Rose with a Thorn

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

My ears started ringing. I was trying to understand what he was saying. If he killed that kid, they would’ve had me back long ago. So how come I didn’t grow up with them? He must not have been able to do it. “You... uh... you couldn’t do it. That's why I never grew up with you. You're not a murderer. Oh, thank God for that!”

There was a look of sadness on Michael’s face. Did he feel guilty because he couldn’t kill an innocent teenager? I reached over to grab his hands, but he pulled them away.

“You don’t understand...” The way they were looking at me... The sadness wasn’t because he couldn’t do it.

“You... murdered him.” My eyes turned to saucers, and I knew I couldn’t be in that same room with them any longer. I stood up from the couch and started backing away from my supposed parents.

“Please, Rose, sit down. Let me finish. Please.”

“No. You MURDERED someone, Michael! You killed an innocent little kid, and you didn’t even get me back for it! You're no better than Keith is! Or any of his men! Stay away from me!” I screamed at him before I ran to my room, slamming and locking the door behind me. I couldn’t believe it. He really killed someone, and Rachelle stayed with him? All this time?

I went into my closet to find a bag, there had to be one in here. As I was looking, I started tossing sweaters, a few pairs of pants, undies and bra’s out into the bedroom so I could pack them. I couldn’t stay here. I wouldn’t.

“Rose, open the door for me sweetie.” Rachelle called out gently to me. I kept searching. There was nothing in here but clothes and shoes!

“Please, Rose. It's just me. Michael got called away. Please let me come in.” I sigh, of course he did. The Boss said jump, and he said how high. I walked over, unlocking and opening the door, but not letting Rachelle in.

“I know you’re just going to tell me whatever you think I should hear to make me feel better about what Michael did, but I need some space. The last couple of hours have been a lot to take in, for anyone. And if you keep pushing me, you’re only going to push me away.”

Rachelle pushed the door open and looked at the pile of clothes on the floor. “Is that your idea of needing some space then? Do you need so much space that you’re going to up and leave in the middle of the night like you did to Miranda?”

That was a slap in my face! She must have realized what she said because the look of shock on her face was immediate.

“I’m sorry.” She said. “I didn’t mean that. It's just that it’s me and Michael, he’s my husband. And I know you’re my daughter, but technically you’re just a stranger to us. We've been trying to open our home to you and get to know you better, but you haven’t made it easy on either of us at all.”

“You didn’t have to let me stay here. I didn’t ask for any of this. To be kidn*pped, to be held against my will, to have to stay in a house with people that claim to be my parents! I am trying just as hard as you. But I wanted to leave. I wanted to leave this town and go far, far away. I can’t be here anymore. It's too hard seeing you both every day knowing how different my life could have been. Please, just let me go.”

I didn’t know why I said all that to Rachelle. They really have been trying to help me, but none of this was wanted or planned. I hadn’t been able to leave the house in over a month. The scare we just had with Keith coming over... he could come any time he wanted without warning. It wasn’t safe for me here.

I turned away from her and went to fold the clothes I had thrown around. I felt Rachelle walk away and sighed in relief, hoping she wasn’t going to try to talk me into staying. A few minutes later she came back in with a bag and started packing my stuff into it. I didn’t realize that she was crying.

“I also don’t think it’s safe for you here after tonight. But that doesn’t mean that I want you to leave. I want you here, Rose. I want to get to know my daughter. I want you to love us like we love you and explain every horrible decision we ever made. I hope that you at least understand that we did everything we could to get you back, but until recently, we had no idea where exactly you were. Keith was very good at keeping Michael close enough to dangle your safety, but far enough we couldn’t find you on our own.”

“Rachelle, stop. I overheard some of what happened earlier. I heard the things you said to Keith. I know you love me in your own way, and Michael too. If I can just get away from here, maybe some time you and Michael can come and visit me. And maybe your visit will be a full-time stay. I might be angry, but I'm not angry with you guys. You didn’t purposely give me away.”

The next thing I knew I was pulled into a very tight hug. I had to remind Rachelle that I still needed oxygen in my lungs if I was going to continue living.

“Sorry. I'm sorry. I just wasn’t expecting you to say that. I do love you, Rose. You will always be my baby. Now... let’s get you packed up so we can get you out of here when Michael gets back. I will have him get you a burner phone so we can at least communicate wherever you are.”

What a relief, she wasn’t going to fight me. I was sure Michael wouldn’t be happy about it at all, but this is something I needed to do. I needed to be safe, but I also needed them to be safe if I was ever going to have the chance to get to truly know them.

Rachelle left and I continued adding things I thought I might need. When I finished, I curled up in the bed and pulled the covers over me. I drifted off to sleep, one last time in this perfect bed.

---

The creak of the door pulled me out of my slumber. It was dark in here, but I didn’t want to move or open my eyes. My heartrate accelerated as soft footsteps came closer and closer. I felt someone’s hands gently shake my shoulder at the same time I heard Michael. “Rose... wake up... If you want to go, now is the time.”

I opened my eyes to look at him. I could barely see his face, but I could tell he had been crying. The guilt slowly started to creep in as I looked down at my hands. I reached out to touch him before looking back. “I’m sorry, Michael. I need to keep you guys safe too.”

“Our safety is none of your concern, little girl. This is about keeping you safe. Now I need you to meet me in the living room in five minutes. We don’t have a lot of time, so we need to get a move on.”

He turned and left the room. I wasted no time getting out of bed. I saw sitting at the end was a pair of jogging pants and a sweater, and on the floor was a pair of running shoes. Rachelle must have come to check on me and put all this stuff out.

I quickly got dressed, grabbed my bag, and ran out into the living room. Rachelle and Michael were sitting there... with Brandon... what the hell! I stopped dead in my tracks, my eyes wide as saucers. How many times do I have to tell myself this couldn’t be happening!

“Nice to see you, little flower.”

I looked at Michael to see him smiling at me, telling me with his eyes that this was okay. “Uh... hi... what are you doing here?”

“Brandon is going to take you to safety.” Michael said to me.

“Oh no... He works for Keith. He probably already told him where I am! And if he didn’t, he told him where he’s taking me!”

“Trust me when I tell you, I have no intention of taking you back to that twisted man.” Brandon spat out. “I knew you were mine from the moment Keith first asked me to keep an eye on you. I will explain everything in the car, but for now we have to go. It’s the perfect time, I have Keith wrapped up in something that’ll give us a 2-hour head start.”

He turned and walked out the door to a black SUV with fully tinted windows. Rachelle came over and gave me a hug, trying not to shed any more tears. “Promise me you’ll be safe.” She whispered.

I nodded my own head, knowing I didn’t trust my voice not to c***k. Michael came over and wrapped his arms around both of us. We stayed like this for several minutes before we heard the car horn going off.

“You can trust him, Rose. He wants what’s best for you, even if he goes about it the wrong way. Please be safe, and here, take this.” Michael handed me a small flip phone. I took it, opening the screen. There were 2 numbers already programmed in there.

“The first one is our number. It will stay with Rachelle mostly but try to text before making any phone calls to it, just in case. The second number is Brandon’s, in case you lose each other. I don’t suspect he’ll let you out of his sight but if you get separated for any reason, please use it, okay?”

I didn’t trust my words, so I pulled Michael into another hug, squeezing him tight.

“Okay, let’s go.” Brandon called from the door. I gave them one last look before I walked out the door.

Brandon opened the car door for me and helped me in. My whole body was shaking, in fear and sadness, I wasn’t sure at this point. He noticed and buckled me into the seat.

Before closing the door, he put his hand on the side of my face, rubbing his thumb under my left eye. He must be as speechless as I am, as he nodded his head before pulling away and closing the door, walking around to get in on the other side.

I kept my eyes on the mirror as we drove away, watching my refuge get smaller and smaller. When I could no longer see the house, I allowed myself a few silent tears, wishing things didn’t have to be this way.

