For those of you still interested - I have several stories close to finishing, if not at their end. I promise to finish them all. I couldn't help but start this, it was from a dream that I just couldn't shake. I intend on updating this frequently, the chapters may be shorter than usual but something substantial will be here.
Concrete Angels
Church bells shatter the silence in the haunting forest interrupting her curious and thoughtful discovery of her new backyard.
Violet hurried, sandals in hand, towards the soaring white stemple, her heart pounding in rhythm to her feet, knowing she would now be late.
The searing summer sun sliced across the horizon making one last appearance for the day, shimmering like gold through the tips of her long blonde hair as she dashed along the crooked dirt path in hast.
Working hard to catch her breath, Violet slid on her shoes before running up the warped steps, while the sounds of an eerie pipe organ loomed inside raising the hairs on the back of her neck.
Her attempt to sneak inside unnoticed fell by the wayside as her small frame appeared through tall arched wooden doors.
The unsettling creaking echo interrupted her step father's passionate testimony, awkwardly announcing her entrance to the little chapel on the hill.
Short of sixty heads of all ages turned back to get an inquisitive look at the young beauty that was new to their small town that time had clearly forgot.
Casting down guilt ridden eyes of whiskey and rye, she pulled awkwardly on her white sweater that had made it's way off her shoulder hiding her slip of a sundress that flowed down to her thin ankles.
She knew she'd catch hell later for being late to his very first sermon, it wasn't her intention to disobey his rules, it never was, she just had a curious nature, a free spirit, two qualities that didn't exactly meld well with his strict religious beliefs.
It didn't help that every male, young and old, had their eyes focused on her, especially a certain dark haired boy her age who kept staring at her, trying desperately to get her attention.
Violet hung her head nervously, pulling the ends of her sweater over her hands, shoving them beneath her thighs, wishing she could just disappear.
The move had been his idea, a fresh start after her mother's untimely death, a way to break her out of a depression that often left her moody and withdrawn, which wasn't that unusual except for the day he found fresh slices of dried blood on the inside of her forearm.
Forgoing traditional therapy, believing it was her soul, and not her mind, that needed healing, Ben took her away from the temptations of the big city to a more puritanical small town way of life.
He was determined to break her with the lord's teachings, re-birthing her into a more christian way of living, one that he could be proud of.
Not that Violet was a girl who made an effort to ever 'fit in', in fact it was one of the biggest thorns in his side when it came his insulant step daughter, that, and the fact that she had no belief in the god that he had based his entire life upon.
This was a constant bone of contention between him and his wife, who believed that he had no say in raising her, of course now that she was gone Violet found herself at his mercy, and his god.
Swinging her feet back and forth tapping lightly on the bench in front of her, she managed to block out his lecture for the day, while humming a song in her head, a trick she had perfected during the last six months.
The wooden pew creaked as she shifted restlessly, catching judgmental stares from the sweat soaked congregation who intermittently craned their necks back to glare at her.
She could feel the tension building around her, all the focus on the seventeen year old daughter of the new preacher who was basically on display for the entire town.
It was her first appearance since the week that they had arrived, since she had spent most of her time exploring the woods that surrounded their small farm house.
Already she felt like an outsider, a blasphemous heathen dropped in the midst of a community of devout believers, determined to find something scandalous about the pretty young thing who made the women gossip and the men leer.
It had been two years since her mother had married the strict, but handsome Preacher, Ben Harmon, and just six months since her mother's unexpected passing.
Violet kept her views about the non existence of god to herself, realizing it made life with Ben much easier, but she wasn't a fool.
Her mother wasn't up in a heaven of castles and clouds, she was six feet under, buried beneath bugs and earth, decomposing in a casket lined with silk in her best dress and her grandmother's ugly broach.
The loss of her mother felt like a weight on her shoulders, always there, a never ending sadness that was a part of her now, and no amount of make believe nonsense was going to change that.
Removing her sweater, she lifted her windswept tresses off her neck while fanning herself to get some relief from the oppressive heat bearing down on her.
Unlike her father Violet was oblivious to the immediate attention this seemingly innocent move had on the male parishioners, distracting them from the word of god coming from the front of the church.
Doing his best to make a very public point, her father raised his arms at the altar, bible in hand, bellowing out Colossians 3:5.
"So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you! Have nothing to do with sexual impurity, lust, and shameful desires!"
The sudden escalated angry tone coming from Ben, caused her to catch his accusatory glare, while he continued on preaching passionately on the devil's thirst for the purity of their souls.
Violet had enough, grabbing her sweater she took off leaving a communal gasp of holier than thou whispers far behind.
Running with her arms spread out to her side, she smiled, feeling the cool wind hit her sweaty face relieved to be free.
Back on the winding dirt path, her reprieve was short lived realizing that this was her life now, that she was truly alone, far away from the only home that she had ever known.
Heading towards the woods that led to the farm house something caught her eye.
Surrounded by low hanging Spanish moss trees, and screaming cicadas her surroundings suddenly felt other worldly as dusk fell all around her leaving shadows to play tricks on her imagination.
