Reflection

Violette snapped her eyes open and was panting heavily, still feeling the effects of the nightmare. Her gaze was unfocused, but she slowly regained awareness and saw a pair of light grey eyes peering at her with concern.

"Its okay, you are safe now." Lucian soothed her with a small smile as he rubbed her arms up and down in assurance. His calm voice along with his gentle smile slowly helped to calm her nerves.

"Just breathe. In… and out." Lucian continued in a soft voice, his eyes firmly locked with hers. Violette was lost in his gaze and found herself following his words as she tried to regulate her breathing.

And as he watched her complexion turn better, Lucian spoke again, "Are you okay now?"

His voice dragged her out of her stupor and Violette quickly broke away from his magnetic gaze and bobbed her head in response. Then she noticed the unfamiliar surroundings and looked around with a confused expression.

"This is my RV." Lucian answered her unspoken question as he got up and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge beside the bed. "You fell asleep in the car. You must've been really exhausted."

He then bent down and pulled a glass from the kitchen cabinet and proceeded to fill the glass. He offered it to Violette as he continued. "I didn't want to wake you up, so I drove us here."

Violette accepted the glass from him and took a sip as she examined the modest interior with a curious gaze.

Lucian raised the bottle above his head and took a big gulp when a sudden thought entered his mind and he began to rethink his decision.

He wondered if he was impulsive to bring her with him at this time. After all, they were practically strangers until a couple hours ago; not that they know anything more about each other now.

What if she was feeling pressured because of his actions that might give her a different idea?

"I'm sorry, I should've asked you first." Lucian blurted out as he glanced at her with a sincere look. "If you feel uncomfortable here, I can drive you back."

Violette turned to look at him, a tinge of amusement flickering in her icy gaze. She could read him clearly like an open book.

Considerate and clumsy, she concluded.

She slowly took another sip from the glass and just as she was about to speak, she was interrupted by the loud growl from her stomach. Violette sat stunned for a moment, her mouth slightly open, before she hurriedly lowered her head in embarrassment.

The unexpected situation took him by surprise and Lucian couldn't help but chuckle at her cute reaction.

Then the situation turned into sweet and sour moment when Violette raised her head and gave him an icy glare.

"Haha… cough-."Lucian broke his laughter with a fake cough and composed himself.

"I think Mrs. Davis should still be open." He turned to look out through the window by the bed and saw the trailer on the other side still had the lights on. He nodded to himself and turned to her. "I'll go get us something to eat."

He then walked towards the entrance and stopped by the door. "Oh and… The washroom is in there." he gestured to the partition at the back before promptly stepping out of the RV.

Violette watched him through the window as he made his way to the food trailer across the parking lot and greeted the lady behind the counter. They exchanged a short conversation before the lady gave him a big grin and went back inside.

A few seconds later, a young girl of 16 or 17 years old appeared behind the window counter. She seemed excited as she removed her apron off of her and spoke to Lucian with big bright eyes full of eager curiosity. Lucian responded to her with a shake of his head and a small smile here and there.

A small knot formed between Violette's eyes unconsciously as she watched Lucian and the girl converse cheerfully. And as if they felt Violette's gaze, they both suddenly turned towards the RV.

Violette instinctively moved away from the window, but then she realized what she was doing and reminded herself that she had no reason to hide. It wasn't as if she was eavesdropping on them.

Was she?

She then shook off all the idle thoughts out of her head and pushed her bag and coat aside as she got up from the bed.

She turned to the partition behind her and slid the door open. She found a shower cubicle on the right and toilet area on the left, with a wash basin placed in the middle. She closed the door behind her and walked straight to the wash basin as she stared at her reflection in the mirror hung above.

Her shoulder length honey-blonde hair was falling over, partially hiding one side of her face. She slowly pulled her hair aside and glanced at the clear view of her exposed face.

She had a diamond face and icy blue eyes with a calm and indifferent gaze. Her eyes were sharp but blank without a ripple of emotion as if frozen for a long time.

But the most distinct features were the three long, pale white scars on her face.

The first scar began from the left corner of her forehead and cut through her eyebrow and it continued down from below her eye and along her cheek.

The second ran horizontally across her nose bridge and ended with a patch of dark red cracked skin right on her cheek bone. And below her sharp nose began the third scar that split her dull pink lips and chin vertically.

The scars were pale yet heavy with a sharp and sensible aura that would intimidate most and stun them for a moment, and only a few could talk while looking her in the eye.

Violette gazed blankly at her reflection and slowly raised her hand to trace along the scars. And as she did so, the memories of a distant night began echoing in the back of her mind, threatening to resurface.

'You and I are the same... But why do you have to be the one to get the chance to change your fate?'

'You obtained everything that I've always dreamed of so easily... And now, I want all those for myself, but I don't need your charity or pity-'

'You think you are worthy enough to reject me... You are just an unwanted trash... I will make you feel the pain and despair-… watch helplessly-'

Those voices kept playing in her head over and over again like a broken stereo. Violette clenched her eyes shut as she tried to bury those memories in the bottom of her mind before they could completely envelop her.

She thought she had already put those events behind her. She thought they could no longer bind her down. But it seemed like she still had some cracks and she was still vulnerable. Charlie's death simply exposed that chink in the armor.

She felt a sharp pang at that realization.

Charlie... he was really… gone.

And now, she was truly all alone.

Again.

Her chest tightened and she felt a gush of emotions welling up but she immediately swallowed them down. But she couldn't stop her tears as they formed a thin trail and flowed down her cheeks.

A mix of disappointment, frustration and impatience twisted her features but she tried to keep them at bay and distract her mind as she focused on her breathing.

After a few deep breaths, she opened her eyes as she kept her head low. She let out a tired sigh and turned on the tap as she bent down.

She then scooped the water into her palms and splashed them onto her face as if to wash away all the unnecessary thoughts.