Digging into the past hurt, she wasn't going to deny it. For so long she had put those memories to rest, hidden them away in that room. It felt like the wounds had reopened. The past sixteen years flashed in front of her like a moving picture.

After her father's death, she had been taken to an orphanage. She spent nearly two years there. It was hell on earth. They treated you like dirt, gave you rotten food, and made you sleep on the hard floor. You had two sets of clothing that were washed once a week. They tore easy and had plenty of holes in them. No one ever came to adopt her and at one point, she became so fed up with it that she just ran away, making a life of her own. That's when she came to the Scarlet Pavilion, where she met the head mistress, where she most definitely sealed her fate, where she became Lee.

The mistress struck a deal with her, she could live in the house if she cleaned, and then on her eighteenth birthday, she would work as a courtesan. Of course she had been naive, thinking it would be just like in La Traviata, she would meet the man of her dreams and live happily ever after, minus her dying of Tuberculoses. But Arabelle would learn the price you pay for playing such a roll, the pain. In six months, she would learn the ugly truth about the job of a courtesan; learn its real meaning- a whore, a slut, and temptress. Someone who was only worth what a man could pay for her.

She endured six full months of this; endured six months of disgusting, old, horny men. Three months of beatings and cuts from cheapskate customers trying to skip out on their fee. Six months of feeling worthless, dirty, and disgraceful. It wasn't until the end of the six month that a drunken man had gotten too rough and was beating her, slapping, hitting and slicing her with a knife, that she had finally decided to fight back. She ended up nearly killing that man, but with no guilt or remorse inside her. The mistress had seen the anger in her eyes and decided to strike a new deal with her. If she could earn a certain amount of money each month, she wouldn't have to work in the Pavilion. Arabelle had taken it, and for nearly eight years it had been like this. She pick pocketed, stole, etc. She sold everything she lifted just to ensure her freedom. It was nothing but petty thievery, doing it just to get by.

But lately, Madame had been demanding that she earn more money each month. It soon became clear that this had not gone her way and that she wanted Arabelle working in the house. But no matter what she had asked for, Arabelle had always gotten it for her, staying up until dawn working, making sure she would never have to work there again, ever. She would rather die. She wasn't one to give up, a very stubborn person she had always been. Never giving up, not letting anyone stand in her way.

Fear was slowly rising inside her, though. The fear that this month, she would not make her quota and that she would have to go back to the Pavilion, working as a by-the-hour common house whore. No! She told herself. You are better than that; you'll think of something. She reassured herself. A knock came from the door. Her stomach dropped. She had a feeling it wasn't an admirer, or her buyer. She found the woman she had just been thinking about on the other side of the door, Madame Cornette.

"Good morning, Lee." She had a sly grin on her face. "I've come to collect my earnings." She never hesitated to get to the point. Arabelle felt her heart sink; she hadn't a cent to give her.

"Bonjour, Madame Cornett," her voice quivered. "I'm afraid I have not gotten the chance to look for a buyer for the ring." A small smirk came across her face and she invited herself into the room.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," she took small steps in and spun slowly, taking the whole place in. Every second her smirk grew, until it eventually turned into a grin.

"I will have your money by Monday afternoon." Arabelle looked quickly around the room for Erik, but he had vanished. Her heart was racing, she didn't like being watched, and she always knew when she was. Goosebumps formed on her arms, the hair on her neck stood on end.

"I'm afraid that is not early enough," she faced Arabelle and slowly walked towards her. "Sunday is the last day in the month, and you are far from your quota." She clicked her tongue and shook her head.

"If you could just extend it one day, and I can get your money and a hundred francs more," she'd never backed out on her word, something her father taught her to do.

"I'm afraid a deal's a deal," Madame Cornette just shook her head and gave a fake frown.

"Please, Madame," Arabelle asked sternly. "I've never asked for you to extend the deadline before. My payments have always been on time. I'm just asking you to give me an extra twelve hours, that's it, not even a full day."

"I'm sorry but no, I will not extend the deadline," she was getting annoyed.

"But-" Arabelle tried again.

"No!" She yelled. "You either show up by Sunday with the money or the ring," she stepped closer to Arabelle, their noses almost touching. "And if you show up with neither, I'll expect to see you Monday morning, your bags in hand, ready to work at the house, understand?" She hissed. Arabelle bit her tongue and nodded in response.

