Jade straightens up and hardens his expression, asserting a sense of determination that made me feel uneasy.
"Only if you'll tell us what you're hiding, Candy."
My eyes fall onto Candy in confusion. I didn't know what to think, is she hiding something? Did she keep some information from us? How can I be sure that she is, and Jade is just turning the blame to her to get the tension off of him? I blink a few times as I process all this.
"Candy?" I murmur, confused and worried, but curious to know everything. The information that was being dumped today was helpful, but it still raised more and more questions, and it frustrated me even further.
I roll my eyes, not the least bit bothered by his condescending tone. "First of all, I was going to say it after you admit that you've probably had the dream before too. I told Jae part of it already, so it's not like I lied. I was tired and didn't think it was important up until now." I turn to Jae confidently, explaining myself fully. "I told you I had a dream, right? When I blacked out at Violet's? Well it was the same dream except I saw a girl crying. I don't know who it was though.
"Since you're so determined to expose me, Jade," I retort, squinting my eyes. "it's your turn to spill. You must know why Violet's violin is named after you, right?"
I didn't remember to ask how he knew that I didn't tell Jae about the dream.
"First of all, I was going to say it after you admit that you've probably had the dream before too."
Jade looks down, avoiding eye contact with Candy as she grows more angry with him.
"I told Jae part of it already, so it's not like I lied. I was tired and didn't think it was important up until now."
She turns to me, the fury in her eyes obvious.
"I told you I had a dream, right? When I blacked out at Violet's? Well it was the same dream except I saw a girl crying. I don't know who it was though."
Jade seems to relax, but the tension in Candy was rising. She turned back to Jade.
"Since you're so determined to expose me, Jade, it's your turn to spill. You must know why Violet's violin is named after you, right?"
Jade and I mentally jump as if something scared us. I felt my heart stop as Jade stiffens up so much, I could see the skin crawling and the hair standing on end.
He sighs heavily, each breath full of stress.
"Do you really want to know? You have to promise you'll still help me."
I sit back, preparing for what Jade might say. Inside, I'm scared, unsure of what he is about to tell us. But, I have to stay calm.
"I will help no matter what you say next, not because I want to help you, but because I want to help these people," I declare, hoping my goal is made clear. Although Jade is different, he still belongs in Purple, which means he wasn't to be completely trusted. We can rely on him, even tell him what we know, but the second he betrays us, we're on our own.
I only hope Jade is genuine.
Jade closes his eyes and takes a long, deep breath, as if preparing himself for something huge. How big of a secret could this be? He pulls out his right arm and rolls up the sleeve. It wasn't until now that I noticed he's always been wearing a black jacket. He turned the wrist towards us, revealing a tattoo of a violin on his arm.
"I actually…I can't leave Purple."
My eyes widen as I start to wonder if this is actually happening, unsure of if what I'm thinking is correct.
"As long as the girl is playing her violin, I can exist physically. She…she's basically me. She's the criminal, that's why she's locked up."
I could feel my heart drop as the pieces start coming together. This is unbelievable.
"They don't know what I'm doing, they think they've got me under their thumbs, but I don't want to do any of what I'm doing to those people, please believe me."
Jade starts to tear up, his face breaking into that soul I saw earlier; the one with the compassion.
"I had to make them think that they were using me, that they broke me, but I had to break people in order to do so."
Jade puts his face in his hands, almost sobbing at this point.
"I'd lost all hope. I didn't want to hurt you guys, I'm so sorry."
Instinctively, I reach for Jade and Jae's hands, realizing we are all emotionally confused. I think back to all the things Jade had said before and sigh, trying to process the information. I want to ask more questions, find out everything, but it is inhumane to bombard someone crying. "Hey, look at me," I say, gently. "We all do bad things. We all do bad things to do better, good things. Look at us, we're fine. You didn't hurt us, even if you are the girl. Even if… if…" I stop.
My breathing starts to get shaky. I squeeze both their hands and stare at the table, the lavender infecting the air. My head starts pounding. If Jade was Violet, that means he, she, whatever, knows everything about us already. I begin to recall every word Violet said to me, realizing it came from Jade. He manipulated us. He talked down to us, as if we were inferior. He told Jae and I that we did not belong.
No, Candy, he was being used. He was forced to say it.
Who the hell was Jade? What was he capable of?
I stare in confusion-or perhaps revelation as Jade explains everything. After a bit, Jade even started to tear up, growing emotional as he started to talk about the people he-or she- has manipulated. I could feel a pain in my chest as I realize the struggle Jade has went through. What happened to the girl if she was honest with the people she talked to? What did they do to her to get her to resort to obeying them for the time being? What sort of despair was she going through, torturing those people mentally and emotionally? I watch Candy comfort Jade, and I sit next to him in attempt to comfort him as well. I trusted him, yet, I didn't trust the girl; is that wrong? I know the girl as a manipulative clinically ill child, and I know Jade as the compassionate soul with the intention to save everyone. I just coulnd't imagine the two as one person.
But then again, who's to say Jade is even telling the truth?
