Chapter Three: Turning red

Magenta rushed towards me as I stood petrified and staring at the master of the terrifying house that I had found my self in. Eddy was staring down at his shoes, who was this strange being? The stranger stared down at me and a smile danced across his heavily made up face. Magenta grabbed my arm, grinning at him, and pulled me back allow the dark corridor shooting a furious look at Eddy. I frantically fought against her iron grip but she only held me tighter and I was getting further and further from the door. I dug my heals into the ground but it was no use and eventually after a minute or two of constant struggle on my part she shoved me roughly into the dressing room once more.

"Now, let's get started." She said, rubbing her hands on her pinafore and I was surprise to see blood left there by her fingers, my blood. I stared down at my forearms which carried grievous cuts and graves from where the razor sharp nails had stuck resolutely into me. As soon as I noticed them they immediately started to sting.

She grabbed me by my shoulders and sat me down again.

"Do you dye your hair sweety?" she asked me running her hands through it, sweety? I only met her twenty minutes ago and now I'm sweety?

"No. . .its natural." I quavered. She raised an eyebrow. "What are you going to do with it?" I said hesitantly, I would have to play along for now, recined to the fact I needed to keep her talking.

"You'll see." She sneered, I gulped. "What's your name darling?" I was startle by the conventional question.

"Katherine Patricks." I said, she smiled.

"No, no. . .i mean your stage name?" she laughed.

"Well I not exactly…" She stopped me.

"Well enough talk, don't worry sweety we'll find you a new name soon enough."

"But I've told you I'm not a chorus girl!" I sprang from the chair.

"Oh I know darling." She drawled, walked over to a rail of spangled garments that stood in the corner and began to rifle through them. "You just really need my help." I was confused.

"You know I'm not a...?"

She let out a shriek of laughter and turned to me and not answering my question she held out a miniscule sparkling suit, it was bright gold and had matching suspenders. It is my favourite to this day. I took it and examined it cautiously, something inside me stirred like I had been repressing it for many years. I sat back down in the chair and closed my eyes.

"Okay." I whispered. "Do it." Magenta smirked and took up the rusty scissors once more. I gasped as she cut off a golden curl and it fell to the filthy floor.

It took about ten minutes for her to finish. I wiped a patch clean on the dusty window and sat back in my chair covering my hands with my mouth. It was short, not as short as I wear it now but the longest layer was just past my earlobe. She stood back to admire her handy work.

"What do you think?" she said with her heavy accent. I smiled at her.

"I love it."

"Are you ready for the colour?" she asked me, trimming a curl at the base of my neck.

"Colour?" I turned to look at her.

"Yes Marilyn, you didn't think I'd let you stay blond did you?"

"Well…How bought just highlights?" she rolled her eyes and I turned back to look in the mirror.

"Blue?" she asked, no way was I going to along that.

"Brown." She shook her head.

"Green"

"Russet"

"Purple"

"Dark yellow."

"Red and that's my final offer." I thought about it for a minute.

"Done." She smiled and went to a shelf of dusty looking bottles and took down one of them.

After she had covered most of my hair in the white liquid she spun me round in the chair.

"Do you wear makeup?" she asked and she examined my face.

"No." I replied, flinching away from her slightly. " It's bad for your skin." She let out a bark of laughter.

"Ha! Not wearing it is worse for it darling, you look like someone has locked you in a dark room for your whole life." I spun myself back round in the chair to examine my face. It looked just the same as it always had.

"Really, is it white?" she nodded.

"As a sheet." She spun me round again and took out a stick from her pocket. It was mascara.

"Oh, I do use that." I said defensively. She smiled.

"Not nearly enough sweety." and she began to layer it onto my scrawny lashes which had never been fabulous in any sense of the word. She spent about five minutes doing that and I made to spin round when she stopped me.

"I'm not finished." She produced a little tub of gold sparkly stuff.

"What's that?"

"Eye shadow." She said dipping her finger into it and reaching up to cover my lid, "to match your outfit." She began to apply it copiously.

"I'm going to wear that?" I asked pointing at the golden wonder now draped over a chair in the corner. She nodded casually, put the eye shadow back in her pocket and began applying foundation to my apparently ghostly pale face. Over the next ten minutes I had no idea what she was doing, applying different lotions to my face, arms and even legs, plucking and tweezing, smoothing and tutting. Finally however a timer buzzed in the corner and she straightened up excitedly, it was time to see my new hair. She wheeled me over to a sink like the types you get in hair salons and barbers and began to lather the foul smelling liquid out of my hair. She squeaked excitedly at odd intervals and quickened her pace till at last I heard my hair squeak back at her from under her fingertips. She combed out my hair and rubbed it energetically with a towel and then, when it was dry, combed it again reversely. Finally she stood back and sighed. She removed the cloth which she had placed over the mirror to prevent me looking and I stared into the face of a different person.

I ran my fingers through my now red flecked hair and across my face made perfect by the amount of makeup I would soon learn to use for myself. I turned to Magenta, she wore a mad grin across her own plastered face. I could find the words and my eyes welled up with tears.

"Your welcome, gees. Stop leaking on my masterpiece." She said and caught a tear as it threatened to run down my face. "Now let's get you into this." She held up the outfit and I looked up and down it hungrily anxious to discard the dress I once thought was the most glamorous garment in the world. I still have that dress somewhere, tucked away, I wear sometimes in my room when no one is there to see me foolishly trying to relive my past but it doesn't look right anymore.

"Are you sure it's…me?" I asked and Magenta laughed again.

"No, and trust me that's a good thing." I laughed.

I was ready. Ready for what I didn't know but that was what Magenta had said to me. I stood in front of a full length mirror and stared at myself. I did look amazing, full of the glow of youth and shining with beauty. I hugged Magenta and she beamed wrinkling up her nose happily.

"I'll take you to see the master." She said happily and opened the door out into the corridor. As I stepped out I noticed a familiar person heading towards us from up the corridor, he stopped in his tracks. Eddy says that that was the moment he fell in love with me but I've never believed him. He took my hand and whirled me round, I fell into his arms with a whoop and he laughed.

"Well…" was all he said. We gazed into each other's eyes for a moment and then Magenta tapped her foot on the floor and coughed. Eddy hoisted me back up and put an arm round me, I felt slightly star struck and couldn't bring myself to say anything while we followed Magenta through the house. I felt so safe in his arms.

"Are we going to the lab?" Eddy asked, not taking his eyes of me. I blushed furiously, turning redder than the highlights in my hair.

"Yes." Magenta said. "I think the master will like her." I smiled at her.

"Yes I think he will." I looked at him quickly, there seamed to be something hidden in his voice, was it sadness? He held me closer as we stepped into a raught iron elevator to go up to the lab.