My eyes flutter open slightly. Last night I had a dreamless sleep, but I'm blindsided with the feeling of intense hunger. I sit up, noting that I'm on the couch and that Violet was sprawled out half on the couch and half on the floor. We must have fallen asleep while conversing and watching TV. I groan and stand up, making my way towards Vern's room to see if he got home safe. When I see that his room is empty, I begin to panic. It's already eleven in the morning, and he has been out since last night.
I quickly locate my phone and dial Vern. His phone reaches voicemail, and my heart reaches my throat. Is he okay? Is he hurt? Did something happen? If something bad happened to Vern, our last conversation was a fight. I can't let my last memory of my brother be of us fighting.
I dial him again but receive no response. I place my phone on the kitchen counter when I reach it, and hear Violet let out a groan as she untwists herself from the ground.
"Ahhh," she stretches her arms above her head, and I hear feint cracking. Her arms fall limp as she stands up and smacks her lips together. "What time is it?"
"Eleven." I say bluntly. "Vern still hasn't come home."
Violet yawns and makes her way into the kitchen, leaning against the counter. "You worry too much. He's the Falcon. He took down Shredder," she places her elbow on the counter and leans her chin on her hand, "man is he dreamy." she's practically drooling.
"First of all, ew." I furrow my brows. "Secondly, he would have told me if he wasn't gonna come home."
"He's an older brother, Juliet, it's what they do." Violet says before grinning. "You just need to relax."
"No, I need to eat." I finally say before picking up my phone and dialing a pizzeria close-by. When I hang up, Violet narrows her eyes at me. I suddenly feel self conscious. "What?" I ask.
"I'm just trying to analyse you. If I'm gonna be dating the Falcon soon, I want to get to know his family." She says, and I know she's only trying to cheer me up, which I'm grateful for.
"You're too good for him." I tease. Vern is my brother and all, but he can be a little...blinded when it comes to someone other than himself. Violet chuckles and playfully rolls her eyes.
"We'll see."
Later, after we've eaten pizza and Vern still isn't home, I begin to get antsy. I face Violet.
"I'm going over to Gin's place. She was at the game, she might know where he is." I say and stand up from the couch. Violet shrugs and stands up as well.
"Don't bother," she holds up her phone before throwing it onto the couch. Her voice sounds flat and she seems edgy. "Her phone's off too. She's not home either."
"Do you think something happened? At the game?" I speak my mind, hoping our siblings are okay. Violet gently rocks on her heels nervously, trying not to give away how much she cares.
"I don't know, maybe..." she says, still rocking slightly on her heels.
"Something bad?" I ask, and she snaps slightly, finally ceasing rocking on her heels. She looks me dead in the eye with a stern expression.
"Maybe? I don't know, okay?" she roughly pries her jacket from the couch, pulling it onto her. "And frankly, I don't wanna think about it." she nods towards the hooks next to the door. "Grab your keys." she demands. My insides run cold and my eyes widen.
"What?" I ask, but she's already on her way to the door. She unhooks my car keys and faces me.
"Grab your keys, let's go." she throws the keys at me and I catch them on impulse, my heart hammering in my chest. "I know a guy who owns a bar. We may have a romantic history, so play it cool."
"Uh, s-sure." I stutter, hiding my quivering hands behind my back as I exit the apartment alongside Violet. I discreetly suck in a deep, nervous breath and tell myself I can do this before locking the apartment and heading towards the elevator.
Time seems to speed up when, before I know it, I'm in front of my car. My heart is in my throat, but I am brought back to reality by Violet violently tugging on the door handle on the other side.
"Well?" She asks impatiently, "you gonna open it or what?"
"Uh, right." I unlock the car and get into the drivers seat. I place my shaky hands on the steering wheel after starting the engine. I breathe deeply, "you can do this." I whisper to myself, unaware that Violet hears that.
"You can do this, right?" she asks in an accusatory tone.
"Yeah, no problem," I lie, placing the car in reverse and lowering the handbrake. As the car starts moving, I mumble, "like riding a bike."
Vern knows I barely drive my car anymore, so he's been taking it for short drives just so that the battery doesn't give in. I notice that the gas is full, too.
"So you make a left after the first stop street." Violet directs me as I put the car into first gear and drive off.
Hey, I think to myself, this isn't half bad. I turn left at the stop street. But then again, that's probably what mom and dad thought too. I swallow hard and turn up the radio in hopes to drown out my thoughts. I dutifully follow Violet's instructions before we are parked in front of a bar. I turn off the engine and look at my hands which have stopped shaking by now. I did it. I really did it.
"What are you waiting for?" Violet asks, and I see that she's already gotten out of the car.
"Right." I say and climb out as well. I lock the car and we head into the bar.
"Seth, my man!" Violet greets at the sight of the bartender. He raises an eyebrow as he wipes down a glass. "Two gin and tonics, and make it quick."
"Never thought I'd see you here again." he says before flicking his eyes to me. "Aren't you a little young to be ordering drinks?" he asks me.
I tighten my jaw slightly and look him in the eye. "Aren't you a little old to be serving them?" I say upon noticing the flecks of grey hair in his slight stubble.
He cracks into a smirk, pointing the glass at me. "I like you. Two g and t's, coming up." he turns his back and begins prepping the drinks. I look at Violet who nods her head to a pair of creeps who are sitting a few chairs down from us, holding what looks like burner phones and talking about world domination.
One of them sports a purple mo-hawk and an even lamer pair of purple shades. The other has a ridiculously unkempt orange beard.
"Hold on a second, you guys. I think I hear something in the back." Seth sets our drinks in front of us before heading to the back. I'm about to raise my drink to my lips when Violet yanks me down. The glass shatters to the ground and I fall straight into it. The glass softly pierces my hands, but I barely feel it due to shock. If I hadn't removed Raphael's bandage off my burnt hand I probably wouldn't have pierced that hand.
"Get down," she hisses softly. I'm in shock, but follow her in crawling under one of the tables which are mostly surrounded by red knock-off sofas.
When our eyes drift to the door, a familiar man walks through the doors, clad in black and followed by a bunch of henchmen. I want to head to the back to warn Seth, but a girl dressed in all black emerges from the back. I cover my mouth with my hands so that my breathing won't be heard and Violet does the same.
A detailed exchange happens between them, and I mentally record everything before they all leave the bar. I take my hand from my mouth and breathe deeply. I look at Violet who's eyes are wide with shock.
"That didn't just happen, did it?" she asks me. I hope that what I've just witnessed has nothing to do with Vern or Gin, and feel the need to relay this conversation to the turtles immediately.
I nod. "That's Shredder. He's free."
