The Rose Diaries Ch. 03

"Belle. Our silent student. Don't suppose you'd speak for me, would you?" Miss A.'s inquiry was met with disapproval in the form of Belle's shaking head.

"Well then. Belle, you have a record of being one of the most changed girls to ever come into this house. Now, you are always part of the top four. My question is more of an accusation. Did you or did you not take the blame in no less than four different scenarios for four different girls?"

Belle shook his head. Peter could see that his hands were clenched behind his back into fists.

"You deny it? So, then I am wrong?" Her voice rose in anger.

Belle nodded.

"Well that's just unacceptable. The fact that you could stand on that stage and lie to me is unbelievable. You think you are doing these girls favors but you only make their lives worse. Katelynn, if you would." By the end of her rant, she had sounded insulted. Peter steadied himself.

"Sorry Belle." He heard all the collars in the row of girl's beep and he began to panic. Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

He was back on the floor in seconds squirming in pain as he struggled to breath as the electric shocks spread through his body in flashes of white hot pain. He couldn't see anything through his own tears.

"That's good." He heard Miss A. call from somewhere far away and the collars all turned off at once. There was the sounds of pain and agony echoing off the stage. "Don't be a hero Belle. If someone makes a mistake, then you let them suffer for it. They'll only drag you down with them. I know all four girls you covered for and they will be disciplined further for your actions. I'm sorry for doing your job there, Katelynn." Miss A. spoke as he climbed back to his feet panting. He gasped for breath. He extended a hand down to Lily who took it with a smile. As he pulled her up he couldn't help but notice how light she was.

"That's okay, Amanda. I'm sorry that my student failed to such a degree. I'll have to keep her on a tighter leash." Miss K. spoke amongst the groans of pain. "Who's our next lucky contestant?" She joked, and Miss A. chuckled.

"Jasmine! Please take the stage if you would." Peter watched as she did so. Jasmine's relaxing appearance from earlier was now shattered. She limped over to the stage and went to rest on the pole to catch her breath. She panted until she curtseyed and tried to straighten up. She cleared her throat.

"Good," She struggled to force the word out, "Good morning, Miss A." She finished and wiped her face.

"You already greeted me but thank you. Jasmine, I have no accusations for you. I just wanted to personally congratulate you on your hard work and large improvements since we last saw each other. I'm rewarding you with a day off tomorrow." Miss A. sounded cheerful again. Jasmine nodded.

"Thank you so much, Miss A." She tried to sound as thankful and overjoyed as possible but struggled. Peter could hardly blame her. The rest of the girls were suffering in silence together. He was out of breath just looking at her.

"It is my pleasure. That concludes my interviews for now. We will be retiring for a bit and then we will continue. Until then girls you may converse politely amongst yourselves. Ladies, if I could get a word in private?" He heard them get up and shuffle until they vanished with the sound of a door closing. He watched Jasmine steady herself on the pole and then completely collapse to her knees.

"You okay, Jasmine?" Tulip called, and he saw Jasmine extend a thumbs-up shakily. Tulip sighed.

"Something's up." She said sitting down and then lying on her back. "This isn't normal. Miss A.'s on edge, Miss K.'s too quiet, and those questions aren't the same they always ask." She shot a look at Peter with her hardened brown eyes as she sat back up. "It's you. You're the problem." She exclaimed suddenly.

"Me?" Peter pointed to himself as he looked behind him in confusion.

"Yeah, you. What the hell else could it be?" She accused as he frowned. Did she know that he had hurt Miss I. too?

"It can't be me. I haven't even been here for more than a day!" He protested. Lily nodded.

"Could just be business trouble. You know how sometimes they use us to take out their personal problems."

The lights flickered off suddenly leaving the group in pitch-blackness. Another group of lights turned on revealing the room in its entirety. In the middle row, with her feet up against the chair in front of her, sat another woman. She laughed as they recoiled in surprise. She was dressed in the same formal and nearly masculine fashion as Miss K. She was so relaxed in the seats, but her face was plastered with a cruel smirk.

"Also, sometimes for fun!" She exclaimed, her voice was overflowing with joy as he heard his collar beep and he collapsed to his knees as more mild shock tore through him. He looked around.

Lily was absolutely terrified of her. She barely could stop herself from shaking but her eyes went wide with absolute fear and he saw her attempt to take a small step back. The group of girls struggled to get back up before she laughed.

