Ultraviolet

Chapter Four: Far and Away

My nights rest only lasted five hours, before I found myself thrust awake, my mind rescuing me from my nightmares. I might not have slept very long, but I felt more awake now than I had in the last five days, and decided to take advantage.

I slipped out of bed and changed into some sweatpants, before tiptoeing out to the living room of the apartment. Hadeon was asleep on the couch, so I shuffled over to him and lightly poked him in the shoulder. He lazily waved my hand away, grumbling something. I placed my hand against his arm and shook lightly, calling his name.

His hand swiftly wrapped around my wrist. He jumped out of the bed and forced me back. My shoulder blades hit the wall behind me with a loud thud and my breath was knocked out of my chest. Hadeon held my wrists tightly together with a single hand and pressed them into my sternum.

His warm breath fell on the tip of my nose as he spoke. "Its just you." He grumbled, though his grip on my wrists didn't let up.

"Who else would be waking you up?"

"Why are you waking me up?" He growled. His voice was raspy and deeper than before.

"I was hoping you had a key to the bar downstairs." I stated. His eyes narrowed, asking for an explanation. "To thank Jessica, I wanted to clean it up."

"We have cleaners." He said, letting go of me and taking a step back. The cold surrounded me, fighting away the heat Hadeon's body had given off.

"Sure, I know that." I nodded. I actually hadn't realised. I just assumed Jessica cleaned up the place. Still, I continued. "But if I clean I could save her some money."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" He rolled his eyes. "You think I'm going to just give you the keys to the bar so you can go and rob us then run away?"

"Trust issues, much?" I joked. His face remained stony.

This close, I could see the tattoo on his neck in the moonlight streaming in through the window. It was a snake curled around a woman's hand, its eyes seemed to glare into my soul.

"You can join me." I added. "You don't have to help clean but you can sit at the register and guard it."

"No." He stated. "You can thank Jess by going back to bed and staying out of everyones way."

"I don't see how cleaning up is getting in anyone's way."

"You simply being here is getting in everyone's way." I gulped, guilt rushing back to my stomach.

"I told you," I started, my voice shaky and unsure of itself. "I have no other option, and once I get a job, I'm leaving here for good, never coming back."

Hadeon tilted his head to the right, ever so slightly, and looked me up and down, trying to figure me out.

"I can tell that you're running from something, someone." He deduced. "I'm telling you now, if you being here puts Jess in danger, and she gets hurt, I will hunt you down."

I rubbed my hands together, my eyes darting around the room, refusing to meet his. "Jessica will only get hurt if she gets too attached," I admitted guiltily. "And I don't plan on letting that happen."

Hadeon stared. His eyes seemed to show that his interest was piqued, but his face remained its usual stoniness. "Jessica and Jack usually wake up around now. You can thank them by making breakfast."

"Alright." I beamed, a smile making its way onto my face.

I was never much of a cook, my mother never cooked, my grandmother never cooked, and I had only ever cooked in school, and that food was hardly ever edible. Luckily, I found a recipe book in one of Jessica's kitchen cabinets and started following a recipe for pancakes. Hadeon, on the other hand, went back to sleep on the couch, warning me off of waking him up again.

I ate the first three pancakes, enjoying them despite the fake that they were burnt and misshapen. I had managed to figure out how to perfectly fry each pancake to a golden brown after that, and plated them up on the table just as Jessica marched out of her room.

"Ta-da!" I sung, my hands gesturing out to my masterpiece stack of flapjacks. "I wanted to thank you for letting me stay here by making you breakfast."

"Violet, that's so sweet." She grinned. "Jack, Hadeon, wake up!" She shouted.

I took a seat beside her at the table as the boys stumbled into the dining room. Hadeon dug in immediately, but Jack greeted me first.

"Hi, Violet. I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you last night." Jack had a nice smile, but his eyes seemed to hold a lot of sadness. I kept that to myself. "Also I'm sorry about our... security guards. They have a tendency of being overly zealous."

"Thats okay." I waved off. "The bar looked really busy and now that I know Jessica had changed her name, I understand why things played out how they did."

I noticed Jessica nudge Hadeon in the corner of my eye, before nodding her head towards me. He just shrugged her off and continued eating, so Jessica spoke for him. "Hadeon is also extremely sorry for punching you. That was really not okay."

"I was just following protocol." He mumbled under his breath, earning a glare from Jessica.

"I changed my name to get away from my psycho ex. Hearing someone use my birth name just... put everyone on edge, I guess."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I sighed, keeping an eye on Hadeon. I had explained to him last night that I had also changed my name, but Jessica didn't know that.

Thankfully, he remained silent.

"What are your plans for today?" Jessica changed the subject.

" I figured I'd hand in my resume to places nearby, I don't want to bother you guys for very long, the sooner I get a job the sooner I can be out of your hair." I laughed.

"Well, you're welcome as long as you like, so you don't have to be worry about that just now." Jack smiled.

Jack had tattoos covering a majority of his body, like Hadeon, but Jack's were colourful and fun. Jack seemed like a nicer, domesticated version of whatever Hadeon was.

"What kind of job do you want?" Hadeon grumbled. "I can give you a list of places to apply for." He wasn't saying it to be helpful, more because my goal was the same as his.

"Um, I'm not sure. Anywhere, I guess?"

"Well, what do you have experience doing?" He asked.

"I don't... I don't have any experience."

"You've never worked?" He asked, angrier than I feel he should be. I shook my head.

"Hadeon!" Jessica hissed. She turned to me, sympathy on her face. "Its a little difficult getting a job without experience, but, if you like, you can work at the bar."

Hadeon visibly disproved of this idea, but Jessica continued.

"I'd have to speak to my co-manager, but I doubt she'd have a problem with it." She smiled.

"Really?" I asked, unable to mask the happiness in my voice. "That sounds so fun, I can't wait."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Hadeon grumbled to Jack.

"Stop being a downer, Hadeon."

The two seemed to have a silent conversation, but I ignored it as I thanked Jessica again. First day in Boston and I was already on track for a job and hopefully a new life.