What's that? Is that an update I see? I think it is :D HOORAAAY!

That's right everybody, I HAVE UPDATED ONCE AGAIN!

AAAAAnd, I plan to do so more often :D

Of course, that may not work out as well as I'd like to hope, but promise I'll try my best!

Anyway, this chapter is rather exciting (at least I like to think so), and I've even included a little surprise to say sorry for the lack of updates

SO ENJOY AND REVIEW!

LEAF POV

I had been sitting in the dark for hours now. Time had been dragging to the point where I was almost certain it had stopped completely, and I was beginning to grow weary of my inability to see.
I looked to my right for the umpteenth time, finding nothing but the silhouetted body of a boy lost in a peaceful and undisturbed slumber.

How could he sleep so easily in such a horrible place? It wasn't fair.

Caught in a fit of jealously, I whipped my head away from his sprawled out body and slammed it against the stone wall behind me. It hurt, but I couldn't focus on the pain. My mind had already wandered away from me to the one possibility I couldn't bear to consider. Maybe Ash was right.

After all, he did have a good point. Maybe I should befriend my fellow captives. Maybe I should submit to my new job description. Maybe I should accept my new fate. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Nothing was certain anymore. It was driving me insane.

But Ash's point was valid nonetheless, and I couldn't ignore it, no matter how hard I tried. I couldn't survive this place on my own. I needed allies, someone to have my back, to protect me should I need it. I needed someone on my side.

I had made a horrible first impression, but it was reversible. They must have understood what I was going through. After all, we had all gone through the same thing. I had just revealed my pain in a different, more aggressive way. It was simple. I just had to swallow my pride and ask for a second chance. They would understand. They had to understand. I needed them. Without those girls by my side, I had no chance in hell of survival.

MISTY POV

There was another girl. She must have gotten herself into some sort of trouble because when she entered our tiny room she looked miserable. I mean, we were all pretty miserable, but in her case it was extreme. Almost deathly.

It had been a rough night. The so-called 'beds' were nothing more than a few thin sheets of cotton that had been crudely sewn together, and so constantly moved about. Pillows were not provided and so I found myself fashioning my own by scrunching up the moldy apron from my newly recycled uniform. The smell was horrible, but at least my head had some support. As for something to cover my body, all we were given was a large potato sack which we could crawl into like a sleeping bag. Needless to say, the sack didn't provide much warmth. I thought I would die from hypothermia. I didn't complain though; it wouldn't have helped.

From her condition, I could see that the other girl had spent the night in far worse conditions. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot, and her lips were chapped and stiff. She was covered in dirt and I spotted a few cobwebs hanging from the hem of her skirt. She sat quietly in the corner, legs crossed and head bent towards her lap, where she played with her fingers. Suddenly, as if sensing my gaze, her head snapped up.

"What?" she asked accusingly.

"Oh, I – uh… nothing," I mumbled, not knowing how to respond.

The girl let out a large sigh, before settling into the wall behind her. She spent a few moments staring into space, before coming back to reality and staring directly into my eyes.

"Look, I didn't mean to snap at you," her voice was sturdy, despite her broken appearance.

I gave her a weak smile and glanced around the room. Sure enough, the eyes of both May and Dawn were glued to the brunette. This must have been some kind of breakthrough.

"Don't worry about it." I replied warmly, "After all, we're in a pretty horrible situation."
A small smile graced her tired lips, as though she were grateful of my response.

"I'm Misty, by the way."

The girl hesitated, her sapphire eyes drawn to the ground in front of her. I could feel the two girls watching us lean forward in anticipation.

Finally, she spoke.

"Leaf." her gaze did not shift from the stone surrounding her, "My name is Leaf."

"Well," Dawn spoke up, "that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Leaf began to retaliate, before reconsidering and sinking back down into the wall.

"I know… I'm sorry."

Surprisingly, it was May who was first to respond. "It's okay." She nodded in Leaf's direction, "I know what you're going through."

"Exactly."

Before anyone could blink, Leaf was up on her feet and striding over to the head of the room.

"Listen, I have a proposal."

She looked expectantly at all of us, although no one knew quite what to say. A proposal? What did she mean?

"And just what kind of proposal would that be?" Dawn asked sarcastically. The tension between the two was as thick as smoke.
"Cut the attitude, okay? I'm trying to be nice, here." Leaf was trying desperately to take the high road, but I could tell she would snap if pushed any further. I shot Dawn a look of warning. I wanted to hear Leaf talk.

"Right, sorry. Continue." Thankfully, Dawn recognized my annoyance and yielded to the brunette before her.