"Tsk, tsk," She mocked as she watched them with glee, "No greeting girls?" Another shock brought him right back down.

"Good morning, Miss R." The group strained as they rose back up only to fall once more. He tried to scream but as usual found himself unable.

"No girls, like you mean it! You have to sound happy to see me." She laughed to herself. Another monster, he thought. Her name sounded oddly familiar to Peter. "You all make this far too easy to have fun." She leaned up in her chair and clapped her hands.

"Which one of you fuckups made the naughty list this week? You all made mistakes but who's the real loser here? Got any guesses? My money is on Poppy." She smirked once more. A rather small girl who had been hiding in the back cringed at the sound of what seemed to be her name.

"Doesn't matter to me! You're all a bunch of pathetic losers who no one bothered to look for. I'd call you all worthless virgins but well..." She trailed off. He watched as all the girls writhed a bit. That insult seemed to resonate with them. She chuckled at that. She stood up and walked closer to the stage. "Does that hurt? Knowing that your friends, family, and others are going about their day as if nothing had every changed. Do you think that your mothers are still setting places for you for holidays? Well, the ones who still have moms." She laughed to herself. One of the girls raised her hand. She was tall and shaking at the prospect of addressing Miss R. She wore a pink schoolgirls outfit with soft white stockings. Her long blonde hair flowing far beyond her shoulders. It wasn't natural though, he could see darkened spots on the top of her head.

"Go ahead, Clover. Let's see if that brain is good for something." She said taking a seat in the front row.

"Miss R. Thank you for allowing me to speak. But, the other Misses left us to talk. I don't think-"Miss R. shushed her loudly.

"Well that's just a lie. If you did, then I wouldn't have to hear that bullshit excuse. Seems your mouth is only good for one thing. Come here, Clover." The girl hesitantly stepped off the stage and over to Miss R. who shuffled in her seat before dropping her pants and opening her leg. As soon as Clover came close enough, she forced her between them and sighed.

"Good girl." She moaned as she grabbed hold of the back of her head and held her there. Peter looked horrified.

"New girl!" She shouted at him. He looked at her. "Name!" Her voice boomed.

"D-Doll." He answered as quickly as he could. She eyed him up and down.

"Huh. By the way Doll, have you heard of this revolutionary new technology called cameras?" She mocked sarcastically. He shuddered and nodded.

"Yes." He answered. He could see her shift in her chair.

"I saw what you did. Such a naughty girl, aren't you? Don't worry, no one here will tell." She leaned back. "Ooh, what a good little slut you are. I see all that cock still hasn't spoiled your appetite." She cooed to Clover. He saw struggle against Miss R.'s embrace before relaxing. He looked at her with confusion.

"Why? Why would you do that?" She laughed at his response. His cheeks grew flush and hot at her laugh. It wasn't cute. It was cruel and cold. She was nothing like Miss K. She was by some hellish fluke even worse.

"For fun! I have to find it somewhere." She muttered glancing down at Clover with disappointment. The hall grew silent and Lily tugged at his sleeve and shook her head. Was it a warning? Her eyes were still filled with fear.

The hall doors opened once more, and the women returned buzzing with conversation. They stopped and grew silent eyeing the stage.

"Okay girls, I hope you had a nice chat." Miss A. said not looking up from her tablet. She was doing something he could not see quite intensely.

"Hello Amanda!" Miss R. called closing her legs and kicking Clover off her. Clover coughed, wiped her mouth, and struggled to stand as Miss R. pulled back up her pants.

"Ah! Roxanne!" Miss A. called back looking over to her. "I'm so glad you joined us. You got my message, right?" Miss R. turned around in her chair and nodded.

"Sure did. I'll get those notes to you by this evening." Miss A. was smiled brightly at the response.

"No rush. Are you having some fun over there?" She gestured to Clover who was slowly climbing back on stage. Miss R. laughed again.

"Always. I just came to supervise. This is my favorite day after all. Kit-Kat could tell you." Miss K. laughed and stuck her middle finger out in jest.

"Same old Roxy. I like," Her voice rose as she eyed the stage, "how every single one of these girls is absolutely terrified right now. I mean, they were earlier, but this is outstanding."

"Well now that the terrible twosome is together they'll probably be like that all day." Miss B. responded and the group laughed. Miss K. nearly skipped to take a seat next to Miss R. who hugged her as she sat down. The two smiled. He felt like his heart was going to explode by the way they looked at him together. Beads of sweat began to drip down his face as his throat ran dry.

