Rose's Worry - Part 1

"What's up with him… He promised me…"

Various theories troubled Rose's mind as she laid in bed and stared at her phone, waiting for that one phone call from Ryan. She told him she will worry if he doesn't call yet it was already half-past nine and he still didn't call.

"Am I overreacting? It has been over an hour. Maybe he met with a friend and went drinking?" Rose guessed as she sank her face in the pillow but quickly shook her head. "He is not like this… He would call me beforehand. Something must have happened. Maybe I should call him?"

She didn't want to act too clingy, giving him the space he needed but it was bothering her. If he didn't repeatedly promise he would call, she wouldn't be like this.

Rose stared at the phone, playing with it in her hands and finally acted, unable to resist herself.

"It's just a text… I can text him anytime as his girlfriend…" Rose justified herself and crafted a text for him before sending it.

'Hey~ Did you reach your dorm already? I'm worried about you… I hope nothing bad happened. Call me if everything is okay.'

"It's just a normal text, he won't mind. I'm just concerned about him. Nothing wrong with that," Rose repeated, calming herself down.

Then, the waiting game came. Unfortunately, it didn't want to end.

"Did he put his phone on silent mode?" Rose wondered, her worry increasing with each second she waited.

It has been five minutes but her message wasn't seen by him yet. It showed he received the message so his phone wasn't out of network range or out of battery. Either he was busy or simply sleeping.

"I will just call him…" Rose muttered, dialing his number.

She listened to the sound of beeping for at least fifteen seconds before the voice message replied to her.

"We are sorry. The number you have dialed is not available. Please try again later or leave a voice message—"

She canceled the call anxiously, her face displaying the definition of worry. Ryan wouldn't just break his promise for no reason. She didn't like her intuition at such moments but her guts were telling her something bad happened with him.

Rose called him once again but the results were the same, prompting her to get up from the bed and act.

"Mom!"

Just as she left the room, she noticed her mom walking out of her parents' bedroom so she immediately ran up to her.

"Can I go out to check on Ryan? He doesn't answer my calls and doesn't reply to my texts either. I think something must have happened to him," Rose asked hurriedly, knowing she wouldn't be able to leave the house without her parents' approval.

"What?" Dana blinked confused. "Can you slow down? I don't think I understood you clearly. Ryan doesn't reply so you want to go meet him? At this hour?"

"Yes. He promised he would call me once he reached his dorm but it has been more than an hour yet there is no sign from him…" Rose explained with a saddened expression and her puppy eyes. "I'm worried about him…"

Her mom stared at her speechlessly before sighing and hugging her head into her bust. "I know you are in love right now so you can't see it but aren't you getting invested too quickly? On another note, you should lower your expectations for men. They sometimes forget, break promises but it doesn't mean they don't love you back. It's just how they are," Dana described, rubbing the back of her head.

"But Ryan isn't like that…" Rose muttered, suddenly feeling conflicted with her beliefs. "He wouldn't break his promise…"

"Rose, it's already late. How about you sleep early?" Dana suggested softly, showing her motherly smile. "I'm sure once you wake up you will see his message that will brighten your morning. He probably forgot about it and went to sleep or simply met friends who took him to drink together. It's quite common in the dorms. How do you expect him to call you with friends around?"

"He would at least text me…" Rose muttered, her mind already hurting from all the potential possibilities. "I won't be able to sleep if I don't make sure he is okay… What if he got mugged and is bleeding out at the side of the street?"

Just as she said it, another thought hit her mind like a thunderstorm.

What if she was right and he is undergoing his Vampire transformation at that very moment? She was mostly joking earlier, enjoying the banter but a part of her knew there was still a little chance it might happen. Everything that happened so far pointed in one direction.

She opened her mouth to voice it out but closed it right after, knowing how crazy she would look in front of her mother. She suddenly hoped it wasn't the truth, realizing how big of consequences it would bring.

"Okay, now you are simply guessin—" Dana rolled her eyes when she heard her but before she finished, Rose cut her off, "Mom, I think I will just try to sleep. I can call him again tomorrow."

Dana seemed to like that idea as she nodded happily, kissing her forehead, "That's for the better. Ryan definitely has an important reason he didn't call you so don't worry. You two can meet tomorrow and talk it out."

"Thank you, Mom," Rose gave Dana one last hug and walked back to her room. "Goodnight, Mom."

"Goodnight sweetie," Dana replied warmly and her voice got cut when Rose closed her door.

Thud.

Rose slid to the ground with her back leaning against the door.

"What do I do now?"

There was no way she could sleep like this. She gazed at the window, contemplating on her crazy idea and quickly decided, standing up with a determined expression.

She was going to escape and check on Ryan.

His dorm was just a few minutes' walk away so she could come back before her parents realized she was gone.

Rose walked up to the only window in her room and checked the situation. Her room was quite high but that wasn't a problem. She dashed towards her bedsheets drawer as silently as she could and began making a rope, just enough to climb down from the roof.

Ba-dum, ba-dum.

Her heartbeat sped up from excitement seeing a ten-meter rope laying across her room. With the rope ready, she grabbed a small backpack, putting all of her toys inside together with a flashlight and finally changed her clothes. She wore dark jeans and a black pullover for additional stealth.

"Am I ready?" Rose thought as she stood in front of the window, looking at everything she prepared.

She couldn't think of anything else she might need so she made sure her door was locked, turned off the light, and climbed out of the window. When it came to climbing, she was confident in her skills so she easily went out.

With one end wrapped around her belly and another on the window, she slowly slid herself down the roof, thanking herself she was slim. In less than a minute, she was on the ground, running towards the gate.

Unfortunately, she didn't know that all of her actions were being watched by two pairs of eyes and tens of cameras, all following her movement.

"Doesn't she know we have an alarm and security all around the house?" Dana asked, watching the live surveillance footage on her laptop. "Are we going to stop her?"

They laid on the bed, getting ready to sleep early when their phones set off with alarm.

"If you want to, go ahead, but I think it's fine," Robert replied casually, looking at his phone with a smile. "All the lessons I taught her seemed to pay off."

"What do you mean it's fine? It's late at night and she is sneaking out to meet with her boyfriend. What if something happens to her?" Dana questioned with a frown. "Can't we at least send Sebastian to follow after her?"

"Don't you remember how many times we sneaked out from our homes to meet with each other?" Robert pointed out calmly, putting his phone away. "It is clear she is in love with that boy. Let them meet. If we shelter her too much, she will never learn life."

"Tsk, since when are you such a cool dad?" Dana snickered, staring at the map with Rose's localization. "Weren't you the one who insisted on protecting her from all danger all those years?"

"I changed my mind," Robert replied with a shrug and proposed, "If you are worried, you can watch the dot on the map all night. I'm going to sleep."

"Humph, I will."