Keeping Traditions

Chapter Six

Violet wasn't in the kitchen with his mother when Zack returned home with his father and brothers. He looked at his parents having a quiet conversation, averting his attention when Dylan grabbed Hannah's wrist tightly and she winced. He needed to find Violet.

Jake jogged up the stairs ahead of him but both of them noticed the bedroom doors side open, a bucket of cold, soapy water left abandoned in the hall. Jake rushed to check on Megan who started sobbing before the door closed behind him. Zack turned to his room and searched swiftly for Violet.

He found her lying on the floor in the bathroom unconscious. Zack winced as his knees connected with the tiles but ignored the minor pain and pulled Violet off the floor. He curled her smaller body into his, stroking her hair slowly in the hopes it would awaken her.

His breath came easier when her eyes rolled behind the closed lids and she groaned softly. He gently lifted her off the floor and carried her to the bed. Once she was tucked in, he wet a cloth with warm water and returned to her. She rolled her head away from the cloth but he continued gently cleaning her face and hair.

Her beautiful eyes fluttered open and focused on him. He felt his mouth lift into a smile, the backs of his fingers trailing along her cheek. She smiled slowly up at him and suddenly her comfort was replaced by pure fear. He had never seen her so afraid, especially of him.

He let her go when she shoved away from him and didn't hide his hurt expression. Violet crawled away and across the bed from him. She was going to run. He knew it the moment she glanced over her shoulder at the door and his to see the window.

So much for this being easy. She was homeless, not stupid. He didn't doubt she had noted the bandages on his mother and Megan, the changes in everyone else's behavior, and the lack of a baby. Not to mention Megan was bound to Jacob's bed and looked like she'd been fighting all night.

Violet was frightened of her family because she didn't understand truly. She had been accepting, lonely even, at first, but now the reality was settling in and she would have to learn.

He hoped not the hard way.

"Violet..." he coaxed her with his softest voice. "Please listen first."

She was breathing heavily, her heart had to be pounding. Her eyes fixated on the bars over the window. She licked her dry lips and her terrified gaze landed on him, "I want to go outside. Zack, can we go outside?"

Her question threw him off guard. Maybe she was giving him a chance. He didn't want to teach her the hard way. His father would expect of him, but he didn't want to teach Violet if he could avoid it.

"Maybe a little later when everyone has settled down. Violet, will you tell me what happened today?"

She narrowed her eyes, her nose scrunched up as she recalled the day. "I washed the dishes after you went outside. Then we decided I would clean upstairs and your mother would be downstairs. I wanted to make the day easier on her, she seemed tired and downstairs doesn't get so messy. I went to your parent's room and saw... Then I heard Megan..."

He felt his mouth go dry and his stomach twist tight. The look on her face told him - Megan had been talking and sticking her nose where it didn't belong. He would speak with Jacob about it if Violet began misbehaving.

"Zack... Tell me she's lying," Violet pleaded looking up at him with hope glittering in her eyes.

He sat and ran his hands through his hair a few times, "I don't know what Megan told you."

"No daughters?"

He sighed, "She's not supposed to tell you these things. That is something that waits to be told."

Violet looked at him as if he were a complete stranger and not someone she had been reliant on for months. "Wh-what?"

"Violet..."

It was too late. Violet ran for the door. He let her get out of the room and down to the exterior doors. He slowly stood up and followed the sound of her struggling with the locked doors. Both Jake and his father looked at him curiously. Zack waved them off and continued following the sounds of Violet struggling to escape.

He touched her shoulder, she almost relaxed then shrugged him off. He sighed in frustration and wrapped his arms around her waist, hauling her off the door as she kicked and screamed, "No! No, let me go! No!"

Zack carried Violet over his shoulder and back upstairs to his room, locking the door after tossing her onto the bed. She sat up and ran to the bathroom, slamming the door and likely searching for a lock or barricade. He stopped outside the door, laying his forehead against it.

"Violet, you're forgetting that we're your family. We love you. Everything we do is to protect you. My great-great-great-great grandfather started these traditions and they have kept our family safe for generations. Violet, I love you. I only want to keep you safe."

"I don't want a life like this. She was just a baby."

He banged his head against the door, "I... I don't know how Jake or Dad do it... Violet, please, open the door and talk to me."

"Why the gauze on their arms?" Violet asked through the door.

"Dad and Jake punished them for something."

"Punished them for what?"

Zack sighed and leaned on the doorframe, "Talking back, asking questions, crying, being disagreeable, annoying them in some way. Grandpa taught Dad to be cold, Mom isn't like that. It causes a lot of friction. Megan was probably hysterical and violent, which Jake doesn't like."

"When will you punish me?"

He picked at the peeling paint, "Only when and if I have to. Violet, I don't want this for us."

She remained silent for a long time, he didn't bother counting. Instead, he waited until the door hinges squeaked and he looked up from his seat on the floor. She peeked out fearfully, looking around the room and finally finding him on the floor.

"Zack?"

"Yes, my beauty?"

"I think you should tell me the things you haven't, before I find out from someone else."

He nodded and rose to his feet, sitting on the bed and patting the spot next to him. She didn't sit down, she wrapped her arms around herself and waited for him to speak.

"Violet, what would you go back to if you left here? Dancing naked for money like a whore? Sleeping in a laundromat and starving because you never made enough to properly survive? Here you have security, a roof, three meals a day, a bed, and a family that loves you. We can have a beautiful life, but we have to build it together."

"Zack..."

"If you can't understand that you're better off here with me, Dad will want you punished." He looked out the window and sighed, "I know this transition is not easy for you. You have been self-reliant for a long time and you're resistant to accepting any help, but I know you'll see that you will be happiest, and safest, here, with your family. With me."