102. Roses for Rose

Third Person's POV:

Rose and Aria settled into bed, the soft glow of a bedside lamp casting long shadows on the walls.

Aria, being Aria, tried to lighten the mood, rolling onto her side to face Rose with a playful smirk.

"Alright, let's name your mysterious stalker. How about 'Shadowy Romeo'? Or wait, 'Phantom Prince'? Ooh, I got it—'Roses-for-Rose.' Very poetic."

Rose snorted, shaking her head. "Not funny."

"Come on! It's kinda romantic..." Aria whined pulling on her arm and Rose decides to finish her sentence, "... yes in a totally deranged, serial-killer way."

Aria makes a counter argument, "Who says it's deranged what if it's his way of confessing his undying love for you." giving a wink at the end.

"Yeah, super romantic way of showing it. Nothing says 'love' like an uninvited stranger lurking outside your house, leaving flowers like an ominous breadcrumb trail."

"Nothing that doesn't do it for you down there." The wink comes again. But Rose gives her a deadly look in return.

Aria sighed dramatically. "Fine, fine. Killjoy."

The room fell into a comfortable silence. After a while Aria stirred beside her and groggily murmured something. Rose knew her friend fell asleep but she was still wide awake.

Now on her own, alone and silent, her mind went back to where she tried to escape from by coming here.

Rose couldn't shake the tension coiling in her chest. Even here, away from her house, away from that eerie darkness that seemed to creep into every shadow, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched.

Could she have made a mistake by coming here?

It was ridiculous. She was safe. Jake knew she was here, she texted him before coming so he wont worry; and no one else had followed—

Right?

She took a deep breath, staring up at the ceiling, trying to will her paranoia away and welcome a much needed sleep. No matter how hard she tried, sleep wouldn't come.

How odd, she seem to fall asleep during all the paranormal things happening around her in that house.

Yet, now that she is somewhere else, somewhere she is safe, she couldn't relax enough to sleep.

The window was open just a crack, letting in a cool night breeze, but the curtain barely moved.

That was normal, right? Just the stillness of the air. The wind around her house never seem to settle down like this.

She closed her eyes, forcing herself to relax.

Tap.

Her eyes snapped open.

It was faint, almost imperceptible, like the sound of a fingernail against glass. She lay still, ears straining.

Tap. Tap.

Her stomach twisted. Maybe it was just a tree branch brushing against the window. Yeah. That was logical.

"What was that?" Rose whispers to Aria shaking her lightly. It's her house, if this was a tree's regular doing, she would know about it.

Aria groaned, rolling over and stuffing her face under her pillow. "Ignore it. Wind. House settling. Ghosts. Whatever. Sleep." 

Who was she kidding, she knew her friend sleeps like the dead.

Then it happens again.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Steady. Rhythmic. Deliberate.

Rose's pulse pounded in her ears. This can not be a tree. Trees don't knock like that.

She swallowed, her throat dry as she pushed herself up on her elbows. Her eyes darted to the window.

Tap.

A slow, sickening dread coiled in her stomach. What is she going to find if she takes a peek behind the drapes; or more exactly, whom?

She threw off the blanket against her better judgement, moving carefully, as if making too much noise would invite something inside.

Holding her breath, she inched toward the window. Every step felt heavier, her limbs weighed down with the weight of her own fear.

With a shaky hand, she reached for the curtain. She didn't want to look. She had to look.

She pulled it back.

Nothing.

Just the quiet of the night staring back at her.

A shaky exhale left her lips. She was losing it. This whole thing was getting to her.

But just as she turned away, her breath caught in her throat.

Sitting there, placed perfectly in the center of the windowsill, was a single red rose. Fresh. Blooming. Waiting.

Her blood turned to ice. The rose. The stark, undeniable proof that this wasn't just paranoia.

Her knees nearly gave out, but she forced herself to stay upright. Her fingers clenched into fists as she stared at the flower, horror trickling down her spine like cold water.

Rose knew this was a mistake. Coming here was a mistake.

She is not safe, no matter where she runs to, he will follow her.

Now that he had stepped out of the shadows, he is bringing his darkness into the light of her world.

And now he had followed her here. Rose had brought a dangerous man with her to her best friend's house. 

She shouldn't have brought Aria into her mess and now she could be in real danger... because of her!

The realization reeled into her mind like a bad omen.

Aria, somehow sensing the shift in the atmosphere even in her sleep, sat up groggily. "What's wrong?"

Rose jerks up slightly but then catches herself before her intuitive friend catches on.

She barely managed to get the words out. "Nothing. Go back to sleep. I am going back to my place"

Aria frowned. "What are you—"

"Jake's coming to pick me up, he says he needs to talk to me about something. I'm sure it's nothing serious. I'm gonna head out. See you later, alligator." Awkwardly Rose tried to sound normal.

Silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating before Aria finally gave in. "Alright, be careful. I'll text you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Obviously... You're an ugly sleeper by the way." And with that Rose shuts her bedroom door behind her and feels the vibration in the door from the pillow Aria hurled at her.

Good. That went well. She doesn't suspect anything. Now Rose needs to get out of here as soon as possible.

She knows something now. No locked door would keep him out.

He was already here.

She needs to get him away from this house and her best friend. No matter if doing that means she needs to go back to her house, alone and dark, with him waiting there for her.

Rose's back was still pressed against the bedroom door of her best friend who was fast asleep inside; the fact most likely known by their entire neighborhood if her downright unholy snoring was anything to go by.

Spending a few more minutes with just her mind and her body, both getting prepared for the barrage of unknown to come ahead, Rose left the house.