Fate of the Blue Rose

Sleep had been hard to come by for the young girl. Every time she closed her eyes, it turned out to be the same dream. Always with a young boy, sometimes older, but always the same person. She didn’t know how she was so certain of that fact, but the strange boy was always familiar to her in those dreams. There were times she woke up crying, though over what, she could never recall.

Her friends said that perhaps it was from one of the many books she read, that her mind would latch on to certain details subconsciously and that would be what built these strange dreams. However, no book could capture these feelings she would build during these visions of the night.

A couple years of this went by and her parents told her that they would be moving come the start of the next school year. At first, the young girl believed she would still be able to be with her friends at her current school, but when the day of the move came, she realized how wrong she was. On the last day she would have with her current friends, they planned a farewell trip to a beach.

As summer faded and the colors of autumn began to burst forth, the young girl found herself in front of a new school. After having been given her schedule by the principle, they dropped her off in a classroom for the teacher to finish settling her in. This school, it seemed, was already in session, as the students were already getting books and papers out. This one was probably one of those year-round schools, the girl thought. There was another part of her, though, that was a bit puzzled. This classroom was similar to the one in her dream. After the teacher told her where to sit, she lowered her head and hurried to her new seat, feeling multiple pairs of eyes following her movements.

The moment lunch came, the young girl was swarmed by a crowd of her classmates, wanting to know where she was from, what made her come here, the usual questions that curious children ask. Even with all these students around her, she still felt like someone was trying to stare a hole in her head. Trying to be discrete, the young girl looked around, peering over the tops of heads and around shoulders.

And there he was. There was no mistaking it, it was the boy from her dreams, the ones that had haunted her for years. Honestly, she was nervous about what it could mean. Knowing how the dreams usually went, maybe they had been warnings rather than simple visions of the future. Before she could decide if she wanted to talk to the boy, the lunch bell rang once more, signalling that it was time for classes to resume.

It took a couple of days, but in the end, the boy came to her first. One conversation, and it was hard not to find a best friend in him. They had similar likes and dislikes, liked doing a lot of the same things. Before long, the young girl forgot all about the possible dangers of her nightmares, letting herself get swept up in the joy of childhood.

Around the time when they had entered middle school, her parents dropped another bombshell on her. They would be moving for a second time, this one being because of her father’s job. Once again, she was going to be separated from her friends. Like with her first friends, she was able to get together one last time to spend the day with her new friends before they packed up and headed out.

Hearing this, the young boy promised her that he would find a way to keep in contact with her, even shoving a piece of paper into her hand with his address on it so they could exchange letters. The young girl was extremely grateful that he wanted to keep in contact and made a silent vow to never lose that hastily scribbled paper as long as she lived. At this point, she had forgotten all about her former nightmares about him that she had had prior to their meeting.

Once in her new home, the year passed in a blur. She was almost afraid to make more friends in case she had to move and say goodbye yet again, choosing instead to simply talk with the friends she had made in her last school. As time went on, she heard more and more about what the young boy was starting to go through. She tried writing letter after letter, but if the boy got them, he never responded. Combining that with what some of her other friends were telling her, she started to worry. What had happened to the boy she had come to know? Of the promises they made?

Saddened by the lack of response from her friend, the young girl started to become desperate. She started asking, begging her parents to take her back to where the young boy was. No matter how much she tried, however, her parents were adamant on staying where they were, not even for a visit.

It felt like the few things she had been certain of in life were now crumbling away, but her attention still remained on finding a way to contact the boy. Through that was how she ran into more trouble than she could ever handle. Having not been attentive to her surroundings, she soon found herself surrounded by members of one of the local ruffian gangs.

Before she knew it, the young girl was herded into a nearby alley. Heart pounding in her chest, she begged with them to let her go. But they kept forcing her along, pushing and pulling her down twisted path after twisted path until she was no longer able to keep track of where she had come from. After what felt like hours of stumbling along, she was finally forced to the ground in front of a large metal door.

That was when HE showed up.

The man before her now was practically oozing smoke as he knelt before her, forcing her head up so that the young girl was staring into his steely eyes. After a brief staring contest where she had been afraid to look away for fear of her life, the man smirked and pulled her up by an arm.

The man would let her go free, let her live. But in return, she would be his future wife.

At first, she denied it, wanting nothing to do with this man who was clearly the leader of the gang behind her. His next words had her back peddling, however, when he threatened her parents. Terrified now, not only for her life, but for her family, she reluctantly agreed.

Pleased that he had managed to convince her, he lifted her hand in his and gave it a kiss in what she was sure was an attempt to appear gallant. Reality of it was that it just sent shivers of disgust down her spine. With that act, he ordered the ruffians behind her to escort her back to town with the additional command to keep an eye on her.

Head hung low, the young girl was left with nothing but her thoughts on what she had just agreed to as they made their way back to town.

It felt like everything had fallen into a giant abyss now. Every move she made, every place she went, either the gang leader was there or one of the ruffians that had dragged her along that day. Even around her own house, the place she had once thought was a safe haven, was now patrolled on a near constant basis. Everyone who cared about their own lives now feared her, believing her to be a willing participant in this life, when the reality of it was the complete opposite.

