The autumn breeze was brisk and cutting on Violet's face as she walked home from school. Her friend, Ruby, by her side, was animated telling a story of her father and his heroism. The thought brought a smile to Violet's face. Violet Grendel often lived a solitary life and didn't associate with her peers. Ruby Rose was an introvertive girl who was extremely outgoing when put in her element. Ruby was always talking of stories of Grimm and fights. She loved the idea of becoming a huntress one day. Violet just wanted to be a normal worker. She didn't see the romance in heroism that Ruby did, but she appreciated Ruby's desire to express her emotions regarding huntsmen and huntresses. Violet had a feeling that Ruby would end up being really special one day, so Violet strived to be special in her own way, too.
"Vi?" Ruby cocked her head to the side. "Are you okay?"
Violet snapped back into focus, "yes, of course. Why?"
Ruby turned back towards the street they turned onto, "well, your house is over that way. We don't normally go back to my home together." She glanced back to Violet. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. I just zonked out!" Violet giggled to alleviate the tension. Ruby was quite preceptive despite being in elementary school. Violet turned back up the street and waved goodbye to her friend. She sighed and reservedly moved towards her home.
The streets on this side of town weren't lined with passersby and nobody tends to stay for long. It's considered a ghost town and most people have moved out. Its reputation preceded it and Violet was unsure as to why. She knows her mother decided to play the same game as the other neighbors and let her and her father alone in their two-story home. Violet sighed. As she walked, she counted the cracks in the sidewalk, making sure to step on each one of them. The grass lots to her right were filled with weeds and dandelions ripe for the picking. She figured she had the time, so she stopped and plucked one from the ground. The life of the weed stained her hand as she closed her eyes to make a wish.
"I wish that there was a place I could go too far away from here. Far away from dad, far away from this town, far away from this city." She blew. The pappi glided on the wind and sailed across the lot until they were completely out of sight. "Some are luckier than others." Violet sighed. She tossed the bald dandelion back towards the grass and continued her walk home.
As she arrived in her cul-de-sac, she was greeted by one of her neighbors that still remained. "Hey there, Violet! How are you?" Mr. Collard hollered from his garage. His round form was especially jovial today and Violet was unsure how he managed to remain so happy despite the sad state of their town. "How was school?"
"It was all right, Mr. Collard. How are you?" Violet politely responded.
"Oh, just fine. Things seem to be picking up around here and I'm sure we might be able to revitalize this part of town. I'm sure you'd be happy to have more kids your age to play with other than Percy." Mr. Collard chuckled as he finished his statement. Violet nodded in agreement. She did like to play with his daughter, Persimmon (Percy for short), but it would be nice to have more company. "Well, you tell your father what I said. I'm sure that'll help."
Violet turned back to him. She pushed her hair behind her ear, "maybe. Thanks for the thought." She was melancholic about entering the home, but she knew she had to or else her father would be upset that she took too long to return.
She breathed in deeply and opened the front door. The inside of the home was messy. Violet had tried to clean it before, but her father begged her not to. She closed the door softly behind her as she entered the dark foyer. She exhaled softly and began to take her backpack off.
"Violet? Is that you?" A voice called out from within the first floor. Violet stopped her motion for a second before returning to taking it off.
"Yes, dad." She placed it neatly on the table beside the front door and removed her shoes before walking on the carpet. She moved down the hall, past the stairs, and into the living room. Her father lay on the couch, right where she had left him, staring at the ceiling. She looked up and saw a new crack had formed. Regardless if Violet had suggested they hire someone to fix it, her father would never do it. Despite her anger, she can't blame him. He wasn't always like this. "Mr. Collard told me something that I needed to tell you."
He glanced towards her. "Yeah? What's it?" Violet picked at the hem of her shirt as she recounted her meeting with their neighbor. Making sure to avoid eye contact the whole time. "I see. I see." He rolled back onto his back and continued to stare at the ceiling. "Well, that's good."
