Violet froze. She felt the man's hand pressed against her leg, and then knew the true definition of "fear" and "creep". All she could do was try and calm down, because the heart rate she tried so desperately hard to keep to a minimum was ever increasing.
"Get off her." Virgil spoke up sternly, turning around on his chair, watching as his sister writhed against him. Violet was trying to push his hands away with her own, but it wasn't working too well. The man had obviously ignored Virgil, and the twin had stood up daringly. "Get your hands off her!" He threatened, and this got the man's attention.
He looked up at Virgil, sighed dramatically, and glared at him. "If you don't sit down and shut up, I will use this knife..." He held it up, and then put it, blade up, to Violet's neck. She felt the edge against her skin and she leaned backwards in her seat, trying to get as far away from it as possible, "and I will slit your sisters' pretty little throat."
Virgil looked at Violet, but she didn't return the gesture. She just looked at him and tried to take deep breaths, wishing for him to stop, inwardly hoping for someone to come. He said something about making Max break. Did Max like her? And what would he do to her, to make Max "break"? This terrified her, because it could mean killing her, and probably his little sister. Virgil slowly sat back down, but wasn't happy with the predicament. Violet tried to push him away from her, but the knife pressed further and more threateningly into her neck, daring her to challenge him now. The next thing she knew, he had stood her up and pressed her against a support column, the knife still at her throat and Virgil was still sat down. Violet daren't move or try to defend herself, because one move of that blade and she would die very slowly and painfully. The man's hand was on her waist, and she squirmed trying to stop his hand from moving further, because this was awful to think about. All she could think of was Erin. She hadn't met Erin, but was this what happened to her? Unwelcome advances? But Max said she was five when he first started. He might have told her it was normal. This was sickening.
Violet also noted that Virgil had spotted someone or something at the other end of the room, but did not say anything. She daren't see for herself or say something, because she found her voice stuck in her throat, and then felt his hand get dangerously close to her chest. She cried out in fear as he did, and writhed, but it was becoming more dangerous to do so. Stealth can help them here, and if she alerted him to whatever it was, it could ruin everything.
Without warning, the man grabbed her shoulders and slammed her into the column with nothing short of brute force. This elicited a yell of pain on Violet's part, as the back of her head had taken the brunt of the impact. The man leaned closer to her ear after replacing both hands on her waist, the knife at her side. She saw, through her own teary eyes, that someone was getting closer to them. Slow and steady and stealthy, all things that were helping.
Please, please hurry up!
Violet felt his breath on her, and his hands too. She couldn't see who was coming, but they couldn't come a moment too soon because she wanted to get this man off her. He was being remarkably inappropriate and handsy. She wasn't registering what he was saying, but could hear him say something about keeping still or he'd kill everyone and then her, he said something about enjoying this. Violet let out a small scream when she felt the knife tear at her shirt. He covered her mouth with his big, sweaty hand and she felt his other hand on her flesh, getting Violet into a worse feeling of sheer disgust, feeling him touching her. She was panicking and squirming so much that she was glad that the other person was very close, within a few metres. It was then that she realised it was Max, and she had to hide this from showing. If she tried to resist, it could ruin everything. He certainly had no qualms to hurt someone, and Violet realised that Max could be right - He might just be able to kill someone.
The distinct sound of tearing clothing was enough to terrify her, and her already rushing heart was reaching unhealthy levels. Three months ago, and this kind of panic would send her into a heart attack. Now her heart was stronger, she can control her heart rate and has a higher tolerance as to what she can and cannot manage. She was getting dangerously close here, but the one thing keeping her calm was Max, he was almost here and hadn't been spotted. Violet just didn't want him to do anything while the knife was so close to her, nearing vital areas that, if harmed, could kill her. Namely, the neck, stomach and chest. And right now, the knife was at her back, and it was clear that damage could be done if it wasn't moved. She writhed uncomfortably on the spot.
"Stop your squirming, the knife's right here." His voice cut through her like the knife, and all Violet could see was what Max had in his hand, something smaller yet just as silver. Another knife.
Knowing that Max's use of the knife is less likely to harm her, but more his own father, she calmed down. He was steps away, and he gave Violet a small nod. She wasn't sure what he wanted of her, but he probably wanted her out of harm's way. So how could she help him?
She had an idea.
I hope this works.
Taking her time, she waited for Max to get close enough to make his attack. Violet didn't see where the knife went, somewhere low, like the side of his leg. He yelled in pain, but before he could react to his attacker, Violet reacted faster, her knee making contact with his groin. He doubled over in pain, but Violet felt the sharp blade, which was under her shirt at the back, pierce her back, feeling it slit across the skin. She screeched in pain and Max grabbed her, pulling her away from his reach. Max's father was on the floor, arm outstretched towards the three children, the knife just out of his reach, a thin layer of Violet's blood stained it. Virgil had shot up from his seat, grabbing Violet's things from the table, more importantly her medication and wallet, before sprinting out, following his sister. The twins still had their wrists tied together, but the concern of the boys was Violet's back. She couldn't run very fast and looked to be in quite a bit of pain. She was. She could feel the blood dripping through her clothing.
