Blood

Scarlet stained lips that turned up at the corners and formed a smile like cyanide. A voice that would entice the mind and feed her frenzy. Empty eyes that seemed to give a vacant look straight into the soul. Cold fingertips that burned at the touch. A body that would forever be embedded into the human expectation of perfection. A personality no one would ever get the opportunity to unearth.

In the dim, smoke filled room, Korrissa tipped her head back as she waited for the small, pink pill to take affect, to make even the most vile of things look beautiful. It was as if the large crowd of people in the small apartment didn't even exist. And that's how she liked it.

Here, she was queen. All of the miserable people who manipulated themselves willingly, not ready to die but not disposed to living the way they should, thanked her for her rage. Each one authorized their heart if they were fortunate enough to be of use to her.

The affects had finally set in, and she removed her feet from the table, standing up and ginning as she advanced through the sweat-coated bodies, every touch sending a shiver down her spine. Every face looked even more prepossessing than before, every pore was beauty in it's simplest form.

And there he was. Much like the way most could tell a familiar face apart from all the others in an unknown crowd, Korrissa was able to tell the difference in the one's who were worthy of seeing her in the best light.

His hair was spiked at the front, painted an unnatural royal blue color which complimented his deep blue eyes quite well. Without a shirt, all of his intricate, black tattoo designs were prominent against his pale skin. A thin, silver ring was hooped around the center of his bottom lip, which had always been her weakness.

Once the olive-skinned girl dancing with him felt Korrissa's gaze on the two of them, she flashed a smirk and walked towards her. Her ruby red hair draped across her breasts perfectly, complimenting her assets well. She trailed her thin fingers along Korrissa's waist as she walked past her, the smirk never leaving her beautiful face.

Even though the feeling made her want to have more hands on her body simultaneously, her eyes remained on the blue-eyed boy that took her breath away. She waited until her heart had slowed down enough to keep her breathing under control, before she walked towards him. Her tattooed arms instantly went around his neck, her fingers tangling themselves in his hair. "Touch me," she whispered, her lips grazing his ear lightly.

Perhaps it was a bad thing that two words was all that needed to escape her scarlet lips in order for someone she didn't even know to surrender to her. But she thought it to be useful, it empowered her; and that's what she craved.



"Jesus, Korrissa!" Nicole's annoyed voice awoke the naked girl from her deep slumber. In spite of all that she had seen in the past, Nicole believed this to be one of the worst mornings Korrissa had woken up to in at least six months. "I just had to kick three people out from the living room, and now there's two in your bed as well? For god's sake," she muttered, ripping the sheet off of all three bodies.

Korissa stood up, pulling the tight, black dress she had worn the night before over her head. She then woke both the blue-eyed boy, and the girl with the ruby hair. "Get out," she demanded tiredly, her face smeared with makeup.

They instantly did as told, grabbing their clothes quickly and rushing out of the bedroom door. Even with quite a hangover, neither of them were stupid enough to anger Korrissa.

Nicole sighed. "You should really repaint these walls. This dark red makes the rooms look smaller," she said, placing a perfectly-manicured hand on her hip. "Anyways, I just came to stop by to say that the photographers love you. They want you to come back today for the new shoot."

"I was just there like, last week. Why again? It's like three," she groaned, running her hand through her jet-black hair that fell in waves down to the middle of her back.

"Exactly, it's three in the afternoon and you're still sleeping. I get that you have no responsibilities, thanks to me, but this isn't the lifestyle you should be living. You're in Vogue magazine for fucks sake. You're a model, do something with that," she replied, not mentioning the unfinished novel that the younger girl had given up on months previous. It was a touchy subject, it always had been. "Take a shower and get dressed, I'll call Leo for the mess. No makeup, they'll do it. I'll pick you up in an hour."

Korrissa watched as her mother stalked out of the small bedroom, her heels clicking on the hard wood floor as she went. "This dark red makes these rooms look smaller," she mocked in a soprano voice, rolling her eyes.

As she was showering, she didn't care to shave her legs. Even if she did, they'd make it an effort to inflict pain upon her and wax them before the photo shoot anyways. It only took her ten minutes to finish, making sure to wash all of the smeared makeup from her face. She wrapped a towel around her body, making sure to tuck it tight under her arms, knowing that Leo would be in the living room by now.

