This was one of my English course work stories. Real weird but you might like it
The yellow tape rattled in the wind. Trapping the silver car at the side of the road. Landing softly on the earth, the rain fell in large drops. They washed a single black petal down the bonnet. Where, tied with a scarlet ribbon, a single black rose sat.
There was a sharp snap as Emma shut her locker. Lizzie smiled affectionately at her. “What have you forgotten this time?” Lizzie asked opening her own locker.
“Maths homework.” Grumbled Emma, running her fingers through her short red hair.
“You can copy mine.” Lizzie reached into her locker and her fingers brushed something soft. Closing her hand she pulled out a red rose. Both girls looked down at it.
“That’s how many now? Eighteen?” Lizzie nodded and her honey hair fell into her heart shaped face. “Look!” Emma snatched the rose out of her hand. “This one has a note attached.” She cleared her throat as she unravelled the white paper. Blue eyes twinkling with mischief, she began to read. “Meet me where you met me first. When the sun leaves the sky. Where the sea meets the land.” Emma raised one of her perfect eyebrows. Lizzie snatched the note back.
“Leave it! It’s just a stupid joke.” She muttered, angrily stuffing the rose and note back into her locker. Lizzie and Emma had been best friends for as long as they could remember. They were two of a small population of two thousand of Red Oak, the “small town” community in the whole of the Olympic peninsular. It’s like the Mafia, once you have lived there you never leave. “That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the attention.” Emma shrugged. “Can I copy your homework now?” Lizzie nodded and handed over her maths book. Emma had always worn the trousers in their friendship, Lizzie had just learned to accept it.
“Oh come on!” Emma moaned. “You have to come to the party. You miss them all.” Lizzie shook her head.
“I don’t know, Sam’s a bit… you know.” Emma rolled her eyes.
“He’s not that bad. He invited me and I am not going on my own!”
“Well, I don’t know…” Emma pulled a face. Lizzie sighed. “Fine. I’ll go.” Lizzie resigned
“Good. By the way, when I said I wouldn’t go without you, I would have gone. I just wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much.” Lizzie smiled weakly as Emma continued to rabbit on. “Okay, if it starts at eight, so grab some clothes then we can go to mine.”
“What time does it get dark?” Lizzie wondered and heard Emma snap her mouth shut.
“You are NOT seriously considering missing the party and seeing Rose Man are you?” Emma replied judgmentally. Lizzie shrugged and looked down.
“No, I was just-“
“Good!” Emma interrupted. “You can’t go around meeting everyone who sends you a note. People will think you’re easy.” Lizzie sighed and surrendered her argument. “I’ am thinking of wearing my new black dress. What do you think?”
Lizzie pulled up over the drive and looked nervously at the new house. Emma pushed open her door. “Come on!” She winged as she climbed out. Lizzie sighed inwardly, pulling her keys out of the ignition before climbing out her door. She pressed the button on her keys and watched her silver baby flash twice. Emma grabbed her arm. “MOVE NOW!” She hissed, dragging her up the drive. It was already dark with a almost full moon in the sky. Emma shoved her through the door and the stars were washed away by the artificial light. Sam appeared next to Emma. “Hey, you made it!” He grabbed her hand. “Let’s go get you a drink.” They weaved their way through the crowds. Emma winked over her shoulder at Lizzie, who sighed and looked around. Once again Emma had left Lizzie to amuse herself.
Lizzie was still hovering round the doorway when she caught sight of a flash of blond bobbing through the crowd. Ash pushed his way to Lizzie. “Liz! We thought you would be here. Megan saw Emma.” She smiled weakly.
“Yep. Don’t know why she bothered dragging me along though.” Muttered Lizzie. Ash rolled his eyes.
“Maybe she likes the idea of being driven everywhere in your Porsche.” He suggested with a shrug. “Probably not though.” He added hastily, catching Lizzie’s disapproving look. Ash wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She noticed he was wearing a ring with a black rose on it. “Come on, let’s go find the others. Was that your phone?” Pulling out her phone, Lizzie let Ash lead her through the crowd. Lizzie flipped open her phone to see she had one new message.
You Betrayed Me!
Lizzie stared at the unfamiliar number. It was just a joke. It had to be. Emma had probably told someone about the roses. That had to be the only explanation. Surely.
“Hey! Lizzie! Over here!” A voice called. “Are you ready to go?” Emma appeared, slightly more ruffled than when she had last seen her, in front of Lizzie. “You’re ready right?” Lizzie nodded and stood up, nodding to the Ash and the others.
“See you tomorrow.” She muttered and followed Emma to the car, missing Ash’s disapproving frown. Lizzie glanced at her watch. “Emma, are you sure you want to go? It’s only ten.” Emma didn’t even look back.
