The famous Dorset Jurassic coast was no stranger to a storm, seagulls cawed and fought against the howling wind while sea spray and rain soaked the sleepy seaside town of Weymouth as it had done for centuries. It was always loud along the coastal paths atop the cliffs, and today a few visitors dared to sneak a peek over the heart-stopping drop, hoping to see the sea foam explode against the chalk. Even during England's cold summer spells tourists came from all around the world to see the prehistoric natural wonders.
Jane Cole wiped her dripping face and turned up the volume of her tatty Walkman, adjusting the headphones and checking to see if it was getting damaged by the rain. Once satisfied, she shoved it quickly into her pocket and dragged her foot faster along the pavement, her skateboard finally gathering speed. The wind whipped her cheeks harder as she flew off but she didn't care, it was rather soothing. With Frankie Goes to Hollywood blasting in her ears, she took in the scenic view of the town below the cliffs that she (unfortunately) called home.
She could see the dank orphanage from her viewpoint, the faded salmon cottage stuck out like a sore thumb on the green hill west of the town, sandwiched in between a long abandoned retirement home and a vast farm that stretched beyond the valley. It looked as horrible as the children that lived inside of it (Jane always thought it was rather fitting that Cole's Childrens Home was neighbours with a field full of cow's dung) with its peeling rickety fences and unseemly front garden littered of broken toys. It was no secret the whole town despised the orphanage - specifically the kids themselves. The orphans that came from the home were a nuisance to everyone they met, they constantly caused trouble for the locals and their behaviour gave all the kids a bad name, Jane included. She hated being a Coles kid.
Jane gasped and quickly skirted around a young couple holding hands, quickly shouting "Sorry!" as she zoomed past, and carried on following the cliffs paths towards her destination. Whenever she could, Jane was out on her skateboard - she was alone and enjoyed her own company. It started out as a lie, with Jane finding a skateboard at the beach one day after school and using it as an excuse to spend time away from the home to practice but once she got a good handle on her footwork she soon found that the skateboard was rather useful in other ways - it was a good shield from the rocks other Coles kids threw at her. Despite the chipped paint and the dents made by stones, Jane thought her skateboard was pretty damn awesome.
The wind picked up when Jane arrived at Poor Man's Point (a nickname the locals gave it as a few homeless people enjoyed the privacy of the coves hidden at the cliff's mouth) and she shivered in relief when she found it was deserted. It was a local tourist attraction, a natural phenomenon where the cliffs came together to form a stone plank that many thrill seekers used as a diving board, it was only a mere two hundred feet drop into the ocean. Jane came here often during the weekend, she found solace in the seagull screeches and rustling tree leaves that surrounded the peak of the cliffs, she never ran into the locals up here. She rubbed her hands together, trying to stay warm, and sat on the bench furthest from the edge. Her stomach did a little flip when her skateboard rolled towards the drop but she snatched it up quickly and hugged it to her chest. She would be furious with herself if the skateboard tumbled over the cliff - the walk home would take over an hour!
With the Walkman still blaring, Jane fumbled around in her paint splattered backpack and scooped out the instant camera that she received last Christmas by the only saving grace in her life; Danielle Greene, a carer at Coles. Roughly twenty-six years old, Danielle was the youngest support worker at the childrens home, and she was the only one that liked Jane. She was very kind with a pretty pointed face and a rather thick Welsh accent, something Jane had spent the past two years trying to imitate. She seemed to be the only one at the home who took notice of Jane's creative hobbies and she bought Jane a cheap instant camera to experiment with. Jane had never received a gift before Danielle turned up, she had never been more protective of anything in her whole life. Jane smiled and felt Danielle's old Walkman in her pocket - that was her second most protected gift.
The threatening grey clouds swirled with the wind out above the ocean, the waves were violent and clashed with itself rolling over and over towards the deep nothingness beyond. Jane shuddered, remembering how sharp and cold choking on sea water felt, how heavy the ocean could be when you're panicking, and her chest constricted in fear. She had almost drowned twice in her life, twice she had been dragged into the water by the kids who made her life a living hell and each incident still haunted her to this day. But still, she allowed the camera to soak in the beautiful bittersweet sea view.