"We're just good at our jobs." Miss R. said with a grin. He looked at Miss B. with fear in his eyes. Her and Miss A. were casually conversing about something. She met his vision for a second and flashed him a sweet smile.

"Everything's going to be okay." She seemed to say but Peter still felt the aching coldness of despair begin to crawl up his body. He wanted to be anywhere else. He wanted any of the other women to tell him to leave their sight. He couldn't stand the way they looked at him. The same fearsome look Miss K. had given him when they were in the shower.

"So, change in plans," Miss A. began tucking her tablet underneath her arm to address the stage. "You all will stay under the watchful eye of Miss K. and Miss R. for a bit longer. I hope you all have a wonderful day. I'll see everyone for dinner! Bye girls!" Miss A. waved as she turned on her heels and vanished with Miss S. and quickly following behind. Miss I. and Miss B. stood together for a second before Miss I. whispered something and Miss B. nodded before following her out.

"Wait, Amanda! Any restrictions?" Miss R. yelled after them kneeling in her seat as she turned around.

"They still need to work but feel free to leave the theatre!" She shouted back. Miss R. turned and waited to hear the door shut. She then began to smile again.

"Kitty-Kat!" She exclaimed shaking Miss K.'s shoulder. Miss K. rolled her eyes at the nickname.

"What's up Roxy?"

"It's been honestly ages. I hate when work keeps us separate." Miss K. chuckled at the comment before turning attention to the stage.

"It's literally work that brought us together."

"Yeah! Yeah, I know but you keep getting all the fun projects and I'm stuck with the old ones." Miss R. pouted.

"You want a project?" Miss K.'s smiled as her eyes locked with his. He cast his gaze down. "Doll! Have you met Miss R.?" She shouted. He jumped a bit before nodding yes.

"Yes."

"Yes, WHAT?!" She shouted back. He fell backwards at the sudden outburst.

"YES, MISS K.!" He yelled back before whimpering a bit. The two women stifled a laugh. The other girls shifted uncomfortably.

"So, that's Doll. She's jumpy, disrespectful, and emotional." Miss K. crossed her legs.

"Probably violent too." Miss R. said with a grin. He could almost hear his heart beating in his ears. He swallowed hard and tried to keep his worry from showing on his face. "I'm kind of in love with her to be honest." She blurted out. Miss K. laughed loudly at that.

"You?"

"Yes! God, I get all excited imagining what she sounds like. You know I have like a thing for the defiant ones." Miss R. bit her bottom lip and blushed. He couldn't believe his eyes.

Was she getting turned on by this?
"God, you're weird. Still, Beth forbid me from doing anything too harsh. And to be fair, harsh is pretty much your M.O." Miss K. rolled her eyes at that comment.

"What? I can tone it down." She muttered with a pout. She crossed her arms and sulked in her chair.

"I'd like to see you try." Miss K. scoffed.

"Okay, I can do this." She stood up and dusted herself off. She scratched her head as she undid her hair tie and let her brown hair fall to her shoulders. "Candice?" She called out to the ceiling. It crackled to life at her call.

"Oh! Hey Roxanne! Really good to see you! I've been like super busy with all the reports and stuff, so I didn't get a chance to get breakfast. Anyway, what's up, what do you need? I'm here for you." Miss C.'s hyperactive voice chattered back. She sounded a bit off today as well. Peter couldn't help but balk at the word reports. Was this some weird fucked up business? What the hell was this place?

"Good to hear from you too. I know you must be super busy-" She began before he heard Miss C.'s giggle.

"Busy? No way! I'm always around to get a call from my good friend Roxanne. I mean I just like literally look at screens all day and since you have everyone in one room then I pretty much only monitor this one room. So, what's up?"

"I was getting to that. Can you page Isabelle for me? I want to use her studio for a lesson."

"Oh! Izzie is in there right now. Give me one second and I'll get right back to you." He heard the intercom crackle off before Miss K. looked up and then back at her friend.

"We have phones though. You could have just called her directly." She said much to Miss R.'s annoyance.

"I like involving Candice. You have no idea how bored that poor girl gets sometimes." She said still staring up.

"I can imagine." Miss K. answered leaning back in her chair.

"So, what's going on over there, girls?" No one answered. They just tried to look away and pray that she wasn't addressing any of them. She laughed.

