Flower Petals and Flesh - A Violentine Story

The South Gate

Violet awoke to an empty bed which was littered with Clementine's sleepwear, from the bedroom window the distant sound of people and a blinding beam of sunlight. She sat up and yawned, feeling unusually refreshed the blonde leapt from her bed and walked to the bathroom. She approached the closed door and knocked, the silence from the other side let her know it was empty.

Entering the small tiled room a sudden wave of humid air hit her, the shower was covered with water and a basket of messy clothes and used towels sat in the corner. Walking to the mirror she wiped the steamy residue from the glass with her forearm and gazed at her reflection. Her hair was raggedly spewed around her head and was in desperate need of cutting, however as she looked at her reflection staring back at her she noticed something pleasant: the usual bags which surrounded her eyes had faded, she even look somewhat refreshed. Smiling, she attempted to comb the tangled knots out of her hair by running her fingers through it. She finished by splashing her face with cool water and clearing the scum from the corners of her eyes.

Inquisitively, Violet ventured downstairs to find Louis sprawled across a chair relaxing.

"Good morning, want some coffee?" Louis asked as Violet approached.

"Sure"

Louis stood up and grabbed one of the many mugs which littered the coffee table next to him; "Well unfortunately Brody drank about eight mugs this morning but I could offer you some water?"

The blonde sighed, "Oh... I guess I'm fine then." She mumbled a little disappointed. "Hey, have you seen Clem anywhere, she wasn't in bed when I woke up?"

"Everybody went out to go get their jobs sorted out, I don't know what to do so Brody told me to clean up." He replied.

Violet looked around the living space, one of the couches was still littered with a pillow and blanket, several mugs of half drunk liquids sat around the place and stray parts of equipment were left strewn about.

"Clearly your doing a great job, nice work on the bathroom by the way." She said with a blunt, sarcastic tone.

The still wet haired Louis raised his hands in surrender, "Guilty as charged, I'll get around to it in a bit." He said dismissively.

"So where did Clementine go? I should probably go find her." Violet asked, shifting the conversation to more important matters.

Louis looked around nervously, drumming his hands on his thighs as he attempted to remember where Clementine had disappeared to.

"I'm like 60% sure she went to go talk to someone called Hope about guarding something, can't exactly remember where that is but I'm sure you can find it." He finished with a cheery smile before wandering into the kitchen, leaving Violet to put on her worn shoes and leave in search of her companion.

Walking out into the town she headed for the Beth's Bar first as it was one of the only notable buildings she knew the location of. The inside of the bar was full of groups of people eating what seemed to be breakfast, Clementine was nowhere to be seen in the feasting crowds. Looking around the surrounding area she spotted the sheriff Holt. Much to her surprise the moustached man approached her.

"Howdy little lady, your looking mighty lost there. Need help finding something?" He asked, clearly spotting the confusion and uncertainty on her face.

Slightly frightened by the sudden interaction, the blonde shook alert, "Ah! Yes-I'm looking for Hope, do you know where she is?"

The sheriff turned and pointed to a nearby building, a large notice board with people surrounding it sat outside. "Right over that away, first door in your left." He nodded then continued on his sauntering around the streets of Oasis.