I wake up to complete silence. The silence is not eerie- it is full of contentment. Everything is as it should be. I sit up slowly, trying my hardest not to rustle my broken arm. My back pops and a groan escapes my lips. Sleeping on the floor was definitely now cozy, but I think it’s worth it to know Violet is comfortable.
It is still pitch black in here, but my eyes are slowly adjusting. I look over and see a faint silhouette of a sleeping Violet. I stand up with great care not to make any noise. I walk up to the couch on which she lies, softly stoking her head. I bend down quickly and plant a kiss on her brow.
Still trying to be as silent as possible, I make my way into the kitchen, and after fumbling in the dark for a minute, I manage to light a single, dim lantern. I sit the glowing cage on the table and step towards a cupboard. I pick up a small loaf of dense bread, tear off a chunk and then place it back quickly, shutting the cabinet softly.
I walk back to the table and sit beside the lantern. As I dust off the stale bread and nibble, I watch Johanna’s birds in the dim light. I see one of them hopping excitedly from one branch to another. I stand and walk over to the brass cage. It was my favorite bird, a little yellow one I call Nellie, who was doing the hopping. As I approach, Nellie’s head tilts sideways and she chirps a single, questioning note. I smile and break off a large crumb from my bread.
I stick my finger in the cage, and after giving one more curious chirp, Nellie hops forward along the branch and pecks the bread off of my finger.
“Pretty bird.” A sleepy voice sings from behind me. I start, I hadn’t known that Violet was up. A blush floods my cheeks, and I pray that there isn’t enough light for her to notice.
”Sorry I woke you.” I mumble and turn to face her. Nellie chortles again- telling me to pay her attention. Violet steps forward eerily from the shadows, into the small circle of light form the lantern. Her midnight black hair is frizzy and unkempt, causing a sort of a birds nest to form on the side of her head. I laugh at the sight.
“Not funny!” she says, embarrassed, as she tries to smooth out the mess with her fingers. “And you didn’t wake me. The singer did.” She says, gesturing to the cage behind me.
“Sorry about that,” I say with a taunting smile. Violet laughs and walks up to me. She smiles sleepily as she reaches me, and then she wraps her arms around my waist and pulls me close to her. The blush covers my face again, as I remember that she probably isn’t wearing anything more than a thin nightdress. She’s practically naked against my body.
As I have that thought, I am suddenly aware of her body. I move my hands to rest on her waist. She body is so soft, warm, curvy. A blush creeps up my neck. She tilts her head up to look in my eyes. She must see how embarrassed I am because she laughs. She pulls away from me, and I am just opening my mouth to ask her to come back when she turns and pushes me backward.
I fly back and narrowly miss the birds’ cage, landing with a thud as my back hits the wall. I am too shocked to respond, but I don’t have to because Violet slams her body into mine, pinning me to the wall. Her lips lock onto mine fiercely.
It takes me a second to register what happened, but then I move my mouth roughly with hers. I feel her hands tangle in my hair, pulling greedily. I pant in between her rough kisses, and I place my hands on her hips, gripping her nightdress in my eager fingers.
“Ahh, Toby.” She moans against my lips and then forces them back onto mine. Our tongues tangle with each other’s and I grip her dress tighter. Her hands release my hair and trail down my chest, and a soft moan escapes my lips as a wave of pleasure floods me.
The sound of a door shutting quietly freezes us both in place. I quickly shove her off of me and she stumbles, falling to the ground in a stupor. I try to smooth my hair back in place and wipe the moisture from my mouth. My heart is thudding impossibly fast.
Anthony steps into the dim circle of light, squinting skeptically at me.
“What’s all this noise?” he says sleepily, looking around. When his eyes find Violet, one eyebrow raises in question. “Do you need help?”
Violet shakes her head violently, most likely remembering his reaction to her when I first introduced her to him. She scrambles to her feet and walks over to me with her head ducked.
“What time is it?” he says. He doesn’t sound mad, maybe a little annoyed though. I glance at the clock quickly.
“Just past six.” I say quietly, wrapping an arm around Violet. Her body is hot against mine.
“Why aren’t you in bed then?” Anthony grumbles as she walks across the kitchen, heading for a cabinet.
“Nightmare.” I say, at the same time Violet whispers “Birds…”
We both blush and duck our heads. Anthony nods, but I can see the glint of understanding in his sleepy eyes.
“Well feel free to go on back to bed, then. I’ve got to get ready to work, but you two can slip in another hour if you try.” Anthony says, taking a big bite out of a loaf of bread.
