See No Evil (Anthony Lockwood)

chapter 46

The day had come for them to go to the Jones manor, meaning they would have to come face-to-face with Violet's old agency members. Violet felt like she had spent the entire morning in a fog. All of her actions were on autopilot. She was quiet and distracted. She was completely dissociated from reality. And her friends could tell.

Violet was sitting at the table with her fork in hand, slowly playing with the food as she stared blankly at it. Her head was propped up on her other hand. If someone had asked her right then what she was thinking about, she didn't think she'd have an answer.

"Vi...Vi...Violet," Lucy called out to the girl softly, trying to get her to come out of it.

But Violet didn't even feel like talking. It was like any words she could manage to muster up were caught in the back of her throat. She felt like she was in a constant state of almost crying in moments like this, but the tears were unable to come out.

"Just leave her alone. She's not gonna say anything," George said.

Lucy sighed, "Come on, George. There has to be some way we can help her when she's like this. Where's Lockwood?"

"She can still hear you, you know? And I don't know where he is. Probably still getting dressed. He takes longer than a girl to get ready in the morning," George grumbled as he stabbed his fork into his pancakes.

"Well, one of us should get him. Maybe he can- What are you doing?" Lucy watched George as he stood and went to the freezer.

George popped a few ice cubes out of the tray and walked over to Violet before sticking the ice down the back of her shirt. Violet felt like her entire system had been shocked as she abruptly stood with a scream. The ice fell right out and plopped onto the ground.

Violet rubbed at the wet trail down her back, "What the fuck, George?!"

George sat back down and kept eating, "There. She's fine."

Her skin didn't feel much colder than usual, but the ice was still enough to shock her system. Violet was just staring at George in barely concealed anger. Her chair had tipped over behind her.

Violet grabbed the pancake off her plate and threw it right in George's face, "Bitch!"

George glared right back at her, "Did you just throw a pancake at me?"

"Yeah, I fucking did! You stuck ice in my shirt, you ass!"

Lucy just scooted her chair farther away from the now arguing pair, watching them scream at each other. Violet looked like she was about to tackle George right to the ground. She didn't know if she should be trying to calm them down or if she should run away. Maybe call the police to report murder. Because that's what Violet was going to do in a moment. Murder George.

Moments later, Lockwood burst into the room, slightly disheveled with only one shoe tied and his socks mismatched, "What's going on? I heard screaming."

But he was promptly ignored by the arguing teenagers.

"Why the fuck would you do that?!"

"Blame Lucy! She's the one that kept bitching about you being totally whack-a-doodle!"

"Oh, sure! Blame it on everyone else! And I'm not crazy! Don't call me that!"

"Hey! I got you to come out of it! You should be thanking me!"

Violet looked so frustrated that she was near tears, "George!"

While, yes, it had gotten her to stop being quiet, it didn't exactly stop her triggered state. If anything, it exacerbated it. Her body was shaking profusely and she felt like she was going to have a meltdown.