Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
"Father? Father, some letters came for -"
Violet stopped as she entered the office of her father, realising that he was not in here. Violet instead decided that the best and easiest thing to do would be to leave the letters somewhere easy for him to find himself. After all, he was the one they were addressed to, not her.
Standing in front of the very untidy but somewhat organised mess also known as Jeff Tracy's desk, she tried to find the best place for her to put the said letters but just placed them neatly in front of the seat where her father would return to, but something caught her eye. Something on the bookshelf as she was walking away caught her eye, it looked so out of place. It was a brown cardboard folder amongst thick, strong, durable lever-arched files - something just wasn't right with this one, and curiosity was a dangerous thing. Violet approached it nonetheless, and read the writing on its side. Jacob Paxton. Violet frowned, but before she could reach the folder for a closer inspection, her father was coming through the door, a steaming mug of freshly brewed coffee in his hand.
"Violet, is something wrong?"
Violet indicated the desk. "No father, just some letters for you..." Violet wasted no time in leaving the room, remembering that name. That one.
Jacob Paxton.
Retreating to her bedroom, she pulled out her laptop and did something that the nagging voice in the back of her voice was telling her not to do, and look further into a name regarding something she found in her father's office. Out of all of them, she was the least likely to pry in her father's business, her and John that was. The fact that she read a name and the folder and was jumping into finding out who it was.
And surprisingly, results came up which she wasn't expecting.
"Jacob Paxton - Sentenced to eleven years in prison after breaking and entering into the home of Jefferson and Lucille Tracy..." She read the first line and caught sight of the picture, realising that the man in the picture was the man who her father spoke to not even a week ago, the one who let out a sly comment towards her. It didn't take her long to do the maths on that eleven years he must have served, because the article was dated nearly twelve years ago. Violet was four at that logic, and then she realised.
A memory long forgotten, came crashing back.
"Mummy!"
"Violet, go - go call your father, call for help -"
"I'm scared, Mummy!"
"I know, baby, I know, but if you get Daddy then everything will be alright, okay?"
"I don't want to leave you!"
"You won't leave me, I won't leave you."
Violet suddenly came to a horrifying conclusion.
That night, Violet didn't remember much. Violet could only remember her mother's frantic pleas for her to get her father. Violet was panicking, but was locked away in the cellar of the house by the intruder. Violet couldn't do anything but cry as she heard her mother from behind the door and upstairs until she found the phone. She called her father, who returned home instantly and freed Violet from the cellar. Police and ambulances arrived and after Violet had a good long look at the man, she had to tell so many people that it was him. She got a good long look at that man that night, and Violet thought she would never see him again. She thought she would never see him again, and eventually forgot all about it. Especially since months later they were graced with Alan's birth, and Violet and Virgil were now middle brother and sister.
"Whatcha looking at there, Vi?"
She had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Virgil enter the room behind her.
"Just... disturbing news."
"What news?" Virgil slouched on his bed, letting out a deep and exasperated sigh.
"That man last week... I thought I recognised him, and I do."
"Who is he?" Virgil sat straight up at her words.
"Apparently, Jacob Paxton." She turned her laptop screen towards Virgil, who leapt up and read the article. "He used to work for Dad, it says here."
"That's him? The one that broke in?"
"Seems that prison has given him quite a hard time..."
Virgil huffed. "I wouldn't worry. He's got a criminal record, he does anything remotely related to crime, he gets put back in prison almost instantly."
"I suppose..."
Violet thought of little else that evening.
Violet was heading home one day after an early finish day for her (study leave), silently pondering her thoughts as to how the hell she will survive her exams whilst searching for a job. Virgil had one, part time at a local restaurant, where he is on pot wash. Violet was sorely tempted to join him in his job there, since he enjoys the company of the people he works with. He even went to his first Christmas "do" last December, and dressed up as Darth Vader for the 60/70/80's theme they had going on. Violet had looked around for jobs but no one was too eager to hire at the moment, so Virgil was very lucky to have a job at the moment.
Violet felt someone wrap their arms over her shoulder. "Guess who?"
"Max." Violet smiled as her friend walked beside her, leaning closer to her with an arm still around her shoulder. She wasn't sure whether she liked how close he was, but either way...
"Listen, I don't mean to alarm you, but someone's following you." Max whispered into her ear. Neither stopped walking, but Violet took a deep breath without slowing down or hastening.
"Oh boy..." She sighed. "Know who it is?"
"Nope. I just saw them watch you, it's the gentleman who walks past the corner shop with a paper."
"Him?"
Violet tried to picture him. Yes, she knew who he meant, but she couldn't place a face because he always wore a hat. The same hat that Paxton had the other week. No. It couldn't be him. Besides, the man looked a lot older than Paxtpn. He wore three quarter trousers and a sleeveless shirt. Surely she would recognise it?
"So what do I do?" Violet asked.
"Follow my lead."
Max seemed to know how to handle being followed, because she was so nervous. She didn't want to be caught unawares, and the fact that she didn't notice that she was being followed just showed how much danger she could have been in if it was that man. If it was him, then she would have been caught out so badly that bad things could have happened. Bad things meaning what almost happened to her mother, happened to her. Violet was led away, a fake and acted smile on her face, down towards a snicket that was fairly concealed yet out in the open. She watched as Max looked around, a rather genuine (or really good fake) smile plastered on his own face. The two leaned against a wall and spoke with each other in hushed whispers, loud enough for someone who was eavesdropping to be heard, but quiet enough for people who were minding their own business to ignore. Violet felt as though someone was watching, and unconvinced. But was that just paranoia?
"Kiss me."
She said that without thinking, and Violet watched as Max looked from the snicket entrance back to her, confusion and surprise etched onto his face. "What?"
"Just do it, like you did before..." Violet remembered back to that first time they kissed, nearly three years ago. Max didn't speak to her for at least a fortnight afterwards, and when he did, he could only apologise for his actions and was ashamed of it. He thought that he took advantage of her, since she had been grieving over how her father had acted towards her. She tried to tell him this was unwarranted because she enjoyed it, and the two became close again, the first real friend either of them had.
Max hesitated before he did, but when he did, that same warm feeling rushed through her. It definitely didn't feel exactly like the first time, since it wasn't intuition that drew him, it was instruction. He pulled away slowly, looked around, and turned towards the entrance to the snicket and pulled her out of it. There was no one there, and Violet had officially never been more relieved, but could she be without it becoming dangerous?
Yeah, at this point it isn't too good. I have a plot and story written out, but any suggestions are welcome! Please review :)
