Red Roses ~Marcus Lopez Arguello

20~ Burnt Sugar

Basement of Kings Dominion, December 15th

Scarlett sat in a lonely wooden chair, strapped down like some sort of rabid animal, her wrist bounded by leather straps. The straps dug into her flesh, and she was certain that it would leave visible bruises on her olive skin. The pain wasn't the issue, but more so the fact that she was sitting there in the first place. It was an inconvenience.

Madam Gao stood behind the lonely chair, just waiting for Scarlett to answer her questions. It was Scarlett's interrogation day.

"Where were you the night of Chico's disappearance?" Madam Gaos voice echoed through the cold basement.

Scarlett leans her head, repeating herself once more. "I was out of town, business meeting."

"Where?"

"I've already told you I can't disclose that information." Scarlett smirks when she feels Madam Gaos frustration.

Madam Gao holds a firm grip on the back of the wooden chair. Scarlett can hear the headmistress sigh before making her way into Scarletts peripheral. "You are close with Chico, correct?"

"Can't say I was."

"You are." She points out Scarletts obvious lie.

"If you already knew that, why are you asking?" Scarlett turns her head. Madam Gao is irritated with the girl, and Scarlett revels knowing that she can get under her skin so easily. "Chico was like a brother to me. As close as someone like myself can be with another person."

"Like yourself?" She asks Scarlett what she's referring to.

"In this kind of business, it's under the best authority to never get close with someone. It's an easy weakness. Makes one vulnerable to an attack." She talks as if she's been in this industry for years, and that's because she has. Madam Gao doesn't like that.

She scoffs at the seventeen year old. "What do you know about this type of business?"

"Everything you know." Scarlett looks up at the older lady. "Probably more." She leans back into the chair. "However, there are some things that you know that I won't ever know."

Madam Gao grows more intrigues, silently urging her to continue. "I will never know what it's like to live in darkness." Curiosity grows in Gaos expression. "You know, in my brother's shadow." Scarlett leans forward. "What's it like not being good enough for your parents? So worthless that you had to be sent to another country-"

Madam Gao grabs Scarlett's chin, squeezing her cheeks with a titanium grip. "You have quite the disrespectful mouth on you, Scarlett." She throws Scarlett's face to one side.

Scarlett turns back to Madam Gao. "I only disrespect people who deserve it. And you Madam, deserve all of it. You treat me as every other student, which I'm not. As superficial as it sounds, I'm on the same level as you and your colleagues. I fit the criteria. I have personal experience in the industry, I've spent years training and working. I've even made a name for myself in this business."

Madam Gao leans down to Scarlett, placing both of her hands on top of Scarletts bound wrist. She stares daggers into the girl's face. "We are not the same."

Scarlett laughs. "You're right. I've never had to live knowing I was below my brother. I got to be better than him. You, you won't ever have that luxury."

Madam Gao slaps the girl in the face, and Scarlett doesn't react, just turning her stinging cheek back to where it once was. "Do I frustrate you that much, Madam Gao? I don't think your brother would approve of such violence against his own students. Or have you forgotten that? Just like you forgot the sole reason you brought me down here." Madam Gao, stands back up, still looking down at the girl who has her cornered. "You know, to investigate, Chico's disappearance."