FicWad

Paulina gasped, stopping on the stairs. Her jaw hung agape, and she stared at Robert. “Gerard?” Robert looked back at her, eyebrow cocked in the don’t-you-ever-learn fashion. “Sorry, sorry. I mean…Gerard!”

“Yes; Gerard. Do you have a problem with that?”

“He’s insane,” Paulina informed Robert, as though it weren’t already obvious. “He’ll probably cut me with a butter-knife and try to show the waiter how pretty my blood is in contrast to my skin.”

“He’s an artist; he can’t help but be crazy. And it doesn’t really matter if you have a problem with it, anyway. I was only asking to be polite.” Robert reached the bottom of the stairs first, holding out a hand to help Paulina, as he had noticed her limping from the fall. She followed the blond man down the hall as he turned into one of the rooms. “Alright, strip,” he said, going to the closet and ruffling through its contents. She hesitated, but shed the sundress from church. Was it time for dinner already? It seemed not so long ago that she’d been waking up to go to mass.

Something black was tossed at Paulina. She held it out in front of her to examine it, seeing that it was another dress. This, however, was not any old dress. This was a black, strapless, formal dress. Again, it was her size and fit like a glove once she’d managed to slide it on.

“Fit?” Robert asked, examining her once she had it on.

“It’s too short,” she answered, grabbing the hem that just grazed the tops of her thighs and struggling to tug it down. When she pulled it down, however, it just began revealing more of her chest, so she was scantily-clad, regardless of her adjustments.

“It’s fine,” Robert said without really looking at it.

“I need underwear.” Paulina clamped her legs together, wishing she could just have a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. A thong was thrown at her, which she just barely caught. “Well, this doesn’t really help much…” she said, grimacing at the thought of wearing it. The lacy garment was promptly plucked from her grasp and thrown into the trash bin.

“You really shouldn’t complain so much,” Robert informed her, walking out of the bedroom and indicating that she should follow.

Sure enough, once out in the hallway, Paulina could see the sun setting through the large, high-up windows. How had time passed so quickly? Though it had flown by, Paulina felt as though she’d been through quite a long day, and wanted nothing more than to drop where she stood and fall asleep for a few hours.

“I wish I could just go to sleep,” Paulina murmured, dragging her feet. She rubbed her eyes as they began to climb the stairs once more, padding lightly down the hall to the room that Paulina remembered as being Gerard’s.

“Keep complaining, Paulina. We have ways to make it so that you can’t sleep for four days. Keep quiet if all you’re going to do is whine.” Paulina wondered why Robert was taking such a sudden turn in his attitude towards her. Was he just stressed from the asthma attack? Had it scared him?

Paulina bit her lip as she was pulled into Gerard’s bedroom, nerves settling in her stomach. Good things never happened with Gerard, at least not to her.

“What’s missing?” Robert asked the other man, whose back was to the two of them as he faced a large, white easel that, when he turned and stood, was revealed to be completely blank. Gerard examined Paulina, looking her up and down with the gaze of an artist, making Paulina very uncomfortable under his scrutiny. He walked towards her, placing his fingers gently beneath her chin and examining her face from all angles.

“Makeup,” he finally said, keeping his hand cupped around Paulina’s jaw. “Her face is…blank.” Gerard’s lids were hovering over his eyes as his vision roved over the tiny girl.

“Well…Paint your canvas, Botticelli.” Robert waved his hand expectantly at Gerard, who narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t have a stock of makeup that I’ve been saving up for occasion, Bob,” Gerard snapped, sitting back down at his easel, but not turning away.

“Frank probably does,” Robert said, thinking. “He prepares for everything. Paulina,” he said, turning to his young charge. “Go find Frank and tell him that we need makeup.”

Paulina stared at him for a moment, furrowing her eyebrows. “I don’t know where he is,” she said quietly.

“Start with his room and work from there,” Robert said calmly. “Go, now.”

Paulina sighed and walked out of the room, stopping just outside the door. Which way to go? She didn’t really remember where Frank’s room was, let alone how to get there from Gerard’s room. The house was massive, Paulina knew, and there were parts of it she hadn’t even seen or been in, yet.

She decided to walk in the direction of the bathroom so that she could retrace her steps back to the room in which she had waken up that morning. Once there, she turned and began walking again, her feet taking her to each room and peering in, until she found the one that had a bed, and a tattooed man on it.

