A rose should be red: Part 1 - Secrets

by Akaku Red

  A male voice appeared out of nowhere, which made Daniel speed up.

  “This is all your fault, for letting something like this happen!”

  “Watch how you talk to me! I am you father!”

  “He got to the stairwell.”

  Between all mixed voices, Bob’s loud scream emerged.

  “JENNY!”

  Bob! Bob had found me!

  “That bastard!”

  Daniel hissed.

  I bit the hand that was covering my mouth. It made him gasp in surprise.

  “How dare you bite me!”

  He slapped me hard and pushed me to the side, nearly making me fall down the stairs, but he grabbed me again.

  “Oh no! You will come with me!”

  He pulled out a gun and pointed it at my head.

  “STOP RIGHT NOW!” Bob screamed.

  He was standing downstairs. He didn't move any further, afraid that Daniel would pull the trigger if he came any closer.

  “I will shoot now!”

  Other people appeared behind Bob.

  One officer, the director of my old school, a middle-aged man in a suit, a woman in a black dress and … a boy who looked like a teenager.

  “You need to stop, Daniel! You can’t go on like this.”

  He fired off a warning shot.

  Showing everyone that his gun was real.

  The loud sound echoed through the stairwell, making me cover my ears in fear.

  Daniel dragged me again, up to the roof— I closed my eyes.

  “You are mine! Only mine!”

  “Stop right there!” Bob demanded.

  But we were already standing on the edge of the roof.

  I felt dizzy looking down. Everything and everyone on the ground below seemed so small.

  I didn’t want to die like this, I didn’t want to die at all.

  I bit him again, harder this time, until his flesh started to bleed.

  He screamed and pushed me back to the roof as a reflex.

  My head hit the iron railing.

  “I will get you!” Daniel looked at me for the last time before he jumped from the building. I heard a cracking sound.

  Bob and the teenager rushed over to me.

  “Jenny, can you hear me?” Bob asked with watery eyes.

  I tried to nod, but before I knew, I had already passed out….

  I woke up the next day, again at the hospital.

  Jeffrey was checking in on me.

  “You will be fine.” He smiled.

  “The bad guy will never hurt you again.”

  My tears fell. I didn’t know how to feel about it— But … I was finally free!

  Free from this person.

  Jeffrey hugged me carefully and stayed silent while I cried my eyes out.

  “You were really brave! Bob told me that you fought back! I am impressed.”

  I didn’t think like that, but still… I was relieved.

  Maybe now I could live a normal life?

  Yet, my body and soul needed time to rest if I wanted to get better…

  That same day, the judge and Dean visited me again.

  Dean was crying loudly, as I nodded in response to the question his father asked. It was the first time that he talked to me.

  He wanted me to either postpone the questioning or to do it without delay. Even though I was hurt, even though I couldn’t speak, I still wanted to do it — I wanted it all to end, so I could live in peace.

  Well, I didn’t understand why Dean was crying, but I got up and approached him.

  I hugged him tightly, thinking that he needed it.

  “I-I am so glad, you are okay!”

  His nose was running. It wet my shoulders, but I didn’t care.

  He cried for a long time before he seemed to get tired of sobbing.

  Jeffrey helped us get to the bed.

  We both slept together until his father took him away.

  “See you soon, Jenny.”

  Those were his last words to me before he went out…

  After the judge had left with Dean, I couldn’t really sleep.

  I just closed my eyes and heard the sound of the machines working in the room.

  But after a while, the door to my room opened again.

  I heard soft footsteps approaching me slowly. I opened my eyes, just to find deep blue ones looking straight into mine.

  I recognised the boy. It was the teenager who had been there yesterday.

  “Oh hey! I didn’t mean to wake you up,” he said shyly.

  I looked at him, confused… He had short blond hair, golden skin … His lips were split, as if he had kissed a fist.

  Yet still, he looked like an angel.

  But why would he come by?

  “I am sorry. I should get going.”

  He turned to leave, but I stopped him by holding the hem of his jacket.

  My eyes were wide open. I was curious.

  Who was this person?

  And why did he come?

  “Is it okay if I keep you company?”

  I gave him a brief nod.

  “Thank you.”

  He took a chair and placed it next to me.

  “Do you feel better?”

  I nodded again.

  “I am glad. It must have been a shocking experience,” he muttered, but I shook my head. This was nothing compared to the things Daniel and Thomas had done to me before.

  The boy looked at me, clearly confused, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t explain it to him.

  “It’s really quiet here. Unlike outside… It’s calming.”

  He changed the topic and smiled.

  It was one of the most beautiful smiles I had ever seen.

  The serious look didn’t suit him at all. I pointed at his mouth which made him sigh.

  “Ah, this is nothing! I just had a fight with my father. That’s all!”

  He misunderstood my meaning. I hadn’t meant to ask about his wound. I shook my head.

  “Do you mean something else?”

