Leah hadn't messed with Violet in a week, though her so-called friends picked up her slack. Every little thing Violet did, one of them made a nasty comment about it. She tried her best to just ignore them, she didn't want to get in a fight with them, and as long as they were just running their mouths she didn't care. But that one day they were being particularly harsh.
Violet was messing with her locker when one of Leah's posse friends shut the locker door on Violet. "Don't you know the history of the house you live in?" one of the girls asked Violet. She shrugged it off and headed to class. "Everyone who lives in that house, dies. Not only dies, but gets murdered in some heinous way."
Violet laughed. "Bullshit. And don't use big words you don't understand."
"I know that I can't wait for that house to get you," the girl snapped back.
"Enough!" Leah shouted as she took her place in front of Violet. "Leave her alone. You don't know what happened in that house."
"What the Hell happened to you?" her friend asked, disgusted. "Are you actually defending this vermin?"
Leah shook her head. "Just lay off, okay?" She grabbed Violet's arm and pulled her in the other direction.
Just down the street was an inside skating rink—which was actually just an old pool that the skaters took over—mostly for skateboarders but every once in awhile someone would take their in-line skates. Violet and Leah sat on the edge; their feet dangled over. Violet was still a bit surprised at Leah's act, but didn't speak of it. They just sat in silent as they watched the skaters.
Leah pulled out a cigarette and lit it. This act baffled Violet since on the first day of school Leah tried to force the cigarette down her throat. "I thought you hated smoking…" Violet said, quietly.
"I've taken it up," Leah replied. She was wearing a large floppy hat and sunglasses, but they couldn't hide her tears as they started to stream down her face. "I can't sleep. I'm terrified of…everything." Violet caught a glimpse of the bandage that took up her right cheek. "What attacked me wasn't human."
"It was Tate." Violet wasn't sure who she was trying to make believe that statement more. It had to be him.
"No. You saw that other thing, too!" Leah's voice was quivering.
"He was trying to freak us both out." And succeeded, Violet added in her head. Leah just shook her head. There were a lot of names that fit her and she admitted to, but crazy was not one of them. "What did you tell your parents?"
Leah took a deep breath. "Don't worry, I told them I got attacked by some Chihuahua who wanted my Chanel. I couldn't tell them I went to your house to score coca, could I?"
"How deep are the cuts?" Violet looked at the bandage.
"Deep." Leah tried to keep her composure. "God… I…I can't stop thinking about that mouth!"
"It was a mask. He was purposely trying to terrorize you." Violet waited for a response, but Leah didn't speak, she just tried to sniff back her emotions. Violet's eyes caught the burgundy floppy hat Leah was fashioning. "That hat doesn't look like you."
Leah rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. "It serves a purpose," she retorted. Leah lifted the edge of the hat to reveal a long streak of white hair. "Look, my hair's turning white. From fear. Yeah, I read on the internet that's possible." Leah took a deep breath and took off her sunglasses. "Do you believe in the devil?"
Violet stared at Leah's frightened eyes. "No…" Actually, she wasn't sure what she believed in anymore.
Leah looked at Violet before turning away. "I do." Leah started shaking. "I looked into his eyes."

She's so beautiful when she sleeps, Tate said in his head, while he watched Violet sleep from the foot of her bed. I wish I could sleep, especially next to her. She said those two words that can ruin my secret and she doesn't even know it… I have to get closer to her. I have to.
The next day marked one week since Tate had met Ben for their first session. Most of the time words are spoken in therapy sessions; the patient whines about their crappy lives and the shrinks say things like "how do you feel about that?" Those were the sessions Ben was used to, almost to the point that he didn't even really listen, those words came out in reflex. But not that time. Tate was silent, staring at Ben from across the room. He was testing Ben. The only noise to break the awkward silence was Ben's phone that began buzzing on the table next to him. He picked up the phone and turned it off. "Sorry," he murmured. Tate had won the test; time to have some fun.
"So…What do shrinks think about when a wildly brilliant patient doesn't talk to punish said psychiatrist?" Tate stared at Ben without blinking. "I bet you think about sex."
Ben stared back. "Do you think about sex a lot?"
Tate's plan was going along perfectly. "I think about one girl in particular, your daughter. I jerk off thinking about her, a lot."
Tate could see Ben was getting uncomfortable with the topic at hand. Good. "I'm not comfortable with you talking about my daughter, Tate."
Tate leaned forward on the edge of the couch. "Don't you want to know what I'd do to her? I'd lay her down in her bed and caress her soft skin. Make her purr like a little kitten." Tate enjoyed watching Ben's expression tighten. "She's a virgin, they get wet… so… easily." He spoke the last two words slow and concise in an almost whisper.
Ben tried his best to maintain his composure. "Do you turn to these thoughts to comfort yourself in times of stress?"
"Actually, yes. I jerk off a lot to make the visions go away; blood and the carnage." He took a breath. "I want the thoughts to go away and you're not helping."
"Well, we've only been working together a few weeks now."
Tate laughed as he leaned back. "You're sexual, right? Violet told me about the affair with the girl in Boston. Not much older than her she said."
Ben started writing in his notebook. "Our time is up."
"Bullshit!" Tate yelled. "I don't accept that."
"Our. Time. Is. Up. For the day, Tate." Ben spoke each word with emphasize. Tate stared him down for a moment, though to Ben it felt longer, before getting up with a happy smirk on his face.

