Chapter Eight: The Truth will be Told

Ben Harmon had been having affairs for years. It started shortly after Bennett was born. Vivian knew all about the affairs, she just ignored them, for the sake of her family she told herself. But really she had no idea how to leave Ben, how to live on her own. That's why she always ran to her sister when things got bad. She ran there when she found out about the affairs.

She had just come home from the doctors after finding out she was pregnant for the second time. Vivian heard a noise when she walked in the house; she was worried it was an intruder. She crept up the stairs with a kitchen knife in her hand. Vivian made it to her bedroom door and placed her ear to the wood. Slowly Vivian recognized the sounds she was hearing, the realisation spread over her face as tears welled up in her eyes.

Vivian walked back down the stairs and dropped the knife on the kitchen counter. She quickly scrawled a note saying where she was going then collected her son and flew with him to Florida. Ben never once called his wife to see how she or their son where. Vivian stayed with her sister for two weeks, never once explaining why she had come. Upon returning to Boston, Vivian pretended that nothing had ever happened.

Shortly after Vivian became aware of Ben's indiscretions he began seeing a young student, at the university where he taught, named Anna. She found Ben charming and he loved the way she admired him. As Vivian grew heavier with child, Ben grew further away from his wife and closer to Anna. That was until she announced her own pregnancy just before Violet was born.

Ben found the strife of a pregnant Anna too much to deal with, so he told her the relationship needed to end. Anna told Ben she would leave him alone as long as he supported her and the baby, if he didn't she'd tell his wife. Not knowing that Vivian was aware of the adultery, Ben agreed to Anna's condition.

As Bennett and Violet grew up Ben became much better at choosing who he slept with, generally sticking to one night stands. Vivian ignored every sign of the affairs and threw herself into her children and her work with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Bennett told Violet what an affair was when she was 6; he also told her that their Father had them all the time. He had caught him with numerous babysitters. Violet spat on her hand and extended it to Bennett.

"Promise me we won't tell Mom, Netty, It'll make her sad." Bennett spat on his own hand, nodded and the siblings shook to seal the deal.

September

Hayden came onto the scene quite late in Ben's affair career. She started out as a one night stand after an impromptu visit to a college bar, but she just couldn't leave Ben to himself. As an obviously beautiful student in his smallest class, Psychology of Human Sexuality, Ben found it very difficult to ignore her. She would sit at the front of the class and flirt continuously and interrupt his lectures with comments and questions aimed at Ben, rather than the subject matter.

One evening she turned up at the end of Ben's open hours stating she desperately needed in-depth help. Ben spent hours helping Hayden to understand the relatively easy concept of how sexual aversion therapy was theorized to work. Before he had much of a chance to think it over they were both naked and fucking on the desk.

Hayden had initially seemed sweet and naive to Ben, just how he liked his toys. But after their first night together he knew he was getting himself into trouble. They had fun together but Ben knew it was only a matter of time before she caused him problems. When she began to get clingy he tried to break up with her, but she pulled her shirt off and when Ben saw her breasts, he stopped talking.

October

Monday

Hayden cornered Ben in the Hall and whispered that they needed to talk in his ear. He met up with her at her apartment and she told him she was pregnant. Ben could have shot himself for being so stupid to let it happen again. He spent days trying to convince Hayden to have an abortion, saying he couldn't have a baby with her right now as he had other family commitments. He managed to convince her that he would divorce Vivian when Violet graduated from school. Hayden agreed that it would be for the best if they waited until they were together to have a baby, she agreed to the termination.

Ben had no intention of ever talking to Hayden again once he'd made sure the baby was dead. He snubbed her in the university halls, disregarded her questions in the lecture hall and even changed his cell number to avoid her.

Whilst Hayden quietly had a break down, Ben began an affair with another student and continued his long standing affair with ex student and the mother of his child; Anna. Hayden never saw Ben with either woman. Instead she found a target for her pent up aggression in Violet Harmon.

Saturday

Violet was bringing her father a file he'd left at home on a crisp October afternoon when Hayden saw them together. Ben was introducing her to all his colleges, beaming from ear to ear and gushing about how intelligent she was.

Hayden decided there and then that Violet was the only thing standing in the way of her and Ben being together and having their baby. As Violet left the campus Hayden followed her through the streets of Boston on bus and by foot, all the way to her house, where she stood across the street and plotted how to rid the world of a 15 year old.

November

Over the next few weeks Hayden stalked the Harmon house and followed Violet wherever she went. She waited for her to leave school and followed her home again. Hayden appeared to be the only person with any real interest in Violet. The young girl didn't seem to have any friends, she never went to anyone's house after school and no one came to hers. She was so isolated and quiet.

