The stark howl of the Big Bad Wolf and his steps near the safe house door made my skin crawl. It wasn't just the grotesque appearance—scrunched man face, canine snout, and thick claws on human hands—that terrified me. It was the creature's unmatched strength and speed that filled me with dread.

"Oh my god. Millie's out there!" Jade pulled her overalls up over her nearly naked body in seconds, securing the narrow straps on her slender shoulders.

"I gotta find her." I dropped the bloody tissue and took the crescent blade into my grip, flinching as sharp pain surged up my arm from the trickling, double-sided wound. It was then that I realized Sonya's betrayal impacted the use of my dominate hand, my throwing hand.

Jade placed her arm on my shoulder as I winced in pain. "Please, be careful."

A rush of panic overtook me upon a sudden realization. "I don't think I can use my hand."

The howl was closer, much closer than any Grimm creature should have been. We stood in silence, our eyes glued to the door of the small hut. If Millie was nearby, the Wolfman was nearer. She wouldn't be able to get to the safety of the shack even if she wanted to.

Footsteps outside the door were nothing like the stomping of the massive Troll we had come accustomed to. This time, the strides were doubled and dragged the strewn straw that covered the ground in the vicinity.

As we stood silently, barely daring to breathe, our eyes tracked the creature's every move. It paced around the hut, never pausing, its path a relentless circuit from one corner to the next.

The sound of his mucus-filled breaths grew louder and closer, right outside the door. "Little pig," a deep voice rumbled, startling me, and bringing me back to the red room at Arcanum where it all began. "Let me in."

Jade looked at me with utter fear in her large round eyes.

"He can't get in," I assured her. "We're safe."

"Little pig..."

Jade stared at the door, her chest rapidly rising and falling from fright.

"Let me in." The husky words were punctuated in a low growl.

Jade's sight landed on me again, as if waiting for direction.

I quietly gestured to the door, ignoring the throbbing pain in my palm as I gripped the sharp crescent blade. I mimed a throw, silently demonstrating my plan and motioned for her to open the door.

She shook her head vehemently. Her lips formed the word no.

I knew I had to convince her and took my stance, standing with my legs shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and blade raised. I was more than prepared to aim right between the eyes of the beast from where I stood.

I nodded toward the door. "Open it."

Reluctantly, she crept to the door and placed her hand on the lock. She looked at me again, I nodded my encouragement, and she unlatched the lock. She paused as if half expecting the creature to ram the door open on his own, but he didn't.

I nodded again, signaling my readiness for the impending confrontation.

With even more hesitation, she hooked her fingers around the door handle and slowly pulled it open to reveal more than my imagination could conjure.

The musky odor of wet dog engulfed us as strings of saliva dripped from the Wolfman's bared teeth. The massive fangs in the jaws of the enlarged human head were what my sights locked onto first.

The creature's snarls sent shivers down my spine. For a moment I was numb to the pain in my hand, not realizing I had been squeezing the handle of the blade in my palm. Warm, red liquid dripped down my knuckles and onto the straw beneath me.

The beast's dark gaze followed the dripping liquid, his tongue snaking out to lick his wet snout, the message of thirst and hunger clear in his eyes.

Damn near frozen in place, I didn't want to scare the creature away by suddenly lifting my blade before I had a beat on the space between his eyes where I had to stick him, but I needed to calculate my move.

I only had one shot.

But before I could commit to the throw, the creature lifted its front arm. Muscles stretched and bulged under the patchy black fur as it placed its clawed fingers beyond the threshold of the door.

Jade flattened herself against the wall. "Kill it, Kam."

Her words grabbed the creature's attention instantly, his massive head swiveling to fixate on her with a menacing glare. Before he could advance further, I reacted, hurling my blade towards him. However, it didn't rotate as it typically would when thrown forcefully. I regretted the throw instantly as it missed his head entirely and grazed the skin of the upper arm, near his shoulder.

The Wolfman let out a frustrated howl and stepped back from the door, his primal instincts driving him to inspect the wound. Shifting onto his hind legs, he towered at least six feet tall, an intimidating figure with a mass of muscle that made him seem twice his size.

As he crouched down again on all fours, his growl caused me to shiver. I swiftly twisted my cuff, summoning the blade back to me. As it hurtled toward me, it whizzed past the Wolfman, narrowly missing him before clinking against the metal of my brass brace.

His brow bridge shifted, showcasing the animalistic anger in the creature. He crept closer, black liquid oozed from the injury on his shoulder next to the familiar yet faded tattoo of a popular school emblem.

I recognized the same tattoo on season fourteen's Grimm Games winner and national hero Tommy Miller. My eyes went wide, and my knees buckled. "Tommy?"

