The Hedder house stood tall on the hill, its white walls pristine, its windows glowing softly against the coming dusk. From the outside, it looked like the safest place in Grayhaven.
Inside, Mayor Genesis Hedder sat alone in his study, papers spread across his desk—budgets, town reports, letters from concerned citizens. His tie was loosened, sleeves rolled up. Power never truly slept.
A knock echoed against the wooden door.
Genesis didn't look up. "You may come in."
The door creaked open.
A small figure stepped inside.
It was his youngest daughter.
Genesis finally raised his head, his stern expression melting instantly. "Joana… my little pootie," he said softly, standing. "What's going on?"
Joana Hedder stood frozen near the doorway, her small hands clenched into her sleeves. Her eyes were wide, too wide for a child her age.
"Father…" she whispered. "I… I heard the voices again…"
Genesis stiffened.
"The voices?" he asked carefully.
Joana swallowed. "That dream… it came back."
Genesis sighed quietly and walked over, kneeling in front of her so they were eye level. "You mean the monster you keep dreaming about?"
Joana nodded slowly.
Genesis placed his hands on her shoulders, trying to steady her trembling. "Joana… you've been having nightmares. That's all this is."
Joana's lips quivered. "But it's not just dreams, father. It smiles at me. It knows my name."
Genesis's jaw tightened for a moment just a moment before he forced a calm smile.
"Your mother used to say things like that too," he said gently. "She had a very… active imagination."
Joana flinched at the mention of her mother.
(Mama wasn't imagining it…) she thought, fear tightening her chest. (She saw it too…)
Genesis stood and gently guided Joana toward the door. "You're safe here. There's no monster. Just bad dreams and too much thinking."
Joana looked back at him, her eyes glossy with unshed tears.
"It's under the town," she whispered. "It's hungry."
Genesis paused.
Just for a second.
Then he opened the door wider. "Go get some rest, Joana. I'll have your sister check on you later."
Joana nodded slowly and walked away down the hallway, her small footsteps fading.
Genesis closed the door and leaned against it, exhaling.
(Paranoia… just like her mother.)
(A family curse again.)
He returned to his desk, pushing the thought aside.
Outside, beneath Grayhaven
something smiled wider.
What none of them knew
Joana Hedder had already been marked.
Not scratched.
Not bitten.
Not touched.
Marked.
The Grinner's presence lingered in her dreams long after she woke. A faint pressure behind her eyes. A smile she could still see when she closed them. The monster didn't need her fear anymore.
It had chosen her.
And it was patient.
Meanwhile, upstairs, in a room filled with warm light and perfume
Samantha Hedder sat in front of her vanity mirror.
She leaned closer, carefully applying mascara, lips slightly parted in concentration. Her reflection smiled back confident, flawless, practiced.
Perfect.
Samantha Hedder was everything Joana was not.
Fourteen years old.
Beautiful.
Popular.
The mayor's daughter.
The queen bee of Grayhaven Middle School.
Posters of pop stars lined her walls. Expensive makeup crowded her desk. Her closet overflowed with clothes she wore once and never again.
She tilted her head, checking her reflection from every angle.
"Ugh… this eyeliner better not smudge," she muttered, rolling her eyes.
Samantha liked control.
She liked being admired.
Being envied.
Being untouchable.
That was why she was bratty.
Not cruel, at least not in her own mind. Just… above everyone else.
Downstairs, her little sister whispered about monsters.
Up here, Samantha only cared about who would look at her tomorrow.
Samantha tilted her head, admiring her reflection, when the phone on her vanity rang.
She smiled before even answering.
"Hello?" she said lazily. "Who is this?"
A familiar voice chuckled on the other end.
"Don't play dumb, Sam."
Her smile widened.
"Matthew?" she said, feigning surprise. "Wow… you remembered my number."
Matthew Connors, Grayhaven's favorite troublemaker. Messy hair, sharp grin, always smelling faintly of smoke and bad decisions.
"Of course I did," he replied. "You busy right now?"
