A Bloodie Rose Chapter Ten

I really just have to reply to this comment, I loved it soooo much hehehe
Imani: XD Your comment made me laugh sooo hard You won't have to worry about that concept of them not having contact hahah.
Love, Little Shrimpy

Chapter Ten

"You looked like someone was stabbing you in the back the entire time you were out there," Zero laughed as we walked towards my car.
I shrugged. "I was nervous, okay?"
"Nervous that I would make fun of you?" he asked.
I nodded.
I got in the driver’s seat and drove off down the street. We were silent for a few minutes. Then, it hit me.
"Wait, if you’re going to stay at my house tonight without my mom knowing," I said, blushing a little at the thought, "How are you going to get in the house? My mom’s inside and so is Stephanie."
He smiled. "Don’t doubt me."

I looked at him skeptically, glancing at the road. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"You’ll see."
I rolled my eyes and parked the car in my driveway.
"So…?" I asked.
He smiled again and then disappeared into thin air.
"Zero?"
I heard his voice come from nowhere. "Don’t worry; I’ll meet you in your room."
I felt heat fill my face—a blush—as I pulled my keys from the ignition and put them in my pocket.
I went in the house and found Stephanie sitting on the couch, watching the T.V, Mom in the kitchen standing over the table, mixing something in a bowl, and Louis was standing in front of the microwave, waiting for it to beep and signal the time to take what looked like corn, out.

"Hey, Rose, how was skating and field hockey?" Mom asked.
"Fine…" I replied, "I’m going to go upstairs—I’m tired. Come get me when dinner’s ready, okay?"
"Mhm," Mom replied.
I went up the stairs normally until no one could see me from behind the wall and then I went faster, almost running. Then, I tried to control my face as I opened my bedroom door.
Zero was sitting on the edge of my bed, with his legs crossed over each other.
I shut the door behind me before I said anything.
"Hey," I said.
"Hi."
"So…"
"Nice room," he said.

"Thanks," I said, "You want to know what it looked like before eighth grade?"
"Sure."
"Imagine these walls pink—no like pink so bright that it gives you a headache."
He laughed. "I couldn’t imagine you wanting your room bright pink."
"And imagine the wood floor as the same color on a carpet and the sheets pink and, basically, imagine everything pink."
He laughed, again.
I sat down next to him on the bed.
"You need to show me your house, now," I said, "I mean, you’ve been here—how many times?"
"Only twice with you knowing."
"Well, I don’t even know where you’re house is," I said.
"It’s not too far from yours," he replied.
"Really? Where is it?" I asked.

"The street between Collette’s and Tedeschi’s," he replied.
"You live there? My friend, Makenzie, lives there, too," I said.
"I know; she and Candi hang out all the time."
There was another awkward silence. I realized there was always an awkward silence between us when we talked.
I started to play with my fingers, twining them together and untwining them.
"Hey, Rose, do you…"
Then, before he could finish his question, Stephanie swung the door open, starting to say, "Rose, dinner’s ready," but, stopped and ended up saying, "Rose, dinner’s re…"

"Steph, I, uh…" I said.
"You are so dead," she laughed, "Mom and Dad are going to kill you."
"My dad is all the way in France, Steph; I don’t think he’d find out."
"Fine; Mom and Louis are going to kill you."
I went over to her, pulled her, by the wrist, into my room, and shut the door.
"Please, don’t say anything, Steph, please," I pleaded.
She thought about it for less than a second. "If I keep my mouth shut, then you have to drive me wherever I want you to and whenever I want."
I sighed. "Fine."
She smiled and skipped out the door.
I rolled my eyes.
"Sorry, I should have just stuck to watching from outside," Zero said.

"It’s okay—I drive her around everywhere, anyway—it’s not much of a sacrifice."
He sighed. "Maybe I should…"
"Don’t worry about it," I said as I stood and went towards the door.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"To get some dinner?" I said, confused.
"Oh…"
"Are you hungry?" I asked.
"Yeah, let me sink my teeth into your arm," he joked.
I was surprised how lightly he joked about the disease.
I laughed, sounding a little nervous.
"Did that scare you?" he asked.
I shook my head. "No…"
He chuckled.

