WARNING: Mild descriptions of dissociation and PTSD flashbacks

Translations:

La chienne: Bitch

Conard: Asshole

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"Just when you think you've hit rock bottom, you realize you're standing on another trapdoor."

- Marisha Pessl

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Everything was not fine. The dumbass author lied to you.

Rose was sitting propped against the headboard of Sabirah's bed, a computer in her lap. She couldn't help tapping her fingers against the bedspread as she waited for the web page to load, trying to get the nervous energy out of her system. It wasn't really helping, but it was the only thing keeping her from screaming.

The screen went white, and a little dinosaur appeared on the top of the screen. "Damn it all!" Rose yelled, slamming her computer shut. Before she could chuck it across the room to complete her fit of anger, however, it was yanked from her hands by a rather amused Sabirah. "Hey!"

"Don't 'hey' me! I'm sparing you from regret and bankruptcy after you break your computer and need to buy a new one," Sabirah chided. Rose grumbled a few choice swear words under her breath, and Sabirah whacked her over the head with the book she'd been carrying under one arm. Rose snatched the book from her and studied the cover, her brain taking a few minutes to translate the Japanese. She was beginning to find her reading comprehension far behind what it should be, but she still managed to make out the title — A Comprehensive Record of Child Abuse Cases in the Early 2000s.

Rose quickly saw a small problem with this book. "But ... these are Japanese cases. How is that going to translate to American laws?"

Sabirah frowned at her. "The basic case setup is still the same, as are quite a few laws I'm sure. Just look at the cases that won and see how they did it, then translate that into American terms using the list of laws we looked up," she explained, and Rose nodded, thinking it over. It sounded pretty good to her, but she was still skeptical.

"Wait. Why do the Sakamakis have a book like this in their library?" Rose asked. Sabirah shrugged.

"They have like a million books, and Reiji's a freak. I've just learned not to ask questions at this point. I like my neck unbitten," she replied, and Rose laughed. Sabirah set the computer back on the bed, and Rose reached for it, opening it up again and trying to get the damn WiFi to work. It refused, and Rose considered chucking the computer out the window. She doubted that would fix the WiFi issue, though.

Rose instead decided to bang her head against the headboard, and instantly regretted it. "Ouch," she groaned, rubbing the back of her head. Sabirah gave her a look that said very plainly, you did this to yourself, stupid. Rose, who didn't appreciate sass coming from anyone but herself, chucked a pillow at Sabirah, who dodged it easily before reaching over and inspecting the computer herself.

She sighed. "Looks like the router's the problem. I think it's in the game room on the second floor; the one with the pool table? You'll have to go and check on it," Sabirah said, setting the laptop down on the bedside table and flopping next to Rose, who turned over on her side to stare at the caramel-skinned girl.

Sabirah rarely left the apparent safety of her room, only doing so when Rose was too wrapped up in her work to go to the library nearby or to collect to directionally challenged girl from her own room, and Rose found herself wishing Sabirah was with her more. She understood why Sabirah avoided the brothers--the scars on her neck were explanation enough--but Rose found herself clinging to Sabirah's steady presence more and more. And maybe that wasn't healthy, maybe she was using the girl as a life vest for her sanity, but Rose couldn't bring herself to put space between them, and Sabirah seemed so lonely that she was able to push those thoughts aside.

Sabirah was blinking up at her, bright blue eyes wide and pleading. "No," Rose began, flipping over so she didn't have to see Sabirah's puppy dog eyes. "I'm not going there alone. I'm gonna get lost." Sabirah flung an arm around Rose's waist, resting her head on Rose's shoulder as she ramped up the dramatics.

"Please," she whined, and Rose shifted, burying her face in the only pillow left on the bed as Sabirah's pleadings grew more and more effective. "I went to the library for you."

"Oh, wow," Rose replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "All the way down two hallways to the library. Well, now that you put it that way ... no." Sabirah poked her, and Rose yelped, rolling away so quickly she nearly fell off the bed, Sabirah's arm around her waist the only thing keeping her from tumbling to the ground.

"I'll let go," Sabirah threatened, and Rose finally relented.

"Fine," she grumbled, and Sabirah cheered, tugging her back up. "La chienne," she muttered under her breath as she made her way to the door. Pausing, she turned back to Sabirah. "Any directions that would be helpful?"

"Make your way to the main staircase, then, once you're at the top, take two lefts and a right, and you should find it pretty easily," Sabirah replied, waving lazily as Rose left.

"Two lefts and a right, two lefts and a right, two lefts and a right," Rose repeated softly as she made her way to the main stairway, praying to anybody who would listen that she wouldn't run into any of the brothers on her trip. She'd been purposefully avoiding them as much as she could, and except for mealtimes, hadn't seen them. And as she refused to become nocturnal on their behalf, their paths didn't cross much.