  I didn’t know how to explain it, but I tried it anyway. I touched his lips and moved them up, so it looked like he was smiling.

  Of course, I was careful, I did it very gently and soft.

  As I let my hands slip away, his smile stayed on, and I smiled back.

  He started laughing after this, which made me feel like I had done something wrong, but he assured me that everything was fine.

  And this is when it started.

  This boy always came at night and stayed by my side.

  Meanwhile, Dean always tried to sneak out from his house in broad daylight…

  **

  “Stop your sad talk. Jenny will be fine with me! Also, you can visit her on occasion, too,” Jeffrey declared.

  “But it will be hard, though!”

  Jeffrey sighed.

  “I feel you! But don’t be sad, she won’t be far away.”

  Dean wasn’t pleased at all.

  He already had enough problems getting to the hospital, and now he needed to find me in another part of the city.

  “Promise me that we will see each other.”

  I nodded.

  Yeah, I would love to see him again.

  “Good! Don’t forget your promise because I will be really mad if you do.”

  I smiled and nodded again.

  He kissed my cheek before he left the room.

  “Give me ten minutes. I need to do some paperwork, and then I will take you to your new home,” Jeffrey said.

  I nodded and sat on the chair right next to the window. I was watching the rain pour down the glass when I heard a knock on my door.

  “Jenny?”

  I turned around, just to see the teenager with a red rose in his hands, standing right there on the doorstep.

  “I am glad I made it on time… to see you before you leave.”

  All those days and I still didn’t know his name.

  He approached me slowly and gave me the rose. I was dazed for a
moment.

  “I will make sure to look after you, and I will make sure to meet you again.”

  He took the seat next to me.

  “This rose is just like you.”

  He brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. His little gesture made me feel warm.

  I blinked serval times because I didn’t know how else I could respond.

  “I really enjoyed our time together. It’s like a timeout from the stressful days.”

  His smile was contagious.

  “One day, we will meet again. And when the day comes, then I will always be at your side.”

  It sounded like a sweet promise which made me believe that the future would be beautiful.

  “I need to go now— but keep in mind that I will keep an eye out for you.”

  He lifted his hand up and wanted me to do the same.

  We made a pinkie promise.

  “I will be happy… to see you again.”

  He kissed the back of my hand.

  “I need to go now.”

  But before he could leave, I stopped him.

  I wanted to know his name.

  Pointing my finger at him, I tried to ask about it.

  “Sorry, but I don’t really understand what you mean.”

  I sighed and tried it again. But judging by his puzzled look, I knew that this wasn’t working.

  I took my hand back to my side and looked down on the floor.

  “Hey, don’t be sad! When we meet again, then you can tell me what you wanted to say.”

  His laugh was really beautiful.

  Every time when he visited me, his mood wasn’t good at all, but as soon as he was with me, his mood changed— he looked happy and free.

  And I also felt good since it made me believe that I was the reason who brightened his day.

  “Bye, Jenny!”

  I waved my hand before he left the room.

  A moment later, Jeffrey entered.

  “Who was that?”

  I lifted my arms, telling him that I didn’t know his name.

  “Oh, how nice! He brought you a rose.”

  I nodded and showed him the beautiful flower.

  He took it and looked at it carefully.

  “Hm… He could be a troublemaker. We already have Dean. We don’t need another one.”

  I shook my head after his funny comment.

  “There is something written on the rose.”

  He showed me the stem of the rose.

  There was something engraved with a black pencil. I looked at it, puzzled.

  “You want me to read it out loud, don’t you?”

  I nodded my head in agreement.

  “I can’t wait to see you again. Tyler…”

  Chapter 23

  I lived with Jeffrey and his dog Rex for a whole year.

  We had a good time together.

  Well, at first, it was very hard for me, since I always had nightmares and problems with accepting my body.

  But slowly … yeah, slowly, I was getting better.

  Dean managed to visit me sometimes, and he was a real troublemaker. Rex didn’t like him, even though I didn’t know why. But it was funny to see them glaring at and teasing each other.

  Sadly, the short year came to an end.

  Jeffrey explained to me that he was only allowed to take me in briefly so that he could help me out a bit— but sadly, I couldn't stay.

  He was a doctor and not married. He was not allowed to let me live with him because he couldn't take care of me all the time.

  Jeffrey was a kind person with a big heart. This one year was an exception for him since he took leave from the hospital to help me out.

  Bob also came by every day, and now, after this year, I was supposed to live in an orphanage.

  As a kid, it was difficult for me to get used to all the changes.

  But I needed to accept this new big change since Jeffrey had tried his best already to get me into a normal state of mental health. Also, Dean wasn’t happy at all because now he somehow had to try to sneak into an orphanage to see me.

  “This is slowly turning into Mission Impossible. Damn!”

  His father, alias the judge, didn’t want him to hang out with me. We both didn’t know why.

  Even Jeffrey couldn’t understand why his father was so mean…

  After the emotional court sentence a week prior, the judge wanted to cut all contact between us, however, Dean didn’t want to.

