I use to think that you were like me... That you were attracted to the darkness. But Tate... You are the darkness.
The memories still fresh, branding the painful words into every piece of memory left.
No! Before you, that's all there was. You're the only light I've ever known, you've changed me, Violet.
I remember the small amount of hope left in his eyes, that little bit of hope that I was just about to crush into a million little pieces of anguish.
I believe that. I love you, Tate... But I can't forgive you.
Is it bad that I wanted to? I wanted to forgive him for everything, and honestly, if it had anything to do with me, I would have. Because he was that beautiful, and that deceiving. But, he didn't shoot me or someone I loved. He didn't rape me. He didn't kill me. How can you forgive someone when it is not your place to forgive?
You're all I want! You're all I have!
Somewhere deep inside of me, I knew that. And I knew that he would be hurt and lost without someone to help him, but I just couldn't. Can't.
Go away, Tate!
And with that, it was over. And so was mine and Tate's happiness.
Violet sat in her now worn out, beat up brown leather chair in "her" bedroom. 'Her' bedroom was always intruded by whoever so pleased, and it had been that way for over 19 years now. If the world was as it should be, and logic wasn't defied by ghost in a murder house, Violet would be 35 in five weeks, probably with kids and long passed the I-could-give-a-shit-less attitude. But, sadly, fate was too cruel, and she was one of those ghost in that very house. Forever a 15 year old stuck in that very phase for the rest of her existence. As much knowledge that she has received, she has not gained a wrinkle or a crevice that would let you know she wasn't just some ordinary teenage girl who swooned over whatever now-hot male actor that was but a child when she died.
Her parents, who were also forever stuck in this hell hole, were in bliss with their new child, Nathan. He was thin and translucent, unhealthy looking, but they didn't notice. He was their angel, and to them, their only child.
Violet was usually reading or listening to music on their neighbors Wifi throughout the day, unless there were human occupants in the house. God, how she hated them. Not just because how ignorant they could be, but also because of how much she envied them. They could leave, travel, do anything basically, yet they choose to stay here. Pathetic. If only they knew what they were getting themselves into.
"Hey, asshole!" One of the twins said from beside her, hitting the leg of her chair out from under her with a bat.
"You little shithead!" Violet yelled, standing up and chasing him. "Go away!" The boy disappeared, and she silently thanked Tate for showing her that trick.
Tate...
Just his named brought on an ache so unbearable, she had to hold onto her bedpost to keep calm. Violet hadn't spoken to Tate since that night she told him goodbye. Sometimes she'd see him in a room, and he'd turn to her, but she'd always pretend he wasn't there and carry on, much to his despair. He had tried to start a conversation once, soon after a family moved in with a young teenage daughter. He had asked her if she thought the human girl was pretty, as if trying to get a rise out of her. Of course, it did, but she'd never let him know that. Violet had shrugged, than willed herself to disappear and crawled into bed as she slowly began to wish the ghosts' would freak that family out so that they would never come back.
Wish granted.
She shouldn't love him. She shouldn't want him beside her, and in her bed. She shouldn't want to run her hands along his skin, and let him whisper sweet things into her ears, then make some snarky comment, causing her to giggle uncharacteristically. But, love's a bitch, and she's taking everyone down with her.
Sighing, Violet reached over on her bed and wrapped her dull sweater around her shoulders, heading out of the room. There had to be some sort of tools to fix that chair.
A rhythmic thud sounded throughout the room as Violet descended the stairs, and turned sharply to the basement. She hadn't realized she had paused until the door opened itself, inviting her in to the deep, monstrous heart of the house. Tate was usually down there. At least, when he wasn't hanging around invisibly by Violet. She was usually aware of his presence, and sometimes, she just wasn't strong enough to care. He liked to sit at the end of her bed. She only knew that from the scuff marks on the floor, and the now obvious scratches on her foot board from his jeans.
One foot on a stair, she peered down into the darkness. A light breeze brushed her hair along her face comfortingly, almost like a cool hand. She tried to tell herself it wasn't him, but honestly, how else did a fucking breeze come from an in-closed basement?
She swallowed and gently walked down the stairs into the dark. "Hello?" She called.
No one answered, but she knew it was bullshit. There were always ghost in here. They practically were the air you breathed. But, she continued to venture on in hopes of coming across something along the lines of glue.
A small flickering light came from under a slightly ajar door, and Violet stepped closer to it. In the air, a small voice floated through, flowing through one ear, then dancing out the other.
'I want a perfect body, I want a perfect soul.
I want you to notice, When I'm not around.
You're so fucking special, I wish I was special.
But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo.
What the hell am I doing here, I don't belong here...
I don't belong here...'
Of course, she knew it was Tate's voice. She stepped closer, seeing him with his back to her in an old rocking chair, his head in his hands. Her heart felt the pain knowing that he actually thought of himself that way. She suddenly forgot her control, and took a step forward, about to walk in and pull his head to her chest and just hold him. They could talk about this, couldn't they?
"A bit too late for the soul part, don't you think?" Hayden's voice sounded throughout the basement.
"What do you want?" His voice was aggressive, and a smirk played upon Violet's lips knowing Hayden wasn't manipulating him too.
"Easy killer." Hayden's voice became soft and was filled with a purr. "You know what I want, what I always want." Her voice was barely audible now, and Violet looked up just in time to see Hayden slide onto Tate's lap, grinding him softly while pulling his lips to hers.
In that moment, she felt two things that she hardly ever felt before. Fear, and rage. Fear of a realization that she may have actually lost Tate forever, and rage so fierce that right then, she wanted to rip that fucking sluts head off. But, honestly, did she even have a reason? They weren't together. What's the point?
She hadn't meant to, but apparently Violet had let out a small gasp, causing both of the two to look at her. Tate shoved Hayden off of him, pulling himself to his feet, and Hayden's mouth quirked up into a smile. "Oh no, looks like little Bo Peep isn't quite over the loss of her sheep."
Violet turned quickly, suddenly disappearing and willing herself into the bathroom that held so many memories. She turned, locking the door as Tate's voice filled the house. "Violet, wait! Let me explain!"
She slowly shook her head, the tears falling lightly down her cheeks. She felt so weak and stupid right then. Obviously he had moved on. She didn't expect him to just wait around forever to forgive him, did she? Maybe. But she definitely didn't expect his standards to be so low. That just made Violet more insecure. If he could be with some whore like Hayden who screwed up her family, did he ever even really care about Violet?
She heard shoes scuffing in the hallway and knew it was him. "Violet..." A hand began knocking on the door.
"Go away, Tate." She said, her voice hoarse and pathetically small.
"No." He said simply, knocking again. "Let me in."
"No." She told him, wiping the tears from her face. "Go back to Hayden, she might get lonely."
His hand hit the door, "Stop it! You don't even know what happened!" He yelled.
Violet touched the door, allowing more tears to slide down her cheeks, knowing his hand was just on the other side. It was like a complete metaphor to their relationship. They would always be so close, but they'd never be able to touch, not with such a thick barrier between them. "I don't need to know, Tate. It's not my business anymore. You can do what you want, or who you want."
"But, what I want is you!" His voice cracked. "I want it to be your business, and I want you to get jealous. Hell, even kick their asses, I don't care. I love you, Violet." He whispered fervently.
The pain became worse in her chest, as she now sobbed into the door, covering her eyes with her sleeves. "No. You just want someone who will love you, no matter who it is. You want someone who wont treat you like Constance did."
"Violet..." He sounded like a sad child, begging for candy. But, she couldn't stop now, could she? She needed to end this, and quickly.
"It's okay Tate. I want you to be happy. Without me. So when we see each other in the hall, I'll smile at you, and I'll mean it this time." She placed her hand over her heart. It seemed to be trying to leave her body. "I'll smile at you, and maybe even ask you how your day was. Then, we'll say our goodbyes and it won't be uncomfortable because we'll have moved on. We'll be happy."
"I don't want to move on! Please, Vi. Let's talk about this." Violet decided, and she slowly began to open the door. Tate's face lit up, until he realized her eyes were closed. "Violet, no! No!" He reached forward to stop her, but it was too late.
"Go away, Tate!"
