A set of doors opened, revealing a duo of males who seemed to be in their 20s behind the previously closed piece of wooden mahogany.

"Alright, buttercup, we're here."

A smooth voice with thick Russian accent smiled as he took hold of a teenage girl's hand.

"Please don't call me that, Mark."

The girl twirled her previously-dyed caramel hair in boredom... that, or it was just a façade.

"Yeah, Mark, don't make her hate you." The other male, an Italian, smirked as he ran a pale hand through his luscious mop of dark brown hair. Though not Irish, he seemed to had lived in Ireland, that would be the answer to his "perfect" Irish accent.

Mark glared at the other, who glared back without hesitation. They do this whenever the girl isn't watching, which was understandable as she was inspecting the unique glass window paintings.

"Okay, Caramel! I'll show you your new room." The Italian grinned brightly, slipping a hand around his girl's waist, who blinked in mild surprise.

"Hold on for a fucking minute, dear," Mark seethed, masking anger and annoyance by smiling as Caramel gazed at him in pure lethargy. "Why not let me do it, Jackie? You must be tired..." He finished, grabbing the chance to "playfully" push the other away from the 13-year-old female.

"It's okay, Mark... Jack, I'll just go and find it on my own..." She sighed, as the two didn't listen but instead were engulfed in obvious malevolence. She crept away, raking her long locks of hair with a gloved hand.

She passed the quiet hallway slowly, taking in everything and deciding take note of what to look out for and whatnot.

Drip.

She sighed, shaking her head to clear some of her thoughts.

Drip, drip, drip...

She gave up, there was nothing she could possibly do right now.

Drip...

She glanced at the dripping liquid, which originated from the rotten ceiling.

"Stop, stop thinking about it."

Caramel scolded herself, crossing her arms and proceeded to keep on walking, but she was not really conscious to do much about it. As much as she didn't want it, she had already succumbed to her personal thoughts.

Police sirens...

She clutched her fists, eyes darkening slowly.

Heavy downpour...

She began to tremble.

Bloodshed-

...Crack!

The lass's breathing became heavy, and she blinked. Her gaze moved from the marble floor to her fist, which had collided with a grey door. With pupils dilated slightly in shock, she removed her bruised knuckle which the gloves were supposed to protect her hands from the wooden surface, as her gaze lingered on the silver doorknob. Suddenly, she felt like she had just woken up from a splendid nap; she felt new.

It was her senses kicking in fully.

Fully conscious, she rotated the silver knob around and found the door was unlocked. She took a nervous peek in, and marveled at the sight...

Not really. The room was spacious, sure, but that or it was the effect of the walls, ceiling and floor, fully coated in pastel grey paint. The maiden slapped a hand to her face and sigh in utter dissatisfaction.

"Just because I love the color grey does not mean I love it like this." Her eyes, which were a darker shade of caramel, observed the room way more carefully...

And it was then she realized that the room- no, her room was literally bare. No bed, no dressers, nothing. "Fuck this shit, I'm out... for now." She snarled to herself, before walking out of the grey room.

Walking back to her housemates- or rather, fathers, she crossed her arms as the two turned to the seemingly stoic female. "So, how's your room?" Jack grinned. Caramel gave him a look, before deadpanning and turning away...

Actually, she just left the house and went to the roof. Outside, she could see a lot of things; cars, people, lights... something one would expect because of how modern it is nowadays. It was a cloudy day, something she enjoyed.

She slowly dropped to the ground; looking up with a sigh. It didn't hurt as Mark and Jack had already turned the rooftop to a garden. "...This is...just..." Caramel sighed, closing her eyes.

The female wanted nothing but to live a decent life. She dislike cities, due to how busy it could get. Her new home is this, the building standing as tall as the Zenith Hotel. A home, as large as that, in a city...

She rather live in a mansion... away from civilization. Now, not that she loves being fancy, but she had just thought of it. Well, now she has to cope with it.

Leaving the past behind, but instead, moving on.

Ripbip!

《Hey, you lookin' blue,》

Caramel raised a brow, almost immediately after she pulled out her GYS-345 and opened the Wolves app. She eyed the message sent to her by someone with the username; 《☆rollin'mudkun》. With a soft laugh, she replied in amusement,

《"Dude, you can't even see me."》

《"I can feel you."》

《"...Ryder, no."》

《"Ryder, yes."》

《"By the way..."》

《"Yeah...?"》

《"...*you're."》

Instead of a notification, ☆rollin'mudkun had gave the bored female a call. Pressing "answer" option, the female greeted, "Bonjour, monsieur."

"Back to ya, Grammar Nazi." A masculine voice chuckled at the other end, "How are you, Mark and Jack? How's London?"

"Great... All of us are doing fine, and London..." A sigh emitted from her chaste lips, "How's Malaysia?" She enquired, watching the clouds. "Avoiding the question, Xanders?" Her friend laughed, "Oh, it's really, really hot here, babe."

"You flirt," Caramel sniggered, "Hey, Toma?" "Yeah?" "I have to go now. It's getting really dark and... I don't want Mark and Jack to get all worried for me. I mean, they could start workin' together."

"It'd be good, eh?" Toma chuckled, and sighed, "Yeah, goodbye then."

With a swift swipe, Caramel ended the call and rose to her feet, returning into her humble abode.

Or at least that's what she will start calling to get familiar.

Which is not likely.

"Hey, Caramel, dinner's just ready." Jack patted her head, smiling sympathically for his adopted daughter. He realized the hardship she's going through, and he would try to help her along the way.

The said female nodded and sat across Jack and Mark. Her fork dug into the lasagna, though it seemed to be her favourite, she didn't feel like eating.

"I'll just head into-.. bed."

Even knowing there's no bed in her room, she got up nonetheless. But she didn't go to her room; no. She went to the roof garden, sprawled on the clean and fluffy grass and finally succumbed into dreams after a few minutes of star-gazing. She didn't worry about sounds as she had earphones plugged in and playing Nicki Minaj's Save Me, Fly, Dear Old Nicki and Marilyn Monroe.

The only thing she had to face? Tomorrow and onwards.

▪□▪□▪□▪

Oh, hello!

I see you have found my book, entitled "Deep, Dark & Atrocious". What do you think about it? Well, don't really decide just yet; you will need to read more to fully know!

☆Have a Berry!☆

☆berryparfait