Chapter 10 Collide

• ~ Violet ~
• “You race cars and you ride bulls, but you’re afraid to tell a girl that you like her?”
• Violet’s question made Lucas laugh to himself. He realized how silly that sounded, but that was the truth.
• “It’s different, though,” he said.
• “Different how?”
• “I don't have to talk to cars, I just have to drive them,” he said with a bored stare. “But with her… whenever I’m near her, I just can’t speak right, you know?”
• Lucas was staring at her with this look she couldn’t decipher. Violet concluded that he was actually a shy guy. Underneath his confident and jokey exterior, he was a sweetheart who was afraid to talk to a girl he likes.
• “Hey, if you never tell her how you feel, how is she supposed to know?” she told him.
• “Are you… saying that I should tell her?” he said with his head tilted to the side.
• “Well, duh!” she said reassuringly. “I mean, what do you have to lose?”
• “Uh, our friendship?”
• “Well, if it matters that much to her like it does to you, then you wouldn’t lose it,”
• Violet made a compelling argument. Lucas’s lips curved up a smile, but he quickly cleared his throat to hide it.
• “Well, alright, in that case, I gotta talk to you about something…”
• “Okay?” she replied, waiting for him to continue.
• “Well, uh,” Lucas was struggling with his words. His hands went to rake his messy blonde hair and it rested on the back of his neck. “Do you… uh, wanna dance?”
• “Huh?”
• “…With me?”
• “Right now?”
• “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll tell you about that thing later”
• “Um, okay, sure,” she shrugged.
• Violet didn’t know why Lucas was acting weird, but she took his hand anyway and he led her to the dance floor. The band was playing a slow song, their rendition of ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You’ by Frankie Valli.
• “You're just too good to be true… Can't take my eyes off of you… You'd be like Heaven to touch… I wanna hold you so much…”
• Violet moved her body to the music and Lucas followed along. Her hands were around his neck and his hands rested on the small of her back. She was moving with such ease and grace, but Lucas was struggling. Normally, he wasn’t this stiff, but he was a bit more nervous than usual. Violet’s darted around and she noticed that a lot of people were watching them.
• Maybe it’s because the girl he likes is watching him?
• “Hey,” Lucas said suddenly, catching Violet’s attention. “You look really pretty today,”
• “Why, thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself, Mr. Hayes,” Violet replied in her exaggerated southern accent. That never failed to make him laugh. “You should wear a suit more often,”
• “Yeah?” he asked.
• “Yeah,” she nodded, fixing up his bowtie a little.
• Lucas’s eyes darted to her hands on his tie and he swallowed hard. After she finished fixing her tie, her hands went back to his shoulders and she smiled at him. Lucas was caught in a daze.
• “Pardon the way that I stare… There's nothin' else to compare… The sight of you leaves me weak… There are no words left to speak…”
• “So, uh, listen…” he started to speak. “The thing that I wanna tell you about is, um…”
• Violet was trying her best to listen, but suddenly, something caught her eye. There was a man smoking a cigarette and he was standing at the very back of the area, away from all the wedding guests. He was standing alone, wearing a sleek three-piece suit, and he was looking right at her. His dark hair was neatly slicked back and there were tattoos peeking out of his neck.
• Wait. That can’t be…!
• “Hey, Violet?” Lucas’s voice pulled her attention again.
• “Huh?” she looked up at him in confusion.
• “What’s wrong?”
• “No, I think I saw someone…”
• “Who?”
• Violet looked in the same direction again, but the man was gone. She scanned the area nearby and saw a shadow moving. Someone was walking towards the barn.
• “Give me a second, I’ll be right back,” she said as she pulled away from Lucas.
• “But, I—“ He tried to hold onto her, but she was already gone.
• “Hold that thought,” she told him, leaving him hanging high and dry.
• With quick steps, Violet approached the empty, abandoned barn. She didn’t know who she was expecting, but she had to see for herself to make sure. That man definitely didn’t look like the typical guests from this town. No one here would have owned a suit that nice. And there was something about the way that man was staring at her. She couldn’t quite see his face, but the look he was giving her gave her the chills.
• “Hello?” she said as she entered the barn. There was no reply. The place was dark and empty.
• “Is anyone in here?” she tried again, but there was nothing still.
• It’s probably just in my head.
• Letting out a sigh, Violet turned around to leave. But before she reached the door, she heard a creaking noise and she whipped her head around instinctively.
• “W-who’s there?!” she demanded.
• And suddenly, a figure appeared from the dark shadows. He let out a clout of white smoke out of his mouth and Violet couldn’t see his face, but she could heard him speak.
• “So…” He trailed. His voice was low and husky. It was a familiar voice. She heard it often in her dreams.
• No way, it couldn’t be…
• The man stepped further into the light and as the smoke dissipated into the air, Violet could see his face as clear as day. She drew in a sharp breath as her eyes jolted open and her jaw fell to the ground.
• “What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?”
• He was smirking. It was a smirk she had known so well. Violet’s hand went to cover her mouth and her knees began to shake. Her heart was racing and her breath was caught in her throat. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
• It was him. The demon himself in the flesh.
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• - - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -