A Bloodie Rose Chapter Eleven

I heard footsteps behind me and turned around, scared of it being Jason. Luckily, it wasn’t—it was just Zero.
"How did you…?" I started, confused.
"How did I get in here?" he said. I nodded. "The disease gave us strange powers, Rose, remember? I got in here last night by teleportation and that’s how I got in here this time. Now, I guess you read some of the book, so give it back."
I handed it back to him. "Who wrote that poem?"
"You mean these poems?"
"The whole book is filled with poems?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"Who wrote them?" I asked, again.
He sighed. "You really don’t know who wrote them?"
"No."

"Well, it was a girl I met when I lived in France. She moved away and before she left, she gave this book to me."
"Is she poet, now? I mean, professionally?"
"No, I don’t think she is—although she could be," he said.
"Oh… What was her name?"
He didn’t answer for a long time. "Rae Baker…"
Then, Candace came into the room and said, "Come on, we have to leave now or Jason will be able to follow us in the morning light."
"Okay," Zero said, following her out of the room, and I followed behind him.
"We aren’t taking your motorcycle again, are we?" I whispered to Zero.
He shook his head. "We’re taking my car."
"You have a car, too?"

He chuckled. "Yes. We save up a lot of extra money to buy cars and other things we probably don’t really need because we live without the expense of food."
"What do you eat?"
"Meat."
"Meat as in…?"
"Chicken, beef, turkey… No people. We go out and get our food—since we can, so we save the meat normal humans get and sell in stores for the humans who aren’t able to get their own food like us."
"Oh…" I said.
"And we go out and catch our own food, so we get extra money and we can buy fancy cars and stuff."
I laughed, quietly.

"What?"
"Just the way you said that made you sound rich and…"
"Spoiled?"
I laughed again. "A little."
He smiled and I realized we were outside, walking down the wooden steps to the driveway.
Zero’s car was a black convertible with shiny silver rimmed wheels. He got into the driver’s seat and I walked around to the other side and got into the passenger’s seat.
Zero drove out of the driveway and down the street, with Candace, Sarah, and Lukas following in a white Explorer.
"Why didn’t you want me to see that book, anyway?" I asked.
He didn’t answer.
"Zero?"
"Don’t worry about it," he replied.

"Just tell me."
"No," he replied.
"But—"
"For the last time, Rosetta—no," he replied.
"Why?"
"Because I don’t want to tell you right now."
"Ugh," I groaned.
He sighed. "I was just embarrassed by it, ok?"
I glanced at him. "That’s it?"
"Yeah—what were you expecting it t be?"
I shook my head. "I was expecting it to be more exciting than that."

He shrugged.
There was a long silence. I looked away from and at my fingers as I twined and untwined them, bored.
"We’re here," he said.
I looked up and saw a tall, yellow house with white trimmed windows and green shutters. There was a big tree in the front yard. The driveway led to a garage and some steps that went up the lawn and to the front door.
"Come on, let’s go inside before Jason sees you," he said.
I followed him into the house, up a wooden staircase that stood right in front of the door. Then at the top, we turned right and he opened the only door on the left side of the hall. I shut the door behind me and looked around.

"This is my room," he said.
The walls were painted red with black diamonds on top. The floor was a glossy wood one. He had a loft bed with a red comforter and black pillowcases and underneath was a dark wooden desk, with a black laptop sitting on top of it, and there was a computer chair with a red seat. There was a flat screen T.V in the middle of an entertainment system. He had CDs, DVDs, video games, and books lining the shelves inside of it.
"Whoa… This beats my room," I said.
He chuckled. "Why? Because of the flat screen?"
"And the colors… It looks so much better than my room…"
He climbed up the ladder on his bed and sat down in it. He motioned for me to come up with him. I climbed the ladder and sat down next to him.
"So, why does Jason want revenge on you?" I asked, bringing up our conversation from before.
He half-sighed, half-chuckled. "You don’t let anything go, do you?"
"Nope."

He took a deep breath. "Okay… The reason I wouldn’t tell you was because it’s not a very pleasant memory for me. Just know that I didn’t enjoy this one bit."
"Okay," I said.
"Well, Jason had a sister named Violet and she had been infected with the disease by a stray cannibal in France. She went home to her brother afterward and she tried to… Eat him. He thought she had lost her mind. Jason only wanted to help Violet so he took her to my father who worked as a doctor at the time just like Sarah is and as I’m going to be. My father knew what was wrong as soon as he saw her and took Violet and Jason away to Adelais to try and help her.
"Violet had to pass a test on the third day that she was in Adelais. She had to be in the same room with a human and not attack them—and that human was my sister, Gianna, when she was only twelve years old. Violet couldn’t stand the smell of Gianna any longer and tried to attack her. Luke and I stopped her before she could get anywhere near Gianna. Then, we had to kill her. She had lost her mind and we had to get rid of her before she hurt anyone.

