Violet
I began walking, feeling three pair of eyes burning in my back–but I had already made my decision. Whatever was in that box, whatever it had to say, I would deal with it.
I was afraid, petrified–but it had to be done. It. was only fair.
About one hour in, nothing had happened yet. So far so good.
I wasn’t completely fine, though. With the others, it took about an hour for the first signs. to show, and now that I was past that mark, I felt a tight feeling in my chest. I was mortified of what might come next.
The others kept a close eye on me, as if all three of them were ready to jump in if I couldn’t handle it. I tried to stay relaxed, tried to breathe–but every muscle in my body was tensed, waiting for disaster.
“We’re almost halfway,” Dylan encouraged. “If we keep up this tempo, we’ll be there in no time.”
I nodded, my lips feeling way too dry to even form a sentence. The walk reminded me of
the beginning of a bad fever. You knew it was coming, you just didn’t know when.
Then, I heard it.
‘Violet.‘
My name was getting whispered over and over. The voices sounded like several older
women, all calling out to me but none of them were in synch. I tried to keep my cool, glancing around quickly, but no one else seemed to notice, so I kept walking–determined
to ignore it.
It was useless because it didn’t make the whispers stop.
“Tell them about your glasses.‘
The voices grew louder, coming from everywhere at once. They came from the box, the
woods, even inside my head–and it was starting to get to me.
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Chapter 22
I gulped, gripping the box in my hands even tighter, pretending like nothing was happening. I couldn’t let them see me freak out. Not yet.
‘Tell them the glasses are to control you, to hide you from what you really are.‘
‘Open the box, and we won’t bother you anymore.‘
The voices multiplied, first it were three, then six, and now I couldn’t keep count
anymore.
‘He hates you. Your brother wants you dead. The fraud wants you gone.‘
“The beast craves you, but the man rejects you. He’ll never want you.‘
‘I can see your future. Bound by fate, but torn by greed and desire.‘
I focused on keeping my feet moving, trying to convince myself that none of it was real- but so far, everything the voices had said had been disturbingly spot on. These whispers knew my past, my present–and possible my future.
‘You need to tell them about the glasses.‘
‘Open the box, Violet. Do it and we’ll leave you alone.‘
‘Remove the glasses!‘
‘Open it.‘
Open the box.‘
My throat tightened as I swallowed, trying to block out the voices.
‘Do you want to see us? Do you want to know what Claire was hiding from you? Remove the glasses.‘
‘Open the box. The truth is waiting.‘
Mom?
My fingers twitched around the box at the sound of her name. Mom had never kept
anything from me–this had to be illusions, tricks to get in my head.
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Chapter 22
“Take them off. They’re hiding you. Open the box.‘
‘Don’t you know you’re one of us? You silly girl.‘
‘She’s not one of us. She’s the devil’s child!‘
The voices laughed inside my head, and kept on multiplying until it felt like there were over fifty of them. My heart pounded, I couldn’t focus. I was losing it, going crazy–but I couldn’t let anyone see. I couldn’t let them see me as weak. Not here, not now.
Just a bit longer, Violet.
‘Leave her alone!‘ Another voice broke through the many. This one was different–gentler.
The other voices faded for a few seconds, leaving a moment of silence. Then I heard it again–yelling, screaming, the sound of pure panic.
‘It’s Adelaide, run!‘ one voice shouted before vanishing into the background, and then, everything went quiet.
Adelaide?
My head spun, hearing that name. I’d heard it before–it was the name Esther had accidentally called me.
It was the name of the girl in the picture with Mom, her best friend.
Why would they call out her name?
Chapter Comments
Visitor
I think Adelaide is her biological mom.
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