Silence filled the air around her, and she was vaguely aware of her body falling to the floor. She sat in that position, just crying for a while until her legs went numb, and she crawled to her bed. The covers were warm and inviting, so she kept them company for the next few weeks.
"Mind if I clean in here?" Moira asked, stepping into the room one Saturday morning.
"Go ahead." Violet said, pulling the covers up to her chin and rolling on her side.
"Excuse my abruptness, but I can't help but think this is because of the young Tate. He isn't good, Violet. He never will be good. The house was always evil, but it was never covered in black sin until the Blond Devil himself came in. Now it oozes with pain and suffering. Who's to say what his real intentions with you were."
Violet sat up in her bed, her attention now peaked. "Do you not think he really loved me?" She couldn't help but ask, if anyone knew besides Tate, it was this elderly maid.
"Oh, I have no doubt that he did." She stated, but then smiled sadly. "But, Tate's version of love differs far from that of anyone I know. He can hurt someone he loves. In fact, sometimes that is his preferred victim."
Violet was about to speak, when both of the women heard the door downstairs swing open and voices strut up into her bedroom. Both her and Moira shared a glance, then headed to the balcony over looking the downstairs.
A man walked in with Marcy close behind. "It's beautiful." He said, simply. He had dirty blond hair, and his smile could have broken the hearts of a hundred women at once. He looked to be about 19 or 20, way too young to be buying this house. Violet stepped down the stairs, knowing they couldn't see her.
Turning a little nervous, she saw Moira looking at her confused and wary, then Nora showed up beside her.
"Yes well, it's my duty to disclose any incident in that past 3 years that could waver your decision. The person who lived here last was beaten in his sleep, and nearly died." Violet remembered that night plainly. Thaddeus and Chuck were trying to kill him, but Violet and Moira dragged the man out and used his cell phone to call the ambulance.
"Ah, that's... Well, that sucks." The guy said, and Violet laughed a his utter nonchalant attitude.
"So, what does a young man like you want with a big house like this?" Marcy asked, stepping a little closer to him, raising her eyebrows suggestively. The bile rose in Violet's throat, and apparently his too as he stepped away from her and laughed nauseously.
"Uh, I run a company that has large, extravagant parties and such. I had seen this place before on the tour, and thought it would be perfect. Our company is right down the street, and we needed a place to have some formal parties." He said, looking around.
Great. Now they'll be even more of them floating around the place. Once she reached the bottom stair, she saw that a new line of ghost was appearing. This one containing Hayden, Hugo, Dr. Montgomery, Maria, and Travis. All of them looking at her in a strange way, as if wondering what the hell she was doing.
What? Just because she didn't do this much didn't mean she couldn't do it at all. She knew how to hide herself from the living.
She pretended to not notice the missing pair of dark, sinful brown eyes that should be with the rest of them.
Casually, Violet walked over behind the man and Marcy, following them as Marcy gave her tour for the hundredth time. Wasn't she getting too old for this?
Violet was sitting on the counter in the kitchen, listening to Marcy talk about the newly modernized counter-tops, when the man turned, staring right at where Violet was. Or should be. Whatever.
Violet wondered for a moment if she had let herself be visible, and cursed herself, but the thought flew out the window when Marcy suddenly chimed back in. "What is it? Is something the matter?"
He ignored her though, and walked to where Violet was sitting. He leaned forward, his hands now between her legs, near her inner thighs, resting on the counter. Hardly a coincidence. Violet wanted to get up and move, but she was utterly confused in how the hell he knew something was there. The guy looked straight into Violet's eyes, his hands suddenly moving further in, dangerously close.
With that, Violet willed herself to the other side of the kitchen.
Once she was there, she saw that the guy sigh, turning back to Marcy. "I'll take it. I'd like to start moving things in by Tuesday, if that's alright."
Marcy seemed utterly excited by this, and nodded madly. The man turned, his eyes catching Violet's, and she closed hers, then opened them when she was back in her bedroom. "What the hell?"
After that, the next few days flew by too quickly. Everyone seemed to be moving their things and getting ready for the new house occupant. She had to move all of her CD's and posters to the attic, leaving nothing but the bed, a cover, and her laptop.
"Honey, come downstairs. The new guest is here." Vivien said, opening the door slightly.
Violet sighed, rolling off the bed like a sloth and dragging herself down the stairs. She wasn't sure why everyone was so excited. It was just another douche-bag that would end up either dead, or crying like all the others.
She walked to the balcony, seeing the guy walk in. At the bottom, she caught a blond. The blond himself. The one she had constant dreams and nightmares about. He was sitting on the floor near the basement, along with two children who looked severely burnt. Her lips started to turn up at the sight, when she was interrupted.
"Oh, please." Hayden said, leaning against the post. "Don't tell me you're still swooning over Little Boy Psychopath."
"Piss off." Violet said, walking down the stairs.
"He's over you, Violet. Just give up." What a bitch.
"I'm not fighting." Violet said, shrugging her shoulders. She made it to the end, and walked passed the guy, who stopped suddenly. Violet walked to the door to check out his ride. A Ferrari, this guy was loaded.
He began walking, opening the door to the room that was once her dad's study, and placed a box on the floor. Violet leaned in the doorway, watching him. He opened the box, taking out what looked like notepads and magazines.
Then, he strutted over and sat down on the leather couch and picked through the things until the box was empty, sitting it to the side, and sighing.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you it wasn't polite to stare?" He asked, and Violet looked around the room, wondering how she hadn't realized there was another person. But, there wasn't another person. "Hello?" He asked, his eyes now locked with hers. Violet gave up the facade, revealing herself.
"She would have, but she was blind, so she told me to capture every thing in my memory by sight, as if I was seeing for the two of us." Violet told him.
"You're a good bullshitter." He laughed, then stood up, reaching his hand out. "Trinity."
"Violet." She shook his hand, and went to let it go, but he held on, leaning down a bit to see her at eye level.
"Why are you in my house?" He asked.
Violet yanked her hand from his grasp. "So much for friendly neighbors, I guess." Violet walked out of the room, heading for the front door, pretending to be able to leave. Oh, how she wished she could.
"I know you were here when I first got to come inside this place." He said, walking up behind her.
Violet sighed. "Look, I should get going."
"But..." Trinity said, then he whispered in Violet's ear before she could walk out. "I know you can't leave."
Violet spun around, pushing him away. "And how exactly do you know that, asshole?"
"I just know these things. I know you're a spirit, and that there's a dozen more in this house." He smiled. "Come on, tell me I'm wrong."
Violet walked up to him, her face mere centimeters from his. "You're wrong."
He laughed a little, turning around. "Come on, Violet. You can't bullshit a bullshitter."
Violet walked passed him, flopping down on the couch. "Fine, so you know. Now what?"
He sat down beside her, shrugging. "Now, we get ready for the party."
"You were serious? Oh, god dammit."
"Yep, and you're going." Violet looked at him, about to stand up and tell him to piss off, when he smiled that smile again. "Come on, I need a date."
"We just met!" Violet laughed. "You're insane."
"We have eight days to get to know each other. Come on, don't leave me hanging." He leaned closer. "Please? I'll even let you pick some of the songs for the DJ." He leaned just a bit closer. "Please?" His eyes glanced to hers, then down to her lips.
It was true they had some kind of connection, she just wasn't sure if it was romantic or not. "What kind of party are we talking about?"
His eyes lit up with excitement. "Halloween."
"Fine." She agreed, then stood up. "But my bedroom is off limits."
"Including to me?" He asked, his eyebrows raising.
"Especially to you." Turning to take in the dusty room, she smiled. "What first?"
Tate stood in the doorway, watching the two of them smiling and flirting with each other. He had been doing this for the past six in a half days, and they never even seemed to notice him. Violet seemed happy again, and he hated that he couldn't be the reason behind it. He also hated that he couldn't just be happy for her. His heart told him that this was for the best, but somewhere, somewhere deeper, he was angry, hurt, and alone. Inevitably alone.
He watched with clenched fist as Trinity threw a cloth ghost at Violet's head, blinding her momentarily as he ran to her, pinching her sides.
Violet laughed, tossing the thing away. "You shithead!" She bent down, picking up the ghost, and Trinity's eyes involuntarily moved to her ass, and Tate's rage became unbearable. There was no way she was completely oblivious to this. Or did she not care?
