Blue jeans, white shirt

Walked into the room

You know you make my eyes burn

It was like James Dean for sure

You're so fresh to death and sick as ca-cancer

-lana del rey, blue jeans

"Do you like him?"

I spun around on the spot to see Tate leaning against my closet door, his eyes locked on mine and I felt a burning sensation.

"Tate, you can't just keep coming in here whenever you want to."

He strided over to my bed and laid on it, a taunting look in his eyes.

"It use to be my room, then it was Violet's. I'm rather disappointed with the color scheme in here now."

I surveyed the midnight blue walls around me, completely happy with the color that graced the walls.

"I like blue. Midnight blue reminds me of the night sky. You don't like the stars?"

He snorted,"Stars? Really? Please."

Frustrated, I smacked his feet off my bed,"Get out, now."

He stood up suddenly so that his face was inches from mine.

"I don't think that guy is for you. He's too nice."

I laughed devishly,"Oh give me a break and I said get out! I don't even have any interest in boys at the present time."

Still he got closer so that I felt myself almost against the wall.

"I'm sorry about the other day. What I said to you," he almost purred in a sort of seductive tone. I could feel the goosebumps on my body.

"Um, okay? That's fine. I don't really care."

"I'm trying to be nice."

"And I'm trying to get you to leave. I'm tired."

He backed away and walked over to my dresser, picking up the photo I kept of my family and the Harmons. At least, the family I use to have. I had remembered exactly when it had been taken. My 13th birthday. Mom had gone all out, since that was the day I gained my sight. The photographer had thrown a fit because we insisted that he get all of us in. I had thrown a giant tantrum until he finally gave in.

"Who is this guy in the picture? And this girl?" Tate asked pointing to the two figures next to me on the left.

"That's Violet. Can't you tell?"

He looked at the picture closely.

"She was younger here. I didn't even recognize her. So who is this guy?"

I squirmed uncomfortably.

"That's Marius. He's-I mean he was my mom's fiancee."

"What happened to him?" Tate asked me and he sounded almost concerned.

"He died. A week before the wedding."

Tate put the picture back and looked at me intensely.

"I'm sorry. What happened?"

I take a sharp intake of breath. I had never talked about Marius to anyone after he died. He was, in my mind, my true father. My flesh and blood, even though he hadn't helped create me. After he died, it left an unavoidable void.

"He was murdered. I've never talked about him after he died. It hurt too much. It still hurts."

Tate's eyes didn't leave mine.

"Did they catch the guy?"

I sat on my bed, my head spinning,"No. I assume he's well out of reach by now."

A sinking feeling next to me let me know Tate had sat down and I looked up at him then. I didn't feel as cold around him as I usually did. There was some sort of warmness to him at the moment, especially in the way he looked at me.

"The world is shit. Don't tell me its not. But, there a few exceptions. Like you and Violet for instance, or your mom. I know what its like to lose something. You can spend your whole life trying to figure out why, but in the end you realize you just wasted your whole life thinking about that single question."

I stared at him curiously,"Why are you being so nice?"

He seemed to think for a moment before answering.

"I want to be a good person. I'm not like this."

"Like what?"

"A monster."

I take his hand in mine and it feels strangely right.

"I don't think your a monster. I think something else is. You say you didn't remember anything until Violet told you, right?"

He nods and I continue on,"Tate, I think you've been controlled by something."

He pulls away from me,"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the Devil."

"Your crazy," he laughs and I feel offended.

"How am I crazy? How can that not be a possibility? Your stuck in a house thats filled with ghosts and an unimaginable amount of evil. I thought you'd want some kind of an excuse to get Violet to take you back as well."

'She'll never take me back. Devil or no Devil. As far as she's concerned, I'm exactly that," he whispered as he stood up.

I watched him then, wondering about what was going on in the spaces of his mind. He was broken beyond repair, that much was obvious.

"Your right by the way, he is too nice."

And he smiled then, a genuine smile before I watched him fade away and finally succumb to sleep.

The next week passed by slowly and miserably. I had encountered far more ghosts in the house than I ever expected too, was overloaded with schoolwork, met with dead kids during lunch, helped Moira clean, hung around with Violet and pretty much kept trying to get my mind off Tate. I had even asked Dr. Harmon to give me a session, just to see if my head was in order, but he simply said he could no longer be considered a doctor. I was pretty taken aback by this, and still had no idea about what had really transpired, even though I tried to find a way to get it out of Violet without her realizing it. She wasn't stupid, of course. I hadn't spoken to Tate since the encounter in my room and my relationship with the dead breakfast club was becoming more in depth. Helping them crossover wasn't going to be easy as I thought it would be.

"We need to know why," Chloe had said to me,"I need closure. Its why I'm stuck. I need to know my parents are alright."

But how could I do that when Tate didn't even remember committing the acts he was killed for? How was he going to remember? I feared for Halloween, which was in a week. I was certain that they would come looking for Tate and then what? Could I keep them away? Would they listen if they knew I was going to get them to crossover?A million thoughts in my mind, and no way to answer them. Was this house driving me insane?

It wasn't until saturday morning that I had decided to get out and sit under the tree in the yard and attempt to write, that a skinny blonde-haired woman approached the gate with her little annoying dog.

