Finding ( Safe and Sound Trilogy: Book 2 )

Chapter 8: Violet - Evil Spirits and Red Headed Ladies

Yarrow herb. I don't even know what that is, much less what it looks like. How am I supposed to find one? Anne, oh my god shut up. I'll pick this just to get her to stop screaming... I reached for some shiny grreen leaves to the left of me on a tree which had some spikes from small, greenish flowers. It looked pretty, and in some places it had green or greenish-yellow fruits, that looked delicious...

"What are you doing? NO!" Bry yelled, leaping towards me and slapping my hand away from the tree. "That's not a yarrow herb! You idiot, this is manchineel. How have you even been living this long?"

My eyes widen and she rolls her's, as if her screaming at me wasn't enough. She turns around to follow Anne to continue our expedition for Kris's yarrow herb and mutters, "Don't you know Manchineel will give you severe dermatitis in what, five hours? Even if we used these in a fire for some reason, the smoke would irritate our eyes. Don't you and Kris know anything?"

"That's what we have you for?" I said, but it was more like a question.

Bry smiled. "You're lucky you have me."

For a couple of minutes, the only sounds that were heard were the crunching of twigs and leaves under our feet and Anne's worrying. "What if we don't find it? What if it doesn't grow here? Oh no, oh, Kris!" Bry sighed roughly. I looked around at our surroundings, and tried to block out Anne's voice. By accident, I blocked out Bry's too.

"Violet!" She said loudly.

"Huh?"

"Are you still on this planet? I said your name five times." She explained.

"I'm sorry, I was blocking out-"

"Shh!" She shushed me, and we both grinned. "A yarrow herb looks like a bunch of tiny blue flowers within a flower. It's very pretty and peaceful looking in my opinion. Look for it, will you?"

"Got it." I nodded.

I looked around, and I saw something that looked like it fitted Bry's description of the yarrow herb, but I was wrong. This repeated about five times before Bry said that I could just tag along because I was obviously of no help to the group at the moment. But then I saw it: The yarrow herb. I alerted Bry and pointed to it: it was by a fallen tree trunk.. A familiar tree trunk.

Bry gasped. "Yes! YES! Anne! Anne, look! Violet found some!" She yelled as I jogged over to it.

I was dizzy. Very dizzy. I almost fell onto the ground, and it became hard to see with everything moving around. Assuming that this is what being drunk feels like, I stumbled over to the herb. The air became colder and colder as I approached the herb, until finally when I got to it, the air was frosty. I bent down to pick the herb, and fell to the ground, the world still spinning, but as soon as I touched it, it turned to ice. The whole yarrow herb, the herb that could save my brother, frozen.  Teeth chattering, I turned to look at Bry and Anne, who were both gone. I turned back around, and I wasn't dizzy anymore. I was perfectly fine, but freezing. I hugged myself for warmth. Where had they gone, and why did they leave?

"Violet, come on!" I heard Anne's voice. "Get the herb so we can go!" 

"Anne, I don't think she can." Bry said.

Where were their voices coming from? Is this some kind of sick joke? A horrible, terrifying magic trick? Was this Hayden, messing with my brain? No, it can't be Hayden. He was back with Kris at the camp. It can't be him. Slowly, somebody cloaked in black rose from the ground, with firey red eyes that burned you when you looked into them came from out of the ground. I felt like I was on first, burning despite the snow falling. I screamed out in pain, I couldn't control it. Tears fell from my eyes quickly, but they didn't soothe the fire.

Somehow through my screams, and I heard one pair of footsteps in front of me.  "Oof!" One girl cried out. The two pairs of footsteps behind me stopped suddenly, and they bodies crashed to the ground, but not in the snow.

 For one second, the fire went away, and I was dizzy again. I could breathe. There was no snow, no ice, no scary monster burning me from the inside out. I thought I saw fire, but I was wrong. It was the red headed lady from a while ago.

"Don't give into it, Violet." She told me. The world spun, and everything went back to snow and freezing cold, up until the zombie-spirit-like thing opened it's eyes. I screamed again as I was burned even more.

"What's happening?" I heard Anne scream. "What's going on? Is she allergic?"

"Why can't we come closer to her?" Bry asked no one.

I was dizzy again, the world swirled, and I was back in reality. I could see the red headed lady again. I could breathe once more. 

"Help me..." I cried, tears running down my cheeks. I heard people behind me, approaching me.

"We can't come closer, Violet, I'm sorry! We can't help you!" I could hear the fear in Bry's voice, behind me. But I wasn't talking to her.

"One day, I'll be able to, baby." The red-headed lady told me. "One day, I will be re-united with you." The red-headed lady looked up and behind me, and then into my eyes again. "I love you. I always have. I always will. One day, we'll be reunited."

She stormed off.

I heard someone stumble behind me, and then a gasp. I was about to fall when somebody caught me, one hand behind my head, one holding up my back. My eyes were closed. I was still burning inside, but I had no energy to scream, plus it wasn't as bad. I opened my eyes for a second, and saw Anne above me. Se was talking, but I only heard a ringing in my ears. She looked straight into my eyes, and I exhaled while simutaneously closing them, and passing out.