"Is that it?" She asked expectantly.
"What?" He rolled back to face her. "What are you asking?"
"I mean, is that it? I expected more than 'that's good' in response." She said quietly.
"My dearest daughter. Are you backtalking me?" He looked at her. Each second with more intensity. "Because I would think you would know better."
"No sir. I wouldn't." She lied. But she knew it was best to just agree with what he wanted and dropped the subject.
He rolled back onto his back once more, this time with an agitated sigh. "You're too much like your mother."
Violet inhaled sharply. She noticed then that there were booze bottles adorning the floor in the darkness. She felt her cheeks become hot and her eyes stung as tears began to stream. Any mention of her mother from him would make her upset. He knew that and he knew that he shouldn't be using her against Violet. Instead of contesting him, she retraced her steps to the front door, putting her shoes back on and stepping outside. After closing the door, she immediately took off into the wood to the side of her home. This was a constant for her. She found solace in these woods. She found comfort in knowing there was nobody around to hear her wail her suffering. Her father wasn't always like this, but he's always like this now. It tears her apart not being able to help, but she just wanted to get away from him.
She tore through the foliage and gained many new scrapes and scratches from thorns and branches as she barreled through the forest. Her tears stung the scratch marks and she didn't care. But she ventured a bit too far, further than how far she would normally go. She tripped on a root sticking out of the ground and tumbled down a bank. She moaned in anguish as she tried to climb back to her feet. That's when she noticed it. In the middle of a circle of trees was an old, decaying well. Lined with bricks all around it, it looked to be near a century old. Plenty of plants and moss had grown on and in the cracks around it to the point where it looked mystical. Violet stepped in its direction to get a better view, but immediately recoiled intuitively. She didn't know why her gut told her to step back, but she did nonetheless. She admired the well from a distance when she felt the breeze kick up again. It whipped across her face at such ferocity that it made Violet tremble from the chill.
"Hello?" She heard a call. She looked around and became worried. Nobody else should've been out here except her. She wrote it off as the wind's shrill howl, but then it called again, "are you there?" She gasped and looked around herself more nervously. She knew it wasn't the wind this time.
"Who's there? Show yourself! I have a friend whose father is really strong and he'll beat you up!" She talked big to try and intimidate the voice.
"Where are you? I hear you, but I can't see you!" The voice called back to her. She turned to where she heard the voice and her eyes laid upon the well. "Come closer."
"Are you in there?" She pointed at the old well. Her heart jumped in her chest. "Are you hurt? Do you need help?"
The voice laughed a little in response to Violet's panic. "No, I'm fine. I've been here for quite some time. I've become rather lonely, you see." Violet's expression softened. She related to the speaker tremendously. Due to their situation, Violet has felt a shameful amount of loneliness within her home and her own heart. She knew that regardless of how she tried to fix that, it would always remain. "Are you a friend? Would you like to be friends?"
"Sure!" She smiled, but it faded quickly when she remembered her father speaking about strangers. This interaction was especially questionable considered the speaker's odd placement. "And you're positive that you don't need help?"
"Why would I need help? I'm perfectly fine that way I am. Do you need help?" The voice returned.
Violet moved her foot in a circular motion, "maybe. I don't know if I want to talk about it with someone that I just met." The dirt pushed by the tip of her shoe made a slight scraping noise, but nothing irritating. "What's your name?" She called out.
"Hmm, that's a good question! I don't believe I remember." Violet laughed in disbelief. "It's not funny! …well, maybe it is a little funny." The voice laughed as well. Violet grimaced slightly at the sound of the laughter. It was grating. Something wasn't right with the voice. Her intuition was returning and it was telling her it was time to leave.
"I think I should probably return home. My dad might become upset if I'm gone for too long." She took a singular step back.
"Oh, but you just got here! And I've been having so much fun talking with you. Please, stay! I'm sorry if I did something wrong!" The voice pleaded. "Please!"
