Book 2: Chapter 54 - Hot Girl Shit
You trust me, don’t you?
—Violet Asher
Violet Asher
Category [Yellow]
Calling <Reaper>
Degree {1}
Attributes
Agility (297)
Constitution (162)
Dexterity (258)
Endurance (182)
Perception (383)
Resistance (219)
Strength (133)
Bloodlust (676)
Violet read her new attributes for the third time that day. She was extremely pleased with the leap into yellow, but she was equally confused. She’d killed both the girl—Merryl, apparently—and Samuel in a single night. And she’d grown from it, she was certain. But not to yellow. She hadn’t been able to check her advancement before meeting with Chase, but if she had to estimate... she’d only really advanced to orange seven. A single degree from a kill so high above her. The difference in her attributes had been noticeable, but not massive.
It wasn’t until after Chase that she had actually jumped in ability. She’d cleared practically the entire orange category in a couple of weeks. And most of that was in bed. She was more than satisfied with that, but she wished she better understood the mechanism of growth better. It seemed like collaring a red had been more effective than killing a green. This couldn’t be true on its own, however. Or just being selected as team leader would have helped her more.
It wasn’t simply authority she needed. It was ownership. The fact that her new property absolutely despised her certainly didn’t hurt. Having a boy who loathed her, but feared her enough to submit completely to her will... that was worth far more than blood.
It wasn’t unrelated, either, of course. It was blood that built the collar, after all. Death and power simply had a synergistic effect.
Her legend had also grown again, and that made a significant impact. She’d already been the topic of rumors all over the academy. Then, she fell from the bell tower to save the boy who was running around and slandering her. She had gone from impressive and brave to being an actual saint. At least in many of the rumors. Chase had been another link in the chain she was wrapping around the entire school.
That was why she was yellow now, as far as she could tell. It still didn’t feel like enough. Clarity requirements for such a jump were massive. But it was the best explanation she could come up with.
Unfortunately, this did have an upper limit. It would be hard to reproduce repeatedly, and every category took much more clarity than the last. She was going to need to push hard to move through yellow anywhere near as quickly.
And she was going to do it with the police actively searching for her.
She’d read the latest bulletin. There had been good and bad news tangled together. On the bright side, the police weren’t investigating Chromatic yet. She wasn’t sure why, but they wouldn’t even enter the grounds, despite their arrest of Kiera not too long before. Samuel and Merryl were obviously tied to the same location, and she’d expected it to be the first place they looked. But they were investigating everywhere but Chromatic Academy. That seemed stupid of them. It only made sense if Bouvier had done something.
The man must’ve really had high hopes for her. She’d need to actually deliver some nonsense about Cyan soon, and maybe she’d have a little more peace and quiet.
That brought her mind to the bad news. They’d recognized her talent. Or, the imprints of it. She wasn’t sure how. But they even got the name of it right, to an extent. And they’d tied the murders at the green hotel to the nest.
The Cruel Ivy Killer. At least the name they gave her sounded hot.
She looked at herself in the mirror. She didn’t look all that cruel. And it wasn’t like her victims were any better than her. All of them were out for the same personal gain. Violet just had the best tools to actually take it. Cruel? Sure. As cruel as anyone, she supposed. As cruel as everyone in Roseville who paid her less attention and respect, and disregarded her just as easily. As cruel as everyone in Prism, who’d do the same if not for her Obfuscate talent. But whatever. It was a decent moniker.
It would just be annoying. Not unexpected, of course. But annoying, trying to operate with half the city terrified of some...
Violet’s thoughts trailed off, and she let out an exasperated sigh.
I guess that explains it.
She felt a bit silly, and caught an amused smirk on her own face as she realized what she’d been missing.
Half of Prism had read that bulletin, and suddenly, they were all afraid. Of her. The academy praised her, and the city hid from her. It was the bulletin. The moniker. The shadowy figure and the death she represented. That was the control that dragged her into yellow. And that... that she could replicate. She simply needed to start being a bit more... showy. Each death would help her. Each death that had people double-locking their doors and walking home in pairs, however? Those would be like adrenaline for her calling.
And she didn’t have to be too afraid of the police. Her new talent would get her out in a pinch, if worst came to worst. She’d already tested it on Shepard, whose category was far above hers. It would work on any cops she ran into, and she’d be free to go.
