A Private Goodbye
Rain's Point of View
The rain hadn't stopped.
It soaked through my hair, dripping down my spine like the cold fingers of death.
Dan's hand was a shackle around my wrist, dragging me like I was nothing—less than nothing.
My feet stumbled across the mud and stone, and every step lit up a new line of fire through my ribs. The open wounds from the beatings throbbed against the chill, but I wouldn't fall. Not in front of him. Not again.
"You'll be with your parents soon," Dan said suddenly, his lips too close to my ear, his breath sickeningly warm. "At least there's that."
I froze.
My head whipped toward him, and pain exploded behind my eyes. I barely managed to keep myself upright, clutching my side.
"What… did you just say?" I croaked.
Dan didn't answer. He smiled.
That horrible, hollow smile.
And then the Well appeared before us—silent, yawning, ancient. The stones around it were slick with moss and shadow, and the pit itself was darker than any night I'd ever seen.
He shoved me against the stone edge, and I collapsed. My knees hit the ground with a crunch that rattled up my spine, but I didn't cry out. I bit down on the scream.
The rain trickled down my face like tears I refused to shed.
Dan stood above me like a god delivering judgment, and then he said it.
"I, Dan Windell of the Supreme Blood Moon Pack, reject you, Rain the servant girl."
The words hit harder than any blow ever had.
I didn't even understand why—until it started.
The wind shifted. The world tilted.
A strange numbness poured into my chest. Not pain. Not exactly. But a vacancy. A slow, pulling void, like something inside me had been quietly torn away. Something I didn't know was there until it was gone.
I gasped—but not because I cared for him. I didn't.
But something… something had been connected.
And now it wasn't.
My heart stuttered. My soul recoiled.
"Accept my rejection," he said coldly.
I should have collapsed right there. I should have begged, or cried, or given him what he wanted. But I'd been broken too many times already. There was nothing left to crush.
I raised my head.
My lips cracked open, torn and bleeding. But I smiled. It was the only thing I had left.
"Or what?" I hissed, voice trembling but defiant. "You'll kill me slower?"
His jaw twitched.
"You still think you have a choice?"
Then he pulled it out.
From his coat, he drew something small. Something metal.
It glinted faintly in the stormlight.
A ring.
Tiny. Silver. Familiar.
My mother's wedding ring.
The one she never took off—not even when she brushed my hair or held my hand in the dark.
"No..." The word left me as a breath, not a whisper. "Where did you—?"
He twirled it between his fingers, watching me crumble.
"Did you really believe that story I told you?
My stomach turned to stone.
"What did you do to her?" My voice trembled. "What did you—?"
Dan leaned in, his voice a dagger of ice.
"Accept my rejection, and I'll tell you the truth."
The rain pelted my face, mingling with the tears I didn't want to shed.
Go to hell."
He laughed. Quiet. Cruel.
"That's where you'll find your mother, sweetheart. In hell."
I staggered back, the void in my chest deepening. The earth spun beneath me.
"You think I won't let you die without the truth?" His voice rose like a song, taunting.
He dangled the ring over the edge.
"Three seconds."
I froze.
"Three—"
The sky roared above us.
"Two—"
My fists clenched so tight my nails tore into my palms.
"One—"
"FINE!" I screamed, my voice raw and breaking. "I accept your fucking rejection!"
It was like ripping out a piece of my soul.
The moment the words left my lips, the coldness exploded into agony—a flash of nausea, a wave of grief so strong I thought I'd vomit. Something inside me snapped. I stumbled, and for the first time…
I felt truly alone.
Dan's eyes lit up with triumph.
And then—he dropped the ring.
"No—!" I lunged, but it was too late.
It spiraled into the darkness, a glint of silver swallowed by the abyss.
"You bastard!" My scream shattered the silence, more broken sob than sound.
He didn't flinch.
His eyes met mine one last time.
And then—I saw it. The dagger.
I didn't even feel the first hit. Only the warmth.
The wet, spreading warmth down my abdomen.
I looked down, blinking at the blood soaking through my dress.
Then I saw the hilt.
Still in his hand.
And I saw his smile.
As if I was nothing. As if I never mattered.
When he pulled it out, the pain came—white and screaming. I gasped, blood bubbling from my lips.
My knees gave out.
Still, I looked up at him.
Still, I hoped—just a flicker—that there was something left of the man who once looked at me like I was more than a servant.
But his eyes were dry.
Soulless.
He shoved me.
My body tipped backward, weightless.
The rain chased me down, kissing my face as the blackness swallowed me.
