The Roses Academy- the Entire Collection

by Tara Brown

  I stare at the moon and watch as it turns blood red. “You might want to run,” I whisper.

  He hauls back, wiping the blood from his lips. “What?”

  I motion my head toward the sky above us swirling with the ghosts of the witches.

  “Lord thundering Jesus, what is that?”

  “Your prior victims, I would imagine. I’ve freed the witches.”

  He looks at the gate under me and back at the hole where the door used to be. “You stupid girl.”

  I roll my eyes. “I’m the stupid one? You just got played and I freed the witches and broke the barrier in front of your very eyes.”

  “Touché! But this isn’t over.” He laughs, getting up and running so fast I can’t even see him.

  I lie motionless for a minute, waiting for my body to recover. “Did my sister get out?”

  I hear a whisper on the wind from the swirling vortex of angry women above me, “YESSSSSSS!” It’s a hissing sound and far scarier than anything else.

  When I look back at the hole I made, I see the little girl. She waves, standing next to a dark-haired lady. They both smile.

  I get up and sneak along the castle wall, wondering what to do about that. The girl is suddenly beside me, pointing off to the right. “A cottage lies just that way. A man and his daughter lived there last time I was alive. Maybe they have some proper clothes for you.”

  I don't remind her she’s been dead five hundred years and scurry that way, streaking across the grass in a dress that’s dirty and covered in blood.

  Chapter 3

  The plan was simple enough. They were to escape with Tessa while no one was watching and I could free the witches and escape, following the tracks they made.

  But no.

  I have to go and have reckless blood exchange with Rydal, who I can’t stop thinking about now, and run through the fields covered in a mess.

  Sometimes I’m an idiot.

  It reminds me an awful lot of the first night I ran from Whit. I’m running from him, leaving him with a broken heart all over again. But I wish I had my lucky dress like last time. I don't mind running from him but covered in blood is not my preferred way to do it.

  And once more, I have a great reason for never wanting to see him again.

  He has blood all over his hands from the witches.

  How many nights has he slept next to me, being my warmth against the icy whispers, and sucked my blood? If he’s cold enough to suck her life force until she’s dead, he’s cold enough for anything, and I just plain ol’ don't know him at all.

  I feel like something that got drug out from under the porch when I get to the cottage in the woods. I’m tired in my heart and the sun is coming up. She’s always coming. At least the sun will protect me from him.

  The cottage is old and scary and there is a familiar smell to it. I open the door carefully, hoping not to wake whoever might be inside. I listen for the telltale heartbeat but there ain’t one. No one is here. I hope they have some clothes.

  “Don't scream.”

  I open my mouth to scream when I see Gwen, but she is holding a stack of clothes. I close my lips and take them. My dignity is worth a lot more than I care to discuss. When you get told how fat you are your whole life, clothes are your friend, even when someone is always checking the sizes.

  She is clearly upset but doesn't say anything.

  “You okay?” I ask, not sure why I’m even asking.

  “I’ve betrayed them. Me, Ma, and Sara, our little sister you met. We betrayed the men.”

  I scoff. “Sugar, you ain’t got nothing to worry about. Your brothers could depress the devil himself.” I stop myself and hold a hand out to her. “Just come with me.”

  She looks like she might fight me on the suggestion but then puts her hand in mine. We run from the old cottage. I activate the tracking spell, seeing red handprints in the field. “Good, they ran this way.”

  “Who?” She sounds scared; it’s weird since she’s immortal.

  “My sister and them. See the handprints?”

  She shakes her head as we pick up the pace. We track them across a field and through a farm on the far side of the field before we are back into the forest. The sun is rising, making me pray that wherever they are, it has shelter of some sort. Otherwise, we are breaking into a farmhouse.

  “The sun’s coming.” Gwen sounds scared.

  “We need to hurry.”

  I press my feet into the ground harder, running faster. Gwen is an amazing runner too. When the handprints stop, I pause. “Em!”

