VIOLET KNIGHT 》 PETER PARKER [1]

new year. [2.3]

"I can't, I'm sorry."

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Over the course of the 3 days until New Years Eve, Cora had not once seen a single red dragon on the back of any motorcyclist in New York. She watched for them when she took Penny to Cookie Cafè on Saturday, watched the background of the news every morning, and at night, she was so focused that nothing couldn't break her stare. But still, nothing. Did it disappoint her? Definitely. She hated the fact that she had no leads. But she tried to reassure herself, that maybe it would just take a bit longer.

The problem was, she didn't want to wait longer. She watched everyday as Penny and her Dad became more and more agreeable with her mother. Cora wouldn't eat anything her mother made, in fear it was laced with the drug. Penny was so calm it was like she didn't have an energetic bone in her body. Cora hated it. That wasn't her baby sister, her mother was just slowly taking away any and all enthusiasm or self-drive. Cora decided she couldn't wait any longer.

Every night, she told Michelle of her outings and anything she saw. Nothing gave her any hints, it annoyed both of them. Cora kept Peter in the dark about it, though. She knew him well enough to now that he would try to get involved. Sure, he was shy, and quiet.. but he would try to do anything he could to crack down on this. Cora already felt horrible about pulling Michelle in, so she needed to keep Peter out. He was a lot more sensitive than Michelle, and panicked much faster. It wouldn't be healthy for Peter if he were to get involved.

Checking her phone, she read the time. 7:54pm. Michelle would be here any minute to pick her up. Turning to look at herself in the mirror again, she fixed her hair a bit and adjusting her dress. She knew she looked pretty, but there was too much on her mind for that to even matter.

Her hair was in loose curls, and she was wearing more makeup than just mascara. It was actually a full face, she was even wearing a soft pink lipstick. She wore a nice, grey-blue slip dress that was basically shapeless, exactly how she liked it. Loose and comfortable. With silver heels on her feet that made her three inches taller, she definitely looked nice. Nicer than usual, at least.

Cora heard a horn honk outside, and she grinned because she knew it was Michelle. She rushed downstairs and threw her coat on, grabbing her purse and walking out. She saw Michelle's car at the end of her driveway, and she carefully walked through the low snow to her car. She opened the door and climbed in, seeing Michelle in the backseat and her brother Zeke in the front, in the driver's seat.

Michelle gave a big smile to Cora, "hey! You look nice." She said, herself wearing an actual dress for once. Her's was a dark blue, and looked great with her dark hair.