March 17, 2012
"WHAT, MON!?" Larissa exclaimed in fear, panic, and surprise, "When did this happen?" She held her head in her left hand and held her phone in the other.
"It happened fifteen days ago. We got the news exactly two weeks ago," Isabella explained.
"What happened, Larissa?" Naomi asked in fear.
"Gisella's sick and in the hospital, mon," Larissa replied. Naomi gasped in surprise. Larissa stabbed her knife into the walls of her bedroom in anguish. She fought back a tear as she spoke, "I should have been there for her. It's my fault."
"Larissa," Isabella said over the phone, "don't blame yourself! We all should have been more adamant about Gisella's sickness."
"No, it's my fault because I wasn't there, mon," Larissa said softly. She panted heavily gulped a few times, wiping her hair out of her face. "I let my blasted rivalry with that princess get in the way, and now look where it's gotten me. I've ignored my best friend for nearly two months now and now she's possibly dying in the hospital."
"Look, we can't help Gisella now," Isabella said, "but we can still help her out." The sound of shuffling papers sounded on the other end of the phone. "Sorry about that. Just moving around some paper work."
"What are you talking about with helping her out, mon?" Larissa asked, clearly confused.
"Did you see the recent video the Bad Good Girls loaded up?" Isabella asked in response.
Larissa headed over to her computer and quickly brought up the website. She set her phone down and put Isabella on speaker phone. Larissa glanced at the video and only saw the girl with the light cherry blonde hair. "Wait, why is only that princess in the video, mon? Where's Gisella?"
"This was shot after Gisella was admitted into the hospital," Isabella explained.
"Did Gisella write the song herself?" Naomi asked into the phone, "You know, before she was admitted?"
"Nope," Isabella said, "Rosa did this all herself."
"She did that, mon?" Larissa asked, surprised.
"Look, I know you probably can't see it, but Rosa's actually a very nice girl."
"Like hell she is, mon," Larissa said, crossing her arms.
"Well, you can't see it because you've been so close minded about Rosa," Naomi said in a stern voice, "You need to be able to give her an actual chance."
"What do you know about that princess, mon?" Larissa asked aggressively.
"Not much," Naomi replied, "but with Gisella out of commission for who knows how long, the Bad Good Girls need you, Larissa."
Larissa sighed and turned to Naomi. "You're right, mon. Isabella, I'm going to attempt to make amends to that princess." Larissa grabbed her jacket and headed for the door, tucking her phone into her pocket.
"Larissa!" Isabella called out from Larissa's phone, "Rosa's kind of out of town until the end of the week." Larissa stopped and pulled her phone out of her jacket.
"Well, come Saturday, that little princess better have a warm welcome planned, mon."
March 22, 2012
"Only 8 bands remain in the Battle of the Bands Extravaganza!" shouted the exuberant announcer on the TV, "Who will make it to the top, and who will have stardom taken from them while it's in their grasp? Stay tuned and find out. Later this month, we got two amp vs amp battles for you." The young lady with the light cherry blonde hair crossed her fingers and hoped that the Bad Good Girls wasn't going to be called. "We have the Dead Rights going against the Daisy Days, and our second amp vs amp battle of the round is," the announcer paused to let the tension rise. Rosa curled her toes as she listened closely. As the announcer opened up an envelope with the second amp vs amp bands, Rosa couldn't help but wince and turn away from the TV. "Cody Albright going against the Java Groove!" Rosa breathed a huge sigh of relief and uncurled her toes. She flopped down on her bed and stared at her ceiling.
"What kind of song do you think I should write this round, Gisel?" Rosa asked, still looking at her ceiling.
"Meow," Gisel responded, hopping up on Rosa's bed. Rosa smiled and gently petted her cat.
"What do you think about a song about a very adorable kitten?" Rosa asked, scratching Gisel under her chin.
"Meow." Gisel purred and laid down next to Rosa. She stretched out and Rosa moved from scratching her chin to rubbing her stomach.
"You're such a good little cat, aren't you, Gisel?" Rosa asked, smiling. Gisel purred and continued to roll around on the bed, her blue neckerchief getting all wrinkled. Rosa sighed as she petted her cat. "I wonder what Gisella would think if she met you."
"Meow."
"Ugh, I hate my parents," Rosa sighed, tugging on a nearby pillow.
"Meow."
"Yeah, I have to be a little grateful. Without them, I wouldn't have all this nice stuff, or you," Rosa mentioned, rubbing Gisel's head, "Hard to believe it's been three years since I've had you, my little kitten." Gisel purred as Rosa rubbed her nose on Gisel's, but Rosa quickly winced in pain as Gisel pawed at Rosa's face. "Sorry, it's nothing against you, Gisel," Rosa mentioned, looking at herself in her mirror. The bruises from before were gone, but were replaced by a fresh coat of black and blue. She gently rubbed her cheek and sighed.
"Madam Rosa," said the voice of a servant from the other side of Rosa's door.
"Yes?" Rosa responded, quickly shooing Gisel into her cage.