  So, he snuck out every once in a while and spent a lot of time with me.

  It was really nice since he accepted me the way I was.

  I couldn’t talk, couldn’t write, I couldn’t even show my feelings.

  Yet, he came by every time — I didn’t know why, but he still came.

  Well, as I was living with Jeffrey, I didn’t see the other boy… Tyler… again.

  But I remembered our promise, and this was why I wasn’t sad.

  Leaving Jeffrey and Rex was one of the saddest days in my life.

  I needed again to get used to a new environment.

  A new life…

  But this time, God was on my side. I shared a room with my lifesaver.

  Alice.

  Jeffrey, Rex, and Bob never left me.

  They would come by every day to check on me and ask how I was doing.

  Dean managed to come every now and then, too.

  Well, Alice and Dean didn’t really like each other, but I had the feeling that there was something else.

  They teased each other quite often, and they blushed a lot while doing so.

  It was cute…

  I felt like I was turning normal again, even though I needed to fight my nightmares, fight my panic attacks — and the worst part was fighting myself.

  I always had dark thoughts when I saw my abused body, which led me to several breakdowns.

  I barely managed to get out of the dark hole.

  It was like a rollercoaster ride with many downs and very slow ups. This was how I could describe it.

  Also, most people around me didn’t really like me.

  All the other children who were also staying at the orphanage made fun of me because I was different.

  They bullied me when I was alone. They would take my notebook when I tried to write.

  They would laugh at me when I stumbled over their traps. It was really heartbreaking.

  But Alice, Dean, Bob, and Jeffrey kept me going. They were the people who helped me out the most. It was because of them that I wanted to live.

  If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have known what to do.

  Time passed, and I became used to the orphanage.

  Used to the people around me.

  Alice was my everything. She was with me all the time.

  We had a lot of fun, we joked around, and we were enjoying our time together.

  Dean wasn’t able to visit us anymore.

  Alice thought that his father might have caught him sneaking out, and maybe he had been punished for that.

  “I can imagine how stupid he looks right now,” Alice joked, as we were on the way to our room.

  “But … I miss this stupid guy.”

  I nodded, agreeing to her sad comment.

  We both missed him since he was also a part of our lives…

  A girl passed by, and she pushed me against the wall.

  “Ugh! Don’t get in my way, monster!”

  She scrunched her nose as if she smelled something bad.

  “Hey! Watch where you’re going!” Alice yelled, but the girl didn’t care. She continued making her way downstairs.

  “I won’t let this go!”

  Alice ran after her, and the girl started running, too.

  I tried to follow them, tried to stop Alice from beating the girl up.

  The girl ran out of the building. Both crossed the street, yet eventually Alice gave up.

  “I WILL GET BACK AT YOU!” she yelled.

  The girl showed us her middle finger before she cont
inued to run away.

  I patted Alice’s shoulder, telling her with my eyes that everything was okay.

  “I hate those girls! You are way better than them! They are the real monsters! You are beautiful and so nice.”

  I wrapped my arms around her waist after she said those words.

  It wasn’t the first time that Alice had helped me out. She always spoke up for me, she always helped me out— she was a gift from God.

  “T-Thank you!”

  My voice came out of nowhere which made Alice jump.

  “Did you just speak?”

  She asked, clearly in denial, as if she wasn’t sure whether she could believe her ears.

  I nodded slowly.

  Alice was so excited to hear my voice that she started to jump up and down.

  “Oh god! Jeffrey won’t believe me! I need to tell him about it right now.”

  She started turning us around.

  “This is amazing!”

  She hugged me tight.

  “Try it again!”

  My face turned red.

  “Don’t be ashamed. Your voice sounded beautiful!” she assured me, but I shook my head.

  I didn’t know myself, didn’t know how those words had slipped out!

  “Okay, okay! We need to calm down a bit, maybe we should go back to our rooms. We can try it again then.”

  Well, she was the one who needed to calm down. She was jumping out of joy, just because she heard my voice.

  “Come on. Let’s hurry!”

  Without looking right and left, she crossed the street.

  And this was when I saw a car coming from the side.

  “ALICE!” I screamed and started to run.

  She turned to look at me. I pushed her off the street. As Alice fell to the ground, the car hit me.

  I didn’t really feel the collision because I was knocked out as soon as my head hit the ground.

  Waking up at the hospital, I saw a crying girl next to me.

  “Jenny?”

  The girl smiled as tears dripped down her face.

  “Oh god! I am glad you are awake.”

  She held my hand.

  “I can’t believe it. You were speaking to me and in the next moment, you were lying on the ground. You saved my life!”

  She wiped away her tears and jumped up.

  “I need to get the doctor!”

  She rushed out of the room and came back with a tall man.

  “Could you please wait outside, Alice? I need to do a check-up.”

  The doctor came to me and started his examination.

  He asked me a few questions, but I couldn’t answer them. My voice was gone.