Leo Castello had worked as a housekeeper in Nicole's Hollywood movie-esque home for seven years, and was always paid extra when he came to clean Korrissa's house. It was nothing new for him, and he never said anything about the illegal drugs he found as he cleaned. He was aware of the power Nicole had, and wouldn't dare try and push her. Besides, he hardly had enough money to pay for the small apartment he and his fiancee owned, even if he was employed by one of the most successful people in New York.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Lukay," he greeted politely, giving her a small smile.

Korrissa only shrugged it off, mumbling a "Morning," and walking back into her bedroom. She quickly dressed in a pair of tight, black skinny jeans, and a plain, loose fitting white t-shirt. She decided it best to go with a pair of Vans, seeing as she'd most-likely be wearing eight-inch heels during the photo shoot. She added a pair of dark sunglasses since she wouldn't be wearing any makeup, and shoved her cell phone in her back pocket. Nicole arrived only moments later, sending a text as a beckon.

She got into the passenger side of Nicole's BMW, lighting a cigarette the second she could.

"You're killing yourself quicker that way, you know," Nicole said, her voice very motherly and stern. She hated that her daughter smoked, and that wasn't even the worse part. That didn't include the drugs or the excessive alcohol, but Korrissa was much like Nicole in this aspect; if you told her not to do something, it would be the number one thing on her mind to achieve.

Blowing the smoke through her lips, Korrissa avoided Nicole's eyes. "Good," she said in a monotone voice. In truth, she didn't care. She wasn't afraid of death, or pain, or destruction. It was something she had come quite atoned to the last eight months.

Nicole didn't say anything after that. The entire ride was silent. She was pleased when they finally pulled into the parking lot.

Korrissa didn't so much as look back at her mother as she walked into the building, stubbing out her cigarette on the pavement before she did. She was instantly swarmed by the three makeup artists who had worked on her the previous month.

"Korrissa, good evening. First thing's first, I'll be working on your body. The theme is purity, so we have to cover your tattoos. Angeline will work on your hair, and Victoria on your makeup for now," the small, tawny-skinned girl Korrissa knew to be Taylor said. She was ridiculously short, no taller than five foot. She had dark skin, chocolate eyes and dark hair that fell perfectly around her shoulders.

Angeline was the tallest of them all, she cleared 5'7, easily. Her blonde hair was always in a tight bun atop her head, and her light blue eyes were the first thing you noticed about her. Her eye makeup was dark, and her lips somehow always seemed to stay glossy. She didn't talk much, only when she was asked a question or informing someone of something. She gave off a professional vibe, and even someone as reckless as Korrissa wouldn't try to make her laugh.

Lastly, was Victoria. Korrissa loved Victoria. She was about the same height as Korrissa was, but with ginger hair and freckles across her clear face. Her skin was pale, and she never wore makeup. And, if she did, you couldn't tell. Victoria was entertaining. She laughed at almost everything and wasn't ever very serious when it came to most situations.

Nicole had begun talking with people who were as high up in the field as she was while the three artist worked on Korrissa's appearance.

While Angeline was pulling at her hair, Korrissa had decided to mess with her phone. She listened to Halestorm while scrolling through Twitter. She received a notification of a new text message from a familiar number. She immediately tapped the notification, opening the text message.

To: Korrissa
From: Rissa
Txt: You're in fucking Vogue. Call me.

"Hey, Ang? When did the last issue come out?" Even though the two had gotten extremely distant, they still talked occasionally. It was rare, but it did happen. Marrissa was one of the only people she still talked to from California. She refused to talk to Jimmy, knowing that he was one of the only people that could convince her to come back, even for a little while. Marrissa wanted her back as well, but she'd never ask Korrissa something like that, which made everything a lot easier from Korrissa's point of view.

Angeline continued to pull her dark locks every which way. "Yesterday," she answered simply.

Nodding, Korrissa took all of this in. What exactly was she supposed to say? Assuming that she decided to call Marrissa in the first place. As far as everyone back in California knew, writing her novel was taking much longer than expected and she needed to stay in New York to focus on it. Even though that wasn't entirely the truth, it sufficed and kept her from traveling. She didn't even feel close to guilty for lying to everyone. The way she saw it, it was her business, not theirs. They had no right to know what was going on in New York. They weren't present there, and Korrissa didn't have a doubt in the world that they'd all try and change her.

She simply ignored the text. For now, at least. She needed to focus on this photo shoot. That's what would keep her apartment, that's what would occupy her long enough for the suffocating thoughts in her head to subside. That's all that mattered. That's how she had gotten by for the last eight months, that's how she would get by today.