—Violet Asher
Kiera dug through crystal at the edge of the ruined nest. “It should be around here,” she explained. “After you guys fuckin’ dipped on me, I had to hide it pretty quick. Well, ‘hide’ is a strong word. I had to bury it. Bedazzled Dracula back there knew where it was, more or less. But if it tried to dig it out, I just had to show my pretty face, and it would make a beeline for me. I have that effect on men, you know? Anyway, I basically just kept it distracted like that for the impossibly long time it took you to get back here.”
“How did you survive the collapse?” Aubrey asked.
“How do you know it was a man?” Violet asked at the same time. The two girls immediately looked at each other as if their choice of question was absurd. Kiera looked back and forth between them, then shrugged.
Kiera paused while digging, glancing at her fingers sheepishly. “Oh, uh, you know. Fox girl things. Basically, the vent collapsed on one side first, and I held onto that shit like a damn tick until it hit the side. It was unpleasant,” Kiera replied. Then, she looked at Violet and chuckled. “I don’t know about Batman Beyond back there. Crystal covered all the usual bits, I think. But, like I said, I have that effect on men. I used the inverse property, simple as that.”
“Could have been a yuri hedron,” Violet suggested. Kiera laughed as she returned to digging.
“If it were, it would have tried to move in with me first, and pursued me after,” she quipped. “Aha! Found it!” She stood, the glowing octahedron in one hand.
“Oh, thank God,” Aubrey exclaimed.
“Great! Now, I assume Danny is still hiding inside the nest? Let’s pick him up and get the absolute fuck out of here,” Kiera said. Aubrey and Violet both paused, the amused smile on Violet’s face quickly fading to a grimace.
“Daniel is…” Aubrey trailed. Violet looked at her feet, clenching her fists as she did. The group had gone for the heart almost immediately after Violet had killed the hedron, not wanting to leave it unattended for even a moment longer than necessary. Much of the necessary discussion was catching up to them, now that the heart had been recovered.
“Oh, Christ,” Kiera swore. She finally took in the state of the other girls. All three had blood on them. From their own wounds or from the decapitated bat, but only Aubrey and Violet had dried blood as well. “Christ, is Daniel… is he fucking…” She couldn’t get the last word out.
“It was my fault,” Violet whispered.
“No it wasn’t!” Aubrey insisted immediately. Violet just looked down and to the left, declining to debate the issue further. Kiera’s eyes widened. Stephanie’s death had been one thing. Not the first death Kiera had been faced with. Not even one of the first five. But the woman had been a stranger. A name and a half-dozen sentences of conversation. She could push through that. Gallows humor covered a multitude of sins. But Daniel had boarded that train with her. They’d grown up in the same town. Gone to the same schools. Played the same games in the same gym classes.
Kiera walked up to Violet and held up the heart. “I’m sorry, can you hang onto this? I’m about to vomit,” she politely requested. Violet finally looked up, then down at the heart. She accepted it with a chaste nod. Kiera straightened her jacket and nodded in return. She casually turned, walked a few feet backward, and proved herself an honest fox.
The stench of vomit made Violet wrinkle her nose.
The walk back was quieter than the trip to the nest had been. There was some coordination to be done, just to find their way to the tracks. Landmarks and buildings that each girl remembered helped verify they were heading in the right direction. But once they’d made it that far, there was little risk of getting lost. As such, conversation largely stalled.
Aubrey had lost her hostile energy entirely, but the reminder of Daniel’s death had strangled the banter Kiera and Violet had been exchanging. Neither Kiera nor Aubrey had been his friend, exactly. But they knew him well enough that losing him presented a sense of reality and finality that Stephanie’s death hadn’t.
Violet was annoyed. She liked Kiera, and she wanted to cement the friendship further. The kitsune was her first actual friend, and the silence was an uncomfortable delay. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The worst of it was that bubbling guilt at the back of her mind. She’d closed it up in a cupboard and locked the door. She ignored its muffled screaming in favor of the louder music her heart was playing at the same time. But, in the silence… silence created by the very act which had earned the guilt, she was starting to hear it again.
She forced it back down, focusing on the thought of her next kill instead. “I’m sorry. I tried to save him. I really tried, I swear I did,” Violet finally said, breaking the silence.