"My, my. Aren't you a lovely thing?" she purred with a southern drawl that made my ears bleed.

I looked at her oddly, my eyebrow raised.

"Oh, how silly of me,"she said waving her cigarette around with a sort of grace and I wondered if she had been in pageants,"I'm Constance. I live next door. You must be the young lady who's mother I've heard all about around town. It's Azura isn't it? Interesting name."

I didn't move,"Thanks. It means sky blue."

"Charming. So, how do you like the house? I use to live here myself, but moved after a series of misfortune. Then that other lovely family moved in."

"The Harmons," I replied,"Yes I know. Violet's my best friend."

She looked at me suddenly with a hint of fear.

"Oh-I see. So unfortunate what happened to them. Tell me, how are they doing since then?"

"You know about the house then?" I asked curiously.

She laughed in a high pitched tone,"Dear, I did live there, didn't I? The house makes you a believer. Although, I don't think I'll ever step foot inside again. Too much pain for me."

"What happened to Violet?"

The question took her off guard.

"You mean you don't know? Surely-I assumed you knew everything."

I frowned as I stood up to meet her by the gate.

"No, I only know some things. I was waiting till she was ready. Tate told me that they dated. He's a ghost here. I know he's not welcome by the others but I talk to him anyway."

Her face becomes stony and I don't know what to make of it.

"Well, that's very sweet of you, but, sadly,its not my place to gossip." She begins to walk away,"Well, it was nice meeting you dear. I expect I'll see more of you quite soon."

"Wait!" I cry out and she spins around,"Can't you tell me anything? I'm trying to help in there and I feel like everyone is keeping something from me. I know you know something, obviously."

The cigarette in her hand was beyond use now, but she still kept it between her fingers as she stared at me with glassy eyes.

"If I were you, I'd leave and never come back. There's nothing for you here and nothing you can do. If Dr. Harmon hadn't been so blind and listened, then maybe they would still be alive. The house will consume you, blind you, take over your very soul if it has darkness in it. Tate is a perfect example. You will never save that boy. I've already tried."

She says the last line with pure bitterness as she makes her way back inside her house, the door slamming behind her. I stood there staring after her wake before finally heading back inside, my mind on the verge of exploding, only to find Violet and everyone else, waiting for me.

"What did that bitch want?" Violet asks me, annoyance clear in her tone.

I walk into the living room, Vivien, Ben and Violet following me. I slump into the big armchair by the fireplace and massage my head.

"She was just saying hello," I mumble.

"Did she ask about us," Vivien requests and I look up to face her.

"Yea, she did actually. Which reminds me, I want to know what happened to you guys. I want the truth. I can't help if you don't open up to me and its not fair that my own mother knows over me. I matter too."

Vivien puts her arm around me as Violet looks down at the floor and Ben begins to pace. Vivien looks at Ben who nods in understanding and takes a seat next to me.

"First off, you need to stay away from Constance. Don't let her anywhere near you or this house. Do you understand?"

I stare at him blankly,"Yes, but-"

"I'll explain it to you soon," He says, cutting me off,"There's a lot you need to know and there are things I'm not proud of, Azura. If I had payed attention more maybe Violet and Vivien would still be alive."

"Dad, stop it. It wasn't your fault. It was that bitch. It was Tate." Violet said as she sat down next to him.

Ben tried to stifle a sob,"I'm sorry. It's just something that will always remain in my mind."

"Azura," Vivien said softly, catching my attention. The light that shown through the window made the red of her hair glow and the light danced in my eyes,"What you need to understand is, is that what happened to us was unavoidable and its not Ben's fault. I was pregnant, as I'm sure Violet told you, with twins."

I nod, having remember this being one of the last few conversations I had with Violet.

"What you don't know," she went on,"Was that one of them wasn't mine. I was raped."

I felt my heart stop as I looked at her speechless,"Raped? How?"

I caught Violet's eye and she looked away from me, pure malice on her face.

"Tate," Vivien said and I felt my insides explode.

"T-ate?" I could barely get the words out,"Why would he do that?"

"For Nora. He wanted to give her the baby that she lost. Unfortunetly, one of the babies died and the other one was kidnapped. One baby consumed the others life force, and that's the one that was taken after Ben was murdered."

I whipped my head to look at Ben,"Murdered? By who?"

"A bitch named Hayden,"Violet spat,"She's stuck here too. Everyone was after the twins. Even Constance. She wouldn't pass up her grandson. Dad tried to leave but it was too late. I've got a pretty good idea where that baby is."

I shook my head, trying to drink all of this is in,"Constance is Tate's mother?"

They all nod and I feel like someone had hit me in the face with a brick. I was in shock, pure denial. How could Tate have done this? Unless it wasn't Tate. Yes, that had to be it. No one was that evil. Maybe my theory was true after all. I had seen the good in him, sensed it. But then, there was the evidence of his acts right in front of me. How insane was I not to accept it? And who exactly was Hayden. Had Constance really stolen the other baby?

"So then what about you?" I ask, finally turning to Violet,"Who killed you?"

There was a short silence and before she even spoke I knew what was going to leave her lips.

"Me."

Don't you die on me Violet!