.|. Fragile Things .|.

.x. Chapter [Four] .x.

No One Here Gets Out Alive

Find a friend, of whom you can confide,

Cause Red, no one here gets out alive,

And what you see might just drive you mad.

Memories were scattered about like torn up pieces of paper as she searched wildly for them, sticking them back together. But mistakes were often made and she found herself re-doing what she had thought of, what she believed to be real; her memories. Everything was distorted and she knew the beautiful, expensive mascara he had given her to increase her looks was smudged across her face, having mingled with tears. The dress of exquisite beauty, which she knew had cost the werewolf an unbelievable amount of money, was torn in places; netting and threads ripped from where they were meant to be with the floral white silk to be forever stained in blood. Her once bright eyes were bloodshot, starting down at the dark wine coloured floorboards engulfed in the night. Once white cheeks were now black with makeup that once clouded her eyes, her ruby red lips smudged and swollen; a small cut within them that could not be seen with them sealed. This was not how he promised her life to be; for her to be cowering on the floor of her bedroom, surrounded by the most expensive things in the world yet shivering with her heart pounding faster then ever. No matter how brilliant he made her feel, no matter how beautiful he made her look it was all fake. But this was life. She had barely been there a week in the Castle walls and she had grown accustom to it all.

Accustom to having her lips stolen by his, to endure his hands slipping within and out the top half of her dress. Well, not accustom as such. She was still a fighter, hating the touches his paws would place upon her. Never would such a thing occur in his human form but it would in his wolf. Just touches, nothing far – no intercourse, luckily enough for her. She wasn't forced to do anything, just kiss but she wouldn't have it. The fear seeping into her skull like a waterfall was enough to drive her insane and she would lash out against the wolf in his quarters. Soon the scrap would turn into a fight.

And just like that night she would run back to her bedroom in a panic and cower in the corner of the bedroom he gave her, shivering from the cold and the fear. She tried to remember what set her off that time. Was it those incisors? Possibly. It most likely was. God, she needed him. She needed the man that brought her there a week ago, who promised her a wonderful life. The black wolf with his jade eyes would save her yet she never had the will within her to scream. Besides it would make the entire situation she knew a whole lot worse for them both. God knew what would happen if she destroyed the balance within the house.

Shivering furiously, her legs that felt completely and utterly like jelly lifted her up. Dizzily, she placed her hand on the wall to keep her balance, looking around the dark room. Some of her shocking red hair moved to cover her eye but it was unnoticed. Looking down, she noticed a few more cuts upon her legs and possibly more bruises for them to admire in the morning. Sighing, she reached over for a dark oak chest of draws, carved with beautiful patterns. Sliding it open, she pulled out a white nightgown made of silk with wonderful lace on the bottom. It took awhile for her to slide her sore, damaged body from the torn dress and back into the nightgown.

Slipping under the bed sheets, it took the poor girl even longer to fall into a slumber. She couldn't deny the life Gaignun had given her. He had provided her with warmth, the most expensive of things and a beautiful Victorian world with wonderful dresses and anything her heart could desire. He fed her all for her to be there with him during the day. But even if he didn't know it. He had set her up for the most wonderful and yet most morbid life.

In the early hours of the morning (well, they certainly felt early to poor Red), she was sat at the table on the first floor dinning hall. It was one of the larger rooms of the Castle, dark and gloomy just like the rest of the home with a strong essence of Victorian class. Everything was made from gold; the furniture fine. Red's cloths suited the scenery perfectly as she took her seat, wearing an elegant black dress embedded in frills with patterns of red roses across it. Her red hair was clean and put as straight as a pin, decorated with diamond and ruby clips; her eyes dark and thick with eyeliner as usual, just like he requested. Her face was clean and there were no traces of bruises or blood, all hidden beneath her silk cloths. Even the scent of blood had long gone and hopefully Gaignun wouldn't sense anything while passing her room. Not that he had a need to. He was the Master of the home; his bedroom far, far from hers and anyone else's. Never had she entered. Even though she was knew to this lifestyle she knew it was rude to enter the Master's quarters without his permission. Besides, she didn't want to upset a werewolf.

Not again.

The white plate was already set in front of her, steaming with the most delicious of foods for her to eat. Patiantly, she waited for the other members of the household to come and join her; her hands placed polietely on her lap as she stared down. There were no women in the house, only her along with men. Five men to be exact, not including the cleaners or the butlers or the chief, who again were men.

The first man she had laid her eyes upon was of course Gaignun, with his charming handsomeness; his gentle hands and warming smile. He was fantastic in every single way, as precious as an emerald of the same shade of his eyes. She could never get enough of him; his eyes, the way he charmed her and made her blush; how his hand would gently graze the bottom of her cheek. Even thinking about him caused her to blush furiously and suddenly a hand ran across the back of her head, causing a large gasp to escape her throat as she turned her head to see who was touching her.