Violet was lying on her bed listening to her iPod when her mom walked in with an arm full of clothes. Violet took her earbud out and stared at her mom. "I know you're pregnant, mom." Vivien turned around and stared incredulously at her daughter. She didn't know how to respond to Violet's tone, which was a bit disgusted. "It's sad that you think having a child is going to save your marriage," Violet snapped at her mother.
Vivien took a deep breath. "That's what you think?"
Violet watched her mom's expression, "I think you're weak."
Vivien started to respond when there was a knock at the front door. She put the rest of the clothes on Violet's bed and ran downstairs to the front door. Standing on the other side was a girl. "Excuse me, I've been hurt and I could use some help, please?" she asked. Vivien looked at the blood on the girl and told her to stay there while she called the police. She ran to the kitchen but couldn't find the phone.
"Violet!" she yelled up the stairs. Violet sighed and walked to the top of the stairs. "Get your cell phone and call 911 for me. Tell them there's a young girl outside who needs assistance." Violet nodded and ran into her bedroom. She shuffled around the bed, but couldn't find her phone. She heard her mom scream from the living room. She ran downstairs to find three strangers standing around her mom. One of the girls grabbed Violet's arms and held them behind her back.
The girl threw Violet down on the floor while Fiona threw a white dress at her. "Here, put this on. You won't like it if I have to make you," Fiona warned. Violet stood up and stared at the dress. Then she slammed her head into Fiona causing her to fall backwards and Violet ran out the room. As the intruders attempted to chase after her, Vivien tripped Dallas with the only thing not tied up, her legs.
Violet ran into the kitchen and paused to see if anyone was behind her when a hand grabbed her from behind. The long fingers covered her mouth as she attempted to scream. When she was finally released, she spun around to find Tate was the culprit. A sigh of relief quickly washed over her. "Tate, they are trying to kill me and my mom," she explained, not even thinking about why he was in the house, she was just happy he was there.
He looked into her terrified eyes. "You have to get them into the basement," he whispered.
"What the hell are you talking about?" she squealed.
"The basement! Just do it."
The intruders came running in and grabbed her, not even noticing Tate standing against the wall. Violet let them take her back out with minimal fighting. When she looked back, Tate was gone. He was a fucking Houdini, and she made a mental note to ask him about that sometime when she wasn't worrying about her life.
Fiona fumed a bit and warned Violet that if she ever tried that again, there would be heavy consequences. "Is there a bathtub in this house?" Fiona asked a while later. Violet nodded. "I want you to show me," she said as she grabbed Violet's arm and shoved her up the stairs. Violet didn't say a word until they got to the bathroom that only had a shower.
"The bathtub is in the basement," Violet explained.
Fiona took Violet down to the basement with a knife pressed against her back. "You better not be messing with me," she muttered as they walked down the stairs.
"It's down here. Around the corner," Violet replied. The lights began to flicker and suddenly went out. A hand grabbed Violet and pulled her into the shadows.
"Where are you!" Fiona screamed when she noticed Violet wasn't next to her.
"Over here, you stupid bitch," Tate shouted from the opposite end of the room. Fiona walked around the corner to find Tate standing next to an old tub filled with water. "I've already filled it for you," Tate said with a smirk. Fiona inched closer and gasped when she saw the body lying in the water come to life.
Violet and Vivien ran out the house while Tate took care of the intruders.

Violet walked into the dining room as the police were leaving from doing their investigation. Ben stood up and walked over to Violet. "Violet, your mom says that you told her that Tate helped you escape?" His tone inflicted both disgust and anger. Instead of the one thing Violet thought he should have been, grateful.
"Yeah. Thanks for not dragging him into all that," she said to her mom.
Ben looked at Vivien then back at Violet. "What was he doing in the house?"
Violet shrugged. Does he really think I let him in the house? I never let him in, he's just…there. "How should I know?"
"Violet.." Ben interrupted.
"You think I let him in?" she accused. "I don't know why Tate was here," she watched the disappointment on her father's face settle into every pore. How could he be so angry about someone having helped her stay alive, especially in his absence? "But I'm glad he was. You weren't." She watched as the last two words cut her father deep. He was supposed to be the protector of the family, right? He was supposed to defend them; he couldn't even do that right. Violet walked past her dad and stopped in front of her mom. "You were really brave, mom." Vivien smiled. Violet glared at her dad, how could he be so blind to everything that her mom was? How could he just throw that away? Their whole family away? Men…