"Rose!"

The voice echoed through the room, disturbing the sleeping woman laying against the farthest wall. Seeming to ignore the voice angrily calling her name, she rolled over and tried to return to her peaceful sleep once more.

"ROSE!"

The voice came again, and this time it sounded important. Yet, having just gotten to be half an hour earlier, Rose was in no way inclined to deal with whatever matter he had for her. Currently in that strange place between sleep and wakefulness, she only half listened as the voice grew nearer. Suddenly the voice was right beside her, pulling on her cover.

"Rose DeBeaumont! Get your lazy ass up this instant!"

Pulling her hand from under the sanctum of her covers, Rose gave her pesterer a one finger salute. The hand smacked it away, and angrily kicked the bed. That being the last straw, Rose sat up, growling.

"For the love of god Hali! What the FUCK is so important? I JUST GOT TO SLEEP!"

Hali looked at her, a mean smirk crossing her pointed face. The older blond woman had lived in the apartment years before Rose ever moved in, and she acted as if she had lived there forever.

"Bigby wants to see you. Now."

She blew slightly on one blood red nail, the length of which giving away the fact that she rarely ever did anything. Rose clutched the mattress slightly, her long black nails digging into the fabric as she tried desperately to control her temper. It was not working.

"What the hell does he want NOW?"

She bit out. Hali sneered again, her head bobbing slightly as she pranced about a bit.

Clearly enjoying this, she walked across the room. Large hips swaying in jeans two sizes two small, she strode out. As she got to the door, she spoke in the high pitched nasal voice that had grated on Roses ears for almost a year.

''Dunno. All I know is he wants to see ya. He is the king.''

She scratched her nails against the metal doorway as she turned the corner.

''And the king gets what the king wants.''

Half an hour later, Rose was dressed and walking through the cold streets toward the Wolves Den. At one of the large blackened windows, she caught a look at herself. Blond, white blond to be exact hair was cropped semi short to her head. Slim shoulder and a thin waist hid the fact that she was well built and slightly muscular, a trait she had inherited from the unique genes of her father. Hell, most of her more…known features were inhereited from her father.

She had her mothers face, heart shaped with gorgeouse large eyes. Their shape was slightly almond like, and both were heavy lidded. Bright red lips, plump and always glossy sat under a trim and round nose. She was on the short side, reaching only a standard 5 foot 6. Tallness was not one of the things she had inherited from her strange father. No, the things she had gotten from him were the most prominent., Most times they drowned out the pretty features given to her by her mother. No, the ones she was most recognized by was the strange color of her skin, and eyes as well as a few other things.

Long nails rested on the tips of her long and slender fingers. They were coal black and shaped almost like daggers of some sort. Yet, she had never once painted them this color. As well as the dark glossy sheen of her nails, they were hard as rock, and sharp as the blades they resembled. Cutting them was not an option, as she had tried that as a child and nearly lost a figner. It seems the nails were not nails at all, but an extension of her fingers.

Her skin was pale, snow white to be percise. She had been born that way, nad no amount of sun would ever change that. Unlike other children, when she played in the sun too long, she did not burn or tan. Her skin would not change color, and that was something that always bothered her. Spray tans did not work either, as her skin would absorb the sprays and she would spend a week or so unable to stop throwing up.

Yet, the most astonishing feature she had, the one she was most noted for, was her eyes. Blood red, they shone from the heavy lids that adorned them. The color and the glint they often had in the light or or the shine they took when she was out at night always gave her a feirce look she had tried many times to get rid of. Nothing worked. No contact would hide the color, no surgeon could take the color away. Nothing worked. She was stuck with the eyes of a demon.

A demon. Ha! She thought bitterly, blowing a stray strand of hair from her face. They think I am a demon? They would shit their pants if they ever met dad. Heh. Even Bigby. What I would give to see that oversized wolf turned into some little baying sheep. One look at dad could do it.

Suddenly she frowned. That is if he would even speak to me. Rose hugged her red coat closer to her thin frame. It had been years since she had seen her father. Taking off at sixteen to the big city had not been her smartest move. So many times her father and mother had warned her about the dangers of the city, but she had not listened.