Of course it was him. The Master, gazing down at her with a smile on his face that caused the blush to brighten on her paper coloured face. She heard him utter the words 'beautiful' as he admired her for long moments, their eyes connecting with a blaze of what felt like thunder striking between them. She felt an urge to forget all her manners and slam her body into his, hugging him and clinging to him as if she were drowning. She needed a saviour, she needed him and she knew he needed her. But of course, he kept a tight piece of string wrapped around his emotions and continued to delicately stroke her cheek now with the back of his hand.

"Good morning, Master Gaignun," she whispered breathlessly, unable to take her locked eyes away from his. The smile on his face widened and she could just about see white teeth peeking through.

"Good morning, dear Red Rose," he purred, reaching down to inhale her scent. Despite the previous nights events, she thought nothing of how he smelled her, how an aroma of want lingered from him. She felt him push the tip of his nose into her hair, and within a small twist of his head his lips were almost touching her forehead. The sound of his tongue slipping from his mouth could have echoed against the walls in the silent dinner room. It seemed like an eternity before he licked the bare skin of her forehead gently, his hand running up the back of her neck to dig deep within her hair. Shutting his eyes, he inhaled a small hint of blood, feeling his heartbeat racing from the two most delicious things in the world; her smell and the smell of pure blood. It was hard to keep his emotions in check when he licked her skin again, wanting to taste the blood underneath it.

Feeling his fingers tighten around her hair, she winced slightly, uttering his name to grab his attention. It was a futile attempt as he lowered his head, kissing just above her eyebrow. She could feel his breathe on her skin and all she could smell was him. Her one hand had involuntary made its way to his left hand, gripping his silk suit tightly as she whimpered, feeling his tongue once more.

She remembered the touches from that night, the kisses planted hard on her lips and the fight she had endured. A shiver ran through her body and he froze sharply, looking down at her. His eyes were wide and focused once more. "Red?" he questioned, moving his head back to see her face pointed away from his. He frowned slightly.

"Sorry," she whispered with a dry throat. "I'm rather hungry. May we just eat?"

"Of course," he said, his eyes completely and utterly human once more. "I apologise for my behaviour, if I frightened you I had not intended to do so," he promised, kissing her forehead once more to prove his words. Slowly, he pulled away from her and took a seat next to hers at the table, smiling at the food on his plate.

Just as he picked up the silver fork, the doors opened once more and he raised a black brow to whoever was entering. A cloud of red was in the corner of Red's eyes – she knew who had entered within seconds and did not waste her time to check. She didn't care either. Before being at the Castle she had met the boy before, heard his warning of the woods. Had he known she was to be brought here by Gaignun? Had he known she was to be treated like a princess and as a doll at the same time? If he had he made no point of mentioning it. As if the incident that they met had never happened, he acted like they only just met, being polite and giving her a tour even of the home. Not that the tour had helped. She was still getting lost to even the bathroom.

"Hey!" the distressed voice of Rubedo echoed loudly, his footsteps were fast to the table and within moments he was sat down opposite her and Gaignun. "You weren't meant to eat without me!"

"Well, Rubedo, in case you have not noticed no one else is here yet," Red uttered to herself, cutting up an egg with her silverware. "So it is your fault for being late and the others fault that they are late too."

Before either Gaignun or Rubedo could reply to Red's words, more footsteps were heard coming into the room as she slipped the piece of egg into her mouth. Chewing lightly, she glanced up and down the elegant body of another teenager, a few years older then herself with a pure essence of refinement about him, dressed in a fine waist coat, dress shirt and black trousers. His gloves wrapped around his slender hands were brown, decorated around the wrists with an assortment of bright coloured flowers. He always had beautiful gloves she wanted to wear at one stage and he had such beautiful hair. It was as white as snow and as straight as her own.

"Good morning chaos," came the dual sentence of Gaignun and Rubedo. Red smirked slightly and repeated what they had said, gaining a reply from chaos. Just as he too was about to sit down and Rubedo parted his lips to argue and complain and eat at the same time, more footsteps were heard.

This time Red turned her head and when she did she froze. A frown appeared on Gaignun's face as he inhaled a sharp sense of fear from the young girl sitting beside him and glanced to the door. Purple eyes watched them all, hovering around little Red the most, his hair an identical colour to chaos'. The muscular, huge man wore a white robe, with most likely fashionable purple and white clothing underneath it. Red didn't dare think what. Her body was shaking as he slowly began to approach.

Everything about him terrified her. The way that he walked.

The way that he kissed her. The way that he was in Wolf form. His fur pure white, his eyes bright purple. She remembered the previous night. His attacks. His touching; his kissing and she shivered once more. There was an incredible urge to throw up as she lowered her eyes, feeling his upon her head. A cloud of tension engulfed all five of them sat at the table.