About a half hour into our drive, Brandon pulled off onto the side of the road. I couldn’t move a muscle while he put the car in park and turned slightly towards me. “I know you have no reason to trust me, and I can only imagine how scared you were when we first met. The truth is I have always had a certain character to uphold with Keith, and sure, I’ve done some things I'm sure you’d rather not want to know about. But I have to tell you that you are safe with me, and I will not let anyone hurt you, myself included.”

“How can I trust you or the words you’re saying? You quite literally are Keith’s secondhand man.” I already knew this conversation was going nowhere, and I'd rather we just get a move on. I turned to look at Brandon without showing the fear I felt towards him.

“I know, and I will continue to be until I know you are completely safe from him. If you think I'm dangerous, you have no idea the things he is capable of. I at least have boundaries I would never dare cross. Like kidnap and torture an underage child...”

I felt like he left that floating in the air to remind me what Michael and Rachelle told me earlier. “I know how stubborn you can be, Rose. I've watched you for many years. But this is a time when I need you to not be stubborn and at least believe that I won’t let him hurt you.”

“If I tell you I believe you, can we get a move on? It's only been a half hour and I'd like to be a lot further away from here then we are right now.”

Brandon tilted his head to look at me. I could see a smile slowly creeping up his face before he turned back to the wheel and put the car in drive. “Still as witty as ever, my little flower.”

The next hour goes by quickly and I couldn’t help the question that came out of my mouth. It was burning a hole, trying to rip itself free from my chest.

“Why do you call me that? Your little flower...”

He looked over at me with that beautiful smile he couldn’t seem to stop and reached his hand over to touch my hair. “Because your name is Rose. And a rose is my favorite flower.”

I swatted his hand away and rolled my eyes, looking back out the window. I didn’t recognize where we were and I was very thankful for that. I saw a sign coming up for the next exit in 5 kilometers. “Uh... Do you mind if we stop? I haven’t had a chance to pee since before I fell asleep.”

He laughed. “Of course, we can stop, little flower. It will give me the perfect time to check in back home and make sure my plan is going as it should.”

Whatever that meant, I didn’t want to know. The second we pulled in; I jumped out of the SUV and made a beeline straight for the bathroom. After relieving myself, I slowly walked back out, seeing Brandon on the phone behind the car.

“Listen here, I am looking for her. I'm in love with her, Keith. There's no way I'm letting her out of my sight once we have her back. No. I don’t care what you say. She will stay with me. No. Absolutely not. No, she isn’t going back out to that cabin. She already escaped once because you decided to trust her and look how well that turned out. She'll stay exactly where I can see her, and she’ll go everywhere that I do.”

I heard enough. I slowly opened the car door, hoping he wouldn’t hear me. Of course, he did. “Alright man, I have to go. Keep looking around the area, I'll keep going further out.”

Brandon got in the car but didn’t start it right away. I looked over and he has his head tilted against the seat with his eyes closed. I didn’t want to disturb whatever thoughts he was having, but after hearing him tell Keith he loved me... I was looking at him in a new light.

His soft, curly hair had a messy look to it. His jaw was rigid, with medium prominent cheek bones. His Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed, and his shoulder and arm muscles were definitive, even through his shirt. I could only imagine his rock-solid abs under his black t-shirt. Even his legs looked thick and muscular. If I didn’t know any better, I'd be drooling over this hunk of man...

“Why don’t you just take a picture? I can feel your eyes eating me alive.”

My head snapped back up to his face to see a lazy smile on his lips, his eyes still closed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about...”

I turned away, clearly blushing bright red if he were to look at my face. He reached over to take my hand and I instinctively flinched away.

“I told you, my little flower, you have nothing to be scared of when it comes to me.” Now we were both looking at each other and I could see the heat in his eyes. I would bet any amount of money he was thinking about leaning over to kiss me. The big question was, why did I want him to?

As if he could read my mind, he slowly bent towards me, bringing his face a few inches from mine. I could feel his breath on my face and my breathing quickened. Slowly I started to shake. My nerves were a mess with him so close.

“Please... stop...” I whispered out. “Please... Can you... back up...?”

He sighed but did what I asked. Brandon continued to look at me, realizing what almost happened. “That’s not how I want your first kiss to go, I'm sorry.”

