for bruising. She let the tears come freely now, grateful to have a kind-hearted person by her side, to have survived the attack, to be alive.

Brody helped Mina to her feet and then tucked her against his side protectively. She leaned into Brody’s chest for support and took comfort in his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Breathing in the warm scent of his shirt, cologne and sweat, Mina felt safe, secure, until she stumbled on her own feet.

He must have felt Mina falter, so without waiting for her approval he bent down and picked her up in his arms, intent to get her out of the alley and somewhere safe. She protested, but not for long. When he got to his car, he put her inside and buckled her in. Mina knocked his hands out of the way, trying to get him to quit messing with her seatbelt, to let him know she wasn’t helpless. He smiled and handed her the buckle.

He peeled onto the road and pushed on the gas making the high-performance car accelerate with barely a sound. It wasn’t until Mina saw that he was going forty over the speed limit that she thought to panic.

“Brody, slow down!” she yelled.

He pounded the steering wheel in frustration, his blue eyes stormy with anger.

“STOP! If you’re going to drive like a crazy person, you’ll have to let me out!” When Brody didn’t seem to hear her she began to panic, grabbing the door handle for safety.

Finally he got his temper under control and slowed the car down. “I’m so sorry, Mina. I should have been there to protect you.” He reached out to touch her bruised cheek but Mina flinched back in fear. He dropped his hand dejectedly. She had hurt him unintentionally.

“You see, now you’re scared of me. I’m not angry at you, I’m angry at myself that you got hurt.” Brody looked at Mina and she could see fear written in his eyes.

“Brody, it could have been worse. A lot worse. But you saved me.” Mina gently reached out to touch Brody’s arm, to comfort him, to show him that she wasn’t afraid.

“Who was he, Mina?” Brody’s jaw clenched and unclenched in anger.

“I don’t know,” Mina answered truthfully. “Some guy in an alley. An evil, evil man.”

She watched as Brody’s knuckles turned white on the steering wheel. “He threatened you, and you don’t know who he was. He seemed to want something; he said he’d be back.”

“I told you, I don’t know who he is. And I don’t have what he wants.” Mina felt her own anger rise.

“But you know what it is?” Brody asked unbelievably. “If you know what he’s after, then give it to him.”

“I don’t have it, and even if I did, I couldn’t give it to him. You have to believe me.”

“Maybe I could, Mina, if you told me what’s going on?”

He looked at her accusingly, but Mina’s silence was the only answer that Brody got.

“Please take me home now,” she said a few minutes later.

“Absolutely not! We need to go to the police.”

“No, I want you to take me home. I don’t want to go to the police, and if you take me I will deny everything.” Mina turned on Brody angrily. “I never asked you to get involved, I never asked you to sit with me and chauffeur me around. Hanging out with me for two days does not give you permission to decide what I should and should not do. Besides, this would never have happened if you hadn’t run over my bike! I never asked for your help and I don’t want it. Take me HOME.” The last words flew from her mouth and she instantly regretted her tone. But it was too late to take them back; the damage was done.

Neither of them spoke a word until they reached the international district, delineated by faded Mexican stands and restaurants, and the occasional Chinese joint. She demanded he stop one block from her home. “Stop, here!” she pointed and Brody pulled over.

“Mina, I’m sorry!” Brody began but was interrupted by Mina’s sudden exit from the car.

Mina quickly slipped between the colorful stalls and people trying to lose him. She waited until his car pulled away into the night and she could no longer see his taillights. When Mina was sure Brody wasn’t on her street she ran all the way home, trying hard not to look over her shoulder. She grabbed her key to the blue street level door, ran straight up the stairs and yelled goodnight to her mom, claiming she was tired. Once safe, Mina crawled into bed, cradling her hands around her knees, and cried herself to sleep, wishing she hadn’t stumbled on the Pandora’s box that was her family’s curse, and wondering how she’d ever survive.

Chapter 9

Mina had the full intention of going to school the day after the attack, by covering her bruises with makeup. She was about to tell her mother about the attack at the library, but then decided against it, when Sara took one wide eyed look at the bruise and began to shake. Mina quickly played it off as another clumsy gym class incident, which was not uncommon for Mina, and it seemed to ease her mother’s fears.

If Sara knew that her daughter was attacked by a large man in the alley, she would make them run again, Mina knew. She went to the small closet that housed the family’s laundry and reached into the dryer to pull out a clean hoodie. “What the..?” Mina spoke aloud. The hoodie she’d pulled out was red, and she hated the color red.