Translations:

Mon Dieu - My God

Vous avez plein de merde - You are full of shit

Comprends - Understand

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There are more dead people than living. And their numbers are increasing. The living are getting rarer.

Eugene Ionesco

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Rose's pants were slowly turning to sobs as she darted past another hallway. She was lost, plain and simple, though it wasn't like she could go anywhere even if she found a suitable exit. Rose tried to force her fleeing body to face the fact that she was completely trapped, but nothing was working. Her feet continued to move forward, her eyes continued to scan for a familiar passageway, and her breaths still came in ragged pants.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a hand grasped her arm and pulled her along. Jerking back in surprise, Rose felt herself stumble as she's yanked forwards. However, the hand gripping her wrist didn't let go, and Rose found herself staring at a young woman, a girl really, with long, thick black hair and cocoa colored skin.

The shock planted both her feet firmly in place, and Rose looked wildly around for a possible escape from this new person. Call her paranoid, but she'd rather err on the side of caution where this mansion was concerned.

The girl, seemingly not pleased with Rose's reluctance to move, turned, and Rose felt another jolt of shock as she stared into piercing dark blue eyes. "Look," the girl muttered, her voice soft and low, "I'll explain everything to you later, but right now we need to get somewhere where explaining is possible. So, are you going to trust me?" Rose realized she probably had no choice, as there was no way she was going to be able to find her way around the mansion without wandering into one of the hosts, and that was something she wanted to avoid at all costs.

The girl led Rose down another hallway and then into a door that opened to a rather abandoned looking corridor. Moving quickly to the second door on the left, the girl threw it open and gestured for Rose to go in. Rose glanced at her nervously, but the girl didn't look threatening. And so, Rose stepped into another bedroom, grander than hers and bedecked in shades of green and brown. The colors were comforting and, despite its size, the room was cozy and welcoming, if a little enclosed and forgotten.

The girl followed her, shutting the door quietly and flopping into a chair pulled to the window. Rose sat gingerly in the other one and looked at the girl expectantly, making sure to keep herself perched on the edge in case the need arose for her to bolt.

"Well, first things first, I'm Sabirah," she said, holding out her hand. Rose smiled slightly and shook it, introducing herself as well. "Now, you probably have so many questions, so I'll try to see if my explanation answers any of them. You are here to be a sacrificial bride to these arseholes. You're meant to appease them until you die. I think the record is three months? I've been here for one and a half. And no, they aren't human. They're vampires."

Rose sat straight up. "Vampires? What? You're joking! Vampires don't exist," she scoffed, but even as she said that her stomach twisted as she thought of all the odd things she'd noticed. And what human would have sacrificial brides?

"I wish I was," Sabirah replied bitterly. She brushed her hair away from her neck and showed off faint pinpricks on her skin. Bite marks. "Look, you can believe me or not, but it's the truth. I don't want you finding out as I did."

"Mon Dieu," Rose breathed, reaching out, about to touch the marks. She pulled back as Sabirah hid them with her hair once more. A thought struck her as Sabirah drew away. "Why are you telling me this?" Rose asked, then continued, answering for herself. "Wait, I know. You're like the mysterious mentor character of the book that's going to provide me with guidance and exposition and then die in a stupid and/or heroic way." Sabirah burst out laughing.

"Well, I wouldn't say that," she replied between giggles, slumping back in her chair. "At the very least, you won't have to worry about me dying anytime soon! As for why I'm doing this, human girls like me are so rare to see here! It's nice to have someone that's not going to try and bite me."

Rose raised an eyebrow at Sabirah, a talent she'd gained after many hours of practice in front of a mirror so she could irritate Miri. "Oh? And what's this about you not dying on me? I thought you said the record was three months," she questioned.

"Oh, I know all the secret passages and forgotten rooms around here," Sabirah supplied with a wink. "And I'm not telling you all of them. I'm supposed to be the mysterious mentor, right? That means I have to keep some secrets from you if I want to live," she added teasingly, and Rose slumped in her chair, pouting.

"You're no fun," she pretended to whine, and Sabirah made a foreign gesture her way, which Rose took to be obscene. She returned the favor, and it quickly turned into a competition. "Vous avez plein de merde," she giggled as Sabirah resorted to attacking her with pillows.

"You do realize I have no idea what you just said," Sabirah retorted, and Rose grinned evilly, grasping a pillow of her own.

"Oh, I know," she chirped, then gasped as another pillow was thrown at her head. "Betrayal of the highest order!" The two tussled around a little, laughing and exchanging insults cheerfully. After a while, Rose collapsed backward, staring up at the ceiling as she tried to process everything that had been thrust upon her. Vampires, death threats, sexual harassment, and--she suddenly popped up. "Hey, Sabirah."

