Chapter 8: Violet's Tears

(Alec's POV)

It's been a week and a half since Violet got sick. She's been doing a lot better, but she's still not back to her normal self. Secretly, I've been happy that she was sick because she stays in one place. I don't have to go looking for her and she isn't walking around with Demetri. However, to my great annoyance, Demetri has been with Violet every day since he got back. When he's in her room, I suddenly become invisible to Violet. It shouldn't bother me, but to my great annoyance it does.

I was on my way to my room after dinner when I heard movement in Violet's room. I walked in and saw her walking, more like stumbling, around the room. As she walked over to her laptop she tripped and I quickly caught her.

"What are you doing?" I asked, "you should be in bed."

"I've been in bed for a week and a half," she complained, "my legs have turned to JELLO. I need to get out of this room and walk around."

"You need to stay in bed until you're better." I said pulling her towards her bed.

"I am better," she argued, "I'm just in the recovery stage and lying around doesn't help me." I was about to argue with her, but Demetri walked in smiling at Violet.

"Look who's up and walking." He smiled pulling Violet out of my hold and into a hug. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," she replied with a smile, "but I'm getting sick of being in bed and this room."

"Well if you're feeling up to it," he smiled, "we can walk around the castle and get you out of this room."

"Sounds great." Violet smiled and they walked out.

To say I was pissed was an understatement. While I stormed down the hall I planned out Demetri's murder. I was thinking about where I would send his body parts after I dismembered him.

"Alec." Aro's voice came from behind me.

"Yes sir?" I asked trying to calm down.

"Carlisle just called me," he said, "first off: Bella is being turned at the end of this week." He said and I wondered why he was telling me this.

"The second thing," he continued, "is that a letter came in the mail at Bella's house; it's for Violet. Carlisle sent it in express mail two days ago and I just received word that it's at the post office." He handed me a mail slip, "could you go pick it up?" While he asked me, I knew that I didn't have a choice.

"Violet will be in the throne room when you get back." He said as I walked away.

I entered the throne room with Violet's mail. I paused, surprised, when I saw her sitting in Aro's throne drawing something in her sketch book. Aro and Marcus were talking while Caius watched Violet draw. Demetri, Felix, Jane, Heidi, Chelsea, and Renata were sitting on the ground playing Phase 10.

"There's Alec," Violet smiled looking up from her sketch, "where were you?"

"Picking this up for you." I replied giving her the envelope then went to sit by Jane. I watched Violet out of the corner of my eye as she examined the envelope. Eventually she opened the envelope and pulled out a letter. Her smile quickly disappeared and she ran out of the room with all eyes on her. Aro and his brothers followed her quickly; leaving the rest of us looking confused.

"What do you think that was about?" Jane asked and we looked at her.

"Not sure." Demetri and I said at the same time. He smirked at me and my response was a death glare. An hour later, Marcus appeared in the throne room and we all looked at him for answers.

"Alec," he said, "go pack for a trip; you're taking Violet to Arizona tonight." He said

"Why?" I asked. Was Violet leaving?

Marcus sighed, "it would appear that her father died last week. His funeral is the day after tomorrow. She needs to go there for his funeral and to clean out his house."

"I can take her." Demetri said from behind me.

"No," Marcus replied flatly, "Alec will take her." He turned to me, "go pack. The private jet is almost ready to leave." I nodded and left not sure how I felt about this.

"Brother," Jane said walking into my room as I packed, "the private jet is ready to leave."

"Fine." I muttered

"Alec," she said and I looked at her, "I think Marcus is giving you an opportunity to win Violet over. Don't mess this up."

"I'll see you later sister." I replied ignoring her statement and left.

We were two hours into the flight and Violet hasn't said a word. She just continued to stare out the jet's window.

"Do you want something to eat?" i asked and she shook her head. I pursed my lips together.

"Violet," I said, "you're still a little sick; you should eat."

"I'll have a sandwich then." She muttered and I got up to get her a sandwich from the small kitchen. When she finished eating, Violet curled up in her seat and continued to look out the window.

"We have ten hours before we arrive." I said, "would you like to play a game."

"Not really," she replied and I sighed. I got out of my seat and opened up the overhead compartment. Her sketch pad caught my eye and I pulled it out. I closed the compartment and turned to Violet.

"Would you like to draw me" I asked desperate to get some response from her. I'm capable of a lot of things, but comforting a human isn't one of them.

