[ Content Warnings: descriptions/mentions of dog attacks, mentions of death. ] 

'Hey.' Nick said, surprised at Juliette running up to him. 'I thought that you'd be asleep.'

'I can't sleep! Juliette replied. 'Not with all that's going on!'

'What's going on?' Nick asked, bemused. Just then Briar wandered over from where they'd been lying on the couch, wiping the sleep from their eyes.

'Yeah, what he said.' Briar said, blearily. 'Juliette, the printer woke me up.'

'Oh, sorry. But, look what I found!' She said, excitedly holding up a pair of maps. Nick took the maps from Juliette's hands and inspected them, walking into the kitchen. Briar was pulled as well, as Juliette had taken their hand once Nick had a hold of the maps. 'Visna Gora! It's in Slovenia! Right in the middle!'

'And we care about that because?' Briar and Nick asked.

'Because that is where your mum's email was sent from.' Juliette replied, shutting the fridge door. Nick's eyebrow rose in surprise. 'She said she was in danger, so I thought that I'd better look into where it came from. So, I tracked down the IP address of the server it was sent from. I wish I could track down the actual location, but obviously I don't have access to that kind of technology...'

'So she's in Slovenia?' Nick asked. Briar handed Juliette her cup, and she took a small sip from it. 'What kind of trouble is she in?'

'She's a Grimm. A lot of people want her dead; she'd said that she was on her way to Greece. She's out there all alone.' Nick replied.

++

'No dog could do this.' Juliette explained.

'How can you tell?' Hank questioned.

'Usually when a dog, a coyote or a wolf, bites down and attacks it will shake the victim, and you'd see more tearing in the wounds.'

'Well, that's not terrifying at all.' Briar mumbled. Next to them Nick squeezed their hand comfortingly.

'Who wants more capri say?' Rosalee asked.

'Me.' Nick responded enthusiastically. Rosalee handed the plate over Briar, and then to Nick before sitting down herself.

'Definitely not a blutbad, FYI. Too much general mangling.' Monroe stated, handing the case photos back over to Hank. 'We're more of a throat first, ask questions later, wesen.' Juliette then handed the other photos to Monroe and he took them, turning them over from every angle. 'Plus,' He continued. 'Yeah, there's no signs of going after the legs first to cripple the prey. Sorry, victim, which is what a canine would do. So yeah, you're probably dealing with a wesen -- and a powerful one.'

'You don't know what kind of wesen you're dealing with?' Rosalee asked, taking the plate from Hank.

'Some kind of wesen that's part hjundjager, part damoenfeurer?' Nick put forward.

'Sounds like you're dealing with a hollentier.' Monroe replied.

'Exactly what I was thinking.' Rosalee said, pouring more wine into Monroe's glass. 'Big-ish, snouty-ish, brutish, neanderthalesque, and basically a jerkwad?'

'That's him.' Hank replied.

'Because a hollientier could do that.' Monroe stated.

'What does that mean, is it German?' Juliette asked.

'Basically it means beast from hell.' Monroe answered.

'Linguistics wins again! Man, I love German.' Briar said, laughing.

'They actually have an ancient lineage, all the way back to the egyptians.' Monroe continued, not bothered by their interruption.

'How did he react to you?' Rosalee questioned.

'He didn't seem to care all that much.' Nick replied.

'Definitely a hollantier then.' Rosalee sighed.

'This wesen wasn't afraid of you?' Juiette asked. Nick out his arm around her and leaned back. 'He didn't appear to be.'

'Your basic hollientier is to stupid to know what to be afraid of. Which is why the egyptians used to entomb them with their pharaohs.' Monroe said, laughing. 'They thought it was a promotion until, y'know, they got buried alive.'

'Can somebody pass the-- what do you call it?' Hank stuttered.

'The artichokes, or the entamidabouli?' Rosalee asked.

'Uh, both.' Hank said.

'So where is he now?' Juliette quizzed, handing Hank the plates.

'Oh, we have him locked up.' Hank replied.

'Hey, if you put a pharaoh in there? He'll stay forever.' Monroe laughed, causing an awkward pause. 'What? I'm just sayin.'

++

'I got nothin' Nick sighed. 'You find anything?'

'Lots.' Juliette replied. 'This one is about a Grimm who tracked down and beheaded an entire family of fetaoe fatali, in 1655! They were wreaking havoc on the island of Crete.'

'You're so cute.' Briar murmured, flicking the page of the book next to them.

'Thanks, dear.' Juliette said. 'But no, I haven't found anything that looks or sounds like El Cucuy. It's a big world, maybe this is just one that they haven't encountered yet.'

'Or, maybe it was never in a book that was handed down to my relatives.' Nick said, picking up a small green cloth bound book. 'It's still out there.'

'Maybe it isn't even wesen.' Juliette added. This made Nick stare out in the direction of the door with a pensive look on his face. If she was right, what could he do about it?

++

'So, did you find out what it was?' Briar asked, moving over so that Nick could fit into the bed next to them.

'Well, you're not going to believe this...' Nick replied, carding his fingers through his hair and slipping himself between the covers. 'It was actually a 70 year old woman.'

'What?' Briar whispered loudly.

'Yeah, I didn't believe it either. But, if this makes you feel any better, there's one less hollentier in the world now.' Nick comforted.

'Oh, well that makes me feel a lot better.' Briar said, leaning onto Nick's chest.

'I'm glad.' Nick replied, kissing the top of their head and reaching over to turn the light off.

[ Author's Note ]

Here's the first chapter!! I hope you enjoyed this!!

Also, yes, I realise I could have used the wiki page for the wesen names, but I just couldn't be bothered - so y'all have to deal with my inconsistent spelling. 

[ Word Count: 951 words ]

[ Written: 21st August 2022 - 5th September 2022 / Published: 6th September 2022 ]