Either way, in Tate's rage, his strength moved one of the boxes that had been a few feet behind Trinity, to directly behind him. He stepped back tripping over it, hitting his head on the floor. Violet turned, rushing over to him.
"And I thought I was a klutz." She knelt down to help him up, and he took her hand gently.
"I guess I forgot it was there."
Tate didn't see it at first, it was so sudden, his mind must have just thought he was making it up, but now he was certain. Trinity's eyes had looked right into Tate's, and he had smiled. It was so easy to pass off as just an uneasy glance around the room, but now Tate was sure. This guy wasn't normal.
They had just finished working for their seventh day, and Violet was thankful to have a distraction. She had invited him up to her room, breaking her rule for him, but he didn't seem to mind. Trinity sat on the floor where Tate used to sit, his arms wrapped around his knees just as her once lover had used to do.
Trinity must have been a mind reader, because the next thing he said made her more than just a little tense.
"Who's the blond kid?"
"What?" She asked, not sure if she heard him right. He couldn't have seen Tate, could he?
"The tall blond kid who keeps giving me death glares from the doorway downstairs." He looked up at me. "Are you guys-"
"No." Violet said quickly, cutting him off. "I mean, we used to, I guess." Violet said, feeling a little uncomfortable talking about this with him. "His name is Tate."
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say he took it kind of hard."
Violet smiled a bit. "I guess we both did."
Trinity looked away for a second, before standing up and dusting off his pants. He walked up to Violet, looking down at her. "I have something for you."
Violet laughed, "Why the hell would you do that?"
"Just be happy about it and come see what it is." He said, walking out of the room. Violet got up, following. He led her down the stairs, through the living room, and told her to cover her eyes. Violet sighed, placing her hands over them. "Hurry up."
"Jeez, you have the patience of a toddler."
"Make that a baby. Now show me before I start screaming." She said with a smirk. Trinity opened a closet door, and pulled out a long white bag.
"Okay." Violet opened her eyes and feigned excitement.
"How did you know I always wanted a bag?"
Trinity laughed, "Oh good, I killed two birds with one stone. Maybe I won't have to get you a Christmas present too." He reached inside the bag, pulling out a sullen red dress with a black corset, with long sleeves. It felt so soft in her hands, she almost didn't want to touch it. Almost.
"Whoa. You didn't have to do this." Violet said, not able to take her eyes off of it.
"Of course I did. I can't have you wearing your adorable little sweaters and leggings to my stupid high class party, now can I?" He asked, smirking a bit.
Violet smiled, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "Thanks."
"Why, Violet, I do believe you are blushing."
Suddenly, the door to the room slammed, and Violet turned. She barely caught blond before it was gone, and her heart began to ache. She didn't want to put Tate through pain.
"I'm sorry. Are you okay? I didn't know he was there." Trinity said honestly, taking the dress form her hands and putting it back into it's packaging. Violet shook her head, and he just grabbed her hand a pulled her back up the stairs.
"Violet. If this is too soon, if it hurts too much, we don't have to continue on whatever path we are on now, okay?" Trinity asked, and Violet sighed.
Maybe it was because she hadn't quite figured out their connection, or maybe it was because Violet was just lashing out because of Tate, but one way or another, she found herself crashing her lips into Trinity's. He smiled against her skin, pushing her up against the door.
Violet grunted, and she felt goosebumps rise on his arms as his fingers slid down her sides.
Tate was sitting in the bathtub, hearing all the sounds from the lips he once, and still did find so irresistible. Her heavy breathing and encouraging noises to this man she hardly knew. Tate was sure they weren't fucking, but it could be a matter of time. He wanted to run in there, kill the guy, then take his place like nothing ever happened. Like they never broke up.
"T-" She began, but stopped, still breathing heavily.
A small smile lit up his face as he realized she was saying it like "Ta" instead of "Tri". She was going to say his name, and that was all the boost he needed.
He stepped out of the bathtub, opening the bathroom door, and walking through. He once again felt as if he had his war paint on, the light hearted whistling ringing through his ears. But, this time, he had a purpose, and no one could kill him as punishment.
Tate swung open Violet's bedroom door. Violet was on her bed, and the asshole was on top of her, his hands half way up her shirt, and his other on her thigh. Violet looked at Tate, and jumped up quickly. "What the fuck, Tate?"
The dick had the audacity to actually stand up and block Violet. "As if I'd fucking harm her." Tate said, glaring at him. He stepped forward, and Violet was now the one blocking.
"Tate stop. This isn't you. This doesn't have to be you."
"That's where you're wrong Violet, this is me, and always has been." He said sadly, stepping closer. Violet was frozen when Tate threw Trinity against the wall, but when he started to laugh, she knew he was hitting the barrier between light and darkness, and the dark was seeping into him quickly.
"Tate..." Violet grabbed his hand, and he yanked it back.
"You pretended to give a shit when Hayden was all over me, but now that it's you and some other piece of ass, it's okay? I don't think so,Violet. You don't get to just whore around one day and play jealous girlfriend the next." He shook his head. "I was supposed to be the only one. Always and forever." He said, almost as if he couldn't believe what was actually happening right now.
"Tate, please-"
"Violet, it's okay. I'm not scared." Trinity said from up against the wall. He didn't look scared at all, but maybe he was just faking it. Even she was a little afraid of what Tate was capable of.
"Shut your mouth!" Tate said, turning around fast enough to give himself whiplash.
Violet took this opportunity to come up behind Tate, wrapping her arms around him. "Tate... I love you, and I always will." Tate turned slightly, the darkness fighting to keep it's grip over him. "But this is why we can't be together, Tate. I want to accept you, to hold you until the thoughts go away, to forgive you... But," Violet now looked into his eyes, seeing the tears begin to pool around the rims. "I can't forgive for others. I can only forgive you for hurting me. And I do, Tate, I forgive you. But not for murdering people, and not for my mother. And I don't think I ever will."
"I can change, Violet."
"Maybe you can," she said, closing her eyes for a moment and licking her lips. "But, I'm not willing to wait around while you kill and spread evil in the mean time. I'm sorry, but you have to go. Go away."
And like that, he was gone.
"I'm so sorry." Violet said, walking to Trinity and helping him up.
"Really, it's fine. You guys obviously have some things going on, and it's fine. I'll wait." He said, then he swooped his neck, his lips catching Violet in a deep, sensual tongue battle. When he won, he stepped back, then walked out of the door. "Goodnight, Violet."
The next day, Violet was up early to start getting ready.
She had curled her hair for once, and had two braids going from each side, hanging loosely around the back of her head. She had on a small amount of black eye shadow and mascara. Once she put on the dress, she grabbed the corset, and Moira walked in just in time.
"May I be of assistance?" She was wearing a beautiful black flowing gown with a small witch hat on top. Violet smiled and nodded, and Moira walked around, pulling the strings of the corset.
"Are you coming to the party?" Violet asked.
"Yes, Trinity has asked all the ghost he has come into contact with to attend and he asked us all if we could be on our best behavior just for tonight, saying that it would mean the world to you."
Violet laughed. "Me? I couldn't give a shit less about this party."
Moira smiled, pulling together the final strings. "Your appearance says otherwise. You look beautiful." Violet turned, giving her a hug, and Moira returned the favor, a little bit of longing in it.
"Anytime you get lonely, or just want to pass the time, I don't mind if you'd like to come up and talk." Violet said. She knew how lonely it could be in the house.
"I'd like that very much." Moira said, then headed to the door. "The party starts in 15 minutes. Your parents are waiting for you." And with that, she left.
Violet picked up the bottom of the dress and walked to the mirror. She looked like something out of a Dracula movie. A good one, but a vampire movie none-the-less. But, oh well, right? It was the day before Halloween after all. At 12 tonight, all of the ghost of the house get to leave, and she was heading straight to the store to get buckets and buckets of ice cream.
Violet sat in a chair to ponder for a while. These past Halloweens, Violet had just sat, waiting for them to end, or maybe going to the beach where her and Tate spent their Halloween. She had almost ran into him there once. He was lying on the beach, and she didn't see him, but the second he turned to see who it was, she willed herself back into the house.
