Starting Over There's Always a Price to Pay

'Gonna make you see,

Nobody else here here,

No one like me

I'm special! ....Ow!' A drunken Satine walked into a lampost in the middle of her late night concert. Falling backwards, she landed with a thump. For a moment she looked surprised and then burst out in hysterical laughter. She sat shrieking on the floor, tears streaming down her face. Phyl, Barry and Thomas watched her and started laughing as well. The four had gone out with the cast for celebratory drinks and Satine had done enough celebrating for all of them.

'She won't be able to walk any further in that state.' Phyl commented. She looked down the road to see two policeman coming their way. 'Quick, let's take her into the park, the police are coming.' Barry put one arm under her knees and the other round her back. In one quick movement he picked her up and they quickly slipped across the road and into the park area. They watched in silence as the policeman walked past, a hand clamped over Satine's mouth to stop her from laughing.

'Come on. While the coast is clear.' Thomas led the way back across the road. They quietly crept up the steps to the house. 'Who's got a key?'

'I have.' Satine slurred. Barry put her down and she began to look through her bag. After a few moments of complaining, at the top of her voice, that she couldn't find it, she triumphantly held it above her head. 'Here it is!'

The door opened and Christian peeked outside. Satine hadn't heard the door open and attempted to stick it in the lock, which had been replaced by Christian's side. She took a few more jabs, Christian grimacing in pain. Finally she looked at the key and then finally at Christian.

'Your lock's broken.....AAAARRRGGGHHH!' She screamed and ran down the steps.

'Tell me, how much has she had to drink?' Christian asked, glaring at his sister.

'She didn't buy many but people kept on bringing them to her. She thought it was rude not to drink them. Anyway, don't blame me. She is a grown woman.' They all looked at Satine who was behaving like a child. 'Well, most of the time.'

'Come on, Satine, time for bed.' Christian walked down the steps and offered his arm to Satine. She took it, leaning close to him.

'Ok, but we must be really quiet cos we don't want to wake Christian.' Christian nodded in agreement and mouthed thank you and goodbye to the two men. Phyl held the door open as Christian carried a now unconscious Satine into the hall.

***

Once upstairs Christian quickly and quietly undressed Satine and put her nightdress on. Pulling the covers back, he gently lay her down. He was about to climb in next to her when there was a gentle tapping at the door. He opened it to find Phyl holding a bowl.

'For Satine.' She said thrusting it in front of her.

'Thank you. Night.' He took the bowl and shut the door. He placed it on the floor beside Satine and climbed in next to her.

***

Satine opened her eyes and quickly shut them again.

'Oh!' She moaned, holding her head. She vaguely remembered being given drink after drink but apart from that it was all a blur. Turning over she realised that Christian had already woken up and gone downstairs for breakfast. She peeked at the time on the clock that stood in the corner. It was ten minutes until breakfast time. Gerald didn't like anyone to miss breakfast, especially if it was due to a hangover. Clambering out of bed she walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a beige dress. She slipped out of her nightdress and prepared to fold it up. There was something warm and wet near the bottom of it. Taking her hand away she could see it was covered in blood.

'How odd.' She said out loud to herself. 'It's not even....' Then the shooting pain in her stomach confirmed her worst fears. Satine slid down to the floor, clutching her stomach. She closed her eyes and began to cry.