Chapter Text
The screaming woke Violet first. She kept her eyes shut tightly, but shifted under the plush comforter that covered her small frame. She hugged the covering closer as she let the warmth calm her now racing heart. She knew she wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, but she hoped that if she curled herself tight enough, she could ignore the chaos that was unfolding just outside her door. As she lay with her eyes shut tight enough to make stars dance across her otherwise dark vision, her bedroom door burst open with a sudden start.
“Violet!” Her mother exclaimed, breathily. Violet’s eyes flew open, the panic clear in the grey-blue hue. Before she could physically react, she was lifted from her bed and covered in a scratchy cloth.
“Quiet, my love. We must be quiet,” The panic was evident in her mother’s voice, and she felt the shaking through the hands that held her. Despite this, she pressed herself closer to the chest that held her mother’s fast beating heart. The only acknowledgement she gave was a short nod as she fisted the fabric of her mother’s sleeve, and closed her eyes to the dull light that showed through the thin cloth concealing her.
Violet was jostled, thrown from person to person, and utterly confused as to what was happening around her. All she could think of was her baby sister, Powder. If her mother had come to get her, who had gotten Powder? Her father? Surely he was off fighting whatever invisible force caused her mother to come grab her in such a panic. Violet wished desperately to voice her concern for her sister, but between her mother’s earlier orders and the way she felt herself be passed from stranger to stranger, she knew it was unwise to speak at all. Instead, young Violet closed her eyes just as she had in her bed, and prayed to the gods that when the cloth was removed from her head, her sister's bright blue eyes would be shining on the other side.