Castles and the Beasts that live in them.

"I just found out that my Dad is actually my uncle while my uncle is actually my dad which makes Willow my cousin and not my sister. Oh, wait, isn't she still my sister but just a step one instead since we still have the same mother?" Winifred blabbed all in one breathe at her best friend who looked at her like she was finally running mad.

"Confused? Yea, that makes two of us." She added looking into space.

"Winnie, what the hell are you talking about? Shit, did you take one of those drinks that Emily was passing around? It has so much weed in it!" Ella, her bestfriend since childhood exclaimed, not reading too much meaning into what she had just said.

When her friend kept staring into space in silence, she spoke further. "By the way, didn't you say you weren't coming for the party cos you were going on a weekend get-away to Hawaii with your family? What changed your mind?"

Zoning Ella out, Winifred kept replaying all she had heard and seen right before she stormed out in her head. It just didn't go nowhere, no matter how hard she tried to act tough, she was already on the verge of crying.

"You keep going back to dirt no matter how hard I try to clean you up, a pig, that's what you are! What does my brother offer you other than dick, huh? I give you everything, money, cars, I even accepted a child that wasn't even mine just because I love you and you still go ahead to sleep with him?" Winifred heard her dad say as soon as she stepped into their mansion.

Her eyes widened and her heart thumped at what she heard. Since she was born, not once had she seen or heard her father raise his voice at anyone especially not his wife. He treated her with so much love and care, in fact, they were the typical lovey dovey kind of couple, they were always doing their public display of affection any chance they got. Ever since she was born, she was always showered with all kinds of gifts, she and her little sister were the typical definition of kids born with the silver spoon. They got all they wanted just by snapping their fingers.

"How many times do I tell you that Winnie isn't a bastard and you shouldn't call her that?" Her mom countered looking distressed.

"Oh really, how then do you explain the fact that my DNA doesn't match hers or the fact that I've found you in bed with my brother not once, thrice or even a dozen times."

Winifred heard a gasp behind her and was even more alarmed to see her sister, now she was actually fucked, she had thought. She and Willow didn't have a cordial relationship, for a reason she couldn't remember, they were always at loggerheads and they hated eachother. They were known as rivals in school as they always tried to outdo eachother in everything, even things as stupid as having the most handsome guy in school as their boyfriend or fighting over being the one to get a new item first. What was worst about Willow was that she also had a basket for a mouth, willow could never keep a secret for more than a minute.

The whole school knew that once Willow knows, the whole country would definitely know, it was a known fact.

Winifred instantly dragged her sister out, not wanting to alert her parents. "Why the F are you dragging me like you own me?" Willow snapped.

"Shussh..."

"Don't you even dare shush me! What the F, what do you want from me."

"Please, I know that you also heard everything our parents said but plea..." Winifred started to say before she was cut off by Willow again.

"Uhm, our parents? You mean my parents as in mine. Only one of them is your parent now."

"Please, willow, please. Can you just not tell this to anyone, this is big, very big. Way bigger than those secrets of mine that you spill just because. This can cost our family a lot, can you keep a secret this one time?"

"Oh of course. That's no big deal, what do you take me for, I may not like you but I'm definitely not a homewrecker."She replied, almost sincerely.

Winifred was thinking about how she just had to trust her sister and take her word for it just this one time before she heard a heart shattering statement, "Oh, she can't contribute to things like this anymore. Bastards don't speak."

She snapped out of the memory lane she threw herself into as she tried to understand what was going on in her environment.

The girl who had said that was Willow's bestfriend who was also an asskisser. Chloe always did everything and anything Willow told her to do just because she wanted to be in her good books, sometimes she overdoes it.

"How dare you call the first daughter of the Jones a bastard? Are you ready to face the punishment for libel? Do you even have an evidence to proof such a weighted statement? Are you out of your damn mind?" Ella stood up to her as usual, they had been involved in cat fights twice in which they beat eachother up.

"Oh, you must be living under a rock if you still don't know what almost the whole school already knows, Ella. But don't worry, I'll gladly tell you, I love gists like this cos proud and spoilt brats can finally learn their places! Gather up, guys!" Chloe shouted, attracting the attention of everyone in the party.

Winifred's heart started to sink in anticipation of what was about to happen, she started to think that she should have known not to trust her sister, she wasn't nicknamed basket mouth for no reason.

"So guys, there's this spoilt brat amongst us. One with blonde hair, perfect tanned skin, barbie body and all. The one who thinks she's the queen of our school and expects us to worship the floor she walks on just because she has been crowned the most beautiful girl for the past two years, that which I don't see by the way. The same one who always mentions her dada's wealth when she wants to show off, that one who comes to school in the most expensive rides. You know that same one, right?" Chloe started with descriptions of me and it was very obvious who she was talking about already as literally everyone chorused, "right!" And then she continued.

"Well, I have a very interesting news about that girl, one that is sure to put her in her place and probably send her from grace to grass. Well, this girl is actually a Bastard in the Jones family, her DNA was said not to match her daddy's because her mummy is a cheat and…" Winifred always avoided physical fights because she was never one to want to get as little as a scratch on her body for no reason, she cherished her face and skin so much due to the fact that her dad called her an angel due to her beautiful features and she didn't want to ruin it but this time, she didn't know when she moved towards Chloe and pounced on her, beating and punching her face repeatedly as she flared her hands helplessly like the weakling that she was.

After a while, people succeeded in dragging her off Chloe even though her face was all swollen already and she couldn't move properly. Winifred looked around at the people that surrounded her, her so called friends and schoolmates and she was shocked to see the looks of disdain, hatred and judgment. The harsh glares were enough to get tears falling from her eyes and she rushed out of the large room immediately.

Winifred thought she might have been hallucinating due to all the incident that happened because she thought she saw a glowing white bird right in her vision before she collapsed on the sidewalks and ventured into utmost darkness.