A Tale of Two Cities

People always say that they want to turn back time, that they wished that they had the power to do so. It was stupid, it was so utterly stupid that I could just throw up. 

I told myself that wanting to turn back time would be the last thing that I wanted.

At least I thought it was the last thing I wanted. 

I never thought about it until now, until I met her. 

Her name was Violet, and she was the best thing that ever happened to me. My life growing up wasn’t the best. Between my dad being out of the picture and my mom working all of the time, it was mainly up to me to take care of me and my little brother Hugo. He was born when I was two, different fathers of course, though I have no idea who the man is and honestly I don’t really care since he was never there. 

“Eli, what’s for dinner?” Hugo snapped me out of my trance. I was staring at his circular shaped face with a black pen in my hand, precalculus homework sitting below my eyes. “I’m hungry.”

“Oh, um-”

“-I could help you!” He cut me off. Even as a thirteen year old boy, he acted just like he did when he was a baby, at least when it came to food. “I’m capable, you know.”

“I know, I know, but I need to pick some things up from the store.” I stood up from the wooden table. “You stay here, I’ll run to the convenience store and-”

“-you’re staying here.” Hugo got up alongside me, pointing at my homework. “You have all of this precalculus stuff to do, along with an AP English essay.”

“But-”

“-you’re staying.” He repeated. 

“Don’t you have your own work to do?”

“Well yeah, but eighth grade doesn’t count.”

“Bullshit.” I started to put on my shoes. “It counts, Hugo, it all counts.”

“Or we could wait until Mom gets home.”

I paused. “Funny.”

Hugo sounded confused. “What’s funny?”

“The fact that you think that she would come home in time.”

After that I didn’t come back until late that night, and Hugo was furious, though at least he didn’t starve. He survived off of snacks until I got back, but I had a good reason.

I had a great reason.

The bell at the top of the door of the convenience store rang as I entered, the shopkeeper greeting me as I picked up a red and black basket and wandered along the aisles. I picked up potato chips, ramen, vegetables, a few fruits, and canned tomatoes as I debated on what to cook for dinner. 

What would Hugo like? Pasta, maybe?

I grabbed a box of uncooked pasta and a tray of chicken thighs and headed for the counter. I handed the things to the cashier as he rang up each item.

“Thirty dollars even.” The cashier said. I handed him forty dollars and told him to keep the change, he smiled and wished me a good day in return. I walked to the parking lot and put the grocery bags in the trunk, turning around and walking full force to put the shopping cart away only to bump into something.

Not something, someone. A girl.

I bumped into a girl.

Well shit.

“I’m sorry.” The girl said as she looked at me. She quickly looked back down when she saw my face, smiling slightly. “I didn’t mean to bump into you.”

“It’s alright.” I said as she looked up. “I’m Eliot.”

“Violet.” She smiled. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

After that day, we talked non-stop for hours a day. We shared everything with one another. It felt like Violet knew me better than my own mother sometimes, and I wanted to go see her, but I couldn’t. She was only in Brooklyn temporarily to visit family, she lives in New Orleans. It felt like I’ve known her for my whole life, which is a stretch, but it really does feel that way. 

After a couple of weeks passed, winter break started. I turned eighteen a couple of days before, and I had enough money saved up in my bank account for a trip to New Orleans. Though, I only had enough for myself, and I couldn’t bring Hugo with me. If I’m being honest, I didn’t even want to bring Mom with me. I’ve barely talked to her because I’ve been so busy, and she has too, so there was no point.

It’s not like she would even care.

I landed in New Orleans earlier this morning, and I booked a hotel for the couple of days that I would stay, just in case Violet didn’t want me with her. I was planning on going to see her today, and I was excited.

And scared, very scared. I haven’t seen her in over a month, would she even want to see me? Was this just a huge mistake?

I took a taxi to the street she lived on, Pioneer Lane. I walked up to the house, went up a few steps and onto the porch, and rang the doorbell.

Nothing.

I knocked on the door instead only for it to swing wide open when I did. It wasn’t locked, but why?

Did Violet forget to lock it?

“Violet?” I yelled down the hallway before me, my voice echoing and bouncing off of the walls and back to me. “Mr. and Mrs. Woods?”

Silence. 

I stepped back slightly, examining the hallway. Do I go in? What if something’s wrong? I decided to go inside, speed walking through the empty hallway and into the kitchen. It seemed like no one was home. As I entered, a chill was sent down my spine. The air around me felt thin, with a lingering scent of something metallic-

Oh no. 

The silence was broken with the water dripping from the faucet in the kitchen sink, leaving me with an anxious feeling. I stormed through the rest of the house to find broken glass everywhere from the windows, and blood stains on the floor. It looked like a fight took place, but who was it between? Violet and her parents?

I searched the whole house to no luck, not a single thing. She was gone, and so were her parents. With a heavy heart, I sat on the wooden flooring, the one spot where there was no glass. 

Where the hell was she?

I sat there for a while, I don’t even remember how long it was, but it was long enough for me to think about everything. By everything, I mean everything. I thought about Violet, Mom, Hugo, and at one point my father. 

By the time I was ready to leave, two people walked in, screaming. It was Violet’s parents, though Violet wasn’t with them, and neither of them knew where she was. So if the fight wasn’t with Violet’s parents-

My eyes widened. 

Someone fought Violet.