I nodded and looked away. He definitely misunderstood why I had asked him to back away from me. I could feel a pool between my legs, and my stomach felt like it was going to explode.

Brandon started the car again and was about to put us in drive, when the vision started. It came on like a tidal wave. My entire body started shaking, my vision was getting darker.

“Not now... no... not now...” I thought I was saying the words in my head, but I must have said them out loud.

I felt Brandon take my hand in his and the entire feeling of the vision changed. I was still shaking, but my eyes weren’t clouding with darkness. I turned to look at him and I could see his lips moving, but I couldn’t hear his words. It was like I was trapped under water.

I closed my eyes, focusing on his hand in mine, and holding on as tight as I could. And then I saw it...

It happened so quick, like someone flipping the channels on the tv. First, I was running through the forest, looking behind me. People were chasing me and then he was there. And then, I was wrapped up in Brandon’s arms in a bed. It looked like... we were naked.

The third scene, Keith walked into my vision as I was standing behind Brandon. “You found her.” I heard him say. “Yes, and she is mine.” Brandon replied, before raising his gun and shooting Keith in the head. The next thing I knew, I was back in the truck and Brandon was raising his voice at me.

“Rose? Can you hear me!? What’s happening? Rose!”

“Please stop yelling.” I said, as I turned to look at him.

“Oh, thank God. What the hell was that? Where did you go? Did you see something?”

“Yes. Give me a moment, I feel faint.”

Brandon let go of my hand to sit back, but I panicked and grabbed it again. Why did I just do that? I looked up at him, and saw that he was just as in shock as I am. A few minutes went by, and he asked again. “What happened, my little flower? Are you okay?”

I took a deep breath and nodded my head.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“I... uh... had a vision... I guess.”

“Keith told me about them, so I know. What did you see? Can you tell me?”

I had to decide at that moment to trust him or not. I've already lost everything so far, so who cares if I tell him. I thought back to part I saw of us in bed and decide I'm definitely not going to be mentioning that part yet. But I could still feel my face heat up at just the thought.

“Keith found us, that’s what happened.” Brandon sat back in his seat and let out a sigh. I'd give anything to know what he was thinking right now. He looked like he could kill someone with a glare.

“I figured he would eventually. Unfortunately, he has spies all over the country that report back to him regularly. Can you give me any details? Where were we? What did the room look like? Who was with him?”

I tried to think but it was all a little hazy. I had to tell him he shot Keith though. That couldn’t mean anything good for me.

“I just saw that he was standing in front of us and said you found me. You told him yes and that I was yours, and then you shot him. You shot him Brandon! Are you planning on doing that?”

His face turned dark as he looked out the window. I felt tingles on my hand, going up my arm slightly, and I realized I was still holding his hand. I tried to move away, but he gripped me tighter.

“Don’t do that. Don't let go of me because you’re a little afraid, my little flower. I would never hurt you... Him on the other hand? Yeah. Yeah, I'd shoot him. If it meant protecting myself, and you. I wouldn’t think twice about it.”

“Can I tell you something?”

“Of course.”

“In the vision, I was standing behind you holding onto your sweater. It almost felt like... we meant something to each other. I could feel my fear, but it wasn’t fear from you. It felt more like fear for you.”

“Oh, Rose.”

Brandon brought his other hand up to my face and gently caressed my cheek and neck. I felt myself lean into him and closed my eyes. What was happening to me?

“Does it feel natural to you when I touch you? Because I am trying to hold back from kissing you and taking you in the backseat right now. I know you’re not ready for that. I know you’ve never kissed anyone before, so I can be patient.”

“Please stop... that’s not where I was going with that question. I was just wondering why I felt so safe with you that I didn’t even flinch when you pulled the trigger and killed him. Does that make me a bad person too? Because I don’t want to be like you or Keith.”

“You’re going to be 18 soon. From my understanding and what Keith has told me, your visions are going to become more powerful and a lot clearer. To be honest, I'm not sure why you didn’t faint after the vision you just had. Anything that you have seen in the past has made you pass out almost right after having it, but this time you were focused on me.”

