Hey people, sorry for the hugely late update, for some reason I've been having troubles uploading things into document manager, so if this looks a bit different or weird, I apologise.
Okay, just wanted to give you a warning that thing get a little dark in this chapter, so this is just a trigger warning.
…
Viola's eye trembled open. She swore and took a breath, cringing at how her fragile ribs stung as she inhaled. She touched her hands to her face and tried to rub her eyes, then cringed. Her left eye had something soft covering it, probably tissue dressing and cotton.
She found herself asking what had happened as her cold fingers trailed down. She flinched as she touched a strange ridge that ran like a wobbling valley down the length of her cheek up to the bottom of her upper lip.
What happened?
She pushed herself up onto shaking elbows, and took a look around the dark, empty ward. She swung her legs off the side of the bed and dropped to the floor, doubling over as pain from her ribs shot through her quivering body.
What happened?
She groaned. She could feel a migraine coming on. Slowly, she made her way down to a wash basin in the corner of the room, her bare feet sticking slightly to the cold marble floor as if willing her to stay where she was and not go a step further.
She rested her hands on the sides of the sink, slipping a fraction on the thick layer of blackened grime. She took a shuddering breath, and looked up.
She took in a sharp inhale so quickly it stung the back of her wind pipe. She exhaled with a croak. She lay her fingers of the deep white jagged scar. She travelled up the length of the valley up to the white packed patch that covered her eye…and then something struck her.
She couldn't see anything through that eye. Not even the blackness of the patch. Nothing.
Tentivley, she began un bandaging her eye, praying to everything holy that it was just some sort of freakish mistake. Yes, she'd merely been mistaken. It was the shock, her eye was probably damaged yes, but…she'd see again, of course she would. Right?
The bandages fell away. Viola's mouth went dry. She tried to speak, but no words rendered themselves useful. No words could get her out of this one. No amount of smooth talking would fix this. Her silver tongue turned to lead.
She let out an agonising howl of despair, crumpling to the floor as if her skeleton had been torn from her, clutching at her face so hard she felt her nails tear the soft paper skin.
Barrows burst through the double doors and found her shuddering figure in a heap on the tiled floor.
"Smoothskin, calm down, you're going to be alright." He told her sternly, falling onto his knees beside her.
Charon barrelled himself through the door, wide eyes scanning for Viola.
"I told you to stay out, dog!" Barrows spat at him, putting his hands supportively on Viola's shoulders who was still shaking uncontrollably, this time with sobs.
"Let me speak to her." Charon snarled.
"You got her into this mess, you're the last person she wants to see!" Barrows snapped, making Viola flinch in a mindless reflex.
Charon felt himself tremble with rage. He didn't even start to get a migraine at the burst of unrestrained emotion. Anger just made him more efficient at killing.
"Get your hands off of her." Charon hissed, marching over to them.
"She needs medical help! Or are you too stupid and feral to understand that?" Barrows growled.
If he didn't have Viola so close to him, Charon swore he would have driven his boot straight into the damned doctors face.
"Viola, you need to take deeper breaths, you're going to starve yourself of oxygen…" Barrows told her, attempting to pull back her hair out of her face, to which Viola let out a pitiful whimper and pulled it back to cover herself.
Viola felt her entire chest crumple in on itself, her arms felt to light and she had a terrible sensation of pins and needles all over her body as her head swam.
She'd always hated to admit it, but the way she looked played a huge part in bartering and smooth talking her way out of bad situations. It was her character and charisma that got her where she was in the Wastelands…and now she didn't know if she could recover from such a blow to her self-esteem.
Her smooth talk had saved her ass more times than she cared to remember, without that, how on earth was she going to look after herself, and more importantly, Charon.
She shut her eyes, and the world around her dropped dead, the last thing she remember was Charon rushing forward and Barrows yelling as she slipped into the blissful silent blackness.
…
Viola's eye fluttered open. She let out a wheeze of misery, her face creasing with painful tight lines. She could hardly lift her head. It was as if her body had given up. She simply didn't know how to cope anymore. With all of it. The strain and stress was just too much.
She managed to sit up, the motion feeling cold and robotic as if her limbs had been replaced with poorly oiled machinery.
Dad was gone.
Dad was probably dead.
All of this for nothing.
Futile.
And then there was Charon to worry about. She'd only get him killed. In fact she'd nearly succeed only yesterday. She let out a supressed sob. God she didn't want that.
"Charon," She whispered, clutching herself tightly.
She saw a flash of his unmoving body, lying in a pool of blood, face down.
She cringed and drove her fingers into her eyes attempting to gouge the image away, only to hit a new bandage that covered her empty eye socket.
Then there was Ahzruhkal. She shuddered. Maybe she didn't have to worry about him trying to drug her now she looked the way she did, but that wasn't her concern.
What if he made her maim one of her friends? Or even kill again? She choked back another sob as she remembered how Charon's leg broke under the swing of her bat, and how Greta's dead face stared blankly up with blind eyes at the ceiling.
"Enough. I've just had enough," she whispered desperately to herself.
She held her head in her hands, trembling.
She was pathetic. She had no hope in hell of taking care of Charon if she and he even survived the ordeal of Ahzruhkal. He was better off without her. So much better off without her.
She let herself collapse back onto the bed, burning tears scalding her face. God, she just wanted to sleep. It was the only time she was ever happy. Living now was nothing but a reverse nightmare. Waking up to most would be a relief, but for her, all she was waking up to was a living nightmare.
