Little Grimm

THIS IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS. JUST, YOU KNOW, FYI Oh don't talk of love the shadows purr, murmuring me away from you. Don't talk of worlds that never were, the end is all that's ever true -The Cure "Burn" Kate Myers was a shy quiet kid, happier in the library than around people. She loved fantasy, and comics, and had a knack for languages and a general love for knowledge. Despite her obvious intelligence, her shyness kept her from being noticed by teachers or classmates, and Kate was fine with that. She didn't want to be noticed. At least, not until she saw Rick. Rick was the town's bad boy. A pale thin lord of leather and mascara and perfect Robert Smith hair, Rick was everything that Kate didn't know she was interested in. More importantly, Rick seemed interested in Kate as well. He didn't glaze over when she talked about Never-land or Narnia. He seemed truly enamoured in her VAST knowledge of Dungeons and Dragons, though he seemed more interested in her dabblings in the works of Lovecraft and Crowley. It wasn't long before Kate was wearing dark clothes and darker makeup. Ankhs and skulls became standard accessories, and she was listening to more Siouxisie and the Banshees than any one person should. Kate spent less time with her nose in old fantasy, and more in older occult books. For months, she spent nearly every waking moment with Rick. They weren't dating per se, but they were nearly inseparable. And every bit of it was a lie. Rick's interest in Kate was more nefarious than just teenage romance. He was using her for her studious skills, and her smarts. Rick and his friends had been putting together their own wannabe DEMON cabal for years, and Kate was his ticket to the 'big times'. With very little coaxing, Rick had convinced Kate to help translate old spells, and connect to the Shining Darkness for him. He smiled and listened until Kate had nothing left mentally to offer. Then he moved in for the physical. Rick had chosen Kate for partially for her mind, but he'd also chosen her for her awkward social invisibility. The final spell she'd translated for him needed a sacrifice, and she was perfect. Rick convinced Kate to come with him to a small party out at an abandoned lake house. He'd alluded to it being a farewell party for someone. Kate hadn't understood why he found that funny until they got there, and she found out that he meant her. It was a farewell party for Kate. Rick's ignored Kate's pleading as they tied her to a makeshift altar, and ignored her screams as he pulled a wicked knife from his boot. His cabal chanted the spell Kate had helped translate as he prepared to drive the blade through her heart. He would call forth a demon from the Shining Darkness, and he would use it to curry favor with the real DEMON. Kate was simply a means to an end, and her hurt and betrayal were just more food for the demon. Kate watched as Rick drove the knife towards her chest. Time seemed to slow, and Kate could hear something offering a different option. It wasn't a voice exactly so much as an understanding that she was meant for better than this. It was a choice without knowledge of consequence; be here and die, or be elsewhere. Kate chose elsewhere, and opened herself to The Shining Darkness. The room became darker than anyplace on earth, and filled with screams. Something...wet...happened to Rick's cabal, though Kate didn't see what it was. The darkness was forever, and instantaneous all at once. When Kate could see again, she was alone in a construction site near the lake. Kate tried to stumble home, but the streets were somehow familiar and still strange. Buildings she knew had changed, aged, or vanished all together. Her own small street was now a four lane road, and her neighborhood was a strip mall. Her home was gone. Her parents were gone. Thirty years were gone, and somehow Kate had missed them. We have such sights to show you. -Pinhead "Hellraiser"