Blood and Snow

Chapter Five

"She's not here again?" Lillian said in dismay. "And she never called in?"

"No, sorry Miss Foxxe."

Lillian walked away from the secretary's desk, worried as hell. Belle now has eight missed calls from her, as well as about thirty text messages. Richard had reassured her this morning that things would be fine, but now Lillian's having a hard time believing it. Even if Belle was mad at her, she still would have answered by now.

Something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

Her worry continued to grow as she walked into her office, glancing at the folder on her desk. 'I should take this to her office...' Lillian thought. The grey-eyed woman snatched the file folder and walked to Belle's office. It was on the other side of the building, but that didn't bother the two because you're not bound to your chair most of the time. If there was an incoming call for you or something important, there's a PA system that is used to summon you back to your office.

...

Belle and Lillian were talking, laughing about one of Lillian's antics when the secretary called for Belle over the PA. It was "a very important caller" who wanted to know if she'd take their case. Belle said a rushed "We'll talk later!" and took off down the hallway. Lillian had never seen Belle run so fast.

...

Lillian chuckled fondly at the memory. She tried shoving the worry in her stomach aside, and opened Belle's office door. The room was very neat and organized, as per Belle's preference, and it was the same size as Lillian's. Her desk was on the left side of the room (facing the right side). A computer sat on the side of the desk, put at an angle, while the mouse and keyboard were in front of the chair, which was pulled in.

There was a small stack of papers on her desk, as well as a bunch of pens in a small holder, with a few pencils thrown into the mix. There was also a small, old-styled lamp on her desk (it was there as more of a joke than for being used, Belle admitted to Lillian the week she put it there, it was to poke fun at all of the old detective movies). In front of the desk sat two identical chairs. Under the chairs, on the green carpet, was a dark red rug, put there to stop the chair legs from ripping the carpet. Unlike Lillian's office, Belle's had a large window on the far wall. The curtains were drawn right now.

On the far wall was a row of filing cabinets and book shelves, the only empty spot was where there's a low, wide cabinet that didn't come up high enough to block most of the window. The shelves were full of books, but unlike the lamp that was just for show, Belle actually had the books there so that she or a guest may read while they are waiting. Lillian smiled, "You sure loved your novels." She said absentmindedly. The woman sighed and put the file on her friend's desk, looking at her friend's handwriting on the papers beside the folder.

Belle always wrote in cursive since high school, it just became a habit of hers. Her handwriting always looked rushed, yet neat. Lillian would have sat down to read it if it wasn't rude to read something that's not for you. She stepped away from the desk and looked at the wall with the door. There were framed pictures on the wall.

Most of the pictures contained Belle and her friends in the foreground, Richard and Lillian being present the most (more of Lillian, really). There were a few well done drawings that others had given her, and a few of Belle's own. But there were no pictures of her family, though, for personal reasons. She smiled at pictures and walked out the door, momentarily forgetting about her worries.

}—————{

"Here we are!" Tyreke said with a small amount of glee. He opened the door and gestured for Belle to come inside. When Belle stepped into the room, she realized that it's the same one from yesterday, only it looks like someone had been searching the room for something. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Because we have to get you some clothes. You can't wear the same outfit for months, can you?"

"Oh." Belle looked towards the door, Happy and Cece walked into the room. Happy was bouncing up and own while Cece just smiled. "Hello," Cece said, "Happy and I are here to help you."

"Oh my gosh, you look tired and pretty at the same time!" Happy shouted.

"Happy, please calm down." Tyreke said, "I would very much appreciate it if you didn't rupture my eardrums."

"Sorry!" Happy said with glee, unfazed by Tyreke's words. Belle smiled, 'I guess they're not all bad...' Belle stared gloomily at the floor without realizing it. Cece's fingers snapping to get her attention brought her out of her thoughts. She looked around, realizing that Tyreke left and Happy was closing the curtains by the window. "There's clothes in some of those crates," Cece nodded at the crates that lined the walls, "Go through them and find some clothes that fit you."

Belle responded with a nervous "Alright" and walked over to the crates.

}—————{

About an hour and twenty minutes later, Belle had gotten nineteen different outfits from the crates, and now she was carrying them in a large box as she and Happy (who volunteered to escort her) headed back to the room Belle was forced to stay in. Most of the outfits looked old, some were probably as old as the second World War. She didn't mind, though. Belle was actually happy with how some of them looked. 'Too bad I'm going to die in one of them... These people... When they're done with me, once they get what they want, they're going to kill me... I've seen their faces... I know their names— well, first names, for the most part... There's no way that they're going to—'

"Hey, Belle?"

Belle flinched, startled out of her train of thought. She looked up from the floor and met Happy's gaze, "Yes?"

"Who do you live with?"

Belle furrowed her eyebrows, "I'm sorry, what?"

Happy playfully rolled her eyes and asked again, "Who do you live with? Y'know, before Flynn and Tyreke basically kidnapped you?"

Belle hesitated, then responded, "I'm... not really willing to answer any personal questions. At the moment." She added that last sentence when they turned a corner and she caught sight of Baron outside the door to her room. He locked eyes with her, making Belle feel uneasy. She really hated being around Baron, he reminded her of Lefte Barbarossa.

It made her all the more afraid of him, because unlike Lefte during high school, Baron is fully capable of killing her. 'Pretty sure that he really wants to be the one to kill me.' Belle thought of her nightmare and shivered, 'Please tell me that I'm not going to have nightmares like that the entire time I'm here.'

Baron grumbled in a monotone voice, "Took you long enough."

"S-Sorry..."

"Baron, be nice!" Happy scolded him, "You don't want her to die from a heart attack before-!"

"Alright! Alright already!" He said, then he turned his glare to Belle, "Just get in your room and get ready for the day or something!"

Belle ran into the room before Happy could scold Baron again for yelling. She closed the door, then set the box down in the corner of the room. She heard Happy and Baron arguing outside of the room and tried her best to tune them out.