"It's okay! It's just a question. You know you all can sit down now, right?" The girls collapsed to their knees as if they were waiting this entire time to hear that. Most of them were completely out of breath. The others were trying hard not to let their pain show. Miss R. couldn't help but admire their pitiful state with a coy glance. She smiled before returning to wait for Miss C.'s response.

"Oh, I guess not." Miss K. muttered. "Today's group is weird isn't it? Not the bonding lesson plans that I expected. Still, some interesting developments. Hey, Belle, will you speak for me?" Miss K. asked. Peter heard the jingling as he watched him respond with another nod.

"Why Belle? I thought I taught you better." Belle opened his mouth to respond before clearing his throat.

"I wanted to and I'm sorry." He said curtly. His voice was most definitely masculine and rough. Not anything like the way, the other girls spoke. He was nearly startled by his voice as was Miss R. who leaned forward in excitement.

"Oh shit! She's not a mute?" She blurted out and Miss K. nodded.

"She took a vow of silence for me. I can ask her to talk for me, but I usually choose not to. Belle, I'm extremely disappointed in your behavior. I don't understand it and I'm honestly hurt by your actions. You will be punished but I have yet to decide how I want to hurt you yet." She said. Her disappointment seeped through with her ever word. A mixture of anger and sadness.

"I'm sorry everyone. I didn't mean to kill this wonderful mood." He resisted the urge to laugh and she sighed loudly obviously exasperated from all this.

"Hey!" The intercom resurrected once more. "So, Izzie isn't busy right now and she'd love to help. If you want to head over there now or later, she said she'll be there for most of the day. She did have teensy little request though. She wants you to send Doll over now. Cool?"

"Sure. I don't know what she wants but I'm okay with that. She just saw her yesterday maybe just needs to finish her up. Doll, you may leave. Don't dawdle, don't walk away, don't go anywhere else. If I find out you did that, I'm going to make sure you regret it. Do you understand?" Peter nodded at the threat before he stood up.

"Miss K.?" Lily spoke standing as well.

"Yes, my dear?" Miss K.'s voice changed immediately from angry to soothing and kind.

"Can I go with her? She probably doesn't even know where we are, and I'll make sure she gets there fine."

"Of course. Unlike your dear sister, I am certain that you will do the right thing. Hurry along you two." She said shooing them off. Lily grabbed him and nearly sprinted off the stage and back into the dining hall. It was quiet and there was no one left. She looked around before rushing him out into the main hall.

"Salon is just down this hall. So, we can't wait too long but," She stopped looked around quickly and the pulled him into a smaller empty room.

"This a blind spot. Old wiring keeps them from setting up cameras and junk. Miss C. is not watching us. She'll probably be chatting with Miss I." She spoke quickly. He nodded. "So, Peter, let it out." She said suddenly, and he paused.

"W-What?" She shook her head.

"We don't have time for games dude. You and I are both super upset. So," She started sniffling. "W-w-we c-ca-can cry here for a bit." He watched her eyes water as she sunk to her knees and started to openly weep. At first, he was scared. He had taken this for another cruel trick. A way to get him to drop his guard for another horrible reprisal. He waited for a moment expecting Miss K. and Miss R. to pop out from behind the curtains and hurt him. He watched her face twist and churn into a pure picture of despair. Her sobs echoed off every single corner of the room. His own stomach turned sour at her display. Yet, he waited.

But no one came. No reprisal. He just sat there and watched her cry. His vision became a bit blurry and he raised his hand to his eyes to feel himself begin to cry.

"My name is James by the way." She whimpered. He sunk down next to her and hugged her.

"Thank you." He said, his eyes watering as he held her tightly. She held him close.

"We're stuck in this hell. I didn't deserve this. You don't deserve this. But we got to look out for each other." She sobbed. He rested his face on her shoulder. "Brian gets that. That's Belle's real name. He gets that more than anyone. He's sacrificed so much for us. He-" Peter cut her off with his own wails to join her requiem of sorrow. He hugged her tighter and tighter as he buried his head deep her into her. He felt her grab hold of the back of his head and cry into his ear. The two sobbed together until they couldn't anymore. Lily wiped her face with the back of her hand and sniffled.

"Thank you." He said returning to his feet with her. She nodded.

"Always." She hurried him out of the room and towards the salon. Peter followed her with a newfound bond and trust. But also, a singular question in his mind.