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Chapter 2~

Violet's footsteps echoed as she walked down to the basement, her combat boots creating a loud, intrusive sound. She tried to soften her step, but it only caused the stairs to creak more as she eased her way down instead. The light from the door she had left open did very little to brighten up the basement, so walking over to the light switch she flicked it on. The lights flickered on then off once before pinging to life. The room lit up with a harsh glow, the majority of the space brightened by the shine, only the corners still painted in the shadows.

It had been ages since Violet had last come down here, but she could still see that everything was the way she remembered. The storage boxes on the shelves, the backroom where she and Tate had scared away "the coke whore", and the place where Tate had once sat with her and told her the ghost stories about Charles Montgomery. It was funny thinking back on it now and how much had changed since then. No longer was she as afraid to come down to the basement, of course the dark still freaked her out slightly, but she thought it was a bit pathetic to be a ghost herself and be afraid of it. After all who had ever heard of a ghost being afraid of the dark?

Violet thought she might have encountered Tate as soon as she switched on the light, but the basement was quiet and empty. It was just plain freaky in all honesty and she moved forward a step to edge herself to look around the corner which lead into the other room. Damn, she should have brought a torch. The back room was darkest, the light unable to reach as far in. Violet didn't like to think about what type of ghost could have been watching her from in the dark while she stood there. She didn't let herself dwell on the thought and kept on with her search for Tate.

"Tate?" She whispered, barely audible, scared to make any loud noise. No answer. She walked towards the back room, standing in the doorway bracing herself in case something jumped out at her. The room was mostly engulfed in darkness so she had to squint to try and define the shapes in the back, for all she knew one could be Tate. There were some shapes that she could muster up. Large boxes were stored near the back and a couple of chairs were thrown towards the far wall. Her eyes followed around the room until she reached the far right where an outline of a shape sat leaning against the wall. She moved a step further to see the shape clearer and kept walking further into the darkness to investigate.

"Tate?"

...

Tate never heard the basement door open; neither did he see the figure which came to stand in front of him. A soft whisper reached unhearing ears. His legs were tucked up to his chest, his chin resting on top of the jeans. His arms were wrapped around his legs protectively as he rocked slightly on the spot. Another whisper he heard faintly and this time he realized that it sounded similar to the way Violet would have spoken. It was the same warm ring that her voice held, but he couldn't have been certain. He was so used to hearing her voice now and most of the time it was just his imagination playing tricks on him, teasing him cruelly. He had finally grasped the idea that her voice wasn't actually her and had come to learn to just close his eyes to savour the sound of her voice while he could.

The words this Violet spoke were unclear and slightly hazy, ones he was unable to determine within his fuzzy mind. He hummed slightly, almost purring to himself when the voice got louder as if she were right there in front of him, close enough to touch.

"Tate." Her voice spoke and he grinned. He wanted to speak back, to answer back to the angel of his imagination that took on Violet's voice, but he couldn't find his tongue. "Tate." The voice repeated this time louder and more clear jolting him slightly from out of the cosy place which was his mind. He stopped smiling, humming and purring, and just sat still, waiting, listening for more. The voice had sounded so real that it was unfair. Why was life punishing him so badly? Wasn't it enough to know that she was somewhere in the house without him...Completely fine with him rotting away in the darkness.

"Tate!" This time there was anger to the tone of her voice and he chuckled. He remembered when she got angry at him. It was cute.

"Please don't be angry with me." He pleaded weakly. He just wanted to savour these moments while he could and he much would prefer her to speak softly and sweetly to him. If this was all he was going to get he wanted it to be a nice thing to look back on.

"I wouldn't have to if you would look at me."

There was no mistaking the words or how realistic they sounded. They were so realistic that his eyes shot open. At first he thought he was still alone because it was so dark, but as his eyes started to adjust he could make out a shape, an outline of a figure stood in front of his form.

"Vi?" He breathed anxiously, his voice so unsure even her name didn't sound right on his tongue.

"Hi." She replied and his heart stopped. "Do you want to come into the light a bit more?" She asked gently. "I have to talk to you and I need to see your face."