Max had said something she didn't quite register, about the police. She hobbled down the hallway with Max holding her by the shoulders, trying to keep her up. Virgil still had his wrists together, otherwise he would do the same.
The next little while passed in a dizzy haze for Violet. There were police and paramedics outside who tended to the two children. The scar on Violet's back would heal quickly as it was not a deep wound, and they had seen to it quickly. She had insisted that she was okay and didn't want or need to go to hospital, and Virgil inputted that their father would take her later.
The sight of police and ambulances around made Violet and Virgil see the attention they were receiving. None of them, not even Max, wanted to see this. It wasn't supposed to end this way, with her being injured and this being the site of a serious situation. Violet knew that Virgil didn't want Violet to go to hospital if they could avoid it. Besides, they were late to be going home, they already have to answer some pretty awkward questions. This would only heighten suspicions and they would probably not be allowed out, ever, if their father and brothers ever found out.
Damn it. So many people. So many people! This was not good.
Suddenly Virgil spoke.
"What do you say we keep this quiet from Dad?"
Violet nodded. This was something that they didn't want him knowing about.
"Agreed."
"Well?"
The twins had their hands behind their backs, looking at their feet. Their father had a newspaper facing them on his desk, two days after their little promise between them to keep it quiet, he had found out, and it wasn't through word of mouth either.
"I'm waiting for an explanation," their father said sternly, "as to why you thought it was a good idea to keep this from me."
"We didn't want to worry you." Virgil blurted out, his eyes on the photo. The photo was of Max's father, named as Nathan Isherwood, being dragged away, wounded, by the police. This would be innocent enough as there was no reference to the twins in the article, but in the background, was Max, Violet and Virgil, with paramedics, wrapped in orange blankets. Their father had picked up the paper that morning at breakfast, must've noticed the photo, before telling his twins to follow them to his office, interrupting breakfast. This was a new experience for the twins, because it was normally Gordon who had been summoned to his office in regular occasions. They now realised why their brother always left with a solemn and sombre look on his face after these summons.
"Worry me? You were missing for two hours. I worried because you were late home. You acted like nothing happened." He told them, standing over them. "You were with nothing more or less than a psychopath! He could have killed you!"
His outburst made Violet stiffen in fear as she felt tears well up. She hated disappointing her father. Virgil was looking dead into his father's eyes, understanding but somewhat annoyed.
"Let me see it, Violet."
Violet looked up in confusion, her face red with tears.
"What?" She asked weakly.
"You were with paramedics and there's something on your back that you aren't telling me about."
Damn. Nothing gets past Dad, does it?
Slowly but surely, she turned around and lifted the back of her shirt a little, careful not to go higher than her hairline. The wound was healing, and the twins had visited the doctors the previous day to ask how it was healing, and there was no sign of infection so they were cleared to go. She heard her father take a deep breath before speaking to her.
"Why would you want to hide this from me, Vi?"
"I... I don't know. I feel like I let you down."
He sighed, allowing Violet to lower her shirt and turn to face him. His face had gone from worried and pretty annoyed to caring and understanding.
"I would like you to know how angry I am that you didn't tell me about any of this..." Jeff started, and his children braced themselves for impact of the incoming punishment, inbound. "But I cannot express how proud I am of you both." His children looked up, slightly confused, then at each other, before returning their attention to their father.
Violet felt a small smile appear on her face instantly.
"I'm proud that you helped that boy," he picked up the paper, scanning the article again, also with a small smile on his face. "It says here that he was quite brutally abused and neglected. His sister too."
Of course Violet knew all of this. The Isherwood children had both been admitted to hospital, are now under temporary care until a trial for their father on child neglect, abuse and molestation. Nathan Isherwood was counting the days until a pretrial, then a real trial, probably wondering why the hell he let it go so far.
"Come here," he pulled his children in for an embrace, loving and proud. Both children accepted warmly. "Now go finish your breakfast."
"But what about our punishment?" Violet asked sadly, as Virgil turned to leave.
"Punishment?" He questioned with an exaggerated raise of his eyebrow.
"For hiding it, getting into it full stop..." Violet asked.
The Tracy patriarch looked at his daughter for a second.
"Okay." Virgil looked annoyed at his sister's insistence. "A raise on your allowance, a week with no chores, and... Hm. Permission to go back into town, because you will want to go back without a shadow of a doubt. How's that for a punishment?"
The faces of the children lit up with glee almost instantly.
"Just don't tell your brothers about any of this." He advised.
"Yes, Father."
"Yes, sir."
"Alright, go on. And you two? Don't try and hide something like this from me again. Ever."
The children nodded, and left the room without another word, barely able to contain their glee.
"Wow, I really thought we were for it, then!"
Wow, this quickly got dark. But we are nearing the end of the story now, and I am already planning a sequel for it, but let me know what you guys think of this one :)