Hayden began noticing other things about Violet like how many layers she wore, how secretive she was and the way she held her arms. Hayden theorized that Violet was a cutter, and to Hayden that made her a complete cliché, sad and alone she sliced her flesh to feel something in her life. Hayden also noticed that the Harmon boy spent hardly any time at the house; he was obviously not the one she needed to focus on, so she continued with Violet.

Violet began feeling uneasy and noticing odd things around her like the same green woollen hat in every crowd and a sense of being watched all the time.

Thursday

In the middle of the night Violet got up to get a glass of water. She heard her father whispering downstairs and crept closer to hear what was going on. He was speaking hurriedly to someone on his cell phone about not having enough money this month and that he'd get it to her the next.

"I'm sorry Anna, next month I swear. I'll buy you some new shoes as well ok?" When he was satisfied with the answer he smiled, "I love you too." Ben finished his call and quietly sobbed at the kitchen counter.

Friday

Violet knocked on Bennett's bedroom door. He grunted in response and she took this to mean she could enter the room. He was still in bed hiding under his comforter, even though it was after 12.

"I heard Dad talking to a woman last night."

"Was it Mom?"

"No, one of his bitches, going on about money." Bennett stayed silent, "He's going to give her money."

"Oh a prostitute then."

"Never mind." Violet hung her head but she didn't leave the room. Bennett turned over in his bed and sat up to look at his sister.

"Something else I can help you with?"

"I keep seeing things."

"Things like...?"

"I guess...a person?"

"Like you see ghosts?"

"No. I think I'm being stalked."

"Who'd want to stalk you?" Bennett shook his head and lay back down. Violet opened the bedroom door to leave. "You're just being paranoid Vi, go outside and make some friends, get out of this house for once. Oh and stop cutting yourself for fuck's sake you're looking like an extra from some shit Emo band."

"Fuck off dick wad." Violet stormed out of Bennett's room, slamming the door behind her.

Sunday

A few weeks after Hayden started stalking Violet she came to the conclusion that the poor girl would be better off dead, and then she wouldn't have to deal with her awful parents. Hayden saw everything that went on in and around the Harmon house and noted that not only was her father an adultery but her mother was too. She invited a blonde haired man round three times a week in the afternoons. She brought him back from yoga class and Hayden doubted they were sweating that much from extra yoga practice.

Hayden thought it best if Violet's death destroyed her parent's relationship so she settled on the idea to try inducing suicide in the girl. She had the perfect psychological profile for it. She was a loner, with neglectful parents and she had a general morbid sense about her.

December

Violet began receiving mail most days of the week. Her mother was a little confused by it but assumed, and slightly hoped, it was a boyfriend. Although she couldn't understand why he wouldn't use the internet or cell phones. But she let it go choosing to believe in an imaginary boy rather than seek the truth. The first time Violet received a letter she opened it without much interest, it wasn't until razor blades fell onto her lap from within the folded paper that she became curious.

The note simply said 'Do us all a favour', in plain and smile handwriting. Violet was slightly taken aback at the mail but dumped it all in the garbage and thought nothing more of it.

Until the next day when she saw the same handwriting on another envelope her mother handed her. Violet ran upstairs and opened it to find a single slip of paper bearing bright red letters reading 'Write me back in your own'. The letter was presumably written in blood and, for some reason completely unbeknownst to Violet, the author wanted hers.

Weeks went by with the notes arriving and Violet continuing to feel like someone was watching her. The notes were thrown away and the feeling was pushed away, but she started to notice that her heart rate increased whenever she left the house or saw some out of the corner of her eye. Violet decided she would ignore these new feelings and continue with her life.

But every day the notes came and everyday Violet felt someone watch her and everyday she saw the green hat. Violet spent less and less time out of the house and more time peering through her bedroom blinds hoping to catch her stalker in the act.

January

Saturday

It was early in January when it happened. Hayden was a persistent stalker but she was getting bored of waiting for Violet to kill herself. She considered burning the house down or stabbing her in the street, but she didn't want anything, such as a life sentence, to come between her and Ben, so she continued to wait.

Violet took herself out of the house early in the afternoon to try and score some cigarettes. She waited down the street from the store and asked a few people to buy them for her, but no one was willing to help her out. Hayden had the idea that she should do it so she approached Violet. As she did so she walked past a bush and her hat got tangled in a loose branch. Panicking someone else would get to Violet first; Hayden pulled it off of her head and walked across the street.

Violet was polite and gracious when Hayden handed over the packet. She began to walk home and Hayden matched her stride.

"Can I ask how old you are?" Hayden asked as she dropped into step beside Violet.

"You can ask but I won't tell."

"Ha, spunky aren't you."

"Don't try and seduce me I don't go for college lesbo."

"I doubt you go for anything you're what? 11?"

"Yeah and soon I'll be able to ride the big kids' rides at Disney World!"

"Rude for 11."

"I'm not 11 and you're the one who bought me the smokes so..."