Fortunately, Rose found the game room without too much of a hassle. Unfortunately, someone else was there first. Rose's muscles tensed up as she beheld Laito smirking at her from across the room, a long, black cord dangling from his hand. His smirk faltered for a second as he took in her appearance, and Rose stiffened, mildly offended. She'd only skipped out on a few meals and a couple of nights of sleep. She couldn't look that bad. Though, Rose wasn't exactly sure when she'd brushed her hair last, let alone set foot in a shower, so perhaps she did look horrifying.

"Well well well, Little Violet. I was wondering what it would take to flush you out of your hiding spot," Laito cooed, twisting the cord idly around his fingers. Only then did Rose notice the unplugged router sitting on a shelf above him, and that image alone was enough to send her stalking forward, prepared to hit the idiot vampire upside the head with a pool stick if she needed to.

"I don't have time for your stupid games. Believe it or not, I have more important things to do than cater to your creepiness," Rose snapped, stopping in front of him and trying to grab the cord. Laito held it above his head as if teasing her, chuckling in a way that made Rose want to smack him. Instead of trying to jump for it and looking like a fool, Rose stormed over to the pool sticks and grabbed one, holding it out threateningly as she glared daggers at Laito.

"I'm not usually the submissive one, Little Violet, but if that's how you want to play, I'm sure I can make an exception," Laito purred, and Rose's glare faltered for a second as she took a step back, very grossed out. Was sex the only thing these idiots ever thought about?

"Sorry conard, but I'd rather fuck Lotney Fratelli," Rose quipped back. Laito looked incredibly confused. "Come on; you have to be old enough to have seen Goonies. Though, I guess it's more of an American classic than a Japanese one." God, she was rambling, and she knew it, but something about Laito freaked her out. He acted too similarly to Damien's business partners that came over occasionally. Just seeing Laito made her remember the feeling of their hands on her in places they certainly weren't wanted.

Laito chuckled again, though it sounded a lot closer to actual amusement than mocking. "You're something else, Little Violet. I'll give you the cord on one condition. You let me suck your blood." Rose took a step back, the pool stick bobbing up and down as her hands shook. But she couldn't refuse, and she was sure he knew that. She had to finish building a case against Damien, had to save her siblings. Rose couldn't give in to her fear, no matter how much it hurt.

And so she resigned herself to her fate. "Fine," she snapped, tossing the pool stick aside and holding out her wrist. "But if you kill me, I'm coming back to haunt you for eternity."

Laito chuckled, stalking towards her with such predatory intent that Rose had to dig her nails into her palms to keep herself from shaking. "I'll look forward to that, Little Violet," he cooed, gripping her wrist almost gently as he guided it back to her side.

Before she had time to protest, Laito had shoved her against the pool table. One hand gripping her chin, he tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck. Unable to stop her shaking, Rose's teeth chattered as she was hit with wave after wave of panic. She'd been in this scenario before, albeit without the vampire intent on drinking her blood, and the memory was enough to send her reeling.

Laito trailed his fangs along her neck, almost as if he were savoring how terrified and powerless Rose felt. But Rose didn't care. Suddenly, it felt as though she couldn't care about anything. She was floating outside of her body, looking down as though merely seeing the scene from a TV screen. Her head felt cloudy and distant, and a grey haze muffled even the pain as Laito finally bit into her neck.

Icy cold numbness filled her veins, and for perhaps the first time in her life, Rose couldn't muster any anger towards the vampire who was causing her this pain. She couldn't muster much of anything.

***

Rose opened the door to Sabirah's room, still to numb to acknowledge the ache pulsing from her neck or the stiffness of her muscles. Her head felt like it was in wrapped in cotton, and even the click of the door shutting was muffled.

Sabirah looked up from the now working computer, a smile on her face. It vanished immediately when she beheld Rose. Eyes trained on the still bleeding puncture wounds on the side of Rose's neck, Sabirah leaped up and wrapped Rose in a hug. She guided the unresponsive girl to the bed, sitting her down and inspecting the bite wounds.

"I'm so sorry, Rose," she murmured, running to the adjoining bathroom for the first aid kit she'd stashed under the sink. Returning quickly, she began to dab hydrogen peroxide on the wound, cleaning up the blood around the bite marks. Rose didn't even flinch at the sting, or at the ache as Sabirah pressed a patch over the punctures. "I should have come with you."

Rose shook her head. "It wouldn't have done anything. He's a vampire, and we're just humans." She didn't have enough energy to wonder at the look Sabirah gave her. All she wanted to do was sleep. She told Sabirah as much, and the girl nodded, guiding Rose under the covers.

"You're staying here tonight. I won't let them bother you," Sabirah promised, and before Rose could ask her what she meant by that, her brain took over and forced her into unconsciousness.

So I finally fixed the glitch and published a new chapter, just like I said I would. Hopefully, this doesn't happen again! Also, if anyone was wondering, this is Lotney Fratelli:

Goonies is really good, though. I highly recommend it.