"As I was saying," Leaf continued, unfazed, "I have a proposal. I propose an alliance."
"A what?" I questioned.

"An alliance." Leaf repeated slightly louder, as though I was deaf.

"Yeah, I got that," I barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes, "but what exactly does that mean?"

"It means that the four of us stick together. You know, watch each other's backs?" Leaf's confidence was inspiring. I didn't understand how she could look so downtrodden, yet have so much spark.
"How would that help?" asked May, joining the conversation once again.
"Well, for starters it would keep us alive."

Her reply was light and indifferent, yet her words left a stain on our ever-ceasing innocence.

"W-what do you mean?" May's eyes looked uneasily around the room, seeking out the knowledge kept from her grasp.

This reaction surprised Leaf, and she turned towards Dawn, features overcome with judgment.

"You didn't tell them." It wasn't a question.

"No, not yet." Dawn's guilt was clear, and its presence did nothing but send me down a spiral of panic.

"Tell us what?" I asked, my voice desperate. What were they keeping from me? I needed to know. Apparently, my life was on the line.

Leaf was the one to answer, although her gaze did not shift from Dawn's.

"The previous maids here held a rally a few weeks ago in an attempt to get better treatment as staff, but the bastards running this place killed them for being 'disrespectful'." Leaf spat out the last word, her voice full of disgust.

But I was speechless.

'What… did you… just say?" May pushed herself onto her feet and cautiously walked forward.

Dawn sighed, accepting her fate as the bad-news-bringer. She too began to stand and walk towards the rest of us.

"It's true. They're dead. Every single one of them," She had pain in her eyes, but she masked it well.

"Oh my god," It was all I could say.

"B-but what does that mean for us? If we mess up…" May couldn't bring herself to finish, the horror was overbearing.

"But we won't mess up."

Everyone's heads swerved towards Leaf, now with both hands on her hips as she stared us all down.

"Don't tell me you've already forgotten my proposal?"

The alliance, right. Such a simple idea, but could it really protect us? We're we really stronger united than we were alone? We weren't exactly the best of friends, but did that even matter? This was not an emotional bargain; it was simply business. One captive watching out for another. It could be the difference between life and death in here. And, at the end of the day, what did we have to loose?

LEAF POV

My plan was a huge success. I had convinced the girls to join with me in the battle against our ever-lingering fate. Misty had jumped on board straight away, and May had soon followed. Dawn had been a little more reluctant, but peer pressure had proved persuasive enough, and she was soon on our side.

The four of us were now united, and I found myself relax a little at the thought of no longer being alone in this struggle. It was as though a huge weight had been lifted.

But now I had to work. And work was hard. Of course, I was used to cleaning for my family, but not like this. This was back-breaking torture.

I was in the middle of scrubbing wildly, trying to remove a permanent stain from the 3rd step of the grand staircase, when I heard it.

The scream was piercing, and it sounded oddly familiar.

Without a second's thought, I had dropped my sponge and sprinted in the direction of the bone-chilling sound. I found myself face-to-face with a heavy wooden door and shoved it open with all my might.

What I found was petrifying.

Misty sat in the corner of the room, her knees drawn up towards her chest and her hands clutching at her head. Her expression was one of absolute distress and she seemed to be rocking herself slightly back and forth, as though she was trying to produce a dreamland free of the horror that surrounded her.

But all of these things I noticed later. Because what had originally caught my eye the moment the door had swung open was the blood. There was so much blood. And Misty was covered in it.

"Oh my god!" It was only phrase in my vocabulary that I could relate to the moment. But, even so, it did not seem appropriate, "What the hell happened!"

Misty's hands drew away from her now deep red hair and lingered before her cerulean eyes "H-help me…"

"Shit, hang on" I scurried across the room and fell down next to her, landing directly in the large pool of blood that dominated the area. I didn't care, though. It wasn't my job to be fragile.

Misty looked up at me. I could see the gratitude in her eyes, but more than anything I noticed the slight green tinge creeping into her cheeks. I knew what would come next.

I grabbed the bucket lying next to her and shoved it into her bloody fingers. Misty thrust her head inside and I tried to remain composed as the nauseating smell wafted into the air. Gently, I reached out and patted her back in a reassuring manner.

"Calm down, Misty. It'll be okay."

When she finished throwing up, Misty chucked the bucket aside and turned to me.

"I-I don't know what happened" She explained, her manner slowly descending into desperation, "I just walked in and… the bucket…blood…" Her eyes began to glaze over as she recalled the traumatic moment.

"It's okay, I get the picture" I didn't want her to force the memory. It was better off forgotten.

