VIOLET VS SARA
THREE
They had cleaned up Violet’s mess as best they could, though they’d waited so long, some of it had soaked too much into the couch material and left a stain. Violet sighed with annoyance as she flipped the cushions. Jim was now in class, but Violet had none today, and she was also off from her part time job. She got some work done around the apartment, such as unpacking some of the boxes they hadn’t gotten around to. After a few hours of this, Violet felt like getting a Coke, but when she opened the fridge, she saw they had apparently gone through their stash already. So, she grabbed her wallet and stepped outside, going down the stairwell to the vending machines near the apartment office. As she stepped up the Coke machine, digging out a dollar, she saw a man leaning heavily against the machine as he seemed to mull over his choices.
The man noticed her, then stepped back saying, “Go ahead, I don’t know what I want yet,” he sounded very tired. And Violet was not surprised, since this was the man she had seen tormented in the apartment four doors down from hers last night.
Violet had told Jim she wouldn’t get involved until he could find the number to that organization he mentioned. But here the man was, looking haggard as hell, and Violet just couldn’t help herself.
“Are you okay?” she said to him.
The man just looked at her, eyes a little bit haunted. He shrugged. “I’m just really tired,” he said. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Violet didn’t think a whole solid day’s sleep would have been enough. She gave him a sympathetic smile, and tried to put the image of his thrashing, naked body out of her mind. Now that he wasn’t drenched in sweat and in obvious agony, Violet thought he was rather good looking. She had seen that he was physically fit last night, possibly just from the torture sessions alone being a work out for his whole body, but he had a handsome face, even if he was several days overdue for a shave and his expression was rather melancholy. Violet turned and got her Coke. She paused, then put another dollar in the machine and got a Dr. Pepper. She handed it to him. “Here,” she said. “My treat.”
The man gave her a surprised look. “Oh, no, that’s okay, really. You didn’t have to do that.”
“Hey, I’m just being a good neighbor,” Violet said giving him a bright smile. “We live on the same floor, I’ve seen you coming out of the apartment down the hall. Come on, take it.”
The man managed a small smile in return. “How’d you know I liked Dr. Pepper?” he said.
“You had your hand hovering between it and the root beer,” she replied. “So I figured you weren’t sure between those two, but you probably wanted the caffeine.”
“Ah,” he said. He took a drink and let out a breath. “Yeah, that really hit the spot. Thanks a lot. My name’s Doug. Let me know if you need any help with something sometime.” He held out his hand and Violet shook it.
“Violet,” she said. “My boyfriend’s name is Jim. And likewise on the help.”
Doug’s smile faltered a bit at then, almost like he wanted to say something else, but he forced it back into place. He turned and started to walk towards the stairs. Violet tried to ignore the slump of his shoulders as he went. She meant to wait until he was back on their floor before going up the steps himself, but she just couldn’t do it. She quickly stepped up behind him and walked with him, until they got to her door.
“Well, this is my stop,” said Violet. She paused then, said, “Do you need help with anything?” Doug shook his head. “Nah,” he said. Then he chuckled humorlessly and muttered, “Not unless you know a good way to get rid of witches.” He turned to go to his place.
The words came out almost of their own accord. “Is that what she is? A witch?”
Doug froze. Then he turned and his face had hardened into a stony expression, but his eyes seemed to light up with several emotions at once. Violet took a step back as the intensity of the gaze surprised her. She let her psychic senses rise a bit to better tell what he was feeling. Shock, followed by an almost hope that was instantly replaced by distrust, which became fear, which started to move to panic.
“I saw you last night, Doug,” she said. “I’m psychic. I could sense something going on in your apartment, and it was going on for so long, I had to check it out to see that everything was okay. I saw what she was doing to you. And I saw her.”
Remarkably, Violet felt Doug shove his emotions down and his features calmed. He turned again and started walking quickly. “I have to go.”
“Doug, wait!” said Violet, following him. “Doug!”
“Get away from me!” he shouted. He reached into his pockets and yanked out his keys. They slipped from his grip and went skittering across the floor, down to the door past his. “Shit!” he muttered. He nearly dashed towards them, snatched them up, and fumbled for the right key as he backtracked to his door. Violet reached his door just as he did.
“Doug,” she said. Doug’s hand was shaking and he couldn’t seem to get the key in the lock.
“Leave me the fuck alone,” he said. “I’ve got enough problems with the witch. I don’t need some psychic trying to fuck with me. For all I know, you’re one of her friends, and she’s setting this up just to screw with me some more.”
“No, Doug, listen,” said Violet. He dropped his keys again and cursed. He snatched them up and moved to try again, but Violet placed her hand over the lock. “Doug. Calm down. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not going to try and screw with you either. I just want to know what’s going on. I wasn’t sure last night, but I can tell now without having to read your mind that it’s not a consensual thing.” She looked in his eyes, trying show him she was sincere. “I want to help you, Doug. But you have to let me, okay?”
He looked at her for a few long moments before saying, “Can you stop her?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “My boyfriend thinks he can contact some people who might be able to. But I’m here, right now, and I want to help.”
“If you can’t stop her, what can you possibly do to help me?” Doug said bitterly.
“I can…” Violet paused, wishing she had something, anything to say that would give him concrete help. “I can try to ease the torment she puts you through. I can use my powers. I can help you regain your calm, relax, and help get your head back together, so you don’t have the spend the next week walking around like a zombie.”
Doug considered it, and seemed about to nod, but then, he hesitated. Cautiously, he said. “How… how do I know I can trust you?”
Violet frowned. “You can’t,” she said. “But… I guess if you look at it this way, I doubt I can fuck you up any more than she has.” Doug smiled humorlessly, then nodded. “Okay,” said Violet. “So, who is she? What’s the deal between you to?”
Doug cleared his throat. “Sara. Her name is Sara.” He paused. “The deal between us is… kind of a long story… I guess.”
“Okay,” said Violet. She took Doug’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go to my apartment. I don’t really want to do this in your place.”
Doug frowned. “If she wants to come after me, it won’t matter where I am,” he said. “But then, if you’re going to help me and she catches you, it won’t matter where you are either.”
Violet thought for a moment. “Well, if we’re screwed either way, let’s just go to my place. It should be less stressful a location for both of us.” After a moment’s hesitation, Doug nodded, and he followed her.