The other girls didn’t respond right away, but after a heavy moment, Kiera let a breath out through her nose. “We know, Violet. You need to stop blaming yourself. We know you did everything you could.”
Violet flexed her fingers and looked up into the misty sky. “I know that. In my head, I know that. But it doesn’t feel true, you know? In all this silence. In all this pain. It…” Violet trailed. “Never mind. I’m being silly.”
“No, you’re not. Say what’s on your mind, Violet,” Aubrey replied. Violet shook her head.
“I can’t. It sounds so pitiful when I try to put words to it. So self-absorbed. I shouldn’t have said anything, really,“ Violet insisted.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Well. You saved our lives out there. I think you’ve earned a moment of selfishness,” Kiera replied.
“Honestly, Violet. We don’t mind,” Aubrey agreed. Violet let out a sigh, sick with reluctance.
“Well,” Violet relented, “this sounds so stupid. But every step I take feels like a hammer in my skull, reminding me of how I failed Daniel. And I know everyone is upset. I know both of you lost a friend, and you need to process that. Again, I know that in my head. But somewhere deep down? In that selfish part of me I can’t seem to shake off… every moment of silence just feels like a condemnation. Like a confirmation that, deep down, everyone knows it was me who killed him. With my failure. Both of you know I brought him here. Both of you know I let him die.” Violet was crying as she spoke, at this point, and the other girls wandered closer to her. “It’s stupid. It’s so stupid. But in this quiet, I can’t get out of my head. Every word you don’t say feels like an accusation.”
Neither Aubrey nor Kiera responded, at first, and Violet hung her head. “I knew it was selfish. I shouldn’t have said anything…” Violet whispered.
“No, I get it,” Aubrey responded. “I didn’t have to worry about it before, because of you and Kiera. I was annoyed, at the time, but I get it now. The way you two were acting… it made the world feel a little normal, even as mine was falling apart. And now that you’ve stopped… all I can see is Stephanie’s bleeding ears. I didn’t say it. Maybe I didn’t understand that that’s what it was. But I can’t get the feeling that I’m being rejected out of my head, either.” Violet gave her a grateful look.
“Well, shit,” Kiera replied. “Sorry. I got caught up in my head. In memories, I guess. It didn’t occur to me how much worse it must be for you guys. Come on, I can talk. It’s a chronic problem, if you ask my mother. What do you want to talk about?”
“Anything that doesn’t matter,” Violet answered immediately.
“Oh, so men,” Kiera joked, doing her best to rapidly get the other girls’ minds off of the dead. “I’m kinda warming up to Guy, to be honest. He’s got, like, a bishie thing to him, and he has a “Tank” calling? That’s the kind of guy they put in the books my parents keep taking away from me.” That was enough. Kiera had managed to pack enough personality into the sentence to, at least for the moment, break the spell of silence. Violet began to laugh immediately, and Aubrey let a small smile crack her face.
“I mean, he’s obviously into you,” Violet replied, sniffling as she shook off the cry she’d almost submitted herself to. “Why not just ask him out?” Kiera wrinkled her nose.
“He’s still just a little too impressed with himself, unfortunately. That’s not a bad thing, in his case. It’s kinda hot, actually, if only because he’s cocky in a funny way. But it’s also kinda annoying. Gotta beat him into shape first,” Kiera answered. “What about you? Tell me about Alex; he seems nice.” It was Violet’s turn to wrinkle her nose.
“Ah, let’s talk about something else that doesn’t matter. Like, what’s your favorite fish?” Violet asked. She was too annoyed by the thought of Alex to talk about him. Bringing him had felt like such sweet revenge at the time, but it left her with a mopey weight around her neck.
“My favorite fish?” Kiera laughed. “What kind of topic is that?”
“A suspicious one…” Aubrey whispered.
“Christ, you're not back on the ‘Violet is obviously evil’ shit, are you?” Kiera groaned.
“No, no! I was just being stupid and stubborn. It’s not that, it’s just…” Aubrey trailed.
“Just what?” Kiera pushed.
“It just sounded… fishy…” Aubrey joked. Violet and Kiera stopped walking in place.