His heart tripled in beat. She was really here. With him. Now! He was so dazed that he forgot how to move for a second. Her figure started to walk away and he started to panic before he saw her become visible in the light. Oh, she was so beautiful. He had forgotten just how beautiful she really was. His eyes scanned her body eagerly taking in the image he had already scared into his brain.

Just like a zombie he shuffled forward and rose to his knees before advancing to his full height never once did his eyes advert from her. He didn't move out from the darkness though, he didn't want to let her see him. Not like this. Not now.

Silence.

"Tate?" She inquired and his heart jumped at his name being called from her. "Can you come forward a bit please?"

"No." He whispered.

"Why? Please, just a bit."

He grimaced, but obeyed her command like a small child. He moved some more, until there was a soft glow on his face. He wasn't stood directly in the light, which was good considering he hadn't been exposed to such brightness for months and the sudden change would have been shocking and maybe slightly painful, but it was enough, he hoped.

Violet moved forward when Tate did. He hadn't shifted so she could see him clearly, but what he had done was enough for now. The top half of his body was easy enough to see; only a soft light was cast over him, but the bottom was still cast in the dimness where objects cast shadows over him. Her eyes forced themselves to look at his face and she sought out his dark orbs until she found them a midst the darkness, staring straight back at her. Butterflies fluttered uneasily in her stomach as she waited for his next movements, either he was going to go crazy for her leaving him or he was going to break down and cry. Sometimes he was so hard to read that she wouldn't be surprised if he surprised her altogether and gave her a mixture of both.

His hands twitched beside his top, but they stayed stationary and limp. Violet noticed that his eyes were black, so very black, and she didn't know whether that was because of the shadows or what the basement had done to him. Somehow the darkness had seeped into him and it showed clear in his midnight depths. He really suited the part of the dead ghost right now.

They didn't say anything to each other while they gazed. Tate couldn't form the words that were littering his brain and Violet was too shocked by how dark his eyes were to make any other coherent thought. They looked like a pair of brainless fish, gaping with theirs mouths open at the sight of each other.

Violet tried to regain her composure by shifting her weight and looking down so her hair fell like a curtain around her face. The blocked sight helped her think clearly and she licked her lips to moisturize her mouth. What was she supposed to say to him now? How have you been doing? I've been told to talk to you? Neither of them seemed like the right conversation starter, especially after what they had both been through.

Tate continued to watch Violet. Why was she here? He thought she hadn't wanted to see him again or did this mean she had forgiven him? His heart leaped at the mere thought of her forgiveness and he smiled to himself in hopefulness. Her hair was hiding her face as she if she was scared for him to look at her and her act of shyness helped fuel his confidence. His fingers itched with the need to walk up to her and run his fingers through her fine locks, to feel the softness he once knew, but he knew better than to act on his instincts and stayed in place.

"You're here." He whispered to her.

Her head looked up slightly.

"You're really here."

"Yes." Her reply was short and nothing compared to what he was hoping for, but the tiny whisper of her voice sent a hundred electrically flowing currents throughout his body.

"I missed you." He admitted before he could stop himself. His mouth was speaking on its own, feeling the need to tell her his thoughts even if he didn't really want to. Later, he would probably come to regret these words and punish himself for not having made most of the time and said the things he really wanted to ask.

She didn't reply to that, not that he thought she would have, but still there was a tiny part of him that had hoped for her to have felt the same way and reply in the same affectionate tone he had announced it in. When his statement wasn't returned back to him that part of his being crashed to the ground and broke into tiny pieces. Obviously she wasn't here to forgive him after all...

He went to speak again, but this time he managed to get a hold of his mouth and clamp it shut before he uttered anything else out. He wanted to hear what she had to say instead of being the one to do all the talking.

Violet didn't say anything though. Tate didn't look in despair, in fact, he appeared just fine. What was Constance's going on about? Now that she was down here with him, how was she going to say goodbye again? She was an idiot! How was she going to get herself out of this situation? Hadn't last time been hard enough? She mentally scolded herself while she stared at him, her eyes flicking around the room so she could look anywhere apart from at him.