“Umm…” Paulina knocked lightly on the doorframe, standing awkwardly in the doorway. “I--” Now that she was there, Paulina realized that she hadn’t thought of what she was going to say to Frank. She couldn’t ask him anything, and standing there in dumb silence wouldn’t do anything. “Robert…and Gerard…they--” Paulina was drawing a blank.

Frank had been laying on his bed, on top of the covers, staring at the ceiling, his hands clasped loosely on his chest, a thoughtful look on his face. The minute Paulina had made a sound, he had evened his gaze with hers, one eyebrow cocked expectantly as she sputtered her way to an explanation as to why she was interrupting him.

“Feeling better?” Frank cut her off, sitting up and getting off the bed, walking towards Paulina slowly. She flinched, but didn’t dare step back or move away when he lifted a hand to her face. She knit her eyebrows confusedly. “Your…condition,” he said, tracing his index finger down the bridge of her nose. She gulped.

“Fine, thanks,” she murmured, after realizing that he was talking about her asthma attack. Her cheeks flushed, and she took this opportunity to retreat away from Frank until her back hit the hinges of the door. She made a small squeak of surprise when her back collided with it, somewhat like a mouse squeezing through the crack in a wall.

“Now,” Frank said, stepping closer, now that he had the girl cornered. “Tell me what you need.”

“Robert told me to come and get makeup from you,” Paulina said quietly, her head tipped forward, but her eyes glancing up at Frank every few seconds.

“There, now,” Frank said, patting her lightly on the top of her head, sending shivers scuttling like spiders up and down Paulina’s spine. “That wasn’t so difficult, sweetie, was it?” Paulina shook her head. Frank nodded and stepped away from the small girl, disappearing behind a closet door for a few moments, before emerging, clutching a small, black cosmetic bag. “There. Give that to them.” Paulina nodded quickly, grabbed the bag, and used all of her self-control not to flee, running, from the room.

She walked out briskly, slamming the door behind her and making her way quickly back to Gerard’s room. She paused when she got near, however, when she heard voices. They were those of Robert and Frank, and they sounded less-than-friendly. It sounded as though they were arguing. Doing her best to keep her footsteps silent in the creaky, old house, Paulina crept closer. She bit her lower lip, trying not to breathe, straining to make out the harsh words coming from beyond the cracked-open door. She caught bits and pieces of the argument.

“--don’t think you should take her out--”

“--you’re not here to think, Bob--”

“--might say something--”

“--terrified of us. What’s she going to--”

“--never know, but--”

Paulina wished she could walk into the room without being seen and listen better. They didn’t want her to go out? Robert didn’t, at least. Why not? They were afraid she’d say something. As much as she hated herself for admitting it, even Paulina knew that she was too frightened of these men to say anything, even if she was talking to a policeman. Robert, apparently, didn’t think so. Then again, if Paulina were out with Robert, she’d probably give spilling the beans an extra thought or two.

As she crept even closer to hear the rest of the conversation, one of the floor-boards creaked loudly beneath Paulina’s foot, making the girl jump in alarm and shock. The door was quickly thrown open, revealing Gerard, who stared disdainfully down at the trembling child, caught in the act of spying. She was clutching the makeup bag so tightly that her knuckles were turning whiter than usual.

“Paulina,” Gerard said, standing aside and sweeping his arm grandly to indicate that she should enter the room. “Eavesdropping is a very nasty habit to pick up. This time, however, I will give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume that you’ve only just joined us.”

Paulina gulped again, nodding, and stepped in past Gerard, who grabbed the girl by the back of the hair, yanking her back and staring into her fair, grey eyes for a few seconds. Just as suddenly as he had caught her, Gerard flung Paulina from himself, watching her fall forward onto her knees. He grabbed the back of her neck, lifting her to her feet and pushing her to sit on the stool that rested in front of the easel.

“Consider yourself a canvas, darling,” Gerard said, unzipping the bag as he knelt in front of Paulina. “When I’m done with you, you’ll be just another artwork for people to judge me by.”


Creep-bot. Thanks for being so patient, guys. I'm afraid to count how many days it's been since I last updated. Bad me, very bad me. I'll try harder to not be swamped with work next time. I have a feeling that updates will not be coming as frequently as they were, since I do have so much other stuff on my plate right now. This story will, however, get finished, so don't doubt that. It just might take a bit longer than I originally anticipated. There. Go comment and subscribe. OverAndOutxx