"So, I took my rifle while Luke held Violet off, and then I tried to shoot her, but Jason jumped on me before I could get her in the head. He wrestled me to the ground. I eventually got him off of me and I aimed for her head. Jason jumped in front of her and she bit his shoulder, turning him into a cannibal, too. I shot Violet in the head and she was dead, I tried to shoot Jason but he ran out of the room and got out of Adelais before we could catch him.
"Jason has never eaten a human before—he does have the power to decide whether or not to eat someone, but he is going after you for revenge… And I’m very sorry about that. I wish he would kill me instead of you. I killed Violet—not you…"
"Wait—you killed someone?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Yeah… I had to do that a lot when I was there—so did Lukas… We hated doing it so much."

"I’m sorry."
"It’s okay—you didn’t make us do it, our father did," he said.
"He did? Why?"
"He needed our help. He was too much of a coward to do it himself," he said.
"That’s so selfish."
He sighed. "Yeah. But it’s all over… At least for now."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"When Lukas and I go back for school vacation he’s going to make us help out again like that," he said.
"You’re leaving?"
"For Christmas, February, April, and summer vacation."
"Who’s going to watch me?" I asked.
"Sarah and Candi will."
"Why do you have to leave?" I asked, depressed.
He chuckled. "My parents do miss me, you know."

I frowned.
"What?" he asked.
"I’ll miss you," I said, looking down at my feet, blushing.
Whoa… I can’t believe I actually had the courage to say that…
His pale face reddened. "I know."
There was a silence between us.
"I’ll talk to your mom and my parents and see if you can come over the summer and that way they can see Candace and Sarah, too—since they won’t have to watch you."
"Okay," I said, happily.
Then, I remembered something from living in France again.
I was crying and standing in front of me was Z.T.
"I don’t wanna go," I cried.

"I know you don’t want to, but you have to," he said as he wrapped his arms around me and I rested my head on his shoulder.
"I want to stay here with you," I said.
He chuckled. "You know you can’t."
"I wish I could," I said.
"I do, too."
"Rosetta! Come on—we’re going to miss our flight!" my mom called from the car.
"I’ll come over there and find you. I’ll come to you—I promise. We’ll be together again," he said almost as if he was trying to assure himself more than me.

"Okay."
"I’ll find you and we can be together again—I promise, because I…" he said.
"Rose?" Zero said.
I snapped out of my daydream and looked at him. "What?"
"What were you just thinking about?"
"Nothing. Why?"
"You looked like you were off in another train of thought," he said.
"Oh…" I said.
"What was it you were thinking about?"
"Nothing," I said truthfully—I wasn’t thinking—I was daydreaming.
He looked skeptically at me.
"I’m not lying. I wasn’t thinking," I said and then I mumbled, "I was daydreaming."
He chuckled. "What were you dreaming about?"
"I’m not telling you," I said.

"Why not?"
"You can have your secrets and I can have mine."
He glared at me. "You make me tell you all of mine."
"That’s different."
He raised an eyebrow. "How is it different?"
"Because you tell me after I ask you like three times, so it’s really easy to get it out of you—I’m a little bit harder," I said.
He chuckled. "Yeah, right," he said sarcastically.
"I am."
"Just tell me," he said.
"No."
"Why can’t I know?"

"Because you don’t need to," I replied.
"Come on. Is it embarrassing?"
"Not really…"
Wait… Z.T lived in France and so did Zero… Maybe he knows who Z.T is and he can tell me where he is so I can see him again…
"Then, why won’t you tell me?" he asked, getting annoyed.
"Actually, I changed my mind. I’ll tell you."
"Yeah, you’re really hard to crack."
"Well, telling you might work to my benefit."
"Why?" he asked.
"You might know who my friend is so I can talk to him again because he lives in France… Or used to live there."

"Okay, try me," he said.
"I met him when I used to live there, obviously. And I don’t remember his real name, but I used to call him Z.T."
Zero’s eyes opened wider as if in shock.
"What’s wrong? Do you know him?" I asked.
"N-no."
"Then, what’s wrong?"
"Nothing," he said.
I looked at him skeptically.
"Really, it’s nothing," he said.
I sighed. "He told me he would come here and see me again… But I guess he forgot about me… Or his parents won’t let him come."

"I don’t think anyone could forget you," he laughed.
I smiled.
"Do you remember anything else about him?"
"Um… He had dark brown hair and the most beautiful dark blue eyes…" I said, blushing.
He chuckled. "Really?"
"Yeah…"
"Would you tell me a memory?" he asked.
"Uh… Sure… Why…?"
"I just want to hear what he was like."
"I don’t know what to say about him… I barely remember…"
"Just tell me what you were thinking about him," he said.

"Well, it was the day I was moving here from Paris and I was, uh, crying because I had to leave…"
"You were crying?" he interrupted, half-laughing.
I glared at him as I continued. "And he promised he’d come back… But I guess he hasn’t yet."
"Oh…" he said, "What if he was someone from school and you just haven’t realized it yet?"
"Why wouldn’t he have told me it was him?"
He shrugged. "So… Was there anymore to your memory?"
"Y-yeah… He said we would be together again—and I know we sound way too mature for little five year old kids, but both of us were really mature for our age and…"
"Okay, I got it. Keep going," he interrupted.
"Well, he told me we would be together again," I repeated, "And then he said something that I wish I had said back, but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to… So, he said…" I continued, blushing.