"I'm-" I was about to tell Jade I'm sorry, but what for? I don't understand what I'm feeling, but I want to help.
A thought comes to me. "If you are the girl, that must mean the girl knows we know now. Is she - are you - willing to allow us to break her free? Is that too disastrous? What will happen if she, you, break out?" I look at Jade, hand on his shoulder in hopes it will comfort him.
I still have quite a few doubts, wondering if Jade is simply manipulating us right now, but in a good way? Is that even possible? Perhaps Purple brainwashes people to keep them in check. Perhaps everyone in Purple is destined for death and war, and the brainwashing is postponing that. I wonder if we're doing the right thing.
Jade furrows his brow and shakes his head.
"Maybe, but it's too dangerous right now. For you two and for everyone else."
I start to chew on my inner lip, in deep thought in an attempt to formulate a plan. Jade continues.
"The girl down there has good intentions, but there's no telling what she's capable of. On the surface, she's still broken, like everyone else, she's working for them. Deep down she doesn't want to, and that's why she plays the violin, but her first instinct is manipulation, it's all she knows."
My eyes light up in a thought.
"How hard is it to break a citizen out of the trance? Could I go downstairs and do that to Adrian?"
Jade ponders the thought. There's a chance he's not fully aware of what Ollie does, since he has to stay hidden from those people, but then again, he-well, the girl-could have been tricked by Ollie too.
"Maybe, it could be as simple as knocking him out and removing the lavender scent in the room, or it could be something complex. Should we do a trial-and-error?"
My eyes widen in shock, but I question him further.
"How do we plan on knocking him out without alerting others?"
Jade's eyes flicker to the lavender in our room.
"Bring him up here, start opening your windows now and throw out the lavender, hopefully the scent will be gone by the time we attempt this."
In a sudden rush of excitement, I look over to Candy.
Immediately, I stand up. "I call dibs on getting him and knocking him out!" Jae and Jade chuckle as they begin ripping the lavender off the walls. I rip open the windows and go out to the porch to start burning the lavender. Together, we work to rid the apartment of the headache-inducing scent. As soon as it's all gone, the pain in my head begins to alleviate. Jade nods to me, and I leave the apartment to find Adrian.
He sits at his usual desk, looking as cheerful as ever. As soon as he sees me, he smiles. "Candy, how is everything? Do you need something? I really hope not. The rooms are perfect. Don't you think, Candy?"
I return the smile, and lean on the countertop. "Actually, there's something under the bed. I was hoping you'd come check it out for me?"
Adrian furrows his brow, but keeps his smile. "Sure, anything for you!" He gets up and starts walking back to the apartment with me. Mission success.
I hear muffled footsteps approaching the door and presume it to be Candy and Adrian, so I quietly signal to Jade that they're on their way. He nods at me and turns to go to the other room to hide. I pick up a pan and hold it, ready to attack, as I stand next to the door. Candy opens the door and walks in first.
"Yeah, I was really confused by what it is, I thought you might know." She said, avoiding eye contact with me as she continues to walk. Adrian steps in and immediately notices me, but with a swift movement I hit him over the head with the pan, knocking him out immediately. As he falls down, a random burst of panic fills me.
"I just knocked someone out." I say in shock, hardly believing I just did what I did.
"What if it doesn't work?" I ask, looking up at Candy, my hands shaking.
I pout, wanting to be the one to knock Adrian out, but I figured Jae was stronger than I am. I put a hand on Jae's shoulder and reassure her. "If it doesn't work, then we knock him out again and think of something else."
I wave Jade over. He looks at us, confused. "What now?" We're all silent for a moment, realizing we didn't really think this through. I stare at Adrian, thinking about what I did to Jae.
"Let's splash water on him, specifically our water. I don't trust anything that comes from Purple." Their faces show agreement, and I make my way to our backpacks, finding an unopened water bottle. "Alright, cross your fingers."
I hold my breath and pour the water onto Adrian's face.
Immediately, Adrian shoots up, coughing and swinging his hands wildly.
"Jesus, what the hell?!"
I look over at Jade and Candy, still unsure if it worked. Anxiety starts to well up inside me. What if it didn't work? What if he's not fixed, and he turns us in? Would we end up like Jade?
There's a few moments of silence before he locks eyes with us.
"Are you two crazy?!"
I feel my skin crawl, my stomach turn, as I start to realize that it may not have worked.
I purse my lips, shaking my head. "Hit him again, he's still speaking in fours." When Jae stays still, I smirk and grab the pan, smacking Adrian in the head once again. He falls to the floor again. Poor kid, I hope we weren't hurting him too much.
I looked at Jade and Jae hopelessly, wondering how else we could convert him. "Maybe Oleander has the ability to change people back?" I suggested, shrugging my shoulders. hoboi.
I flinch as Candy grabs the pan from my hands and hits Adrian over the head, the same loud bang! from when I did it.
"Did you just really want to hit him in the head or…?" Jade asked, approaching the kid, who's head was beginning to bleed. He examines Adrian, placing two fingers onto Adrian's neck, holding still and remaining silent. He looks up at Candy and I.