She allowed it to inscribe itself on the mirror again, just so the comforting words could wrap themselves around her.
Little White Lies - [Yellow] - {1}
“A Reaper’s word is law. When the Reaper speaks, her subjects must listen. Provided her words are not steeped in complete madness, her words will be believed. With “Little White Lies,” the Reaper may tell exactly one lie to any target. If there is any possibility of the lie being believed, it will be. The target will not be convinced they have been deceived without extraordinary intervention. This talent may only be used on any given target a single time.
The Reaper’s bloodlust must dominate her enemy’s resistance, or “Little White Lies” may fail.”
Violet was re-evaluating whether there had been any bad news at all. With this talent and the effects of public opinion, she would have the power to challenge Cyan before she even graduated. She just needed everyone in every category to share that same fear. Those below green would assume she couldn’t enter their district, and those above would assume she couldn’t hurt them. It would mostly be low-category employees in the green district who feared her for the time being.
But she could prove no one was beyond her reach. Not even her uncle.
Considering the benefits, it seemed like a positive. Although, she did feel like she was forgetting something about it. The idea was like a slowly deflating balloon, and she couldn’t find where the air was escaping. She almost wanted to dwell on it, and she would have if her team wasn’t waiting for her in the cafeteria.
She withdrew her hand and splashed herself in the face with a little water. Her mood was improving by the moment, and that left her hungry. And the cafeteria was selling salmon teriyaki today. Which was almost as encouraging as the realization behind her sudden jump in ability.
She left the bathroom, only to find the dorm empty. Kiera had obviously left ahead of her, since Guy and Aubrey were waiting. More importantly, Guy, of course. Violet still didn’t entirely get it. The man was pretty, but he was also spineless. “Pretty” didn’t do much for her, knowing how limp he was. Kiera was bound for an unsatisfying relationship if she continued to pursue him. But Violet had done what she could. Guy would likely leave her friend alone until the fox moved on.
Violet stretched and adjusted her tie. The uniform was growing on her the more she wore it. Especially now that her legs were shaved and a certain judgy kitsune wouldn't be making snide remarks about them. Overall, she was in an excellent mood. Everything was going her way, and she was absolutely in control.
She made a quick stop at her bookshelf and retrieved the card she’d been working on. It was hidden in her copy of Harmony, near her favorite chapter. She’d finished it the night before, and wanted to drop it off with the rest of the deck before she met up with her friends.
“The Tower.”
She smiled as she looked down on it. She’d drawn the bell tower and a simplistic render of Chase falling from it. It might’ve been her favorite in the deck so far. Although Caitlyn in “The Hanged Man” had a special place in her heart. She’d have to look through them together to decide for sure. For the time being, she didn’t want to admire it. If she was going to stop by her stash and make it to lunch, she needed to stop dawdling.
“There she is!” Guy greeted enthusiastically. Violet was impressed with him on that account, at least. For all she’d stripped him of his dignity, he didn’t hold a grudge. She wondered if he was simply used to such treatment. It would make sense, considering how easily he folded.
“Hey, Vi, what the hell took you so long?” Kiera called, waving from the table.
“It’s been, like, ten fucking minutes, give her a break,” Aubrey chided. Kiera stuck her tongue out at the banshee, and Violet could tell it had been a lighthearted reprimand.
“Sorry, sorry! I was just doing hot girl shit,” Violet apologized.
“Oh, okay, that makes sense,” Guy accepted.
“Like what?” Kiera interrogated.
“They were out of salmon and I had to wait until they made more!” Violet explained. As she did, she slid onto the bench next to Kiera. Aubrey and Guy sat across from her, and Guy nodded at her words.
“All good fish to those who wait,” he agreed in his best approximation of a sagely voice.
“You can just not have fish for a single meal,” Aubrey suggested.
“How dare you?” Violet replied with a scandalized glare.
“Yeah, that crosses a line, Aubrey. You should apologize,” Guy agreed.
“You’re absolutely right,” Kiera said, agreeing with Aubrey. “But how dare you?”
Aubrey rolled her eyes at the group and continued picking the tomatoes out of her salad. “My mistake. Enjoy your salmon,” she conceded.
“I’ll enjoy your tomatoes, too, if you don’t want them,” Violet noted. Aubrey held out her hand in an inviting gesture, and Violet started shoveling discarded tomatoes onto her plate.