She felt as though she was being watched again, unlike the piercing judgmental glares inside the stifling church, there was only one pair of eyes following her this time.
It was a boy, all alone like her, grinning mischievously, nudging his chin to the side as if encouraging her to follow him.
He moved quickly, just when she had him in her view he'd disappear only to emerge impossibly too far for him to run.
Looking down she noticed the path she was on split into two, one clear, obviously heavily traveled, the other hidden by overgrown weeds and brush.
With one foot secured in each direction, Violet bit down on her bottom lip, pulling on it slightly, piercing the skin with the edge of shiny white teeth just as he stepped into sight, this time frozen in place, just twenty feet from where she was standing.
He appeared to be her age, tall, thin, with light hair that fell into unruly waves over eyes so dark they made his pale skin glow in comparison.
His hypnotic gaze was fixated on her leaving her paralyzed, physically unable to look away.
Suddenly he was gone again, darting between what looked to be tall stones appearing and disappearing as if he was daring her to play with him.
Needing both hands to feel her way around as dusk quickly turned to night, she tied her sweater around her slender waist.
Feeling drawn to him, she made a rash decision to take the hidden path, using the tips of her fingers she grazed the tall grass on either side to help guide her way.
Keeping her eyes on him, and not what was in front of her, she ran into a waist high wrought iron fence strangled by twisted thick vines appearing as if it was sinking into the ground
Stepping through the opening of the gate just wide enough for her thin frame, she looked around at the stones realizing that she had unknowingly wandered into a small cemetery.
Neglected, overgrown with the encroaching forest that bordered along the edges, it felt as though the haunting woods threatened to swallow it whole.
Spinning around slowly taking it all in, she felt a deep sadness that struck a familiar chord inside.
Tombstones of all kinds covered by tall weeds, beautiful frail wildflowers of lilac and pale yellow kept the names of those buried beneath a secret.
Weeping cement angels, sinking crosses tilted with age, almost appeared as if something from underneath was pulling them down.
Her breath hitched with excitement witnessing his ghostly white fingers sliding painstakingly slow across a tall headstone disappearing from sight just as a soft deep whisper enveloped her.
"Find me."
Charmed by his breathy voice, she threw caution to the wind, jumping behind the stone he had just been touching.
"Too slow little girl, hurry… hurry… you're almost there."
Her pretty mouth arched into a mischievous smile that flipped his stomach, it was like being dropped from the sky, he knew he'd hit the ground hard, but he didn't care, he knew right away that she was worth the fall.
"I hate to disappoint you, but I'm no little girl."
Mesmerized, he peaked out from another gravestone just behind her, wanting so much to touch her sun kissed skin.
"My mistake... trust me, I won't make another."
Following his seducing velvet tones, Violet turned quickly just in time to catch the ends of his flaxen curls just as he disappeared from sight.
"Oh so close!"
Squinting in the dark, she's relying on the stars above to guide her way until a cluster of fluffy white clouds drift apart, engulfing the ground in a bright luminous moon.
One side of her pink lips rose in victory, he's standing with his back to her, head down, hands clutching the edges of two stones on either side of him.
"Gotcha."
Giggling innocently, she runs through a maze of gravestones before emerging out to where she had seen him, only to find herself staring up at a breathtaking concrete angel.
The statue hovers over the rest, it's chipped and weathered, but beautiful in a way that fills Violet's hazel eyes with tears.
She follows exquisite outstretched wings that lift up to the night sky, while delicate hands cover an expression of pained sorrow trapped forever in time.
It's divine in nature, so deeply moving it stills Violet's heart as she reaches out feeling compelled to touch it.
"She's grieving for the soul of an untimely death."
Violet's hand still, her fingertips press on the base of the statue while her body shivers in response to his mouth that's poised close to her ear.
With each word her silky hair flutters outward skimming across heated skin along her neck.
"That's very sad."
She manages to get the words out, but they are shaky and staggered, giving his effect on her away.
"You're cold."
Her entire body tenses when she feels his icy hands wrap around her waist to release the knot of her sweater.
He intentionally lets it slide slowly from her hips before stepping closer to cover her shoulders.
Conjuring courage from someplace unknown, she turns to face him not realizing just how near he was.
Shallow soft breaths slip through her parted lips as she lifted her hazel eyes upward taking in every inch of him.
Her face flushed red hot, her heart pounded like drums in her ears in response to his strikingly handsome presence.
Her mind refused to believe what her eyes could not disregard, she felt dizzy, weak, along with other confusing emotions that were wreaking havoc over her trembling body.
"What's your name?"
Staring up into eyes as dark as a starless night, she whispered softly as he grazed cold fingertips along her cheek.
"Violet."
Sweeping his other hand around her waist he took her by surprise as he pressed her body close.
"Promise to come and see me again Violet."
Turning quickly to the sound of her father's voice, distant and urgent in a way that was never good, she spun back to find him gone.
Slowly moving clouds had once again cloaked the moon leaving her in darkness as she she took off towards the woods, leaving a whispered 'yes' in her wake.