"I shouldn't have come." She whispered peering at him one last time before spinning suddenly on her heel and running from the room. She could hear him shout loudly behind her and heard the frantic scurry of his feet come after her. Adrenaline kicked into her body and she squealed as she reached the bottom of the stairs and started to ascend them. She could hear him right on her tail and felt as if she was in one of her nightmares and the bad guy was just about to catch her. Before she could reach the second step a hand wrapped around her arms and dragged her back against a hard chest. She screamed from the hot clamminess of his skin, the burning fingers that held her too tightly against him, and the arms which were strong and inescapable, restrictive and insistent as she struggled.

"Violet stop!" Tate commanded beside her ear, his voice holding a tone of surprise at her sudden need to escape from him. "Stop struggling!"

Her arms were trapped at her sides by his own which had wrapped around the entire width of her body, easily maintaining her much smaller form. She felt herself get pushed back forcefully against the wall, not painfully, but the push had enough force to leave her slightly winded. Violet's eyes were wide from fear when she relocated Tate's face and what she saw shocked her. Tate's eyes stared into her own, red, puffy and still just as black as before. There was something different about his face. He looked ill, gaunt similarly to the way Constance had. He looked startled, wide eyed and bloodshot around his pupils. Thick black marks underlined his eyes and his nose was red and sore. Violet's struggles stopped.

"What have you been doing?" She whispered. Her hand slowly slipped out easily from his arm now she had stopped fighting him and came up to touch his face where a couple scratches had left dried stains of blood trailing along his cheek.

Tate flinched slightly when she touched his skin, a shiver cascaded up his spine, jolting his whole body. His eyes slipped closed and he leaned into her hand the way a cat would to its owner. Her hand felt like heaven on his cheek, she was cool and soft and with her here in his arms he felt more alive than he ever had for a long time.

Her fingers trailed along his cut and down to his chin and then back up again. Goose bumps rose upon his skin from her touch and his eyes lazily opened to look at her. She was inspecting his face attentively, not stroking him with tenderness like he had thought, she was examining his wounds. His eyes widened after realization struck and he flinched away suddenly and banged back into the opposite wall letting the darkness mask his face from her view.

Violet's hand stayed outstretched where she had held his face and dropped it by her side after his sudden movement. She advanced with suspicion clear in her eyes. Tate startled like a wild animal as she neared and slipped past her figure and further into the dark as if he was hiding something.

"Tate, why are you running from me?"

"I...I don't feel well. You might catch what I have if you come any closer, please stay away."

He was always a liar. In this situation not a very good one.

"Bull."

"Violet, please."

"What are you hiding?" She advanced on him quickly and pulled him towards her roughly. His face caught the light again and she got a second inspection of his face. Red, bloodshot, watery eyes, dilated pupils, increased breathing, increased temperature, gaunt face.

She let him go and stepped back. He wasn't...he couldn't be?

"Are you high?"

His mouth opened and he pulled away from her and retreated into the darkness.

"Stop hiding." She demanded advancing on him again. "What the hell have you been taking?"

"Nothing. Nothing!"

"Stop lying to me." She gritted out. "I can see it in your eyes."

"So what? You've done it before."

"No, I smoke. I don't get high, there's a big difference Tate."

"It's not like it's going to affect me anyway, I'm already dead remember?"

Violet sighed and looked down. Maybe he was in need of help more than she had thought after all.

It wasn't the problem that he was doing something illegal that Violet was objecting to, after all the police would never find them anyway and it wasn't like they could get into trouble for anything, they couldn't leave the house. The reason she was so upset was because she cared about him, she didn't like to admit it out loud or to herself really, but she cared for him way more than she would ever let anyone believe. He was still alive to her and while they were both here she didn't want him to violate his own body. He had been the one to tell her to stop cutting so there was no excuse for him to take the drugs.

"Where are they?"

"What?"

"The drugs, Tate. What else?"

"Why? What do you need them for? I won't let you take them instead."

"I don't want to use them myself, I don't want you taking them anymore."

"You can't stop me." He sounded like a stubborn teenager. Now, she knew what Constance felt like.

"Tate, please. I don't want you to keep hurting yourself like this."

