See No Evil (Anthony Lockwood)

chapter 12

Violet woke up to sunlight streaming through the curtains of the attic and shining onto her face. She was in her bed, Lucy right next to her. She looked down to see herself still in the same clothes from yesterday. It was strange. She didn't even remember going to bed last night. Barely remembered coming up...the stairs. And she could hear a ticking noise in her ear.

Violet sat up quickly, her head pounding as she did so. The basement. The skull. Lucy passing out. Blood.

Violet checked her hands to see they were clean, and when she wiped under her nose, it was still clean with no sign of dried blood either. Had it all been a dream?

Violet looked to the side table to see the pendulum of her metronome swinging back and forth. There was two glasses of water, a small box of apple juice, and a packet of jammie dodgers. Violet picked up the juice box and peeled off the paper that was stuck to the bottom.

'Sweet dreams, Vi. Feel better when you wake up. ~L̶o̶v̶e̶ Lockwood'

Violet bit her lip as she smiled seeing the endearment crossed out. He was such an adorable bastard sometimes. Violet folded up the letter and tucked it into her journal before stabbing her straw into the juice box and drinking the sweet apple juice. The sugar soothed her throat nicely.

Lucy groaned and opened her eyes.

Violet grabbed one of the water cups and handed it to the girl behind her, "Drink up, sleeping beauty."

Lucy gratefully drank the water, "Thanks."

"Thank Lockwood. Do you...remember what happened last night?" Violet asked testingly.

Lucy shook her head, "No. Why?"

Violet turned away, "It's nothing."

Violet didn't even know how to process what had happened. And if Lucy didn't remember, she didn't want to say anything that might trigger her. Violet grabbed her packet of biscuits and opened it up, offering one to Lucy before having one herself.

"We didn't end up doing girl's night, did we?" Lucy asked.

Violet smiled, "No. But we'll have it eventually. Hopefully. Wanna head downstairs?"

"Yeah," Lucy stood up, setting down her now empty cup as she walked to the stairs.

Violet followed slowly behind her, her mind still feeling foggy with every move. What had happened last night...was horrible. Violet had dealt with her overwhelming sense of touch for a long time. Nausea to the point of vomiting. Passing out. Painful sensations. Paralyzation. Headaches that made her feel like her brain was going to explode. Horrifying visions. But she had never felt that. And her nose dripping blood like that? Whatever happened with that skull was nothing good and nothing she ever wanted to go through again.

Violet plopped down in a seat at the table, tossing down her half-empty packet of biscuits as she did so, "God, we really could use a break, couldn't we? Just a night off. Or an easy job. Just a small one. Regular old haunting. In and out. That would be nice."

Lucy nodded in agreement, "Yeah. How are you healing, by the way?"

"Well, in the span of a week, I was choked, I got thrown down two flights of stairs, nearly got my wrist broken, almost got blown to bits...frankly, I look like I got hit by a train," Violet said before biting off a piece of her biscuit, "I'm gonna be wearing pants and long sleeves for weeks."

"I mean...the scratches on your neck are gone at least?" Lucy said in a small voice.

Violet sensed her tone and looked up, "Oh, I'm not trying to make you feel bad or anything. Sorry."