Kiwi_reads

“When you see the red rose bloom, just know your fates are doomed.”

In Ashvale, red roses don’t mean love.
They mean someone’s going to disappear.

No one knows who plants them.
No one knows why they bloom.
But everyone knows what comes next: silence, shadows… and loss.

Years after a tragedy that fractured the town, a strange girl returns—quiet, watching, never quite belonging.

And the roses grew.
They kept growing… silently.
Like a shadow.

Some say the curse never left.
Others believe it's only just begun.

But one thing is certain:
Ashvale is rotting from the inside out.
And this time, the red won’t stop at petals.

Sub Rose Rubda

LUICFER'S POV:-

I didn't get the sleep I wanted. Honestly, I doubt anyone else did either.

Morning sunlight peeked through the curtains, golden and warm, and I groaned as I sat up. The house was quiet. A note on the fridge in Nadia's handwriting said she'd gone home. I assumed she took the twins with her because the place was far too quiet without them.

I didn't know how to cook. Not properly, anyway. And I sure as hell didn't want to wake Aki up.

So, naturally, I did what any very brave, very stupid person would do. I picked up the pan and some eggs and got to work.

Thirty minutes later, I stared at a plate of eggs that looked more like charcoal than food.

"Hey-!" I turned, ready to bark at whoever hit me, expecting Nadia.

She looked at me with the most unimpressed expression I'd ever seen. Without saying a word, she picked up the plate and dumped the burnt mess in the bin. Then she grabbed a notebook, scribbled something down, and held it up for me to read.

She rolled up her sleeves and walked to the stove like she'd done it a thousand times before. I just stared, dumbfounded.

I'd never seen Aki cook. Hell, I hadn't seen her do much of anything.

But watching her like this—calm, focused,weirdly put me at ease.

Breakfast actually went well. Grandpa Trevor even joined us at the table.

About an hour later, I heard noise outside—murmurs, raised voices, panic.

I stepped out, pulled by instinct, and found townsfolk gathered in anxious clusters. Some were gossiping, some just yelling.

"No one's safe anymore!" someone cried.

"I told you! We should've left this cursed place years ago!" a woman shrieked at her husband.

Surrounded by roses soaked in blood. Their petals clung to it like they'd been fed on it. The body was mutilated, killed the same way as the Sheriff's.

My throat tightened. My stomach turned.

Why now? Why all of a sudden? Ashvale had always been cursed, yes ,people disappeared. But there'd never been a corpse.

Then ,just for a second—I thought I saw movement. A shadow, dancing at the edge of my vision.

But when I turned, nothing was there.

The crowd kept murmuring, some crying, some gasping at the horror in the chapel. My breath hitched, and I turned to walk away.

And nearly crashed straight into her.

Aki stood behind me like a ghost. Silent. Watching. Her eyes were as dead and blank as ever.

She hadn't made a single sound. She just... appeared.

Then she tilted her head, slowly, looking toward the chapel.

And maybe I was panicking. Maybe the stress was messing with my head.

But for a split second— I saw a smile.

A tiny, twisted curl at the corner of her mouth.

I'm imagining things. I'm exhausted.

"We should go back… it's not safe here," I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

Her eyes snapped to me like I'd insulted her. But she didn't speak. She simply turned and walked away, expecting me to follow.

When we got home, Nadia was back with the twins. They were safe. All of them.

But the weight in my chest wouldn't lift.

The horror. The unease. It clung to me like a second skin ,heavy and suffocating.

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