//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Vow // Story: Violet Times // by Echo Breeze //------------------------------// The rest of the morning passed by quickly after that solemn vow. I walked to the cafeteria with Pear Butter, excited to see Oak again. I was excited to see the rest of the gang as well, but not as excited as I was to see Oak. We entered the cafeteria to see another fight had broken out. This time it was between one of the new girls and the bully. I could see that Candy was standing behind her, holding her nose. I could see the red flash of blood through her fingers. The other new girl was standing next to her, trying to calm her down. I ran up to them to hear the new girl in the fight start yelling. "Bullying people is not the answer! You may be bigger than her, but that doesn't give you the right to take out your frustrations on her." she yelled. "Oh, shut up, Celestia. You don't know anything." the bully said. "I know enough. I was a bully too. Mostly toward my little sister. I know more than you think." the new girl, Celestia, said darkly. The bully turned and skulked away. Celestia turned to her sister. "How is she, Lulu?" "She will be fine if we get her to the nurse's office, Tia." her sister replied. "Violet Enigma, right. There will be time for niceties later. Get her to the nurse." Celestia said to me. "Yes. Pear Butter, if Oak gets here before I'm back, tell him where I am." I said, taking Candy's arm and placing it around my shoulders. Pear Butter nodded. __________________________________________ We had been in the nurse's office for five minutes when Principal Neigh Say walked in. I stood up and went over to Candy. "Well, another fight." he said, lifting Candy's face to look at it. "Who started it this time?" he looked at me. "I don't know, sir. I got to the cafeteria, and it was already underway, except Candy wasn't actually fighting Sapphire. It was the new girl, Celestia." I said. "Yes, I am aware of that." he said looking at Candy. "Actually, sir. It started this morning. I had arrived at school, and as I was getting my books for the first lesson, Sapphire cornered me. She said something about getting retribution for yesterday. So instead of defending myself, I ran. I hid in a broom closet until the late bell rang, but by then, Sapphire was long gone." she said. "I suppose this is what she meant by retribution. I didn't even see it coming. When I had gotten my lunch, I turned around to sit at the table our group usually sits at, and she swung before I could defend myself. Broke my nose in three places." "Candy, I had no idea it would get this bad." I said, genuine concern for my best friend. "It's okay, Violet." she said. She looked over at Principal Neigh Say, "sir, please don't punish Celestia too hard. She saved my life. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be talking right now." "I wasn't planning on it. I've also decided to commute yours and Violet's punishment for yesterday. It is obvious that Sapphire is the problem." Principal Neigh Say said, turning to walk out. "She has already been given the rest of this semester as internal suspension. So you girls can rest easy now." he walked out of the nurse's office. "So, what's gonna happen now?" I asked Candy. "I'm being sent home. My dad is on his way." she told me. The nurse walked in at that. "Candy, you're father is here." she said. "Thank you." Candy replied. "Call me later with what the doctor says, Candy. I'm sure the others would like to know how you're doing." I said as she walked out. She threw me a thumbs up in reply. I left the nurses office some five seconds later, and headed back to the cafeteria. __________________________________________ I got to the cafeteria to see my friends all sitting at the usual table. There was a lunch tray sitting next to Oak's that I assumed was mine. The new girls were sitting at our table as well. I approached the table and hugged Oak from behind. He looked up at me and smiled, I then released him and took my seat. "How is she doin'?" Pear Butter asked as I sat down. "She's gonna be fine. Her father picked her up. Nose is broken in three places." I replied. "Well, at least she's okay." Celestia said. "By the way, Violet. My name is Celestia. This is my sister, Luna." Luna looked up and nodded. I nodded back. "Pleased to meet you both." I said. "Pleasure is all mine." Luna said. "So, you told Sapphire you were a bully. What happened?" I asked. "It's a sore topic, and it's still a little raw. We'll tell you all in due time." Celestia said, not meeting my eyes. "Alright. We can wait." I said, the others nodding in assent. __________________________________________ The rest of the day passed quickly after lunch, and I found myself back in Oak's Firebird. He had allowed me to drive again, mostly because I asked him to let me. There was just something about the power of the 6.6 litre V8 that called to me. We were on our way to the hospital to visit my father. Half an hour later, we got to the hospital. I found an open parking space and pulled into it. We climbed out and I chucked Oak the keys. "Ya ready?" Oak asked as he took my hand. I hesitated, not really ready for what I felt coming. He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. I looked at him and smiled, grateful that he was here to help me through it all. I nodded, and we walked into the hospital together. We got to the elevator and started the ascent to the fifth floor. Oak turned to look at me, concern written all over his face. "Are ya gonna be okay, darlin'?" he asked. "Honestly, I don't know. I feel like something is gonna happen, and I'm not gonna like it." I replied. The elevator dinged, signaling our arrival on the fifth floor. We got to my father's room, and both my parents looked at me expectantly. "Violet, Oak. Please, come in and take a seat. Close the door behind you." my mother said. "Yes. We have something that we need to tell you, Violet. The only people who know what we are going to tell you are the detectives, and what family we have left in Cloudsdale. Oak can listen as well." my dad said. We did as we were told, taking a seat as Oak closed the door behind us. __________________________________________ In the middle of bustling downtown Cloudsdale, was an ordinary looking office building. Inside, two men were busy talking, one of them holding a phone. There was a third man on the line. "You have failed us, Scissor. You came highly recommended. You had not failed an assassination, until now. He's still breathing, and therefore, talking." the man seated behind the huge mahogany desk said. "I'm sorry, sir, I had no idea that he would survive a direct hit from a big rig. You told me to make it look like an accident, so I did." the man on the phone said. "Yeah, well, it failed. Now he's going to talk again. And this time, it will incur a federal indictment. They cannot make the connection between you and us." the other man in the office said. "I know. I've been following his daughter for some time now. The only time she seems to be vulnerable is when her boyfriend isn't around. We'll get leverage on him then." Scissor said. This caused the man at the desk to gasp. "Snatch her, but don't hurt her, do you understand?" he asked. "Understood, sir." Scissor said and hung up. "Are you sure this is the right way to do this, sir?" the second man said after putting down the phone. "Yes, Smith. This is the only way to get Agent Dean Shadow to keep quiet." the man behind the desk said, pouring himself a whiskey from a crystal decanter.