Chapter 16

Chapter 16

      Violet had been in her room for hours after her parents had explained everything to her. She had learned so much about herself in such a short time. She also learned a lot about her parents. She had no idea that they had suffered so much before they had her. Violet was even more grateful for her parents than ever before. But she was also terrified to start school. What if she couldn’t contain her hunger, what if she ate regular food? What if she got sick in class? She had all of this new information about herself and she didn’t know what to do with it all. She was starting school in a few weeks so she had some time to adjust, but she was still worried about revealing the secret her parents and kept secret for so long.

      Violet started to look at the new clothes that her mother had bought her and she started to try them all on again. Thinking about how easy it would be to get blood on them when she would eat lunch at school. She went downstairs to talk to her mother.

“Mom, I have a question for you.”

“Hey Vi, sure, what’s your question?” Her mother looked happy to see her.

“Since I have to hide what I eat, can you show me how you and dad don’t make a mess? I don’t want to get blood on my clothes at school. The other kids would ask questions…wouldn’t they?”

Her mother’s smile turned into a straight face, she paused before responding to choose her words very carefully.

“That is an excellent idea Vi. I’m surprised your father and I didn’t think about this. We can show you when we eat this evening.”

“Okay, I’ll be in my room” Violet was heading up the stairs when her mother stopped her.

“Is everything okay sweetheart? You’ve hardly spoken since we told you everything.”

Violet paused and turned to look at her mom “I…I’m sorry…I just…I’m just worried that I’m going to ruin everything. That I’m going to reveal our secret to all the other kids and teachers at school. What if I do? We’ll have to move won’t we? Or worse?! I just feel…I feel like I’m going to spoil everything that you and dad have built. You told me all the things you and daddy had to go through to get to where you are now and I’m afraid that I’m going to destroy everything!” Violet was struggling to explain everything that she was feeling. She was failing to hold back tears; she was afraid of upsetting her mom.

Her mother had knelt down to be at Violet’s eye level.

“Vi, you don’t have anything to be worried about. Even if our secret is exposed, we’ll find a way to fix everything. Your father and I have dealt with much worse, and you know that now. We know that you are strong enough to keep this secret, and to keep your impulses in check. I know that you are only 7 years old, and that this is a lot to take in. We wanted to wait until you were older but that was unwise of your father and I. We should have told you sooner so you would’ve had more time to prepare. I don’t want you to feel like all of this is on you, because it’s not. Your father and I are going to do everything in our power to help you understand your illness before you start school. You won’t be going into this blind; we want you to understand anything and everything that you don’t already know. We both love you so much sweetheart!”

Violet’s mother was tearing up now, and she had pulled Violet into a long embrace. They stayed like that for a while, both of them crying and holding each other close.

 

      When Violet’s dad came back from work they went hunting. Her mom and dad showed her how they killed the squirrels to keep the blood off of their clothes. They would pick a particular part of the squirrel’s neck where a specific vein was, Violet couldn’t remember the name, and take their first bite. They would drink in a lot of the gushing blood before taking bites. Once most of the blood was drained they would finish eating the raw meat. Her dad lunged towards a squirrel that was in a tree to the left of them. He brought it over to Violet. Violet grabbed it and tried to do what they had taught her. She almost had it, but once the blood touched her tongue she couldn’t help herself. She was starving and the blood was so intoxicating. She stopped trying to be careful and took bite after bite until she was almost covered in the small animal’s blood. When she finished she looked down at her dress and saw what she did. She felt ashamed and looked at her parents. Her father was looking back at her, as was her mother. But they didn’t look angry.

“That was good Vi! I know it doesn’t look like it, but that was good! Better than your father and I expected!” Her mother was smiling at her. Violet was confused, she got blood all over her new clothes, how was this good?

“But…I made a mess…” Violet was close to tears again.

Her father knelt to her eye level before responding, “Violet, even though you only lasted for short time, that was longer than you used to last. You were always a vivacious eater, even when you were younger. You couldn’t wait to devour the animal’s flesh and blood; now, you showed control that your mother and I haven’t seen you have before. You may think that you only lasted for a second, but you lasted about 20 seconds. I know that doesn’t seem like an improvement, but I promise you, you’re mother and I are extremely proud of you! With practice you’ll be able to eat without leaving a drop of blood on your clothes.” Her father was smiling at her and he gave her a big hug. When he pulled away Violet laughed out loud, he had gotten the squirrel’s blood all over his clothes too. All three of them laughed and continued to hunt.

      Violet was getting a bit better. She still got a lot of the blood on her, but she didn’t get as much on her as she used to. They were hunting for a few hours because Violet wanted to keep trying until she was perfect. It wasn’t until her parents noticed how late it had gotten that they told Violet it was time for bed. As they were walking back home Violet noticed something strange. She kept her eye on it. She stopped in her place and her parents kept walking. Violet couldn’t stop looking at it. It was pulling her closer, and closer. Her parents turned around and saw that Violet was fixated on something.

“What’s the matter Vi?” her mother asked.

“Don’t you see it? It’s…it’s…” she couldn’t describe it. It was beautiful and terrifying all at once.

“I don’t see anything Vi, we should head back…” her mother stopped, she was looking at it now too.

“Aaron…Aaron, come here.”

Aaron slowly walked over, “What are you two look…” he too stopped, he was looking at the same thing.

      It was a strange object that looked as if it was flickering, like a candle. But it wasn’t an object; it looked as if it was an apparition, or a shadow. But it had life to it, and it seemed like it was calling them over to it. It was every color of the rainbow, and every color that hadn’t been discovered yet. It was waving, and swaying, and gesturing them to come closer. They all obliged and moved closer to the mysterious object. They were close to touching it when the figure evaporated. Once the figure was gone, the spell that they were under was gone as well. They looked at one another, confused of what they had just seen. Worried, about what it was and what it meant. Claire picked up Violet and the three of them walked back to their house.