The Villain
Violet went through two bottles of water before we got out of the bath. She nearly fell asleep five times. On the sixth, I dragged her out and put her to bed for a nap. She got up around five and sat at the kitchen island while she watched me heat up the leftovers from last night’s dinner.
By the third one she was fast asleep, and I carried her up to bed. The next three days we spent lounging and watching her silly movies. By the time Christmas Eve rolled around, I’d considered locking us in here for the foreseeable future at least a hundred times.
She insisted we had to go. She needed to go back to work and she missed the kids. I tried to convince her to let me snow us in for one more day but she brought up Scarlett and I caved.
So we packed up. This time, I drove, not that she was a bad driver, she was just…very fast. But she was also a very distracting passenger—I had to pull over twice. She just grinned at me.
“It’s not my fault your self-control is in the negatives,” she’d said.
I used to pride myself on self-control. Considering I literally had voices in my head telling me to kill people 95% of the time. But this woman fucking ruined me. Why would I even want self-control when she was touching and teasing me the whole two and a half hours?
You’re insatiable she kept saying. Meanwhile, she was leaning over the centre console to tease my dick with that wicked mouth. Not that I was complaining. The fact that my girl was as insatiable as I was boded well for the longevity of our relationship.
Not that I would ever let her go. I didn’t give a shit if she fell out of love with me. I’d chain her to my side until she fell back in love. Fuck that “if you love something let it go” bullshit. She wasn’t going anywhere.
Violet went back to work Christmas day. She came home halfway through her shift and practically collapsed in the doorway.
She started feeling sick around lunch so her boss sent her home.
There weren’t any villain visits lined up and the other volunteers could take care of her work.
At least that’s what I think she said as she passed out in my arms.
I had to violently shake her awake for her evening check in. Whisper insisted on bringing her soup and checking on her. She tried to fight it, but he hung up without taking no for an answer.
Thirty minutes later, she was dragging herself out of bed and stumbling to the door, using the walls for support.
“Baby, go back to bed, I can get it.”
She shook her head.
“You’re supposed to be dead. You can’t open the door.”
“I will come back to life if it means you’ll go back to bed.”
“Don’t be stupid. I’m fine,” she said as she nearly tripped and barely stopped herself from smashing her head off the corner of her dining table.
“Yes, you look it. Silly me.”
She scowled—or tried to. Her energy was too low to muster up more than a squint in her eyes.
“Could you hide in your shadows, please? I need to answer the door or he’ll probably break it down.”
I sighed, doing as she asked. I should have just come back to life then I could say I was looking after her and put an end to these check-in calls.
I had to keep telling myself that she wouldn’t be sick forever but staying dead would be better for both of us.
I could keep an eye on Eva and I could look into those text messages.
She got a few more the last couple days; they were back to we and us instead of I and me. I’d planned to spend the day getting all the equipment I needed to track the phone number but now that V was sick, it could wait.
“Shit, V, you look like death,” Whisper said the second the door swung open.
I was thinking about punching him in the gut but he grunted a second later.
“Way to be an asshole.”
You’re supposed to be dead. You’re supposed to be dead. I just kept repeating my mantra as Violet propped open the door a bit more to reveal the bane of my existence. Fucking Poison Weasel.
She gave him an awkward smile. They hadn’t spoken since the day in the woods.
“Hey.”
“Hi.” He returned the same level of awkwardness.
“You guys are being weird.” Whisper looked back and forth between the two of them with narrowed eyes. “Why are you being weird?”
“Nothing.” “We’re not.” They said over each other.
His eyes narrowed more.
“Yes you are, but you’re sick, so I’ll let it slide. We’ll revisit this later. Can we come in?”
She sighed and stepped out of the way so they could come inside. She was using the door to stay upright and nearly lost her balance as she tried to close it. Poison Weasel caught her. I dug my nails into a palms and repeated my mantra again.
“You shouldn’t be out of bed,” he said softly.
“Yeah, well, two well-meaning idiots showed up at my door, even though I said no, and I had to answer it.”
“Touché.”
He helped her walk over to the couch while Whisper raided the kitchen for dishes and cutlery.
“I appreciate the food, but you guys don’t have to stay. I’ve lived alone for six years. I’ve been sick before, I can take care of myself.”
They both waived her off.
“That was before you had us. Besides, if Av was still with us, he’d be here. I bet you wouldn’t kick him out.”
“If he was mother henning as much as the two of you, I totally would.” She sighed. “Neither of you have heard from him?”
Fuck, my girl played her part so well. If I could keep my shit together, she would be the most convincing factor.
They both shook their heads as Whisper walked back to the living room.
“Nothing. But if it makes you feel any better, they still haven’t found a body.”
He set a bowl in front of Violet while Weasel unpacked all the food. I had to suppress a sigh. They had enough food to last all night. The fuckers probably weren’t planning to leave.
“He could just be hiding out.”
“Guys, this is too much.” Her eyes widened at the sight of all the food. “Don’t you have better things to do than hang out with me when I’m sick as fuck and probably contagious?”
“It’s Christmas. No one should be alone on Christmas.” Whisper gave her a warm smile, plopping down on the floor opposite the couch as he dug into his pasta. “Besides, we can’t get sick. Super immune systems and all that.”
“Rub it in, why don’t you.” She shook her head. “I don’t even celebrate Christmas. You guys seriously don’t have to be here.”
