See No Evil (Anthony Lockwood)

chapter 39

Lockwood slipped into the kitchen where Lucy and George were eating dinner without him. They hadn't even set him a place at the table, and he wasn't even sure if they had left anything for him. They were very angry with him after all.

"I know you guys are angry with me. I get that. But I have a gift for you guys that I think you'll quite enjoy," Lockwood said with a grin.

George stabbed relentlessly into his food, "I don't want your bribes, Lockwood. You can't fix this one."

Lucy didn't even bother to acknowledge his existence, instead turning further away from him as she sipped at her tea.

"I get that. But I really think you guys will like this one. So, just a sec," Lockwood dashed out of the room and took Violet by the arms, pushing her into the kitchen in front of him, "Ta-da! It's Violet Summers!"

Violet waved awkwardly, "Um...hi. I'm alive."

Lucy and George both dropped everything they were holding as they stared at her in shock. Their eyes were wide and they were holding their breath.

Lucy slowly stood up, "Vi...you..."

"I know you're probably going to get angry in a minute, so at least let me tell you that I am perfectly fine and safe. I've just been with Flo. And I got over my fear of water. I jumped into the river!"

Lockwood's smile dropped as he leaned forward to look at her, "You did what?"

"Yes, I jumped into the river. Went for a little swim late at night. It was fun," Violet shrugged.

George blinked, "So you left to have a psychotic break and came back? And we're supposed to...what? Be happy for you?"

Lucy was biting her lip harshly as she tried not to cry, "You're such a bitch, Vi. You're horrible. And I hate you so much."

Violet took a step forward and opened up her arms, "I know. I'm the worst. I love you too, Luce."

Lucy ran into her arms, squeezing her so tight that Violet was sure she was going to break something. But she didn't care. She would gladly let Lucy break her if it made her feel better.

It took a few minutes for Lucy to finally let go of her and wipe the tears from her eyes. And then only George was left, sitting stubbornly at the table as he now picked at his food.

Violet slowly approached him, "George...i'm really sorry. I know that's not enough. You hate change and I just left without a word. Just a letter. But I don't regret it. I won't lie to you. Not you. I'll tell you exactly what I told Lockwood."

Lockwood flinched at the change in name. 'Ani' had been a symbol of their intimacy. Their close relationship. 'Lock' had been their friendship. And now it was Lockwood. As if they were strangers again. He knew it wouldn't go straight back to normal with her coming back. He had hurt her. And no matter how many times he apologized, he had still done damage that would take time to repair.

Violet sat in the sit next to George, "I left because I needed to find myself again. You can call it a psychotic break or whatever. Maybe it was. But I'll put it in a way you can appreciate. I was faced with an unknown situation that confused the hell out of me and I needed to research it. And I couldn't do any of that research here. There were no resources here. Too many factors that obscured the underlying truth. Too many distractions and not enough space. Out there on the river, there was so much more for me to learn from. And I learned it. And now i'm back."

"So what you're saying is you took a long trip to the library to research for a job and understand it and now you're back home?" George asked.

"Yeah. That's it. Now i'm back with all of the information, and now I can solve the case safely," Violet smiled.