The snarls abruptly ceased, and the fierce expression on the beast's face softened, his brow bridge relaxing. Just as I was about to confirm my suspicions about his true nature, Millie's voice echoed from the distance. "Hey, doggy! Over here," she called out.

"What is she doing?" Jade looked to me.

I couldn't form the words before the Wolfman dashed off in the direction of her voice. "Wait!" I called out after him, but it was too late. "Millie, run!" I called out, hoping she could hear me and had a plan to stay safe.

Jade rushed to my side. "Was that Tommy Miller?"

"I don't know. I think so," I said, gently pushing her aside. "I have to help Millie. Stay here and don't open that door unless me or Millie says so."

"Wait." Her eyes bulged with fear. "Don't leave me here. What if it comes back?"

"Don't open the door." I rushed toward the opening, but before I could cross out into the dark space, she pulled me back by the crook of my elbow. "Listen. It won't get in if the door is closed."

"Are you sure?" It was evident she didn't believe me, especially after it already took a step inside somehow.

"You're safer here than anywhere else."

"What if Sonya comes back?"

"I won't let anything happen to you, okay." With my good hand, I coaxed her closer to me by her chin. "You call out and I'm here. I promise. Trust me, okay."

"You better come back." Her stare was no nonsense.

"Have I ever lied to you?"

She shook her head and planted a kiss on my lips as confirmation. As I stepped out the door, she waited briefly, then closed and locked it securely behind me.

The dark atmosphere was jarring, especially with the absence of tall, dense apple trees I had grown accustomed to. Instead, looming piles of haystacks and straw hills created ominous silhouettes, their towering forms resembling sinister black creatures lurking in the darkness.

The Troll was nowhere to be seen, heard, or felt, and off in the distance a rustling shifted the loose straw. Cautiously, I followed the noise. The drying blood on my palm made my hand sticky as I gripped my blade.

I struggled to push aside the pain, forcing myself to keep my eyes wide open, searching for any subtle movement in the dim light that bathed the space in faux moonlight.

Nothing but shadow and silhouette surrounded me and acted as landmarks to the path I followed. The rustling suddenly stopped as soon as I approached the ten-foot-tall straw stack. "Millie?" I murmured. "Tommy?"

It became eerily quiet. An uneasy presence made me stop in my tracks. It felt as if I were the prey of a predator on the hunt. Slowly, I swiveled my head to check behind me, readying myself for a surprise attack but was met with darkness.

A wave of nausea churned my gut.

Directing my gaze forward, I found myself ensnared by the sight of two piercing humanlike eyes, gleaming with an otherworldly intensity. They seemed to glow with an ethereal green color, capturing my attention and holding me captive.

"Ah, trembling soul, do you fear the melody of my flute, the whispers of the shadows?"

I lifted my blade and stumbled backward to put space between me and the lanky creature. "Who are you?"

"I am but a weaver of dreams and nightmares, a mistress of the unseen." Beneath the mesmerizing gaze, the slender figure emerged from the shadows, draped in a collared shirt and pants crafted from the deepest shades of midnight. "Yet, fear not the unknown, for in darkness lies the secrets untold, and in my tune, a dance of fate awaits."

The figure held a small wooden instrument, its intricate patterns carved with mysterious symbols that were an unfamiliar script. The instrument glimmered faintly in the dim light.

"A flute?" I stared at the device.

"A pipe."

Atop the figure's head sat a brimless hat, its dark fabric adorned with feathers that danced and swayed with the breath of the air.

The Piper?

I hesitated to harm her but narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "What do you want?"

"Come," her voice was a contrast of husky and rich like the resonance of distant thunder yet held a melodic quality that flowed like a river of poetry. Each word that passed her lips was infused with a musical cadence, rising and falling in a rhythm that seemed to echo my heartbeat. "Embrace the chaos, for within it lies the key to your destiny."

Reluctant, I shook my head and pivoted to return to Jade in the safe zone. My bravery no longer fueled me, replaced by the urge to get far away from the mysterious entity.

Nausea stayed with me as I glanced behind me to see her raise the little instrument to her lips, the haunting melody that came from it filled the air, weaving a spell of enchantment that ensnared me and stopped me in my tracks.

It was the large screen in the arena that took my attention as it lit up the space around it a mile away. When the stadium lights switched on, the sound of its power roaring to life found my ears seconds after the blinding beams appeared.

Then the familiar sirens rang out, drowning out the haunting tune of the pipe. The noise indicated another game was set to begin and unless I could make it there in under thirty seconds, I would be left to the whim of her enchanting tune.