"I’ll be back in a minute," I said as I closed the door behind me and went down the stairs, down the hall and into the kitchen.
On the table there was a bowl of corn and one of mashed potatoes. I scooped some into my bowl. I grabbed a glass from the cabinet and poured water and ice into it from the dispenser in the fridge door.
There was a note taped to the fridge door from my mom for me. It read:
Rosetta,
Louis, Steph, and I left for the grocery store. We’ll be back soon. Have some dinner and finish your homework. See you later.
Love,
Mom

I sighed and grabbed a spoon from the silverware drawer. I walked past the glass sliding door in the kitchen and I heard a loud knock on it. I jumped and almost dropped the bowl and cup.
I flicked on the switch for the outside lights and I saw something sway in the trees. My heart beat quickened with panic and a slight bit of fear. I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around, thinking it was Zero trying to scare me—or rather hoping it was Zero trying to scare me. The face I saw standing in front of me frightened me even more.
"Jason!" I gasped.
He smiled. "How have you been?" he asked casually.
"Wh-what do you want?"
"What did I want the time we met in the woods?" he asked.
"F-food?" I stuttered.

He nodded and grabbed me by the throat. I started gasping for air. I was twisting and turning trying to break free for at least a second so that I could yell for Zero.
Jason squeezed my throat tighter and slammed my head against the wall so hard that I felt the crumble of the wood. Then, I dropped the bowl and glass cup on the floor. I heard them smash on the floor and felt glass cut my toes as Jason released my throat. Then, I slipped into unconsciousness.
The dream came back to me again. The blue water-like color on the moon filling it up half way, now. I jumped out the window again and heard Zero’s voice. Then, after he said, "Jason’s back!" he called my name over and over. He said my name for about the tenth time before I realized he wasn’t saying it in my dream—it was the real Zero saying my name.

I opened my eyes and I was lying in my bed under the covers. Zero was holding an ice pack behind my head and I felt some type of tight cloth wrapped around my feet and head.
"Oh, thank God, you’re awake," he said.
I looked at him, not fully awake yet. "Wh-what happened?"
"Don’t you remember? Jason attacked you in the kitchen…?" he said.
"Oh…"
"Are you okay?" he asked.
I nodded and then flinched from the pain.
He sighed. "Sorry, I should have come with you downstairs."
"It’s okay; it’s my fault. I should have just gone upstairs instead of looking out the glass door to see what tapped on the window."

He shrugged.
"What happened to Jason?" I asked.
He shook his head.
"He got away again, didn’t he?"
Zero nodded.
"Why won’t he leave me alone—there are billions of other people in the world he could eat," I said.
"Wow, that sounded selfish," he said.
"Well… It’s true…"
"He knows that I’m supposed to watch over you and keep him away and he wants to get revenge on me for something that happened a long time ago and he thinks killing you is the only way to do it," he explained.
I looked at him, with a scared expression growing on my face. "What happened a long time ago?"

He sighed. "Nothing you need to know about."
I pouted at him and, since I couldn’t move my head from the pain, I closed my eyes.
"Rose, I just really don’t want to tell you about it right now, okay?"
"Fine."
I opened my eyes and he sighed.
"What time is it?" I asked.
"I don’t know—like two in the morning," he replied.
"Ugh," I groaned.
We were silent for a few minutes.
"Is something wrapped around my feet?" I asked.
He nodded. "You got cut up from the glass."
"Ugh," I groaned again.

He chuckled quietly. Then, his expression turned serious. "Are you okay—truthfully?"
"Yeah—I’m not great, but I’m not horrible, so I guess I’m okay," I replied.
He sighed. "I need to watch you every second of the day, now… Jason is going to wait for the moment that I’m not with you—even if it’s only a second that you’re unprotected—and he’ll attack you."
I looked up at him. "I’m sorry."
He shook his head. "You shouldn’t be."
"It’s my fault—I should be sorry. I mean, if I didn’t go into the woods…"
Then, he put his index finger to my lips to stop me from talking. "What’s done is done and we can’t undo it."

