"Help!" I screeched as I sprinted out of the restaurant like my butt was on fire. Lindent, who'd walked like five steps from where I'd left him, looked up, startled, and I whizzed past him like a pro. "Help!" I screeched again, not that he could (or would) do anything to help. 

"Catch her!" the voice roared again, and before I could take another step a whoosh of wind ruffled my hair and two lanky, slick-haired men blocked my way in an incredibly elaborate pose. The weapons in their hands glinted in the sunlight.

I skidded to a stop and darted backwards, bumping straight into Lindent, who had foolishly stayed on the spot. Dude, if you can't help, scram!

I barely turned before my arms were snatched up by the two men, lifting me up into the air (they were abnormally tall). I struggled in vain for a few moments, kicking the empty air beneath me, before slumping. Lindent just stared, stunned at the progression of things.

"Thanks for helping me out, Lindent," I said sullenly, and the two men dragged me away back into the restaurant. I glared at the black-haired twins holding me up like a rag doll. "I can walk now, you know," I sniffed.

They set me down gently, and I harrumphed, dusting myself off. "Not so much as a 'hi,' huh? Even though it's been six months since I've seen you."

"Hi," said one of them obediently.

"Too late," I shot back, then marched back into the restaurant myself. 

When the restaurant door swung behind me, I sighed and finally let myself look up to see the lady I so wished to hide from. "Hello, Lady Marionette," I said with a weak smile.

Lady Marionette, with her orange hair in a stylish updo and an extravagant fur coat hanging loosely off her arms, gave me a once-over and tutted. "Filian, you know better than to go around with a brown skirt and blue apron on."

I looked down. I'd forgotten that I'd kept the apron on this entire time. I peeked up at her again. "Oops?"

She waved me away after another cursory glance. "No matter," she drawled. "That was very rude of you, to sprint out of here the moment you saw me." She scoffed. "As if I wasn't the best hairdresser in town."

"But you're the only hairdresser in town," I mumbled, and she looked at me sharply.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing, Lady Marionette."

She stood up, and I automatically took a step back. "Come on, Filian," she said airily, "no more wasting time now. We have business to do."

"But Rosa's not here," I protested. "She's at the Academy."

Lady Marionette didn't even answer; she leveled me with a look that said do-you-want-the-high-way-or-will-you-come-my-way and pointed her chin at the chair placed in front of her.

I sighed and wordlessly trudged to the seat and sat down. The paper spread underneath the chair crinkled under my feet, and I miserably stared at the printed words on what looked like newspaper, though I couldn't read a word of it.

"Will," she said coolly, extending out a hand, and one of the twins stepped up and offered her the glittering, silver weapon that he'd been holding before.

She wrapped her hands around the object with a satisfactory glint in her eye, and she wrapped a sliver of my hair in one hand, yanking my head towards her. "Don't struggle, dearie," she cooed, and I could practically feel the cold, metal, sharp edges grazing my neck. I gulped and squeezed my eyes shut, holding in a whimper.

I was better off not seeing this, anyway.

The restaurant door creeaaaked open slowly, as if somebody was peeking in. I cracked open one eye and turned my head slightly towards the sound, but I was too scared of the Lady to fully turn around. I could only glimpse a silhouette of someone standing by the door in silence.

The twins materialized before this silhouette in seconds. "No entrance to the restaurant," Will said.

"The restaurant is closed," Bill added.

"It doesn't open until six."

"It is currently five."

"The restaurant is not open."

"No entrance to the restaurant," Bill concluded.

Silence followed the words, and I peeked at the Lady. Her hand had stilled, and she was frowning at the doorway, so I took the chance to quickly look behind me. 

"Oh!" I exclaimed, before I could stop myself. "Lindent?"

Lady glanced at me sharply. "You know this visitor?"

I managed not to shy away from her stare and nodded. "I ran into him earlier," I said in a meek voice.

"Well, tell him to leave!"

"Yes'm," I whispered. She let go of my hair, and I turned around. "I'm fine, Lindent!" I called, even as tears welled up in my eyes. I choked a little. "Everything's alright."

The little bit I saw of him between the tall figures of the twins seemed to waver (or maybe he wasn't, I really couldn't tell), rocking back and forth.

"It's really okay," I warbled, "I'm not in danger."

"You sure?" he said finally, his quiet voice ringing out from behind the two dark figures. He was cast in the light, like an angel who'd come to save me from the devil herself, barricaded by two monsters. I reached out towards him, nodding tearfully.

