The Story of Blood and Roses

One. Two. Three. Four. Five… Five times the alarm rung. I tried to break the little thing, but it was too far away. At midnight, I'd woken up with an urgent need to relieve myself. Nature calls. I'd set myself on the bed after that and waited for sleep to consume me after that.

It was hard. Harder when I fell asleep.

I was in my car… in the parking lot of Poseidon. I was waiting; waiting for something. I don't know.

I heard the shuffling of feet and looked towards the source of the sound. A smile lit up my face.

Sean.

The boy looked grown up, somehow. His hands were shoved down his pocket, and a hood covered his head. He looked taller.

He clicked the door open and sat down beside me.

"Home?" I asked him pleasantly. He nodded, keeping his eyes downcast. I shrugged it off and forced the car alive.

"So, how have you been doing?" I asked him as I drove. "I hope you're doing your job!" I joked lightly. I wouldn't have normally. But I knew it was a dream. I didn't mind how it played out. "Are you doing any studying?" At this point, the sweetness in my voice was getting too much. I wanted to tone it down, but I couldn't.

I hated my dreams. I lost control. But this was good. Sometimes it was good, but not always. It was good, for now. But not too good.

I was confused at how Sean hadn't replied to a word I'd said. Was he perhaps astounded by my sweetness, too?

I looked at him for some time. He looked worried. His eyes flitted from my face to our surroundings. He gulped a few times. What was wrong with him?

I looked away. I would just make him uncomfortable by staring.

"Are you okay?" I saw him gulp from the corner of my eyes. "Sean?"

He jumped a bit and look at me with a startled expression. I saw it then. Fear.

"What is it?" My voice was calm, not a trace of worry that I felt for the kid.

"I'm scared," he confessed at last.

"I can see that, but why?" Try to look nonchalant. Don't smother him.

"Just… just don't stop the car." I heard the plea in his voice.

"Talk to me. Is someone following us?" I knew no one was. I had checked.

"Nothing! Just drive. Don't stop." It was difficult driving and looking at him at the same time. I didn't want the kid hurt.

"Just tell me what's worrying you!" I snapped. He has to tell me.

"They're following us," his voice was barely a whisper.

"No one is," I assured him.

"Yes!" he exclaimed.

"Sean. No." Calm. Cool.

He was just being paranoid.

'Or maybe it's you.'

"LOOK, DAMNIT!" His shout instinctively made me look.

And there it was.

The black car.

"This is it." The car had picked up speed. It was getting closer. I'd had enough.

"Don't stop. NO!" And I tried. I pushed the break, but nothing… nothing. I heard a sigh of relief from Sean. I wasn't relieved. I tried again and again. Nothing.

"Sean?" His eyes cut to mine. "The breaks not working." His eyes widened just a bit as he absorbed my words. He panicked for a moment before relaxing.

"They won't catch us then," he stated simply.

"The car won't stop even if you need it to. We could die!" He shrugged.

"I don't want it to stop. If it does… we'll die." So simple. Fear wasn't lost, but it was strange seeing Sean like that.

"Sean?"

"It's your dream. No one dies. We only die when you want us to in this dream." Realization. No… clarity. I'd forgotten what it was… a dream. Sean was just my subconscious mind reminding me.

I wanted no one to die. No one would.

No one would die.

And then it happened. The car went faster. I didn't push the accelerator. It just happened on its own.

I saw it.

The car following us. The panic in Sean's eyes as he looked forward.

"Stop the car!" he screamed. I looked ahead, a slight gasp leaving my lips at what I saw.

Nothing.

The road suddenly ended in a crooked cracked end, abrupt and deadly. There was no escaping. I tried to turn the car away. Nothing. It didn't budge.

"Take your seat belt off!" I yelled at him. He sat frozen.

My seat belt came off in a snap and I leaned in to work on his. It snapped open, too, but he didn't respond.

"Jump, you idiot!" I screamed. I begged. He wouldn't move. He turned towards me, his eyes showed fear.

The door beside me opened, making me fly out, but I saw him… Sean. His eyes wide, his mouth open in a silent scream. The car speeding, faster and faster until a scream hurt my lungs. The car lurched over the edge and disappeared.

A disgusting series of crunches filled the air.

I sat there, staring at it, remembering…

I heard the screeching of wheels, I heard the engine stop. I heard the door click open. Silence.

A cold gun pressed to my forehead.

"Congratulations. You've killed him." And I tried to remember that it was just a dream.

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