Ultraviolet (ON HOLD)

Chapter 1

Author's Note: I completely scrapped the other chapter to rewrite the story. Enjoy!

"C'mon Sweetie, let's get you dressed," Violet sung to Melody, her three year old daughter, almost four if you asked Melody. Violet handed her child her clothes and Melody began to get dressed out of her polka dot pajamas as they had practiced many times before.

"Why?" Melody asked curiously and stopped dressing to look at her mother who was now on her eye level.

"Because Baby, you need to go to preschool," She ran her finger over Melody's bare stomach to tickle her slightly. Then assisting her to get ready faster by pulling the dress over her small head that frayed some tangles of hair from the braid that took her so long to make.

She giggled, but that didn't stop her questions so it spilled again from her lips, "Why?"

"Because you're going to get really smart so you can grow up to be whatever you want to be."

She laughed as her mom tried to soothe her child's dark brown waves from escaping.

Melody was the perfect picture of childhood, despite not knowing most people had not one parent, but two. Even so, she'd throw a fit when her brain couldn't understand the world. But when she was happy she would always find her small fingers curled into the fabric of the closest stuffed animal. She'd bounce up and down to music only her imagination could hear and smiled with chubby cheeks that dimpled. When her Mom played with her she held a grin that lit up their small world inside their even smaller apartment. She'd giggle and wave her arms to be picked up as her almost black eyes watched her mother closely and she often tried to mimic her mother's facial expressions with a tiny laugh. And when her eyes finally dipped closed for the day it would only be when her mom sung a soothing lullaby or read her a book. But Melody was far from sleepy as she knew exactly what she wanted to be.

"I wanna be a princess!" She squealed and jumped up in excitement by using her mom's shoulders for stability.

There was a knock on the apartment door filled with urgency.

"Okay honey, go get your things for school so you can be a princess, Mommy will be right back," She placed a rushed kiss on the top of her head and stood up to exit the room.

The knock came again, but this time faster and louder. The pounding wouldn't stop until she called back.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Violet yelled, a crease forming on her already distressed forehead.

As she unlocked the door carefully she was sure to only open it up a crack to see who the lunatic was that was knocking on her door so early in the morning. "What?" She snapped before identifying the man. Her face dropped into guilt when she did, it was her landlord and boyfriend. "Oh I'm so sorry Andy, I didn't realize it was you. Good morning, would you like some coffee?" Her voice was terribly rushed because she knew exactly what he was here for and she still didn't have it.

Andy was a mere thirty, but that didn't stop his ravaged gray tendrils from his dark brown head of hair. His hair was long enough to cover his brown eyes that had watched Violet carefully the first day he saw her. He hadn't shaved in a while so his obscured, pale chin was dashed with unkempt grayish-brown stubble not long enough to be an intentional beard. Every movement he made was precise and in slow motion, but walked as if his bones were loose and with each step came a heavy footfall. If you hadn't known him personally you may have helped him across the street before realizing his age. His clothes didn't fit badly, slightly loose because he appeared too tall for his slender build, but the mysterious stains on his shirt didn't help. His thin lips pushed into a smile when he saw Violet, but in that moment they formed into a slit and remained serious.