Whenever Jane immersed herself in something creative her focus tunnelled and she ignored her surroundings, she never noticed how easily the hours slipped by her and she subconsciously blocked out the group making their way up the paths that zigzagged up the cliffs, their rattling bikes in their hands. The gang of kids were older than Jane by a couple of years, they were a bunch of teenagers who should've known better than to bully a vulnerable girl younger than them, but the need to show off was too sweet to resist. They had spotted the oblivious girl a mile off, the patched green coat and frantic camera flashes they had come to loathe stood out against the darkness, and they instinctively agreed to their new change of plans with matching menacing smiles.
Jane finally noticed how late it was getting when the white beams of a lighthouse further down the coastline started to ruin her photographs. It was always hard to tell the time when a storm was in town, it was the middle of July yet summer decided to miss this year completely, substituting the warmth with rain and very cold winds that never died down. They were in the midst of a perpetual storm and it had not stopped raining for almost three weeks, she didn't mind the rain but there were only so many depressing ocean pictures she could take!
Suddenly the Walkman clicked and switched off, the CD whirling to a stop inside her jacket. Jane put the camera down on the bench and pulled her headphones off, and the booming waves and wind roared on. With her hair whipping around her, she scrambled around in her bag for another rattling CD case but something in the corner of her peripheral caught her attention. Her stomach plummeted and her mouth suddenly became very dry.
"Oi!" Someone shouted behind her, their yell carrying with the wind. It was too dark to make out any faces but Jane didn't need a torch to know who it was. Did they stalk her here? She couldn't catch a break.
Instead of looking up, she carried on searching for something loud and energising to boost her sudden mood dip.
"Oi!" They shouted again. "You deaf?"
"It's Sunday, the holy day - the day of rest!" Jane shouted back, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Have a day off!"
"Piss off freak!"
Jane sighed and dropped the bag on her lap, taking a deep calming breath. They were starting early today, usually the f-word came halfway through their petty fights when her bullies got physical and her taunts had gone too far. She looked towards the four people approaching her, four bike lights flashing menacingly at her through the darkness, trying to be intimidating, but she could only snort at their attempts. This might have worked a few years ago but Jane had gotten used to her bullies' tactics quickly, even taunting them to get a little more creative with the oppression. With a lifetime of torment under her belt Jane had heard every swear word and slur come out of the bullies' mouths and it was beginning to get a little boring.
"Come on guys, I bet there's another lonely girl out there looking to be bullied, give me a day off. I can't be your only victim?" she asked, deciding to go with Danielle's various eighties hits. She clicked it into place just as the group arrived, giving Jane a chance to see their faces in their bike's dying lights. Rachel Madden sneered down at her from the front, her wild blonde hair shoved into two pigtails with little blue butterflies framing her fringe. She was the worst of them all, the one whose face Jane had memorised once out of fear but now out of hatred. She lived at Coles with her, she was the only other girl who had been there as long as Jane and she knew how hard it was growing up as an orphan. And yet, instead of trying to sympathise with Jane or even being civil with her, Rachel made it her personal goal to make Jane Cole's life a slow, agonising nightmare.
"You're always alone," spat a girl Jane recognised as Beverly Goldman, Rachel's best friend, and her lips puckered in disgust. "I thought you were kidding when you said she had no friends Rach." She too was wearing butterfly clips in her red curls, and Jane began to notice how similar all the girls were dressed. They looked like some sort of cutesy cult, and Jane found it rather funny that their angelic apperance constracted with their awful personalities.
"It's sad, isn't it?" laughed Rachel dryly, and Jane blinked up at them in disappointment. Is this the best they had?
"So what brings you all to Poor Man's Point this evening? Trying to find a boyfriend?" asked Jane, reaching for her camera, but one of the other girls quickly dived for it as well. A second too late, Jane reached out to snatch it back but Rachel smacked her hand out of the way. The four bullies abandoned their bikes and crowded around the bench and Jane knew immediately that her time was up, she needed to go. It was all well and good using her words to defend herself but she hated when the older girls got physical... It never ended well for Jane.
"Why are you up here with a camera? Trying to perv on the hobos?" jabbed Beverly, eagerly walking around the bench to grab Jane's backpack. Jane automaticalled scooped up her skateboard, shoved her Walkman away, and fastened her bag straps, all the while her grey eyes trained on the camera. The thought of it breaking made her heart lurch but it didn't compare to the shame she would feel telling Danielle why she didn't have her favourite treasure anymore.
"Give it back," Jane demanded, knowing full well that it was futile. Always worth asking, right?
