Dance with a Devil

She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. She counted one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi before the door opened. The girl in front of her clearly didn't expect her to be there because she stepped back, shocked.

"Um, hi," Violet said, awkwardly. "I know, this is weird, but um, I just...wait, let me start over. I'm Violet Casey, a, uh, friend of your neighbor's, John O'Callaghan."

The girl smiled and said, "Yeah, I know you, as creepy as that sounds. I'm Mattie. What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping that you could, um, answer some questions that have been on my mind for the longest time," Violet said. "It's about, um, John and his cousin, Sophie. I saw you at the funeral and thought, 'Who else?' besides the obvious..." She glanced at John's house.

Mattie chuckled and invited her inside. Violet was nervous beyond words. She didn't think that finding out about John would make her feel like this, but it did.

"I guess I should just let you know that Sophie was one of my closest friends," Mattie explained, guiding her into the living room. They sat down on the couch and Violet said,

"Wait, really?"

Mattie nodded. "That's why I was at the funeral and that's why I know John like I do."

Violet sighed. "Okay, I don't really know where to begin," she said, truthfully. "There's just so much about John that I thought I knew, but clearly, I didn't. But okay, let's start with Sophie. The paintings? She was a psychic...?"

Mattie laughed. "Sophie's not a psychic. When we were younger, she honestly believed it. But the older she got, the more she realized that she was just really good at reading people. She just joked around and said she was a psychic to freak people out. Some people believed her."

"What do you mean she's good at reading people?"

"She could tell what's bothering someone or why someone is acting they way they are. She just knew these things. With John, she knew that someone was on his mind. She told me that his band was in trouble and that a girl was on his mind–you. She showed me your picture."

"My picture?" Violet repeated. "What picture?"

"This makes me sound so creepy, but I swear, it's Sophie," Mattie said, chuckling. "But the picture of you and John from like a road trip or something? Sophie said that she took it from John's wallet and a part of it was torn off. She assumed you're the girl on his mind."

Violet's mind went back to what Cecilia had told her–that John was in love with her. Her jaw clenched as Mattie continued.

"As for the paintings, honestly, in my opinion, they're just for show. I think I know what you're talking about–her most recent paintings with your face? Don't worry about it. Like I said, Sophie took your picture from John's wallet."

Violet nodded. "Okay. I guess that makes sense. Um, I don't know if you remember, but you once told me that John was a 'beast'. Do you remember that?"

Mattie chuckled and nodded her head. "I do remember."

"What on earth did you mean by that?"

She sighed. "I've known John for nine years. He was a douche sometimes, but he was a kid. He was just a funny guy trying to impress people. He wasn't a genuinely bad guy. Then over the summer, he invited me over for dinner and was just being all cute and stuff. Like I honestly thought he liked me. And then he tried to sleep with me. Sophie told me, just before, um, she...you know...that John's band was going downhill and that was why he was just so angry and scary. He came back from the trip even more angry and when I saw you at his place, more than once, I just thought I'd warn you. Clearly, I was wrong about him, though. I don't know what you did, but he's changed. He apologized to me the other day."

"He did?" Violet asked, surprised.

Mattie nodded her head. "He even brought over flowers. Violets."

Violet opened her mouth and then closed it.

"I actually think he pulled them out of my yard. Whether he knew they were violets or not, I wouldn't know."

Violet laughed. Mattie laughed with her.

"Look, Violet, I know you're confused about John, because why else would you come to me with these questions, but you know what? You made John a better person, if that helps you in any way..."

Violet smiled and stood up.

"Thank you, Mattie. You were so helpful."

"If only Sophie were alive to tell you everything," Mattie sighed.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," she said, apologetically.

Mattie shrugged her shoulders and Violet waved goodbye as she left her house. She glanced at John's house–his truck wasn't in the driveway. She stopped and stared before she went with her gut and fished out the key from her purse and let herself in.

Violet ignored everything else about the house that she found herself in many times over the course of the last few months, and she went straight towards the room at the end of the hall. She opened the door and flicked the lights on. The paintings were all still there, in the same position she found them in last.

Her eyes found the one of a red eyed John and she went up to it.

"The beast," she muttered, touching John's face.

She looked around again and found the one painting that she was the most uncertain about. She stared at it for a really long time before she finally realized. It wasn't a painting of her killing John, it was a painting of her killing the beast.

"You made John a better person."

Violet exhaled and she turned on her heel and left before John got home from wherever he was. She drove back to her apartment and found her phone lying on her bed, as she plopped down on it and groaned from exhaustion.

She finally had all the answers, why didn't she feel any better?

Violet glanced at her phone. Fourteen missed calls and none of them were from John, which she was surprised about. He'd been trying to get in touch with her for a few days now. She looked at them and they were all from Garrett. He even left a voicemail.

"Violet," his voice sounded through the phone. "I just–I can't do this. I can't be away from you anymore. I still love you and I want you back, Violet. Please, please take me back. It was a mistake to break up. We belong together. I'll even forget about this whole John thing and we can go back to how we were, because I know that we can do that. We can be the old Garrett and Violet that loved each other so much. We can do that, I know we can. Please, Violet, I love you, I need you..."

Violet closed her eyes. She turned her phone off and laid down in her bed, pulled the covers over her body, and pretended that the world around her didn't exist anymore.