6. Grimm
6
GRIMM
Two weeks. Fourteen days. Three hundred and thirty-six hours. Twenty thousand, one hundred and sixty minutes.
That’s how long it’s been since I’ve seen Verena. She has been radio silent and practically MIA, once again. Every time I think we’re getting somewhere, she shuts down and disappears.
This semester, I enrolled in a writing class with the hopes of landing in the same lecture room as her. Unfortunately for me, my luck fucking sucks and the class Verena is in was full, so now I’m in the class after hers. The only writing that I’ve done so far has been her name, with little hearts around it like a fucking middle schooler.
Verena leaves the classroom every day with a somber look, clutching her books for dear life. The other day, I watched her as she scurried to her next class. Lifting her arm, she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and the black bell-sleeve slid down, exposing her bruised wrist. Before anyone else managed to notice, she brought her arm back down to her side, pulling on her sleeve for good measure.
At that moment, I realized she doesn’t wear dark colors and long layers as a fashion statement. She dresses that way to blend into the background, to hide. Everything is a facade. One big spooky Halloween mask that’s two seconds away from sliding off of her face, revealing the pain that lives underneath it.
The reality of her relationship with Leo tugs at my heartstrings. My mind races with possibilities of what he would do to her if she tried to leave.
I know she needs help. She knows she needs help.
Why won’t she let me fucking help her? How many times will she knock on my door, bruised and bloodied, with tears streaming down her face before she realizes she’s playing with her life?
I refuse to standby and watch Leo suck the life out of V. I’ll drain his blood and let her bathe in it, if it means a chance to save her soul, her spirit, her life.
The devil suppressed in me, itches to break free and indulge in some much needed playtime. But I can’t, not yet. I need to be cool, at least until Verena gives me the okay to slice Leo into a million tiny fucking pieces.
I’m fucking stressed. I just want my girl safe.
I walk to my nightstand and open the top drawer. Grabbing a pre-roll, I put the tip between my lips, light it up, and inhale.
A few pulls later, I’m feeling pretty good. Puffing my cheeks, I blow out the smoke from my lungs and watch as the hazy cloud floats from my lips, into the surrounding space. The smoke swirls in the air and, for a moment, I swear it crafts the image of Verena’s beautiful face.
Maybe I’m just stoned as fuck. My chest shakes as I laugh at the fact I got so high, I started seeing her face in the vapor. Shaking my head, I put out the joint, cutting myself off for now.
Verena’s laugh replays in my mind, the sound so angelic and soothing. A smirk creeps across my lips and my dick twitches.
The perfect image of V is ruined by the most recent image I have of her, with black and blue covering her olive skin. My erection immediately softens and instead, my vision turns red.
An idea pops into my head before I can stop it, a huge grin spreading across my face. I’m a fucking genius. I’m up and on my feet, quickly heading to Eli's room to use his printer. He’s the only one in this house who finds use of it because of school and whatever weird techy shit he does in his free time.
I don’t bother knocking as I swing the door open. My eyes catch on the screens he’s sitting in front of and before I can tell what he’s looking at, they all go black as they power down. My gaze goes to his as he stares at me with narrowed eyes. I don’t let Eli’s sour mood bother me, though. I have something too fun planned to let anything kill my vibe.
“Wuddup, baby? Can I use your printer?” I ask while already making my way over to the machine and hooking my phone up to its bluetooth.
“You should learn how to knock, Grimm.” He greets me.
“Yeah, yeah. Next time. Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt your super fun cyber-nerd activities,” I quip. He doesn't respond, and that’s fine by me. The noise of the printer working out the picture is music to my ears.
I tap my foot impatiently as I watch the picture print out. The smug face of Leo slowly inches out of the machine. Disgust turns in my stomach and I clench my teeth while snatching out the paper. The ugly fuck staring back at me makes my blood boil and I can’t wait to watch the life drain from his eyes.
My mood sours quickly with the stupid fuck’s face in my hands. It takes everything inside of me to not crumple it up in my fist. Without a word, I turn on my heel and stride out of his room, back to mine.
Making my way over to my desk, I grab a thumbtack from the drawer. Taking the tack, I slap Leo's printed face to my wall and stick it through the paper, nailing him to the wall. Stepping back, I tilt my head and wonder in which way I want to live out my fantasy of taking Leo’s life.
As I look around the room, my eyes land on the discarded pile of darts, and I smile.
I reach for the red sharpie and start drawing a bullseye on top of his face. Satisfied with my target, I head over to my pile of darts and pick them up. Walking back in line with Leo’s ugly ass face, I rear back my arm and swing it forward; the dart embedding into his face and my wall.
I feel some of the tension leave my body as I look at the dart sticking out of his left eye, so I do it again. I toss the darts at his face until I’ve run out, and a laugh bubbles up in my chest at the sight. Walking forward, I pull them from his photo and laugh harder when I see all the holes littering his face.
“This is so much fun, Leo. Don’t you think so?” I ask his photo while walking back to my spot. Pulling my arm back, I go to throw another dart when my phone vibrates inside of my pocket. I drop all the items in my hands and reach for it, hoping it’s V who just sent that text.
Looking down at the screen, I suck my teeth and roll my eyes. Nope. Not V. My heart sinks in my stomach and the previous joy I had from puncturing holes into Leo's face diminishes as I look at the text from Lorelei.
Avoid at all costs
Hey Grimm, it’s been a while… I was wondering if you were busy? Wanna link up tonight?
Gross.
Shivers run through my body, and it feels like a thousand little bugs are running across my skin. My thumbs fly across my keyboard as I respond, hoping I come across as clear as can be.
Me
No thanks, I’m good. Getting a new number, you can delete this one.
It seems sufficient enough. If it were me, I would get the message. I go to her contact and block her number for good measure before tossing my phone onto my bed. Picking up the dart I dropped, I toss it at Leo’s face.
It embeds itself into the center of my drawn target, making a sad smile lift my lips.
“Bullseye.”