Noir Spots

Birds of a Feather

But then she got the call saying they wanted her to work for them, even after all those disasters, she couldn't help but feel overjoyed.

Weeks had gone by where she took care of Adrien and became friends with the man known as Gorilla. Weeks of rewarding work and sweet praise.

It was two months before Emilie made her first move, kissing Nathalie firmly in the mouth.

At first, Nathalie had been shocked and terrified, she didn't come into work the next day for fear of it being a joke.

She had barely been nineteen at the time, fresh out of lycee and scared of the world, so how else could she have reacted?

When she finally returned, Emilie simply smiled and acted like nothing had happened.

It had confused Nathalie, who had never been touched like that before, who barely realized the way her heart clenched and her eyes burned when she saw Emilie in the halls of the manor.

It was almost a month before her next encounter.

This time with Gabriel.

Nathalie had been taking her break when her boss came into the room, eyes blank as usual.

She had asked him what he was doing as he sat down beside her.

She had asked him what he was doing as he moved closer and wrapped an arm around her.

She had asked him what he was doing as her leaned in and kissed her neck.

She had been frozen, scared. What was she supposed to do? She desperately needed the money from this job, for her sister and herself.

She couldn't say no.

So Nathalie let it happen, let the Agrestes touch her and use her as their toy.

She couldn't fight back.

She was brave, strong. She was a fighter at heart. And she didn't regret her past choices. The money from the Agrestes helped her sister get away from her abusive ex, and her niece get into a nice school.

She didn't fight back, not because she couldn't, but because she needed to endure it for the sake of those she loved.

But she could fight back this time.

She could stand up and face Adrien. She could grab a lamp and use it like a sword. She could scream and claw her way out.

So why wasn't she fighting back?

Nathalie took a shuddering breath. She was so, so tired. Her limbs felt weak and her eyes felt heavy.

She was so tired.

Still, Nathalie rolled up her sleeves and blinked tears out of her eyes. On each of her wrists was a series of thin scars.

She traced her fingers lightly over each raised line, mouth wobbling and tears falling freely.

It had been a while since she cut, a while since she could even look at the scars.

But each wound felt fresh in her mind.

Memories of her sobbing in the shower, trying to scrub any feeling of the older couple. Her skin had turned red and raw under the boiling water and her scrubbing. The color of her abused skin almost matched the color of the blood that dripped down her arm after every sharp cut.

Nathalie flinched when Adrien's voice rang out again.

"Nathalie! Listen here you bitch! Come out now and I'll end you quickly!"