"Master and Mistress Valkyne request that you move your car from the fountain circle," the servant said. Rosa opened up her door and bowed to the servant. The servant bowed to Rosa and continued on his way.
Rosa made her way outside and got into her car, turning the key in the ignition. "Out of gas, right," Rosa mumbled to herself. She looked around, quickly wincing away from the sunlight reflecting off the hood of her car. She got out of the car and shut the door, walking over near the garage. Rosa lifted up the garage door, looking for a spot to park her car. To her dismay, there was none.
"Madam Rosa," said a familiar voice behind her, but it still made Rosa jump. She turned around to see a gardener holding a large pair of hedge clippers in one hand and a weed whacker in the other.
"Uncle Skelly," Rosa exclaimed, running up and giving the man a hug.
"Hey now, what did I tell you about calling me 'uncle?'" Skelly said, hugging Rosa back, "You look like you have a problem that needs dealing with."
"I do. My parents are forcing me to move my car from the circle. The problem is that it doesn't have any gas," Rosa explained.
"Your car? You mean that old thing that we built together four years ago?" Skelly chuckled as Rosa nodded, "Well," he said, putting on a pair of goggles, "I'll go clear a spot behind the garage while you get some of the other servants. We're going to need a lot of muscle to push that car out of the way." He smiled at her and began to head to find a spot when Rosa quickly came up and hugged him from behind.
"Thanks Uncle Skelly."
March 27, 2012
"Excuse me!" shouted a servant, "You're not allowed to be here while the Mistress and Master are away!" She chased after a girl with dark tan skin wearing a white chef uniform and hat and another girl with a lighter tan who followed close behind the dark tan woman up the driveway, but stopped when the first woman pulled out a large knife from her uniform.
"You're going to let us through, mon," Larissa said, twirling her knife. She kissed the spine of it and brought the blade near the servant's neck, "You got a nice and pretty head. It'd be a shame if something were to happen to it." Larissa gently brushed the servant's ginger hair with the knife and the servant nodded.
"I still cannot permit you to pass," the servant stammered, sweating bullets and shaking slightly.
"This is how you plan to get on good terms with her?" Naomi asked, referencing the woman with the light cherry blonde hair.
"I know what I'm doing, mon," Larissa said, turning her attention back to the servant, "What are you going to do if we keep going on?"
"I'm going to call security," the servant stammered, more nervous than before.
Larissa smirked, leaned in closer to the servant, and whispered, "You are security." The servant tensed up even more as Larissa drew back her blade. Larissa was poised to strike but someone interrupted her.
"HANG ON!" Larissa, Naomi, and the servant looked around for the source of the sound, only to find an older man standing in a small garden of daisies. He rubbed his gray beard and walked over to the three girls. He adjusted his glasses, then cleaned them on his shirt.
"What do you want, old man, mon?" Larissa asked, keeping the servant from running by gripping on the poor woman's arm.
"Well, first I don't want you to spill any blood," the man said, gesturing to the servant.
Larissa sighed and released the servant. "You call for any sort of help, and I'll serve that head of yours as a special on Wednesday, mon!" The servant nodded and quickly ran off.
"Wow," Naomi said, "even I can't usually convince Larissa to do something I say. Who are you, miracle man?"
The man laughed and put his glasses back on. "I'm no miracle man, but that nickname does have quite the ring to it. Madam Rosa calls me Uncle Skelly, but please, just Skelly is fine."
"You're Rosa's uncle, mon!?" Larissa exclaimed in shock.
"No, I'm not her uncle," Skelly chuckled, "but she likes to think of me as such, so I let her."
"Speaking of Rosa," Naomi interjected, "is she home?"
"As a matter of fact, she is," Skelly said, "but her parents don't particularly like unannounced company."
"Well, that shouldn't be an issue, mon," Larissa said, twirling her knife. She brought it up to her face and kissed the spine of her knife. "I have my ways of being announced."
Skelly laughed as Naomi and Larissa shared a confused look. "So I've heard, Larissa. Luckily, you don't have to worry. Her parents aren't home right now. Actually, come to think of it, how did you two get in here?"
"Oh, nothing special, mon," Larissa chuckled, "By the way, you might need a new lock, and a new gate."
Skelly laughed and pointed to the upper floor, third window from the right. "That would be Madam Rosa's room. Careful, I don't think she's expecting you."
"Don't worry, mon," Larissa said, "I wasn't really expecting to ever find myself here either." The two girls began to head for Rosa's room when Naomi stopped and turned to Skelly.
"Wait a minute," she said, "Larissa never told you her name. How did you know what it was?"
Skelly chuckled, a gleam in his lavender eyes. "Why don't you ask Madam Rosa?"
The two girls exchanged confused looks again, but went on their way to Rosa's room. Some of the other servants tried to stop them, but Larissa's amazonian build came with amazonian strength, easily tossing them aside. Larissa and Naomi barged their way Rosa's room, flinging open the unlocked door.
"AHHHH!" Rosa screamed, tossing a pillow in self-defense.
