Grace's Gift

My beautiful daughter, Grace, was the most remarkable girl you could ever imagine. I know every parent says that, especially under these circumstances, but I really think it's true. She was smart, funny, beautiful. She had so many natural gifts. Perhaps these were her undoing.

I saw Grace's potential the moment she was born. When I first held that little bundle in my arms, I knew I was looking at the beginnings of a stunning young woman. Proud though I was, this understanding brought with it a certain dread. I knew what could happen to women with Grace's charms. I knew what could happen if men... desired her. From that moment on, I vowed to keep her pure. I gave her the strongest of reasons to stay so.

It is the greatest tragedy of my life that my Grace did not listen. What else could I have done? What else could I have said? What I wouldn't give to have it all to do over again....

When Grace didn't come home that night, I knew something was wrong. She had never missed curfew before. The police didn't take me seriously, of course---surprise, surprise. It was only after hours of badgering that a reluctant officer finally heaved his bulky frame into a patrol car and scouted the neighborhood. What he found.... It almost makes me wish that Grace had stayed missing.

Two bodies were found in the woods. One of them was Grace. It must have been an animal attack, they said. What else could have done so much damage? The only other witness, Grace's boyfriend, had bled out from a very nasty injury, but whatever had attacked them seemed to focus most of its efforts on my precious daughter. At least that was what they said. I never sought another explanation.

Of course, I knew the truth.

My family is no stranger to darkness. We have always had... certain capabilities... and I am by no means above using such things on those I love if the purpose is a good one. When Grace was only an infant, I gave her a gift that was meant to last her much longer than it did. It was the gift of purity. The sleeping creature I placed inside of her would ensure that she stayed untouched. It would always be there, protecting her.

I never hid this fact from Grace. What good would that have done? For added insurance, I convinced her that she was the protector. If she didn't keep the creature safe, I said, then something terrible might happen. I should have tried so much harder. I should have done so much more....

I'll never know if Grace was willing, or if that boy forced himself on her. Both possibilities come with their own pain. Either way, the result was inevitable. It makes me shudder even now to imagine how Grace's final moments must have been. I try not to, but these thoughts will not leave my mind. Maybe I don't deserve to be left in peace. Truly, I thought I was doing the right thing. I can only hope that the end came swiftly, and her pain was short-lived.

Why couldn't she have listened?

As soon as that boy... entered... my Grace, he would have felt the grabbing. Confusion would give way to pain, grabbing to pulling, tearing. The clawing and biting would begin inside my poor Grace. They both would have heard the sickening pop as the boy fell away from her, leaving a part of himself behind to be gobbled up by the creature, now fully awake and ravenous. The boy would collapse useless and bleeding, leaving Grace to her fate. As her flesh tore open to birth the monster---the monster I had made---perhaps Grace was allowed one moment of stark understanding.

Why did this happen? Was it my fault? Was it Grace's? That boy's? Can it be that a parent's best laid plans for their child mean nothing? These are the thoughts that run through my brain every time I tend to the creature in the cage. I know I should have destroyed him when he found his way back to me, but some part of me feels like this is all I have left of my Grace.

Sometimes, when I look at him, I see a flicker of her in his eyes. That's been a gift on some of my darkest days.