Violet Tides: A Spider-Woman Story

Chapter. 9 bad things continue

Peter pov

Peter was a little disappointed when Violet didn't turn up to school on Wednesday he wanted to tell her about the Lego death star he and Ned had put together. He messaged her asking if she was okay but she didn't answer. On Thursday he got Mj and Ned to message her too but those messages were ignored as well. He spent the better part of Friday sulky until he, Mj and Ned were called to the principal's office. Anxiety curdled in his stomach as he walked to Mr Mortia's office. Mj and Ned were already there when Peter arrived.

"Have a seat Peter" he said "don't worry you are not in trouble"

Peter sat hesitantly in the chair. Mr Mortia sat behind his desk. A young brunette lady in professional clothing sat next to Mortia, standing behind her an older blond woman dressed how you would expect a detective in the 70s to.

"As i was saying this it Alice Scott from child services and this is Detective Haynes from the youth services division of the NYPD"

There was a second of silence.

"Well there is no easy way to tell you this but Violet Tides had gone missing" Mr Mortia said his eyes filled with sympathy.

"What?" the three of them said simultaneously.

"I don't want you to panic plenty of children run away from home"

You think she ran away?" Mj asked.

"That is our belief, yes" the older woman spoke.

"I don't understand," Ned said exactly what Peter was feeling.

"It is quite common for teenagers to run away from home, usually they turn up after a day or two at a friend's house" Alice Scott said, giving them a look.

"Well we haven't seen her," Peter said, possibly too fast.

"It is important that you tell them the truth, Peter, for her safety and everyone's" Mr Mortia spoke sternly. Did Violet do some bad? Peter wondered.

"I'm telling the truth," Peter said slowly. His stomach had turned inside out.

"I'm going to have to take a statement from all of you. Who would like to go first" the detective said

***

The last time Peter had given a statement to the police was when Aunt May died. But he tried not to think about that. Mj and Ned had already given their statements and had been sent back to class. It wasn't like when May died. The detective asked some basic questions. How long have you known Miss Tides? When was the last time you saw her? Did she ever say she wasn't happy with her home situation? To your knowledge is Violet involved in any type of criminal activity, drugs, theft ect? The last one almost made Peter snort. The detective let him go. He doubted he had been much help. Ned and Mj ambushed him in the corridor as soon as he left Mr Mortia's office.

"Can you believe it?" Ned whispered, grabbing Peter's arm and basically marching him down the hallway.

"No I can't Ned"

"Running away, wow can you imagine that?" Ned spoke a little loudly, Peter shushed him.

"I can" Mj joked "What did the detective ask you?"

"The basic questions I assume, just what her home situation is like and if I had seen her since Tuesday" Peter's head was spiralling despite his outward composure

"And what did you say?" Ned asked

"No of course, none of us have seen her, right?" Peter asked, stopping outside the computer room.

"Well, not exactly," Mj said, looking slightly guilty.

***

Violets Pov

Violet wiped the tears off her face and looked in the window of a closed store. Her reflection stared back at her in the early morning light. Her face was red and splotchy, it was obvious she had been crying.

Violet felt trapped in her room. It was too hot and too small she had to get out or she would suffocate. On almost autopilot Violet grabbed her Spidersuit and her backpack and climbed out the window. She ran through the streets trying to get away from the apartment. to get somewhere safe. But everywhere reminded her of something every small thing brought up a memory she didn't want to remember. She didn't want to think about anything but memories hit her like gunshots. She doubled over in an alley and vomited.

The shock of the acid in her throat brought her back to the present. Her Spidersuit was clutched in her right hand, her backpack over her left shoulder. She felt like crap. guilt and exhaustion mixed with the fact she could smell her vomit. She backed up a bit to escape the smell. She ran her free hand through her hair trying to think. She didn't want to spend the night out in the cold but she couldn't go back to Ms Wren's. She had picked an awesome day to run away the first snow day for the year. She mentally cursed herself. The shelters would probably be full on a cold day so Violet didn't even bother. There was a real danger of freezing. Violet was lucky she had an advantage.

A little known fact about Mr Mortia is that he liked to leave the radiator in his office on at night even though it technically isn't allowed. Don't ask how Violet knows this. But it was helpful if you had run away from home on one of the coldest nights of the year, and had powers of invisibility. Violet picked a lock on the back door to the school and snuck into Mr Mortia's office. Violet sighed as the heat hit her. She decided the best place to sleep was under the desk, out of view from the security camera in case she accidentally turned visible. Sleep came surprisingly easy.

***

The sound of a vacuum running woke Violet up. She had overslept, even though it was still dark outside, Violet wanted to get out before the janitors had arrived. Violet swung the backpack over her shoulder and scurried down the hall. The back door was still unlocked. Violet ran and jumped over the fence. She walked a few blocks before turning visible in the same alley she disappeared in last night. She turned left onto the street and walked right into someone.

"Oh I'm so sorry" Violet quickly apologised.

"Don't worry about it Violet" Mj said. Wait Mj?

"Oh Mj hi" Violet said, flustered.

"What are you doing out so early?" Mj asked.

"Oh not much just heading to the shops" Violet lied.

"Okay" Mj said slowly, not totally believing her. "See you at school"

"Bye" Violet responded. Mj walked off and Violet hurried the other way. She looked into a window of a closed store. Her face was red and splotchy, it was obvious she had been crying.

 An: sorry a bit of a filler chapter to explain a few things the next chapter is more fun :)