"Ow, mon," Larissa flatly said.
"Larissa?" Rosa exclaimed in surprise, "Naomi?" she said, glancing over and seeing Naomi standing next to Larissa, "What are you two doing here?"
March 28, 2012
"You didn't have to barge into my house like that yesterday," said the woman with the light cherry blonde hair.
"Well, it wasn't like you were coming to visit me any time soon, mon," Larissa said, twirling her knife.
"Did you ever think that's because you tried to chop off my face?" Rosa exclaimed, nearly snapping the pencil in her hand.
"Hey, don't you yell at me, mon!" Larissa exclaimed back.
"Both of you stop fighting!" Naomi yelled to the both of them, "Nothing's going to get done if the two of you can't start to agree on anything."
"Well she started it, mon!" Larissa yelled at the same time Rosa yelled the same thing back, but Rosa didn't add "mon" to the end of her statement.
"I don't care who started it! You two need to begin to cooperate." Naomi sighed and leaned back in her chair. "I don't know how Gisella managed to keep you two in line for so long."
"Hey! Don't you speak ill of Gisella!" Rosa said defensively.
"I wasn't speaking ill of her, I was speaking ill of you two." Naomi said, rubbing her temples.
"Gisella managed to because Gisella's an excellent leader, something you would know nothing about, mon!" Larissa said, verbally attacking Rosa.
"Hey! I know how to be a leader," Rosa replied.
"You know how to be bossy, you mean, mon," Larissa responded.
"Girls!" Naomi yelled, "I said to stop fighting! Larissa, I want you to stow away that anger of yours and Rosa, I want you to stow away that ego."
"Ego?" Rosa asked, surprised. Larissa crossed her arms, but grunted in agreement. "You think I have an ego?"
"Yes, we do Rosa," Naomi said, "You keep acting like you're above everyone just because you're rich."
"My parents are rich," Rosa corrected her.
"What's the difference, mon?" Larissa asked, still a bit arrogant.
"The difference is that I don't have any money of my own," Rosa said, a bit defensive.
"Like that really makes a difference, mon."
"Girls." Naomi said softly
"It makes a huge difference!" Rosa exclaimed.
"Not even in the slightest, mon! You still have boatloads of money that you just flaunt around."
"Hey! I have to earn all of what I have!" Rosa argued. Just then, the front door of Larissa's house opened and Isabella walked in, but the two in a heated argument didn't pay any attention.
"Is this a bad time?" Isabella whispered to Naomi.
"I have no idea," Naomi responded.
"Doing what, mon? Being a complete jerk to everyone?"
"I'm not trying to be one!"
"Oh yeah, mon? We'll then you're doing a pretty poor job."
"Look, my life is a lot more complicated that your easy going chef life."
"Things aren't always easy for me, especially when you start making things harder, mon!"
"Should we intervene?" Isabella asked.
"We should, but I don't really want to get between these two," Naomi said.
"Well, I really don't want to make things hard on you girls."
"Well there's a shock right there, mon. What are you trying to do if you aren't trying to make things hard on us just to send us through hell?"
"I'm trying to protect us!"
"Protect us from what, mon?"
"My parents!" Rosa exclaimed, making Larissa, Isabella, and Naomi all give shocked expressions, "You wouldn't understand!"
"Understand what, mon? I spent my entire life without parents! I know what it feels like to be abandoned, unloved, and uncared for."
"No you don't, Larissa!" Tears began to roll down Rosa's face, revealing the bruises below her makeup. Larissa gasped, but Rosa didn't care. "You don't know what it's like spending every day in anxiety and torment because the people who are supposed to love, and care, and nurture you hate you for no reason other than that you exist. You don't know what it's like knowing that you can't get close to anyone, or the people who are supposed to support you will break you and any relation you have with anyone down to dust. You don't know what it's like to wake up with bruises and scars from the people who are supposed to make those go away with hugs and kisses. You may not have had parents growing up, but you never had to deal with anything close to hell I go through every day."
April 4, 2012
"...So go on, go on, and follow me, Moon," sang the woman with the light cherry blonde hair. Larissa's drums softly faded out while Rosa's played a few more notes on her guitar. The make shift stage fell silent, until another woman broke the silence.
"And that's a wrap," Isabella said, placing the camera on Larissa's desk nearby, "It's good to see you girls starting to get along."
Larissa groan a bit, but Rosa smiled. "That was a beautiful song you wrote, Larissa," Rosa said calmly, setting her guitar in its case, "I thought you weren't good with coming up with the sheet music for either me or Gisella?"
"I ain't, mon," Larissa said, twirling her drum sticks.
"Then how did you come up with my parts of the song? Did Naomi or Isabella help you?" Rosa asked, but Isabell shook her head.
"Nope, I just film and Naomi watches what we upload. We didn't have any part in the song making process," Isabella explained, turning back to the computer.
"So, how did you come up with my part?" Rosa asked, turning to Larissa.
