Great men always attract leeches.Or perhaps vampires, is the better term.
In either case, the result is the same.Those who excel must learn to suffer slander.
There will never be a shortage of bloodsuckers,eager to smear the name of their betters,just for an unearned shot at the spotlight.—Charles Janeway, In defense of the Asher family
Violet actually enjoyed speaking with Caleb Shephard. That had been something of a surprise to her, and she hadn’t realized the fact until she’d left the first session. He had tried to manipulate her. To establish authority before even introducing himself. She was certain he’d intentionally waited to tell her she’d have to come back. Just another game. And usually, she hated such games.
She thought she’d hate it this time, too. Violet was less than impressed with the man, all things considered. But, in a way, he was something of a puzzle to solve. Therapy had… rules. Structure. She didn’t believe anything she said was actually private, of course. But just because the presented rules were a lie didn’t mean there were no rules at all. This made it something entirely separate from the average bumbling idiot trying to make her behave the way they thought she should.
No. This was a sport. One she was required to play. She would see that such requirements had a cost, of course. But while she was playing, she’d make sure it was a game she could win. As she walked away from her first therapy session, she found herself looking forward to her next meeting. Because she already had ideas for how to retake control. Moves playing in her mind like a game of chess. It was… fun.
“Violet! There you are!” Chase called out, startling Violet out of her introspection. She glanced at her surroundings as she looked for the source of the voice. Everything was green. Or, rather, the green crystal built into the architecture and the green clarity in the powerlines cast the color across everything that didn’t already have it. She was walking across a large foyer in what she thought was her assigned dorm building, and there were a few other students meandering about.
But, after a moment, she finally caught sight of Chase. He hurried across the room to meet up with her, and she quickly matched his urgent pace, meeting him in the center of the room.
“Ch–Chase!” she cried. “There you are! I was hoping you’d come find me!” Immediately afterward, she realized she’d spoken too loudly and blushed. She glanced around her, on the ground floor and up at the open second floor. A few more experienced students snickered at them, misunderstanding the meeting. Chase didn’t seem to notice or care at all, his tired and red eyes locking onto Violet.
“Do you know where your room is yet?” he asked. At the back of the room, a girl with her back to the wall choked on a drink of water. Considering the average perception in the dorm, the question had clearly been overheard. Violet suppressed a groan. They were in a green dorm. She didn’t know why she, a red, had been sent there. But it didn’t matter. What mattered was that every student in the building could likely hear every word they said. Other greens were likely used to limiting their volume to adjust to the average person’s perception attribute, but Chase and Violet were not. They might as well have been screaming.
“W–Why?” Violet replied in a clearly flustered voice.
“It’s the law. With so many high category students and staff in the academy, our rooms have to be insulated with enough crystal to guarantee privacy. I want to talk about… about the train. Without anyone listening in,” Chase explained. Violet had figured as much. The green everywhere wasn’t just for decoration, after all. Every sector of the school, and Prism City itself, was built for members of one category, so they could live together with some level of comfort and privacy. Which meant, at least, anyone green or below wouldn’t be able to eavesdrop on them. But asking had cleared up the misunderstanding, at least. For any rude listeners.
Violet was not starting her new life with anyone getting strange ideas about her. Like thinking she would entertain the advances of an idiot like Chase.
“R–Right, of course. I, uh…” Violet started, glancing down at the sheet of paper in her hand. “I’m in 217, it says. Come on, let’s go.” Chase ignored any discomfort she displayed and simply nodded. She stood frozen for a moment, then moved as it became clear he was waiting to follow her. She started walking toward the stairs, guessing that a room number starting with a “2” was likely on the second floor. “Which room were you assigned to? In case my roommate is home. I haven’t met them yet, but I probably have one, right?” Chase shook his head.
“No good. I’m in the red dorm, we’d be too easily overheard,” he dismissed. Violet lifted an eyebrow at that. It made sense Chase would be in the red dorms, but his correct placement only made it more strange that she’d been sent to green. She was in the highest category on campus with dorms. Anyone who made it to cyan or higher got their own homes, as far as she’d read in the welcome package. Higher categories were barred from visiting sectors assigned to lower categories, but she supposed Chase was right. She hadn’t determined the headmaster’s category, but it had to be at least blue. He’d likely be able to monitor anything in a red dorm from pretty far away.
“Alright. Well, hopefully my new roommate is amiable enough if we need the room. Come on,” Violet scanned the room numbers as she made it to the second of several floors. Once she made it out of the common area and to the halls of dorm rooms, she saw the first plate labeled with “201.” “Right, this way,” she reaffirmed. The rest of the walk was only interesting in how brisk it was, and they arrived at the room in question quickly.
Violet pulled the student ID she’d been issued with her brief orientation and held it to the scanner over the handle. A moment later, after a whirring and a soft click, she opened the emerald door and led Chase into a mostly empty room, excepting some of Violet’s luggage that had been delivered ahead of her. There were two beds, two desks and dressers, a TV, and one bathroom. Aside from empty shelves built into the walls, there was nothing else, which indicated a lack of roommate to worry about. As soon as the door closed, Chase spoke.
“What did he say? Bouvier, about Alex?” Chase asked. Violet continued walking into the room and sat down on the left bed.
“Did you not have a meeting with him after I did? You were waiting when I went inside,” Violet asked.
