REWRITTEN
When Violet awoke, her body screamed at her; stiff from leaning against wood and shivering uncontrollably, despite the sun beginning to break through some pale grey clouds as it rose above the city.
Much to her annoyance, the birds seemed to congregate in the trees around the park, the incessant noise grating on her mind. As she listened to the sound of people leaving their homes and starting their car engines, she finally dragged herself up from her curled up position to leave.
Her clothes were damp in parts and dry in others, her hair still holding moisture from the rainfall. Her hands and feet were like ice and when she tried climbing down (after checking no one was walking by to see her), she nearly stumbled.
A childlike part of her had considered taking the slide to get down, but that too was slick with rainwater with dead leaves piled at the bottom. Reality quickly washed away her lighthearted imagination.
Her legs were numb and stiff and it took a while for them to feel even remotely normal again as she left the park, hugging herself around the midsection once more with a solemn expression on her downwards tilted face.
She was left wandering the streets again with no where to go, and her body was so weak it couldn't fight off the constant shivers. Despite her powers, she was still struggling to heal entirely from being shot in the chest - but that's what she got for dying, she supposed.
In the past, it had been somewhat quicker. But even Reginald had eventually figured out that damage to her heart or brain slowed the healing process down drastically.
At some point she spotted an alley down between two blocks of apartments and snuck down there in an attempt to test her powers out of view of anyone walking by.
When she tried, the fingers of her right hand faded and flickered but returned to solid matter after a few seconds. Her head lifted at any little sound and she kept checking over her shoulder as she tried again.
But still, her body would not comply.
Her hands went from invisible, to a misty grey, to solid, like tv static fading in and out.
Her fists clenched as she rested her forehead against the wall, eyes closed in exasperation. All that went through her mind were swears and curses.
Violet became overwhelmed with it all after a while and took heavy breaths to calm herself, pressing her sharp knuckles into her temples.
She was in an unfamiliar place, in an unfamiliar decade, all alone. There was no comfort in familiarity, no comfort in knowing where to go or what to do. She had no family, no idea why she was where she was, or what to do now she was out of home.
The urge to cry nestled at the back of her throat but she did well to swallow it down.
Over some time, without knowing what to do with herself, she went back to that alleyway or park at night filled with false hope that would deflate as quickly as a needle striking a balloon, and she would continue to do so to practice recovering her powers or until her body gave out from pure exhaustion.
It got to the point where she could hold her invisibility for a few minutes and she'd convince herself that she had to steal or else she would starve, no matter how bad it made her feel, and her powers would be even worse in such a condition.
So she would sneak into a few stores that were busy at the time, pocketing something and making a quick escape out of sight of the cameras, weaving through people and concentrating on making sure no one bumped into her.
She would run as fast as her legs could carry her and duck somewhere so she could uncloak herself.
Everytime she did it, she grew more tired.
But that was how she survived.
Walking the city alone, sleeping in the same park, stealing food and clothes on the occassions she could hold her invisibility for long enough without feeling like she would pass out.
Her mind was like a live wire, her body constantly on high alert, everything about this new decade eating away at her guts like an acid.
And she did this for weeks, all until one fateful day a lady stopped her.
She had been having the worst of her days, emotionally and physically, and had struggled to keep up her appearances. She frequently walked past the same alleyway on Commerce and Knox incase anyone else showed up, but each day with no luck left her more and more deflated.
A lady had caught her sitting on the low wall of a half empty car park, drinking from a stolen soda can, so used to being unseen by everyone that when the lady spoke to her, she froze.
She was soon ready to run, but the lady was kind. Older, soft wrinkles at the creases of her eyes and smile lines on her cheeks. Red hair coiled at the base of her neck in a twist, and a little white cardigan over her coral blue dress.
The woman had sat beside her with her shopping bags, not saying anything or looking her way at first, before she asked her if she needed work.
The girl had hesitated, looking her up and down cautiously, untrusting.
The woman continued, explaining she owned a diner across town (one Violet had likely passed in her wandering, unknowingly.) She introduced herself as Elaina Harrison.
Violet had remained quiet, twisting the pull ring on the can.