“Maybe it was fear of the unknown? Any time I've felt myself going into one of these, I get shaky, and I can feel myself ready to faint. It's always completely freaked me out. But to be fair, I never knew what was happening before and no one’s ever really been there to help.”

We sat in silence for another 10 minutes before Brandon pulled back onto the road to start driving. I leaned my head against the head rest and closed my eyes, I could feel a headache starting to form. Just as I was about to fall asleep, the back of the car got bumped, and I let out a scream. I heard Brandon swear beside me before he started going faster.

“What’s happening? Did someone just hit us?”

“Yes. Sit there and be quiet. They must have seen us when we stopped.”

Brandon slammed on the brakes and I saw the car behind us go off into the ditch trying to avoid us, before he started speeding up again. I could see the ramp to the highway and knew for a fact he was going to take it. But he didn’t slow down at all.

“Brandon what are you doing? Slow down!”

“Just hold on!”

The next thing I knew, we were turning onto the ramp. My head smashed into the car window and I knew my headache was going to get a hell of a lot worse. He didn’t seem to notice, as he kept picking up speed, weaving in and out of cars.

When he got far enough away that he thought we weren’t being followed, he finally started to slow down to keep with traffic. I reached my hand up to where my head was pounding and felt something sticky. I looked at my fingers and gasped, they were covered in blood.

I looked over at Brandon and he still didn’t notice. I opened the middle console to look for some napkins, taking out a few and pressing them against my head. I winced.

We took the next exit and pulled into the first parking lot. “Let me see.” he said.

“No. Just find me a washroom where I can clean this up.”

We went a little further down into the Tim Hortons, and I quickly jumped out of the car. I pulled my hood up over my head, so no one was alarmed by a strange girl walking around dripping blood. When I got in the bathroom, I pulled down the hood to see the damage. I grabbed some paper towels, getting them wet and rinsing the blood off. It hurt so bad, but the blood was slowing down.

The washroom door opened, and I panicked for a second, before Brandon walked in and locked the door. He had a first aid kit in his hand. “Let me fix it.”

“Um, this is the woman’s bathroom. Leave the box and get out.” I said.

He narrowed his eyes at me, before walking over and putting the box on the counter. “I’ll be right outside this door. Be quick, we need to move.”

I got it cleaned and disinfected. There were no small band aids, so I opted to leave it open with some cream on it. Just as I was about to open the door, there was a knock, and Brandon whispered we needed to move.

When I walked out, I ran smack into his broad, hard chest, grunting from the impact. He grabbed ahold of my back to steady me, but I could see the uneasy look in his eyes. He glanced down the hall before grabbing my hand and heading for the back of the building.

I knew better than to say anything, so I followed along, trying to keep up so he didn’t pull my arm out of its socket. He poked his head out the back door to make sure everything was clear, before dragging me as fast as he could to the car.

“Buckle up and put your head down.”

I did as I was told, crouching down in the front seat. “What’s going on?” I whispered. I didn’t want to startle him.

“I don’t know how they found us so quick... we weren’t followed after I ran the car off the road, I'm sure of it.”

The car started to ring. “Keith... what’s up?”

I sat up in the seat, looking at Brandon shocked. He put his finger over his mouth telling me to shush.

“Where are you going, Brandon?”

“What do you mean, Boss? I’m out looking for Rose.”

“I can see that you just left Tim Horton’s 5 hours from here. Where do you think she’s going?” Keith sounded suspicious. How on earth did he know where we were!?

“Let me concern myself with where I'm going, Boss... I'll be back in a few days, hopefully with her tied up in my trunk.” The color drained from my face. I knew he wasn’t serious, but the tone of voice was still threatening enough to have me cower away from him.

“Hmm... you have until tomorrow before you turn around and get your ass back here. That’s an order.” The line went dead. What are we going to do now?

“Relax, little flower. We'll travel another day before I find the tracker the son of a b***h hid from me...”

I didn’t know what to say... He didn’t know he was being tracked? Or was this all a lie to have me complacent?