The Rose Boys

Chapter Fourteen

That night I had a strange dream. I dreamt that Darren and I left the ship on a little boat, I sat at the back while Darren rowed with two wooden oars. It was dark out but we knew that if we headed in one direction, we would eventually make our way towards lights and people who didn't know that he was a millionaire, people who wouldn't drive him around and leave expensive gifts at my house. 

I dreamed of a place that had unfamiliar faces and soft voices that spoke a language unknown. In any other situation, I would have been terrified but I knew that by having Darren with me, I would be perfectly safe and sound. He would let nothing ever happen to me and I was content with that.

"Hey, hey January. Wake up." Darren's voice roused me. I opened my eyes to his face not far from mine. 

"What?" I mumbled, trying to keep my eyes open.

"What's your name?"

"Huh?"

"Damn it January, just answer the question."

"Well, that kind of defeats the purpose of the question, doesn't it?" I asked, feeling a tiny bit more awake.

"So, you're fine then?" Darren asked, dark brown eyes looking a little less worried. "Do you remember what happened to you?"

"Because of extenuating circumstances, I got a concussion and now you have taken it upon yourself to wake me up every two hours, on the dot to see if I'm alright.'

"Jeez, you sound so grateful."

"What gave you that impression?" I asked, rolling over to get back to sleep.

I was asleep again before I knew it. This dream was a lot like the previous one. We weren't in a boat though, we were walking down a foggy garden path, there were bushes of roses that twisted out through the mist. The vines were thick and the thorns were large and extremely sharp looking. I couldn't see much beyond that.

I stared at the roses as we walked, they seemed to go from red to black as we continued down the gravel path in silence, holding hands. Darren continuously looked down at me when I wasn't looking, only when I tried to look up at him, he turned his face away so I couldn't see him. 

The dark garden seemed to go on forever and I was getting a little worried by the roses that were slowly dying around us as we walked by. I stopped suddenly but Darren continued on without me.

"Doesn't this seem a little weird to you?" I asked, waiting for him to realize that he wasn't holding my hand anymore. 

Darren didn't stop.

I ran forwards and grabbed his arm, trying to stop him. "Darren!" I shouted, digging my heels in the ground to prevent him from walking. I gritted my teeth as he continued on at the same pace, pulling me behind him like I didn't exist.

'That's it.' I thought and quickly threw myself backwards, yanking him with me. 

Darren seemed almost unfazed by it but he turned to face me. I was horrified and too scared to say anything. The face that stared back at me, using Darren's body and Darren's hair was not Darren. The face that looked down at me was not even a person. A bleached white human skull grinned down at me, it's empty sockets for eyes seemed to cut right through me. It opened it's mouth and said something but all I could hear was the sick click of it's bones knocking together.

I found that the hand that I held was now just bone and the arm beneath my hands lacked any kind of skin or muscle. The two bones of the arm sat cold in my hands, I screamed and threw his arm away from me.

"What's wrong, January?" His voice asked, reaching out for me. 

I took a step backwards but tripped over a rose vine that had thrown itself out to hinder me. I fell and pain shot through my arm as sharp thorns cut up my hands and arms. I was trapped as the rope thick vines wrapped themselves around my arms and legs, pinning me to the ground in a painful grip.