A/N: Wow I think this chapter is even longer than the last. Five and a half Microsoft Word pages.
Chapter Seven
Casualty
I must have slept eventually, for I was woken by the sun shining brightly through the window I had forgotten to close.
I got up with a groan, and stumbled over to the mirror to see if the effects of last night had yet surfaced.
They had.
"Shit" I moaned. I looked terrible; big purple bruises on my arms and one on my cheek where Warner hit me, not to mention several love bites on my neck and chest; not that that had anything to do with Warner.
I set to work, I managed to completely cover the bruise on my cheek and cover the bruises on my arms fairly well with my vast collection of makeup. But the love bites where very stubborn; no matter what I tried they were still visible.
"Damn you and your love bites," I said, only half joking, to the disheveled lump in my bed that was the Argentinean. I got a sleepy grunt in reply and shook my head, smiling.
A clock chimed nine somewhere and I jumped, remembering my meeting with the Duke at ten.
I brushed and pinned up my hair, no easy task with it being so long and thick, and applied some makeup.
"Bloody corset" I muttered, trying to pull the strings as tight as I could. I felt warm hands take the strings and pull them tight, tying them well.
"Now just how did you get so good with corsets?" I asked, turning to face the Argentinean.
"Never you mind" he replied, kissing me softly on the lips.
I pulled away, "You think that will shut me up, huh?" I said in mock indignation.
"It did last night" he replied.
"Shut up" I said with a laugh, slapping his arm. His lips brushed my neck.
"I don't think so. Do you know how hard your love bites are to cover?"
"Well I've never tried" he said, pretending to be serious, "I suppose-"
I cut him off with a kiss on the lips. When we parted he said, "Now you're trying to shut me up."
I grinned, "Well it worked didn't it?"
"Why you little!" he laughed, then grew serious, "Are you going to meet the Duke?"
I nodded with a sigh, the fun over, "Are you coming with me?" I asked cautiously.
The Argentinean was silent for a moment, and then replied, "Yes, I'll some. I can't let anything happen to you."
"Okay," I said, and couldn't resist adding, "You might want to get dressed then."
"Smartass" he said.
"You know it" I laughed.
Half an hour later, the Argentinean and I made our way, fully dressed, to the elephant. The clock was chiming ten as we arrived. I squeezed the Argentinean's hand to stop my own from shaking.
We only had to wait a minute or two before the Duke appeared, flanked by Warner, who also sported a nasty bruise next to his eye.
"I did that" the Argentinean whispered to me, I felt a small smile creep onto my face.
"I see you have turned up on time," the Duke noted, regarding us as if we were some filth that had soiled his pristine robe, "What is your decision? May I remind you that Warner is in possession of a loaded gun should you decide to refuse."
"Good for him" I sighed, trying not to look at my lover, "But he doesn't need it. I'll do it."
The Argentinean paled. The Duke smirked evilly. Warner looked disappointed.
"But Velvet. We didn't-" The Argentinean began to say. I stamped on his foot with my spiky heel and he let out a yelp.
"You have made the right choice. Lucky for you, you're smarter than you look" the Duke said smugly.
I felt the Argentinean tense next to me.
"Let it go" I murmured, before he could say something that would probably get both of us killed.
"Christian and Satine supposedly rehearse the play every night. However you will be there to distract Christian tonight, so I can ensure Satine can join me for dinner." The Duke said.
I drew a shaky breath, "Okay."
The Duke gave me a curt nod and walked away, Warner in tow.
"Bastard" I muttered, then noticed the terrible betrayed look on the Argentinean's face. The pain and guilt that hit me when I saw that look was unbelievable.
"I have to do it," I said quietly, "You know I couldn't let you be killed."
"I know," he replied, "But that doesn't make the jealousy any easier to bear."
I ran my finger down his arm, over the leather cuffs that bound his wrists.
"There won't be a minute when I'm not thinking of you" I said. He sighed and took one of his leather cuffs off.
"Here," he said, binding it around my wrist, "I want you to wear this for me, so I know you will think of me."
"Okay" I said with a small smile. He kissed my forehead.
"Good luck" he said, then trying to make a joke of it, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"Then I can do anything" I said, joking back, but as soon as I turned to walk away my face fell and I closed my eyes briefly. I just wanted to break down and cry. But there was no time for me to be weak.
I had another man to ensnare.
When I reached my bedroom I went straight to my closet, I knew just the outfit that would have Christian all over me. It was an extremely tight turquoise silk dress that clung and accentuated every curve. I made up my eyes, applied lipstick and fastened an elegant silver necklace around my neck.
When I had finished I looked at my reflection. Perfect.
