The Runaway

Chapter 28

A woman appeared, a very familiar woman. In an instant, Violet knew it was the dream. It was the same endless nightmare that had just made its return, though this time was much worse.

The scenery was the same. The same anxious feeling in her gut was present, but something felt weird. She had already stabbed the lady and the woman was in front of her already dead. "You killed my family. Then you killed me." She started bawling loudly. "What would Rena think of you now? You're a monster, that's what you are." The woman looked at Violet straight in the eyes. "You're worse than those vampire freaks. You belong in hell." After finishing her little speech, her eyes rolled back until only whites showed and she collapsed. It was way more vivid and revolting than before.

Like before, Colton appeared in place of the dead lady. His words were slightly different now and he held a disturbing grin. "Violet, you belong with us now." He held out his hand. "Come with me. We can all go to together."

In the corner of her eyes, she saw a figure. It was someone who clearly didn't belong in her dream. She squinted to see that it was Aiden watching her from afar. He had been there the whole time witnessing the horrid murder scene. Violet wanted to run away from embarrassment, but her legs wouldn't budge. She could feel that he was really inside her head. He would remember it all once he woke up, and she knew that since the same thing happened when she entered his own dream a few days back.

Violet woke up shrieking. She had to remember that moment for the rest of her life and it killed her inside. The heavy guilt always weighed her down to the point where it hurt emotionally and physically.

"Make it stop," Aiden pleaded, "I hate this feeling."

"I wish I could. I really wish..." Her whole body trembled.

They sat there in silence for fifteen minutes trying to calm down. The sky was still dark, but Violet was definitely not going back to sleep. After a while, they were back to normal.

Aiden dared to ask, "Did you really...?"

She interrupted him. "Did you really kill your parents?"

He looked away in shame. "Answer mine first."

Violet hugged her legs and nodded. "Yes. I," she paused, "I killed her." She wiped a couple sweat beads off her forehead. "It was the night in the cabin. I ran out after seeing you and Delsin. It all happened so fast."

"So it was me," he whispered. "It was all my fault. I'm so sorry."

"I'd like to pretend it never happened. Just forget it," she said, "but what about you? Did you really...?"

He nodded with empathy. "Yes."

Violet couldn't imagine how much worse it was for him. She killed a stranger which was bad enough, but at least it wasn't her parents. Sure, she had a hatred for them at times, but she knew them. Truthfully, she cared for them deep down.

"How did you cope with that?" she whispered.

His eyes shut as a cold breeze past by. "I didn't. I can never forgive myself for that. They were my own parents." His voice held no emotion. "I don't really like talking about it."

"But you were turned against your will. It wasn't your fault," she said.

"I saw them in front if me and I was covered in their blood. I did it myself." Aiden pulled out a cigarette and this time, Violet stayed put. It looked like he needed it.  "I know I did it because I had no control but you, you're still human." Smoke spiraled in the air. "It felt like hell being in your head."