"How did you get something like this anyway? Did you steal it?" A girl with a bright yellow coat and sparkly rings piped up, handing it to Rachel who rolled her eyes.
"No, that Greene woman, the Welsh one from the dump, gave her some of her old trash," said Rachel, clearly irked at Jane getting a little bit of attention from someone with authority. "It's all outdated crap anyway."
"Then you won't mind giving it back?" Jane tried again, this time holding her hand out. "Clearly it's too rubbish for you to use…?"
Rachel smirked and glanced at her friends, silent words being shared between them. Jane withdrew her hand and felt the hairs stand up on the back of her neck unsettling her more than their insults. She should have run, she should have detached herself from the situation and walked away with her head held high, but Jane wasn't that kind of girl. The anticipation of the imminent fight fuelled her and she stood her ground, keeping her breath steady.
"Use it, Rach. Go on, we want to see," urged the yellow coat girl, her eyes brightening from suspense. The others chirped in agreement, moving closer as though trying to get a better view of the show. Jane swallowed a lump in her throat, debating whether she should simply pounce at Rachel without warning and attempt to use the element of surprise or whether she should simply steal the camera at a later date and walk away, but a hand yanked her shoulder back, forcing her to stay. Rachel always wanted her to stay, she loved to taunt Jane into putting on a spontanous 'freak show' as she called it, but this time she wasn't alone in the audience and her gang were itching to see if what Rachel claimed about the creepy Coles girl was true.
"You know, Danielle only gave you these things out of pity - she doesn't like you," jeered Rachel, her smile turning nasty.
"That's not true," Jane said matter-of-factly, but the stutter was obvious in her voice. Ok, it hurt a little...
"Yes it is, she only puts up with you because no one else wants to, and to be honest no one wants to work with her either so you're kinda made for each other. I heard Sandra say if they could kick you out they would in a heartbeat," continued Rachel, refusing to blink.
"Shut up," growled Jane, tender at the thought of that being true. "You're just jealous, Danielle's awesome and she's the only one who sees how much of a heinous bitch you truly are."
The gang burst out into a fit of laughter, Rachel forcefully cackling the hardest. "Oh please! Greene gets paid to like you! Why would I be jealous of a social worker? That's so embarrassing!"
"Super embarrassing! As if anyone wants to be friends with a loser like you! She just feels sorry for you," giggled Beverly, looking to her friends for mumbles of agreement. Jane scoffed and bravely took a step forward.
"I would rather be a loser than a pussy like you!" She sassed back, scowling at the ginger girl whose stare grew malevolent.
"Don't talk to her like that," spat Rachel, offended on her friend's behalf, and she shoved Jane in the chest. The imminent fear of falling off the cliff was always on Jane's mind and she caught her stumble quickly. "You're always going to be a loser. You know why that is, right?" tried Rachel, but Jane kept silent. Please don't-
"Runs in the family I bet," chirped up the short haired tall girl from the back, trying to join in on the fun. "I reckon that's why you were abandoned as a baby; your parents couldn't stand you… maybe they killed themselves to get away from you. I mean, I would if I were them."
Each word was a punch in the gut. Jane blinked hard and glared at the girl, irked at her outburst. "I'm sorry but who even are you? Do I know you?"
"No but I know you. Everyone knows who you are," the short haired girl spoke as if the words tasted like dirt. "The Coles kid with no friends, always doing something weird and unnatural. People like you belong in a circus, you know. They used to burn people like you in the olden days."
"My mum said they found you in a ditch down the road, dumped by your parents," snickered Beverly, "they should have drowned you in the sea instead, but then again, I heard witches float and you certainly don't, remember?"
Something violently hot shot through Jane's chest and she squeezed her fist tight, furiously blocking out the memories of her near fatal drowings. Don't think about it, don't think about, she told herself over and over again.
Rachel snorted and high-fived her friends. "You haven't seen anything yet. Watch this," she laughed, turning back to Jane. "It usually works if I get really personal, doesn't it?"
The thunderous gale consuming the cliffs picked up, noisily disturbing their hair and hoods. The girls zipped up their coats and shoved hands into pockets yet Jane stood incredibly still, unbothered by the drop in temperature. Her chattering teeth matched her thumping heart as the familiar feeling of anxiety gushed through her body. Don't do it Madden, please don't...
Rachel's sneer grew and she shoved Jane once more, coming face to face with the thorn in her side.