Larissa chuckled and leaned back into her wall. "It's not particularly a long story, but it does mean quite a bit to me, mon."
Rosa took a seat in one of Larissa's chairs. "I'm listening," Rosa said in a soft voice.
"Well, it all started back in New Orleans some number of years ago, mon," Larissa began, "I had managed to get away from those Dolphin Readers when I found myself wandering the streets of New Orleans. I was hungry, tired, and incredibly thirsty. As I stumbled around, trying to find what scraps of food that I could, I came across these two men playing in the streets. I watched them from in an alleyway.
"The first man was tall and somewhat thin, mon. He had a large instrument by his side that resembled a large bass. He wore somewhat nice tan clothes, not anything fancy, though his shoes were exceptionally shiny. He twirled and danced with that bass of his while his partner sat on the ground.
"The other man was shorter than the first, though it was hard to see how short because he was sitting, mon. Surrounding him was a wide variety of different drums, all of different shape and size. He twirled a stick in his left hand and hit some of the other drums with his right hand.
"The music they made had a beautiful swing to it for only being two instruments, mon. The occasional person walking with other instruments, like trumpets, joined, but left after some time. filled the streets as others who passed by slowly began to dance to the beat. First, they were a little hesitant, but soon a large crowd had gathered. I slinked into the alleyway a little more, but my foot caught on a bottle. I tripped backwards and landed on a few cases of empty glass bottles. Thankfully, nothing broke. The sound, however, had attracted the two music players over to the source. I tried to scamper away, but they found me. Instead of being mad, they invited me over to join their group. That was the first taste of the drums I ever had."
"So, these other two men wrote the music?" Rosa asked.
"Yep, that's right, mon," Larissa said, "I added the words just two weeks ago. Took a bit to come up with them, along with the inspiration for the words."
"They are very beautiful lyrics," Rosa said, smiling.
"Yeah, I was right," Isabella said, spinning around in her chair, "it is good to see you girls getting along. Gisella would be proud."
April 13, 2012
A knock at the door of the woman with the light cherry blonde hair awoke her from her slumber. She rubbed her eyes and slowly got out of bed, her white bunny slippers sliding across the carpet. The static build up shocked Rosa as she reached for the door, making her recoil, but she reached for the knob anyways.
"Happy birthday, Madam Rosa," exclaimed an elderly man with a rake. He handed Rosa a box with a blue ribbon. A huge smile grew across Rosa's face as she accepted the gift.
"Oh, Uncle Skelly, you didn't have to," Rosa said happily. She quickly grabbed ahold of Skelly's shirt collar when she realized that he was inside the mansion and brought him into her room. "You know you aren't allowed to be here," she whispered in a hushed tone.
"Yeah, I know," Skelly chuckled, "Not that that's really stopping me."
Rosa smiled and opened the box. She lifted out a beautiful necklace, adorned with scarlet and amber stones, wrapped in lovely silver. "How did you manage to get this?" she asked.
"I have my ways," Skelly said with a wink.
Rosa gave Skelly a massive hug as he placed the necklace around her neck. "Thanks for remembering my birthday, Uncle Skelly."
"Of course," he said, "how could I forget the birthday of the most wonderful person I've ever worked for?" The two of them chuckled as Gisel hopped up on the bed, rubbing against them both.
"I don't think Larissa would have anything special for me, though," Rosa sighed.
"She seems interesting. Quite the feisty one, isn't she?" Skelly said, petting Gisel.
"She sure is," Rosa said, scratching Gisel's back, "but, she has an amazing heart under that amazonian build of hers."
"I know. I saw both when she barged into the mansion grounds," Skelly mentioned, making Rosa chuckle.
"I just hate how I had to be so mean to her for years just to make sure she wouldn't get involved in the abuse my parents dish out," Rosa sighed.
"They were very determined to keep you isolated from everyone, weren't they?" Skelly asked.
"What do you mean, 'were?' They still are," Rosa said with a groan, "I'd rather not thing of the horrible concotion they could have planned for me today. Today is one of those days where I really wish they'd just completely ignore me."
"Yeah, I can see that," Skelly said, "still, turning eighteen is a big milestone. You can finally gamble."
"Well, that's one way of looking at it," Rosa chuckled. Another knock came from her door, and Skelly quickly hid under Rosa's bed. "Come in," Rosa commanded, once Skelly was well hidden.
"Madam Rosa," began a servant, "Master and Mistress Valkyne wish to speak to you."
Rosa nodded and dismissed the servant. "The coast is clear. You better leave soon before you're caught."
Skelly crawled out from under the bed and chuckled. "I guess this place hasn't forgotten about that time with the russian bear."
"It's hard to forget that incident," Rosa chuckled, shoving Skelly out the door. He took his leave while Rosa headed for the dining hall where her parents are normally found. She opened the doors to find the parents sitting at the far end and a box laying on the table near her.
"It's for you. Open it," her mother commanded, drinking some wine. Rosa hesitantly opened up the box and peered inside. She gasped and lifted the "gift" out of the box.
"You're evicting me!?"
