Black Rose

Gennae Angelina

Rose opened her eyes and saw moonlight streaming around the
thick curtains over the tall windows. She got up off the bed and
pushed the curtains aside. She lit the candles in the many holders
in her room and went to the vanity by the wall and brushed her
long black hair. She smoothed her dress and tightened her boots.



Rose took a long black choker from a box on the vanity and put it
around her neck. She then got up and strolled into the hall and
down the old creaky stairs of the house. She loved the house, it
was made of a dark wood that they didnt make houses out of
anymore.

A large crystal candelabra hung over the stairs and another one in
the living room. Rose enjoyed the old house, and she walked from
room to room now and then running her hands over the furniture
and decorations. Mother and father had always been into antique
furniture and other things.
Rose pulled her velvet gloves up and went out the door into the
moonlight. She strolled down the road past quiet, cark houses, an
empty church and a fog shrouded graveyard. She strolled past the
tall gateposts and continued on into town.

There was a festival of some sort going on and Rose walked
casually into the fanfare of people in every direction, with loud


music and lights around all sorts of activities. Here and there
someone would stop what they were doing and look at her in her
long flowing dress and her velvet, and some of them would laugh
and make comments. Some of the boys occasionally would stop
her and tell her she looked really cool. Rose smiled at them and
continued on.

She went up to a stage where musicians were pushing their voices
to the limit and she listened to the wails of guitars screaming into
the night. She stood and looked up at the man singing behind the
mike and he looked down at her. Rose stood amidst the crowd as
they yelled and danced, some of them waving their arms, and she
simply listened.

The singer stared at her for a moment and almost forgot what he
was doing as this strange girl stood in front of him. She was
beautiful but very mysterious, and amidst a crowd of people in
jeans, shirts and jackets she wore a long velvet dress and gloves


and looked like some sort of actress.

Rose then turned and melted away into the crowd. As she walked
she heard a noise, a sound of pain and anguish coming from and
animal. Rose went to a pile of cages and found a little bunch of
raccoons in a small cage, and their mother was in a large one. Her
cries were shrill and loud, almost like a weeping mother.

The babies were crying out for their mother and she was pawing
desperately at her cage in hopeless desire to reach them. Rose
watched for a moment as a crowd of boys was taunting the babies,
throwing small rocks at them. Rose watched their cruelty for a
moment as the mama coon screamed and cried in tortured anguish
for her helpless babies.

Rose strolled forward deliberately and her body struck one of the
boys who reeled to the ground. Angrily he got up, yelling a
profanity as Rose ignored him and walked up to the cage with the


little mother raccoon. She looked at her and saw the pleading little
eyes look up at her. She then reached down and grabbed the lock
on the cage and jerked it free.

The mother raccoon instantly pawed the latch open and climbed
out of the cage. The boy behind Rose was threatening and cursing
her as she reached for the lock on the baby cage and jerked it free
also, throwing it to the ground. The babies scampered out of the
cage and joined their mother. At that moment a man saw what was
going on and he rose in fury from his seat and threw his coffee cup
onto the ground. He began to stomp over just as the mother
raccoon rallied her babies and headed for the tall trees of the
woods, unhindered as they vanished.

Rose turned as the man shoved the angry boy out of his way and
came up to her. His face was a mask of red rage and he was about
to begin his own screaming and threatening when his eyes met
hers. The snapping black of Roses eyes delved deep into his face


and the man stopped talking. He stood for a moment looking into
her face, then he took a step back, then another, then another, and
he cursed and walked away.

The boy was standing with his two friends and he looked into her
face also and saw the threatening fury in her eyes. Without another
word, he turned to leave and without their champion to encourage
them, the other boys turned and walked away also.

Rose walked past a little show where a young man was playing
music on a piano and singing humorous lyrics with it. She
watched for a moment and took a few bills out of her clothing and
left him a tip. He tipped his top hat to her and said My, arent you
a smashing looking vision! He then went back to his piano as
Rose moved on down the line.

A small carousel was turning in the middle of the show and Rose
saw a boy on crutches with metal braces on both legs. He was


staring at it, but he could not get on. She could see how much he
wanted to take a ride, but his crippled body held him back from
doing much more here than watching.

Rose walked up behind him and he turned. He looked up and
down at her as the carousel stopped. She extended her hand and he
looked into her face.

The crowd around the carousel was watching the kids getting off,
and many of them stopped and turned as the crutches fell to the
ground and the boy held onto Rose. He went up the steps and she
helped him onto one of the horses. Obviously he had spent more
time watching than enjoying the place so his face was a mask of
happiness as she stood next to him and steadied him while other
people hopped effortlessly onto the horses.

Rose was standing when a hard nosed looking woman with brown
teeth and a mens hair style came up to her. Hey kiddo, you cant


stand on my ride like that, you Her voice trailed into
nothingness as her eyes met Roses face and she stammered
uselessly, unable to form more words. She smacked the post in
frustration and said suit yerself, it aint my problem.
The carousel started and began to spin around and as the boy
would lose his balance and tip over, Rose steadied him and he felt
her standing there, unmoving, riding along with him.

As he rode and enjoyed the motion he looked at Rose and said
thanks man, you are the coolest.