"Go on, freak, defend yourself. Don't act like you don't know what we're talking about, we've all seen you do that demonic shit or whatever the hell it is. People like you should be locked up forever, you shouldn't be allowed out with all of us normal people. Maybe I should ask Sandra about admitting you to a mental hospital, I heard they do exocisms there," poked Rachel, riling Jane up. There was no point in denying it, thought Jane sadly; Madden was right. She could do things that were unexplainable and terrifying, but it wasn't as bad as she was making it out to be. It was no secret that the strange kid from the orphanage had been caught making objects levitate without any aid or how she had survived falls that would have killed other children her age, but she didn't have an explanation for any of the supposed phenomenons... it just happened. The freak label had followed her for as long as she could remember but these days it seemed to fit her almost too well, she was beginning to believe them.
Jane spotted the curled fists and bared teeth of her opposition, no doubt in her mind as to who wanted to make the first move, so she shrugged and looked up at Rachel with a smirk that made her look impeccably impish.
"Is that jealousy I hear again?" Jane drawled and Rachel gasped.
THWACK!
Stars popped up in front of Jane's eyes and she felt the ground beneath her. How did she end up on the floor? Her jaw throbbed, unsure whether it was painful from the freezing wind or Rachel's punch. Was that really all she had?
"I am not jealous! Why would I be jealous of an ugly, lonely, weird orphan like you?!" cackled Rachel, emphasising her disgust with a quick kick to Jane's legs. She blocked them and aimed one right back at her. Rachel's knees buckled and she tumbled to the floor with a hard slam.
Jane exaggerated her eye roll despite her aching face and she tried to climb up off the stone path. "Oh please, you're an orphan as well. Don't pretend you're any better than me, Madden," she snapped back harshly. "You're just as unloved as I am!"
Rachel huffed and hurried to her feet, wiping the dirt from her jeans. She immediately grabbed Jane by her coat collar, her nails scraping her skin with ill intent, and dragged her over towards the nausea-inducing cliff edge. She was much taller than Jane and she made sure to use every inch to her advantage, she always liked to intimidate Jane with everything she had and in the game of age Jane would never win. The gang's yells of delight were carried off with the gale, but it didn't take a genius to work out what they were screaming.
"Go on Rach! We want to see it!"
"Freak show! Freak show!"
Jane scrambled to unhook Rachel's fingers from her jacket but her nails dug in deeper, like a vipers mouth clenched over its prey. She shoved her out towards the point, and Jane's knees began to wobble when her heels found themselves dangling over the sea. Rachel stared menacingly at her, a smile growing on her lips as the wind rocked her back and forth. She didn't care if she stumbled, Jane would be the first to fall.
"We could make it look like an accident, you know," she threatened quietly, for Jane's ears only. "One wrong move, they'll say, that's all it could take to kill you. You're always up here with that stupid skateboard so it wouldn't be too suspicious…"
"Yes it will," puffed Jane, still clawing at the hand holding her over the edge. "Danielle will know you did this. You'll be scarred forever, my death will haunt you for the rest of your pathetic little life." Rachel narrowed her eyes and pushed her out a little further. Jane gripped Rachel's outstretched arm, her toes barely clinging onto the plank's edge. She didn't dare look down at the sea below, at the pointy bed of rocks that would ultimately be her grave, she didn't want to look Death in the face right now but she knew it would happen soon. Struggling to stay calm at her impending death, Jane took a deep breath and tried to summon an unassuming expression.
"Well?" provoked Rachel, "aren't you going to do something? Too scared to show off?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," said Jane calmly. Rachel wasn't going to see her sweat, no freaking way!
"Stop lying! You can easily save yourself with your freak powers! Go on!" Rachel yelled in frustration, her arm starting to quiver. Her friends jeered from behind her, booing and hissing, growing less interested as the horrendous weather battered them about.
"Let her go! She'll save herself soon enough!"
"I'm soaked and its fucking freezing, hurry up!"
Jane only looked at Rachel, she could feel her own heartbeat in her neck and she knew Rachel could feel it too.
"Rachel," tried Jane, voice barely audible over the storm, "you don't have to do this. Please, let me go and we can forget this ever happened. You can keep the camera, just don't do this... you win." Her voice was shaking, finally betraying how scared she really felt. She was beginning to feel sick as one of her feet dropped off the rocks. Rachel hardly flinched.