"WHAT, MON!?" Larissa exclaimed in fear, panic, and surprise, "When did this happen?" She held her head in her left hand and held her phone in the other.
"It happened fifteen days ago. We got the news exactly two weeks ago," Isabella explained.
"What happened, Larissa?" Naomi asked in fear.
"Gisella's sick and in the hospital, mon," Larissa replied. Naomi gasped in surprise. Larissa stabbed her knife into the walls of her bedroom in anguish. She fought back a tear as she spoke, "I should have been there for her. It's my fault."
"Larissa," Isabella said over the phone, "don't blame yourself! We all should have been more adamant about Gisella's sickness."
"No, it's my fault because I wasn't there, mon," Larissa said softly. She panted heavily gulped a few times, wiping her hair out of her face. "I let my blasted rivalry with that princess get in the way, and now look where it's gotten me. I've ignored my best friend for nearly two months now and now she's possibly dying in the hospital."
"Look, we can't help Gisella now," Isabella said, "but we can still help her out." The sound of shuffling papers sounded on the other end of the phone. "Sorry about that. Just moving around some paper work."
"What are you talking about with helping her out, mon?" Larissa asked, clearly confused.
"Did you see the recent video the Bad Good Girls loaded up?" Isabella asked in response.
Larissa headed over to her computer and quickly brought up the website. She set her phone down and put Isabella on speaker phone. Larissa glanced at the video and only saw the girl with the light cherry blonde hair. "Wait, why is only that princess in the video, mon? Where's Gisella?"
"This was shot after Gisella was admitted into the hospital," Isabella explained.
"Did Gisella write the song herself?" Naomi asked into the phone, "You know, before she was admitted?"
"Nope," Isabella said, "Rosa did this all herself."
"She did that, mon?" Larissa asked, surprised.
"Look, I know you probably can't see it, but Rosa's actually a very nice girl."
"Like hell she is, mon," Larissa said, crossing her arms.
"Well, you can't see it because you've been so close minded about Rosa," Naomi said in a stern voice, "You need to be able to give her an actual chance."
"What do you know about that princess, mon?" Larissa asked aggressively.
"Not much," Naomi replied, "but with Gisella out of commission for who knows how long, the Bad Good Girls need you, Larissa."
Larissa sighed and turned to Naomi. "You're right, mon. Isabella, I'm going to attempt to make amends to that princess." Larissa grabbed her jacket and headed for the door, tucking her phone into her pocket.
"Larissa!" Isabella called out from Larissa's phone, "Rosa's kind of out of town until the end of the week." Larissa stopped and pulled her phone out of her jacket.
"Well, come Saturday, that little princess better have a warm welcome planned, mon."
March 22, 2012
"Only 8 bands remain in the Battle of the Bands Extravaganza!" shouted the exuberant announcer on the TV, "Who will make it to the top, and who will have stardom taken from them while it's in their grasp? Stay tuned and find out. Later this month, we got two amp vs amp battles for you." The young lady with the light cherry blonde hair crossed her fingers and hoped that the Bad Good Girls wasn't going to be called. "We have the Dead Rights going against the Daisy Days, and our second amp vs amp battle of the round is," the announcer paused to let the tension rise. Rosa curled her toes as she listened closely. As the announcer opened up an envelope with the second amp vs amp bands, Rosa couldn't help but wince and turn away from the TV. "Cody Albright going against the Java Groove!" Rosa breathed a huge sigh of relief and uncurled her toes. She flopped down on her bed and stared at her ceiling.
"What kind of song do you think I should write this round, Gisel?" Rosa asked, still looking at her ceiling.
"Meow," Gisel responded, hopping up on Rosa's bed. Rosa smiled and gently petted her cat.
"What do you think about a song about a very adorable kitten?" Rosa asked, scratching Gisel under her chin.
"Meow." Gisel purred and laid down next to Rosa. She stretched out and Rosa moved from scratching her chin to rubbing her stomach.
"You're such a good little cat, aren't you, Gisel?" Rosa asked, smiling. Gisel purred and continued to roll around on the bed, her blue neckerchief getting all wrinkled. Rosa sighed as she petted her cat. "I wonder what Gisella would think if she met you."
"Meow."
"Ugh, I hate my parents," Rosa sighed, tugging on a nearby pillow.
"Meow."
"Yeah, I have to be a little grateful. Without them, I wouldn't have all this nice stuff, or you," Rosa mentioned, rubbing Gisel's head, "Hard to believe it's been three years since I've had you, my little kitten." Gisel purred as Rosa rubbed her nose on Gisel's, but Rosa quickly winced in pain as Gisel pawed at Rosa's face. "Sorry, it's nothing against you, Gisel," Rosa mentioned, looking at herself in her mirror. The bruises from before were gone, but were replaced by a fresh coat of black and blue. She gently rubbed her cheek and sighed.
"Madam Rosa," said the voice of a servant from the other side of Rosa's door.
"Yes?" Rosa responded, quickly shooing Gisel into her cage.