The woman had tilted her head curiously. "You don't talk much, do you, dear?"
She shook her head meekly.
The woman had made a little hum sound before speaking again. "Can you clean?"
She had nodded.
And that was how she landed herself a job at Hal's Diner as a cleaner.
Elaina had been kind enough to take her on, seeing her struggle and wanting to 'keep a nice girl like yourself off the streets,' as they were 'no place for her'.
The woman clearly meant well but Violet didn't trust easily at all, and practically expected Elaina to tell her it was all a joke at the very last minute. Kick her out, crush her hopes.
But it wasn't.
Elaina genuinely wanted to help her. And Violet wasn't used to strangers being so nice, so it was odd. She never once let her guard down, but after a while, it became too exhausting to constantly keep her guard up.
At first she stayed only for evening and night shifts, but after a couple of days the woman realised Violet didn't actually have a place to stay after she came in to work drenched from the rain that had fallen overnight.
Elaina had brought it up casually while they were locking up the place, her cleaning glasses with a rag and Violet mopping the black and white tiled floors - both listening to the music from the radio in calm silence.
"Do you have a place to stay, Violet?" She brought it up casually, and the young looking girl had faltered with her work.
She shifted uncomfortably and looked down, grip tightening on the mop.
Elaina gave a sad little smile and sighed. "You don't have any family around, huh?"
Violet frowned and reluctantly shook her head.
"If you dont mind me asking, did you get kicked out? Or..."
Violet fidgeted again. She was glad the woman was kind enough to respect her nature of not talking - she assumed it was something to do with a bad childhood experience or something and Violet wouldn't correct her on it. Besides, it wasn't the most outlandish of guesses. But this line of questioning had made her visibly uncomfortable and Elaina noticed.
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry," she placed the last glass down on the shelf behind the counter. "My sister always tells me my mouths too big for my own good."
Violet continued mopping quietly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she went.
"Listen, honey, if you need a place to stay there's space in the store room if you want to take it."
Violet stopped, wondering if Elaina was actually offering what she was offering. The store room had a small box couch that was never used, usually where they threw the empty boxes after the orders came in, and then Violet would take them to the dumpster out back later. She'd never thought anything of it, and again, the thought of this woman being so nice to her for no reason made her uneasy.
Elaina stepped around the counter and brushed her dress off, plucking some keys from her pocket. She unhooked one of the keys and held it out towards the shy girl.
Violet looked from the key up to her face.
"Go on," she gestured with a tired smile. "All I ask is you lock up for me. Can you do that?"
Violet gave the older woman a little smile and held her hand out so she could drop the key in her palm. She looked down at it and nodded in response to her question, fiddling with the key in her hand. She stared down at the key for a second, wanting to say thank you, but the words didn't make it past her lips.
Elaina went to go grab her jacket from the back and when she came back out, she sent a fond smile at the young girl as she found her still looking down at the key she'd given her.
"You stare at the thing any longer and you might just burn a hole through it." She laughed softly.
Violets face warmed and she placed the key down on the table nearest to her, planning to go back to her mopping but Elaina stopped her.
"Honey, you've cleaned that same set of tiles about three times. Time to clock out for the night - now go get some rest." She pointed to the back room and Violet kept her head down, cheeks red, as she went to put the cleaning supplies away. "Night, hon. I'll see you bright and early!"
The woman left and locked the main door behind her, sending her a little wave through the glass before heading off to her car parked out front.
Violet, left alone in the solitary, dim lit diner, felt a twinge of warmth spread across her chest for once in a long time.
She went to switch off the lights and radio then unlocked the back room and turned that light on.
She didn't mind the small, plain room at all. There were lockers behind the door where she had been keeping the couple of outfits she owned anyways, and a bathroom joined on from the same room. She got to work stacking the empty boxes in the corner, vowing to clear them out in the morning as she was tired, and the thought of sleeping on something soft was making her almost excited.
It was sad if she gave it too much thought, but brushed it off, switched off any lights and curled up on the little old couch, using her favourite blue and black sweater as a makeshift blanket.
In the morning, she felt more refreshed than she had done since she arrived in the 60's all those months ago.