It was at this point that her nightmares from her young childhood came back, always involving the boy who had been her best friend before the move. She started trying once more to reach him, but after a few of her letters were returned to her mailbox shredded, she quickly learned that the gang was willing to do anything to cut her ties with the outside world.

Two years of this treatment went by, with her getting more and more broken down and depressed every month. What was the point in trying to fight it when the gang leader continued to point out that he was the one in control, that one wrong move from her would result in her family being hurt?

One day, her father announced that they would be returning back to their previous home as his work here was drawing to a close. That was the first time she had ever been happy to hear about moving. Practically flying up the steps to her room, she quickly started packing her things, her thoughts drifting to the young boy unconsciously.

After a few days they had arrived back in their previous home, boxes shoved into nearly every corner of every room. The young girl was quick to let all her friends in the area know she was back, and agreed to meet up the week before they were to start their first High School year. For the first time in years, she felt free again, and when school started back up, she finally met back up with the boy who had been her closest companion. Apparently, she hadn’t been the only one craving the other, as not more than a couple weeks into the school year, the boy gave her a poem and asked her out.

In that moment, she told him yes, wanting to put the gang leader behind her for good and actually enjoy a relationship like she had always dreamed. For the longest time, everything finally seemed to be turning up roses.

That all came crashing back down halfway through the first year. Freedom had been just an illusion, proved as much when the gang leader managed to track her down. As she was coming back home from a lunch date with her new boyfriend, he had been sitting in her house, in front of her parents, with a look of mixed fury and triumph on his face.

Terrified, she pulled him away from her family and up to her room, begging him to let her go. Still, just as he had when they first met, he grabbed her and made her promise that she was his and only his. Heart breaking, eyes full of tears, she forced herself to agree, all in an effort to save not only her family, but her best friend-turned-boyfriend. To do that, she had to break off connection to the boy.

Against every instinct that told her to run to her boyfriend, the girl deleted his number and started to distance herself. Every word and wounded expression she saw on him at school broke her heart that much more.

Then one night, everything exploded.

She wasn’t sure how, but the boy must have seen her talking with the gang leader one night and confronted her about who the guy was the next day at school. Fighting back tears, she simply hung her head and let him tear into her about how betrayed he was, unable to even form an attempt at an excuse. Slamming his hand against the wall in frustration, he stormed off, telling her they were done.

He wasn’t the only one done. She lost interest in doing her best at school, her grades beginning to suffer as she sunk back into depression. What was the point if, no matter what she did with her life, the gang leader would be waiting to threaten her in the wings?

No matter what the teachers said or tried to do to help her, she barely responded to their efforts. The young girl just decided to keep her head down and just do her best to earn her diploma. Slowly, year after year ticked by until she had finally managed to make it to her senior year. Seeing the boy that had once held her heart every day had been the worst, but she had managed to get by so far. It had helped that they had been in different classes up to this point, but it seemed that her luck on the matter had run out. They sat on opposite ends of the room, but it was still torturous to even know that he was there.

Her friends were more than a bit worried about how this whole situation had even happened, but even now, no matter how much they would prod, she refused to give in and tell them, mainly for fear of the gang leader that was still hanging over her shoulder like the stubborn fly he was.

Knowing that this was the last year she could really escape the gang’s clutches had her dragging her feet more and more, but despite her best efforts, before she knew it, it was time for graduation. Everything passed by in a blur of colors and words, none of it really connecting with the girl to stick. When it came time to receive the papers that were meant to set her free into the world, she plastered on a smile as best she could, took the parchment-like paper, and headed back down to her seat with tears stinging her eyes. When they were officially pronounced as graduated, all she could do was silently cry, her cap lowered to cover her eyes.

As people around her started to get up and go over to their parents and friends, the girl felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she found the boy, her true love, sitting next to her. He apologized to her, saying that he had been far too hot-headed and hurt when he had cut ties with her that he never gave her the chance to really explain. At this point, she started crying harder, leaning into his touch as he moved to help gently dry her tears. If she was never going to be able to see him again, she wanted to at least let him know she had forgiven him. In that moment, they moved to lean their foreheads against each other, enjoying the company of each other as they closed their eyes to savor the moment, unaware of the glare watching her from the stands.

Heading home after the graduation, the girl wondered if it was possible for her to get back together with the boy. Feeling the first glimmer of hope in so long since he had come to her, she remained in a good mood all the way back to the house.

As usual, the gang leader was waiting at the house for her. On the table was a bouquet of red and blue roses, but rather than his normal snarky expression, it appeared stone cold. His demand to know who the boy was set her blood to ice and immediately destroyed the glimmer of hope she had carried. Even though she remained silent, the man pulled out a phone, and, after a quick conversation with whoever was on the other end, he sneered at her, telling her that was going to be the last she saw of the boy.

In that moment, the gang leader made it perfectly clear. She was his, and anyone else who tried to draw her attention away from him would be dealt with.

She was, and always would be, his blue rose.