"Master and Mistress Valkyne request that you move your car from the fountain circle," the servant said. Rosa opened up her door and bowed to the servant. The servant bowed to Rosa and continued on his way.
Rosa made her way outside and got into her car, turning the key in the ignition. "Out of gas, right," Rosa mumbled to herself. She looked around, quickly wincing away from the sunlight reflecting off the hood of her car. She got out of the car and shut the door, walking over near the garage. Rosa lifted up the garage door, looking for a spot to park her car. To her dismay, there was none.
"Madam Rosa," said a familiar voice behind her, but it still made Rosa jump. She turned around to see a gardener holding a large pair of hedge clippers in one hand and a weed whacker in the other.
"Uncle Skelly," Rosa exclaimed, running up and giving the man a hug.
"Hey now, what did I tell you about calling me 'uncle?'" Skelly said, hugging Rosa back, "You look like you have a problem that needs dealing with."
"I do. My parents are forcing me to move my car from the circle. The problem is that it doesn't have any gas," Rosa explained.
"Your car? You mean that old thing that we built together four years ago?" Skelly chuckled as Rosa nodded, "Well," he said, putting on a pair of goggles, "I'll go clear a spot behind the garage while you get some of the other servants. We're going to need a lot of muscle to push that car out of the way." He smiled at her and began to head to find a spot when Rosa quickly came up and hugged him from behind.
"Thanks Uncle Skelly."
March 27, 2012
"Excuse me!" shouted a servant, "You're not allowed to be here while the Mistress and Master are away!" She chased after a girl with dark tan skin wearing a white chef uniform and hat and another girl with a lighter tan who followed close behind the dark tan woman up the driveway, but stopped when the first woman pulled out a large knife from her uniform.
"You're going to let us through, mon," Larissa said, twirling her knife. She kissed the spine of it and brought the blade near the servant's neck, "You got a nice and pretty head. It'd be a shame if something were to happen to it." Larissa gently brushed the servant's ginger hair with the knife and the servant nodded.
"I still cannot permit you to pass," the servant stammered, sweating bullets and shaking slightly.
"This is how you plan to get on good terms with her?" Naomi asked, referencing the woman with the light cherry blonde hair.
"I know what I'm doing, mon," Larissa said, turning her attention back to the servant, "What are you going to do if we keep going on?"
"I'm going to call security," the servant stammered, more nervous than before.
Larissa smirked, leaned in closer to the servant, and whispered, "You are security." The servant tensed up even more as Larissa drew back her blade. Larissa was poised to strike but someone interrupted her.
"HANG ON!" Larissa, Naomi, and the servant looked around for the source of the sound, only to find an older man standing in a small garden of daisies. He rubbed his gray beard and walked over to the three girls. He adjusted his glasses, then cleaned them on his shirt.
"What do you want, old man, mon?" Larissa asked, keeping the servant from running by gripping on the poor woman's arm.
"Well, first I don't want you to spill any blood," the man said, gesturing to the servant.
Larissa sighed and released the servant. "You call for any sort of help, and I'll serve that head of yours as a special on Wednesday, mon!" The servant nodded and quickly ran off.
"Wow," Naomi said, "even I can't usually convince Larissa to do something I say. Who are you, miracle man?"
The man laughed and put his glasses back on. "I'm no miracle man, but that nickname does have quite the ring to it. Madam Rosa calls me Uncle Skelly, but please, just Skelly is fine."
"You're Rosa's uncle, mon!?" Larissa exclaimed in shock.
"No, I'm not her uncle," Skelly chuckled, "but she likes to think of me as such, so I let her."
"Speaking of Rosa," Naomi interjected, "is she home?"
"As a matter of fact, she is," Skelly said, "but her parents don't particularly like unannounced company."
"Well, that shouldn't be an issue, mon," Larissa said, twirling her knife. She brought it up to her face and kissed the spine of her knife. "I have my ways of being announced."
Skelly laughed as Naomi and Larissa shared a confused look. "So I've heard, Larissa. Luckily, you don't have to worry. Her parents aren't home right now. Actually, come to think of it, how did you two get in here?"
"Oh, nothing special, mon," Larissa chuckled, "By the way, you might need a new lock, and a new gate."
Skelly laughed and pointed to the upper floor, third window from the right. "That would be Madam Rosa's room. Careful, I don't think she's expecting you."
"Don't worry, mon," Larissa said, "I wasn't really expecting to ever find myself here either." The two girls began to head for Rosa's room when Naomi stopped and turned to Skelly.
"Wait a minute," she said, "Larissa never told you her name. How did you know what it was?"
Skelly chuckled, a gleam in his lavender eyes. "Why don't you ask Madam Rosa?"
The two girls exchanged confused looks again, but went on their way to Rosa's room. Some of the other servants tried to stop them, but Larissa's amazonian build came with amazonian strength, easily tossing them aside. Larissa and Naomi barged their way Rosa's room, flinging open the unlocked door.
"AHHHH!" Rosa screamed, tossing a pillow in self-defense.