All this time, she's ran from him, hiding in the shadows of him, hoping her wouldn't shed his undeniable beauty onto her, hoping he wouldn't make her fall further down into the bottomless pits he calls eyes. But tonight, it was different. She would make his heart beg him just to glance at her one more time, and each time, he wouldn't be able to resist.
Violet was now well aware of people entering the house. She looked out the window, and saw that there were now dozens of cars outside.
She picked up the Phantom of the Opera half mask that Trinity had got her, and placed it over her face before heading to the balcony. Many beautiful women stood below, and she was suddenly a little self conscious. Did she just look like a little kid in her mother's clothes?
She walked to the stairs, descending one step before a hush went over the crowd. A few conversations went on, but when Violet looked up, she saw the one Trinity was in soon came to a stop, as he left them without a word, and came to her. His costume that of an army general.
She smiled a little, and he held out his hand.
"Fancy party, you got here." She said. He smiled, and soon took her off to meet his friends.
"This is Violet." He told one man, who smiled widely the second he saw her.
"I can see why you chose her." He said, and a girl beside him turned to see what all of the fuss was about. Her hair was a light red, and her lips were painted dark. She had a crown on and a sash over her shoulder. If she didn't look like a total bitch, she'd be gorgeous.
"Rose." The girl said with a fake smile.
"Violet." She said, not even bothering with the smile.
"So, Trin, where have you been hiding this one?"
"The daycare?" Rose mumbled, and Violet wanted to punch her mask of make-up right off.
"We just met a week ago, actually." Trinity said, wrapping an arm around Violet's waist.
"So, that's what you've been doing." The man said, winking. Trinity laughed and shook his head, and they carried on a conversation that she was utterly bored of.
"Want to go somewhere else?" He suddenly whispered in Violet's ear.
She smiled up at him. "Actually, I have to go find my parents. You know what they say about the dead's patience level."
"It's that of a toddler." He replied, laughing.
"A baby." Violet corrected.
She walked away from him then, trying to seek out her parents who barely bothered to talk to her but maybe five times the entire time they've been dead.
She saw her mom a few yards away in a group with her dad, without the baby. Violet soon walked up, seeing her mom in a Red-Riding Hood costume, and her dad as a pirate.
"Ah, there she is." Ben said, wrapping his arms around her. "This is our daughter, Violet."
The three men and two women in front of her smiled and said hello politely, and Violet was sick of it all already. "Did you want to talk to me?"
"Ah yes, we'll be right back." Ben and Vivien pulled Violet away. "Chuck is watching the baby right now, he's been helping out for a few years now, but he wants to go out tonight. We need you to watch Nathan tonight. Me and your father want to go out on a date."
Violet began laughing. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."
"Vi-" Ben said, but Violet cut him off.
"You ignore me for 19 years, then you want to decide to be a parent on the one day I get to leave the house in a year? You're fucking crazy!"
"Violet, you know we've been busy with the baby."
"And you always will be. Besides, what about me? Am I suddenly no longer your daughter anymore because you need to take care of the dead baby? Well, shit, mom! Let me just give you the parent of the fucking year award." Violet shook her head in disbelief, and walked away. How dare they even consider asking such a thing. Were they really that oblivious to everything around them? They weren't exactly living the typical American life.
She was almost to the stairs when she saw him.
His hair was combed back with a few stray strands falling down in his face. A cigarette hanging loosely out of his mouth, smoke puffing out in large clouds as he passed through them. He wore a dark suit with angel wings coming out of the back, oh the irony.
Violet nearly fell to her knees at the sight. He looked like heaven on Earth, even though she knew better.
Her stare must have not gone unnoticed by him, because his lazy stride came to end as his eyes caught hers in the crowd.
His cigarette fell out of his mouth as he took her in, but he didn't care. Nothing mattered until he was back in her arms. He picked up his speed, and she did hers. They were so close, she could taste the fresh smoke on his lips.
"Tate."
The voice was old, withering away, but he'd know it anywhere. Who wouldn't know the voice that haunted his nightmares?
"Constance." Tate said, turning around annoyed. "You aren't dead yet?"
"Of course not. I'm stronger now than ever before."
"How unfortunate." He said, strongly aware of Violet's close proximity. His body was reacting to her with goosebumps and the chills. Leave it to his whore of a mother to ruin the only chance he had with her in nearly 20 years.
He was about to turn around and just ignore her for the rest of the night, until she spoke again.
"Your son is here."
Well, that was a mood killer.
"What?" Violet and Tate asked at the same time. That couldn't be true, could it? But, he guessed. There were so many people here, he could be anywhere.
"Where?" Tate asked.
Constance swallowed, looking passed Tate to Violet in that knowing way of hers. She kept quiet for once in her life.
Tate stepped forward, anger rippling off of him. "The least I deserve is an honest answer."
Constance laughed at him. "Oh child, I just wanted to protect your little star crossed- lover. But, if you don't care, fine." She turned around and pointed. "He's been living with you for a while now, I hear."
Violet and Tate followed Constance's finger to a man.
Trinity.
Violet stopped breathing. Not on purpose, she just couldn't remember how to bring the oxygen in.
Tate turned to look at her. "Violet, it's okay."
"No, it's not! He's my half brother! Oh my god! This is disgusting. I have to tell him!" Violet yelled.
A laugh came from behind them, and Constance smiled. "Oh, you poor thing. He knew this entire time."
"You sick fuck." Violet said, Tate in tow. Trinity looked at Violet, then at Tate.
"Violet, what the hell?" Trinity asked, pulling her away from the group that he was talking to, but she shoved him away.
"Fuck you! And fuck your friends. Why should I give a damn? I'll never see them again. It's just you that has to worry about what they think." Violet said. Tate stood firmly behind her. He wanted to step in, to knock the guy out even if he was his son, but he knew right now, this was Violet's fight.
"Seriously, Violet. What are you doing?" Trinity asked, his voice becoming angry.
"What's your last name?" She asked.
"Violet-"
"Tell me, god dammit." She said so low, she almost wasn't sure he heard it. Trinity's eyes seemed to light up the smallest amount, and Violet knew he was aware of "what she was doing".
He sighed, standing up a little straight. "Clear out." He called.
Violet expected the people to start to leave through the door, but both she and Tate were suddenly surprised by them all just disappearing in thin air until there was just the ghosts that belonged to the house standing around confused at the sudden lack of people.
"What the-"
"Langdon." Trinity said, placing his hand out. "Trinity Langdon. And you're Violet Harmon, my sister." He smiled. "A beautiful one, at that."
Violet stepped back, disgusted. "How could you do something so horrible?"
Vivien and Ben walked up behind Tate and Violet, Ben eyeing Tate. "What's going on here?" Ben asked.
"I guess this means you're my step father. And mom." Trinity smiled at Violet's parents, and she felt the bile rising in her throat.
"But..." Vivien looked at Violet then Tate. "Oh god."
"You sick fuck." Ben said, stepping closer.
Trinity laughed. "Not exactly how I thought the family reunion would happen, but I guess I shouldn't have expected more." Trinity turned to Violet. "I have so much more planned for you, Violet."
That was when Tate decided to cut in. "My ass you do. You're not going to touch Violet, or even think about touching her."
"Well, too late for that." Trinity said, grinning widely at Violet.
Violet's eyes filled with tears, and Vivien pulled her into her chest. Violet watched as Trinity continued to explain everything, but she wasn't quite sure if she processed it.
"Being a child of a ghost and a human, I have a bit more powers than you people. I can leave, but also disappear, and visit the realm of the dead, and impregnate the dead." His eyes turned to Violet. "That's where you came in. I needed someone youthful, but mature. And who better to fill that place than my good 'ol dad's dead ex-girlfriend?" He looked back at Tate. "I was almost successful until you decided to drop in and throw a fit." He sighed. "But, I have all the time in the world." He reached his arm out to Violet, and Tate grabbed it.
His leaned his face in real close, then laughed humorlessly. "I don't know if you heard, but we aren't a welcoming family. Or really, a family at all. But, I will always protect Violet, and right now, you're hurting her, which pretty much is reason enough to break your puny fucking neck."
"Tate." This time, it was Vivien who spoke.
