Daughter of Thanatos

Chapter 1

     "Violet Arum," the woman read, her immaculate white lacquered nails drummed against the desk. She didn't even glance up at the girl she was speaking to. What a snob, Vi thought as she shifted in her seat, getting comfortable while she waited on the woman to continue.

     "Please pack up your things." Finally, she looked up from her paper, setting it down on her desk and clasping her hands. "Tomorrow you will be going home with the Hedge family."

      If there was one thing Violet had wanted more than anything in the world was a family. But after the last few, and what she had seen, what had tried to hurt them, she was less than eager to get a new one. She stood up, chair grating across the wooden floors. Turning, she left wordlessly, heading to her room.

     As midnight rolled around, she lay awake, staring at the ceiling, her mind racing. Why did they have to pick me? Her mind was racing. Why did they pick a teenager who couldn't remember life before age fourteen?

     Her head started pounding and she relented, letting the thoughts drift away, and going back to staring blankly at the celing. A gentle knock on the door startled her out of her trance, and a young girl's head appeared in the doorway.

     "Hey Lilly," she patted the side of the bed next to her. The little girl, Lilly, closed the door, scampering across the room and diving on to the bed. "What are you doing up so late?" Violet questioned, a look of mock sternness on her face.

     "I couldn't sleep." Lilly reached out, wrapping the older girl in a hug.

     "Was it the nightmares again?" The small girl shook her head against Vi's chest. She looked up, staring for a moment before bursting out in tears.

     "A-are are you re-really leaving?" She choked out between sobs and hiccups.

     "I am." Violet stroked her hair, trying to calm her down. "Don't cry," she moved back, staring into Lilly's eyes. "Nothing bad is going to happen to me, okay? I'm just going to stay with these people for a while."

     Lilly had stopped crying, rubbing her eyes and sniffling lightly. "Only for a little while?"

     "Only for a while." She hugged her again, "And when I turn eighteen I'm going to find you." Lilly's eyes lit up, recognizing what was coming next. "And we're going to live together in a big old house with a big old garden."

     "And we're going to stay up and eat pizza!" She finished, yelling. Vi shushed her, pulling her back down to a seated position. "And we're going to eat pizza." Lilly yawned, her eyes fluttering closed. She looked ready to go to sleep at any second.

     "Let's get you back to bed, okay Lilly?" The small child had already passed out. Vi reached down, picking her up and carrying her back to her own room. She tucked her in before giving her one last hug and leaving, closing the door behind her.

     Lilly meant everything to Vi, she even considered her like her own daughter. Violet had lived at Dawson's foster home since she turned fourteen, right after the accident. The accident that had erased every single memory Violet had. When she turned up alone at the hospital, nobody had come to claim her, leaving her to foster care.

     She had only been there for half a year when Lili was brought in, only a few weeks old. She was a premature baby and the mother didn't want him. Violet had ore than jumped at the opportunity the headmistress had given her to care for Lilly.

     She had left a few times, but she was always back within weeks. There had only been three attempts by people to adopt her. And with how the last foster parents turned out, Vi had thought nobody would try anymore. She had hoped nobody would try anymore.

~

     Violet had somehow managed to fall asleep that night. And like usual, she woke up covered in sweat, and screaming. Nightmares were more than common for her. It seemed like they were the only dreams she had. Always about the accident, never right.

     Otherwise I'd have to explain how a gorgon was real. How it killed my mom. How it killed the last family I was with.

     She shook off the thought, focusing instead on getting ready for her shower. It was still early, so early that Vi still had warm water. She was like a robot, moving task to task in a trance like state. She was too focused on blocking the visions of the dream she had.

     She stepped out of the shower in her towel, walking over to the foggy mirror, and the counter top where she had left her clothes. They weren't there. She looked around, not seeing a trace of any people, or where her clothes could have gone.

     The door creaked open, and out of the corner of her eye, Vi saw a shadow fly across a way. She jumped, frightened. A teenager walked in. It was Evory, Vi's old roommate. The door slammed behind her as the lights flickered.

     Electricity charged the air as two shadows took the shapes of horses, coming to stand next to Evory. She stood, a malicious grin slowly making it's way across her face. Her eyes, once a spring green, were now as black as the pits of hell.

     Violet looked around, trying to find something to use as a weapon. She had no such luck. The thing, the thing that wasn't Emory anymore walked closer, with every step, the electric hum grew louder. There was nothing left to do.

     Violet made a break for it, sprinting towards the door as fast as she could. It was faster, pinning her up against a wall by her throat. Her legs dangled, helplessly kicking out, unable to make it lose its grip.

     Everything was going blurry, then a searing pain took over her right arm. Is... Is this what dying feels like, and with that thought, she blacked out.