The carousel slowed down and Rose helped the boy off of it and
back to his crutches. She then vanished back into the crowd and
moved along. She came to a small building that had a name over
the door. It said Granny Lupus Sance Theatre. Outside the back
door was a funny looking little short man with a box in his hand
and a lighter.



The little man sat down with the lighter and began to work with
some fuses. One of the people who was working the event came
up to him and said Lance, one of these days youre going to get
sued so bad for your pranks.

The little man lit one of the fuses, said you want to see some real
action? and he giggled like a school girl as he skittered away
from the building and right past Rose without paying any attention
to her.

The box suddenly lit with fire and the sounds of machine gun like
explosions began to sound rapidly and in fast succession.
SOMEBODYS GOT A GUN! Came a shout from within and
the guests streamed out of the back door screaming and scattering.
Lance was leaning against a wall laughing so hard he couldnt
breath.

Smoke came up as the box began to quiet down and Lance


stumbled drunkenly over and threw the box in the trash. He began
to recover himself and Rose walked around a corner and saw
another haunted attraction with clowns painted all over it. There
was a man taking pictures next to it with a fancy setup and a
psycho clown crouching in the dark right outside the door.

As the door opened and a group of people came out the clown
launched himself into the air and roared at them. The girls
shrieked and ran down the stairs and the boys went over the
railing. The clown sprinted after them till they were in full flight
and the camera man, a Goth fellow in a velvet jacket, was jumping
around laughing. He raised his hand and exchanged a loud
smacking high five with the clown.

Rose strolled most of the night through the attraction then she
began to walk into the night and felt hunger gnawing at her. She
saw a teenage boy in a park practicing throwing a knife and
sticking it in a tree.



Rose walked up by him and he turned to her with a smile. Oh
good, a chick. I was afraid youd be a cop. They blab at me about
having a weapon, like Im going to cut somebody up.

He came over to Rose and she smiled gently. She could hear his
heart race and smell his cheap cologne as he walked up. You sure
are dressed fancy. Whats the occasion? He looked into her eyes
and seemed to see a deep dark radiance. His head felt light and he
seemed to be falling into space. He felt tired, more and more, and
could no longer feel his body.

Rose looked into his eyes and let his strength flow out of him till
he fell into her arms. She carried him to the edge of the park
where moonlight bathed them both and her long fangs showed in
the light. She drew his arm up and smelled the heavy, thick smell
of his blood.



Rose sank her fangs into his vein easily so as not to tear it. She felt
her strength return and she could hear the insects walking in the
tree right next to her. She withdrew carefully and the vein bled
slightly then stopped.

Rose gently laid the boy on the ground and stood up. She turned
around and felt the wind pick up. With a hiss of air Rose glided
through the park, down the street past a few night people who
seemed to stand still as she passed them.

Rose could see her house, but she stopped short for a moment.
There was another sound in the dark, a crying woman, full of fear,
begging a man. Rose went toward the sound and saw a short
haired man with a denim jacket standing in front of a girl who was
in tears.

She was begging him not to leave her there and he was yelling at
her, scolding her and insulting her. Rose walked slowly down the


street toward him. She had remembered her father seeing a woman
being mistreated once, centuries ago, and he had been so angry.

As Rose drew near, the man turned to her, defiantly. Something
on your mind? He demanded. He pointed a finger at he and said
forcefully I dont know who you are but if you dont want some
of this you better

He had expected this weird looking girl in the long dress to say
something, but instead he found her fingers around his throat like a
vice, his feet leaving the ground and the hardness of a stone
building against his back. Roses eyes flashed with angry fire and
she easily lifted him, feeling his neck under her fingers, soft and so
easy to snap if she felt like it.

Rose turned to the shocked girl who was no longer crying. Are
you going to let this thing beat you down like that? She hissed.
The girl shook her head, backed away then turned and ran. Rose


looked at the boy, who was struggling in her grip.

Rose could smell his anger and she eased him down and looked
into his face. Hmmm, break your neck or not, what a decision.
Seems like if I just snap your head to the side it will end problems
for so many people you will meet.

Rose toyed with him for a moment and he continued to struggle,
then he aimed a fist for her face. It was stopped short and
suddenly he heard the bone snap. His strength failed him as he
cried out in pain and Rose let him drop to the ground where he fell
to his knees and wailed in pain.

She strolled away as he cursed at her for breaking his hand.

Rose walked into the house and the cobwebs drifted up around her.
She walked up the stairs and stopped at a flower vase with old
flowers in it. She pulled a long stemmed flower out and stroked it


as she walked into her room.

Rose sat on the bed and laid the rose on the night stand, chipped
and cracked with age from going where she went. She watched the
moon fade away, taking the night and all of its creatures with it.

Rose got up and gently closed the curtains and in the corner she
saw her old wooden casket sitting, taken from the tomb so long
ago and kept with her. In it were paintings of family members long
ago left in graveyards far away. Rose laid gently on the old
Victorian bed and looked up at the tiles in the ceiling. She thought
of the mama raccoon and the little furry pups, now off in the
woods in a new home.

As the sun came over the horizon and gave the day to its creatures,
Rose closed here eyes and forgot the world for another day.