I wished so hard that I was going to be with the Argentinean instead of putting our relationship in jeopardy by going to seduce another man.
But I learnt long ago that wishing achieves nothing, so I walked out of my room, resigned to my fate, and went to find Christian.
I found him in his room, sitting at his typewriter, staring at a blank page.
"Hello" I said and he looked up, I watched him take in my appearance.
"Hi" he replied.
"I have a message from the Duke" I said, sitting on the table next to his typewriter and crossing my very revealed legs.
I heard Christian gulp as he tried his best to look at my face and not my legs or anywhere else.
"You have?" he said.
"Yes. The Duke is having dinner with Satine tonight" I told him.
"But…but Satine and I were supposed to rehearse the play" he stammered, obviously hurt and confused.
"Well now that I'm here, how about we have a drink and maybe I can help you rehearse."
Christian looked crestfallen but agreed and took a large bottle of Absinthe and two shot glasses from the cupboard. He filled the two glasses and handed me one.
"Thanks" I said, and took a sip while Christian downed the whole glass.
My plan was working well; you see the trick to getting someone drunk so you can take advantage of them is to make sure you only drink enough to relax you and make sure they get drunk.
Because Absinthe is so strong, it didn't take long for Christian for get pretty wrecked.
So when I leaned over and kissed him, he didn't fight it, just pulled me onto his lap and kissed me back.
I heard footsteps outside and jerked away from him, my heart pounding. I stood up awkwardly.
"Don't go Velvet" Christian pleaded, and his sad eyes betrayed his desperate want to be loved.
"I…I can't" I choked out, "I have to go."
And I fled the room, forcing myself not to hear Christian's cries.
I couldn't go back to my own room; I made my way to a secluded balcony. I collapsed heavily onto the dilapidated seat and put my head in my hands.
"I don't think I can do it. I can't. I can't" I whispered frantically. I began to sing softly,
"Give me my dream and give me a scene
Where you have a past of which you are clean.
Oh, give me a lie.
Tell me you fell 'cos of my grace and not to help you erase her face.
And oh, make it your best lie.
'Cos I'm holding up a crystal glass dove in my hands and if it does
Fall, if you do fall, it's my fault"
It felt good to sing, and I let my voice ring out on the empty balcony.
"So I don't wanna be with one more casualty
'Cos all you're gonna give me is pain
And I'm not gonna be with one more casualty
'Cos all you see is a human bandage
Tell me I'd find you're happy inside and if I end this you'll be fine,
Oh, tell me a lie.
Just look at me and say honestly that I'm all you want, not what you need.
And oh, make it your best lie, love,
'Cos I'm holding up a crystal glass dove in my hands
And if it does fall, if it does fall it's my fault.
So I don't wanna be with one more casualty,
'Cos all you're givin' me is pain
And I'm not gonna be with one more casualty
'Cos all you see is a human bandage
And I've been playing games
And now I've change my ways
The character I always played
Helped me to forget my name
But now I know,
So get out of my way!
'Cos I'm not gonna be one more casualty
It's been too long since I looked after me ...
I'm not gonna be with one more casualty,
'Cos all you're givin' me is pain
And I'm not gonna be with one more casualty
'Cos all you see is a human bandage
I'm not gonna be with one more casualty,
'Cos all you're givin' me is pain
And I'm not gonna be with one more casualty
'Cos all you seem to give me is your pain
I'm not gonna be, no..."
I went back to my room, it was empty and right then I didn't really care, I wanted to be alone.
I drank a bit more Absinthe and fell asleep fully dressed on my bed. I woke up in the dark choking and coughing, my ribs felt as if they had snapped.
I tore at my dress until I got it off and undid my corset, throwing it to the floor. I panted, and managed to light a candle with my shaking hands. All up and down my ribs was bruised, dark and ugly. I wiped the sweat from my forehead, angry with myself for being so stupid as to fall asleep in my corset, especially when it was so tight.
I blew out the candle and crawled back into bed, pulling all the covers over me, and eventually fell back asleep.
A/N: This chapter was the most edited, originally I didn't have the song or any of the stuff that happened after it and some of what happened before. By the way the song was "Casualty" by Missy Higgins, who is an amazing Aussie singer/songwriter. Oh, and the section that was in bold was written by my dear friend WitchBitch. It's what tends to happen when I give her my drafts to read in class.
One last thing, if this chapter is a bit weird, its probably because I was listening to Missy Higgins' album extremely loudly through headphones, trying to block out the noises from the horror movie my brother was watching in the same room. It made it kind of hard to concentrate.
Wow, what a long Author's Note, my longest ever.
Please review.