Lights, Camera, Action!

Chapter 27: Solutions

Beauty had managed to calm down enough to properly speak to people now. Her head had cleared and a plan had begun to form in the darker, sharper, reaches of her mind. The way she saw it, her only problem was the bank. The bank was the one holding all of these contracts above her head and demanding money. Money which she did not have at the moment, but she would. Yet until this little issue with the money distributers was solved, Beauty remained strong in her decision to halt filming. There was too much going on for anyone to focus properly and get any good quality footage.

There was an obvious way to deal with her current annoyance. A way which had proven to be effective time and time again. Her tools to perform such a method weren't rusty in the slightest, in fact, they'd been sharpened this morning. Sarah didn't like this idea and Beauty knew that she would blame the thoughts on the residual effect of Dagger. Be that as it may, there was a problem and this could easily solve it. A bonus, she wouldn't be the one getting her hands dirty. Therefore, no one would be able to trace whatever happens back to her. A blood debt has to be paid in blood. Beauty knew this was exactly was the twenty year old contract was: A blood debt. The bank would appreciate the ironic joke, they worked with money and put people in debt for a salary. That on itself was rather humorous to the broke Rose.

"Please could Petal and Honey Forest report to Beauty's office. That is Petal and Honey Forest reporting to Beauty's office, thank you. Have a nice day." Beauty laughed to herself as she ended the summoning from her watch. She really liked the little device and made a note on a post-it to thank the Twins again later today.

Within a few minutes, both assassins had arrived at their proper location. Beauty had hired then because they were good at what they were told to do within the site of the studios. They were excellent workers and without she would struggle to run the company. However the pair were also perfectly happy with doing what they were trained to do. Even if that didn't directly result in death, the skills the two women possessed had managed to stop Thorn Pictures from ever having a serious competitor.

Petal ran her sword over her knuckles, lightly sharpening it and checking her reflection. "Did you need something Beauty?" Despite nearly being forty, the older killer gave off an air of coolness and youth that her fellow adult workers couldn't quite emulate.

Beauty nodded. "Right now, my biggest problem is the bank. They want me to give them money I don't own them and money that I do not have. We also have that other contracted loan that is supposed to help me make Bloodshed the best film it can possibly be. They aren't playing fair so I'm done trying to play nice. They want to test me, I'll send in the cheat sheets." The CEO gestured to the two sunset-coloured assassins in front of her.

Honey and Petal nodding, getting a pretty good idea of where this was going. "What happens to the money belonging to other people? Do we keep it or return it to the owners? Or does it just get forgotten?" Frankly, any option would be fine with her but if there was a chance to earn some easy money then the former street-rat was ready.

Beauty through for a moment. "I'm a nice person... I'm not a saint either. Return the money to the families but if they aren't a good family then we will keep it for ourselves." That was who she was, a person who will do the right thing unless the recipient is undeserving of that good deed. Then she would choose the selfish option.

The pair of assassins nodded. "Consider it done." Mother and daughter chorused and they left their boss in peace. Beauty could almost start relaxing now for she knew the pair would easily deliver. Now, she had one final string left to cut.

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Looking into their home, Beauty couldn't see or hear the Twins. That either meant the pair were busy at work in their lab and weren't likely to come out anytime soon or they had gone out with their friends and would probably be back soon. The former seemed most likely however she Beauty kept the other idea in mind as she prowled about the living room. If she remembered correctly, the boxes were right...

A tinkling sound that reminded her of a lullaby made the woman stop. She hadn't heard that tune since she herself had been a little girl. It had belonged to the person who betrayed her the most. Yet she could've sworn she put that in the box with the rest of their stuff. What was it doing in the Twins room?

Knowing that it was bad enough to go into their house without their permission and even worse to go into their bedroom, Beauty made her way inside the slightly circular yet cosy room. A bed was pressed up against the wall on either side and despite them being twins, you could tell that there were two different people here. Starlight preferred to have her stuff on display anywhere in bright lights and colours, they were more space-themed. Sliver on the other hand kept everything stored away with a more experiments and calculations theme that the science of space. The colour palette for his side of the room was a bright turquoise and mainly sliver. Beauty always laughed at the similarity between his name and favourite colour.

The noise that had drawn her to the room was coming from a box in the centre of it. It had recently been opened after a long time and Beauty saw something wrapped in plastic on top. 'That's not very good for the environment.' She thought to herself, knowing that the Twins were conscious in looking after their world. Curious to see what it was, Beauty picked the item up. She spun it between her fingers so that the front of it was facing her and she dropped it in shock. "Damn..." Beauty breathed as the wedding dress dropped to the floor.

That dress should've probably gone a long time ago. It was the one thing in this entire studio that could reveal the identity of the Twins' parents. It's not that Beauty was overly happy they were orphans, but they were better off not knowing. Others may say that wasn't her choice to make but Beauty Rose made every choice. Other people then lived with the consequences of her actions, that was how the story went. Scooping the dress up into her arms, she made the decision to burn it the minute she had the opportunity. Things were better left in the past then digging up an old grave. Beauty was doing the Twins a favour by doing this. Yes, a favour or a solution that was what this was.

If they ever found out the truth, they would be heartbroken. Beauty knew that the image of their parents would not match up to the reality of them. She wanted to save Sliver and Starlight that crushing weight of disappointment. They were happy now, they had no reason to be anything but.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, on time. I wonder what Beauty is trying to hide from Sliver and Starlight so badly? Seems very important and sensitive to her. Today marks the beginning of the half term and I will be going away to Legoland on Monday. I will also be spending a lot of my holiday doing revision. This may mean that my updates have a few gaps between them. Nevertheless, I'll hopefully update again tomorrow so bye, bye.