  The dirt lifts next us, revealing a hatch in the ground. Em smiles up from it. “You made it!” Her eyes drift to Gwen. “And you brought one of them.”

  Gwen puts her hands up, defensively. “I swear, I’ve never had any part in that. I ate the first witch and then I knew. When I smelled out my first evil person, I knew the witch had been good and we’d killed an innocent. I explained the pull of the evil people to my mother. She tried to talk to my father and brothers, but none of them would hear of how wrong it all was.”

  “Even Whit?” Angie sounds a little stunned.

  Gwen’s eyes drop in shame. I grab her hand and pull her into the shelter. Em drops the lid on us, leaving us in the dark.

  My insides are burning up but at least it ain’t my skin. The sun’s heat starts in on the lid immediately. We must have made it into the hole by minutes.

  Angie whispers, “Did you free the witches?”

  “Yeah.” I don't tell them I let Rydal feed from me. That's a story for the 2000s, not the 1960s.

  “Well, that's good.”

  “Yeah.” I sigh, making myself yawn.

  We close our eyes and let sleep take us.

  When I wake up I can feel the heat of the sun still on the lid, but it’s starting to go down. I feel that too.

  We crouch in the dirt, waking up one at a time and waiting for it to go completely.

  Tessa gives me a shove. “Lorelei, you gone and brought that nice man with you?”

  I shake my head, realizing she can’t see me so well. I can hardly see. “No, ma’am.” I don't break her heart by telling her he ain’t a nice man. He’s a cad and a murderer.

  It makes me think though. I lean into Gwen. “How did the Roses Academy never know what y’all was up to?”

  “The barrier spell. It protected them.”

  “How did no one notice the witches going missing?”

  She’s silent for a moment. “Whit and Rydal would go to places and pretend to be the same guy, date a girl and abduct her. Or just find a coven and steal one or two, compelling them away from their families. They would compel the witch to make a gateway back to the castle. You step in wherever they cast the spell and step out back home. No travel time.”

  I would gag but I have nothing to throw up. I’m starving and my heart is broken.

  She leans into me. “I’m so sorry, Lorelei. If it makes any difference, I think you’re the first one they liked with any kind of honesty.”

  “It doesn't.”

  I wish Ramón were here. I hate being in the ground and I hate the idea Whit is chasing me again.

  When I feel the sun dip behind the hills I push the roof hard. We leap from the hole and Em drags Aunt Tessa on her back. Her strength has come in. They must have eaten along the way. God, please let them have eaten something evil and not whatever or whoever they found.

  We run like the wind, taking turns carrying Tessa who believes this is a game, and in order to survive this game, she has to remain still and quiet and hold on for dear life.

  When we get to a village it’s completely dark. I creep ahead and test the door of a small car. When it opens I slide inside and check the usual places for keys. A set drops from the visor, making me smile. Dummies everywhere.

  I wave my hand and the four of them come slinking to the car and jump in. We drive to the next village, repeating the same thing. Steal a car, drive, steal a car, drive, and steal a car, drive. Whe
n the sun is rising, we stop and creep along an alley, listening in windows for houses with no heartbeats.

  “Here’s one!” Gwen waves her arm. We all jump in the back window, pushing Tessa through before the last of us gets in.

  When we’re inside we sit with our backs against the walls, staring at each other.

  When Em stares at me, her eyes fill with something bad. “You did live in another version of this life.”

  Gwen gives me a look.

  “The Roses Academy, one of them, sent me back to change the time.”

  “Oh, you met one of those? Wow. They’re very rare.” She nods along casually.

  Angie starts to laugh bitterly. “I didn't believe it until I saw all this. But now I do. I really was seventy and married to Martin and you saved me.”

  “You sure were.”

  “I’m so sorry, Lorelei. I’m sorry I never believed you.” She finally sounds like old Angie.

  “It would have been quite the load for me to swallow too. I lived it and I hardly believe it.” I glance at Tessa’s confused and tired face. “Go find food in the fridge, Aunty. There’s bound to be something to eat. Have some water too.”