I frowned. "I wish I could," his expression became slightly sad. Then, I realized what I said sounded like I meant I wished I never met him. "N-no, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant I wish that I didn’t cause so much trouble for you."
"I know, I know," he said, kneeling down and moving his face closer to mine, "Besides, it’s not that much trouble when you’re doing it for someone you care about."
My face heated with a deep blush. "O-oh…"
He smiled. "Did you think I don’t enjoy talking to you?"
I didn’t reply.
He sighed. "Just tell me. Did you?"
I nodded, careful not to hurt myself again with the movement.

He shook his head and sighed again. "Rosetta, I like hanging out with you and talking to you. The only time this seems like a job is when I have to save you from Jason."
"See? You don’t like having to protect me all the time."
He folded his arms on the edge of the bed and rested his chin on them, his face inches from mine. "Did I say that?"
"That’s what it sounded like."
"But, not what I meant."
I waited.
"I meant that fighting Jason reminds me that I have a job to do and I can’t just sit around with you, talking, while Jason is out waiting for the one moment you’re alone," he explained.
"It’s not fair that you have to fight a fight that I should be at least helping in," I said.
"No. You can’t help us."

"Why not?"
He sighed. "We’re… Stronger."
I glared at him.
"What? You know it’s true, Rose," he said.
"Why are you stronger? Because you’re guys?" I asked.
He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I didn’t say that."
"That’s what you meant."
"No, it’s not."
I rolled my eyes.
"Rosetta, we’re stronger because we have the disease. Jason can’t kill us."
"What?" I asked, confused.
"The disease makes indestructible to absolutely everything, except…" he trailed off.
"Except what?"

He leaned so that his mouth was at my ear and then whispered, "Except for shooting us in the head—but exactly in the right spot or it won’t work. Jason could shoot us in the head, but he won’t take the chance of one of us getting the gun away from him and killing him—and the same goes for us. We want to lock him up and then kill him so he can’t kill us."
"So, I guess that there still isn’t a cure for the disease."
"No. But, we know how to cure it," he said.
"How?" I asked.
He sighed as he leaned back. "In the future, there will be seven humans with raised bumps on the skin on the back of their necks that is the shape of long wings and they have to sacrifice their blood to the people infected with the disease to cure them."

I looked at him skeptically. "How do you know that?"
"Never mind how we know. We just do," he snapped.
I cringed back slightly from his harsh tone.
"Sorry," he said, "I just really can’t tell you."
"Please tell me?" I asked, pouting.
"No."
"Why not?" I asked innocently.
"My parents told only Lukas, Gianna, and I and they said to keep it a secret."
"What’s so bad about it?" I asked, trying to get some more information out of him.
"Well…" he started, and then he realized what I was trying to do, "Nice try."

I sighed, angrily.
He smiled and patted my head, lightly, trying to not to hurt me.
"I’m not made of glass, you know," I pointed out, annoyed by how careful he was not to hurt me.
"Right now you are."
I sighed, again.
"I really want to get Sarah in here and cure your bruises and cuts…" he said, as though he was trying to restrain himself from doing so.
"Why is that a bad thing?" I asked.
"The disease gave her a healing power and she could heal your wounds in seconds, but we try to be normal and not rely on our powers so much… But, I just can’t bear to see like this… You look broken."
"I look like crap, don’t I?"
"N-no…" he lied.
I smiled. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better by lying, but I know I do."

Then, he leaned his face towards mine, my heartbeat going faster and faster, thinking he was going to kiss me, really kiss me. He did, but not where I wanted him to. He pressed his lips to my forehead as Candace walked in the room and he said, "I’ll be right back. Candi will watch you while I talk to your mom and Sarah."
"My mom is going to freak out…"
"We told her the truth about what’s been going on and she’s very worried about you, but she trusts us to keep you safe."
He left the room in a second, shutting the door behind himself.
"Hey, Rose," Candace said.
"Hi."
"So, I see Zero is being nice to you," she commented.
I blushed and nodded slowly.
She smiled. "Don’t be embarrassed by it, just love the attention."