"His heartbeat is going really slow, did you check Jae's heart when she was under?"
Jade stands up and places the tip of his thumb against his lips, in deep thought.
"Maybe if we could speed up Adrian's heart, it might get him out of the trance."
"Did you just really want to hit him in the head or…?" Jade say.
I laugh nervously, "Maybe…"
"His heartbeat is going really slow, did you check Jae's heart when she was under? Maybe if we could speed up Adrian's heart, it might get him out of the trance."
"No, but that might work. We could scare him? Or suffocate him. I heard that raises your heartbeat. We could do both. Let's choke him on the balcony." I perk up, excited. Jade and Jae look at me, horrified at my idea.
"No, but that might work." Candy responds as a silence follows, everyone attempting to think of an idea.
"We could scare him?" Candy suggests, earning an accepting nod from Jade.
"Or suffocate him. I heard that raises your heartbeat. We could do both. Let's choke him on the balcony." I turn over to Candy with a questioning glance and see her eyes sparkle with adrenaline from the exciting idea. Concerned, but trying to play it off cool, I chuckle nervously.
"Uh, maybe one of the two. Jade, what do you think?"
Jade looks at us two, hesitation in his eyes as he racks his brain for the right option.
"Let's scare him."
I nod my head, pumped for whatever we were going to do. I ignore Jae's concerned look.
Jade searches around the apartment, then pulls a knife out of his pants. "I have this," he clears his throat,"for protection. we could wake him up and pretend to kill him or something. That'll scare him."
"Okay! Let's try it!" I say with no hesitations. Wow, am I okay? I shook it off, hoping the cause was just adrenaline. Jade smirks and holds the knife in a uwu scawwwyy position oooooooo. I prop Adrian up and shake him gently.
Everything happens so quickly, but soon Adrian was yelling in fear, with a knife to his neck.
"Holy shit, I didn't realize you guys were crazy, but then again, you're the talk of the whole town so clearly there was something up with you guys but I didn't want to be known as the guy that refused to let the weird girls stay at his apartment but I guess that backfired on me because now I'll be known as the guy who got killed by the two weird girls please don't hurt me."
I stare blankly at the fountain of words that spilled out of Adrian's mouth so quickly. It was almost as if it was weird hearing him speak more than four words at once. I turn my head to look at Jade and Candy, wondering if their reactions are similar to mine.
I pause, feeling unsure that he was completely normal. I signal to Jade to out the knife away. Kneeling down, my eyes flickered between the three. "Adrian, we aren't going to hurt you. Can you say something slowly for me? Maybe, 'My name's Adrian. I'm the guy at the desk.'" I make sure to pause in between sentences.
He cocks his head, fear lingering in his eyes. "M-my name is Adrian. I'm the… guy at the desk?" I gasp.
"You're free!" I exclaim. Unconsciously I embrace Adrian, excited that we figured it out, and that there is someone else free with us. "Guys! We did it!"
Candy's excitement bubbles out of her as she hugs Adrian, exclaiming,
"You're free!"
Adrian's wide eyes shoot to me as he shakes.
"I'm not entirely sure what's going on and I didn't think I'd be in a situation in which the girl who previously held a knife to my neck is now hugging me in excitement but then again I often feel like my life is pretty strange considering this place always giving me the creeps but being too curious to just up and leave what exactly is going on right now?"
It suddenly occurs to me why Adrian in a trance only spoke four words per sentence i meAN uH
I sigh heavily, attempting to assess the situation.
"You're right for being creeped out by this place; it's real shady."
I release Adrian, a thought weaving into my mind. Now that he is free, we can't let anyone know or they would detect an imbalance. Will he be willing to help us? Can he even help us? What do we do with him?
I look up at Jade and Jae, concern laced in my eyes. "What… what now?" I didn't think we would get this far. Certainly, we can't just run around knocking people out and then placing a knife to their neck. Then, came the question of can they turn back? Or is Adrian permanently free? I glance at Adrian who was still shaking and processing. I laid a hand on his shoulder, hoping to comfort him. "What are we going to do with him? Should we tell him?"
"What are we going to do with him? Should we tell him?"
I give it some thought. Certainly we'd have to devise another plan; how do we save everyone? I know Jade wants to do that, so we can't give up now. How exactly do we plan on saving everyone? What will happen to purple when everyone's set free?
My thoughts are interrupted by Jade quickly turning and looking behind him. I look to where he's looking, but I don't see anything notable. Furrowing my brow, my eyes flicker to Jade.
"Jade?"
"I have to go, you three need to get on the train as soon as possible."
Confused, I look over at Candy. What's going on?
"What?!" I exclaim, utterly surprise by this sudden demand.
"I'm serious, they're going to come looking for you. Don't come back until you can fight them off."
I walk over to Jade and put my hand on his shoulder.
"Wh-" He brushes my hand off and runs to the bedroom.
"Get out of Purple while you still can! Go to Red!" He yelled, slamming the door.
"Jade!" I yelled, opening the door to an empty room.
The shock of what just happened was still processing in me when I turned to look at Candy and Adrian.