"I'm not Vi. It's good, they are good." He grasped her arms and shook her slightly. "They help me, you know." He released her and dug his hands deep into his pockets. "They keep me sane."

Violet's eyebrows rose. He really felt that way? "Tate they are doing the complete opposite, they are making you more insane. Do you even know the side effects of drug use?"

"You get nauseous, dizzy, hot... I know the effects, but it helps me in a way you wouldn't understand."

Violet sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "You didn't like me cutting, I don't like you doing this. I stopped for you, now you have to stop for me."

"This is different."

"How?"

"You were being selfish, I'm not."

"What?"

"I'm taking this to stop me from coming after you. There may be a few selfish reasons for why I take them, but it helps me get through everyday without the burning pain that you are alive without me, without anyone. I already tried to kill someone for you and you didn't want that and I know that if I sit here all day thinking about where I went wrong and how I can fix it I will end up doing something which will upset you even more. This way it stops me from doing something you will hate me even more for."

"Oh, Tate." Violet shook her head. He always had these crazy plans. "It wouldn't make any difference. There is very little you can do now that would make me not like you even more."

His face dropped. Her words may have sounded pleasant, but Tate picked up on the true message behind her words. There was nothing worse that he could do to make her hate him even more. He'd already done everything possible.

His face screwed up and his eyes watered. "Vi." His head dropped and he sobbed. "I'm trying to do the right thing. Really I am."

Violet watched him pitifully. "I know." She whispered. Her hand reached out to grasp his own. "Where are the drugs?"

His watery eyes locked with hers. His hand reached into the pocket of his jeans and he reluctantly pulled out a small plastic bag.

"Don't take any." He warned.

Violet warmed at his show for concern. "I won't." She promised as she took the bag into her own hands and shoved them into the pocket of her cardigan. "Thank you."

They stood in silence before she moved away.

"Where are you going?"

"Upstairs. I have things to do."

Tate stepped into the light and the painful expression in his eyes was obvious. "Don't leave me."

Violet looked down. She wasn't going to fall for this. "I have to."

His teeth gritted together as if he was dying to say something, but he thought otherwise and looked away.

"Goodby-"

"Don't." He cut in. "Don't say goodbye. Goodbye implies you're going away for a long time and you're not." His tone was harsh. "Stay with me?" It wasn't supposed to be a question, but it was a lot less powerful than before and came out as one. He sounded almost scared now. Afraid of the rejection she was going to give.

"I can't."

A tear rolled down his cheek. "Violet..."

She started to walk away when his arm wrapped around her and pulled her back for the second time.

"Please, not again." He wailed. "I need you. Please...please!" He rolled his head on her shoulder as he clutched her to him. "Without you I don't want to live. I need you in my life, with me, Violet."

She pulled away, but his grip was tight and slightly painful on the skin underneath her cardigan.

"Tate, let me go."

"Never." He whispered.

"Tate-"

"I will always believe that there is a second chance for us. Never will I give up on you." His voice was coated in devotion and a never ending promise.

Violet pulled ruthlessly out of his grip and when he turned for more she shoved him back. "Well keep believing that because until the day you prove to me you deserve to be forgiven for everything you have done, I don't want anything to do with you." Violet didn't know where her harsh words had condensed from, but she knew this was the only way to ward him off again.

Tate stepped backwards as if her words had physically pushed him away.

"You don't mean that."

"I do. Don't think I came down here because I forgave you. Constance wanted me to help you."

The mention of his mother's name caused something to spark in him. His fists clenched and his nostrils flared in agitation.

"That was the only reason you came down here?"

"...Not the only reason, but the most part of it." Violet advanced towards the stairs and sensed him follow her. "Leave Tate."

"I won't give up." He promised her, his voice inches behind her ear, determination clear in each word.

Flashbacks of her parents death flashed in her mind when she heard the cry of a baby far off somewhere in the house. Her anger sparked as she remembered what a cruel creature he could truly be and how he had destroyed her family.

Spinning around to face him she declared "Well maybe you should." And with that she stormed up the stairs and this time he didn't try to stop her.

There you go! Be sure to leave me a review, they help fuel my creative energy and inspire me to write quicker. Chapter 3 is in the making, keep an eye out. :)