I laughed, quietly.
"Okay, that sounds good," I replied.
She sat on the edge of the bed and we sat in silence for a few minutes.
I remembered how Zero had told me to ask Candi about what my dream meant and that she was into that kind of stuff.
"Candace?" I asked.
"That’s my name," she replied.
"I keep having this dream over and over again and I told Zero about it and he said it was nothing. But, I asked him what it meant and he just said to ask you what it meant because you would know, so…"

"What happens in the dream?" she asked, interested.
"Well, I’m running and find a shed to hide in…"
"Hide from what?" she interrupted.
"Jason. Then, he finds me and I look around the room for a way to get out and I see a broken glass window. I know the only choice I have to stay alive is to jump through it, but my leg gets caught in the glass that’s still attached to the window and then I feel sharp pains in my calves. Then, the blood pours down my arms and I hear Zero calling for Sarah and he yells ‘Jason’s back!’…"
"Hm… That means that change and bad luck are approaching you, but you will overcome them."
"Oh… Thanks…" I replied, wondering what change and bad luck were approaching.
She nodded.
Then, Zero came back in the room with Sarah and Lukas behind him.
"Go ahead, Sarah," Zero said.

She came over to me and lightly pressed on my feet with her fingers and I felt the cuts in my feet I feel them stinging and I bit my lip to keep from making a noise. They felt like they were moving and then they disappeared.
"What was that?" I asked.
"I have healing abilities from the disease…" she replied.
She lightly held my head in her hands and I felt the aching disappear and I sighed in relief that it was gone. She unwrapped the bandage from my head and feet.
"Does it hurt any where else?" she asked.
I shook my head.

"Here," she said, holding out her hand to me, "Stand up."
I took her hand and stood up. I felt a little dizzy at first and then stabled myself.
"You okay?" Zero asked.
"Yeah…" I replied.
"I talked to your mother and she doesn’t want you going to school today and you’re going to stay at our house until she gets home from work," Zero told me.
"So, I finally get to see your house?" I asked.
He chuckled. "Yes."
I smiled.
"Go get dressed and stuff so we can leave soon and let your family go back to sleep," he commanded.
"Okay," I said and walked out of the room and into the bathroom. I took a shower, brushed my hair and teeth, and put on some eyeliner and nail polish. Then, I pulled some nice and warm clothes from the dryer and put them on since I couldn’t get the ones from my room.

I wore my ripped blue jeans, worn-out black sneakers, and a black and red, V-neck shirt.
I went back in my room and Zero was sitting on my bed, reading a small red book with a stenciled black rose on the cover.
"What’s that?" I asked.
He looked up at me, surprised. "Oh, this? I-it’s nothing."
He stood up, putting the book in the back pocket of his pants. "Are you ready to go?"
"What was that, Zero?"
"I told you, it’s nothing," he replied.
"If it’s nothing, then why won’t you let me see it?"
"Because you don’t need to," he replied, "Now, let’s go."

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me through the door and down the hall. I reached out with my free hand to grab the book from his pocket. As soon as the tip of my index finger touched the book, he grabbed my wrist with his other hand.
"Don’t even think about it," he said.
"I’m thinking about it—what are you going to do about it?"
He sighed and shook his head.
His grip had loosened on my other hand, so I pulled my hand away and grabbed the book. He let go of my hand that he had still been holding to turn around. I ran back up the stairs and into my room, locking the door behind me. I flipped open the book to a random page as I heard him try and open the door. The page I flipped to read:

Winter Rose
Can I have a rose,
For everyday I see you?
Can I have a rose,
For everyday you are gone,
Can I have a rose,
A rose to last the winter,
The winter that you’re gone,
The winter that’s so cold and lonely for me,
Can I have a rose,
A winter rose,
Representing all the love we share.
-R.B
That poem sounds familiar, but I don’t know where I’ve heard it before… And the initials at the bottom are the same as mine… I thought.