Tate turned to the woman who hated him, the woman that he had hurt, causing all of the shit with Violet. And why? Just to create this vile fuck-wad who was into incest? And trying to do it with Violet, none the less? He'd never regretted anything more in his life.
Trinity then disappeared, and everyone sighed a small sigh of relief. Everyone except Violet. She got back into her bedroom and ripped off her dress, throwing it out of her door and off the balcony. She wiped all of the make-up off, and anything that had to do with her horrible, sick brother. After puking as much as she could and taking three searing hot showers, she dragged herself off into bed.
She wished Tate was there. Seeing him near her mother was enough for Violet to let him come creeping back into her heart. The memories of their past together filled her every thought, and she tried to push her disgust with that man away.
But of course, it found it's way back in.
How could someone do such an awful thing? How could he have such low morals? It just didn't seem like a possibility. She thought she had seen the worse, but maybe she hadn't. Maybe there was darkness even Tate hadn't reached.
Suddenly, she felt a weight in the bed.
"Tate?" She whispered.
He moved further up, lying beside her. She kept her eyes closed as his fingers traveled beneath the blankets and snaked down her body, and ending up in the welcoming cotton of her underwear. She was about to moan, when he whispered in her ear.
"Will I be your first, sister?"
Violet screamed, kicking the covers off and running to the door. Trinity picked his fingers up to his lips and licked them. "What's wrong?"
She screamed another time, her voice cracking and loud sobs racking throughout her body.
Her door slammed open, and Tate came in. "Violet!" He yelled, then he saw Trinity licking his fingers and Violet in her underwear. "You bastard." Tate charged at Trinity, wrapping his fingers around his neck and squeezing as tightly as he could, hoping his eyes would pop out, and Moira, Hayden, and Travis came in. Violet sat in the corner, trying to wipe away the tears.
Moira leaned down beside her and held her.
"Looks like Tate's back to his old ways." Hayden said, bored.
This made Tate hesitate and look back at Violet. She looked scared. No, she looked horrified beyond belief, and here he was, killing someone in front of her. What was he supposed to do? Tate turned to look back at Trinity, but realized he was now laying on Violet's bed.
"I wonder Violet, how many times have you touched yourself on this bed?" He smelled her pillow. "Did you ever think of me?" He smiled, and a new amount of violent cries emerged from Violet. "No,Violet, don't cry." He said soothingly.
Tate stepped to the bed, but Trinity disappeared again. He heard a scream, and turned as Trinity was rubbing his hand up Violet's leg. "I've been watching you for years. I know everything about you. I love you."
"Get the fuck off of me!" She yelled.
Tate was becoming furious, and the lights in the room began to flicker. "Get away from her!" He yelled. Trinity disappeared once again, but didn't reappear. Out of all of this, Tate couldn't help but wonder where the hell Violet's parents were. He would take care of her, if they wouldn't. They didn't need them.
Tate walked over and pulled Violet up into his arms, Moira standing soon after, dusting off her clothes. "Tate, you should stay with her tonight."
Obviously he wasn't leaving her alone. But, instead of starting something, he just soothed Violet and nodded his head. Moira exited and Hayden closed the door. You know shit's fucked up when Hayden is left speechless.
Tate laid the crying Violet on her bed and got in beside her. She held her legs tightly together and pulled him. He didn't quite understand what was going on until she had half way pull him on top of her. She looked up at him with pleading eyes, and he kicked off his shoes and got under the covers, covering the lower half of her body. She didn't want Trinity to just be able to show up and do whatever he wanted to her.
Violet screamed a few times that night, waking Tate and crawling into his arms. He could see where Trinity stood in the darkness of the room, taunting and laughing at them. "Go away!" Tate would yell, and he would. He'd leave.
He wanted to tear the guy up, maybe get Dr. Montgomery to cut him up into little bitty pieces, but for once in Tate's life, he had absolutely no control over the situation. All he could do was comfort Violet, and as much as he wanted to do that, even more, he just wanted it to end for her. How much suffering did she need to endure? First, her parents marriage crumbling, her father's cheating, her mother's miscarriage, a home invasion, death, self-mutilation, gore everywhere she looks, eternity trapped in a house that stays the same as the world passes it by, her parents complete neglect of her for the rest of eternity, and now, this douche-bag of a brother who won't leave her alone, he even molested her... The odds weren't in her favor. But, those were the things that made her who she was, wasn't it? Violet is a strong and incredible person. Tate knows that. Who would she be if she'd had an easy life? Would she have preferred that life? Tate was pretty sure he preferred it for her. Even if it meant he never knew she existed. Even if she never got to fall in love with him.
Violet awoke, and she reached up to place her hand on Tate's cheek. He looked down at her, and it was obvious that she wasn't sleeping well. Her eyes were squinted and her face seemed more exhausted.
"Will you sing to me?" Tate was confused. Why would she want him to sing for her? He wasn't a good singer, honestly. "I can't manage to fall back asleep." That was the first time anyone had ever asked him that, but he would oblige for Violet, as he always would. That's what love does for you. To you.
He nodded and pulled her closer to him. He tried to think of a song she had showed him when they were together, one that would help her sleep, and only one came to mind.
'I've heard there was a secret chord, that David played and it pleased the lord,
but you don't really care for music, do you?'
He remembered when she first clicked on it on YouTube. Tate wasn't exactly sure how technology had advanced the way it did, but he was happy.
Violet had stood up and smiled stupidly as she closed her eyes and listened to the music. "Rufus Wainwright's version is just... Fucking amazing." She had said that day, swaying slightly. "It's a guilty pleasure song of mine."
'It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall that made you lift?
The baffled king composing...
Hallelujah...Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Hallelujah, Hallelujah.'
Tate recalled when he had jumped up to his feet and grabbed Violet, swirling her around.
"What are you doing?" Violet asked.
Tate got goosebumps remembering how he had wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, pulling her full body against him. "Dancing." He answered, as if it was the simplest answer the world could give. And it was, wasn't it?
'Your faith was strong but you needed proof, you saw her bathing on the roof,
her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you.'
Violet' hair buzzed around her, like a cloak of utter light. Tate's eyes could hardly adjust to her. Tate had loved her for a while, but it wasn't until that very second that he actually knew why. Violet was the light. His light. The only person that could help him out of the darkness, and he knew he could enjoy it. He wanted to change for her.
'She tied you to a kitchen chair, she broke your thrown,
the cut your hair, and from your lips she drew the hallelujah.
Hallelujah, hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah.'
He stared at her for a while, then. Back when it was okay, and she didn't get angry or creeped out by it.
He remembered how she shied away from him, looking away and down at her feet. She could be so cute. Hell, she always was. Even when she hated him.
Tate rushed forward, putting his hand behind her neck to pull her into him, his lips taking over hers. She took a second to get her bearings, but when she did, it was like it always was. Incredible and fiery.
'Maybe I have been here before, I know this room, I've walked this floor,
I used to live alone before I knew you.'
He had been here before, he knew this room, he used to walk this floor. He had always lived alone before he knew her. Before she came, this house was boring and he got his rocks off to hurting it's human occupants, but now that she was here, it was okay. It was bearable. This used to just be his room, but then, she came, and it was their room. No longer did he he have to walk the floor alone. Because Violet, this living, breathing girl in his arms, was there with him.
'And I've seen your flag on a marble large, love is not a victory march,
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah.
Hallelujah, hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah.
There was a time you let me know, what's real and going on below,
but now you never show it to me, do you?'
Their kiss from that night years ago had sent tingles down his spine as he backed her up to the bed, letting her fall. Her smile was large and lopsided as she leaned forward, grabbing the neck of his sweater. She lifted the bottom and waited until he raised his arms before throwing the unnecessary clothing to the far corner of her room. He was vaguely aware of the thud from the lump hitting the floor, but right then, he was kind of busy. Violet hooked her leg around his back and pulled him forward. He fell on top of her, and they began where they left off.
She was so beautiful, so perfectly imperfect that Tate wasn't even sure if he should be allowed to touch her. His fingers burned when he caressed her, but it wasn't painful. It was anything but painful. It was passionate, or loving, but not painful.
"Tate." She had said involuntarily, her breathing rigid and fast, and a different sensation came over Tate. One of lust. Strong, unadulterated lust that made his toes curl.