"Okay, maybe a bit longer." Violet resigned.
"Excellent. Oh, hey!" The voice echoed deep within the well. "What was your name again? I don't believe you ever mentioned it."
"My name is Violet." She responded politely. "How do you do?"
"Well!" The voice laughed at its joke. "Thanks for asking!" It went eerily silent for another minute or so, "say! What do you like to do for fun?"
"Me and my friend, we'd play tag normally, but I…" Violet started, but the voice cut her off.
"Oh, that sounds marvelous! Let's play tag!" The voice called enthusiastically.
"I'm not sure how that would work considering your situation and all." Violet deduced.
"You're right! And I don't even know what you look like." The voice sounded disappointed. "Maybe we could play a game of catch! Do you like catch?"
Violet grimaced once again. She didn't really like playing catch because her hand-eye coordination was terrible. She often dropped the ball or got hit instead, but it was really one of their only options to do. "I'm not too big on catch, but I guess I could do it just this once."
"Hooray! I'm so happy!" The voice fell silent again. "Say, do you have a ball?"
"No, I don't." Violet didn't come out here with the intention of playing games with a mysterious stranger. "What should we use instead."
"Find a rock." The voice ordered.
"A rock? That sounds dangerous." She started.
"It's the only thing." The voice added immediately.
The voice wasn't wrong. Unsure of how far down they were, a pinecone wouldn't reach back up to her. The best bet would be a rock. She looked around and saw a medium sized rock that shined a dull gray in the setting sun. She picked it up. "Okay, I've got one."
"Alright, throw it in!" The voice was excited. Her gut feeling started to worsen, but she chucked the rock into the well. It clicked and scraped the sides as it plummeted deep down into it until it made a SPLUNK! "Wonderful! My turn!" Violet prepared for the rock to come and narrowly hit the side of the well, but instead it launched out of the top of the well and came crashing down almost on top of Violet's head. She jumped out of its way and covered herself. She looked over to where she was originally standing and saw that the rock buried itself deep into the ground. "Aren't you going to throw it back?" The voice called out.
"No, I think I'm done." Violet was shaking in fear. That rock would've seriously hurt her had it hit her directly on the head. "I really should get going after all."
"He's not waiting." The voice was sullen.
"What?" Violet was taken off guard by the sudden change in demeanor.
"Stay a bit longer, please!" The voice begged once more. "I'm sorry if I scared you with the rock."
But Violet was done with the games. This had gone on for far too long and she was scared out of her mind. "I'm sorry, but I'm leaving."
The voice started to cry. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" They apologized over and over again. "Please! Please! Please! Please!" They repeatedly begging.
"What else would you want me to do? You've scared me greatly. I don't know if I can accept your apology when I don't know you or can't see you." Violet pouted.
"I'll apologize to you, but you need to come closer." The voice stated, no longer pleading. "Violet, my friend."
She rolled her eyes and decided against her better judgement. Might as well do this one thing before returning home. She stepped closer towards the well. The moment she moved within the tree line she could hear chittering. She looked above herself to find squirrels and birds but nothing was around. She took another step towards the well. Her heart was in her throat, beating harder and harder with every step. Why was she so frightened?
She approached the well and peeked in. "Hello?" She called down.
"There you are." The voice wasn't the same as it was before. Violet knew this was wrong, but was frozen scared. That's when she saw the black hand grip the side of the well from the darkness below. She briefly saw the red eyes and its hideous smile. "How beautiful." Its distorted voice escaped from between its jagged teeth. The sound was atrocious, as if two stones were scraped across metal with force. Her wide eyes watered as she looked at the creature coming closer and closer. Yet she remained still.
Mr. Grendel wash ashamed of how he treated Violet the night before and made a point of not bothering her before he headed to work. Meanwhile, Ruby Rose waited outside the school for Violet to arrive. They would go to class together. The bell began to chime. Ruby looked worried, but turned to head inside the school. Violet Grendel was never seen again.