The Book of Randomness

A Single Black Rose

Last short story (for now) and then we can go on to OC's, roleplays, extracts from stories I've written or am writing and more.
Note: This short story is the original one, the one that was more than 500 words. I had to cut the words down for the competition. Not fun. Anyways, enjoy.

Our tale begins on a dark and chilly mid-summer night. The moon shone brightly on the forest below. It was said to be haunted and so no one dared to approach, however, tonight was different. There, at the entrance was a girl and her two friends. They were playing a classic game, one you may all be familiar with, a game of truth or dare. At the time, they did not know that what happened next would change everything. The girl was dared to enter the supposedly haunted forest. Little did they know, that because of this one dare, everything changes, for better or for worse, no one knows and only time will tell…

As soon as the girl stepped into the forest, she knew something was amiss however she shrugged it off as paranoia. As the girl walked into the depths of the forest, she began seeing things. Gruesome things. Things such as witnessing her own death, her friends and family dying in front of her but most of all, the same two crimson glowing eyes watching her. The girl would have left right then and there but she knew she could not. She had a dare to finish and she never backed down from a dare, no matter how challenging, embarrassing or even dangerous it could be. However even though the girl always loved a challenge, for once in her life, she feared that she had bitten off more than she could chew but still she trudged on into the depths of the forest.

She soon came upon a clearing in the forest. She looked up to see dark grey clouds charged with electricity which only seemed to make the sky even darker. Seeing nothing else she lowered her gaze and looked around. There was nothing in sight. The girl shivered as the wind picked up. She snapped her gaze straight ahead looking into the darkness, as if she knew something ominous was approaching. Dark glowing flames, as black as the night, suddenly lit the edge of the clearing slowly creeping closer and closer. A dark mist rolled in and the feeling of fear began to consume her. Those two same glowing eyes flashed in her mind. Her body began to tremble. A mysterious dark figure appeared in the mist. The sound of bats flying off echoed throughout the clearing and then, then the figure disappeared.

Everything became eerily silent.  The storm stopped but the sky remained dark. The moon only provided a small ray of light illuminating the ground below for a split second before it vanished, hidden by the clouds. Now, her only light source was the approaching flames. She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when she thought she was safe. However shortly after she felt as if something was watching her. She turned around with fear once again creeping at her heart. A burst of shadows appeared in front of her and there stood a handsome dark haired prince mid-bow with his head was bowed and his eyes closed.

He held something in his hand as it was outstretched to her yet she dare not look at it. Instead, she focused on his appearance. He had inhumane pale white skin, like porcelain and his hair was a shade of black, like a dark shadow on a bright day. He looked up and she almost screamed in fright. His eyes were red, not the beautiful red as bright as rubies, nor a red such as the leaves on an autumn day, but red as in blood, and they seemed to be staring right at her. As if judging her, or peering right into her very soul.  “For you, my fair lady” his melodic voice whispered, like the quiet tinkling of wind chimes, gently swaying in the wind. Only then did she look down at the item. It was a rose. A sudden gust of wind flew past her and then...nothing, except a sinister laugh echoing throughout the clearing.

She sighed and began to leave about to give up having had enough excitement for one night when she saw something that sent chills right to her very core. There, lay a single rose. The same one he was holding in his hand. Now one may think that a rose isn’t scary but it was more about the appearance of the rose. It was the colour of the darkest of nights and an ominous aura surrounded the very object. Yet what scared her the most was the fact that the tips of the delicate petals were coated in bright red… It was blood. The blood was slowly dripping down on something white.

She wasn’t sure whether or not to investigate or run away, but her curiosity got the best of her, and as they say, curiosity killed the cat. As the girl approached, she crouched down and slowly took the blood-stained white object. It was paper. She opened it hesitantly and almost dropped it right then and there. There was a message written neatly in calligraphy by what she hoped was red ink.  She suddenly had a sense that something was creeping up on her. She slowly turned around and then an ear piercing scream shattered the tense air of the clearing. Only moments later, the paper fluttered to the ground facing up at the dark sky, revealing the words ‘You’re next’.