Taking off with some boyfriend who's name she had long forgotten, Rose had come to the big city. It was there she had hoped to make it big, be a star or something. She could not even remember now. That was three years ago. Now here she was, going to be twenty in six months, and she had not even spoken to her parents in a long long time. Involuntarily she shivered. The cold of the city was nothing compared to the cold of her small mountain town, and Rose had a very large tolerance for both hot and cold. Yet, she had not had a decent meal in a few days, and had been sleeping less than normal.

Sighing, she stepped through the large doors of the Wolves Den nightclub, and was instantly hit by the smell of bodies and sweat mingled together with cheap perfume and booze. Couples grinded against each other on the dance floor, as the half naked women paid to dance worked their separate polls. Behind a large wooden bar, sat a gigantic wolves head, the teeth pulled back in what could have been the most wicked grin she had ever seen in her life. One of the men working the bar, his hand currently cleaning the insides of a large mug smiled at her. Sliding herself over to the bar, Rose smiled at one of the only friends she had made in this god awful place.

"Hi Curt!" she smiled wearily, face taut. He looked over at her, massive hands moving a small dish rag about, he spoke low and calmly.

"You look like hell..." he trailed off, popping his hand from the mug, and setting it against the back of the bar with the fifty others of its kind.

"Why thank you, I have been trying to get that new Dante returned from hell look. Does it suit me?" Rose retorted, rolling her eyes.

Curt leaned over the bar, his bulk settling against the slab of fake marble. Arms crossed, he chuckled at the small girl in front of him. "It does. That IS why they call you Red right?" Lightly Rose smacked him on the arm.

"You know damn well why they call me Red." like some sort of child, she stuck her tounge out at him, making faces as he straightened back up.

"Bigby want's to see you. Do me a favor love?" he asked, grabbing a tray from under the bar, and setting a bottle of beer and a plate of hot wings on its silver top.

"Yeah, yeah. I will take these to the boss." she smiled, knowing that she would be getting a treat for helping. "For my usual price...." Rose slyly trailed off, making Curt laugh.

"I know, I know. Two plates of hot wings. Got it. They will be ready when you get out."

"Oh thank you!! Thank you thank thank you!!" She leapt over the bar, giving the large man a hug. Suddenly she looked up at him, giving him a suspicious glare. "You are going to use "YOUR" sauce aren't you? Not the kind everyone else gets...the kind you use for yourself? Right?"

Now it was Curt's time to roll his eyes. "Fine. I will use my sauce. But that is going to cost you an extra chore."

"What chore?" Rose put her hands on her hips, settling in for a battle.

"Take out the garbage and cleaning the rest rooms of this hell hole." Curt crossed his arms, looking at the young woman before him.

"I will take out the garbage, but nothing, nothing will make me clean the damn bathrooms." Rose snarled, glaring at the large man. For a tense moment, they stared at each other, neither one wanting to budge on their decision. Finally Curt sighed.

"Fine, three plates of wings, two burgers, and I throw in a drink of your choice. Clean the bathroom and it is all yours. Deal?" Not ten seconds after the final syllable dropped from his mouth, than Rose took off. Faster than any normal human should be able to, she leapt over the bar, and grabbed the tray as she did so. Landing on her feet on the other side of the bar, tray perfectly straight and not a single wing out of place. Shooting him a devilish grin, some of her teeth sharper than others, Rose giggled.

"Deal! Thanks Curt!" she smiled, walking through the small crowd about the far end of the bar. He watched her as she lithely moved about the moving people, and did not take his eyes off her until she disappeared up the stairs that lead to their boss's office. Shaking his head, he muttered to himself.

"There is something odd about that girl....i can not put my finger on it, but I know that she is something special." With a shrug, he pulled another dirty mug from the bar, and proceeded to make it shine.

She set the tray on the floor near the large velvet padded doors before her. Sighing, Rose stretched, cracking the bones that had been bothering her since she got up. Pathetic...just pathetic. She thought to herself as she readied herself to see the man who had her so wrapped around his filthy finger. For fuck's sake girl! You have not slept properly in weeks, and you just agreed to clean these sperm laden bathrooms for food! Look at you..what would your father say?

At the mention of her father, Rose stood up straight. This was her life now, and her father had nothing to do with it. Her father would not even speak to her....let alone help her. No. Not even her mother could change her life now.

Shaking her thoughts away, she used her body weight to open the large velvet door. Often it reminded her of a tongue, and if that was true, then she was once more walking into the mouth of the beast.