'And remember when I moved in you? The holy dark was movin' too.
And every breath we drew was hallelujah.
Hallelujah, hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah.'
Violet took her sweater off, then her shirt. She sat before him in nothing but a bra and leggings. She was obviously nervous. Every thing in her screamed unsure. Reassuringly, Tate reached his arm around her, pulling her up a bit as he sent kissed down her neck, ending on her collarbone.
Her breathing was so hot and heavy, her scent of cigarette smoke and vanilla began to fill Tate's senses. He felt closer to God then, than he ever had before. Violet was the only kind of Heaven he had ever believed in.
"We can wait." He whispered to her, then kissed her earlobe.
Violet shook her head, faking bravery. But, he knew that underneath it, she just wasn't ready. "I'm not nervous." She said, kissing him again.
He felt Violet inside of him, her light shoving his darkness away, and it took every ounce of strength he had in himself to pull away, but he knew it was for the best. "Well, I am. I don't want to mess this up by going to fast." Tate said, lying. He just wanted to give her a cop-out, and she took it like he knew she would.
"Well, okay. Pussy." Violet said, sitting up and kissing him.
'Maybe there's a God above, and all I ever learned from love,
was how to shoot at someone who out drew you.'
Tate tried desperately to forget his dream, but it always seemed to force it's way back into his mind. His dream of walking through a school that he now knew to be his own, something cold and hard at his side. Everyone would stare at him, and every time he felt oblivious to why until he passed by a glass window of a classroom door.
Then, he'd see the white skull paint layering his face, shielding his identity. Until that moment, Tate was not sure what his purpose in that dream was, no matter how many times he had it before. Every time felt like the first until he woke up. But, when he sees his face, it's like a mask. Something Batman or Spiderman would wear and no one ever knew who their real identities were.
That's when he'd grasp the object at his side with white knuckles in anticipation, and open the nearest classroom door. Faces lined the room, some he'd know, others he had merely glanced at before in the hallways. That's how he chose them.
He had told Ben that the world we live in was a filthy goddamn horror show. And it was. 15 minutes from the Murder House was a slum neighborhood where people got shot everyday by other people. You'd be lying in bed at night and randomly hear a noise like a firecracker. But, he'd grown up with it. Hell, he was comforted by the noise, knowing that those people were being taken from this shit storm of a place and relocated to somewhere where they could be happy. Their weren't many places in the world not tainted by something horrible, but he'd heard Sweden was nice.
So when Tate walked into the class, he saw the people he knew, the people he liked, and he picked up the gun and shot. His mind didn't sugar coat it. Blood would spray to the rows behind and people would scream and cry, begging for his mercy. But, if his mind was set, there was no going back. He would free them.
Somewhere in his soul, he knew that after each gunshot, he took solace in the fact that he was also protecting the people from the most dangerous thing he knew.
Himself.
He was a different kind of monster. One that felt justified, but also knew people would be hurt by his actions. But, this was better for them. They couldn't get close to Tate, because Tate had been so exposed to the darkness that any light would be tainted, corrupted. These were the thoughts that went through his mind when he wrote ' TAINT ' on Violet's chalkboard. He knew he could corrupt her light, but he didn't want to. He wanted to get closer to the light, hoping it would push his darkness to the corner of his thoughts.
After he had shot 9 people, 4 in the classroom, 5 in a hurry to leave and head back into the world he was trying to keep them from, Tate headed to the place where he saw someone he once thought he had loved. In all of his dreams, her face never showed. All her could remember was her hair, and her outfit. That gothic skirt, and blond hair. Sometimes, that was all he saw in his nightmares, just little pieces of what she was wearing.
But, when he finally got to the library, the door was closed. He would yank it, but it just wouldn't budge. Must have been barricaded. So, he'd continue his path over to the other entrance to the library. He could feel the door move slightly, and hushes come about the room, and he knew someone was holding it shut. So, he picked up the gun and shot through the door three times. Once he stepped into the room, he saw blond locks behind the shelf and knew it was her. It had to be her.
The only other memory he had of her was whenever they were outside of the school, and a light breeze picked up. They must have been skipping class or something because there was no one in sight. Her blond hair flew around her face crazily, her dark shirt hanging in all the right places on her body.
"Do you believe in God?" Tate would ask, and every time, the girl would tense up and turn, but she'd be blurry and undefined.
"What?" She'd ask.
"Do you believe in God?" He'd repeat, looking at the sun. He wanted to believe. There were some beautiful things that only some magnificent being seemed to be able to explain, but he just couldn't find it in himself to honestly believe that someone with so much power would allow so much hurt and bullshit.
"Y-yes." She said, and Tate knew she was unsure. But, she turned and smiled at him, her hair shining and the sun placed right behind her head, giving her a glow. "Don't you?"
He was back in the library now in his dream, and he walked to where the girl was, but before he got to her, she had moved. He continued, seeing her finally behind a shelf, and he began his whistle, knowing she knew who it was now. She was shaking, and Tate wanted to ask her why, considering if her predictions were correct, she'd be with her God. Shouldn't she be happy? Shouldn't she die ready?
Tate leaned over, his voice becoming but a whisper in the quiet room.
"I hope you're right about God." He said, then put the gun to her head and before she could open her mouth to scream, he pulled the trigger.
He killed four more students. Saved four more students. All of them, he knew to be kind hearted people. People who would easily be stained with evil. A respectable jock, a pure cheerleader, a future scholar, and a guy who liked to give the impression he was tough by wearing layers of leather.
It wasn't until his final kill, though, that he would hesitate. The first 15 years of this reoccurring dream, his last kill was when he was leaving the building, and someone ran up to him from behind, hugging him and begging him to stop.
The voice was familiar, but in the moment, Tate was hell-bent on saving people that he didn't give himself the chance to put a face to it. He would turn enough to know where there head was, and just stand there for a moment staring. Ultimately, he'd put the gun to their temple, saying the same thing as he always did.
"It'll all be over soon," and pull the trigger.
When the body fell, it was upside down, blood draining out of the body and onto the concrete. Sometimes Tate would just leave it, but others, he would roll the body over, revealing it was his brother, Raphael, who was a teacher in the high school. He was an albino, and his nose was sunken into his face, just as it always had been.
He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tate wouldn't have been able to do it if he knew it was his family. They had already been exposed to him so long, they were passed redemption now.
Then the dream would end, and he'd wonder why he'd even had them in the first place. That was, until Violet told him what he'd done. Everything matching up so intricately with his dreams, detail for detail.
After that, his dream would end a little differently, and instead of his brother, it'd be Violet laid out on the ground, bleeding to death. Those were the nights Tate would wake up crying.
It's not a cry you can hear at night, it's not somebody who's seen the light,
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah.'
Violet's screams from earlier in the night had made Tate more protective over her than he had ever felt over anything. If she'd let him, he'd hold her for the rest of their time in that house. Maybe then, her light and purity would rub off on him, and he'd no longer have to fear himself.
But, their love wasn't intact yet. They weren't mended. Their connection was cold and broken, but not beyond hope. He still had faith in them, and he always would.
When Tate finished, he was relieved to find a soft smile on her lips, and the sound of her light breathing normal. He kissed her cheek, then leaned back as he held her, keeping guard until the sun came up.
The next morning, Violet awoke, reaching out for Tate. Her hand came up empty though, and she sat up feeling a rush of betrayal coming over her. He left her? Knowing what Trinity was capable of?
"Are you sure you're ready to get up?"
Violet turned to see Tate sitting in the window seal. He looked exhausted, but she doubted she would be able to get him to go to sleep, so she shook her head and held out her hand to him.
He got up from his place in the window, taking her cold, soft hand and laying down beside her. Her warm back was to him, which made Tate miss the curvatures of her face, but she moved her feet between his legs reassuringly.
"I've missed this." Violet said, sighing. Tate scooted in closer, pulling her body into his.
"I've missed you." Tate said. Violet rolled over, now facing him, her hands on his chest. Tate's breath picked up, his heart beating in his ears.
Violet began rubbing shapes into his skin, her eyes glancing up to his. "We should talk." Tate nodded encouraging her to go on. "Moira has told me about you and Nora's relationship. I know you think of her like a mom, and that she wanted you to do what you did to my mom. I know that you wouldn't have just did it for no reason, and I'm sure as hell not justifying it, but you've been neglected, and hurt, and of course you would jump at the first chance to please someone."