"Ow, mon," Larissa flatly said.
"Larissa?" Rosa exclaimed in surprise, "Naomi?" she said, glancing over and seeing Naomi standing next to Larissa, "What are you two doing here?"
March 28, 2012
"You didn't have to barge into my house like that yesterday," said the woman with the light cherry blonde hair.
"Well, it wasn't like you were coming to visit me any time soon, mon," Larissa said, twirling her knife.
"Did you ever think that's because you tried to chop off my face?" Rosa exclaimed, nearly snapping the pencil in her hand.
"Hey, don't you yell at me, mon!" Larissa exclaimed back.
"Both of you stop fighting!" Naomi yelled to the both of them, "Nothing's going to get done if the two of you can't start to agree on anything."
"Well she started it, mon!" Larissa yelled at the same time Rosa yelled the same thing back, but Rosa didn't add "mon" to the end of her statement.
"I don't care who started it! You two need to begin to cooperate." Naomi sighed and leaned back in her chair. "I don't know how Gisella managed to keep you two in line for so long."
"Hey! Don't you speak ill of Gisella!" Rosa said defensively.
"I wasn't speaking ill of her, I was speaking ill of you two." Naomi said, rubbing her temples.
"Gisella managed to because Gisella's an excellent leader, something you would know nothing about, mon!" Larissa said, verbally attacking Rosa.
"Hey! I know how to be a leader," Rosa replied.
"You know how to be bossy, you mean, mon," Larissa responded.
"Girls!" Naomi yelled, "I said to stop fighting! Larissa, I want you to stow away that anger of yours and Rosa, I want you to stow away that ego."
"Ego?" Rosa asked, surprised. Larissa crossed her arms, but grunted in agreement. "You think I have an ego?"
"Yes, we do Rosa," Naomi said, "You keep acting like you're above everyone just because you're rich."
"My parents are rich," Rosa corrected her.
"What's the difference, mon?" Larissa asked, still a bit arrogant.
"The difference is that I don't have any money of my own," Rosa said, a bit defensive.
"Like that really makes a difference, mon."
"Girls." Naomi said softly
"It makes a huge difference!" Rosa exclaimed.
"Not even in the slightest, mon! You still have boatloads of money that you just flaunt around."
"Hey! I have to earn all of what I have!" Rosa argued. Just then, the front door of Larissa's house opened and Isabella walked in, but the two in a heated argument didn't pay any attention.
"Is this a bad time?" Isabella whispered to Naomi.
"I have no idea," Naomi responded.
"Doing what, mon? Being a complete jerk to everyone?"
"I'm not trying to be one!"
"Oh yeah, mon? We'll then you're doing a pretty poor job."
"Look, my life is a lot more complicated that your easy going chef life."
"Things aren't always easy for me, especially when you start making things harder, mon!"
"Should we intervene?" Isabella asked.
"We should, but I don't really want to get between these two," Naomi said.
"Well, I really don't want to make things hard on you girls."
"Well there's a shock right there, mon. What are you trying to do if you aren't trying to make things hard on us just to send us through hell?"
"I'm trying to protect us!"
"Protect us from what, mon?"
"My parents!" Rosa exclaimed, making Larissa, Isabella, and Naomi all give shocked expressions, "You wouldn't understand!"
"Understand what, mon? I spent my entire life without parents! I know what it feels like to be abandoned, unloved, and uncared for."
"No you don't, Larissa!" Tears began to roll down Rosa's face, revealing the bruises below her makeup. Larissa gasped, but Rosa didn't care. "You don't know what it's like spending every day in anxiety and torment because the people who are supposed to love, and care, and nurture you hate you for no reason other than that you exist. You don't know what it's like knowing that you can't get close to anyone, or the people who are supposed to support you will break you and any relation you have with anyone down to dust. You don't know what it's like to wake up with bruises and scars from the people who are supposed to make those go away with hugs and kisses. You may not have had parents growing up, but you never had to deal with anything close to hell I go through every day."
April 4, 2012
"...So go on, go on, and follow me, Moon," sang the woman with the light cherry blonde hair. Larissa's drums softly faded out while Rosa's played a few more notes on her guitar. The make shift stage fell silent, until another woman broke the silence.
"And that's a wrap," Isabella said, placing the camera on Larissa's desk nearby, "It's good to see you girls starting to get along."
Larissa groan a bit, but Rosa smiled. "That was a beautiful song you wrote, Larissa," Rosa said calmly, setting her guitar in its case, "I thought you weren't good with coming up with the sheet music for either me or Gisella?"
"I ain't, mon," Larissa said, twirling her drum sticks.
"Then how did you come up with my parts of the song? Did Naomi or Isabella help you?" Rosa asked, but Isabell shook her head.
"Nope, I just film and Naomi watches what we upload. We didn't have any part in the song making process," Isabella explained, turning back to the computer.
"So, how did you come up with my part?" Rosa asked, turning to Larissa.
