Playing With Fire (slow updates!)

Chapter 16

Violets POV

I woke up to the sound of the wall phone ringing in the kitchen. Climbing over Patrick doing my best not to wake him before hurrying my way into the tiles flooring. "Hello" I said as I picked up the phone, my voice still scratchy from sleeping. "Violet?" My dads voice replied sounding worried. "Ya it's me. What's wrong?" I asked confused by the tone of his voice. There was a long pause before he said anything back. "They've canceled school for tomorrow, go ahead and tell your brother that it's fine it you all stay the night at the lake house again" he spoke slowly, as if he wasn't sure which words he was going to say. "What's wrong?" I repeated, excited by the fact that we would get another day to spend here but still concerned. "It's a girl from your school, she was found dead in the woods. They wanted to give everyone a day to process the news."

This news didn't faze me. Kids had been being found dead in those woods for a while now, and some where never found. It's almost as if after a while, people just forgot about them. "Ok dad, I'll tell him. I love you" I decided staying off the subject would be best. A sigh came through the speaker, "I love you too Vi, be safe" he answered before hanging up. I put the phone back on the receiver and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Sunshine came into the house through every window, making the space look so pure and warm, despite the darkness of the night before.

I leaned against the counter, looking out the window at the lake. The water was perfectly still, so clear that you could see the bottom in the shallowest parts.
I went to my room, changing into a clean bathing suit. I tossed on a pair of jean shorts over the bottoms, not bothering to zip or button the pants as I planned on getting right in the lake. I grabbed a towel tossing it over my shoulder before heading for the back door.

As I made my way outside I hung my towel on the docks railing, pulling the shorts off and draping them on top. Making my way to the end of the dock I dove off, the feeling of the water waking me up with a jolt. I swam to the bottom grabbing a handful of sand and let it run through my fingers before heading for the surface. I got to the top, pushing my hair away from my face and turning around. When I opened my eyes I let out a small scream. Only about a foot away from me was a boy. His hair was blonde and his eyes were so dark they almost looked black.

He let out a laugh. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you" he said, his arms moving back and forth at a slow pace to keep him above the water. Clutching my chest as my heart pounded I laughed too, it came out nervous and frightened, making me sound scared. "Your fine, that's my bad" I replied, ready to swim away from this awkward in counter. As I turned away I heard the boy speak again from behind me. "Are you from around here" he called still hovering in the water. I shook my head, the movement felt heavy as my wet hair weighed me down. "No, just here for the weekend" I answered with a friendly smile.

A smirk spread over the boys face. "Well if your not doing anything today maybe I could see you again" the boy said swimming a bit closer, I quickly backed up, not a fan of his advances. "Not thanks. I'm actually pretty busy, sorry" I said, doing my best to sound as polite as possible. Apparently he couldn't take a hint. He swam closer once again, this time close enough that if he were to reach out he could touch me. "Oh don't be like that" I rolled my eyes now becoming quite annoyed by his lack of acknowledgment for what I had said.

"I'm not interested, and I really have to go" I said more forcefully this time, hoping my attitude would make him less pushy. "Come on, I don't bite" he laughed before I felt his hand on my waist. I tried to pull away but he only held on tighter, his grip harsh and unforgiving as his fingers bit into my hip. The feeling of his skin against mine was awful and appalled I shoved him away from me. Panic overtook my body as I realized just how aggressive he was being, knowing that if he wanted to overpower me, he easily could. "Didn't you hear her say no? or are you fucking deaf" I heard a voice call from behind me. I whipped around to see Patrick on the dock leaning against the metal railing with his arms crossed over his chest. The boy was quiet for a second before replying. "And you are?" The stranger said, his tone mocking and rude.

No emotion shown from Patrick's face, making it hard to tell what he was about to do or say, which was terrifying. He raised his hand making a 'come here' motion to me and I quickly took the opportunity to swim away from the guy. My fingers grabbed onto the edge of the deck and I pulled myself up before quickly making my way over to Patrick who was now holding up my towel for me. He wrapped it around my shoulders, pushing some wet hair out of my face as he examined me.

I shivered hard as the crisp morning air blew against my wet skin. My heart was pounding so hard that if it was silent I'm sure everyone could hear it. Patrick reached out grabbing the hem of the towel and pulling it up so he could see where the boy had grabbed me. I looked down to see a splotchy red print of his hand on my skin. My eyes widened at the sight of the mark. I knew I bruised easily, but this was just unbelievable. Patrick clenched his jaw and let the towel go, turning towards the water where the boy was still lingering.

"I suggest you swim for your fucking life back to whatever shit hole you crawled out" Patrick said, his voice calm but his tone poisonous. The mystery boy squinted at him, obviously unconcerned by Patrick's warning. A feeling of dread began to wash over me as I witnessed this interaction. Patrick was scary, like a whole different level of scary when he was mad. Like kick you in the face till all your teeth fall out scary, like light you on fire and cook marshmallows over your corps scary.

The part that was the most terrifying though is Patrick felt absolutely nothing. No sadness, no remorse. He would just continue his day like nothing ever happened. The boy in the water let out a laugh, as if in shock from what Patrick had just said to him. He was closer to the dock now his head only about a foot or so from the wooden walkway. "What's your problem? We were just talking weren't we babe" The boy said looking over at me. I cringed at the pet name and scowled at him.

Patrick quickly made his way to the edge of the dock, squatting in front of the guy and resting his elbows on his knees. "I'm gonna give you 10 seconds to get the fuck out of here. I'm being nice cause my girl is right there and I don't like to make her cry, but I'm fucking warning you, if I ever see your fucking face again," Patrick said, a sadistic laugh now coming from his chest. "I'm gonna fucking drown you. And then I'm gonna put you in a plastic bag like the piece of shit you are, fill it with rocks and drop you in the middle of this fucking lake. You think anyone's gonna find you? This lake is 316 feet deep, to deep to drag the bottom of, not to mention it's connected to the ocean. It would be so easy to make people think you got caught in a riptide. Happens all the time." The boys eyes grew wide in horror as a terrifying smile spread across Patrick's face.

"1... 2..."