Madison and The Monsters

14. The Grundwasser

  As soon as Madison heard the strange voice she grabbed the handle. Exhausted from the past few hours, it was more difficult to turn than usual. With her lasting energy she cranked the handle over and over again. If it was a lone bucket it wouldn't be difficult, even if it was full of water. The Grundwasser weighed enough to add difficulty though.

Slowly but surely the bucket and creature sitting on it came into view. The creature being hoisted up looked peculiar, anyone but Madison would be shocked and perhaps scared. Its face looked remotely human, yet the rest of it looked more like a strange kind of octopus. At first he'd reminded Madison of a demented version of Ursula from 'The Little Mermaid'. All of his skin and scales were a peculiar shade of green. Like Noir he had shark like teeth, but he had more pleasant eyes that were a lovely blue instead of red. When the bucket became high enough he climbed onto the edge of the well and let his tentacles dangle. Madison let the bucket fall back into the water.

Madison was still annoyed with him for not showing up yesterday. She was tempted to even push him back into the well, though that wouldn't in any way be productive. When he smiled at her she returned a glare. For some reason Grundwasser seemed to be shocked at this action. There was obviously some sort of misunderstanding between the two.

"Madison why are you here at such an odd time, and why are you in the condition you are?" his inhuman voice was loud in the quiet woods.

"Why didn't you show yesterday?" she ignored his questions entirely.

"You know I don't like humans. Don't you remember the stories I've told you? I don't place my trust easily. No one knows how someone will act when in shock," he explained.

"You can trust my brother," Madison stated confidently.

"You can, I cannot."

"Well now he's given up on me."

"I'm sorry for that but I can't do anything about it."

"You can though! You can prove I'm not crazy!"

"You don't understand. You can't comprehend all the possible outcomes that could occur."

"Well because you won't prove that you're real I have to go to therapy."

"That's unfortunate."

"Madison how about you answer my questions now."

"I ran out on a session and got a little lost in the woods."

"Let me guess the healing cut is from Noir."

"Obviously."

"I'd help if I... could."

"Only if it didn't have a negative effect on your life," Madison muttered.

"Kid we haven't known each long enough for me to choose you over me. Would you pick me over you?"

"Well no..."

"See? So you said you're going to therapy now?"

"Yeah it's awful."

"Want to talk about it?"

"You want to give me therapy on my therapy?"

"I suppose."

"Well it's just therapy I guess. He wants me to talk about you guys, he asks questions, and explains things."

"What made you run out?"

"He didn't believe me about Noir scratching my face and I was just done with that, I couldn't handle people not believing me anymore. I just had to get away."

"You're going to be in a lot of trouble," he moved a little closer using his tentacles.

"I know," Madison whispered.

"They're surely very worried, you should head back."

"Maybe in an hour or two."

"It sounds like you've been having a crazy week, Noir and therapy."

"Yeah, that's for sure," Madison muttered as she sat on the well's side.

"Maybe tomorrow you'll get to avoid school," he suggested trying to brighten her night.

"My mum would never let me. What if I stayed here for the rest of the night and then went to school in the morning? I'd probably get out of it then."

"You'd cause quite the pandemonium."

"I will either way."

"I won't make you go home."

"Thanks!"

"You're welcome," he muttered.

"I learned something at therapy today."

"What did you learn?"

"Noir didn't kill my dad."

"How'd he die then?"

"He killed... himself."

"I'm so sorry."

"I should have known. He was always so... I don't know. I guess losing Kane pushed him off the edge."

"Who wouldn't take the opportunity to blame someone when you have the option?"

"I suppose," Madison whispered as she dozed off. She let her body slide on to the ground next to the well. Curling up she tried to conserve whatever heat her damp clothes contained. Grundwasser notice a forgotten sweater near a picnic bench. As he crawled over to it his wet slimy body collected leaves, pine needles, and dirt. By the time he had returned to the well he was eager to wash off. Gently he placed the black skull sweater over his sleeping friend. In adjusting it his tentacle brushed against Madison's cheek. Unintentionally she flinched away from the cold slimy tentacle. Grundwasser let out a chuckle of sorts, one that was noticeably inhuman.

Once he knew she was fully asleep he slowly climbed down the walls of the well to the water. Lucky for him the well was long abandoned and only the odd couple and Madison seemed to show up. Once the water seemed close enough he let his body drop into it. The splash would have woken up Madison if she hadn't been so exhausted. Before going to sleep himself he swam to the bottom to see the coins glisten like stars under the full moon. Many of the coins had hit him when people threw them in. Once ready to sleep he swam to the surface and simply floated as he drifted into sleep. He was plagued with worry for his young friend yet he couldn't, or perhaps wouldn't help her.

So there will still be a chapter on Tuesday I simply had a lot of extra time this weekend.