Chapter Three: Another Try
Time seemed to be standing still, as she hugged her knees fiercely. The only noise she heard was the slight buzzing coming from the camera above her that periodically panned the room, searching for her. She had been huddled in the corner of the strange room they had locked her in since Juliet left her there. Had it been hours, or only moments? Violet didn't know - but she knew something wasn't right.
She had begun to notice it a few moments ago. Familiar waves of dizziness hit her hard, and she struggled to hang on to consciousness. She had fainted a few times before - she recognized the familiar sensation as she held on, but her mind began to wander. Was she only feeling faint, or had they drugged her? How could they have? Nobody's been in here. Or had they? Her time here already felt like one giant blur.
She vaguely remembered what Juliet had said. "I know you're probably starting to dehydrate since you've been unconscious for the last 18 hours." Violet tried to do the math. If Juliet was right, if she really had been unconscious for 18 hours, plus however long she had been sitting here since Juliet left, maybe she really was dehydrated.
Violet sighed, remembering Kate, and all the countless times she had brought her a bottle of water, forcing her to drink it. Or when she told her to make sure and keep drinking lots of water so she won't get sick. Violet sighed. She must have been right. She thought to herself, wishing Kate was there with her. She would know what to do.
Violet wanted to lie down, to ease the dizziness, but forced herself not to. She did not want to appear weak to these people, no matter how sick or weak she really felt. She was, however, conscious of her eyelids fluttering, as they began to close ever so slowly. She tried to force them open, but felt no sense of control. She became very aware of her breathing, that seemed louder, echoing against her skull. Her head was spinning, and the only thing she found she could focus on was her breathing. A loud noise snapped her out of it.
She jumped when she realized it was the door to the room; the same door she had desperately tried to pry open earlier. Somebody was coming in.
Violet pressed herself up against the wall as much as she could, but there was nowhere else to go. She still felt dizzy, but she forced herself to ignore it.
The door opened slowly and Violet waited for her visitor to enter. She wasn't surprised to see Juliet enter the cell; she had said she would be back. She was carrying a tray with her, as she looked at Violet seriously. Violet turned away.
"Violet, I'm coming into the room. I want you to stay against that wall until I put this tray down and close the door. I don't want you to try anything, alright?" Juliet asked. Violet knew she was too weak to try anything, even if she had wanted to, but she looked away, and nodded slightly. She heard Juliet walk across the room and place the tray down on the little white desk. She heard Juliet moving around the room again, and looked up in enough time to see Juliet shutting the door, closing her in with Violet. Violet's heart began racing as Juliet turned and walked toward Violet. Violet was scared; earlier, Juliet was on the other side of the glass, now, she was in the same room as her. Violet didn't know what was going to happen, but she felt herself backing against the wall again, finding that she wasn't going anywhere.
Juliet approached Violet slowly, and it seemed she was doing it on purpose, so as not to evoke a fear response in Violet. Violet felt her heart leap in her throat when Juliet knelt on the ground in front of Violet, staring at her with those calm, serious eyes.
"You're not doing so well, are you?" She asked. Violet didn't respond, she only looked at the ground, feeling those waves of dizziness overwhelm her. She felt she were going to pass out any moment now. Juliet sighed.
"You're dehydrated - it doesn't surprise me at all. Now, I know you're scared and a little nervous about being here, but I need you to drink some water and have some food. If you don't, you're going to start to hallucinate, or pass out. I don't want that to happen, Violet. I know you tend to be prone to fainting spells." She said. Violet forced herself not to seem surprised. How could these people know so much about her? She had never even fainted before she came to this island. Had they been watching her this whole time? She shuddered at the thought.
"I want you to come over to the table, Violet, and you're going to have something to eat, and drink. I'm not leaving this room until that happens." Juliet waited, as though she expected Violet to comply. Violet didn't know what to do. She knew how weak she felt and how dry her throat was. Juliet was right, she was dehydrated, and she knew she had to have something to drink or she would pass out, and who knew what they would do to her then. Conflicting with that, though, was the notion that these people had prepared the food and water for her. What if they were drugged too? They had drugged her to bring her here, after all. She still felt the dried blood on her neck as a reminder. She didn't think anything was beyond these people at this point.
"Okay Violet, now." Juliet said suddenly, taking a gentle hold of Violet's elbow, and pulling her up off the ground. Violet's first reaction to herself was surprise; this woman wasn't hurting her or being forceful, but why?