"I didn't know you then, Violet."
"I know, Tate. I know. And I also know that you still don't really remember what you did before you died, so I can't really hold it against you, nor can I exempt you from it. And the intruder that you killed with an axe, I get." Violet leaned in a little closer, her forehead on his chin. "Really, the only thing I don't get is why you killed Chuck and his husband."
Tate looked down at Violet. "Nora was horrified that there were two men together in her home. She asked me to get rid of them." He looked down, and Violet saw shame in his eyes. "I don't want to be this person, Violet." She could tell he was near crying.
"I know." She pulled his head down to hers, kissing him softly. So soft that Tate felt tears entering his eyes. She was too much for him. To much good.
"How cute." Violet twitched in fear as Trinity stood at the end of the bed. Tate leaned in front of her, covering her body.
"What do you want?" Tate asked, not really caring what his answer was. He just wanted him gone.
"Well, Violet of course. But, I was standing here wondering how the hell I'm supposed to get a parasite like you off of her side, and it wasn't until that beautiful ballad you sang earlier that I got an idea. So, I went back to where I came from, pulled a few strings, and now, I'd like to introduce you to some people you probably know all too well." Trinity lifted his hand, and suddenly, six people appeared.
Violet remembered five of them from that Halloween 19 years ago, but the other was completely new.
"Tate." The new guy said, stepping forward.
Tate sat up in the bed, crawling to the end as if getting closer might make the situation make more sense. "Raphael?" Tate asked. Violet had never heard of this man, but apparently him and Tate knew each other.
"Tate." The gothic blond with a bullet wound in the side of her head said, looking at him in utter pain. "Why me?" She asked, and before Tate could answer, she asked another. One that started to make Violet's skin crawl. "Weren't you going to propose to me? Didn't we talk about having kids?"
"Stephanie..." Tate said, finally making his way off of the bed as he slowly started to remember. "I was saving you." Tate said, shaking his head, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I was keeping you from all of the horrible fucked up shit in the world."
"So, you shoot me and leave me to wander in utter darkness except for one day where I get to go and see how my family left me, and my siblings have died? You think this is better?" She nearly yelled the end. "You think I'm happy?!"
"But, you told me you believed. I thought you'd get to go somewhere nice." Tate said, hitting the side of his head as all of the memories started to come back. "I helped you!"
Stephanie walked over, placing her hand on Tate's shoulder. It almost looked loving, and Violet swallowed loudly. "No, Tate." Stephanie said, shaking her head as a single drop fell from her eye. "You killed me."
"You killed all of us." The jock said.
Raphael moved to where Tate and Stephanie stood. "You killed people you loved. People who loved you. Why, Tate?"
"You know I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't realize it was you!" Tate told Raphael, his voice cracking as his sobs came out.
The cheerleader then stepped forward, confusion on her face. "Then why did you do it to us? We never did anything to you! I gave you a ride home when you were going to walk seven miles, and you told me your mom had left you for almost a month, just you and your siblings. I listened to you. I felt for you. And..." She closed her eyes, putting her hand over her wound. "You shot me."
Violet watched the scene fold out in front of her in disbelief. She hardly noticed when a hand landed on her shoulder. "Looks like he's finally coming to terms with what he's done." Trinity said.
Violet cried out in fear, knocking his hand away and rolling off of the bed. "Tate!" She yelled, but he couldn't hear her. He was still talking to the other ghost, and he didn't notice her screaming.
"He doesn't even see you. He's remembering what he's done, and when that's over, he'll move on to the other side." Violet didn't know what that meant, and he realized that, and continued explaining. "There are things that keep you here. Maybe the way you died, or something horrible you did in your life, or just something unresolved. These are what tethers you to the earth, but once you fulfill your fate, the tether is cut, and you're released to move on. By the end of this discussion of theirs, Tate will have apologized, and they will all forgive him, taking away his reason to be here. You knew that, right? He's only here because he was never forgiven for the murders of those Westfield kids." Trinity stepped a little closer, and Violet was trying to process what he was saying.
"No. Tate wouldn't leave me." She said, trying to convince herself that it was true.
"Violet, right now, he doesn't even remember you exist." He smiled sadly at her. "Here's the deal. You can come with me now, and not have to go through with the sadness of seeing him leave forever, or you can wait and allow your heart the most pain it will ever feel. I'm giving you a choice." Trinity stood expectantly, and Violet looked over at Tate.
So, her choices were to watch Tate leave her in a few hours, or to go now to be raped by her brother. Whatever shall she choose? So many fun decisions.
Violet's tears rolled down her cheeks. She walked towards the door, stepping passed Tate who was crying and begging Raphael to forgive him. It came out somewhere in the conversation that Raphael was his brother.
"Mom?" Violet cried. "Dad?" She got half way down the stairs before tripping, landing on her knees at the bottom. She cradled her legs, crying out for her parents.
"Violet? What's going on?" Vivien asked, walking out of the kitchen.
"M-mom." Violet whaled uncontrollably. "Tate... He's leaving. For good." She then looked up with her blood shot eyes. "Trinity is taking me. Tate doesn't even care."
Vivien grabbed her daughter, pulling Violet to her chest and holding onto her tightly. "Ben! BEN!" Vivien screamed, and soon her father came. Everything went kind of blurry. They pulled her to the room they claimed as their own, holding her and soothing her in their bed. At some point, Vivien left to go see Trinity, and Ben stayed, holding his daughter who had yet to stop crying.
"Trinity?" Vivien asked as she stepped into Violet's room. Viv saw Tate crying on the floor with ghost surrounding him. Ghost that weren't from around the house. "What-"
"Mother."
Vivien turned and looked at her child. "What are you doing?" She asked, her voice laced with sorrow.
"What? You mean with Violet? Why do you suddenly care now?" He laughed. "About either of us?"
Vivien shook her head. "I don't know what they told you, but I was going to keep and raise you. Constance stole you, and as you know, we couldn't exactly go over to get you back."
"What about Violet? She doesn't deserve the shit you people put her through."
"But she deserves the shit you're putting her through? I can promise you what you have done in the past 24 hours completely out-shines anything we have done in the last 24 years." Vivien walked closer to him, looking at him, hoping to see some sort of sign of remorse.
"I can make her happy!" He yelled, now becoming angry.
"No, you can't. Because the only person Violet has ever been happy with is standing right behind us." Vivien said, gesturing to Tate. "Now, he's done a lot of shit. A lot. And together, we created you, without my consent. But, I forgive him because I know that I won't be there for Violet, and he will be. He has been. He doesn't force her to do things against her will, and he doesn't force himself upon her. Can you say the same for yourself?"
"I didn't mean to scare her..." He said, looking away.
"Yes you did." Vivien said, not wanting to take his bullshit. "You wanted to scare her, hoping she wouldn't be so defiant. Yet, you had the opposite effect. You practically threw her back into Tate's arms."
"I won't leave here without her." Trinity stood up taller, challenging Vivien, but before she could respond, he was gone. Vivien spun around, rushing to Tate.
"Tate. Snap out of it." She shoved him and hit him, but he didn't even notice. "You want forgiveness, you little prick? I'm the one you should be seeking it from. Our child is trying to fuck my daughter!" Vivien slapped him, seeming to put some thought back into his head.
"Violet..." Tate said, turning away from the group. "Where's Violet?"
"Trinity's trying to make her go with him! Now, get your ass down there and change her mind." Vivien said, pushing Tate towards the door.
He wanted to ask so many questions. How had he not known this? Why couldn't he see her leave? Why didn't he know Trinity showed up? Did she scream? The very thought of him touching her made his blood boil.
But, instead, he nodded, running out of the room. Once he got away from the voices of the ghost from Westfield, he willed himself in rooms around the house.
Ben had left to get Violet a glass of water, and this time, she didn't scream when Trinity showed up. He stepped closer to Violet, and she didn't cower away. No, she stood up taller. That was, until she saw the melancholy look on his face. "Violet..." He said, looking down and biting his lip. "I'm so sorry."
"What? What's going on?" If he wanted to get her attention, he had it."Spit it out."
