Chapter 10

About an hour later, Violet and Adam were suddenly awakened by a hard knock on the front door of their small shack. Adam quickly got up and jumped into his jeans without putting on his underwear first. Violet sat up realizing she was still naked, and quickly covered her small breasts.

Adam walked out of the small bedroom and over to answer the door, seeing it was Phoenix. He was reminding Adam that the council was expecting Violet this morning, and they were already running late. Adam thanked Phoenix, then ran back into the room.

Violet was sitting on the edge of the bed holding her delicate small hands in her lap, but now wearing a long tee shirt. She looked so beautiful, sitting there so innocent and sweet, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. He couldn’t believe that she had given herself to him this morning. It meant more to him than she realized. He wanted to talk to her more about it, but they needed to get dressed and go, now.

The last four years of his life had been full of heartache, pain, struggle, and healing, and now it was as if he was being rewarded for all the hard work he had done to make himself a better person. He knew this arrangement of theirs was not ideal, but he was really starting to fall in love with this young girl. He hoped she was starting to feel the same. He was already planning their life out together in his head. Maybe they would leave this island, and move back to California. Or, if she wanted, back to her hometown. One day get married, have a couple kids, raise a little family. Maybe live a “normal life”. He shook himself out of his daydream.

“Violet, get dressed. We have to go meet with the council.”

Violet suddenly became nervous. “Why?” she asked.

Adam tried to explain it to her the best way he could, “They just want to get to know you more. The more we know, the better we can protect you, and everyone else in the village.”

Violet didn’t feel comfortable with this, but she obeyed Adam’s request, and began getting dressed. Once they were both ready, right before they walked out of the small shack, he took her by the hands, and looked into her eyes.

“Violet, please don’t be afraid. Everyone here just wants what is best for you. Just speak from your heart, I will be right there with you the whole time.”

She shook her head yes. It was times like these that she missed her mom the most. Tears began to slowly puddle in her eyes, as thoughts of her late mother again hit her like a brick wall. But now was not the time to let the grief consume her. She swallowed hard, trying to be strong, as Adam led her out of the shack, through the village to the meeting place. Holding his strong hand gave her strength, and she felt a little stronger as they walked into the larger shack that they used for gatherings.

They walked inside to see the elders sitting around a wooden table, drinking freshly brewed coffee. Maeble spoke first.

“There she is. Good morning Violet.”

Violet smiled politely looking at each of the elders, “Good morning,” she replied shyly.

They offered coffee to both Adam and Violet, and they both declined politely. Krycek was there as intimidating as he normally was, and Violet saw the third elder that wasn’t present when Adam went to hear about the move yesterday morning. He was a short Filipino man in his late sixties with a bald head, but a very long white beard named Nikho.

If Violet wasn’t trying to subdue the grief of her mother, and scared out of her mind, she’d have giggled at how cliche he looked. Instead she stood with as blank a face as she could. He sipped his coffee, his eyes not leaving her, and remained quiet.

Krycek spoke next, his deep Russian accented voice echoing slightly, “Violet.”

The tone of his voice demanded she look up to meet his gaze, his piercing light blue eyes feeling like they were looking through her soul.

“We are here to learn about you. You’ve been here for a few days, and if not for The Baron’s brashness, we would have been having this conversation yesterday.”

Maeble spoke next, softly and not as domineering, “We just want to ask you ... what circumstance brought you here? We know that Adam pulled you from the wrecked limo, but how did you end up in The Baron’s escort?”