Giselle slowly opened her eyes and found herself in a clean and bright room. Her head was ringing and there was pain all over her body, especially on her wrist and ankles. She tried to wipe what she assumed was sweat on her brow, but unfortunately, realized her hands were tied behind a post. Giselle began to flail around, attempting to see if she could break the ropes. Valie chuckled as she looked over at her guest, "Hey, you might want to try a little harder",  Valie mocked as she walked toward Giselle

.

     Giselle saw as the girl came into view and felt her rage and sadness swell up again. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she cursed at the girl in front of her. "Valerian! You fucking bitch. LET ME GO! It's your fault! It- it's your fucking fault, it's your fault he's treating me like this!", Giselle began to cry out but stopped as she felt the pain on her wrist flare. Valie yawned at her guest and looked at her with a bit of disgust. Giselle looked like an angry dog tied on a leash, and it was annoying to hear Giselle bark at her for something so mundane and out of her control. "Is that so? You might want to be careful, I opened up your wrist pretty wide and strung out the tendons in your ankles, so if you don't want to die from blood loss, I suggest you don't struggle too much". Giselle was confused, but when the stinging began to spread, her eyes went wide as she slowly looked down. Blood was splattered all around her and her clothes were covered. Her eyes then made their way to her feet, the sight made her vomit as she saw her mangled flesh slowly gushing out blood. Her breath was becoming shallow and erratic as she looked up in horror. "What-what am I-", Giselle couldn't form a sentence, she was trying to rationalize her situation and it finally clicked as soon as Valerian brought out the silver corset. She looked up and down at the beautiful dress and then at the serial killer holding it. At that moment, Giselle's life flashed before her eyes and all her actions lead to a single point where all her problems began. That summer night when she lost Rosalia.

     "I shouldn't be here", Giselle whispered as she shivered.

     "Why do you think that?", Valie replied as she laid out her tools.

     "It's your fault...they left me", Giselle's tears slowly fell as her eyes stared wide at Valie.

     "You left them. Every person you had, you left each one hanging, Giselle".

     "You took away Rosalia, she was 'My' best friend".

     "You left her for a guy who didn't even want you".

     "You made Elis hate me."

     "He never liked you. He had two other girls behind your back. Everyone knew, well, except for you " 

     "You Made Everyone Hate Me, EVEN MY OWN PARENTS- *COUGH**COUGH**COUGH*WhEEZE*!!!!!", Giselle screamed, her face becoming distorted and angry as her coughing fit continued. 

     

     Valie's patience was becoming thinner and thinner by the minute, but, she waited for Giselle to finish her fit. As Giselle calmed down, Valie fully turned to Giselle, staring down at Giselle's haggard face looking at Valie in pure disdain. 

     "You sure like shifting the blame to others. I am willing to bet that if I wasn't here, you would be blaming Rosie".

     " That-"Giselle tried to interrupt but Valie quickly cut her off, "SHUT UP! You were even trying to put your strained relationship with your parents on me, weren't you?!". Giselle flinched and curled up, acting as if she was a child being scolded by an adult, which infuriated Valie. 

       "It's like I'm talking to an idiot, an ignorant, naive, gullible, inept, brainless idiot. Yea, just blame me. It's my fault right?", Valie mocked, " I made you do every mistake and stupid choice and you are just a victim, a blameless victim that should have everything handed to her just because. Does that sound good?!". Valie stood over Giselle, trying to make her see that this was worse than the end. "No wonder no one could stand you, I bet even your own parents will be glad you're gone", Valie said intensely as Giselle looked at Valie with a loss for words, looking down to hide her shame.

     Valie held up Giselle's chin and made her stare into those infinite voids she called eyes. The more she stared at that enraged face, Giselle's self-esteem plummeted even more, "Admit it, Giselle. No one forced you to do anything. You chose to abandon your only friend for nothing, no one tricked you into sneaking out in the middle of the goddamn night, no one forced you to go back to Elis, and no one made go to that party. Oh, but excuse me, your highness, how were you supposed to know that your actions had any type of consequence.", Valie smile at last as she let go of Giselle's chin. Her head slumped down as she felt her soul tear to pieces. "Was she right?", was all Giselle could think of as her face went numb. 

     Valie sighed as she felt herself calm down. Her model was no longer struggling or talking. Her expression grew more vacant and Valie began to feel pity for her model. Giselle was losing an immense amount of blood, her cheeks were pale, her lips almost blue, and her body was as cold as could be, she didn't have much time left, but the process was slow and agonizing. Valie grabbed some warm water and washed away all the blood and vomit from Giselle and her surroundings, the filth going down drainage in the center of the room. She then untied Giselle, knelt, and handed her a glass of water and a white pill, "I know you're in pain and you know that it's only a matter of time before you die. So, you have two choices: continue with the pain and die slowly, or, take this and at least die with a little peace of mind". Giselle looked up, her eyes looking at Valie for a second, then, her head leaned towards the glass of water. 

     Valie wrapped Giselle in a warm blanket and sat next to her. Giselle felt relief as the pain went away and all she could feel was warmth. She leaned on Valie's shoulder and began to say her final words. 

     "This...is the calmest...I've ever felt", she said slowly.

     "Is that so", Valie exhaled.

     "I...don't want...to die", Giselle said somberly.

     "I think it's too late for that now. But, if it's of any help, everyone will adore you after you are on display.                  People will cry for you and only remembered you as beautiful."

      "Everyone...will like me. That...sounds nice."

  Giselle's eyes were beginning to grow heavy but she still smiled at what Valerian said. She thought of all those people who were going to look at what their faces would look like. Would they be horrified or astonished? Either way, she would be beautiful in the end, but even that statement felt empty. She didn't want to die, she wanted to apologize to so many people, she wanted to talk to her mom again, but, it was impossible now. Giselle, with the last of her strength, looked at Valerian to see what she looked like, and to her horrified surprise, Valerian looked elated. There was no remorse, no guilt, just perfect Valerian looking back at her with the most beautiful gleam in her black eyes. 

     That was the last image Giselle saw as she passed away.