“Yes. Definitely.” She murmured focusing on the door. Lizzie sighed. Looks like Emma had fallen out with someone else. The cool air felt like a slap in the face as Lizzie finally made it out the front door. Emma was already at the car now, standing at her door. Lizzie hurried after her, pulling her keys out of her pocket. Pressing the button she opened her door and climbed in. Lizzie thrust the keys into the ignition and noticed something tied to the steering wheel. It was a black rose, tied in place with a red ribbon. There was another note attached. She slowly unravelled the ivory paper.
You left me waiting.
18 roses for beauty,
3 black roses for loss,
Wait for the 21st.
Lizzie swallowed hard. “What does this one say?” Asked Emma, breaking the silence. Lizzie couldn’t find her voice so simply handed her the note. Emma snorted. “Whoever it is does a good job, eh?” Lizzie didn’t find it funny. “I just mean, they know how to give you a fright.” She glanced up at the house, a figure had just opened the door. It was Sam. “Crap! Drive, now!” Emma snapped. In a zombie like state Lizzie started the car and pulled away from the house. She drove along the dark roads in a daze. Once she dropped Emma off, she felt the world slowly starting to fall on top of her. Emma was in on it. She had to be. Why else wouldn’t she be scared, or even unnerved about the notes. She probably gave them my number to send me the text too.
Lizzie walked along the school corridor alone. After refusing to answer any of Emma’s texts and ignoring her phone both times she had rung, Emma had decided to ignore her in return. Ash and Harry were waiting by her locker. They smiled as they caught her eye. “Are you okay? We saw Emma. She said you had been ignoring her.” Ash inquired gently, but not even Ash could hide his pleasure the news brought him. Lizzie nodded sharply.
“I’m fine.” She snapped opening her locker. Hanging from a scarlet ribbon, on the inside of the door, was a black rose. Lizzie slammed the door shut again. Ash smiled weakly.
“Elizabeth Owens, don’t tell me you’re scared of roses!” He joked. Lizzie shook her head slowly. She glanced down at his hand. He was still wearing the black rose ring.
“It made me jump.” She replied lamely. Harry frowned.
“Hey! Loser! What do you think you are looking at?” He shouted over Lizzie’s head. Lizzie and Ash turned to see a lanky kid, with pitch black hair poking out over his collar.
“Who is that kid?” Asked Ash. Harry shrugged.
“Who cares?” Lizzie frowned.
“I know him from somewhere.” She muttered. Harry rolled his eyes.
“So do I. He was here like two seconds ago. Gawping at us.”
“Who could blame him?” Ash teased bulging his muscles. Lizzie rolled her eyes.
“Come on, let’s go.” She muttered leading the way down the corridor. That’s twenty roses now. When the next one comes… well I don’t want to know.
“Come on, don’t do this to me.” Lizzie muttered tapping the dash board. “Only a few more miles. You can make that.” The engine groaned in reply. Lizzie watched the dark road carefully. The constant tapping of the rain was all she could hear over the engine. “Come on baby, don’t do this to me.” She moaned as the car drifted dangerously towards the wall of trees that lined the road. “Just a little more.” There was a gurgle. “No! Not now!” The engine spluttered into silence. Lizzie hit the steering wheel. “Brilliant! Just brilliant!” She peered out the window at the dark sky. Is it worth walking home? Probably not. It would take a good hour. Maybe two. Something moved in the trees. Lizzie froze and stared. It was all still again. Pull yourself together. It was probably a animal. If anything. Gingerly, she opened her door and climbed out. There were no other cars on the road. With defeat she moved round to open the bonnet.
“A rose for the lady?” Wheezed a rough voice. Lizzie spun round to see a tall figure standing right behind her. He cocked his head to one side. He had a white mask over his cold grey eyes. “A rose my lady?” He repeated cocking his head to the other side, causing his brown hair to flop over the mask. Lizzie backed up until she felt the car against her legs. In his left hand he held a bunch of roses.
The yellow tape rattled in the wind. Trapping the silver car at the side of the road. Landing softly on the earth, the rain fell in large drops. They washed a single black petal down the bonnet. Where, tied with a scarlet ribbon, a single black rose sat. The officer frowned as he approached his superior. “We found this on the front seat sir.” Handing over an envelope. He nodded before flipping it open. Inside there was a photo. The officer leaned in a little closer, o get a better view. It was the silver Porsche. But lying on the bonnet was a human surrounded by red roses, eighteen of them. He gulped as he looked closer at the person. They were covered in black and purple splotches. Blue from the cold. The hair was the colour of mud with a few tints of honey here and there. In their hand they held three black roses.
“Adams,” The officer looked up, white faced, at his officer. “Take the registration of the car and find out who it belongs to.” He nodded and turned back to the car. While his superior flipped the photo over where someone had scribbled.
She will always be mine!
