The Paths That Tie (Clementine x Violet)

{20}

Time passed.

The tears eventually stopped falling and the inital shock of the letters began to dwindle down as the reality of the situation settled in. In silence, the two girls respectively began to scan through the letters once more. Digging for any information that wasn't already present the first time through reading them.

Mutually, both teens put down any remaining letters they had grasped, and simply made eye contact with one another. Clementine could see the colorless expression on Violet's face, as it was similar to her own.

Breaking eye contact, Violet began to face the table as her head rested on the palms of her hands.

"God...What a fucking mess." Clementine could only furrow her brows with despair, as she wordlessly agreed.

Lifting her head up once more, Violet took a look once more at the last letter of the bunch. Scanning her eyes on a particular part, Violet began to quote the eyed selection.

" "Please don't let me die for nothing."...All this time I've suspected that there was more to the disappearances that what was told to us. But, fuck...I didn't think it was going to be like this. An organization that profits from kidnapping and brainwashing kids for labor? What kind of a fucking world do we like in, Clem?" Violet defeatedly uttered, clinging onto the page tightly.

While Violet continued to utter incoherent sentences similar to what was said previously, Clementine couldn't break eye contact from the mess of a girl in front of her.

She wished she could take the pain away from her.

That they could go back to the time when they spray painted the school.

Or when they filmed their history project together with Louis.

'Any moment would be better than right now.' Clementine thought, as she attempted to grasp onto these past pleasurable memories.

As if a switch had been flipped in Violet's actions, she began to erratically stuff the slightly crumpled pieces of paper back in the box. Finally snapping out of her unresponsive daze, Clementine began to question what was happening before her.

"Violet...? Are you-"

"Let's take this fucking box, and drive to that god damn school for some answers." Violet snapped, forcefully putting the lid back on the shoe box.

Clementine couldn't even recognize Violet in her own words, as if she had become a different person entirely in that moment. She could see a twinge of regret in Violet's eyes as she processed her words, but seemingly refused to verbally backtrack from them.

Beginning to follow the anger driven blonde, Clementine began to spew out anything that could potentially cool off Violet's heated mind.

"Wait, Violet! We can't just leave. What about AJ and Tenn? What about the teachers watching over you? What about-" Clementine's ramble was swiftly interrupted by the feeling of a hand inside her own, followed by a pair of bright eyes penetrating the deepest crevasses of her own.

"We need answers. I've waited for so long for something to tell me what happened to Sophie, Minnie, and everyone else who has gone missing over the years. The two of us finally have the key that could give us and those children's families that answer. Don't we owe it to them to give it our damndest to at least try? Please, Clem? I...I can't do this without you."

In that moment, Clementine could see not the pain of the Violet standing in front of her, but the Violet that had most likely stood from the sidelines for years prior.