The house echoed with the cries of Nora Montgomery. Her wails bouncing off of the walls and adding to the constant depressing atmosphere lingering in the house.

She didn't want her baby as he had proved too hard to care for and draining. Charles couldn't fill the hole in her heart, as much as he tried to please her in the couple's mortal days and Thaddeus was too feral for nurture.

Nora wanted to feel love, a feeling she had never felt in her existence. Her parents weren't the loving type and whenever she wanted comfort as a child, they would simply pass her over to the nanny. She vowed to herself that she would never be the type of mother hers was. The promise was broken when her husband reconstructed their child and turned him into a monster. It was not human.

Trying to subside her cries, the lady of the house found herself wondering towards the room belonging to Violet. She enjoyed talking to the girl, despite the tremendous age gap. Violet was down to Earth, unlike Nora. Her nanny had always told her that she had her head in the clouds but she didn't really believe that until recently.

"Violet?" Nora said softly as she pushed Violet's door open gently. The girl was spread out on the bed, sleeping soundly.

The sight made Nora's heart melt. She had wanted a daughter after Thaddeus. She visualized a young version of that would braid her hair in front of a roaring fire and that would totter around in Nora's shoes and act all grown up. When she would fall, Nora would pick her up and kiss her forehead. She would do all the things her mother never did with her.

"She's asleep" Tate was sitting the chair by Violet's desk. His feet were resting on the end of her bed and he was looking through the pages of a magazine he had found on the desk but was mostly concentrating on the sleeping girl in front of him "And pretty exhausted"

"Why?" Nora asked, coming into the room further to speak to the blond boy who had done so much for her.

"Kidnapped for a few days by that psycho bitch" He replied, standing up.

"Watch your tongue Tate" Nora reminded, sitting on the edge of the bed and placing her hand on Violet's shoulder, sweeping a stray piece of hair away from her face in the process "I don't like coarse language, you know that. Kidnapped?"

"Yeah" He looked at the ground and sniffed. He wasn't there to protect her, like he promised he always would be. It was all he wanted to do and after recent events, it seemed her wasn't that good at it "And tortured by her...and Charles"

"Charles?" Nora repeated angrily. She had loved her husband at one point but now she loved Violet like a daughter and Tate like a son. She would not let Charles get away with it - he couldn't.

Nora disappeared as quickly as she had came to scold Charles, leaving Tate and sleeping Violet. He took the spot where Nora was sitting moments prior. Love swept over him as he saw how peaceful Violet was and how innocent she looked.

"Was that Nora?" Violet asked sleepily, sitting up slowly and swinging her legs out of her bed.

"Yeah" He answered, putting his hand on her lower arm "Don't get up, Vi. You need to rest"

"I have to see my parents" She replied, stretching.

"Let me come with you!" Tate practically jumped up as soon as Violet got up. Hayden could nab her at any moment and that was not happening again, not on Tate's watch.

"Tate, they're just downstairs" Violet laughed slightly as she slipped on a cardigan over her dirty pyjamas.

"I don't want her to come back though" Tate whimpered.

"I won't let her, I promise" Violet placed her hands on his cheeks and smiled, letting him know everything would be fine.

"She'll try" He said, their foreheads pressed together "I can't let her take you again, Violet. It was bad enough it happened before and I only just got you back. What if she-"

Violet cut him off pressing her chapped lips against his smooth ones. His hands instantly wrapped themselves around her waist as their lips moved in sync. He loved the feeling he got whenever she was around as he so rarely felt it. Butterflies fluttered wildly in his stomach when she kissed him. He hadn't felt it in so long but now she was back. This time for good.

"I have to go" She finalized as she pulled away. Tate pouted but let go anyway. Violet needed to see her parents, he accepted that - It was just the trip down there he was concerned about.

-

Surprisingly, Violet got to the dining room where her parents were sitting without running into to anyone or getting side-tracked but that by no means meant that the house was quiet. She could faintly hear Nora shouting in the basement, the murmur of Chad and Moira talking in the living room while she attempted to comfort Jeffrey.

"Mom...?" Violet called as she turned the corner into the dining room. Vivien was sitting at the table with a mug of tea wrapped in her hands. She was hunched over and weary-looking, like she hadn't blinked in the year.

"Violet?" Vivien responded as she turned her head slightly, half-expecting to see nobody there. Her imagination liked to toy with her when she was in a vulnerable state "Is that really you?"

"Yeah, it's me" The daughter whispered, looking at her feet. Tears threatening to fall at the comforting sight in front of her.

Before she could say anything else, her mother pulled her into a tight embrace, mascara running crazily down her face. Violet hugged back, relieved to be the arms of Vivien.

"What happened to you?" She sobbed as she let go of her daughter. Violet was weeping but not as much as her "Your father and I were so worried"

"Hayden" Violet cried, not sure where to look. Her walls have been broken down and she could hide it anymore "She took me in the night and tied me to a chair. Then she hit me and got Charles to saw me"

"How did you escape?"

"T-Tate" She whispered "He saved me and kept me safe because she said she was coming back for me, mom"

"You're back now" Viv bawled, hugging her daughter again and rubbing her back "And I'll never let that bitch hurt you again"