Taking Inventory of Scarlet and Ruby

Except for most weekends, I've succeeded in writing a page about one of my girls every day.

Now that things have gotten a little heavy and I might be in need of a time-jump, it's a good time to establish where I am.
As well as pose questions to myself about how to proceed next.
Because I definitely have some questions in need of answers.

But first, I have to establish how far I've come so far.

I wrote two entries from Ruby this week. It looks like she's been looking for Scarlet just as much as Scarlet has her. I keep impressing that they're twin sisters and Scarlet is the older of the two, but I've gone back and forth about which of the two is more mature.

Based on some things I've found while writing for Ruby, she might be aware of so much more. A great deal of it has to do with the fact Scarlet has told her everything or that she's easier to read when the latest episode occurs.
Ruby was threatened with secrecy. Meaning that if she told Scarlet anything she went through, Scarlet would suffer for it, leaving Ruby all alone with their father for the rest of her life.

As much as I've made my own skin crawl by writing and thinking up the things I've been, part of this feels oddly freeing. Maybe it helps to write to work through things in life that terrify me deep down. All the while, my scribbles might just be proof I need to get laid :-P

The unfortunate truth in the Rasmussen household is that their father manipulated Scarlet into making a deal with him. If she didn't fight him when he wanted her, he wouldn't go after Ruby. Yet, all that was was a ploy to get "permission" to take advantage of her when in fact, he'd been traumatizing Ruby.

Having said all that, I'm not sure if I've fully answered one of my questions. If he prefers one of the girls over the other.
Scarlet is always the one subjected to pressure, whether it's obeying every rule, maintaining top grades or making herself available when her father needs to satisfy his sexual urges. (Bleck, I feel gross even typing that). With her, the name of the game is manipulation. Having her believe she deserves what she gets and she has no other options in life.
Perhaps that's just punishment for their mother's death... how it's her fault, I still haven't figured out.
Having said that, it sounds like Ruby is nothing more than a tool in this grand scheme. She's aware that some sort of deal is going on with that... although I haven't had her imply that she's resentful about it. She just knows the deal stinks.

I've written maybe 2 or 3 pages for Ruby so far. She's currently locked in the cellar and keeping a journal so that if someone finds her there, they'll have some record of what happened and it'll put their father away for a long time... assuming he's alive when the authorities catch wind of this.

At age 7 when Scarlet was being beaten for the slightest bits of rule breaking, he started molesting Ruby, touching her inappropriately and swearing her to secrecy. She even acknowledges that she knew it was wrong, but over time, she believed his actions were normal because he said so.
She even considered the possibility that he might have tested her out to see how much her body could handle.

Fast forward to age 12 and Scarlet was raped for several consecutive days until her body hemorrhaged and couldn't handle anymore... then he turned his attention to Ruby because his needs that particular night HAD to be dealt with.

After that entry, I turned my attention back to the present. Supposing I ever take these stories the next step, I'll have to do a little more research to make my writing convincing. But a few weeks after she was found to be pregnant, she developed an infection made her miscarry.
Sure, I might have taken the easy way out on that storyline, but I couldn't ignore that scene as it was playing out in my head.

When I consider the vicious nature of what she endured, it's a little far-fetch'd that her body finally revolted after this had gone on for at least 3 years. The doctor even confirmed beforehand that she didn't have any STDs, so it had to be something else... assuming I have to make it a little more convincing if I chose to take my story beyond my eyes.

I did make a significant break-through this week with one of the key scenes in their storyline.
Listening to "Blown Away" by Carrie Underwood, I envisioned Ruby's plot to escape her living hell with her father.
She has to get access to a phone and she needs a weapon. She also needs to set up a scenario so she can get away with murder on grounds of self-defense, meaning that she needs to convince her father to assault her...
so maybe in her time in the cellar, she figured out how to have the door be unable to open from either the outside (so the cops will believe she's locked in the cellar) and the inside (to supply motive for the assault).

It and "Two Black Cadillacs" sound like they could be great for performance numbers from Scarlet and Ruby. With the latter, I see the two of them being dressed for the Paso Dablo while addressing a man strapped to a chair and they'll play out his demise in retaliation for him cheating on them with each other.

...

So, so far what I know about Ruby is that she's vastly underestimated.
Scarlet doesn't believe she'll be able to handle their father by herself.
Her father believes she's under his power and he's calling all the shots.
Ruby is perceptive and Scarlet believes she's the better actress of the two of them

Aside from how far ahead I want this time jump to be, my biggest question is:

How on Earth Scarlet is able to overcome the horrors in her past?
How is she the sweet person I know her to be when I think of her as one of Talia's closest friends?

Right now, I just don't see how she bounces back from this.

I just gotta remember to mind my timeline.

Ruby comes AFTER Talia.
Talia is vastly more mature than the other girls... so I might have to make her 21 or older when she finds about her stepfather's deceptive ways.

Meaning that Carmen must be going on 17 when Talia arrives.
And Scarlet is technically around the same age, so both of them must be 17 when Talia arrives.

Ruby needs to come at least a year later when she's 18 (and out of school).

Therefore, my time jump needs to be at least a year or two. Scarlet is still unsure, but she's better off than she was when I last left her.

...

Something else that's been bugging me... and for whatever reason I can't remember what it is... most likely it'll appear in my next posting