I wasn't blind to the eyes that stared at me when Zidler took my to the Moulin Rouge. All of the women were out, it seemed, either dressing casually in front of each other and the male stage hands, or covering their faces with powder and make-up.

"Will I have to wear this stuff?" I asked weakly as I observed the garish dresses.

"Everyone's a little different."

What with all the colours and dresses about, you might think you were in a bloody rainbow. The bright lights and colours were practically blinding, but I assumed one could become used to it. Dearly, I hoped I wouldn't. The light was far too garish, and I wouldn't accept it as the norm.

Zidler took my bag briskly off me and handed them to a passing girl- he didn't even ask of anything, and I was absolutely sure I'd never see it again- as he directed me to a small dormitory no bigger than Christian's apartment. It was filled to the brim with girls lounging on the beds dotted about the place, or at the mirrors that lined the walls, applying powders or fixing their hair.

I thought back again, Christian's book enlightening me.

His Diamond Dogs.

I did not know exactly where to stand, or where to go, and just waited around by Zidler. I'd never have admitted it out loud, but I was ever so slightly frightened. A few of the girls stared at me, scrutinising me. I stared back at them with my best impression of pure ignorance to their glances, but I daresay it didn't work very well. Some sneered about themselves, pointing from the corners.

"Well, well, well," said a lazy voice as a small, thin and slightly frightening woman sauntered towards us. "Yeh didn't tell us you 'ad another lass comin' along now, did yeh?"

"It wasn't much of your concern. Now," he said loudly, clapping his hands to catch the girls' attention. "I need to see you all ready in one hour, chickies. Not a moment later."

"Who's she?" a girl called out in an almost bitter tone.

"She'll be joining you," Zidler replied simply.

"That's not her name, is it? I asked who she was, not what she was doing here."

"We all know what she's doing here," another girl said, laughing and nudging the person beside her.

Zidler only sighed, and patted my shoulder lightly before turning around and leaving. I stared after him, confused. What on earth was he thinking? I was pretty sure these girls would tear me in two with a wrong move.

A few girls seemed far too busy to concern themselves with me, but I noticed that the larger amount of people still stared at me, even when carrying on about their business. I stared back at each and every one of them, frozen to the spot and swaying slightly with the effort of not fainting. They all seemed so…indescribable. It may have just been the way their make-up was put on, or the way that they stared, but they all had an essence of malice in them.

"So," the small, thin woman I had seen beforehand said loudly, walking towards me with a hand on her hip. "'ow'd we manage to get a lady like you then? We 'aven't 'ad anyone around in years."

"I have my connections," I muttered, looking at her curiously.

"Connections? There's one I've never heard."

"I think it's an excuse," said another person, standing up and folding her arms. "Not a very good one at that."

"You're one to talk," came a third voice as a quaint, voluptuous girl pushed her way between the two. "If I remember right, it was you who said she was running away from home."

"I was running away from home!"

"Please, you were looking forward to being a whore. You sought it out! For the first few weeks you were here you chose the guys, it's supposed to be the other way around."

"Excuse me for making the best of a situation," she retorted with a grin. The quaint woman sighed irritably, taking hold of my arm and dragging me towards the back wall.

"Whatever you've heard, we're not all like that."

"We?" I asked, dazed.

"All the girls here. We're not. You just happened to bump into whores among whores."

"I didn't think there could be such a thing."

"Neither did I until I came here."

I nodded slowly, still unsure. The woman noticed, and gave me an assuring smile as she thrust me down onto the edge of a bed.

"Zidler hasn't told me what to do yet so it looks like I'll be deciding on your…visage," she said happily, plucking a strand of my hair.

"You very well won't!" I retorted, batting her hand away lightly. I expected more of a scolding, but she simply clucked her tongue.

"Never caught your name, by the way."

"I didn't mention it. Rosanna."

"They call me Peacock," she told me, smiling broadly.

"Peacock?"

"Not many of us still use our names," she admitted. "Safer, really. Everyone sort of suits theirs, anyway." She waved across the room pointing at a few people. "That small thing down there, we call her China Doll. Kind of obvious, really. The dark girl plucking her eyebrows, La Ko Ka Chau, and the one you had the delight of meeting was Nina."

"No nickname?" I asked.

"Not by choice. We sort of chose for her."

"Do I really want to ask?" I queried cautiously.

"You'll find out sooner or later," she smiled. "Anyway, like I said, it looks like I'm the one dressing you."

Almost immediately, I clutching at my dress, pulling it tightly to me. Peacock only laughed, shaking her head.

"I only mean I'm choosing your clothes, I'm not physically going to-"

"Then don't say it!"

She only chuckled, and took hold of my wrist. I wasn't clear straight away where she was taking me, but eventually we turned into a rather garish looking closet. There were yet again more dresses, all of which were such a horrid colour I felt as if I'd walked into a book. A rather childish one at that, without much meaning or sense. Nonetheless, I allowed myself to be dragged through, Peacock throwing random outfits into my arms. I could not stand the sight of them, the very thought of wearing one making me feel ill- I no longer knew if this was because of my detestation for colour, or the fact that I had realised why they were worn.

"They're not that bad when you get used to them," she told me, seeing the look of horror on my face.

"It's not that I'm worried about," I said faintly.

"Perhaps you should have gone somewhere else if the men worry you," she said quietly, yet kindly, as if a mother. I looked up quickly, shaking my head.

"Zidler has given me his promise, I shan't do anything of that sort by his order."

"You'll regret ever having listened to that," she warned.

"He would not have lied," I said. "I was promised through my…connections."

"I do not mean that he will lie to you. But…life here is not as simple as you might think."

"What do you mean?" I asked warily. She bit her lip, and paused her speech for a moment as she began to unbutton the dress I had on, forcing a much more tame black and white dress into my hand.

"All the stories you've heard are probably true," she began. "Sure, we make a living here. We sell ourselves. It's the easiest way to get by. After a while, you get used to it. If you're lucky, you get used to it- hopefully not as much as some of those girls you heard from. You're sensible enough, you won't be that bad, I'm sure. Anyway, that's the sort of story you hear."

"How much more can there be?" I asked as she pulled the dress over the top of my head until I stood shivering in my petticoat.

"Plenty to you. We're what you call creatures of the underworld."

I nodded slowly, remembering the book all over again. We're creatures of the underworld, Satine…we cannot afford to love.

"Only the fortunate ones are able to say they have never trifled with the idea of love," she continued, now pulling the strings of the new dress I had already put on. "Luckily there are less than that who can say they ever did fall in love. We are not able to allow such things."

"Did you?" I gasped as she pulled at the strings tightly.

"Sorry," she mumbled as I did so. "It doesn't really matter if I did or not."

I nodded slowly, realising that I was most likely pushing the line by asking such a question.

"What regret do you believe I would have?" I asked, still unsure why I was to know this.

"I only mean to warn you. Better women have tried and failed, thinking they could fall in love."

Nodding slowly as Peacock finished the laces on my dress, I looked at her painfully, remembering all of a sudden.

"I've heard."