  She gets up and toddles into the kitchen, no longer nattering or talking much at all. “We need to get her in a home. We can’t let this be her life. She needs a house,” Em says as Tessa leaves us there. “We’ll take her back to the States. It’s the best plan. She’ll be fine back home. Plenty of folks will help her out.”

  Angie stretches. “We need to go home and hide away from that nutty family.” Gwen’s cheeks flush with embarrassment, making Angie wince. “Sorry.”

  But Gwen shakes her head. “I know what they have become. I wish you might have known them before.”

  My heart wishes it too. I glance at her. “Did Rydal come to Baton Rouge to help Whit with me?”

  She doesn't make eye contact when she mumbles, “Will it help you sleep better during the day if I tell you he did?”

  “No. I just want the truth.”

  “Yes. He was there in the beginning, probably the first month. Then he came home, said Whit had grown quite attached to you and they had fought. He said he made a deal with your mother that guaranteed you would be coming to Scotland with Whit anyway. He had ensured that. Just like Ma asked him to.”

  “Yeah.” I had always wondered who the other vampires were and how Whit was so different at times.

  The whole thing makes me want to retch. I get up and stagger into a room to pass out on a bed that smells like the people who live here.

  When we wake, we dress and sneak around the village, each finding someone to snack on. I don't kill the man I eat from, nor does Gwen. But Angie and Em eat like they’ve never had food before. Both men die but they deserved deaths far worse than the ones they got. We clean ourselves up and make our way to the English border. When we get to the coastline we find a shipping town as per Gwen’s directions.

  She seems freer and less worried but she starts checking over her shoulder the moment we cross the first street in the town. She acts on edge. “They will have come here first because you’re Yanks. We need to hide out, sneak onto a freighter, and then compel the captain to believe we are his secret guests.”

  When we get to the boat docks, a face I never expected to see again is standing there in all her glory. She shines in the headlights, looking beautiful, although I know her to be quite cold and detached. She grins with her evil eyes and nods at the shadow of a large vehicle.

  Gwen gives me a look.

  Angie leans forward. “Who is that?”

  “That is Lucifer. Everyone calls her Lorri.” Gwen swallows hard.

  I offer a subtle wave, wondering if we are somehow in trouble.

  Chapter 4

  We sit, huddled in the dark of the cargo van Lorri nodded at. She climbs in last, smiling at us with a gleam in her eyes. She closes the door, giving me a look. “I hear we’re old friends.”

  “We have someone in common.”

  Her eyes narrow. “Momma Holt?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Then I have to admit, this is going to get exciting.” She puts her hand in. “Everyone touch my hand.”

  I lay mine on her warm skin, a little frightened for what’s about to happen. I vaguely recall the vomiting last time. Angie and Em follow my lead and touch her hand.

  “Do we know this young lady?” Tessa leans toward me, whispering loudly.

  “Yes, Aunty. She’s a friend of mine from Baton Rouge.” I smile at her, placing her hand in the circle of ours.

  “Oh, that's nice. I’d like to go back there now.”

  Lorri leans in, staring into her eyes. “You will love this. You will not get sick or be scared.” She turns to Gwen. “You can choose me or them, but if you choose them, you get out now and take your chances with the Roses Academy.”

  Gwen’s hand trembles a little when she puts it in, touching Lorri and closing her eyes.

  The van spins and everything moves like it’s going to peel my skin off and suddenly we’re in the swamp outside Grandmamma Holt’s. I bend forward, losing the bit of water I had in my stomach onto the scrubby ground.

  Squeezing my eyes together, I try to focus as my ears ring. All four of us are sick and dizzy. Only Aunty Tessa is smiling and waving at Grandmamma Holt in her doorway.

  Lorri walks over, stomping almost, in her blood-red boots. They’re the same ones she wore in the future. She nods at me. “Found them right where you said they’d be. They have company. We brought one of them with us.”

