Two - Unable to Slip Away

                                    

                                          
Making the way back to Alfea took far longer than Violet had expected. So by the time she finally arrived, it was long past Griselda's mandatory curfew.
She crept in through the gates and down the long winding corridors, hoping upon hope that she wouldn't be caught by a member of staff. The last thing she needed right now was being told off.
It was just as she was entering the second year dorms that she spotted Griselda from the corner of her eyes. She was whistling too, in a manner that was most unlike her. Violet attempted to duck behind a wall when she saw the deputy-headmistress approaching. But something clearly had it in for her, because it was only the second she did so that she noticed how wet the floor was and - THUD! - she fell right onto Griselda.
There was a moment of pure, deafening silence.
"Miss Violet," Griselda started, contemptuously removing the gown that had landed on her during their clash. Her face was beetroot red and fitted with such a bitter scowl that Violet wouldn't have been surprised if steam started coming out her ears. "Just what are you doing arriving so late at night?"
***
Griselda nearly woken up half of the second years with her increasingly loud yells - all of them directed unfortunately at Violet. This meant that by the time she was finally allowed to go to bed, her ego had taken several painful hits.
Surprisingly, the dorm wasn't dark like she'd expected it to be. Amy's night-light glowed a soft yellow, and both her and Jenny were huddled on her bed, looking increasingly forlorn.
Their heads snapped up as they heard the door creak open, visibly deflating in relief as they saw it was her.
Jenny's, "You're finally here!" and Amy's "We were worried sick!" greeted her ears as they both rushed up to see her. Jenny pulled her into a comforting hug, but Amy held back, lime green eyes narrowing in the way they always did when she knew something was up.
"Is everything alright?" she asked tentatively, voice softer than Violet had ever heard it.
That was all it took for the dam to burst.
Tears filled her eyes and tight, choking sobs wracked her body. She sobbed harder as she remembered the guttural sounds the man had made as he suffocated before her.
Jenny pulled back and exchanged an alarmed look with Amy.
"Vi? Oh, it's alright! We're here for you," she said helplessly, looking torn on what to do. Thankfully Amy seemed experienced in such matters as she soon got the situation firmly under control.
"Take as long as you need. We'll listen to everything, so don't worry," she said to Violet, guiding her kindly to the bed. To Jenny she said, "Put her bags away will you? And get her some water to drink as well." Then she sat down beside her and grasped her hand softly as Jenny rushed to get things done.
After drinking the water Jenny had brought her, Violet felt not completely at ease, but calm enough to tell them her worries.
Their eyes widened as she - very shakily - narrated the events which had transpired. First they looked on in fear and disgust as she described how that man had followed her, then they looked relieved to hear that someone had stepped in to save her, but their last expressions, the one that truly stuck, were those of complete horror as it dawned on them that Violet's saviour was more dangerous than anything else.
"He suffocated him to death," Jenny said in a disbelieving whisper, "without even breaking a sweat." She shook her head. "I mean I agree the man deserved punishment and I'm so, so glad he helped you, Vi but-" she cut herself off, as if unable to say the rest.
"He completely brutalised him," Amy completed, seeming to have the same thoughts as Jenny. "My father told me about this once. It's a torture technique they use only on the worst criminals in the Omega Dimension. Like the ones that commit genocide or destroy a planet. It's supposed to be a thousand times more painful than regular suffocation and- oh gosh." Amy's face had turned a sickly yellow and her mouth pressed into a thin line. "I'm going to be sick."
Violet felt sick herself, and by the look of things, Jenny did too. They all stayed silent for a moment; there was nothing they could say.
Finally, when Violet was unable to take it anymore, she stood up suddenly and said, "I'm going to take a shower." It was only after announcing it that she realised how much she longed to take one. She felt covered in the grime of all the stares, touches and sights she'd witnessed that day. There was nothing she wanted more than to scrub it all off and feel like herself again.
But even a shower couldn't completely clear her thoughts from that sour evening. She felt weighed down by a sense of guilt, even though the sensible part of her brain knew that it wasn't her fault at all. In all honesty, she was glad the man was dead. Rejoiced in it even! After all, it meant at least one vile creature was gone and unable to even think of putting his dirty claws on another girl. But she wished the death had been quick. If not because she feared for her own life then at least so she could move on and not have the scene replay constantly in her mind. So she wouldn't have had to see the highest lawful torture the Magic Dimension allowed and wonder just how fair the law really was.
'Why would-?' The thought felt too burdensome to complete.
After stepping out of the steaming shower, completing her night routine and putting on a fresh pair of pyjamas, Violet sought out her friends and gave them the warmest hug she could.
"What's all this for?" Amy asked. She hugged back tightly nonetheless.
"I just love you both," Violet answered, each word ringing with a sweet earnestness.
"We love you too!" Jenny beamed, grey eyes lighting up.
For a moment, everything felt just right.
Then Violet yawned. "I suppose that's a sign I should go to sleep. Thanks to Griselda, I have a detention to attend tomorrow morning."
Jenny's eyes widened. "A detention on Friday morning? She must really be losing it. We're all in Wizgiz's lesson then!"
"That's what I tried telling her," Violet said gloomily. "But she just yelled even louder at me. I believe her exact words were, 'have some shame and stay quiet after all you've done today.'"
Amy said thoughtfully, "Maybe Faragonda and her have planned a special assembly or something for tomorrow. So some classes might be cancelled anyway."
"Oh, I hope so!" Jenny exclaimed, looking delighted at the prospect.
Violet looked depressed.
"Oh, sorry Vi. For your sake I hope they're not," she amended.
"It's alright, Jenny. I don't even care that I got detention. It's what I'll be doing in detention that scares me."
That made them all wince.
Griselda was notorious for holding the most . . . productive detentions, to say the least. No matter the severity of a student's actions, she would always punish them with intensive tasks that she declared would "benefit the wider Alfea community." In this way, she not only got free labour, but ensured the students thoroughly regretted their actions and never again dared to cross her.
"Maybe she'll forget," Jenny suggested feebly.
That made Amy snort. "There's a better chance of Faragonda becoming a witch and moving to Cloud Tower than of that ever happening."
Violet almost snorted too, but didn't because she was the one who had to suffer Griselda in the end.
Instead, all she said was, "Well, since the day starts a little later tomorrow I guess I at least have an hour to stall before my hell begins."
Then she sighed and hugged them both once more before saying a dreary goodnight, hoping, as she crawled into her bed, that her dreams would be sweeter than her reality.
~
a/n: fun fact - i have an old unicorn notebook full of the drafts/notes of when i first wrote 'violets' and when i was in the process of rewriting this, i was highkey shook by how easily violet had gotten over a certain someone's actions   by how nice i'd made him. this time around i think i'll try to make it a bit more enemy-ish. if you enjoyed this chapter please comment and vote!