The roses are red

Violet is dead

I could tell you indefinitely that the haunting that stained Sachem Bay - and a terror none like it - was eternal. The trepidation of the shadows that slithered between the trunks of Secular Woods kept the mothers wide eyed at night, kept the shot guns defiantly loaded and surely kept the children fearful enough that many would sleep between their parents on some nights. Secular Woods, on the outskirts of the sleepy town of Sachem Bay, was one of the biggest in the state of Virginia - and the most feared.

The ghost stories, along with the horror began - or so it seemed - in the year of 1993. Whilst there's big debate on whether it truly began on this year or if it simply came back - I couldn't tell you. All I know is the terror started with Violet. And I promised to tell the events as perfectly as I could from there.

Violet Heckle was around five, going on six when she squeezed her tiny feet into the winter boots her grandmother had bought her.

"They ought to make a walk as comfy as comfy can be." Pamela Heckle muttered, adjusting the buckle on the left boot.

Violet looked pleased; the winter was approaching fast now and held no thought of slowing. "Thanks, Grandma."

"Should you step in any puddle too big, any dirt or any unpleasant whatnot, you come straight to me. I'll sort 'em out. But a good hiding may be in order, they cost a lot of dollar, girl." Pamela said with a sure nod. "Now let's get your little legs to school!"

Things would've gone just fine for them both, if Pamela Heckle hadn't of threatened Violet with a good hiding in such case she dirties up her boots. In contrast, nobody really knows if it could have gone different. Because it didn't.

And it was in the playground at Sachem Bay Elementary in which that happened.

"Violet fancies Carter Mason!" Eddie Lizard teased at recess, giving Violet a little shove.

"Do not." Violet retorted defiantly as Carter Mason blushed a furious scarlet.

Ryan Rivers laughed, giving Violet Heckle a much harder shove of his own. "Do too."

Violet stumbled on a bump in the grass, her boot sliding into the wet mud the previous rainy day had left behind.

Violet's mouth shaped an 'o', glaring at the muddied-up shoe, as Eddie Lizard and Ryan Rivers waltzed away singing heartily "Violet and Carter sitting in a tree..."

Carter, who still resembled a tomato, turned his back and sprinted away.

I could tell you right now, that Violet arrived home that day to receive a good hiding from her grandmother and that was that. But I'd be lying. The truth is, when Violet skipped out of her Grandma's truck and into the gates of Sachem Bay Elementary with a hearty "goodbye, Grandma!", it would the last time Pamela Heckle ever saw her granddaughter again.

Hours later, Pamela Heckle would he sat in her chair, her absent eyes staring hopelessly at the school bag Chief Rich Wheeler had found by the boundary of Secular Woods.

"Is there anything we can do to help, Mrs Heckle?" Samuel Tenner, Rich's assistant would say and Pamela would slowly shake her head. Not a blink her eyes would offer. And no tear would fall. Pamela was as missing as her granddaughter, and it seemed she was as presumed dead as poor Violet was too.

Violet Heckle decided to walk home. If an adult ought to see her, they'd be alarmed - a five year old girl making her way home: never in Sachem Bay! Who would be that irresponsible with their child? Especially at the age of five. But Violet wouldn't wait for her grandma to pick her up - she'd make sure she arrived home first and clean the hell out of those boots.

No way was she going to receive a good hiding for something that wasn't her fault.

But what Violet - and in fact her grandmother - was oblivious to was the fact that Violet would never walk through the door of 237 Penney Walk Avenue ever again.

As the turn onto that street came into view, Violet's head turned to see the field. Beyond the field was the boundary of Secular Woods.

Violet heard his song before she saw him. It wasn't lyrical, only a dim, low whining, that of a muffled shriek. It sang a promise of foreboding, in which anyone who heard it would soon know that the promise was certainly kept.

And He stood there. Right in front of Violet. He was tall and thin, a hard curious grimace upon his face. He seemed to flicker, as if he was ethereal but yet ever so real. The suit he wore appeared to be battered and torn but it seemed to reflect an era from before this time. He had a bald head, long uncut fingers and bare, bloodied and dirty feet. Around his arm was a whip, stained with the dark promise of blood, in which seemed to vibrate in warning.

Violet couldn't move; she was frozen, stiff and solid, entombed in her fear. And when his long fingers held out to her, welcoming her into his embrace, she found her hand taking his, and she was lost to the world forever.

The town of Sachem Bay, after three months of disappearance, would find the body of Violet Heckle, on the edge of Secular Woods, lifeless and cold.

A week later, Pamela Heckle hung herself, encompassed in grief and loss, leaving a short suicide note:

The roses are red, Violet is dead.

***

It seemed after five years, the town of Sachem Bay might have been relieved of the stain that covered the town. The stained burden of Violet Heckle's murder. But it remained like a ice-cold tattoo of terror. The culprit was still out there.

And the townsfolk of Sachem Bay were clever enough that no justice meant that whoever killed the poor girl could kill again.

A curfew was signed into town law by the Council though many argued that Violet was taken in the broad daylight - it didn't really matter what time it was. The town became a ghost town - everyone was alive, but pretty much dead.

Over the five years, the locks on the doors and windows grew, as no word of who killed Violet Heckle sent people into a world of paranoia. As if it was humanly possible that the town could get any more frightened.

No child went missing, until the the first whispers of Winter showed up on Sachem Bay's front door. December the 5th, marked the day Conrad Cooper was taken.

It didn't seem real. Whilst the paranoia was now a normality in Sachem Bay, it almost seemed as if Violet Heckle was a myth now. A scary story mother's would tell their children to keep them out of trouble. But it was real. It was so real, and the Davenport family would find that out the hard way.

"Oh, Mike. It's happened again. The Coopers - Conrad Cooper has gone. He's gone. Taken. Mike, it can't be happening, it can't..."

Mike Davenport found himself consoling his wife, patting her soft brown hair that seemed to shine consistently - even in stressful times as this one. He always loved how it curled near the ends, and for that reason Michelle never changed it - not once, for the past twenty years.

Michelle would then wipe her eyes and shake the tears from her finger, as if removing the wet would shake away the fear and the foreboding. And through the sore eyes, Michelle would look at her three children - who would soon become two - as they sat in the lounge, confused and innocent.

Michelle and Mike were frightened, of course they were. A parent's worst fear would be losing a child. But still, if you were to turn up on their doorstep at that moment and tell the couple that within a month, one out of three of their children would be dead, they'd probably call your bluff and slam the door in your face.

That's the funny thing about fear and reality - the fear is an illusion. Until it happens to you, you will never know.

Unfortunately for the Davenport family, they would.

______

~ ; some intro poems I use are my own made, some are lyrics to songs I love.