Dead Jealous • AHS • Complete

Chapter One • edited

"Happy Birthday!" Violet blew out the candles on the beautiful red velvet cake Moira had made after Vivian's first three failed attempts. Although they could eat, it never seemed as though they had to use the toilet or get hungry. Any food they ate seemed to just...disappear somehow, but nobody ever really gave it much thought. Especially Violet, who could eat as much as she wanted and would feel exactly the same, and not put on any weight.

"Thanks, Moira," said Violet as she took a bite from the cake. "I don't think I could've handled it if Mom had baked it. Joke, Mom," she added when Vivian gave her a mock dirty look, but winked at Moira when she wasn't looking.

"We got Constance to go out and get your present," Vivian explained, handing Violet a wrapped small box and glancing at Constance, who was sat at the kitchen island. If Violet was being honest, she didn't really understand why her parents were being nice to Constance. Maybe it was because that she was their only link to the world outside the house.

"You didn't have to," protested Violet, but opened it anyway. It was a necklace with her name on it. How original, she thought.

"Sorry if its a bad present, " apologized Ben. " But we couldn't think of anything else.

Blades, Violet thought, but pushed it away. Now she knew she wouldn't die if she cut herself - because, well, she was already dead - she had been doing it more often, and the cuts had been healing in under an hour, leaving only small faded white lines across her pale skin.

"It's fine," she forced herself to say, getting Ben to clip it on.

"Excuse me?" It was the first time Dace had appeared since he died four days ago, so he received a lot of sympathetic looks, especially from Constance, who had lost her son all those years ago.

"Where am I? Where are my parents?" He looked at all of them, and Constance finally stopped staring and took him from the room to explain everything to him, about the house and that his parents had pretty much freaked and moved out almost straight away.

Violet felt for the boy. They were about the same age and, well, she could still remember how she had felt when Tate had first told her that she had died. She felt empty, lost. And she knew that this was how Dace had felt when he woke up and realised that he was dead and his parents were long gone.

Violet took another bite of the cake, pretending not to care that somebody else had died in the murder house. It was easier than showing emotion. Nobody had since the Harmon's, and now Violet felt a pang of regret. If she'd never overdosed, they could probably be out of there, alive, and Hayden wouldn't have a grudge against them, and maybe, just maybe, they could be the happy family that they once were.

But what's done is done, she thought. And now, she could stay young forever, and with her family forever. She tried not to let her mind wander to the fact that she was also going to be stuck here with Tate forever, too.

She still loved him, but she knew that she shouldn't forgive him for what he had done, even if she really wanted to. And oh God, all she wanted was to forgive him and fall back into his arms once again.

Constance came back in the kitchen, minus Dace.

"He's gone to feel sorry for himself, " she said, "the poor boy is dead, after all."

***

"Hi, I'm Tate," Tate introduced himself to Dace, who just ignored him as he sat on the floor of the cellar, cying his eyes out.

Tate waited another minute before giving up on the friendliness.

"Just thought I'd let you know, if you go anywhere near Violet I'll kill you a second time, understand?" Dace managed to nod through his crying and Tate left, satisfied. He knew Violet would forgive him eventually, and he could wait forever, if that's how long it took.

Tate sighed, "I want us to be friends, Dace. You need to realize that there is no way out of this house. I've been here for much more than a couple of years. You'll soon get used to it,"

Dace pulled his knees up to his face and managed to stop crying as a girl around his age entered the cellar, carrying a plate with a red slice of cake on it.

"Here. You'll be okay eventually. We all were." She set the plate down beside him and sat a few metres away, hands folded in her lap.

"Are you Violet? I've been told to stay away from you." Dace managed to ask as he took the plate from the floor and started to bite into it. He gazed at the white lines along her wrist and up her arm, but then looked away as she noticed him stating.

"Tate," she cursed under her breath, and smiled at Dace. "If you ever want one of us to leave you alone, just shout at us to go away, and we'll be gone. Thats kind of how it works here.Okay?" She didn't wait for an answer and she practically flew up the stairs and almost straight into Ben.

"I'm just going to see Dace. Is he okay?" He peered down into the cellar and caught a glimpse of Dace's feet. Violet had no chance to answer when he started to talk again.

"Happy Birthday, honey," he said, heading down the steps.

Technically Violet would've been nineteen, but they'd decided every birthday would be classified as the age they already are, so Vivian's birthday will always be her forty first, Ben's will always be his forty third, and so on.

She would never go to college.
She would never get to see the world, or get married, or have children.
Violet would remain eighteen forever.

***

This is edited, so if anybody notices any mistakes, please let me know in the comments.

Thanks x