And all I could think—my final thought—
Was that I would never know the truth.
And no one would remember my name.
Dan's Point of View
She's falling.
Arms flailing. Blood trailing behind her like red smoke.
And still… she looks at me. Even now.
Even after everything.
She always looked at me like that. Like I could be more.
Like I was more.
She's gone now.
Good.
Right?
My fingers are cold.
I should turn away.
But I don't.
I watch until the darkness swallows her whole.
And for one brief, bitter moment…
I wish she hadn't said yes.
THE WELL OF MISERY
Darkness swallowed me whole.
I didn't scream—I couldn't. My throat was raw. My chest was on fire. I was falling too fast to even think straight. Wind slammed past my ears like a freight train, howling louder than my own thoughts.
This is it, I thought. This is where my bones crack, my skull splits, and Dan finally gets the last laugh.
Except… it never came.
Instead—
Thud.
I landed on something soft.
Wait. What?
Not water. Not stone. Not even a pile of bones, which—let's be honest—I kinda expected.
No. This thing was moving. Like I'd landed on the back of some goddamn sleeping dragon.
"Hell no," I whispered, even though my lips barely moved. My body was mush. My ribs screamed. My dress was soaked with blood and rain and God knows what else. I couldn't sit up. Couldn't even twitch.
But my eyes—they opened.
And all I saw was darkness.
Not the poetic kind. Not the dramatic fade-to-black kind.
I mean the real, full-on horror-movie kind.
Thick. Wet. Pressing against your skin like it wants to eat you. And worse? It had a pulse.
Then came the whispers.
Soft. Slithering. Like they'd been waiting down here for years, just dying for company.
"Welcome home…"
My breath hitched. Nope. Nope nope nope.
"So hungry… so lonely…"
My spine iced over. That wasn't creepy at all. Thanks for that.
I tried to move. Swear to God, I tried. But my arms just twitched like broken noodles. My legs? Useless.
And then another voice—this one way too close, like breathing-right-next-to-your-ear close.
"Poor little Rain… Did you think they'd accept you?"
"Oh hell no—" I jolted, whipping my head around—
Nothing. Just shadows. Stretching. Breathing.
Crawling.
My pulse shot through the roof. My heart was a damn drumline.
"They left you to die. Just like your mother. Just like your father."
The voices multiplied. Louder. Meaner. Mocking.
They laughed.
They screamed.
They crawled inside my skull.
I slapped my hands over my ears—but it didn't stop. Nothing stopped. Not the smell—like rotting corpses wrapped in wet blankets. Not the cold—bone-deep and mean. Not the crawling, whispering, scratching voices that knew things they shouldn't.
I gagged.
And that's when it came.
A shape. No, a thing. Crawling out of the shadows like a demon.
It was… gross. No better word for it. Arms where arms shouldn't be. Faces melting into each other. Big ol' voids where eyes should be.
It tilted its head at me.
And then—
It grinned.
Not a normal grin. Not even a horror movie grin.
I mean a full, jaw-cracking, teeth-everywhere.
"She's waking up…" the whispers hissed.
It stepped forward.
And that was it. I screamed.
Loud. Wild. From the bottom of my lungs.
Everything froze.
The whispers stopped like someone yanked the aux cord.
The demon thing? It flinched.
That's right. It backed off.
I don't know if it was fear, or surprise, or just indigestion—but it staggered.
The shadows recoiled. Like they were scared of me.
I blinked. Once. Twice.
For like ten seconds, everything went silent.
I thought it was over.
I thought I'd finally scared the monsters off.
Wrong.
Because then—
A voice.
Not a whisper. Not a hiss. Not a snarky demon muttering in my ear.
This one was deep. Like, "ancient being that's definitely not on your side" kind of deep.
It shook the whole well. Shook me down to my bones.
"Awaken… child of ruin."
My heart stopped.
Then— boom.
Pain exploded behind my eyes like a shotgun blast.
My vision cracked.
And suddenly—
I wasn't in the well anymore.
I was in some twisted Game of Thrones fever dream. A throne—giant, black, and bleeding. Fire licked the stone. Shadows danced like they were alive.
A man—no, a thing—sat on the throne.
Tall. Wrapped in darkness. Crown made of bones. Eyes redder than hellfire.
And he was looking at me.
Smiling.
"It's time to come home… my daughter."
And just like that—
Snap.
The vision shattered.
My body slammed back into reality.
I hit the ground hard. Gasped like I'd been drowning. Cold sweat poured down my spine. My fingers twitched.
And then—
Darkness again.
But this time, I didn't fight it.