JACK POV
As Rose walks through the threshold of the house my phone buzzes. I pull it out of my pocket and glance down at the message. It's Matt.
Dude, you have a delivery from Guardian Corp. Get back here.
I exhale heavily.
So, he's told the Godmother already. That was quicker than I thought.
Rose turns in the doorway, her blonde hair swishing over her shoulder. Her brown eyes burn into mine.
"What's up? You coming?"
"Um, nothing. Yeah...sure."
She shrugs then enters the house.
I can't follow though. I need to get back. And I don't want Rose going in there without me. I don't know what instructions will be left for me back at my room but the swiftness of the delivery tells me that the Godmother really doesn't want Rose in here.
I need to do my job.
Plus - and I try not to think it because keeping Rose safe is not my job - the Godmother may have left any number of nasty surprises in here that could harm Rose if she is alone.
I glance over my shoulder, catching sight of the nearest bush - growing by the side of the stone wall. I swiftly reach out with my hand and grab one of the spikey twigs as hard as I can, feeling the thorns sink into my skin. Crimson red blood seeps out from my closed fist.
I uncurl my fingers.
"Um...Rose," I say. "I think I need to head back."
"Yeah, OK, whatever," she says absently without looking back. "Have fun."
"Rose," I lean against the doorframe and watch as she snoops around the cobweb coated shadows of the entrance hall, "I'm injured."
She spins around and I hold up my hands so she can see the blood pouring down my left palm.
"You're not going to send me off by myself, are you? I could bleed to death," I cock my head to the side and my smile broadens. "I think you need to nurse me back to health."
An exasperated look crosses her face. Her eyes flash with irritation.
"Oh, for God's sake..."
She walks up to me and I catch her scent, sweet against the musty smell of the old house. She grabs my left wrist and pulls my hand closer to her face, observing the deep welts in my skin.
My pulse quickens at the contact of her skin against mine but I hurriedly steady it.
"How the hell did you do that?" she says, "Can I not turn my back on you for one minute?!"
"Apparently not," I say. "You're going to take my back home, right?"
An annoyed sound escapes from her lips, but she nods. She drops my wrist, leaving my arm to fall by my side, then walks past me out into the front of the house.
"Fine. Come on."
She looks reluctantly over her shoulder at the place she thought would give her answers.
Not today, it won't.
Probably not ever if I do my job properly.
And I will. I always do.
Then she walks back down the narrow pathway between the dark, curling hedges. I follow her, a smile on my face but a bad feeling in my gut.
***
"So, do you have any bandages?" I say as we walk to the third floor of our building.
She raises an eyebrow as she looks up at me.
"I'm a student. Of course I don't have bandages."
I allow a forlorn expression to cross my face as I look at my self-inflicted injuries. She sighs.
"There's a first aid box in the kitchen. There'll be a bandage in there."
I give her a winning grin.
"Perfect, you can bandage me up then."
I'm not sure why I'm asking her to do it. I've got her away from the house now. And I can get some healing salve off Matt that will close the wound right up.
She rolls her eyes.
"Fine, come on."
She leads me into the kitchen and I sit down at the shabby table. I watch her as she pulls out the first aid box from next to the microwave and plonks herself down in the chair beside me, turning it to face me.
Her eyes blaze into mine.
"Who grabs hold of a thorny bush?!"
She grabs my wrist and begins to wrap a bandage around my hand. She doesn't take her eyes off my face and I hold her gaze.
"People get pricked by thorns more often than you think."
"That's a strange piece of knowledge to have."
I smile broadly.
"I have lots of knowledge. I'm a great asset to any trivia night."
She purses her lips but humour dances about the gold flecks in her dark eyes.
"Good to know..."
She continues to wrap up my hand. I watch her, feeling my chest rise and fall as my breathing accelerates. Then she tucks the end of the bandage in. She keeps hold of my wrist for a moment and continues to hold my gaze.
Then she smiles and lets go.
"There, done," she says.
She scrapes back her chair and gets up. I don't move for a moment then follow her out of the door into the corridor. We reach my room first.
My heart sinks.
Sat by the door is a huge basket filled with rosy red apples, a label with Guardian Corp's logo attached to the wicker handle.
"Ooh, apples," says Rose brightly.
She bends down and grabs one.
I slap her hand away, the small sphere bounces out of her hand and falls through the air. My heart pounds; I see it in slow motion, plummeting to the ground.
It cannot hit the floor.
If it does...
I reach out and snatch it from the air, almost stumbling over as I do so. I compose myself then look back at Rose. She's staring at me in complete and utter confusion.
"Erm...what the hell?!"
My eyes widen.
"I...uh...I really like apples...."
I cringe inwardly.
Could I be anymore lame?!
She raises her eyebrows and takes an exaggerated step backwards - her arms raised as though I'm holding a gun or something. Her lip is tugging upwards though. And as we stare at each other in silence she starts to laugh.
I can't help myself, I start to laugh too.
Then she shrugs.
"Not a food sharer, huh? Well, enjoy your apples...you big weirdo..."
She grins at me then turns and heads down the corridor towards her room.
I take a deep breath, lean against the door and steady my pounding heart.
That was close. Too close.
Then I grab the wicker basket full of apples and head into my room, my heart heavy.
I know exactly what the Godmother wants me to do.
A u t h o r . n o t e
Hi!
For anyone who missed my author note at the start:
The rest of THORN is now available on the Radish Fiction App. It's a site a bit like Wattpad, and you can continue to read it over there. It's entering a program where you can wait for new chapters to unlock for free or buy coins to read immediately.
You can find it by downloading the Radish Fiction app and searching for Thorn. Or following the link to Thorn from my Wattpad bio (---> LEPalphreyman).
Or DM me and I'll send you the link! :)
Love,
Lauren