"Good day then," she walked out, slamming the door. Arabelle waited until she couldn't hear Madame's footsteps before screaming her lungs out.

"God DAMNIT!" She picked up a box and threw it across the room, the contents of it spilling all over the floor. "Son of a bitch!" She screamed again. She couldn't breathe; the walls were caving in on her. She ran out the door to a latter that went to the roof and climbed up to the breaking dawn. The wind whipped through her hair as she reached the top. She climbed onto the surface and watched the sun rise. She took a deep breath, completely filling her lungs with air. She exhaled slowly, closing her eyes, trying to push her fears away. She felt torn inside. How can she save Pierre and herself? She didn't even have to think about it for a second. The answer was clear as day. She couldn't. The end of the month was Sunday, and if she didn't get the money to Madame before midnight that night, she would be moving in the next day.

"It's over," she fell to her knees in defeat. "She's finally won."

"What exactly do you have to do if you don't get her the money?" Erik sat down beside her and looked to the sky, his face expressionless.

"What do you think? She runs a whore house," Arabelle noticed that his jaw clenched ever so slightly and for only a brief second.

"So, you'll be a courtesan?" He looked at her now; she lied on her back looking up at the orange sky, a dry and sarcastic laugh escaping from her throat.

"That's just a fancy way of saying whore," she emphasized whore.

"Are you scared of becoming tainted?" He looked down at her.

"I've worked for her before," she didn't meet his eyes, she didn't want to. "Just thinking about going back makes me want to vomit."

"Why would you work there in the first place?" His gaze turned towards the sky again.

"Because I had no place to live, no money, and nothing to eat," she sighed. "And she seemed to genuinely care for me. It's too bad that I was too naive back then to mistake her caring for me as a person, rather than an asset she could use to her advantage."

"How old were you?"

"When I first came upon Madame, I was fourteen. Back then, I cleaned up after the girls." She frowned to herself. "I was the one that asked if I could work as a courtesan." She saw the look on his face, one of shock and confusion.

"I wanted to be like Violetta in La Traviata. I thought that it would be just like in the opera, but I soon discovered that is was nothing like it."

"How long did you work as one?" He wouldn't even say the word, or any like it.

"Six months, until some asshole got rough with me and started beating me." He clenched his jaw again, this time he didn't release it. "I fought back and nearly killed him." She attempted another dry laugh. He didn't even smile.

"I made it known that any man that tried and touch me would not see the next morning."

"You sure made me regret it," he rubbed his jaw a little. She let out a laugh. He let a half smile cross his face. But then lost it after a second of thought

"You know that you will no longer be worth anything to a wealthy man or possibly any man." He looked at her judgmentally. She lost her smile, trading it for a hard glare.

"Enlighten me," she challenged him to go on, which he did.

"They'll see you've been tainted, they'll think you nothing but a common whore and toss you aside," he said matter of fact. "You'll be nothing but a toy to them. You'd be completely worthless." She stood up and looked down at him.

"You would be the one to know worthless when you see it, being so yourself." Her voice was steady; her words ice cold, and her glare piercing. She walked backwards to the edge of the building, turned, and jumped off, completely unafraid; the metal balcony beneath her rattled as she landed onto it with full force. She ground her teeth; his words were poking at her, clawing at her insides. They were so...so...true. It hurt deeply. She leaped over the balcony onto another two floors down. She continued this pattern until she landed on the stone pavement of the alleyway, and then simply walked towards the street, just trying away from him. Slowly making her way to Notre Dame, the only place she found complete peace, the only place where she could get answers, the only place she could talk to her dad.

A/N: WOOO! Chapter 5! We're starting to really get the feel of Arabelle's past now! And things are gonna heat up! Be prepared! Be very prepared! Chapter 6 is coming next Saturday or Sunday, or maybe even Friday! The day depends on A. How I'm feeling and B. Whether I'm busy or not! I hate waiting as much as you! In fact, it drives me crazy! But it's worth it! I promise and hope you think so! Until next week!

I'm also currently working on another fan fic. Lose Yourself is a Gargoyles fan fic filled with action, thrills, murder, and death! Wait...murder and death are sort of the same thing... It's going to be a crime drama and it's coming soon! Look for it mid to late September!

Please Read and Review! Thanks :)

Luce, Your Surly Mermaid!