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.
My eyes flicker back and forth between Jade and Jae, as the boy runs out of the room. I pull Adrian up, his hands still shaking. "He's right, Jae," I say, placing a hand on the small of her back. "There's no way we're ready to fight in these states. One knife isn't good enough."
I begin packing my stuff, placing the knife in my backpack. I hand Adrian a water bottle. He reluctantly takes it, then murmurs, "What is going on here?"
I bit my lip. I didn't know how to comfort Jae or Adrian and it makes me feel guilty. I take a deep breath and turn to them. "Listen. I don't know what's going on, but we still have a goal. Save Purple, no matter what. Adrian, if you don't want to help, you can move to Red or some other color. But if you want to help us, you got to understand the risks, okay?"
"Cool!" i say, screaming
then we get on the train and go to red.
i yell! bitch. the train guy is like! ayo cunt
I kick my legs on the train seat, nervous. I wondered if Mr. Lenny was aware we were on the train. I wondered if we should go and talk to him. I wondered how he would feel about us leaving Purple the day after we arrived. I wondered if it's actually only been one day.
"Hey, Candy?" I tap her shoulder nervously, my thoughts about to spill out of my mouth along with tears. I was nervous, I was anxious, I was restless. Everything happened so fast and I struggled to keep track of it all, but I knew Candy might be able to comfort me. She's been such a big help so far and I've only known her a few days, but I trust her. I trust Jade, too, but weirdly enough, I don't know how I feel about the girl. She's basically Jade, right? So if I trust Jade, then I trust the girl, right? What's her name?
y a what u watn
i mean
I sit in between Jae and Adrian, gulping down some water. The train had been here at the perfect time, so we didn't have to wait too long. I was too exhausted to say a greeting to the conductor. I realized I had been awake for so long that the bags under my eyes were probably extremely dark - since I could feel them protruding from my face. I began to drift asleep when Jae taps my shoulder.
"Hey, Candy?" she says, a bit shaky.
I rub my face and straighten up. "Yeah, what's up?"
I struggle to hold back tears as the anxieties kick in.
"Did we make a mistake? Getting as far away from Purple as possible? What good will we be in Red?"
I say, shaking and fidgeting my fingers as the train begins it's trip into Blue. I remember the last time we were in Blue, and it didn't end well, so I didn't plan on spending much time outside the train when it stops. Maybe Candy and I could go talk to Mr. Lenny during that stop. I wondered what he'd say, I wondered what he knew. I wondered if he'd understand all we've learned about Purple so far.
I shake my head and place a hand on her knee. "No, we'll come back. Red is great for training anyways, I know a lot of strong people there who could help us. What good will we do in Purple if we just die right away? We have to learn to fight, Jae." I pause, letting her process. "We could also find more people to help us." I murmur.
I stand up suddenly, gripping onto the bar to avoid falling. "Let's go talk to Mr. Lenny now. Then we can rest." I turned to Jae and held out my hand, a sincere smile plastered on my face.
Everything that happened so far, everyone we've met, it was scary. But I wouldn't have changed a thing. I rubbed my arm that was still healing.
Training. Will we have to fight physically? Could we even take them? Even with a team, what if they brainwashed us?
I blink my eyes at Candy's hand.
"Let's go talk to Mr. Lenny now. Then we can rest."
I could feel my muscles relax as I took her hand. We left Adrian in the car and Candy led us to the front. I remember the first time we talked to Mr. Lenny, and it fueled me. Maybe this time will be the same. We knock on the door, causing some various noises followed by footsteps. The door opens, and Mr. Lenny greets us.
"Boy, am I glad to see your faces again. What brought you back?" He began, gesturing us into the room as he pulled up some chairs. I looked at Candy, wondering if I should speak first.
"We know the truth of Purple."
He raised his eyebrows in genuine interest and looked between the two of us.
"Is that so? So you're here to run?"
I shake my head, taking a seat. "Not run - we're going to save Purple."
Mr. Lenny looks at us, bewildered. "That's a new one."
I lean my elbows on my kneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees and begin to inform the conductor and what was going on. I figured he was trustworthy, however I didn't mention Jade or, girl Jade. They had to be kept a secret.
After I finish, Mr. Lenny leans back in the chair and processes everything. It was silent for a moment, but eventually he spoke. "I see. I think you girls can do it. If you figured out how to break the citizens out of the trance that easily, perhaps you can make a difference. Be careful though, these people have been brainwashed for so long, it will be difficult to establish a system for them. Can't have Purple going into chaos either."
I nod my head, understanding that we had to have a better plan. I only hope a plan arises throughout our journey to Red and back. I exchange glances with Jae, wondering if she wants to say anything.
My eyes locked on the floor. The stresses flooded my mind, and I reached the point of zoning out, unable to listen to anything. What will happen to us? What will happen to Jade? What will happen to-
"Jae?"
My heart jumped as I snapped to look at Mr. Lenny, and then Candy.
"Yes, I know we'll do it." I say softly, inhaling sharply beforehand. Tension rose in my muscles as I look at Candy with a reassuring nod.
"I believe in us."
