Bitter Rose [Diabolik Lovers]

Prologue

Translations:

Ma petite oiseau chanteur - My little songbird

Je t'aime, toi imbécile - I love you, you idiot

Dieu - God

Merci - Thank(s)

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Rule One: Do not speak unless spoken to.

Rule Two: Do not show weakness.

Rule Three: All orders must be followed without question.

Rule Four: Never let anything but a smile cross your face in public.

Rule Five: Three meals a day must be eaten, and food must be approved before consumption.

Rule Six: Only wear approved clothes. All ink, dye, and piercings are forbidden.

Rule Seven: Any grade below an A is not tolerated.

Rule Eight: Lights out is at nine thirty.

Rule Nine: You must be given permission before leaving the house, and are to be exactly where you say you are.

Rule Ten: Talking to the press outside of specifically scripted answers is prohibited.

Any broken rules will result in a punishment. Any disclosure about the nature or existence of said punishments will result in erasure.

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Rubbing her scratchy eyes, Rose shifted impatiently, staring blearily at the glowing screen in front of her. Waiting was agonizing, and her butt was aching from the hard desk chair she'd forced herself to sit in for about an hour now. Sure, she could have sat elsewhere, but she worried that she'd fall asleep if she sat somewhere comfier, so the plastic hell that was her study chair became the only option.

Hearing the door creak open, Rose turned around in time to get blinded by the sudden light as her little sister, Alaine, flicked the switch by her door. "You're going to go blind sitting in such a dark room, Marie," Alaine scolded, and Rose sighed, slumping down in her chair.

"Merci ma petit oiseau chanteur," Rose said softly, holding her arms out. Alaine darted forward and made herself comfortable in Rose's lap, curling up as Rose wrapped her arms around her beloved sister. Together they stared at the laptop screen, speaking softly to one another about mundane things for the next thirteen minutes until, with an accompanying shriek from Alaine, the computer dinged.

"It's from her! What's it say, Marie? What's it say!?" Alaine squeaked, hopping around nervously on her toes as Rose opened the email anxiously, scanning the contents.

"Merci Dieu, she believes me!" Rose cried, leaping up and dancing around with Alaine as a huge weight dropped off her shoulders. However, their celebration was cut short by another ding, this time an unwanted one. Both their smiles dropped as they read the sender, and Rose blocked the monitor from Alaine's view quickly. "Oiseau chanteur, could you go and put Ash to bed? Tell him I'll be there in a moment to read to him," Rose instructed.

After a tense moment of stubborn silence, Alaine wrapped her arms around Rose. "Alright, Marie. Je t'aime, toi imbécile," she said softly, walking out the door without a second glance. Turning back to the laptop with a sigh, Rose opened the email from Damien. Attached was a plane ticket, a set of packing instructions, and an address. There was no returning date.

Ignoring the packing list, Rose yanked her suitcase out from under her bed, chucking it on the flower printed cream sheets with more than a little pent-up aggression. Rose began sloppily folding clothes into small squares, stuffing them in without a set pattern. Making them all fit together with lots of room to spare was as difficult as putting together a jigsaw puzzle that had been badly chewed by a dog, but she managed. More accurately, Rose cursed out the suitcase and clothes and maybe threatened to kill them all with fire several times. Thankfully, Rose didn't need to make good on her threats--though she most definitely would have--as her clothes finally managed to shove themselves in her suitcase correctly.

Then in went her laptop, chargers, Kindle--she preferred real books, but couldn't fit over a hundred in one suitcase, so the Kindle would have to do, her two favorite stuffed foxes, the family photos, and her toiletries. Then, Rose had to sit on her suitcase to try and close it, which ended with her falling off and hitting her elbow. Good job, Rosemarie.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Rose managed to get back on her feet, tears prickling in her eyes from the throbbing in her elbow. Glancing around her room for what may be the last time, Rose took in the dusky lavender walls, the dented ceiling--Asher threw his toy elephant at it a year ago--that Miri had insisted Rose paint sky blue, the books crammed into every nook and cranny possible, and the silly scribbles Mireille had added to the walls with crayon in her budding artist phase.

Shoving her suitcase to the floor (when will the abuse end?) Rose flopped on her bed, staring up at the glow in the dark stars Alaine had pasted over her bed to keep Rose from freaking out when she woke from nightmares. There were so many happy memories in this room alone, despite none of the occupants thinking of this house as home. Feeling the pricking of tears grow into blurred vision, Rose angrily scrubbed at her eyes, refusing to cry even in the privacy of her own room. Don't show weakness.

Rose's mind drifted to everything she had done in the past two weeks. She'd broken as many rules as she'd allowed herself too. She'd back talked like crazy and refused to follow orders; nothing major, of course, but enough to get punished severely for it. She'd voiced her opinions at a board meeting, which had gotten her six hours in the Nightmare Room. She'd stopped eating two days ago after gorging herself on sweets. She'd donated all her clothes in favor of ones she preferred, and worst of all, she'd dyed the tips of her hair and gotten a tattoo. A tattoo. Rose was surprised Damien hadn't just ended her. She supposed wherever he was sending her was much worse than a bullet through her brain.

"Wosie?" The little voice stirred Rose from her dark thoughts, and she sat up to see Ash peeking into her room, clutching his stuffed elephant Tutu. His dark curls were mussed, and he had on his elephant footie pajamas. Ash had obviously been in bed but had probably refused to stay there without his story. Plastering a sweet smile on her face, Rose got up and swung Ash up into her arms, throwing him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and running down the hall as he laughed.

Setting Ash down in his bed, Rose grabbed Danny the Champion of the World, the current book she was reading him, and began, voicing all the characters. The door swung open, and Miri entered, sitting down by the entrance to listen. Though Miri insisted she was much too old for stories, the rambunctious eight-year-old never passed up the opportunity to hear Asher's, though she sat right by the door and would vanish the instant it was done. Glancing at the chocolate skinned little girl, Rose caught her eye, making Miri stick her tongue out. Returning the gesture, Rose continued reading, able to forget the impending goodbyes for a little while as she lost herself in the relaxing normality of the daily bedtime routine. For the last time.

What are you doing? Are you insane? Do you honestly believe this will work, you useless little nothing? You've killed them all.

Shut up.

This. Took. So. Long. To. Write. I have six separate docs for this story because I kept rewriting it after getting like six chapters done. I'm finally kind of happy with it, so I hope at least one person genuinely enjoys it because that's why I post.

~ Avie