"Yeah?" The other girl propped herself up as well, leaning back on her hands as she regarded Rose.

"Say I accidentally shoved one of these...vampires out of the window. What would happen?" Rose asked, hesitating over the word vampire, still unable to fully accept the ludicrous explanation. Sabirah didn't take any notice, however. She was more focused on the end half of Rose's statement.

"You did what? Oh Rose," she groaned, falling back against the floor. "It wouldn't do anything but irritate them, or interest them I suppose. It depends on which one."

Rose sighed. "Of course all it does is piss them off. And it was a redhead with a creepy rapist attitude and a hat." Sabirah reached over and sympathetically patted Rose's shoulder, raising goosebumps with her cold hands--a constant problem, she'd explained to Rose.

"That would be Laito. Good fucking luck, my friend. My recommendation, get some pepper spray from the city if you ever get the chance to go out because he's a major problem, though to be honest I still would." Rose made gagging noises as Sabirah giggled maniacally. After recovering from that statement, Rose had a few more questions, though she was hesitant to ask them for fear of more unneeded information from Sabirah.

She figured she might as well try her luck. "So, there's Subaru, Reiji, and Laito. Anyone else I should be worried about?" Sabirah grimaced and hopped up, moving back to her chair and gesturing for Rose to follow.

"That's only half of them. There's also Kanato, Ayato, and Shu. The first two are high-level danger; the last one is moderate. He's the honeybee of the group. If you don't fuck with him, he won't fuck with you," she explained, and Rose stored the information away for later use. Hopefully, she'd see this Shu guy the most, as he seemed the least likely to slaughter her violently. With her personality though, she wasn't too hopeful.

"Right, so we have Dead Inside Asshole, Rapey Asshole, Angry Asshole, Psychotic Assholes One and Two, and Honeybee. Lovely," Rose muttered, counting off on her fingers. "Anyone else?"

"Not that I've seen," Sabirah said with a shrug, and Rose relaxed a little. Six bloodthirsty vampires in a large mansion were surely manageable enough, at least for the amount of time she was planning to live. As Rose was mulling this new information over, Sabirah glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, and suddenly she was yanking Rose from the room. "Come on," she hissed, dragging Rose down the hall as quickly as she could.

"What? Why?" Rose gasped, trying to keep from toppling over. Sabirah didn't respond until the familiar hallway of Rose's room appeared before them.

"You have to be in your room in time for dinner. It could get much worse for you if you disobey Reiji," Sabirah explained in a whisper, shoving a very reluctant Rose towards her door.

"What about you? Will I see you at dinner?" Rose asked a bit desperately, clinging onto Sabirah's arm. Though she hadn't known her long, having someone sane to help her cope with this madness was undoubtedly doing her good. However, her hopes were quickly dashed as the other girl shook her head, a bit regretful.

"No. I don't eat with them anymore. I can't stand it," Sabirah murmured, offering no further explanation as she shoved Rose into her room, shutting the door and leaving Rose in a panic at the thought of dining with six vampires alone. By the time Reiji had come to collect her, she was pacing around the room, counting up to fifty and back down in French.

"I thought I made it clear you were to wear appropriate attire," he snapped the moment he got a good look at her. Rose stopped her pacing and managed to grin, though it was weak at best. It certainly wouldn't have fooled Alaine, but she had only known Reiji for a short time.

"This is appropriate! You're going to be getting to know me, yes? Well, I figured I'd make it easier," she explained tauntingly, gesturing to her erratically patterned leggings. "I love dogs and the color purple, and I never follow directions. See how good you already know me?" And with that, she skipped out the door past him and into the hallway, making it very clear she wasn't going to change.

"Keep acting like a brat, and I'll bend you over my knee," he replied darkly, and Rose stiffened with shock. Who did this guy think he was. Spinning to face him, she put on the most deadly expression she'd ever used.

"You touch me, and you'll lose your hands. Comprends?" Rose hissed and then gestured for him to lead the way to the dining area. He did so with an air of great disdain, and Rose was left wondering how long it would take before they tore each other apart.

You think you've made a friend? You can't trust anyone. She'll betray you. They'll all betray you. Trust no one. They're liars.

I can't even trust myself.

Yay! Character introductions are fun. Anyways, hope the people who are reading this (still can't wrap my brain around that, holy cow) like it! My perfectionism makes it hard for me to post a lot because I second guess myself so much, so bear with me as I try to overcome that.

Question: Should I add music to these chapters or no?

~Avie