Juliet led her over to the desk and eased her into the chair slowly. Violet's head was spinning wildly now as she attempted to focus on the tray in front of her. There was a bottle of water that was dripping from the evaportation it emitted, and it looked cool and refreshing. It was all Violet could do not to grab it and guzzle it all down in one sip. She didn't have to, though, because Juliet sat up on the desk, and took off the cap to the water bottle, handing it to Violet.
"Drink it, please." She said calmly. Violet held it for a moment as she stared at Juliet with wide eyes. It felt cold against her palm.
"H-how do I know you haven't drugged this?" She asked. Juliet considered her for a moment and then shrugged, closing her eyes momentarily.
"I know my word means nothing to you, but I can promise you this water has not been drugged. Neither has the food." She explained, watching for Violet's reaction. "Despite what you may think, we are not going to hurt you." Violet didn't know what to think; she was one of the Others, which meant she could very well be lying, but at the same time, Violet wasn't really sure how much longer she could really go without water. If she were back on the beach, Kate would have been on her back about it for sure.
Violet hesitantly took a sip of the water and almost gasped at the coolness running down her throat. When was the last time she had had ice cold water? It felt good.
"Good girl." Juliet commented. "But you need to have some food to go with it. I asked them to make your favourite." Violet looked up at Juliet, who was now smiling a little. Violet hated how calm and serene this woman seemed. She couldn't be; she was one of them!
"What?" Violet asked. There was no way these people could possibly know that her favourite food was grilled cheese sandwiches with ketchup, and the crusts cut off. There was no way.
Juliet took hold of the napkin that was hiding the dish underneath and pulled it away. Violet stared in surprise, unable to mask her reactions anymore. There was her favourite, sitting right in front of her. A small grilled cheese sandwish cut into four squares, all with the crusts cut off and a squirt of ketchup in the corner of the plate.
"They didn't want to cut the crusts off for you, but I told them they should if they wanted you to eat it." Juliet said in a quiet voice. Violet couldn't believe what she was seeing. She hadn't had a grilled cheese sandwich in...she didn't even know how long. She stared at Juliet, who was still smiling slightly. Violet shook her head.
"What is it you want with me?" She asked as bravely as she could. Her own voice still felt distant, as her head still spun, trying to remain conscious. She took another sip of the water, not to please this women, but because she knew Kate would want her to; so would Jack.
"Violet, there are things I can't tell you right now. I know you're scared, but you don't have to be. We aren't going to hurt you." Juliet said, looking at Violet's tray. "You better eat up before it gets cold."
"But why me? You attacked everybody on the beach, but only took me. Why were you after me?" Violet asked, ignoring Juliet. She slowly felt her strength returning. Juliet stared at her silently, her expression never changing once. Finally, she breathed in and looked at the camera that was still panning the room.
"I can see my being here is making you uncomfortable. I'm going into the next room, but I want you to eat that sandwich, and drink all of that water. They'll be watching you," she motioned toward the camera, "so it's probably best if you eat. Ben won't be happy if you starve yourself." She raised an eyebrow, as she headed for the door. Violet felt anger bubbling inside of her.
"Ben? Who's Ben? Who are you people?" She asked, as she stayed seated. She still didn't think she could stand. Juliet never responded; she only looked at Violet with those calm eyes, as she left the room, locking the door behind her.
Violet sighed, staring at the grilled cheese sandwich. All she wanted to do was cry. There was so much she wanted to know, needed to know. She had to get out of here; whoever these people were, she knew they weren't her friends, no matter how friendly they seemed to be. They had drugged her and dragged her away from the beach, away from Kate and Jack, away from her home. They won't even tell me why. She thought bitterly as she picked up one of the sandwich squares. She thought about throwing it across the room defiantly, but her stomach was groaning with hunger, and her head was still spinning. How would she ever escape from this place if she was weak from starvation or deydration. Besides that, what would they do to her if she defied them? Juliet had said Ben wouldn't be happy if she starved herself. Who was Ben? Was this all his doing?
Violet took a bite of her grilled cheese sandwich, and slumped back in the chair with a sigh. She couldn't help but wonder if Kate and Jack were out looking for her. She didn't know where she was; was she even still on the island? She sighed. I hope they don't give up. I hope they find me. They have to.