Trinity sat on the bed, gripping the sheets uncomfortably. He shifted nervously in his spot for a few seconds, much to Violet's disdain, before he finally spoke. "Tate's gone."
And like that, her hard exterior was shattered, and all that was left was a weak, delicate shell of who she was supposed to be. "What?" She croaked out, feeling her insides turn to mush. Memories of them together seemed to float effortlessly in the room around her, cradling her face and brushing her arms gently. "No."
"They forgave him, and your mom talked to me, saying she forgave him as well. I was walking down the stairs, about to pass the kitchen when he appeared in the doorway screaming about you." Trinity now looked up, pity covering his face. "He started to disappear though. He had no idea what was happening. It all happened so quickly." Now he inched closer. "He was asking for you when he finally left. Saying something about birds and flying, I'm not sure why. Maybe it was just confusion."
No, it wasn't. Violet remembered all too well her and Tate's conversation about birds. It was when she knew she loved him, despite all of the horrible shit he had done, and that she'd never really be able to stop.
'I like birds too.' He had said, appearing out of no where to Violet as she read the last book Tate had checked out from his high school library. Violet sat the book on the bed, keeping her finger on her place where it was explaining the Mockingbird's wing coloring.
'Why do you like them?'
Tate answered quickly, seeming a bit nervous. 'Because they can fly away when things get too crazy, I guess.' They stared at each other, and when he realized Violet wasn't going to reply, he continued. 'Are you gonna' tell your parents?... About the pills?'
Violet shook her head, 'No. I've been sleeping a lot... They think I'm depressed.'
'Are you?' Tate asked a bit too promptly, and Violet knew this was the real reason he had come. He must have knew she found out about what he was, and what he'd done.
'I'm sad.' She said simply, looking into Tate's eyes. They were blood shot and watery, but she couldn't allow herself to pity him. After everything, he didn't deserve it.
'Me too.' He said, trying to appear emotionless, but failing marvelously. Or maybe that was just because Violet knew him so well. He couldn't hide his feelings from her, she'd always know. But, he didn't seem to want to stop their conversation yet, no, he had another point to make, another opinion he needed to get out before she stopped wanting to hear them. 'Violet.' Tate said, no longer hiding behind a mask. His tears were close to falling on her bed. 'Something's changed in you... Toward me. You're distant...Cold. And, I don't know what I've done, but, I'll leave you alone from now on, if that's what you want.' Despite how much she was thinking about everything he had done, trying to remember why he was so horrible, she couldn't stop the ache that was reaching into her chest and squeezing mercilessly. 'Is that what you want?' No.
She didn't know what she wanted, but she definitely didn't want that. Anything but that. 'You know why I'd leave you alone? Cause' I care about your feelings more than mine.' Tate stood there, knowing what he has done, what he was, yet she was the one hoping he would forgive her. How sick is that? 'I love you.'
The tears now rolled down her cheek, and she swallowed back every need to grab him and hold him.'There, I said it. And not just on some chalkboard.' He sounded like a hurt child, and that just made it all the more unbearable. 'I would never let anybody or anything hurt you. I've never felt that way about anyone.'
And with that, Violet closed the book, gesturing to the bed with her head. 'Come here.' Tate looked unsure of himself, but crawled over the foot of the bed anyway, laying with her with hands grasped. She just wanted to comfort him, even if he killed people, even if he was the devil himself.
'I'm tired.' Tate said, scooting closer.
Violet replied with the most honest thing she had managed to get out that day, feeling as if it summed up all of the 24 hours. 'Me too.'
"Violet, after I talked with your mom, I realized something." Trinity began, and Violet was still too caught up in her Tate fiasco that she didn't tell him to shut his mouth. "I just want you to be happy with me, but I can't force you. And, if Tate is the one who makes you happy, then... Okay." Trinity smiled. "I'll take you to him."
"Wait, what? Don't bullshit me." Violet stood, glaring at the man. He was the reason all of this happened, and she hated him for it.
"I'm not bullshitting. I can take you there." Trinity stood up, holding out his hand. "Your mom already knows, and I'm sure she would have come to see you off, but, the baby started crying." That was believable, but could she trust this douche-bag? He seemed genuine, but he is Tate's son after all.
"...Alright. But, if you're fucking with me, I will fight you every way, every single time you come near me. If you try to touch me, I'll bite you and rip your fucking fingers off. Clear?" Trinity nodded, and Violet grabbed his shirt, leaving his hand to hang in the air uselessly.
He sighed, and then the world became darker.
It looked as though they were in an elevator, traveling through different levels of land. The first few looked kind of like Earth, but the more that passed by, the darker and more ominous they became. When they came to a stop, it was in a gray field of wheat-like grass. Violet followed as Trinity made his way to a path, touching the grass along the way. It felt so soft, she wanted to lay down in it. Like a warm hug on her hand.
"Where are we going?" Violet asked, it coming out a lot softer and kinder than she had originally planned, but that's how she felt. Kind, peaceful. It felt good.
"We're going to the place where all of the ghost that pass on go. They get their own homes that they create in their minds with people they love that they have brought back out of their memory. Tate's probably has mini you's running around in it." Trinity said, mostly to himself and laughing at his own joke. Violet surprised him by also laughing. A lot. She started stumbling because of it.
"You're hilarious! Man, why did I hate you?" Violet asked, grabbing onto his shirt sleeve. Trinity turned, taking Violet's state in.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes! I'm awesome. Awe-some. Awh-suhm." She kept repeating the word, changing the way she said it, amazed with herself. "Isn't it crazy that we have so many accents, yet each word is so distinctive that you can tell what the person is saying? Other languages have a lot of words that sound a like, but we're like 'Naw, guys. We gonna make a language that uses every word that you could possibly create, just so people don't get confused.' Man, they're so cool." She felt high. Really high. But, it felt incredible. She never wanted to come down.
"Come on." Trinity said laughing, pulling her hand down the path. They finally got to the end, where a large wall stood made out of some sort of translucent brick. But, there was nothing behind it. It was hard to explain, but basically it was a glass wall shielding... Nothing.
Trinity lifted his hands, making some sort of arc, and doors that she didn't know were there began to open.
"Whoa." Violet said.
"Welcome," he gestured all around them, life springing about everywhere, people, or ghost, were walking through like it was a normal town. "To Limbo."
"Violet?!" Tate screamed from the basement. He had been in there for a few minutes now, and something was keeping him from leaving. Some sort of force that he couldn't explain. "VIOLET!" He yelled again.
"She isn't here." A voice said, and Tate turned to see Nora walking in. Her 20's dress swayed around her legs, the fringe slightly coming into contact with each other. She smiled at Tate fondly, but he did not return the favor.
"This is all your fault." Tate said, stepping closer, his eyes going completely black as he felt the darkness grow inside of him. Nora gasped disbelieving, then shook her head.
"No, no. I remember very well that you were the one who forced yourself upon that woman." She said, denying any possible blame.
Tate felt furious, and for the first time, he no longer thought of Nora as a genius, but a horrible manipulator. She never thought of him as a son. A mother would not ask their child to do the thing she asked of him. "You wanted me to! You wanted a baby, and I loved you and wanted you to be happy." Angry tears streamed down his cheeks. "But, you didn't even want the thing. I made it for you, all for you, and you push it to the side like left overs."
Nora walked to Tate, placing her hand on his cheek. "I am so happy that you think of me that way, Tate. I thought that I had something missing this entire time, that there was some sort of gaping hole in my chest, but, all I really needed was you." Nora leaned her face in, lips inches from his. Tate stared at the woman who he had once called a mother as she tried to stick her tongue down his throat. Then, a different face appeared. Violet.
Where was she? What was he doing to her? How could he possibly allow Nora to kiss him when she's out there, waiting for him to show up?
"Used to." Tate shoved Nora away from him, and she fell back, tripping over her heels and landing against the wall.
"What?" She asked, looking appalled. Good.
"I used to think of you like that. Not anymore. I love Violet, and I will always love Violet, even if you ruined her complete trust in me." Tate turned, heading up the stairs. "Find some new pet to fuck with."
(Sorry to leave any readers unsatisfied. I may have possibly obtained a bit of writer's block. :( )