Larissa chuckled and leaned back into her wall. "It's not particularly a long story, but it does mean quite a bit to me, mon."
Rosa took a seat in one of Larissa's chairs. "I'm listening," Rosa said in a soft voice.
"Well, it all started back in New Orleans some number of years ago, mon," Larissa began, "I had managed to get away from those Dolphin Readers when I found myself wandering the streets of New Orleans. I was hungry, tired, and incredibly thirsty. As I stumbled around, trying to find what scraps of food that I could, I came across these two men playing in the streets. I watched them from in an alleyway.
"The first man was tall and somewhat thin, mon. He had a large instrument by his side that resembled a large bass. He wore somewhat nice tan clothes, not anything fancy, though his shoes were exceptionally shiny. He twirled and danced with that bass of his while his partner sat on the ground.
"The other man was shorter than the first, though it was hard to see how short because he was sitting, mon. Surrounding him was a wide variety of different drums, all of different shape and size. He twirled a stick in his left hand and hit some of the other drums with his right hand.
"The music they made had a beautiful swing to it for only being two instruments, mon. The occasional person walking with other instruments, like trumpets, joined, but left after some time. filled the streets as others who passed by slowly began to dance to the beat. First, they were a little hesitant, but soon a large crowd had gathered. I slinked into the alleyway a little more, but my foot caught on a bottle. I tripped backwards and landed on a few cases of empty glass bottles. Thankfully, nothing broke. The sound, however, had attracted the two music players over to the source. I tried to scamper away, but they found me. Instead of being mad, they invited me over to join their group. That was the first taste of the drums I ever had."
"So, these other two men wrote the music?" Rosa asked.
"Yep, that's right, mon," Larissa said, "I added the words just two weeks ago. Took a bit to come up with them, along with the inspiration for the words."
"They are very beautiful lyrics," Rosa said, smiling.
"Yeah, I was right," Isabella said, spinning around in her chair, "it is good to see you girls getting along. Gisella would be proud."
April 13, 2012
A knock at the door of the woman with the light cherry blonde hair awoke her from her slumber. She rubbed her eyes and slowly got out of bed, her white bunny slippers sliding across the carpet. The static build up shocked Rosa as she reached for the door, making her recoil, but she reached for the knob anyways.
"Happy birthday, Madam Rosa," exclaimed an elderly man with a rake. He handed Rosa a box with a blue ribbon. A huge smile grew across Rosa's face as she accepted the gift.
"Oh, Uncle Skelly, you didn't have to," Rosa said happily. She quickly grabbed ahold of Skelly's shirt collar when she realized that he was inside the mansion and brought him into her room. "You know you aren't allowed to be here," she whispered in a hushed tone.
"Yeah, I know," Skelly chuckled, "Not that that's really stopping me."
Rosa smiled and opened the box. She lifted out a beautiful necklace, adorned with scarlet and amber stones, wrapped in lovely silver. "How did you manage to get this?" she asked.
"I have my ways," Skelly said with a wink.
Rosa gave Skelly a massive hug as he placed the necklace around her neck. "Thanks for remembering my birthday, Uncle Skelly."
"Of course," he said, "how could I forget the birthday of the most wonderful person I've ever worked for?" The two of them chuckled as Gisel hopped up on the bed, rubbing against them both.
"I don't think Larissa would have anything special for me, though," Rosa sighed.
"She seems interesting. Quite the feisty one, isn't she?" Skelly said, petting Gisel.
"She sure is," Rosa said, scratching Gisel's back, "but, she has an amazing heart under that amazonian build of hers."
"I know. I saw both when she barged into the mansion grounds," Skelly mentioned, making Rosa chuckle.
"I just hate how I had to be so mean to her for years just to make sure she wouldn't get involved in the abuse my parents dish out," Rosa sighed.
"They were very determined to keep you isolated from everyone, weren't they?" Skelly asked.
"What do you mean, 'were?' They still are," Rosa said with a groan, "I'd rather not thing of the horrible concotion they could have planned for me today. Today is one of those days where I really wish they'd just completely ignore me."
"Yeah, I can see that," Skelly said, "still, turning eighteen is a big milestone. You can finally gamble."
"Well, that's one way of looking at it," Rosa chuckled. Another knock came from her door, and Skelly quickly hid under Rosa's bed. "Come in," Rosa commanded, once Skelly was well hidden.
"Madam Rosa," began a servant, "Master and Mistress Valkyne wish to speak to you."
Rosa nodded and dismissed the servant. "The coast is clear. You better leave soon before you're caught."
Skelly crawled out from under the bed and chuckled. "I guess this place hasn't forgotten about that time with the russian bear."
"It's hard to forget that incident," Rosa chuckled, shoving Skelly out the door. He took his leave while Rosa headed for the dining hall where her parents are normally found. She opened the doors to find the parents sitting at the far end and a box laying on the table near her.
"It's for you. Open it," her mother commanded, drinking some wine. Rosa hesitantly opened up the box and peered inside. She gasped and lifted the "gift" out of the box.
"You're evicting me!?"