ROSES
A R I E S F I L I A M
ROSES Blood
Chapter 1 The Desert
I WAS LOST WITHOUT THEM, STRANDED IN AN EMPTY LAND WITH NO CLEAR SENSE OF DIRECTION SURVIVAL FELT UNLIKELY, DISTANT, ALMOST LAUGHABLE, BUT MY THOUGHTS WERE CONSUMED BY ONE THING HIM. FINDING HIM. AND THIS TIME... I WILL KILL HIM.
KILOMETERS OF WASTELAND STRETCHED IN EVERY DIRECTION, AND THE PARCHED EARTH CRACKED BENEATH THE RELENTLESS SUN. ITS SEARING LIGHT BLINDED ME, MAKING MY HEAD SPIN, EVEN A SINGLE STEP FELT LIKE A LONG JOURNEY. MY BODY, THROBBED WITH PAIN, AND THE AIR BURNED IN MY LUNGS AS IF I WERE TRYING TO BREATHE THROUGH FIRE. A RAGGED, CHOKED MOAN ESCAPED... DRY TEARS STUNG MY EYES, THE WEEPING WAS SOUNDLESS, HOLLOW THE PAIN, I REALIZED, WOULDN’T STOP IT WOULD STAY WITH ME, GNAWING AT THE EDGES OF MY SANITY.
MINUTES PASSED, HOURS MAYBE. I COULDN'T TELL. EVERY ATTEMPT TO STAND LEFT ME STUMBLING LIKE A DRUNK, BUT SOMEHOW, I KEPT MOVING FORWARD. I HAD TO... THE IMAGE OF HIM—HIS DAMN SMIRK, THAT TWISTED LAUGH—DROVE ME ON. EVERY STEP BECAME A BATTLE, BUT EACH ONE BROUGHT ME CLOSER TO HIM. DRAWN BY A FORCE I COULDN’T EXPLAIN. EACH STEP FELT LIKE A PLUNGE INTO THE UNKNOWN, BUT I HAD NO CHOICE. SALVATION OR DAMNATION WHATEVER LAY AHEAD, I WOULD FACE IT.
THE SUN BEAT DOWN LIKE A HAMMER ON MY BACK, BURNING MY SKIN, SCORCHING MY RESOLVE. MY VISION SWAM, DARK SPOTS FORMING AT THE EDGES. JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WOULD COLLAPSE FOR THE FINAL TIME, I SAW IT: A GLIMMER OF WATER, SURROUNDED BY VEGETATION—AN OASIS.
IT CALLED TO ME AS IF THE DESERT ITSELF HAD CONSPIRED TO LEAD ME HERE. MY DESTINATION, WAITING LIKE A MIRAGE AT THE END OF A NIGHTMARE. THE WATER LIT UP MY FACE, COOL AND CLEAR, A SALVATION I HADN’T DARED TO HOPE FOR I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AT ITS EDGE, PLUNGING MY HANDS INTO THE WATER, SPLASHING IT OVER MY BURNING SKIN, DRINKING GREEDILY. THE WATER TASTED SWEET, NUMBING THE ACHES THAT TWISTED INSIDE ME. BUT AS MY BODY CALMED, MY MIND SHARPENED, AND I COULDN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT HIM.
EVEN HERE, IN THIS IMPOSSIBLE SANCTUARY, I COULD FEEL HIM, LIKE A DARK PRESENCE JUST OUT OF SIGHT. HIS LAUGH ECHOED IN MY MIND, SOFT BUT MOCKING, AS THOUGH THE VERY WIND CARRIED HIS VOICE TO TORMENT ME.
I KNELT BY THE WATER'S EDGE, STARING INTO ITS MIRRORED SURFACE, BUT ALL I SAW WAS MY OWN REFLECTION HAUNTED, HOLLOW, AND DESPERATE. THE FACE OF A WOMAN WHO HAD LOST TOO MUCH AND HAD NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE.
AND THEN, THE WIND SHIFTED. IT CARRIED SOMETHING WITH IT—LAUGHTER, DISTANT BUT UNMISTAKABLE. MY SKIN PRICKLED. HE WAS NEAR. I COULD FEEL HIS PRESENCE, CLOSE AND SUFFOCATING. MY BREATH CAUGHT IN MY THROAT. WAS I THE HUNTER OR THE HUNTED?
I DIPPED MY FINGERS INTO THE WATER AGAIN, BREAKING THE SURFACE, SENDING RIPPLES ACROSS ITS GLASSY CALM. AND THERE, JUST BENEATH THE SURFACE, SOMETHING SHIMMERED A FAINT, GLIMMERING OUTLINE OF... WHAT? WAS IT ANOTHER TRICK OF THE MIND, OR HAD I FOUND SOMETHING REAL?
T H E D E S E R T
N T I L I T B R O K E , N O T I N S O B S T H I S T I M E , B U T I N A R A G G E D , U N H I N G E D L A U G H T E R . M Y A N G E R S U R G E D , F I E R C E A N D
C O N S U M I N G . W A S I T H I M I S A W , R E F L E C T E D I N T H E W A T E R ' S
S H I M M E R I N G D E P T H S ?
T H E W O R L D S P U N V I O L E N T L Y , A N D W I T H T H A T L A S T G L I M P S E ,
H A N D
H O S T I L E E N V I R O N M E N T T H A T N O W B L U R R E D P A S T H I S W I N D O W .
H I S S H O U L D E R S
T O T H E W E L L - W O R N F A B R I C O F H I S S H I R T L I K E A T E S T A M E N T
T O H I S L A B O R I O U S D A Y S . A P A I R O F W E A T H E R E D W O R K
G L O V E S , T A T T E R E D A T T H E E D G E S , C L U N G T O H I S H A N D S A S I F
I T W E R E A S E C O N D S K I N , S H O W I N G E V I D E N C E O F N U M
H
D E S E R T H A D A G E D H I M W E L L , R E