“Fuck. I forgot about you and bad puns,” Kiera complained. “Can you just go back to being kind of a bitch to Violet? She won’t mind; I swear to God.” Aubrey pouted.
“It wasn’t that bad,” Aubrey mumbled.
“It was an act of violence,” Kiera insisted.
“I like betta fish,” Violet mused. “And salmon. For, uh… different reasons.” Aubrey and Kiera paused and looked toward the thoughtful expression on Violet’s face. Kiera shrugged. The group began to walk again.
“Yeah, alright. I like river trout. For the second reason,” Kiera chuckled.
“I like shrimp, I guess,” Aubrey joined.
“That’s not a fish,” Kiera deadpanned.
“It’s fish-adjacent,” Violet defended.
“Why are we talking about this, anyway?” Aubrey complained.
“To avoid men and puns, mostly,” Violet answered. Aubrey nearly choked with indignation, and Kiera nearly choked on a laugh.
“Truly, a noble pursuit,” Kiera nodded.
“Lots of people love puns,” Aubrey grumbled.
“Not puns like that,” Kiera replied.
Violet smiled as the other girls started to fight over the intrinsic value of wordplay. That had been easier than she’d thought. This was much better. Simpler. She really did like Kiera. Even Aubrey was growing on her, now that she understood which buttons she needed to press to encourage better behavior. All she needed was a shower, and everything would be perfect. Well. Not everything. She still needed to dump Alex, if not necessarily kill him. He was an old and well-worn toy, and Aubrey interested her more, now.
A shower would not be in her near future, however. She felt it first. Something was wrong in the air. Something that crackled like an exposed wire. Electricity coursed through the mist, and Violet’s hair started to take on an uncommon frizz. She took a deep breath.
“Don’t you think, Violet?” Kiera asked.
“Huh?’ Violet replied. She’d lost track of the conversation at some point and had no idea what she’d just been asked.
“That bad wordplay should be a capital offense, keep up,” Kiera answered. Violet squinted at the mist. They were almost back at the train, which made the strange feeling even more worrisome.
“Uh, yeah, we gotta start killing people,” Violet agreed. Her interest in the silly debate was rapidly waning, and she didn’t even notice Aubrey wince at the joke. “Do you guys feel that?” Both girls tensed at the question, knowing Violet’s perception surpassed their own.
“W–What?” Aubrey asked. Violet sniffed. Something was burning.
“Get behind us, Kiera,” Violet ordered. The kitsune was still low on clarity, and her ears alone had barely started to reform. She wasn’t in fighting shape, and Violet was starting to think she needed to be. Kiera didn’t argue even a little. The tone in Violet's voice had shifted too suddenly to allow it.
Violet took a few more steps forward. A yellow light revealed itself through the mist exactly where she’d expected the train to be. Cracking thunder and flashing lightning displayed Violet’s worry to the entire group an instant later. A few more steps, and Violet could see the crystal, at least. Bright, yellow, and dangerous. Only one thing could explain it.
They should have burned Stephanie’s fucking body.
Here are the current goals and rewards, as well as how close we were to each at 10:45 AM CST on the day this chapter was published.
Click Description to learn more about each! Note that I've decided to offer a bonus chapter at: 2k, 3k, 4k, and 5k, instead of every 2k after 2k. With the webtoon chapter hitting at 6k.
6k - 15k Bonus Chapter – 3,000 Followers
2,164 / 3,000
Description
Starting at 2,000 followers, I will write a bonus chapter between 6k - 15k in length every 1k followers up to 5k. This may be a side character, this may be an AU, or anything else. Who decides? You do! When a milestone is reached, I will ask for suggestions and put up a poll of the most popular ones!
Webtoon Chapter – 6,000 Followers
2,164 / 6,000
Description
This is also a bonus chapter, but I will have it commissioned as a fully illustrated webtoon!
Spin-Off Novel – 15,000 Followers
2,164 / 15,000
Description
I will write a novel of at least 120k words focusing on Kiera, our resident fox girl!
Visual Novel – 20,000 Followers
2,164 / 20,000
Description
I will commission art for and develop a full length (and free to play) Cruel Violet visual novel.