Samantha twirled a strand of hair around her finger, eyes flicking to her mirror. "Depends. Are you gonna waste my time?"
He laughed. "You love it when I do."
She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.
"You skipping practice again?" she asked.
"Maybe," Matthew said casually. "Thought we could hang out later. Just us."
Samantha smirked. "Careful. People already talk enough."
"Let them," he said. "They're just jealous."
She leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs. "You're such a mess, Matt."
"Yeah," he replied softly. "But you like that."
She didn't deny it.
Down the hallway, a door creaked.
Samantha frowned slightly. "I gotta go. My sister's being weird again."
There was a pause on the line.
"The little one?" Matthew asked. "She still having nightmares?"
Samantha scoffed. "Yeah. Always scared of something. It's annoying."
She hung up shortly after
Her smile faded as she turned back to the mirror.
For just a second
Her reflection didn't move when she did.
Then it blinked.
Samantha frowned. "Ugh… I need better lighting."
Suddenly
"KYAHH!!!"
A scream ripped through the Hedder house.
Samantha froze in front of her mirror.
Down the hall, Mayor Genesis Hedder bolted upright.
Another scream followed, high, desperate, terrified.
"DADDY!!! HELP!!!"
"SIS—!!!"
Both doors flew open at the same time.
Genesis and Samantha locked eyes for half a second, pure panic mirrored between them then ran.
The hallway lights flickered as they sprinted.
Joana's door was vibrating.
Shaking in its frame.
Genesis grabbed the handle and yanked it open.
The room exploded with pressure.
Joana was no longer on the bed.
She was floating.
Not gently.
Her body was suspended mid-air, jerking violently as if pulled by invisible hooks. Her limbs twisted at impossible angles, joints popping with sickening cracks that echoed through the room. Her fingers bent backward, trembling uncontrollably.
Her eyes
Wide. Bulging. Blood vessels spiderwebbing across the whites.
Tears streamed down her face as her mouth stretched open, jaw quivering, teeth clenched so hard they audibly ground against each other.
A wet choking sound forced its way out of her throat.
"SWEETIE!!!" Genesis screamed, rushing forward.
Samantha froze.
Her stomach dropped out of her body.
"KYAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
Joana's head snapped toward them with a sharp crack.
Her lips peeled into a smile.
Too wide.
The lights burst.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Joana's body slammed down.
Genesis caught her mid-fall, collapsing to his knees as her weight crashed into his arms. Her body was limp but still twitching. Her breath came in shallow, ragged gasps, each one sounding like it might be her last.
"Joana, Joana…please...please!" he begged, shaking.
Samantha stood in the doorway, hands clamped over her mouth, screaming silently as tears poured down her face.
From Joana's lips, a whisper slipped out
.
Not her voice.
"…marked…"
Then, silence.
Deep beneath the Hedder house, something laughed.
Soft.
Satisfied.
Mayor Genesis Hedder's hands trembled as he held his youngest daughter.
"Baby… please, stay with me… stay with me!" he begged, voice breaking, tears blurring his vision.
Joana's lips moved, faint, almost a whisper:
"Grinner…"
Genesis's chest tightened. The word seemed to echo in the room, bouncing off the walls like a curse.
Before he could react, Joana's body went limp. Her small heartbeat stilled beneath his hands.
"No… no… no… nononononono! Please, don't leave us!!" he screamed, shaking her gently, desperate, hysterical.
And then he heard it, again.
Not from her. Not from anywhere he could see.
A cold, unmistakable voice whispered:
"Grinner…"
It wasn't Joana. It wasn't someone in the house. It was deeper. Older. Familiar.
Genesis froze. The voice had a memory. A memory he hadn't heard in decades.
(His father's voice.)
The mayor's mind reeled. (The previous mayor… my father… he said that name too)
The Grinner.
Genesis's mind raced. (What was it?)
Genesis's knuckles whitened as he clenched the edge of the dresser.
(Who or what is the Grinner?)
To be continue