Authors notes: This is a story I've had in my head for many years now, yet never found the confidence to finally get it down on paper - or on the internet. Now the time seems right. I had no idea what group type I should place this story in, but here I am. All of the ideas, characters and settings have been made up in my mind for so long that I feel like I've known these people for years! I hope you enjoy. There will be some long chapters and extremely short ones. I work, a lot, and rarely have the time to get online anymore so don't worry if I vanish for a period of time - I shall return.
Throughout these chapters I like to match a song, or soundtrack, to each page. I suggest you listen said song when reading.. I find it helps with the emotion or settings.
Happy reading - BellatrixBlackLovett.
Chapter One
White Bedsheets
"Bedsheets! Give me ya sheets! Hurry up and give me ya - ow!"
The sound of a thud rippled down a corridor, the floorboards bouncing under the sudden vibrations. It wasn't hard to see they were slowly rotting away and the sudden force of a young body thrown against them caused the ageing wood to groan with discomfort.
A white mess of bed sheets lay crumbled on the floor moving from side to side, the dirty fabric crunching with each tiny twitch from what seemed like a body underneath.
Close by a door swung open and more sheets were thrown on top of the moving pile. From the doorway stood a woman, dressed in only a corset and some shabby undergarments. She spoke with a heavy French accent and the displeasure in her tone was all to easy to hear.
"Do you 'ave any idea how early is it, Issa? Believe me when I say I 'ave no desire to 'ear your high pitched squeals at first light."
From under the sheets a tiny head popped into the light. A young girl of fourteen, her soot covered light blonde hair a mess and cheeks covered in fresh freckles tilted her head to one side and snorted. Isabella knew these halls and winding corridors better than anyone else. She was born within these four walls and now it was her job to tend to the women who kept a roof over her head. "Not my fault! I tripped over the sheets! And maybe ya shouldn't be sleeping in so late then, eh? Mumma says -"
"I couldn't give a damn what your mother says, child. Besides, I thought she was leaving, no?"
With a shrug of her shoulders the young girl sat up, the sheets falling from her shoulders. One of her tiny hands rubbed at her wrinkled nose - all of her dainty nails were thick with dirt and had been chewed on with determination. It wasn't any surprise, no one in London ever took care of themselves. The water was always dirty and only the rich could afford the luxury of a warm and steamy marble carved bathtub.
"Changed 're mind."
"Again? Typical."
It was no secret that Isabella's mother was determined to leave this place. All she ever did was complain that the whore house was not good enough for her, that one day a man would come along and whisk her away. The only problem was there was never such a man in a place this and within hours her mother's mind would be changed with a little extra coin in her purse.
"Well, I aint going anywhere... I like it 'ere!" Isabella stated, nodding her head purposely, as she rose to her feet and gathered up the dirty sheets within her thin and bendy arms. The dress she wore was stained and worn from years of being passed down. Her own tiny stitches could be seen as the young girl tried so hard to save the moth bitten dark blue material.
Her large blue eyes didn't miss the smirk on the older harlot's face or the snort of amusement erupting from her inflamed nostrils. Isabella was used to the teasing from them all. They all picked on her for wishing to stay in the whore house, yet it was the only place Isabella had known. This was the place she had been born in, her home where she was kept hidden from the dangerous outside.
"Stay 'ere?!" The French harlot let out an ugly shrill laugh as she turned her back to Isabella and let herself back into her room. Through the crack in the door the young girl could just about make out the figure of a half naked man in the bed, his swallow snoring blurred against the pillow. "What kind of a man would want to pay for a little messy child, like you! Silly, silly.. nothing but le daughter of a whore!"
"At least I aint stinking of those frogs legs ya shove down ya big mouth!" Isabella snapped back, poking her tongue out through her rosy little lips. The scowl on her face could've had the power to strike down the older whore. "If ya sheets come back smelling like the pigs than ya know why!"
Before she could get a beating little Izzy ran, her bare feet pounding on the boards, the white sheets in her weak arms whipped out behind her like some magical cape that was about to send her flying into the smoke filled air of London. By the time she had fled to the washroom in the cellar she had managed to awake the whole house. All of them yelled out her name in frustration before their anger was thrown towards Isabella's mother - who had promised them all that her darling young daughter would be gifted with the biggest beating she had even had the pleasure of receiving in her lifetime.
And the mother was true to her word. That night Isabella was given ten hard slaps to her backside and sent to her corner of the room which she shared with several other children, all born from the wombs of the working whores, without any dinner. Never once did she cry. Crying got her nowhere. Even after the lashings she yelled out that it didn't hurt before returning to her last few duties of the night.
Once the children were finally settled in the beds they shared did Isabella take her usual spot by the window and watched the whores stand out in the dark streets, luring the men close with a flash of their chests or thighs. Their drunken laughter filled the air as they stumbled about. With heavy eyes Isabella observed, learnt the way her fellow house shares moved and flirted. Izzy wasn't as silly as they all made her out to be and one day she vowed to show that.
She even forgot about the growling hunger growing within her belly as the curiosity took over her mind.
