Characters: Red Pendragon, Innes Lennox, Basile Pendragon
POV: Red Pendragon
Warnings: Exploration of Red’s childhood, the forcing of young girls to grow up to fast, sexuality, and sex, along with mentions of incest, sexual abuse, and teen pregnancy. Red has a really dark backstory I’m sorry
Everyone dreaded that day in school—the day they had no choice but to skip gym. The class was split between the boys and girls, each going to a separate classroom. Ellie remembered being confused, wondering what that whole thing was about. That day, they learned about puberty... about menstruation and pregnancy. It was terrifying, really, to learn that they had that to look forward to in the future. Serena had been grossed out, Innes a little worried, but for Ellie, it gave her answers.
Not long after their first sex ed class, it came. It was spring break, and the Lennoxes had invited the Pendragons and Proulx family over for a barbecue. Already, puberty had been kind—or not so kind, depending on perspective—to Ellie. She already wore a training bra, much to Innes’s jealousy, though Serena was indifferent about the whole thing. Nevertheless it was a surprise when she went to the bathroom and found brown blood on the inside of her underwear. Despite the lessons, she panicked, trying to hide it from her mother, until she eventually found out. Diana was not surprised that it had arrived so soon, and tried to console her daughter. “You have a woman’s body now,” she said. “If you have sex, you’ll get pregnant. Be careful, sweetie.”
A woman, Ellie thought. Something about it was enthralling and terrifying at the same time. What did it even mean? That she could finally be more like Mom? She admired her mother so much—for her beauty, for her talent, for her success. It wasn’t long before she started asking for makeup, cute training bras, and trying to dress more mature.
It only got worse when she turned eleven. Puberty hit her hard. She was an early bloomer, surpassing her friends. She was already a B-cup, an awkward mix of gangly limbs and curves that no eleven-year-old should have. She quickly grew self-conscious, comparing herself to teenagers and even the actresses her mother worked with. It wasn’t long before she became curious about adult things—such as where babies came from and how sex worked. Dial up internet was a pain in the butt, but she persevered, venturing onto areas of the web no child should see. It was in that way that she learned about sex, about how women were only meant to exist to please men, and how her value came only from her sex appeal.
For years, she had crushed on girls, admitted to liking girls, and suddenly she was unsure of herself—if it was possible, that she wasn’t mistaking it for friendship. No, she needed to like boys. That was normal. Right?
Twelve years old marked the beginning of middle school, the beginning of a new era. Ellie tried to dress like older girls, like the teenager she would be in a year. She was still scrawny, but was starting to fill out—or so she liked to think. She dolled herself up, putting on makeup (which she practiced with Innes), shaving her legs, and wearing shorts that rode up her thighs, no matter how much her parents tried to convince her otherwise. She refused to wear anything else. No, she had an image to uphold. She had to look sexy.
Serena bragged of getting her first kiss. Oh, she was so jealous. Why couldn’t someone kiss her? Innes suggested they practice on each other, so when they finally found boys to kiss, they’d be really good at it. Ellie agreed. It was awkward. They fumbled. But it felt... good.
Seventh grade came in a flash. Ellie hit another growth spurt. The curves came as soon as she hit thirteen, pushing her up to a C-cup. Her hips finally filled out, her thighs grew thicker. She was sexy now, right? Her periods were getting worse, for whatever reason, but Mom didn’t want to put her on birth control. That was only for sluts, wasn’t it? Ellie wasn’t a slut. She was good. She was getting into less trouble at school now. More boys liked her. It was fine.
Then, one day, they had a sleepover at the Pendragon mansion. Serena couldn’t come due to some family event, but Innes came. The house was mostly empty. Mom and Dad were out at a party, with only Mamoru and the maids present. But that was okay. They liked having the whole place to themselves. But Innes had been acting odd for a few days, so Ellie decided to finally ask what was wrong.
Innes evaded the question. She tried to not answer it. But finally, she caved. She hated lying to her best friend, after all. “I... had my first kiss,” she confessed, her freckled cheeks flushing as bright as her hair. “With... with a girl. But it... didn’t feel the same... like when I kissed you.”
Ellie was confused. That wasn’t how it worked. They had just bee practicing. For boys. It was true she had felt... something during those times. Innes was her best friend. She couldn’t possibly have feelings for her. But Innes continued on, confessing her feelings to Ellie, admitting that she had had a crush on her for years now. That she thought she liked both boys and girls. That she wanted to do more than kiss.
