stolen from me [working title]

He took her.

It can't have been anything else. How else would she have changed, turned away from me so completely?

I see her walking down the hallways now, after days of absence, giant shades masking several nights without sleep. Skin the pallor of certain powders. This is not my Violet. I know he took her. Spelled her.

My Violet was this: we met four years ago�"sixth grade�"reading the same book. We bonded over reading each book by that author, getting into every band that was mentioned and swearing to see at least one of the bands in concert. Seventh grade Latin, I'd draw comics of us as green, mutant superheroes and she'd write the speech bubbles�"in Latin. And, of course eventually the classic schoolgirl thing: boys. The ones in books and movies the middle school set just could not live up to; the boisterous boys that chased Violet and the shy poet boys I tried, in vain, to chase myself. Violet always claimed "I have better things to worry about than boys...waste of time. They're doltish and, in general...not worthy." This she would repeat to me after the third, fourth boy I cried about, and this attitude I came to adopt. She'd call me for fun, advice, homework; I'd call her when my parents fought. Late night conversations, at sleepovers and on the phone. We became a rather dynamic duo, a gruesome twosome; Violet and Ella. It was us and the world, and she was family when my real blood seemed far away. Linking pinkies, we swore "sisters forever."

Last September, he came. Vincent, the enchanter. He was new, and clearly from out of town; no one knew him. The story  was that his family was a pack of traveling gypsies. He never said where he was from or anything; I think he liked the air of mystery it gave him. An outcast, a year older, and dressed outlandishly in ascots and velveteen coats. Of course we were perplexed�"and instantly drawn to him. 

"Hey sis, you've seen the new boy, right?" Violet whispered in English.

"Have I seen him? Really? Vi, of course I've seen him. It's not like someone like that goes unnoticed."

"Shush. Anyway, he looks nuts...I think we should perform an investigation."

It took Violet a glance and a smile to get him on our team. Violet could do that. She did the talking, and I offered a weak grin. "I'm Violet" (smile) "And this is Ella" (grin). "Vincent, right? You're new?"

He offered a crooked smile. "Pleased to meet your acquaintance. Do the ladies need a ride?"

He drove a beat-up Barracuda he "found"; he'd take us to the beach, where we giggled as he put suntan lotion on our backs. Open places with stars, where he'd set off Chinatown fireworks and serenade us on an old mandolin, or tell us strange, mesmerizing stories. He claimed himself to be a gypsy, and I think we believed him. He was charming. Enchanting.

Enchanting. I never thought I would see that. I'd catch something, while she was riding shotgun or laying beside him as he played. An electricity between them, sparkling and shutting me out. I tried to ignore it; just my insecurities, right?

One of the last times she slept over, I asked her, before we were falling asleep: "Hey, sis?"

"Uh...yeah?"

"Is there something between you and Vincent or what?"

"No...Ellie, don't freak. No."

"Alright...I mean, waste of time, right?"

"Yeah...I'm tired, k? G'night."

I lay in the still darkness, taking longer to fall asleep than usual. The next day, my parents had a fight worse than usual�"breaking dishware and the like. I picked up the phone�"it went to voicemail.

"Ella�"you're going to the party with me, right?"

"Look, I don't know..." It was some party of Vincent's friends, apparently this mansion few miles out of town. "I mean, you know I'm not really the party type. Neither of us are."

"Well...yeah, I guess. I mean, that's why we should go; we don't really go to parties much, Ell. And I'm...kind of scared to go alone."

"I..."

"C'mon, it'll be fun. Just go with me? Please?"

And some part of me couldn't resist. It was the first time in a while she'd reached out to me like that�"maybe things could be like they used to, when we'd go to concerts or middle school dances. We'd get ready in her room while dancing to 80's powerpop hits, doing her makeup, staying up all night at her house afterwards. "Fine, fine. I guess it'll be fun."

"Great. We'll pick you up at your house?"

"Uh...right. Sure."

And I ended up at the house�"mansion�" of Vincent's friend, slunk against a wall, in a silver dress Vi had given me once (a bit too small for me now). Questionable house punch in hand, eyeing the strange, ornate decor. Moroccan carpets, what looked like fertility statues, and masks all along the wall. Violet and Vincent danced across the room. Violet. Dressed in red. Sinking into his eyes and arms.

The room smelled like smoke�"hookah, incense, cigarette, weed. It was filling my head, making me dizzy. I took another sip of the punch�"bad idea. Stumbled to the bathroom, to splash water on my face. Didn't work. Came back and Violet was...gone. I staggered around the house trying to find her. Passed by an open door and saw her, amongst burning candles. Vincent's voice whispering incantations. I couldn't tell if I heard chanting or moans. He was spelling her and she was gone and there was nothing I could do. Violet was enchanted and possessed and I...took a cab home.

And that was that. Monday, we made small talk about our Sundays before English but she wouldn't meet my eyes. And after that? I walked home, hearing a Barracuda engine somewhere far off. I heard rumors: she was engaged, she was pregnant, she was on coke, she was only one addicted girlfriend among Vincent's many. I was asked by classmates, as someone who would know about her,  to confirm many of them. You don't know the feeling in my stomach when I said, each time, "I don't know."

Reviews

[The Analog Kid]

Story idea good, but too fragmented. This could be whatever you want from it...imagination is there...but needs a mostly dialogue structure if this is how the story goes.

Patrick

[Mandi D K]

I like the idea behind the story, i just think it could have been excuted a little better, possible more about Ella's feelings instead of just telling. I liked it though. Great work.