"No, I don't think I will," she replied coolly, and she snuck a glance back at their audience. "Hey Beverly - catch!"
It happened at once. Rachel threw the camera behind her, trusting that her friend would be ready and the red headed girl dived forwards and caught the camera, exuberant at joining the excitement. Jane cried out for help, her feet flailing and trying to catch something solid, but Rachel grew tired of the whole affair. She began to loosen her grip on the girl, almost drunk from her exhilaration.
"Take our pic, Bev. I want to remember this moment for the rest of my life!" She exclaimed, glancing over her shoulder to see her cheering friends. Blinking the tears out of her eyes, Jane realised this was her only chance to escape.
"Oh you'll remember this alright!" yelled Jane furiously, white hot anger bubbling up inside of her. Her eyes landed on Beverly and the camera and the bubbles began to spill over like an unattended pan of water. The tightness in her chest had reached dangerous levels and she swore she could feel her lungs physically expanding. She let go of Rachel's arm and threw towards the onlookers who were yelping in glee but Jane concentrated on her wild emotions and she let them win her over.
The camera shot out of Beverly's hands, shooting up into the sky like a small firework, flashing sporadically. Distracted and stunned, the group of girls gawked at the flying object, shouting and screaming at each other for an explanation.
"How did she do that?!" One girl screeched, backing away.
"I told you! She's a freak!" cried Beverly, her hands shakily pointed towards the hanging girl. "Rachel, do something!"
"Wait!" yelped Jane, and bravely launched herself at Rachel. The two girls tumbled back onto the cliff, both pairs of legs dangling dangerously over the drop as they tussled. Fingers and nails got tangled as they clawed at each other, knotting themselves in hair or scraping at each other's skin. Rachel had managed to pull the girl off the ground by her ponytail, but quickly landed on her back again after a swift kick to the back of her knees.
"Get her!" roared Rachel's backup, all three girls pelted towards her as Rachel tried to crawl away, swearing loudly.
Jane panicked.
"Leave me alone!"
All of a sudden, the floor disappeared from under her feet. Multiple pairs of hands pushed hard against her torso forcing her over the cliff, over to her death. Her breath caught in her chest and her limbs flailed about, trying desperately to grab onto anything to save her. Her mind froze, gravity pulled her towards the treacherous black water below as though preparing her for her last moments on this earth. Fear flooded her veins, rushing through her like the cold icy air of the storm around her, and her heart pounding harshly against her ribcage desperate to break free. This was it, this was the last time she would fall into the sea and never return to the surface. Jane always suspected her life would end like this and she finally looked Death in the face, accepting her fate for what it was with nothing but peace on her mind. There were better ways to die but she supposed she knew what to expect with drowining, she had felt like this before...
The moment her body broke the sea's surface was when nature fought back. The water began to foam angrily, spitting and growing as though Jane was made from peppermint sweets and the sea was fizzing soda. As the strong current pulled her body down bubbles hissed and shot upwards, loud and furious and alive.
Their hollers came first. The four girls cowering atop the cliff stared at the bubbles in fright and latched onto each other, tears and snot pouring down their faces from paralysing fear as they continued to panic. The wave had transformed and two gigantic black hands shot towards them, white sea foam hissing against the cliffs like red hot pokers in snow. Water slapped the cliff's head and the ocean's hungry fingers found their victims. The hands engulfed the girls, two in each palm, and pulled them roughly away from the cliff, washing them out into the air before dragging them into the dark depths of the ocean. Their shouts died out as sounds of thunderous waves replaced them.
The water quickly disappeared, trickling back down to its home below the cliff, taking the skateboard and racing bikes with it. Poor Man's Point fell silent for the first time that evening with only the rustling of the trees that circled the attraction filling the sad sea air. Echoes of the girls' screams rode the wind out to sea, drowning their cries for help like the girl they had sentenced to death.
PLONK!
Jane's camera crashed onto the grassy surroundings, the plastic casing popping open as its corners collided with the floor. It lay there still for a moment as though it were waiting for a signal. Then suddenly it whirled to life for the final time.
From its lips came its last picture - four girls screaming in the grasps of two enormous ocean hands.
If you're looking for a long ass fic about one girl fucking up our beloved HP plot then look no further! This is the fic for you! This will follow the path of the books but will some gorgeous twists and turns along the way... and then itll probably transform into something pretty dark and twisted about halfway through... so... Enjoy! xoxo