"Sure." She replied taking her sketch pad. For the next hour she sketched me and I sat in place while watching her. When she was done with sketching and coloring, she went over to the couch and fell asleep. When she was asleep I got up and looked through her sketches. I slowly flipped through each sketch amazed by how talented she was. She had just a plain sketch then a colored one.

Towards the end of the flight Violet woke up. She moved to stretch and misjudged how wide the couch was. I quickly go up to catch her when she fell, but wasn't quick enough. Violet landed on her back and I had tripped and landed on top of her; I caught myself on my forearms on either side of her. Because the universe likes to laugh at me; I landed between her legs my face was only an inch form hers. Violet's hands were resting on my upper arms. When our eyes locked her heart beat a little faster.

My damn mating bond instinct was screaming at me to kiss her. I yelled at myself to move away from her. However, my body wouldn't obey my thoughts. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't bring myself to pull away from her. I swallowed the venom that was pooling in my mouth due to her scent.

"Alec." Violet's voice broke thought my thoughts.

"Ya?" I barely whispered.

"This position is a little awkward don't you thing?"

"Maybe a little." I replied still trying to control my body. I made the mistake of glancing down at her exposed throat. Now my mating instinct wanted to bite her and taste her blood.

"Maybe you should get off." She said with a hint of humor in her tone. I locked my eyes with hers again still trying to control my body. I decided to stall and was thankful I could control my thoughts. .

"Make me." I said smirking

"You're kidding right?" she said then pursed her lips when I didn't respond.

"Ok," she said, "I'll play along. What do you want?" Violet was starting to act like herself again. She still had a small fever and her eyes weren't as bright as usual; however, I was happy that my Violet was doing a little better.

Wait...My Violet?

Violet tapped her fingers on my arms bringing me from my thoughts. "I'm waiting Alec and you better hurry we're almost in Arizona." I pursed my lips together, thinking. I decided to give into one of my mating instincts.

"I want a kiss." I said smirking, but kept my tone as serious as I could.

"I don't like going around kissing guys," she said, "especially when you and Demetri are friends." I frowned at her.

"Are you and Demetri dating?" I asked trying to hide my irritation.

"No." she replied

"Then what harm is one kiss." I asked, "besides, you owe me a kiss. Remember when you pushed me off the bed?" She smiled remembering that night.

"I suppose one kiss will be fine." She said and I smiled in victory. Before she could change her mind, I leaned down and pursed my lips to hers. Fireworks exploded through my body again. Violet moved her hands to my head and I parted her lips and explored her mouth with my tong. The kiss ended when she broke away to breath; her heart was pounding as she breathed heavily. I was about to lock our lips again, but the plane started to make its decent into Arizona. I stood up and helped Violet to her feet as well. I didn't want her to think the kiss meant something to me so I leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"You know Violet," I said, "not many human girls can say they kissed the most powerful vampire in the world and live to tell the tale."

"Well," she smiled, "I'll let you know when I kiss that vampire." I narrowed my eyes at her and she smiled knowing she won this round.

It was four in the evening the next day. I was driving to the funeral with Violet in the passenger seat. The funeral was in a church and luckily today was overcast. Violet had returned to being silent and thought full. She was dressed in all black and I didn't understand why she was mourning her father's death. She told me he became an alcoholic after her mother's death and ignored her for years.

Violet sat in the front of the Church with, I'm assuming, family and friends. I stood against a back wall hating that I had to be in here. It was because of this religion that Jane and I were burned alive. I breathed in and out trying to look normal, but the strange stares I got from people infuriated me.
People at the funeral went up on stage to make short speeches about Violet's father. Violet didn't go up though; she just sat there staring blankly at her father's coffin. Eventually, the funeral came to an end and I watched as people walked up to Violet to hug or talk to her. Violet kept a small smile on her face, but even I could tell it was forced. The Church soon emptied out and I watched as Violet talked to the priest. I shifted a little and focused my attention on their conversation.

"Have you been attending Church during your travels?" the priest asked.

"I'd be lying if I said yes Father." She replied with a guilty smile.

"I figured," he said with a small laugh, "you weren't much of a church girl."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No," he replied, "you don't need to attend church to have faith." This response shocked me. When I was human, if you didn't attend church; it meant you were supporting the devil.

"I have something for you," the priest continued pulling out a small box, "your father asked me to give this to you." Violet took the box and examined it with a blank expression. I watched her open it then close it thanking the preset. Violet walked over to me and I could feel the priest's stares.

"I'm really hungry," she said, "can I get dinner on the way back to the hotel?"

I shrugged, "sure."