I nudge Violet in the direction of the couch, but say “I haven’t a hope of sleeping. I’ll company you while we wait for the ladies to rise.”
Violet walks back into the darkness, and I hear the sound of rustling blankets as she climbs back onto my springy couch.
“So,” Anthony sighs, sitting down at the small table. He take another bite of stale bread, lifts a bottle to his mouth, and drinks eagerly before sitting it back down and continuing. “You gon’ tell me what that was all about?”
A blush again paints my face and neck.
“What do you mean?” I whisper, trying to hide the lie in my voice.
“With her…” he says, nodding his head in Violet’s general direction. I take a moment to compose an answer- a fake answer of course, because I am positive Anthony would not take kindly to hear what was really about- but he holds up a hand to stop me.
“No, no lies, Toby. Truth be told, I don’t give a damn what you were on about, and I don’t want to know.” He leans in toward me- his eyes are hard with anger. “But listen to me closely, Toby. I don’t like this girl and I don’t want her here. You are very fortunate that Johanna stopped me, because I would have kicked both you and the girl out on the street in a second if I thought it would help Johanna.”
Anthony pauses for a second to take another swig from the bottle.
“So don’t mess up.” He says, his voice but a low growl. “The first time she is a nuisance, she will be gone, understand?”
I nod quickly, fear seeping into my veins.
“I understand.”
“So what should we do with it?” I say quickly, pulling in a long shaky breath.
“Burn it?” Violet says in a whisper. “We can’t just leave it here.”
“I agree. Do you think we should just… burn the greenhouse down?”
“No!” Violet says forcefully. “Let’s just… bring the body out to the stream over there.” She stops to gesture north. “No need to burn her.”
I shake my head dismissively.
“That won’t work, Vi, someone would see us.” I sigh, turning away from the greenhouse. Violet stays in place, staring at her dead mother, sprawled out on the hard ground, crawling with flies.
“How about we do it when it gets dark?” She says, whispering again.
“Sure.” I say simply. I don’t think she understands exactly how unpleasant carrying a dead body would be, but I don’t say so to her. I can carry it myself if I need to, and that’s what I intend to do, to save Violet from the experience.
I walk up and shut the greenhouse door. As if waking from a dream, Violet turns to look at me. Her eyes are vacant, yet very sad, deep, deep inside.
“Let’s go. We need to clear out the house.” I say softly, and she nods robotically.
As we walk toward the back door to her house, a chill settles into my bones, and by the time we enter the house, both me and Violet are shivering in each other’s arms, despite the morning sun.
As we walk into her small kitchen area, closing the back door behind us, the chill only seems to deepen.
“Okay, Vi, I will clear out what food I can manage, and find some chests. You get your things and other things that will be useful… money, if you are willing to give some up.”
“Of course, Toby.” Violet says with a shadow of a smile on her lips. “There are some pretty sturdy chests in my mother’s closet, that way.” She says, pointing. I nod and turn away to fetch them. Violet heads toward another door- her room, I’m guessing.
I head back in to family room- where I lay broken on her couch while she tended to my wounds. I smile at the couch, while I move to the door. I walk into her mother’s room, stopping at a large cupboard. Opening it, I she shelves and shelves of picture frames and boxes, just as I had back at my house, in the cupboard in my living room, where I had found out that Johanna is Sweeney Todd’s daughter.
I still haven’t talked to Johanna about it. And I doubt I could, anyway. I’m sure Anthony would kick both me and Violet out of the house if I go around accusing his Johanna. And anyway, what difference does it make really, Johanna being Sweeney’s daughter? Johanna is still sweet and kind and excepting- she is not cruel and evil like her father. The only thing is that she carries his blood in her veins.
I shake my head, rejecting the thoughts from my mind. I look down and see about three large trunks. I grab one of the smaller ones and carry it back to the kitchen. I start loading jars of canned vegetables and loaves of stale moldy bread into the trunk. I have almost the whole contents of the cabinet loaded into the chest when Violet comes in.
“Toby, I have something for you.” I look up and see her hands are cupped in front of her. I walk forward hesitantly, and she opens her hands, revealing a wad of folded bank notes.
“Violet! How did you get all of these?” I say in awe.
“The flower shop, of course! I took it from the register. There must be a thousand pounds here!” She is practically glowing with excitement. I drop the last of the canned vegetables in the trunk and embrace her. I feel hope in my heart that encompasses me, making me feel feather light.
“Violet, I know what we can do…” I say in a breathy whisper. She pulls away from me to look into my eyes, and I see concern plain on her heart shaped face.
I take in a breath and say simply: “We can run away.”