Ellie had to admit, the thought of kissing girls... of doing other things with girls, was more appealing than guys. She had gotten enough dick pics to be sure she was absolutely repulsed by male anatomy. And Innes... meant a lot to her. Maybe her feelings weren’t platonic like she thought. It was true that she might have enjoyed their kissing practice too much—that she might have put in more effort than necessary. But if Elysia Pendragon was one thing, she was impulsive. And so she kissed Innes.
Neither girl really knew what they were doing. They had read things about how sex between girls worked, but actually doing it was another thing entirely. It was awkward. It hurt a little. But Ellie didn’t really care about that. Making love to Innes felt right, answered all the questions she had been avoiding about herself, and she knew then she liked girls, and only girls. They decided to date, but kept it a secret, afraid of coming out to their families.
Then Dad died.
It was horrible. In the blink of an eye, her entire life crumbled. The months went by in a blur. Uncle Basile stayed to help Mom with Clarisse and manage the household. Ellie cried herself to sleep many nights. Mom was distant. Clarisse didn’t fully grasp what had happened. Ellie grew distant to her girlfriend and friends. They tried to be supportive, but she didn’t make it easy.
One day, shortly after her fourteenth birthday, she was working on homework but struggling with it. Math was not her strong point. So Ellie sought out her uncle for help. He agreed to help, and sat down to work on her homework with her. All was fine... until he touched her. It was innocent enough at first—a hand resting on her knee. But then he slid his hand up her thigh, underneath her skirt. It shocked Ellie, scared her even, but what could she do?
And it only escalated from there.
It started late one night. Ellie had wanted to sleep over at Serena’s, but Mom refused and ordered her home, leading to an argument. She reluctantly came home, to be greeted by her uncle, who claimed Mom had already headed to bed. When she tried to walk by him, he grabbed her by the wrist. She tried to pull herself free, but he was too strong. He was too strong.
It happened almost every night after that. Eventually, she stopped fighting it. She tried to enjoy it. Everything about it felt wrong. It was everything she had read about. But she was powerless. She tried to tell her mother, but she was called a liar. She accepted it after that. And she grew addicted to his love, his sweet whispers of promise. She needed him, as much as he needed her. They were in love, weren’t they? She was what he wanted—she was sexy. This was what love was supposed to be, not the falsehood she had with Innes.
She broke up with Innes, completely cutting off ties with her old friends.
Ellie turned 15. She met Charlotte. The other girl didn’t seem so bad. Perhaps it would be nice to have a friend in school again.
But then... her period was late. Terrified, she asked Charlotte to go with her to buy a pregnancy test. Charlotte spent the night at the mansion, too. She took the test, and it came back positive.
Ellie hadn’t been this scared in years. What was she supposed to do? She couldn’t have his baby. It was... wrong. So very wrong. How wrong it was didn’t truly sink in until that moment. Basile was her uncle, her father’s brother. How could he love her? How could she love him? In that way? How could any of that be true? After everything he had done to her, the nights of pain, taking advantage of her grief.
She hated herself. She hated her body. She hated everything. She had to escape. She couldn’t live like this anymore. Mom and Clarisse would be better off without her, wouldn’t they? She had only ever caused them trouble.
They made a plan. First, they would go the Plan Parenthood for Ellie to get an abortion, to free herself. And then they would run. Oh, they would run. And they would never come back.
He is very charming, and well liked by most people he meets. He has a way with words. He knows exactly what to say at exactly the right moment. This can also be used for negative effects.
Basile was a bully in school, but he got away with it because of his family’s name. Xavier also looked out for him and got him out of trouble.
His mother died giving birth to him.
Basile is well known as a womanizer, but it has never affected his career negatively in any way. There are even rumors that he sexually harasses his female employees and may even have sexual relationships with them.
He is fluent in English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Chinese, and German.
Basile has never been in a long term relationship. That is, until he wins over Diana, which eventually leads to their engagement.
Basile likes black coffee.
There are rumors that he has fathered some bastard children, but no woman has dared to step forward.
Basile used to have a fatherly relationship with Clarisse, but something happened to change that.
Basile Pendragon is the younger brother of Xavier Pendragon and Red and Clarisse’s uncle. 40 years old, he is the CEO of EDEN Co. in place of Red. He is well known and liked among the circles of the wealthy. He is charming, benevolent, witty, and intelligent. He is a bit of a ladies’ man, but no one ever faults him for it. A bachelor at his age is rare. But what most people don’t tend to notice is that he is a sociopath.
Basile is the main antagonist of Project Eden. He orchestrated the murder of Xavier, plunging Red down her unfortunate path. He also is responsible for the variety of abuse that Red went through that would lead to her running away from home. He enters the story engaged to her mother, Diana, and Red is forced to work with him to decide the fate of her inheritance.