Violet choose Olive Garden to eat dinner at. While she ate I sat there and watched her eat.

"Don't you have something else to do?" Violet asked, "the staring gets annoying."

"Do I make you nervous?" I teased

"A little." She admitted

"Good."

Violet rolled her eyes and returned to her meal. After another thirty minutes, she finished and we left back to the hotel. On the way to the hotel I remembered something.

"What was in the box the priest gave you?" I asked and she shrugged

"A key." She responded not looking away from the window.

"What does it go to?"

"Don't know," she replied, "don't care." With that our conversations for the night ended.

The next day we left the hotel early in the morning to go to her father's house. I noticed that she threw away the box with the key when we returned to the hotel last night. When she fell asleep I slipped the box into my coat pocket and it's still there.

The house that her father lived in was the same house she lived in when her mother was alive. While Violet stared going through her father's house I sat in the living room. She was boxing things to send to her house in Florida and the rest was she was going to sell. A closed door on the second floor peaked my curiosity and when Violet wasn't looking; I walked up and went into it.

The room was a small study. There was a desk by the window and two large bookshelves. I looked around the room and noticed all the pictures on the walls were pictures of Violet and her mom along with family photos. I walked over to the desk and noticed a picture of Violet when she graduated from high school; there was also a picture of her being held by her mother with the father hugging them. My foot hit something under the desk and I looked down. There was a chest that looked like it needed a key to unlock it. I was going to try the key in my pocket, but Violet stepped into the room.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked looking at me.

"I was curious." I said quickly. Violet glanced around the room, but she hesitated to enter.

"What's wrong?" I asked and she shrugged stepping into the room.

"I just wasn't allowed in here when I was a little girl." She said and started to go through things.

"There's a chest under the desk." I said and she walked over and walked over to me. She sat down and pulled the chest out while trying to open it.

"It's locked." She murmured and I sat by her pulling the key out of my pocket.

"Can you put two and two together?" I said handing her the key. She eyed it before taking it out of my hand without saying anything. Like I predicted, the key unlocked the chest. She opened it and pulled out a brown leather case. She opened it and I noticed it was full of drawings. Violet slowly flipped through the drawing telling me about them. Apparently her father had kept every sketch she drew up for him starting from age three. Towards the end there were sketches that she sent to him for father's day. They were sketches of places she visited while traveling the world. At the end of the case there was an envelope with her name on it. After a moment of hesitation, Violet picked it up and pulled out a letter that her father wrote. She held it at an angel where I couldn't see what it said. After a few minutes she burst into tears.

I froze not knowing what to do in this current situation. After a few seconds, I picked her up and sat on the study's couch with her on my lap. To my surprise she wrapped her arms around my neck and sobbed in my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her so she wouldn't fall, but that was the only reason.

"I didn't even get to say goodbye to him." She said through sobs. After a while she calmed down and contined with cleaning the house. Before I could grab the letter, Violet locked it and the sketch case in the chest. Violet had the house cleaned out and everything she wanted to keep packed and ready to ship by ten in the evening. The next morning she sent the boxes to her house and contacted her neighbor who agreed to pick up the boxes and put them in storage. The chest form the study she brought it onto the plane to take back to Volterra until she left.

Half way through the flight, Violet fell asleep on the couch and quietly pulled out the chest. After a few minutes, I located the key and opened the chest then pulled out the letter. One thing I learned was that her father did love her.

Violet,

Some day I hope to tell you this in person, but if I don't I hope this letter will make it to you. I want you to know that you and your mother were the most important people to me. The most precious memory I hold close to my heart is when you were born. I will never forget how your eyes sparkled when I held you for the first time. Not a day goes by that I regret losing you because I was too focused on my own grief. I should have taken care of you after your mother died. I was so proud of you when I learned that you graduated early and chose to travel the world. You're so much like your mother; you're smart, beautiful, talented, and free spirited. With that being said I want you to remember this:

Even if your life is full of tears and sorrow, this world is still a beautiful place; open your eyes and see it for yourself. Be who you want to be; do what you want to do. Find friends to share the good and the bad with you; enjoy life, don't be in a hurry to grow up (Clannad).

Follow your heart Violet and travel the world. Become that amazing artist in Paris. After you have lived your dreams, fall in love. Live your life how you want to live it; not how others want you to live it.

I love you more than anything else in this world; and don't ever forget that you're the greatest gift God could give me. I only wish I could've been a better father.

Love,

Dad

Author's note:

Review please

Next chapter will be up soon promise.