“You have weird taste,” Aubrey remarked with a half-grimace.
“I don’t know. I think they make a cute couple,” Guy countered, eyeing Violet and Kiera instead of the contentious plate of food in front of them.
“What? Couple?” Aubrey asked, the implications avoiding her nearly as well as her least favorite fruit.
“I think... I think he’s shipping Kiera and me?” Violet answered, her response laden with morbid curiosity.
“Oh, God, please don’t do that,” Kiera groaned. Violet gave her a teasing kick under the table, just to acknowledge the obvious reason the fox was protesting. Kiera would have made a snarky joke if Aubrey suggested it, but Guy? That might as well have been a declaration of disinterest.
It was funny to Violet, as much as she empathized with her friend’s disappointment.
“Yeah, Guy. You know my heart belongs to Aubrey alone. How could you?” Violet asked, doing her best to sound hurt while leaving a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
Aubrey still managed to blush at the joke, and she hunched her shoulders as she focused on her now tomato-free salad. “Don’t you start. Ajia is gonna pop up and start talking shit,” she complained. “Besides. I have a date next Friday, and you aren’t invited.”
Guy and Kiera immediately jumped on Aubrey to ask who the partner in question was, and Violet mimed an arrow to the heart at the mock rejection. She was extremely entertained at the interaction, although she generally didn’t care about Aubrey’s dating life one way or another. There was a certain amusing beauty to the energy in the air. The way the team’s implicit understanding on trauma was being upheld.
Kiera wasn’t going to prison, but only because her father had been murdered. Which meant Guy wouldn’t be implicated at any point. Violet had almost died twice, as far as the group knew. And technically, a citywide manhunt for her had just started. Kiera had gone to the police department herself to volunteer for a brief interview. But she was at lunch because her alibi had handily checked out. Aubrey was still tangling with the perceived blood on her hands, and Guy was facing a daily crisis of cowardice. Their problems were not those of a group of high school students.
Yet, in the same way the school was being protected from active investigation, Violet and her friends were insulated from the real issues in their lives. So they sat at a cafeteria table. They laughed about crushes, and they flirted with each other. They gossiped about things that didn’t matter, and they made age-appropriate jokes.
All while Violet was drawing a deck of trophies to commemorate her violent efforts to take control of her life.
She was happy.
“Do you think it’s her? The Cruel Ivy Killer? It was her dad who died, wasn’t it?” a voice murmured. The team had chosen to eat in the orange cafeteria, so passing students were speaking at a level orange lancers could pick up. Or rather, they were speaking at a volume red students could hear. Which made it feel almost vindictive, since Kiera clearly heard the accusation.
Violet and Aubrey both moved to stand and give the girl a piece of their minds, but Kiera stopped them, catching each by the wrist.
“Don’t worry about it, really. People will talk nonsense for a while, then they’ll give up,” she assured the team. “I’ve already been cleared.”
Violet took note of the speaker anyway. She wouldn’t make a scene, but the gossipy girl would probably find a few unpleasant surprises in her future.
“I wouldn’t mind reminding them to stop talking shit now, really,” Aubrey practically growled. Violet was amused at that, considering how quickly the banshee had turned on Kiera before.
“Seriously. It’s fine,” Kiera insisted. “What kind of name is that, anyway? ‘Cruel Ivy’? What does that have to do with my dad?”
Violet’s stomach sank, and the other two gave Kiera a strange look.
“Oh, you wouldn’t much enjoy reading the bulletin, would you?” Guy asked.
“It’s fine, we don’t have to talk about it,” Aubrey tried, but Kiera shook her head.
“What? What is it? Seriously, I didn’t even like my dad. Just tell me,” she insisted.
Guy gave her a nervous look, but folded under the pressure of her persistent stare. “Well. Whoever killed... at the hotel. Whoever did that. There is evidence that they have murdered others around town. One group in particular was... well. There is some kind of evidence that they might be a serial killer,” he explained.
Kiera didn’t look at Violet as Guy spoke. In fact, she seemed to focus on anything but her roommate as she processed the words.
Oh, right. Kiera knows who killed Samuel. Which means she knows who the Cruel Ivy Killer is.
Self-inflicted illusions were one thing. But with a manhunt like this, it was going to get ugly quickly if Violet didn’t think of an explanation. She’d known she was forgetting something.