"Because I love you," we said at the same time.
I looked up at him, surprised. "How did you know that?"
He smiled. "How do you think?"
"Lucky guess?" I asked.
He chuckled. "No… Do you remember him calling you almost every night when you were little?"
"Yeah…?"
"Do you still remember the number?"
"Yeah… I could never forget it… Even though he stopped calling and stopped answering my calls," I said.
"Well…" he said as he pulled a sleek, black cell phone out of his pocket. He used the touch screen on the front of it to press a few icons and then he handed it to me. I looked down at it read:

Owner info
Owner name: Zero
Phone number: 774-256-9670

I gasped. "Th-that’s the same number as…" I said, trailing off.
He nodded. "Yes."
"Th-then that means you and Z.T…"
"Are the same person," he finished.
I was speechless. I had no idea what to say.
"So, you did love me?" he asked.
I blushed.
He chuckled. "Did you miss me?"
Tears escaped my eyes as I nodded.

He smiled and wrapped his arms around me. I rested my head on his shoulder and wiped my tears away on his shirt.
"Wh-why didn’t you tell me?" I asked, tears still coming from my eyes.
"I wanted to make sure you still remembered me."
"How could I forget you?"
He patted my back as he said, "And you think I could have forgotten about you and my promise?"
I blushed. "I-I… I didn’t know that it was you…"
"But, you still thought that."
I didn’t reply.
"I’m just glad I finally got to tell you—I was getting so annoyed that you hadn’t said anything about me yet," he said.

"Oh… Sorry…?"
He chuckled.
There was a silence between us. I just held on to him in our embrace as tight as I could. I was never going to let him leave—and I was never going to leave again, either.
"You didn’t keep your promise to me," he said.
"What?"
"You promised not to fall in love with anyone while you were here," he said.
"I didn’t," I said, defensively as I let go of him and leaned back.
"Benji…?" he asked.
"There’s a big difference between liking someone a lot and loving them, Zero."
He sighed.

"You don’t believe me."
He didn’t answer.
"I’ve never…" I started and then stopped since I started blushing and my voice cracked. Then, I continued in a softer and quieter tone, "I’ve never stopped loving you."
He smiled. "I know."
He leaned towards me so that his face was inches from mine. "Did you ever… Kiss Benji?"
"N-no," I replied, blushing.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I swear I’m not lying."
"Did he ever try to kiss you?"
"Yeah," I said.
"Hm… What happened?"

"Well, I pushed him away and told him, basically, that I wasn’t ready," I said.
"Did you lie to him?"
"Well… I guess a little bit," I said, "I-I wasn’t ready for my first kiss… B-because it wouldn’t have been with you."
He smiled. "Are you ready now?"
"I, uh… I-I guess… Wh-why?"
"Because," he replied as he leaned even closer and slowly he pressed his lips to mine. I felt a spark form between our lips and I pulled him closer to me as I felt a deep, burning desire for him. I fell back onto the bed as we kissed. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer to me.
"Isn’t this hard for you since you have the C.I.D, you know just being around humans?" I asked after a long pause of us only staring at each other, me being slightly shocked by having my first kiss finally.

He pressed his lips to my cheek. "Not anymore. It used to be hard, but now I’m used to it."
"Why did you stop calling me all of a sudden when we were younger?" I asked randomly, as he lied down beside me.
"My parents took away my phone for a while," he said, staring up at the ceiling.
"And why you didn’t call when you got it back?" I asked.
"They deleted your number from my phone and then my parents blocked your number from my phone. It wouldn’t let me call it," he said.
"You made me cry every night you didn’t call."
"I know. I’m so sorry," he said.
"So, who’s Rae Baker? Did I know her?" I asked, bringing up the book of poems.
He chuckled. "That’s not who wrote those."

"Who was it, then?"
"It was you," he said.
I blushed. "I knew those sounded familiar…"
Then, I remembered the day I gave the book to him.
We were outside in my backyard, sitting under a tree in the summer before I moved.
"Z.T?" I said.
"Yes?" he replied, looking at me with his deep blue eyes.
"My mommy says we have to move away from here with Louis in two weeks," I said.
"Yeah, I know she told me."
"I’m going to miss you," I said.

"I know. I’ll miss you, too."
"I made something for you, so you wouldn’t forget me."
"You didn’t have to—I’d never forget you, Rosetta," he replied.
"I wanted to. I just wanted to make sure you never forgot."
I handed him a red book—the same one Zero had today.
"What is it?" he asked.
"A book of all the poems I’ve ever written."
"Even the ones you wouldn’t let me see before?" he asked.
"Yes," I said, blushing at the thought of him reading the ones I wrote about him.
He smiled. "Thank you."
"Come on, let’s play hockey," a girl’s voice had said.
I looked up to see the face of a brown-eyed-brown haired girl who had a very familiar face.
"Okay, Candi," I said as I took her hand and stood up.