  Grandmamma’s spooky eyes trail my way. “You free da witches, cher?”

  I nod.

  “Dis good. You free dem and break da spell. Dem Roses can finally see what I been saying all dis time.” She nods too.

  Lorri folds her arms across her chest. “Look, we can’t just go killing everyone you don't like. She must have broken the protection spells on the old castle because it’s lit up like a beacon. Dorian sensed the sins right away.”

  Grandmamma Holt’s eyes sparkle. “You take them with you. Train them and make them yours. She got da touch.”

  My stomach tenses and my eyes drift from her to my sister, Angie, and Gwen.

  Lorri seems to be processing. “The European Roses could use the help.” She looks back at us. “I’ve started with worse specimens than this.” She nods. “Deal.”

  She turns, grabbing each of us by the hand, all but Tessa. I scream as we do the whirly thing and when we land wherever the hell we are, I heave for several minutes.

  Lorri doesn't seem to care about our seasick state. She stomps through the hallway of the office building we are in, snapping her fingers at us.

  Gwen gives me a desperate stare. “They’re going to turn us into them?”

  “I don't know.” We hug ourselves, stumbling after her stomping boots through the hallway until we get to an elevator and all climb in.

  She turns and grins. “You excited to get some revenge, Lorelei?”

  “The thought never really crossed my mind. I was mostly just worried about running.”

  She shrugs. “Daniel, my instructor here, can teach you how to get it. Show Whit what you’re made of.”

  The words linger in the elevator, even after we land at the right floor and she steps off. Gwen’s face is still pinched and pained but her eyes are lit. She gets off, following Lorri into the wide-open space. There are others. I don't think they’re like us, but they’re not human. The wide space is a lounge of sorts with TVs, couches, and tables with chairs. It’s a common room in a massive dorm. Everyone seems to be relaxing until we cross the room, following Lorri. Then they stare. All forty of them. Every eye in the room is watching us.

  Lorri enters a door, holding it for us.

  We follow, scampering almost to keep up and not be the last person in the room. She walks us to another hallway lined with wooden doors. She opens one and nods at Angie and Em. “You two seem pretty attached at the hip. You can share this r
oom.”

  She goes to the next door and opens it. “And you two in here. Get some rest. I’ll have some food brought for you. Daniel is going to want to meet you tomorrow. He’s a vampire too. You’ll get on like a house on fire.”

  I gaze at my sister and my friends and ask softly, “Why are we here?”

  Her dark eyes glisten with humor. “To become Roses. You see, we now know Gwen here has been part of a bad lineage for a long time. She’s eligible for death like her siblings. So she can choose Roses Academy or she can choose to be put to sleep. Angie and Emily are young and too new to be left to their own devices. We don't approve of vampires just being made at random. They will violate the laws if they don't have an outlet. Trust me, I’ve seen this a few times. And lastly, they didn't want to be made; you forced them.” She winks at me. “Also punishable by death. So you girls can choose: stay and become members of the good side, or take your chances out there where one of us will kill you.”

  One of the girls next to me gulps, another shudders, while I almost cry. “What about Tessa?”

  “She’ll live with Momma Holt. She’ll be safe. Momma Holt is quite fond of her and the swamp is safe. She’s probably sleeping already.” She turns and waves backward. “Like you should be.” She is walking and then she’s gone.

  I’m tired and defeated and still mourning my tricked and wounded heart, which I haven’t even had a free second to do since we went on the lamb.

  I don't turn and talk to any of them. What can I say? I’ve doomed you to a life of horror and violence? No. I lower my head in shame and make my way to my new room. I slump onto my new bed and let the sadness take me. Howling sobs rip from my chest as I let it all loose.

  Whit’s betrayals, constant betrayals.

  My momma and all her terrible deeds and hurtful words.

  My daddy’s death.

  Aunt Tessa living in the swamps with two ghosts.

  The horrible things Whit and his brothers did to the witches.