"Go," I croaked. "Leave me be with my sorrows."

While I sniffed and wiped my tears with my sleeves, Lady rolled her eyes behind me. "Are you guys done yet?" she said. She flung her hands out (I flinched away) and presented the metal pair of scissors in her hand to the doorway. "All this nonsense, when all I'm doing is cutting her hair!"

---

The world needs to know that I hate cutting my hair. I love my hair, as messy the curly, frizzy, red-brown strands could get. Ever since I was young, Mother Lily would have to drag me kicking and screaming to Lady Marionette's (the only hairdresser in town) if she wanted to get my hair back into order.

"It's just cutting your hair," Rosa would always say, frowning at me in some kind of annoyingly mature look. "There's nothing to it."

"But my hair," I'd moan, grabbing at the shortened length, tears spilling out of my eyes. "It's, it's part of me. And I want them long." And every time I would run my hand through my hair and come up short, I'd burst into a new fresh wave of wails.

Well, safe to say, my hatred for the brutal dismemberment of hair (the horror!) never did die down, and even now Lady purposefully chased me down to get her cruel hands on my precious hair. What had she said? "If you're going to keep it long, take care of it. Then I'll leave you alone."

And then I'd always swear that I will take care of my hair so well you'll never see me again!!! Just you watch!!!! ...and then completely forget about it by the time it grew long and messy again.

Like now.

"You see," Lady was explaining to Lindent, who'd come in and was seated next to me, like someone who had nothing better to do, "I can't stand seeing that messy hair of hers on her head. She has such a pretty shade of hair, but what does she do with it? Kills it, that's what she does."

Lindent had actually been the one to drag the chair over, the back facing forward and his hands and chin resting on top of the wooden back. Which, why? Why was he still here?

"Lindent, don't you have anywhere else to go? Stuff to do?" I said hotly, my eyes still closed and trying not to shudder at each snip. I could literally feel my hair getting lighter and lighter. "Lady," I complained, "don't cut it too short."

She acted like I hadn't even spoken. "That's why I have to come all the way here and have Will and Bill set out the paper for her." She sighed, as if she was doing me a favor. "If I didn't come to her like this, she'd go around looking more like a troll than a human!"

I opened one eye and promptly squeezed it shut again once I caught a glimpse of the silvery object, but not before I saw Lindent. "Ha!" I said incredulously. "Lindent, did you just nod your head? Bill! Did he just nod his head, Bill? Did he, did he just agree with Lady?"

"And what is wrong with that?" Lady asked me, her voice icy.

Thin ice here. I swallowed. "Nothing, of course. Ahaha."

"Good. Now stay still and let me cut."

I suppressed yet another shudder. "Don't say it like that, that's scary."

"Am I cutting your head off?" she snapped. "Filian, it's only your hair!"

"I'd rather you try to cut my head off," I muttered, and she whacked me lightly on the head. "Ow."

I heard a few gasps from the right, and I faced (my eyes still closed) Will's direction. "Did Lindent just laugh?" I demanded. "Tell me. Did he?"

"Yes, he is laughing," Will replied.

"Very much," Bill added.

"Looks like he's having fun."

"Much fun."

"Yes, laughing."

I groaned. "Lindent, why are you still here? Don't you have--"

Stuff to do, I was saying, when like five things just happened all at once.

First, the door swung in and someone stepped in. I popped open my eyes.

"Filly!" announced Rosa, "I'm here to--" She took one look at us, threw herself out with a squawk, and yelled "NooOOowaaACK!" and slipped backwards.

(Nobody understood what she meant by that.)

Second, Will and Bill disappeared in a whoosh of wind and reappeared next to Rosa while she hadn't completely fallen yet. They were at the exact angle to catch Rosa before she landed on the ground with her back.

Third, the wind that ruffled through the area with Will and Bill toppled Lindent's hat off his head, which he grabbed for. He lost his balance and began to fall.

Fourth, the interruption must have caused Lady Marionette to lose focus, because along with a snip of her scissor, she sucked in her breath at the same time. 

Fifth, Lindent crashed on the floor with the chair toppling on the ground, Will and Bill swept Rosa off her feet, Rosa looked like a spider half-caught, with one leg caught and the other dangling, and the Lady's hands frozen by the back of my neck.

Once everyone was caught and the dust was settling back in, Lindent was splayed out in an awkward way on the ground, Rosa was blinking up at the moon-eyed twins in a daze, and I was open-mouthed and staring.

And the scariest thing was, Lady put down her scissors and gently patted me on my shoulders.