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Wow, that’s huge, Mina thought How am I supposed to carry that around? She watched in aan to shrink into a s She had done it She had found the Gri to suit her needs It would help her

"Thank you," she whispered to the book Then, after soht "That’s still rather conspicuous," she said out loud Another bright light appeared and the small book hed out loud "Better, but not quite I’ and it finally changed again, this time into a slim red spiral notebook

"Perfect No one will expect a notebook"

She picked up the notebook up and was surprised by how light it felt She was even more surprised to learn that it was blank The pictures where gone, the writing, everything had completely disappeared

"So how are you supposed to helpan answer Feeling slightly let down, she touched the cover lightly and whispered "I hope you knohat you’re doing, because I sure don’t" The book seemed to warm up in answer

Mina took the notebook and tucked it under her ar and praying it would take her back up, into the world above She breathed a sigh of relief when the stone rose into the air, taking Mina with it It thudded softly as it clicked back into place Mina was now back on the first floor But as soon as her feet left the seal, the color seeed the store fro a little faster toward the front of the store, she tripped on a rug and saw that the store itself was shrinking! The shelves had gotten closer together and the rugs were an to run and had to dodge as slowly books, figurines and various pottery on the shelves started to topple over At first it was only a few ite all around her The walls began to twist and a few papers flew past her, knocking into Mina She had to hurry and get out

Running now, she saw the entrance, but by now the door she’d first entered o feet save out with little resistance She flung herself out of the roo her elbows and knees on the hard cement She never knew the Gri

Groaning and brushing grit froed elbows, she turned over to look at the store and saw…a blank brick wall The building had disappeared! Sitting up, Mina looked to the left and saw the pottery store and Rosie’s Flowers, but there was no longer an unmarked store in between the to her feet, Mina tried to not draw anya few unco felt wrong The sun wasn’t where it was supposed to be, it was al Mina looked at her watch and saw that it had stopped at 1:11 PM Glancing to the clock in the square it was closer to 7 PM Mina had been in the store for six hours? That wasn’t possible, was it? Why hadn’t Nan ever co, Mina decided to head ho she had done hundreds of times before, so she could call her friend She never noticed when a dark shadow separated from the wall and followed her

Chapter 11

When theher an instant in which to react She jurab for her hoodie She heard the tear of cloth as a piece ripped off in his hands

"Little girl, you should know better than to traverse dark alleys alone Tch tch tch" The familiar voice made Mina shudder in terror How had he found her? It was the same man with the wolf tattoo who assaulted her behind the library The man chuckled and sniffed the ripped piece of her jacket and began to rub it along his face as if learning her scent His hands looked longer than humanly possible and his nails were dark and dirty