Chapter 185: In Control
***Authors note: Sorry I’ve been sick and doing back to school stuff, working on my resume, researching stuff for a new book, and then being an adult so I’ve struggled to find the time to update***
Violet now fully understood what was going on. The Goddess plans, the evil gods plans. She knew what she had to do.
Driving to the orphanage, she had time to think about everything.
She was the entity her daughter would free or bind.
And she had to help. This was her body, and she knew her daughter would struggle with the fight, so she needed to find the strength, secretly, and fight Ezelreth from the inside, while her daughter, Odette, fights him on the outside.
Together they would defeat him. She would play the part of the victim, play weak and defenseless.
But what Ezelreth didn’t realize, she was stronger now, stronger than ever before. Even without his powers.
She was a survivor, and he couldn’t take that away from her. She endured. She never changed who she was at her core. She never let the actions of others dictate her.
Ezelreth saw a weak spot, a crack in her shield, one that happened only for a moment, and latched himself on to her, biding his time. Waiting.
She would do the same. Mimicking his actions, but instead him swallowing her goodness with his darkness, she would light up his darkness forcing it to shrink so small it disappears all together.
How he had weakened her, she would weaken him.
Violet drove around for countless hours before finding the orphanage.
The building wasn’t run down, per say, but it was definitely in need of some TLC.
’After this is over, I need to check out the other ones in the city and make sure they’re up to code. Interview the kids again. Check in on their wellbeing.
The walls looked a little corroded and cracked. The sidewalk was uneven; the gates were slightly rusted. But not the worst condition she’s seen. She rang the doorbell.
A woman yelled "Coming."
Violet was thankful someone would be up at this hour.
The door opened, and a short brown haired woman stood in the doorway.
"Oh, oh my god. You’re... Oh my god." The woman dropped to one knee. "I apologize, my queen. Where are my manners."
Violet leaned down, gentling lifting her elbows.
The woman rose to her feet.
"I’m actually in need of a bit of help." Violet smiled softly.
"Whatever my queen needs, please come in." The woman opened the door for Violet, stretching her arms to gesture Violet to answer.
"Thank you, I didn’t catch your name." Violet mentions.
"Maria, your majesty."
"Maria, I need to see all you halfblooded children." Violet answered without realizing how weird that sounded.
"Excuse me, may I ask what for." Maria was skeptical, she knew magic as a half witch herself, but this was unusual.
"I will be honest, because I am short on time. I am possessed by an entity right now, he’s asleep, so I’m able to be in charge of my own body. But this won’t last, I need to store strength, my own strength, the only way I can, by healing the heart and taking their pain."
Maria was shocked by such a confession.
"Po... o... possessed?" Maria stuttered.
"Yes, an ancient evil, Maria, time is running out, and I need to do this and leave as soon as possible. And listen, if I come back at night. Do not, whatsoever let me in that door, do not consent to me or anything I ask. This is serious. And the home shall be rewarded. I will personally oversee the buildings restoration." Violet’s voice shook with urgency.
Maria was stuck she wanted to say yes, even if she didn’t, could she even say no, this was her queen in front of her after all.
"Look, let me show you." Violet took the woman’s hand, the woman stilled, she couldn’t believe the queen of vampires was actually touching her.
"Now think of the saddest thing you’ve ever felt. Feel the loss in your heart. Feel it deeply. Let the pain overcome you.
Maria thought about how when she lost her dog, it was hit by a car right in front of her and died alone. The guilt was something that packed more than a punch.
But as the pain flooded her sense, it was instantly lifting, a lightness in her heart. And when she thought about the puppy, she didn’t feel the sadness and guilt.
She felt peace.
"Oh my." The woman’s jaw dropped when she realized what happened.
And Violet, Violet looked better.
She pulled the energy in and pictured a box, tucking the energy carefully into the box. She held it inside her mind.
Looking at Maria she smiled, "Please hurry, help me, and let me help them. If I can come again in the daylight I will help the night citizens." Violet paused and looked to the window in the parlor room, the door was open, it was almost 7. "But I’m running short on time."
"Of course, of course, I’ll round up the half bloods." Maria scurried, rushing to the different rooms telling the girls and boys to come out, that they had a guest.
And one by one the children filed out of the different rooms.
When they spotted Violet, they stared in awe at her long pink hair and soft face. She was the prettiest person they’d ever seen.
The children dusted themselves off, trying to make themselves look more presentable.
The act made Violet giggle, pain tugged at her heart seeing the children in worn hand-me-downs and tattered shoes.
The children bowed and said in unison "Good Evening, Queen Violet."
Violet smiled, her heart feeling a sense of wholeness it hadn’t felt in so long.
Being clouded by Ezelreth’s hate and darkness made life unbearable for her.
Violet saw the exhaustion from life worn on their faces, smiles that looked rehearsed and presented to the world as armor.
"Can I have a hug?" She asked meeting their fake smiles with a real one. And they felt her warmth, even with the darkness that hung in the corner, they felt the light that lived in her heart. The one she would tuck away with her when Ezelreth woke to take his seat in control.
The kids looked around at each other, confused.
Was this real?
They couldn’t believe a queen would ask for anything let alone to be hugged by them in their filthy clothes.
Violet could feel it, their thoughts, their confusion, their hesitation and disbelief.
"I know you guys might be nervous, but I want you all to know something." Violet knelt down and made the kind of dramatic face someone made before telling a bedtime story.
"I need your help, every last one of you. I want to make a trade you see, I want you to gather up all your sad feelings and memories and I want you to hold them for me. And I’m going to take my happy feelings, and trade them to you. And all your sad feelings, I’m going to turn them into happy feelings for me." She paused letting it settle in some before beginning again. "And those sad feelings that I made happy, they’ll bring me good luck and energy and help me fight evil." Violet finished with throwing her fist into the air.
The kids didn’t need to think of anything sad, they already felt sad in their very core. But hearing Violet’s words, seeing the sincerity in them. The first to step into Violet’s arms was a little boy the age 4.
Cautiously he let the tears flow. And just like she said, his sad feelings went away and he felt happier. He took a step back releasing her hold on him, his eyes wide.
Suddenly big ugly tears fell down his face and he jumped into her arms knocking her over.
"Thank... You..." The little boy sniffled.
The other kids exchanged looks of shock and disbelief. Two more stepped forward and joined the hug, and then three more, immediately followed by the rest of the children.
She felt their sadness pour into her, and she let all their troubles become hers, freeing them from their sadness.
The sun was getting dangerously close to setting. She couldn’t hang back any longer. She had just enough time to go sit at a coffee shop nearby and sip her coffee. She tucked all the energy she ate away in that little box she made and pushed it into her heart.