Violet found herself outside her house with the woman. She didn't know whether she should carry on walking past her house to shake her off or just go inside.

"What do your parents think of you smoking?"

"Are you seriously going to give me a lecture after buying them for me?!"

"No I want one." Violet sighed and handed a cigarette to Hayden who lit it, inhaled and stated a coughing fit.

Violet sniggered and shook her head. When she didn't stop coughing Violet invited Hayden into the house for a glass of water. Once in the house with Hayden Violet felt oddly at ease, she saw that she couldn't be more that 20 and even if she did try and do god knows what to her, she had plenty of nice sharp implements in the kitchen to play with.

Violet handed Hayden a glass of water which she sipped, then took her coat and scarf off and settled down on a kitchen stool. Violet took off her own winter apparel and made herself some tea, offering some to Hayden but she declined.

"So..." Violet stood on the other side of the kitchen island, "Do you have a name?"

"Hayden." She held out her hand to be shaken.

"Violet and I'm 15." Violet reluctantly took Hayden's hand.

"Yes I know who you are." Violet felt the grip around her hand tighten.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the person who's going to kill you."

"Why?"

"Because I love Ben and you're in the way of us being together." Violet stared at Hayden and she tried to wretch her hand from her grip but she couldn't. "I'll make it quick, I have pills; it'll look like suicide."

Violet continued to stare at Hayden trying to gauge just how crazy this woman was and whether she was in real danger. Deciding on completely crazy and in very real danger Violet grabbed her hot tea and threw it in Hayden's face. Her hand was instantly released and Violet raced towards the stairs, the front door being blocked by a screaming Hayden.

Violet made it to her bedroom quickly and slammed the door behind her. Leaning against it just incase, she glanced around the room for something heavy to barricade herself in with. As she reached to turn the lock on the door something thudded against it and Violet was knocked off balance. She shot up and slammed her body against the opening door, closing it again. Violet tried in vain to turn the lock but she was thrown away by Hayden and this time she couldn't get up quick enough. Hayden pushed through the door and looked at Violet with a sparkle in her eyes.

"You're making this more difficult than it needs to be. I gave you more than enough time to do it yourself."

"You sent the notes."

"I did. It's the only way."

Hayden waved a baggy of pills in front of Violet and stalked towards her. Violet backed up, bumping into her furniture repeatedly. She found herself backed up so far she had nowhere to go. Hayden stood in front and over her, she shoved her hand in the baggy and grabbed Violet's chin.

"It'll be over so quick." Hayden pushed Violet's body up against the wall.

Clenching her jaw and refusing to open her mouth only worked for Violet until Hayden pinched her nose. When Violet opened her mouth a crack Hayden shoved her fingers in and poured a handful of the pills into her mouth. She held her jaw tight, tipping her head back slightly and massaging her throat.

"Just like a dog taking its medicine."

Violet struggled to not swallow then saw that it was snowing again. Little snowflakes falling in a flurry out of the window just to the right of Violet. If she could find the strength maybe she could throw the bitch out of it.

As Violet found herself swallowing the pills Hayden released her, happy with the work achieved. Violet decided to take her chance then; she grabbed a lamp off of her desk and slammed it into Hayden's head. As she swung around with the lamp in her hands, Violet tripped over and fell against the window frame. Hayden lay on the floor, quiet and still. As the snow continued to fall Violet knew she needed to get rid of the pills in her system. But before she could take any action Hayden stirred.

Desperate for an exit Violet lifted the lamp up again and swung it through the window several times until it cracked. Brushing the glass out of the way Violet climbed through the window, legs first. As she tried to find purchase on the outside ledge, Violet felt hands on her back and a force pushed her.

Falling didn't stop Violet's self preservation so she twisted her torso and reached over her shoulder to grab Hayden as tightly as she could, pulling her through the window. They both fell to the ground, tangled up in each other limbs, landing in the back of the property.

When they landed on the ground neither one moved and there they stayed until Vivian returned from work. She had stayed later than usual as she found herself talking with a friend, then realising that she didn't want to return home. Vivian had sat in her spot on the stage and contemplated her current situation. As soon as she entered her daughter's bedroom she regretted that she ever left the house.

Vivian screamed out for Violet, she knew not where her daughter was or what had happened to her but she knew something was desperately wrong. The broken window suddenly caught her eye and Vivian ran to it. Seeing two shapes on the snow covered ground bellow her Vivian ran down the stairs and out of the door to the yard. She frantically dug the fresh snow from the bodies. The first she uncovered was Hayden; Vivian had no idea who she was. But she instantly recognized Violet when she uncovered her hair.

Vivian wailed when she saw the state of her child lying so still in the snow, she touched her cheek and felt it frozen. Somewhere in the back of her mind Vivian remembered a quote that said; 'you're not dead until you're warm and dead'. With that ringing in her ears she ran back into the house, grabbed the phone and called an ambulance.

