Violet

Chapter 60: Jasper

 Violet's POV

I woke up drenched in my own sweat. Before I wiped my forehead, I found myself laying on a worn out bed. The bedroom around me was dark and depressing. Shattered glass and splintery wood pieces covered the floor. The wallpaper hung off of the wall almost touching the floor. There was an old dresser leaning wearily against the wall. Somewhere around me, I heard squeaky sounds. A mouse perhaps.

Getting up, I got off of the bed then walked out of the room. I found myself standing inside of a hallway full of old paintings and pictures hanging on a faded blue wall. The first painting was one of my father holding a note. As I approached it, I saw that the note was real. I snatched the small piece of white paper off of the wall and opened it. 

The note read: Enjoy my old home. I left some of my paintings to brighten up the mood.

I dropped the note and proceeded down the hallway. The paintings did the opposite of what my dad said they would do. The paintings scared me, and every time I passed one, it seemed as if one moved. I didn't bother to study them all. Instead, I walked downstairs and looked for the front door. 

I finally spotted the door when I looked to my left. It was near a broken clock that rested on the ground. I shivered from the coolness of the house. Either that or the dark tone of the place. Opening the front door, I was able to walk out onto the porch. I walked down it as well, but the further I walked, the more I felt this strange force pushing me back towards the house. There was a huge boulder at the end of the porch. When I got to it, my legs could no longer walk any further. 

"I really suck here," I whispered to myself. 

"Violet?" A voice almost sent my heart out of my chest. I turned around and saw Ryan standing there looking at me. He wore a heavy black hoodie and black pants. The hood almost hid his whole face.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, feeling afraid. I looked around to see if he was alone, and he was. I couldn't back away as he stepped closer.

"Your father did this to you," he exclaimed.

"I know," I said with the palm of my hand out. "Answer my question, what are you doing here?"

He was quiet for a few seconds before letting out a sigh. "I came to save you from your dad and Abby."

"You got yourself into this, Ryan. You're never getting out of it."

"What?" He said, taking a step closer. "Did you hear me? I came to save you! From them!"

"You're one of them," I said. 

Without words, he ran towards me and took my hand. "I'm going to get you out of here," he said, dragging me towards the other side of the house. As we were about to pass the end of the house, he kept walking, but I stayed behind. He looked back at me.

"I can't leave," I said. "My dad locked me here. I can never leave unless I become what he is."

"Violet," he sighed. "Why won't you do it to save yourself?"

"Because I'm not like that. I saw the horrible things he's done. He's not himself," I said. "And neither are you." I did my best to hold back tears but they came pouring out. Ryan walked towards me again but this time I let him stand near me. "I feel like my life is over."

To my surprise, he wrapped his arms around me. I pushed him away, thinking he was going to attack or turn on me. "Stop! Don't touch me."

When he looked at me, I saw that he had tears in his eyes too. "I feel the same way, Violet."

All of a sudden, we heard a noise in the distance. It sounded like some kids playing. There were yelling and laughter. Without notice, Ryan ran towards the sound. 

"Where are you going?" I yelled.

"To see who it is!"

"Don't leave me, Ryan!" I said. It didn't really process inside of my mind to what I had just said. He stopped running and looked at me. Deep inside, I didn't trust Ryan. I didn't want to. It was too dangerous. However, being alone was dangerous too. Maybe a little trust wouldn't be so bad.

"Hey, I heard a noise over here," I heard a kid scream. 

Ryan ran back towards me and we both looked in the direction where the voices came from. Behind the trees, we could see figures running towards us. Ryan stood in front of me. I peeked from behind him and saw a very familiar face approaching.

"Jasper!" A smile quickly spread across my face when I saw him reaching for a little girl. There was a small boy running after him.

"Hey!" I waved my hands in the air. "Jasper, it's me, Violet!"

Jasper's mouth dropped. He smiled and ran towards us. "Violet? Is that really you? You have grown so much since I last saw you.

"You too," I smiled. "And Caroline. That's her name right?" I asked, unsure.

"Yeah, she's nine now," Jasper replied. "And this is our friend, Tate. He doesn't really have parents, so he hangs with us."

"Like a brother," Caroline said.

Ryan cleared his throat and reached out his hand. "I'm Ryan. A friend of Violet."

Jasper eyed me for a second as if I had to confirm it. I nodded. "He's an old friend," I said.

"Nice to meet you," Jasper smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"Um," I think about what to say. "Well..."

"Where's your mom?" Jasper asked.

"I don't really know,"  I shrugged.

"Strange. I haven't seen my mother in years."

When he said that, I just knew it. My father was the reason and Jasper had no clue. I didn't know how to tell him or if I should even tell him. I looked at Ryan, looking for an answer, but I couldn't read his face expression. 

"Violet," Ryan looked at me. "You should tell-"

"Don't worry, Jasper. She'll be right back soon. Don't you worry one bit," Caroline told him.

"I know," Jasper replied with a smile. 

Ryan gave me hard look. "Violet," he said in low voice. "Does he know about-"

"Shush," I said. 

"What's he talking about?" Jasper asked. "Know what?"

Everything was happening too fast. I didn't want to tell him what I knew, but Ryan was pushing me. I couldn't just say, "Sorry, Jasper, your mother's dead. She won't be back anytime soon," or better yet, "She most likely sacrificed her life to save you." I wasn't even sure of that.

"Violet!" Jasper said, growing impatient and a bit angry. "What is he talking about? Where is my mother?"

Before I could say anything, Ryan put his hand on Jasper's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I don't think she's alive anymore."

Jasper looked at me. I nodded as a way to confirm what Ryan said was true. I didn't know how to explain everything, but I had to start with something. He needed to know the truth about my father, no matter how bad it sounded.