Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Ok so this is the first chapter it is pretty much just establishing things…..I hope you like. Please review!

Chapter one- A really busy one

Thirty-six hours and forty-five minutes. Awake, how can I still be awake? My eyes are straining against my eyelids and my body is so numb that I can no longer feel the itch of the straw mattress beneath me. Exhaustion has enveloped me. I want sleep; I want release, why will it not come?

The old grandfather clock down stairs chimes, the abusive sound floating up through the rotting floors and meeting my ears. Four o'clock …I have to get up in two hours, there is no point trying to sleep now. It will only make me feel worse when I am forced to wake again.

I scrunch up my nose and sink below the thin blankets, my bare foot encountering the cool skin of another person, another girl. Violet- a fair-haired woman of about Seven-and-twenty years, the very person I have shared a cot with for over a decade—She's a bed hog.

I tell you, it is getting harder and harder for me to remember the last time I have had a bed to myself for an entire night. It would be such heaven to sleep in a large cushioned bed, with a soft pillow beneath my head and silk sheets... silk sheets…I am getting carried away now…

"Trix, Trix wake up!" I peel my eyelids back and squint up at the woman crouching at my side. I groan, I cannot yet make out whom the offending whore is, but I have a fair idea. The large masses of dark hair tell me it is either Molly or Agnes, the latter being the most likely. She does have a history of disturbing me during my few hours of rest.

"Rouge, Trixy! Where'd ya put my rouge?"

"Ahh Aggie, not so loud! I gave it to Alice last night, go find her…" I rasp out irritably, my green eyes slamming shut once more. Even though sleep will not come to me, I am at least going to pretend to relax while I have the opportunity.

I feel Violet stir and I open my eyes to see her blonde head pop up from beneath the blankets, a very disgruntled look on her powdered face. "Does she 'ave to do that every-bloody-day?"

I give her a small smile. Day. The early hours of the morning are when we sleep- or try to. The bright sunlight has always made it difficult. We have had to learn to make do...we have had no other option. Our nights, we are being 'occupied' or filling in hours at the bar…

"Bollocks!" Violet exclaims, upon hearing the telltale 'thump, thump, thump' of the stairs. "Not now! Not now!"

I sigh loudly. Tonight we will be starting early…

The call is coming and my rest time is to be cut short. I am in for a big night…we all are. My guess is a pirate crew or perhaps some privateers, either way, they are coming in abundance.

"Come on girls! Up! Up! Up! We have ourselves a busy one!" Mary (or Mama as we have all come to call her) shouts to us, her voice changing from its usual kind rumble to a clear voice of authority. I rub my lashes and stretch lazily while chaos breaks out among the other whores. As always, Violet promptly throws back our shared blankets and slaps my flank as a way of telling me to get up…and as always, I ignore her. I stare up at the decaying ceiling and listen to the women's hurried chatter. I will get up soon…when I really have to.

"Trixy get up now! Or you'll be walkin' the streets for a week!" Mama's tone is strictly business, the time has come a lot sooner then I would have liked. It must be a really busy one.

I growl quietly under my breath and drag myself from the cot. Slow and steady, slow and steady. The cool air pricks my bare arms as my hands grip the bedpost. I'm not going to get there this time. My head spins and my legs wobble. I'll have to try again. I drop backward onto the cot and wait for my vision to return. Dizzy spells, they are the result of not eating regularly, they occur almost every morning…They are just another part of my routine.

I feel a comforting hand help me to my feet and I look up into the aging face of Mama. "You right, Darling?"

"Yes, I'm fine…just a little bit of a faint…I'm fine." I reply somewhat breathlessly, as she helps me into my familiar green dress. She ties the laces in the back tightly and begins to fiddle with my hair, her nimble fingers expertly arranging the mane of red, knotted, locks into a messy up-do.

"Alright, off ya go! Down stairs!" Her voice is harsh in my ear, the blatant urgency causing me to jerk in my spot and my ears to ring.

"Alright…alright…" I mutter angrily as I massage my temples, trying to ease the constant throb that may or may not actually be there…I am probably just delaying. In fact, I know I am. "I must stop this…" I say to myself, forcing my hands down by my side. Just because I do not particularly want to work tonight, it does not mean I can dilly-dally.

"Alright, I just have to…go…" I slip on my shoes quickly and follow the noise, my feet leading me down the stairs and into the busy tavern.

My lip curls absentmindedly as I scan the room. It is a pirate crew, I am certain of it. There is one too many brawls going on for these men to be merchants or privateers…but then again, aren't they all much the same thing? They are all men, after all…

Confidently, I step out into the rowdy crowd and head straight for the bar. I learned quickly upon working here, that that is the best place to start. Why, you ask? Well the answer is simple… half of the residents there are already too drunk to remember their own name. Very easy targets, indeed.
I grin widely. Once I convinced an old sailor that we had done the deed, though in fact, we had not left the bar. He paid me for doing absolutely nothing and not only that…he gave me a tip! Yes, the bar is the best place to begin the night…

In fact, I think I can see my first target…

A/N Alrighty guys, that is the first chapter. Hope you liked!