Horror Fan Fiction / Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Vampires Rose ❯ The Thorn's Bite ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 1: The Thorn’s Bite

The rising sun shone in through the open window. It went right into the face of a young woman as she peacefully slept on. At that moment, an older woman entered the room and groaned.

“Rachelle! Get up! Get up now!” she yelled, rushing over and pulling back the comforter.

The young woman opened her eyes, “I was having a good dream too…”

“Get up! Your father wishes to speak with you immediately!”

At that moment, Rachelle sat up, “Father wants me?”

“Yes, child, yes. Now, up and dressed!”

Rachelle gracefully got out of the bed and stood. The older woman already had her dress ready. It was a deep red with white lace bordering the collar and ends of the sleeves. Grimacing, she put it on and allowed the woman to tie the ribbons in the back. Her long brown hair was brushed and left to cascade down her back.

Finally, she was allowed to leave her room. Her steps echoed in the long, empty hall as she hurried to her father’s private study. Before she knocked, she straightened her dress and made sure her hair was neat. Gently, her soft hand rapped at the door.

“Enter” came her father’s voice.

Carefully, she opened the door and stepped in, being sure to shut it behind her. He looked up and gave her a small smile.

“Ah, Rachelle, take a seat” he said, motioning to the chair in front of his desk.

She obeyed, “You wanted to see me?”
“Yes, a strange gift addressed to you was laying on our doorstep.” he explained, grabbing the long, white oak box sitting beside his arm, “Do you have any clue what might be inside it?”

“No, sir, I don’t”

“Do you know who might have sent it then?”

“No, sir”

He nodded and sat back, observing her with tender eyes. She sat still and focused on him. After a few moments, he leaned forward.

“Well, I think you should open it.” he said, holding the box out to her.

Silently, she took it from him and opened the elegant lid. Inside was white silk with a blood red rose. No note was attached and it made her wonder.

“What is it?” he asked, watching her reaction.

“A rose, sir, a single red rose on white silk” she replied.

Carefully, she picked it up, but ended up pricking her thumb. In shock, she dropped the rose back into the box and then looked at her thumb. A small dot of blood appeared and her gaze drifted down to the rose. Gently, she set the box back on the desk and closed the lid as her father brought out a cloth handkerchief.

“You’ve got to be more careful”

Rachelle watched as he tied it around her thumb. Afterwards, he dismissed her and watched her take the strange gift with her. Once out in the hall, she allowed herself to wonder about the rose. Who had sent it to her and why?

Sunlight filtered in through the windows as she made her way back to her chamber. Sighing, she opened the door and stepped through. The bed was already made and her cat, Minerva, sat on top of it, taking a nap.

Smiling to herself, she walked over to her own desk and set the box down on it. Hearing the slight noise, Minerva woke up and looked at her with large gold eyes.

Rachelle sat down at her desk and opened the box again. The rose lay there with its protruding thorns. Something was off about it, she could tell. The tips of the petals were beginning to turn black. Her brown eyes widened. Slowly, the black traveled down in vein-like lines.

Stifling a gasp, she shut the lid and stood up. Minerva meowed and jumped down to the floor. Turning around, Rachelle grabbed her leather draw-string bag and rushed out the door.

Once again, the hall welcomed her, but something was different. No sunlight filtered in, no birds sang their cheerful songs, all she saw was a deep darkness. Looking around, she took a small, hesitant step forward. In that instant, small, floating candles were ignited all the way down the hall.

Unsure of herself, she followed them. They were her only light. When she reached the top of the grand staircase, she noticed that the candles stopped and the stairs plunged into the strange darkness. Hesitantly, she started down. At once, when her foot hit the first step, the candles went out.

A whimper escaped her lips as she continued on. She should turn back, she knew it, but something tugged at her mind, forcing her to continue down the stairs. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she reached the ground floor. As she looked up, she saw the large double doors looming above her.

Slowly, the began to open, their hinges creaking. Her gaze leveled out to see a figure standing beyond the doors and in the pale moonlight. She could easily tell that it was a man and she could see that he had his long, ebony hair pulled up into a low ponytail. He turned around, revealing pale skin and glowing red eyes. In his hand, he held a black rose.

“Come to us, join with us.” he said, showing that he had unusually long canines.

She shook her head, “No, I won’t…”

He held out the rose, “You have no other choice…you have already accepted our gift…”

“No! I refuse!” she exclaimed, turning around.

The house was gone. She was stuck outside with him. A violent wind tore through the area and invisible hands pulled at her dress. The fabric ripped at her shoulder, revealing her rose-like birthmark which was glowing red, just like his eyes. A scream escaped her throat and the ground beneath her gave way to empty air. Closing her eyes, she waited for the crushing impact of the blood-soaked ground approaching quickly beneath her.

Before she hit, her eyes snapped open and she saw the worried face of her father.

“Rachelle, are you okay?”

“Yes, I-I think so.” she said, looking around.

She was in her room on her bed. Quickly, she check her dress and found that it was still intact. Looking over to her desk, she found that the box was no longer there.

“Papa? Where’s the rose?” she asked, sitting up into his arms.

“What rose?”

“The rose in the white oak box…it was sitting on my desk…”

“My dear, there was nothing on your desk when I came in…you had fainted on your way down and Amber said that you were thrashing about when she brought you back here…”

“Oh…”

So, it was a dream, she thought, all a dream.