With one final comforting pat, I pushed myself off the ground and began to survey the room. It didn't take me long to locate the problem. Above the door Misty had come through dangled a bundle of broken string. I connected the dots instantaneously and deducted the cause of the blood shower. Kneeling down behind Misty's crumpled form I discovered yet another loose bit of string. Disgusted, I took it in my hand and crushed it in my fist.

"Pathetic."

I spat out the words, startling Misty who was yanked out from her thoughts.

"W-what is it?" She stuttered.

"This was some kind of sick prank. You've must've triggered it when you opened the door." I did not understand what kind of despicable bastard could do something so… repulsive. The very idea was enough to make me gag.

"Leaf, I need to get clean," I turned my attention towards the bloodstained girl before me, who had surprisingly managed to pull herself together, "I can't stay like this."

She looked at me pleadingly, and I knew I had to help.

"I know, give me a second to think."

We couldn't stay here, someone would find us and we'd be in trouble for sure. How much trouble, I didn't know, but I couldn't risk it. We were allies now, and I had to help her out. But if anyone saw us, we were screwed. That meant we couldn't use the kitchen sink, or any of the bathrooms. Not only were they in authority territory, but I had absolutely no idea where they were. And we couldn't waste time scrambling about the mansion, especially with Misty being the wreck she was.

Think, Leaf. Think.

There had to be a solution. There just had to be.

Then I remembered. My mind had automatically taken me back to my arrival. It had been late, but the night was clear and I recalled seeing the eerily beautiful light of the moon as it reflected off the stillness of the lake.

The lake. So simple. We just had to get outside and everything would be fine. We just had to get outside.

GARY POV

I was constantly amazing myself. I mean, how was it possible for just one guy to be so remarkably and overwhelmingly great. It was a mystery.

Each prank I pulled was greater than the last, and my latest one was no exception.

The girl was a complete wreck. She had an impressive scream, but she really strove for perfection when she fell to her knees and rocked herself out of insanity. A true performer: the best kind of victim.

I was currently hidden behind the door to the next room, sitting against its sturdy wood and silently laughing my ass off. There really was nothing quite like a bucket of sheep's blood to properly welcome new staff. My own blood was boiling as I replayed the entire thing in my head. The door opening. The string snapping. The bucket falling. The girl screaming. It was like an art form in itself.

But the best part was yet to come. No, the best part I would be able to enjoy for weeks. After all, the girl would be forced to remain in her uniform, covered in the constant reminder that she was worthless to us. That she meant nothing.

Of course, eventually the smell would get unbearable and we would be forced to issue her another rag to wear, but I could enjoy her pain while it lasted.

Just as I was beginning to compose myself, I heard a door swing open and slam against the old stone walls, followed by a terror-stricken gasp. Someone had found her.

"Oh my god!"

I got on my knees and peered around the door to see who it was.

"What the hell happened!"

Another maid. Excellent. Now I could traumatize two birds with one stone.

"H-help me…" The bloody mess of a girl was a statue, unable to make eye contact. Hilarious.

"Shit, hang on" The new maid rushed over to her, unsure of what to do. I took this time to observe her, scanning for any weaknesses I could abuse.

What I saw was…interesting.

She didn't cower from the blood, a quality I had rarely found in my other victims. Neither did she cringe when the redhead emptied the contents of her stomach in front of her. On top of that, she was very intuitive. In fact, within an instant of studying the room, she had gained a full understanding as to what had happened.

I watched as she clenched the snapped piece of string in her grimy hand.

"Pathetic."

She really shouldn't have said that. Because it pissed me off.

How dare she. How dare that filthy bitch disrespect me like that. Had she seen herself? Had she seen how disgusting she was? The girl with the dirt-stained face and rotten attire had the nerve to call me pathetic! She wasthe pathetic one! Oh, she would pay for that. I would make her pay. I would show her just how sick I could be. And I would make her crumble.

As I heard the sound of their departure, I stole one last glance at my next target. As I caught sight of her full profile, I smirked to myself. Turning my body away from the pair, I leaned back against the door and whispered under my breath.

"Pretty girls scream the loudest."

WAS THAT A NEW CHARACTER? I THINK IT WAS! AND AN AWESOME CHARACTER TOO :D

Anyway, I've already got half the next chapter planned, but I'm planning to update my other two stories before I get back to this one, so if you have time you should check them out :)

Also, just a reminder to PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE review, because honestly without the reviews I've been getting, I probably would've cancelled this story a long time ago. BUT I'LL KEEP AT IT IF YOU KEEP MOTIVATING ME! Deal? Deal.

UNTIL NEXT TIME... Farewell :)