"I just want to sleep," Viola sniffed, clamping her eyes shut, only to jerk with the realisation that no matter how much she slept, she'd only wake up to all her fucking problems. Oh yes, they'd just be waiting for her. Standing. Grinning. Mocking.
She slipped off the bed and walked towards Barrow's medical supplies, eyes locked on the scalpel. She let out a shaking sigh.
Was this really how the story was going to end? It was weak, pathetic and grim, yet Viola couldn't help but sense some sort of theatrical beauty in it all. Her life, for Charon's. It was a trade she was at peace with.
Did she want to die? Definitely not. No suicide victim ever did. But when you're trapped in a burning building, feeling the flames lapping at your heels, snarling it's red hot hatred in your ears and you see the blue square ahead, a small blue opening of peace and crisp fresh air, you'd be a fool not to take the option. The terror of falling remains, that niggling instinct that screams for you to step back, to run away and keep your footing still persists, but nothing will stop those flames.
Her choice was simple. To live and die in those agonizing flames or to face her fear of falling out in that timeless stretch of endless blue.
She picked up the scalpel, and sunk to the floor. She felt herself smile. She was going home. She was finally going to go home.
"I love you Dad…I'm finally going to meet Mom too. We'll be together again, like in the beginning. Together." She breathed out, a soft smile lining her lips.
As the cold blade touched her wrist she heard the door swing open behind her. Then heavy footsteps before two colossal hands seized her wrist, tugging her violently up onto her feet.
She stared into Charon's face, which was creased with an emotion she could quite place.
"You selfish bitch!" Charon spat in Viola's face which blanked in shock. Charon's bone crushing grip intensified, making Viola squeak and try to pull away, but to no avail.
"Ch..Charon I…"
"You self-centred bitch!" Charon could hardly stop himself from roaring down her ear drum as he shook with anger, blood burning in his face.
Viola tried to speak again but her words couldn't squeeze though the gap between her lips.
"How dare you try to leave me here! How dare you try to leave me alone with that bastard upstairs! After all we've been through! How dare you try to leave me!" He snarled, unaware of how tightly he was clamping down on Viola's aching wrists.
"You don't understand! You'll die if I become your employer! You'll die! Don't you get it! I've already made you put your life on the line for me numerous times and then..oh God you were just so close to it last time…I thought I was going to lose you! Charon I couldn't bear to see you die because of me! I just couldn't!"
"You don't think that I don't want to see you die?"
"But Charon, without me you'll continue to live! Why won't you see that any sort of future with me spells your death! I can't let that happen!"
"Viola I'm already dead."
"What?"
"What quality of life do you think I suffer through, living with Ahzruhkal, murdering usually innocent people or rotting away in that fucking corner?"
"It's still a life!"
"No!" Charon hissed between clenched teeth.
"No it's not. Viola, I'd rather live and die with you than merely exist with him. Don't…don't leave me." Charon managed to say, loosening his grip ever so slightly, a migraine now in full swing as his anger ebbed away only to be replaced by another emotion deemed useless, if not a hindrance in his old training.
"Charon…I…"
"Don't. Leave. Me."
"I'm so sorry…I didn't…but you'll die!" Viola chocked in exasperation.
"As my future employer I will protect you no matter what the cost, with no concern for my own wellbeing, but as your friend, I will do all that with pleasure."
Charon released her from his grip, hearing her feet hit the floor. He hadn't realised he'd literally dragged her up into the air.
Viola was crying by the time she looked back up at him.
"Charon…I think my Dad might be dead."
"Why?"
"I can feel it. I just know it, in my heart I know I'll never find him. I can't go back to the Vault, I have no home…no other family…" Viola managed to breathe out.
A moment passed, and Viola pulled her large, perfect silver eye up to lock with Charon's limpid blue ones.
"Except you. Charon, I'm so sorry…"
"It's okay smoothskin, I just-"
Before Charon could finish, Viola had flung her arms around his waist, her small frail body shuddering.
Slowly, Charon put his arms around her, holding her head in one of his hands as she cried into his chest.
"You're alright, Smoothskin. I'm here." He breathed out, his ghoulish accent layered thick on his words.
"I can't take it anymore. I just can't take going back to that thing upstairs!" Viola hissed, pressing her face into Charon's chest.
"It's not long now." Charon replied, and Viola smiled as his words rumbled in his chest below her ear.
"..Where does he keep the contract?"
"Viola…"
"Where does he keep it?"
"…I can't tell you."
"Shit," Viola swore, clinging tighter.
"Are you well enough to go back up to the bar?"
Viola let out a whine.
"I guess I'm going to have to face him sooner or later…I'll find Barrows, get my armour back."
She slid out of his arms with a grumble, looked at the scalpel on the floor and gave it a sharp kick, sending it scuttling across the floor like a silver beetle.
…
Can't thank you all enough for all your support, all the follows, reviews (Which I still absolutely love and you guys make me chuckle) and favourites.
Smeehan98: You're right, Viola's not going to cope so well and she's going to need Charon's support more than ever now. Plus you're right about Deathclaws, those fuckers just crop up out of nowhere.
LostOne1778: You'll see good Ol' Ahzy next chapter, don't worry!
TallTwistedTales: Charon's starting to allow his feeling out now, still going to be a huge problem for him because of the brain washing, but he's starting to learn how to make being emotionally stunted work for him.
Hope you like it guys!