“But something did come for you today…”

Rachelle watched as he reached down and brought back up a box. A pine wood box, she could tell by just simply looking at it. Etched into the sides, which she saw with a closer look, were vines, done in an elaborate design. Gently, he set it into her lap and, with shaky hands, she opened it.

Her eyes widened when she saw a blood red, thornless rose laying on white silk. Tied in a bow around the stem was a black ribbon. Closing her eyes, she shut the box as her father left the room. Opening her eyes once more, she moved the box to the side as Amber rushed in.

“Your father had ordered for you to stay in bed, miss…”

“Why?”

“To keep another accident like that from happening…”

Rachelle sighed and allowed Amber to push her back onto the bed.

“Is he at least going to allow me to have my journal? Or a book?”

“He’s sending Lionel up to get you everything you need…”

Once more, Rachelle sighed. Amber left, only to be replaced by a young man, one whom Rachelle had become fast friends with.

“What happened?” he asked, sitting beside her bed.

“Apparently, I fainted…”

“Why?”

“Don’ ;t know…can you hand me an empty journal, my quill, and ink please?”

He nodded and handed the requested items to her. Gratefully, she took them and then looked at the box laying beside her.
“What’s that?”

“Nothing, really, just a box…”

“Mind if I have a look?” he asked.

“Sure” she said, handing it to him.

Gazing back down at the still empty page, she heard the lid open with a soft creak.

“Wow, that’s beautiful…who sent you this?”

“I don’t know…”

Lionel looked up at her in shock, “You don’t know?”

“No…” she replied, looking back up at him.

Suddenly, he started laughing, “Looks like you have a secret admirer…”

Rachelle blushed and looked down at her journal. Ignoring his smile, she began to write. When she stopped, she realized that she had written about her dream. Quickly, she shut it and closed the ink jar before handing them back to Lionel to place on her desk.

When his back was turned to her, she closed her eyes. Almost instantly, she saw the face of the man from the dream. She could see the fangs and the red glow of his eyes.

When she opened them again, she saw Lionel looking at her curiously. His blue eyes bore into her green ones. Strangely, she found him a little similar to the man from her dream.

“What are you looking at Lionel?”

“Nothing…” he said, looking away.

Gently, she took his hand into her own and ran her thumb over his knuckles. Confused, he looked over at her.

“Lionel, please, tell me…”

“I-I can’t…you’d hate me…”

Carefully, she brought his hand up, “No, I wouldn’t, I could never hate you…” she said, rubbing the back of it.

He sighed, “I’ve been thinking…about you…about how beautiful you’ve gotten…”

Rachelle blushed, “Really?”

“I can’t stop thinking about you,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed, close to her, “I think I-”

“You think you what?” she asked as he leaned in closer so that their faces were only inches apart.

“That I’m in love with you” he said, closing the distance and gently pressing his lips against hers.

Before she could respond, he pulled away. She looked into his blue eyes and then wrapped her arms around his neck in a small hug. As gently as he could, Lionel returned it.

“Lionel, I…I love you too”

He blinked and then smiled. Pulling his arms away, he gently pushed her back.

“Get some sleep Rachelle…”

“But-”

He silenced her with a finger, “I’ll still be here when you wake up”

“Thank you” she said, closing her eyes and falling into her dreams.

This time, she was walking beside Lionel, but something was different about him. When she looked up into his familiar blue eyes, she saw a bit of red around the pupil. She could see the change in herself too.

Her once brown eyes had changed to a dark violet, highlighted with red, and her brown hair had turned black.

Her eyes snapped open as she sat up. Lionel was where he had been when she had fallen asleep.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, gazing into her fear-filled eyes.

She said nothing and just moved so she could be in his arms. At that moment, Amber, who had been spying on them since he had first walked in, rushed down the hall.

Rachelle’s father, William, looked up from his parchment as she burst into his study.

“Sir, Lionel and the young miss…”

“Yes, what about them?”

“He kissed her!”

“What?”

“And now she’s in his arms, sir…”

“Thank you for warning me Amber,” he said, standing up, “I shall go see about this…”

Quickly, he walked out and down the hall with Amber not too far behind. Upon reaching Rachelle’s room, he opened the door and stepped in. Rachelle was laying on her bed, asleep. Lionel was sitting in a chair that was against the far wall. Nothing seemed wrong.

“Lionel”

“Yes sir?”

“How long has she been asleep?”

“She was asleep when I came in, sir” he said, not showing any hint that it was a lie.

“Has she woken up at any point?”

“No, sir, not at all…”

“And what have you been doing?” questioned William, giving him a stern look.

“Sitting here, sir, doing nothing except stare at the opposite wall”

Amber was outraged, “How dare you lie! How dare you-”

“Silence Amber” William commanded, “Obviously, he is telling the truth for he was doing such when we entered…”

“But, sir, I really-’

“No buts, had what you told me had been true, she would still be in his arm since there is no way they could have found out about my coming…”

“But, sir, he is lying!”

“He would never lie to me, would you Lionel?”

“No sir, never once would I lie to you…”

“Good, now, fetch me when she wakes up” he ordered, walking out of the room.

“Yes sir”

Amber gave him a glare before stalking off. Sighing, in relief, Lionel stood up and walked back over to Rachelle’s bed.

“That was a close one wasn’t-” he stopped, noticing that she had actually fallen asleep while her father had been questioning him.

With a small smile, he placed a gentle kiss on her temple and returned to his chair. There, he joined her in sleep.