Both Violet and Hayden where taken to Massachusetts General Hospital. After hours of emergency treatment, Hayden was declared dead whilst Violet was still in a critical condition. Ben arrived around two in the morning after receiving a distressed voicemail from Vivian. The police interviewed them both separately about what had happened. When they were asked to identify the other woman found with Violet Vivian truthfully didn't know her and Ben lied.

Sunday

Bennett didn't know what had happened until he came woke up hung-over the next morning in his friends bed. He listened to his own voicemail from his Mother and rushed to the hospital. He called her cell constantly as he hailed a cab and it drove him there. When he got to Mass Gen he feared Violet had already died as his calls to Vivian went unanswered. He found his Mother and Father holding each other in the ER lobby. He joined them as they waited for news.

A doctor came to the family to ask if Violet was depressed. When they questioned him he explained that they found a toxic dose of the anti depressant amitriptyline in her system. Bennett told his parents how Violet had become paranoid recently, thinking someone was following her and not wanting to leave the house because of it. The doctor concluded that Violet had attempted suicide but the police were not so sure because of the mystery woman and obvious struggle at the house.

Violet was moved to the ICU that afternoon. For weeks Ben, Vivian and Bennett sat next to her hospital bed waiting to hear good news. They were told that she was in a coma and they needed to asses any damage to her brain and monitor her for signs of improvement. Violet was taken for numerous tests to determine what damage was caused by the fall and overdose.

After the first week Ben went back to work, but Vivian and Bennett stayed with Violet swapping shifts so they could both sleep. Assessments of Violet's condition were done every day and the doctors determined that she was slowly coming out of her coma. The ventilator keeping Violet alive was removed when she began to breathe on her own and her brain scans revealed more brain activity. She had begun to flicker her eye lids, which Vivian knew in her heart meant Violet would soon come back to her.

By the third week of Violet being in a coma Vivian demanded Bennett go back to school. He woke up early so he could see her before school, then rushed back to see her after class. He would keep Violet updated on gossip he knew she didn't care about hoping to bore her out of the coma.

February

The family were told that Violet was in a persistent vegetative state; she had technically awoken from her coma but had not regained as much brain function as the doctors had hoped. Violet was unlikely to ever wake up. Vivian refused to believe that her daughter would stay like that and ordered the doctors to test her again. When the results came back the same Vivian vowed to find a way to bring Violet back. She stopped spending all her time in the hospital and began researching.

Friday

The detective in charge of Violet's case visited Vivian in the hospital. She was sat on a chair surrounded by loose papers, medical journals and books. A pencil was clamped in her mouth as she studied a stack of papers in her hand, frowned and blindly reached for something on the table next to her.

"Mrs Harmon?" Her voice startled Vivian and she gagged on the pencil. "Geez, I'm sorry!" Detective Devale helped Vivian right her papers and sat on the chair next to her.

She explained the woman had been identified by her sister as Hayden McClaine. Vivian commented that she still didn't know who she was. Devale went on to explain that Hayden was a College student with a history of mental illness. She'd been questioned about harassment and attacks on students when in high school, and had threatened to commit suicide several times.

Vivian was unsure what this meant. Did this Hayden start harassing Violet? Did they know each other and Hayden forced Violet to take the pills? She had to know so she thanked the detective for the information and tried to go back to her research.

"Mrs Harmon?" Devale coughed, "We're going to close your daughter's case. It will be labelled suicide." Vivian shot Devale a look of pure hatred.

"She isn't even dead."

"After a year in this...state she'll be declared dead by the courts and..." Devale stopped talking. Vivian was standing in front of the detective with tears staining her cheeks.

"I will prove you wrong when I wake her up."

March

Vivian had enjoyed shopping online for all the supplies she would need. A TV with built in computer and a wheeled stand for it, a fully adjustable hospital bed, new turquoise bed sheets and a few medical professionals to be called when needed. Violet was coming home, she would stay where she could be cared for properly, by her family.

Vivian tucked her daughter up in her new bed and settled down in the chair next to her, learning to use the new TV. Bennett walked in and took the remote from his Mother's hand.

"Let me." He set up the whole thing connecting it to the internet and putting one of Violet's favourite movies on. "What happens now?"

"We wait. She's going to come back."

"How? Dad said you drained all their savings with tests and procedures. That's why she had to come back here he couldn't afford the hospital anymore." Bennett sighed and looked at his sister so broken. Randomly she would open her eyes or grind her teeth, they were told she had sleep wake cycles but could understand nothing that was going on around her.

"I don't need tests or medical trials anymore. She loves us and we love her. Together we will bring her back." Vivian smiled as her eyes filled up with tears, "She loves me." She whispered.