Dark Paradise (Lana Del Rey Fan Fiction)...

Chapter 1: Blue Velvet ...

"Blue velvet,

But in my heart, there'll always be,

Precious and warm, a memory,

Through the years,

And I still can see blue velvet, thought my tears..."

Lizzy smiled and excused herself from the giggling group of gossiping women she had to accompany. She headed up three flights of stairs from the ballroom, wanting some privacy. As she reached the whites and golds of the French door, she looked back at the crowd below, knowing it would be her life 'till the day she died.

It was another usual night in the Grant Mansion. The elegant party with the richest business men and women, celebrities, even mayors filled the large ballroom. Every single week, Lizzy had to endure this night merrily. Never had she worn the same dress for each event the parties were held for-not even the same jewellery! With her father keeping a constant eye on his little girl, Lizzy was kept pampered and pure.

Sighing, Lizzy opened the French doors, letting the cool summer breeze come in, and the soft glow of the silver moonlight illuminate her pale, golden olive skin. She walked towards the edge and leaned against the creamy white rails. Closing her eyes, she sighed once more.

Each and every night, she had always dreamt, if not, thought of going outside the lush safety of her fathers home. To see the world. The farthest she had gone was to the Bronx Zoo, and that was when she was seven years young-and where a tragic accident took the lives of her mother and beloved older brother.

Gazing through the quiet maze garden, she could see couples at the very bottom, celebrating with champagne, or giving each other tender kisses. Another reason to escape this elegant, golden cage, Lizzy thought. She wanted to marry. Or even just a fraction of freedom would be enough to fill her heart with love.

Why did her father keep her locked in the mansion? Robert kept all his daughters who have yet to marry in his large, lonely mansion-and it was only Lizzy now. Perhaps fear of losing her as well. Whatever it was Lizzy didn't know, nor care. All she wanted, all she wished, all she needed, was freedom.

She wanted to do many things in her life. Freedom was the key to releasing them all. She wanted to travel. She knew that she would one day be married, but Lizzy wanted to live life without an emotion, love, weighing her down. She knew nothing of the outside world. The only things she knew were in her fantasies. And she wished for them to be as true as possible.

She was maturing and excelling in her home school college greatly. Just a fortnight and she would be nineteen.

All Lizzy's sisters were either married or betrothed to rich, handsome men. But she, the youngest of the G. sisters, was yet to be engaged. Daddy will marry me off to a rich, handsome man as well. Lizzy couldn't help but ponder about that fact. Just the very thought made her shudder. She didn't want to marry a cruel man, no matter how rich. Her eldest sister, Grace, was sent off to marry a thirty eight year old man when she was only twenty. Now, She lives locked up with him, sometimes abused, but most of the time insulted and spat on. Robert knew nothing about the cruel secrets about his daughters marriages.

Lizzy remembered the day her sister Grace came to visit, bringing her abusive husband of course. She remembered when they were in Grace's old room. That's when Grace revealed her secret. Lizzy was shocked to the bone. She knew that Grace's husband was a stern man, but she didn't think a man would ever harm their wife. The woman who they commit their lives forever for. Lizzy cried along with Grace.

"We need to tell daddy!" Lizzy cried pleadingly. It hurt her to see her sister, whom she looked upon to, hurt; covered with scars and bruises.