“If you can call it that. He gave me an appointment with that therapist next week, and a class assignment, then kicked me out. Didn’t give a shit what I had to say. But you… you were in the office for longer, weren’t you? Did you manage to get a word in about it?” he asked.
Violet didn’t laugh at him. She didn’t so much as smile. In fact, she wore an expression of concern and righteous indignation on Chase’s behalf. But the smile was there, resting on the edge of her teeth. It was clear what had happened. Something she had suspected when she was sent to the green dorms, and found even more likely when she learned Chase had been assigned to red. After that trip, everything that happened and all of Violet’s rapid advancement, she had been judged to be valuable. And Chase had not. She didn’t know the exact details of it. Not yet. But it was clear enough. After eleven years of ridicule from Chase. After all the comments about how useless she was. She had value, and Chase did not.
Violet was in control, and it felt euphoric.
“That fucking asshole!” Violet blurted, before blushing and looking at her feet in embarrassment. “Or, uh, sorry. I’m a little upset right now. I meant ‘that jerk,’” she corrected. “He didn’t even bother telling you?” Chase shook his head.
“Like I said, he had no time to spare for me. What about you? If we can’t get them to go back, we need to find another way to help him. Hire someone, maybe. I’ve heard there are some freelancers who will brave the mist. We can try and contact that first outpost we passed through!” he said.
“I can’t believe him. The headmaster pretends to care about us, sends us to therapy, but he won’t even speak to you when someone is missing? That’s unacceptable. We should file a complaint,” Violet answered. Chase slammed his fist into the wall as Violet spoke. It actually made very little noise, and Violet could see a mild pain flash across his face. The emerald on the walls wouldn’t be pleasant for a red lancer to hit. Still, he continued to react to Violet, rather than the mistake he’d just made.
“I don’t care about that right now! I just need to know if we have a chance of sending the lancers back for Alex, or if we need to do something else! You have family in Prism, right? The Asher family is supposed to be a bunch of big shots. Surely, they can afford to hire some help!” he pleaded. Violet looked at him as if she were afraid.
“I’m… I’m sorry, Chase,” Violet responded, a slight tremor in her lip as she spoke. “I just… I don’t know what to do with myself. I don’t know what to say to you. The way they are treating you… like you and Alex don’t matter at all. Treating you like you aren’t worth talking to. Dismissing you like you were a waste of his time. It just… got to me. It was something terrible, but easy to grasp onto. I didn’t mean to make it worse, I swear.” Chase stared at her for a long moment, then withdrew his hand and started rubbing it with one fist. He shambled guiltily over to the free bed and sat down across from Violet.
“I know. I know, I’m sorry. I just… Please tell me you spoke to Bouvier. Or that your family will help us. Just… give me some hope. Please,” he responded. It was Violet’s turn to give him a long and silent look. She took a deep breath, and looked at her feet again.
“Well. I did speak to him. It was the first thing I brought up, but…” Violet trailed off. She gave Chase a pleading look, begging him not to make her say it.
“They wouldn’t send anyone?” Chase asked. “What about your family, then? Have you reached out to them?” Violet shook her head.
“I have no idea who or where the Asher family in Prism is, Chase. I can’t call in favors. But I don’t have to. He’s sending a full team of experienced lancers. I did convince him to do that much, at least. They’ve already left,” Violet corrected. Chase let out a deep, relieved breath, and water started to run down his cheeks.
“Oh, thank God,” he whispered. “Thank God. Thank God.” He repeated that phrase several times, until he paused, and confusion clouded his relief like blood in clean water. “Wait, what was the ‘but,’ then?” Violet sighed.
“You asked me to give you hope,” Violet answered. “But… Chase, you do know, right? You understand? Please don’t make me say it.”
“Know what?” Chase pushed. Violet bit her lip and gripped her skirt in her hands.
“Maybe it’s because you didn’t go to the nest. Or because I was the one they sent after the green heart in Roseville. Because I was there when Daniel… Chase. Please. I loved him. Don’t make me say it,” Violet pleaded. Chase continued to stare.
“Say. What?” he pressed again. Violet’s eyes started to match Chase's at this point, tears running down her cheeks as she looked up and met his eyes.
“I can’t give you hope, Chase. Those lancers will find him. I can promise that much. But all they will bring back is information. Closure, maybe. Depending on how much they find. But you know. You know,” Violet insisted. Chase’s fists curled around the blanket at his side.
“I don’t know what you are talking about, Violet,” he obstinately insisted.
“Chase. Alex is dead.”
The room was heavy with grief, anger, and fear as both students watched each other. Chase’s face struggled to find an emotion, but eventually landed on rage.
“Love him, do you? What a caring girlfriend you turned out to be. Fuck. You.” With that, Chase stood and walked to the door. As he stood in front of it, he stopped and waited for a heavy moment. “You’re wrong. But if you weren’t, it would be your fault.” The words were whispered, but Violet picked them up with little trouble. Finally, he opened the door and stormed out. Violet sat in the quiet as she listened to his feet stomping down the hallway.
She smiled like she’d just seen her first sunrise. It was a moment she could live in for hours, and she felt clarity trickling into her soul. But she couldn’t revel in it for very long. Someone was coming. Violet policed her face and painted it with anxiety instead, one muscle at a time.
“Oh, Violet,” Kiera said, standing in the open door. “I guess we’re roomies, huh?” Violet looked up at her new friend and suppressed the smile that tried to crawl back onto her face. “Oh. Oh shit. What’s wrong?”