“No, we want to be.” Weasel bumped his shoulder into hers. “Now shut up and eat would you?”
Violet rolled her eyes, but her cheeks flushed slightly—it was the most colour I’d seen on her since she walked through the door six hours ago.
You’re supposed to be dead. You cannot kill him.
Whisper’s head snapped in my direction. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. No one really knew exactly what his powers were, all we knew was that he could drive people insane. Could he read minds? Sense when someone was close by?
“What?” Poison Weasel was looking at him like he had three heads. “Why are you staring at the wall?”
Whisper turned his attention back to Violet—who held his gaze, not even remotely fazed.
“Nothing.” He broke eye contact. “All those mind tricks I’ve been playing on people must be catching up with me.”
Violet didn’t so much as breathe differently when she turned her attention back to her soup and began eating.
He studied her for a few more seconds before he started loading up his plate.
I still felt his attention on me, his power trying to get through my mental shield.
I’d been working on it since he came on the scene four years ago, for something exactly like this.
Is that you, Av?
I stayed silent. Just because we were friends before didn’t mean I could trust him. Eva was my best fucking friend and she threw me to the wolves—maybe. I wasn’t about to blow my cover with someone I barely knew.
Does she know you’re here?
I still gave him nothing.
Come on man, give me something. Everyone’s worried about you. Why are you hiding?
His powers pulled back.
“Where’s your washroom?”
“Door on the right.” Violet pointed behind her.
“Thanks.”
Whisper stood up and disappeared down the hall. As much as I hated to leave V alone with the poisonous weasel, I followed. I slipped in behind him before he closed the door.
“What the hell is going on?” He kept his voice low. “I know it’s you, even if I can’t get into your head. I know your walls. Ice castle? Not subtle. Talk to me, man.”
“Someone I trust set me up to die last week, forgive me if I don’t trust easily.” I stayed hidden, letting my voice echo through the shadows.
“Does V know you’re here?”
I didn’t answer. He sighed.
“Her shields are even stronger than yours, I can’t get shit from her. Please, just tell me what the hell is going on. And if you could show yourself that would be great too, this talking into open space is unnerving.”
“How do I know I can trust you?”
“Because Violet is the best thing to happen to us villains in a long time and I would rather die than be a part of something that would hurt her. But if that’s not enough for you, I can let you in my head. You can see for yourself.”
“I wouldn’t trust anything in your head. You manipulate minds for fun.”
“Then I don’t know how to convince you.”
Trust him. It was Violet’s voice in my head. For a second I considered it was a trick from Whisper, but heat washed over me as the words hit me. We need someone on our side, against The Culling, against the new unknown group.
How do you know what we’re talking about?
Not sure. I felt him trying to root around but he couldn’t get in. He left images at my gate.
I sighed and stepped out of my shadows. Whisper gaped at me.
“You… Two powers?”
“Yes, yes.” I waved him off. “Only you and V know. If it gets out that I’m alive and I have two powers, I’ll know it came from you. And I’ll make your death agonizing. Do we understand each other?”
“Your secret is safe with me. What the hell is going on?”
“We don’t have time for that right now. Get rid of Po—Hemlock, then we can talk.”
“So V does know you’re here? You’re the boyfriend she told Hem about?”
I nodded, he blew out a breath.
“Lucky bastard.”
My lips twitched, but I held my smile back. “The luckiest.”
“Two fucking powers and Violet? Goddamn, how do I sign up for your life? I wish I could tell Hem. He’d blow a gasket.”
I wished I could tell him too. Maybe then he’d actually back the fuck off.
Whisper convinced Poison Weasel to leave with him after they finished eating.
Violet helped by insisting she needed to sleep—true, she looked a bit better after the food but she was still incredibly pale.
The second they were out the door I tried to take her to bed.
She wasn’t having any of it, she wanted to be included in the conversation with Whisper.
“He won’t be back for a couple hours. Please at least sleep until then.”
She didn’t fight me on that and was asleep before I even got her into the bedroom. I felt a little bad for lying but she didn’t need to be there, I could handle it alone. I sat with her for ten minutes before Whisper circled back.
We kept our voices low while I got him mostly up to speed. I told him about Eva, The Culling, the experiments, and this unknown group. I was just getting into the text messages when Violet’s voice interrupted me.
“Aus? Where—” she cut off and frowned when she found us sitting on the couch. “You lied to me.”
“I know, baby, I’m sorry.” I stood up and helped her with the rest of the walk to the couch. “You needed to sleep, and I knew you wouldn’t if I didn’t.”
“Stop fussing, I’m fine.” She sighed as she sat.
I plopped down behind her and leaned her on my chest. She groaned.
“That’s not comfortable. Can you shift?”
I moved so I was leaning on the arm rest and she was between my legs.
“Better?”
She nodded. She laced her fingers through mine and pulled my arms around her waist. Whisper watched the whole interaction with little smirk on his face.
“I wish I could tell someone Av’s just a big softy, but no one would believe me if I tried.”
I flicked an ice shard straight at his face. He dodged it, cackling, while Violet sighed.
“Play nice, Avalanche. We need him on our side, remember?”
“This is me playing nice. It wasn’t even that sharp.”
“Av.” She mustered up her best scolding tone. “Behave.”
“Yeah, Av.” Whisper’s smirk grew. “Behave.”
“You too,” she warned.
He held up his hands in surrender.
“Shall we continue?”