The Story of Blood and Roses

I wonder if I had ever noticed them.

I sincerely hope that I did, as such beauty should be displayed on the walls of the Ajanta Ellora Caves, preserved for generations to see, unmarred by nature and time—defiant of the laws of the world and of man.

Yet, the image is incomplete. As I lavish my attention on each feature, the others blur. I recreate them over and over again, only to lose them faster each time.

I give up. I slip out of bed and take to wandering around the mansion.

I see the lights in the furthest part of the corridor filter through the crack under the door. I push the door open and find the two desolate rebels sitting side by side, fuming over something.

"Why are the two of you still here?" I ask, not expecting to be acknowledged.

"Sean just received a rather indecent contribution from one deceased Mia Vincent, who loved the boy enough to leave everything that was hers to him," comes the monotonous commentary.

What did she leave me?

I do not realize that the words are spoken aloud.

"The knowledge that she knew that her time was up." As I stare at the people sitting inside the room. I look around me. The corridor is deserted. I stand alone in it, trying to understand where I belong.

I know where I belong.

I finally understand.

"You don't need any more money," I speak up. I cannot believe the words that spill out of my mouth. "You can now pursue your dreams." As I turn around, I hear him curse out loud. For a second, I wonder if he feels bad for me. In the next, I hear him cursing again and groaning as he hits the keyboard at inhuman speed.

I turn around, shocked.

He is on his feet, his hands on his head, his eyes plastered to the huge screen in front of us. I shuffle over and take in the carnage in front of me. The screens go dark, a cry escapes the boy and I look on in horror.

"What is this?" I whisper as I stare in horror.

"Boo yah. Boo yah. Boo ya-" the speakers go.

'YOU'VE BEEN SERVED!' Bold letters flash on the now illuminated screen.

"Someone just hacked into the system..." he says the words that I never thought I would hear.

My phone rings—once, twice…

I ignore it.

The Web of Lies has been annihilated. Everything is over.

I put the irritating piece of technology to my ear and then wait.

There is silence.

Goosebumps erupted all over me.

"Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday to you... Happy birthday dear Anthony... Happy birthday to you..." she croons. I can hear her smile. I grip the phone tighter against my ear. "Thank you, dear Anthony... for all the love you've shown, the lives that you have torn. The rampage ends today; so does your dynasty."

I rejoice in my destruction. She was back.

Finally, I laughed.

[This is the literal end. There are no more outtakes that will be written. Instead, I will be telling you how this story came to be. The author has a fascination with crime and criminals. I know, it shows from my other story. And seven years ago, as a teenager, I had written this plot because I needed someone to write something this twisted. Is it dramatic? Yes. Is it skewed? Yes. It is a lot of things, but this was my very first story. One I took months writing. Almost years. The story came to me in a dream after I had watched a movie and I couldn't shake it off. I decided to start writing it.

Years later, I am glad that this story still makes people want to read it. I am glad you happened to stumble across it and stay for the whole journey. I might joke here and there about being broke or getting to top whatever, but in all actuality I just want people to read and comment on my stories, discuss what they feel about it.

On that note, I have decided to have long discussions with all of you in the comments section to hopefully answer any further questions that you may have. This story was my first love and I will never forget it.

Coming to what happens next. This story is complete. I will be concentrating on Autopsy for some time and updating the other CEO novel once in a while until I get used to writing a lot. I am also thinking of looking for a job. So please pray and have me in your heart.

Until next time,

SunScar9.]