Author Note: I decided to write another chapter today just because I might not be able tomorrow and I wanted to make up for lost time. ) Hope you guys are enjoying it! Magenta POV
How had Riff found out? Magenta had been so careful to keep her shame hidden, to make sure that Riff's eyes were on her when they made love, to make sure that Frank was too busy to quiet her cries to notice the scars on her legs. Magenta finished the dusting long before Riff had even gotten the mop out which gave her the excuse the run to the bathroom. Why did she feel like this? No matter what she did, she couldn't erase Frank's touches or rid herself of the guilt she felt everytime she slept with her brother. What was wrong with her? She felt the tears coming but she didn't care. Not pausing to think twice about it, the same scissors that once helped her with her pain, were once again sliding against her thigh. She couldn't feel anything when the blood fell to the groun, and she felt the breath escape from her body in relief. Her brother didn't know what he saying. He didn't know what she was feeling, and although he wanted to help, he couldn't. She had to do this on her own. This was her own demon, and she only felt the demons were truly gone when she cut. She just had to be more careful around her brother. He couldn't find out.
Frank didn't come down for dinner that night, and since he did not request a meal to be brought up, Magenta retired early that night. Columbia only ate little so she could practice her dances in front of Magenta. Magenta did wish that she could dance. No one bothered to teach her any kind of steps, but she did learn little from what her brother taught her. "Okay, I am really thinking of doing a tap dance. Tap dancing is when your shoes make the music for you so you don't need that much. But then if you make a wrong move, everybody can hear it but I'm confident of my abilities! Here, watch this." Columbia tapped away keeping expert balance of her feet and every step amazed Magenta more than the last. Magenta could not believe it but she was actually feeling a little jealous. "Ooo, that was tiring! My mom had been giving me lessons since I was about 5, I think, and I love it more than anything. Well, almost anything. Have you seen Eddie anywhere? I went to the room where we were keeping him and I didn't see him anywhere. Did you move him without telling me? I don't think you could have moved him anywhere even if you wanted to because you're pretty little, but maybe Riff or Frank even? I'd really like to go and sit by him a little tonight. When he wakes up, I want to be there with him. He might get worried or scared if I'm not there to comfort him!" Riff and Magenta had both moved Eddie into the freezer soon after breakfast. It was a rather difficult process because Eddie weighed more than either of them did. Riff took the torso and Magenta, once again, had to deal with Eddie's stinky feet. While Magenta was positioning Eddie against one of the walls, Riff moved Eddie's motor bike into the freezer so no relatives of Eddie might pass by and start wondering where he was. "I don't know where he is Columbia. I'm pretty sure Frank hid him somewhere so he won't scare any of the guests tomorrow but I don't know where."
"Well, I hope Eddie is alright. It would be really great if he could come to the party tomorrow. He's never seen me dance. What's a party from your hometown like? If its anything like parties from around here, I know I'm going to be drinking lots and lots and lots. I really like drinking. It relaxes me more than anything." Magenta pulled her covers over her bony legs and felt one of her hands go down to the drying blood still on her thighs. She hadn't been as clean with wiping it as she did during the first cut. Magenta did not hear another word that Columbia spoke that night, even though she could still hear Columbia's voice chattering away, the words were not clear. Magenta eyes became heavy with sleep and she entered the world of dreams, the one place where she was truly free to do as she pleased.
The next morning, Frank had them awake before the sun was even up. Frank slammed the door of the girl's bedroom and clapped his hands to awake them. "Come on now girls, I can't have you sleeping in today! This is my big day. And nothing is going to ruin it! Both of you, get up NOW!" Magenta was used to hearing Frank's angry voice but Columbia was not. Columbia hid her face underneath covers and when she spoke, her voice shook. "It's too early Frank. Please let us sleep a little longer. I'm so tired!" Frank stormed over to her bed, and grabbed the covers from her body. Columbia sat up immediatly and brought her legs up to her body. "Now Columbia. I don't have time for this. The castle has to look perfect by tonight and since you three are all I have, you will be making it look its best by tonight. All of you!" Magenta slowly rose up on her bed, not wanting Frank to start yelling at her as well. "Get dressed, both of you. Magenta, dust the entire house from top to bottom. It must be done by tonight! Columbia, I'm going to have you start putting up the party decorations and making the refreshments. I have Riff fixing up outside and working on the floors although I do think it might rain tonight. You have 5 minutes to dress. Snap to it!" Frank left the room without shutting the door. It didn't matter. Neither of the girls had anything that the boys hadn't seen and touched before.
Magenta dressed rather quickly. She didn't care how she looked anymore. She was past the point. She pulled her torn tights up her legs, slipped the uniform over her head and buckled her dirty boots onto her feet. She didn't bother brushing her matted hair. There was no use. The guests were not coming to see her, and even if they were, they would just watch her to see if any of the dirty lies Frank might have told them was true. Columbia was still in bed until after Magenta used the bathroom and then she was just pulling up some tights up her legs. A shiny jacket with a matching hat sat on a chair next to her bed. She was going to wear her costume all day it looked it and Magenta really did long to have something like that of her very own. The sparkles shimmered with the light and she knew all the guests would have their eyes on Columbia. How she would trade her life for Columbia's in a second. Columbia was not bound to this house, and she didn't have to listen to Frank if she didn't want to. She could leave at any time she wished, and Magenta would give anything for that. Columbia had no idea how lucky she really was.
"You're still not dressed? Get to work now Magenta!" Magenta didn't wait to hear anymore of Frank's harsh words and ran to the highest level of the castle to start her dusting. Why Frank wanted the entire castle dusted when the party would only be in one room downstairs was a mystery to her but she did what she was asked. She could do nothing more. Riff was told to start outside, and Magenta knew that was only to seperate her from her brother. She glanced out the window and saw his cutting the bushes outside. Frank was right when he said that the rain might fall the night of his big party. The dark, threatening clouds were looming overhead and looked as though they might burst any second. Riff didn't see her watching him from the attic so she went back to dusting every piece of furniture she saw. Frank didn't even use most of this, but she knew that if he did happen to come upstairs to inspect her work and it wasn't done right, she would be punished.