The Celestial Rose BoxSet

by Annalee Adams

  The sobs of a young woman broke the silence as I pleaded for her to run, to get away. But she cried harder, and with the noise she made, the monster turned. But he turned to look at me, watch me. As he bared his teeth I realised who the cries came from. The sobs were my own and the screams were a part of me.

  The ground surrounding me rumbled, tearing itself apart as my body shook violently. The creature leapt towards me and as the stars began to fall, I opened my eyes to find my father shaking me and Caleb shouting my name. I wept, crying maniacally as my father stroked my hair, holding me tight until I fell fast asleep once again.

  CHAPTER 10

  It was date night. After a day of pampering and shopping with the girls, we had picked a selection of impeccable outfits for our evening.

  The Stratton Fair had been in town for a couple of nights, but it was the last opportunity we had to share in the extreme adrenaline rush that came with gravity shifting through Yorkshires countryside. The Gravity Shift was the ride all the kids talked about, a Frisbee-shaped flying cocoon hanging delicately on a pendulum.

  Its victims were pinned to the threshold, hanging on for their dear lives. It kept on spinning at miraculous speeds with the centrifugal force keeping the kids at bay. The thought of it made me sick to my stomach, but I wouldn’t be the one to cower in fear.

  “Are you okay, Taylor? Your heart is racing.” Lucian asked.

  “Yes, I’ll be fine.” I smiled hesitantly, hoping I wouldn’t give myself a myocardial infarction before I even got on.

  Pearce laughed as he punched my shoulder playfully.

  “Ha, Taylor, you’re going to love this monster!”

  “I do have a thing for monsters.” I smirked, eyeing Lucian beside me.

  “Come on, Jessie,” Pearce said as he took her hand and pulled her into the queue.

  Rowena, Chase, and the twins followed as Lucian picked me up, fireman style, running towards the queue of future victims. Pretending to drop me, I kicked out.

  “Lucian! Put me down,” I giggled.

  “Get a room you two,” Rowena groaned, clearly she had hoped Ricky would turn up.

  “He may still come.”

  “Yeah, he may.” She smiled faintly.

  Ricky was a boy from our English class. It was clear he liked her too, but even Rowena was too shy to ask him out on a date. The two of them would match perfectly, but neither dared speak to the other.

  “Why don’t we go for a double date sometime, Rowena?”

  “Could do, but how do I ask him?”

  “You just talk to him as you are talking to me now. Ask him if he fancies coming out to watch a movie with you and a couple of friends. He’s bound to say yes!”

  “You think?” she asked.

  I nodded with hopeful submission, that alone was enough to turn her faint sweet smile into something made of glee.

  “Talking about Ricky,” Pearce said, “he’s right behind you.”

  “Ha, nice one Pearce.” He was always the king of all things amusing.

  “No, actually he is,” I said, as Ricky tapped Rowena on the shoulder.

  Rowena’s cheeks glistened red.

  “Hi Rowena!” Ricky chirped.

  “Oh, hello!” Rowena smiled, but her nerves were showing around the edges.

  The conversation was strained, to say the least. Lucian gleamed at the delight of the two, pussy-footing around one another.

  “Rowena, didn’t you want to ask Ricky something?” Lucian asked, smirking.

  “I, erm!” she exclaimed, with brightened cheeks and shaking hands

  I couldn’t help but smile. It was sweet watching two people, who were obviously made for one another, struggle with their first ever true conversation.

  “The movies,” she said, unable to string a sentence together.

  “She means, would you like to come with us one night, Ricky?” I asked, helping my best friend out.

  “Wow....” he exclaimed, with a nervous flicker in his eyes. “Yes, I would love to!”

  “That settles it then, a double date it is.” Lucian cheered.

  Rowena evidently wanted the ground to swallow her up. Ricky smiled.

  “Are you going on the Gravity Shift, Rowena?”

  “Yes, I think I am,” she said staring up at the monstrosity before her with worry in her eyes.

  “Can I join?”

  “Of course!” Rowena exclaimed, as Ricky hopped in beside her, ready to become martyr for the cause.

  “Aren’t they sweet?” I whispered to Lucian. He held my hand, pulled me close, and planted a soft kiss on my pink lips.

  “I crave you, Taylor. You know that, don’t you?” His words spoke of his yearning.

  “Yes, I think I do.” I smiled, kissing him back.

  “We’re next!” Jessie shrieked.

  “How many?” the gruff youth asked, as we entered the pit of angst.

  “Nine,” Pearce stated, quickly counting heads to be sure.

  “Yeah, go ahead,” the unkept boy said, pushing us forward.

  “Jeez, he’s pleasant.” Pearce laughed, tugging Jessie in tow.

  I gulped at the lack of containers before us. Nothing more than a metal harness to keep us from flying into oblivion.

  “It’ll be fine, Taylor. You know I’ll never let anything hurt you.” Lucian reassured me.

  “Yes, but I’m more worried about throwing up that hotdog.” I laughed anxiously with Lucian.

  The wheel of doom started to spin. I was thrown into the hard metal backplate as it spun faster and faster, lifting, rising to the stars, cautioning that it could release us at any moment it liked. The fear shrouded me as my stomach warned expulsion. Lucian strained forward against the force, gripping my hand. For the rest of the ride, I looked at him, smiled at him, with his wind-swept hair and tremendous strength. He was mine and I was his.

  The rest of the evening was spent together, the nine of us laughing and joking. Even Rowena and Ricky managed to hold a conversation. Pearce and Jessie had started to hit it off and the twins were laughing while soaking Chase with water guns, rather than the stall's targets before them.

  “Cut it out!” a soaked Chase shouted at Emma.

  “You’ve got to admit, that was funny!” she declared as he soaked her back.

  The water went everywhere. Jessie had Pearce pinned down with a super soaker to his forehead. Lucian whisked around, untouched by any shot aimed his way, while I looked like a drowned rat, mocked by the speedster boyfriend and drenched by my so-called friends.

  Drying off, we headed back to the cars. The night sky enveloped us with a magical shroud that was as dark as evil portrayed itself to be. The cold crept in as I shuddered in my wet clothes. Lucian pulled me close, his cool exterior gyrated through me as I yearned for the warmth of a human touch.

  Saying our goodbyes, Lucian and I jumped in the back of Pearce’s convertible, roof up. He was our ride for the night and loved to show off his new car at every opportunity. I believe his parents bought him it for his eighteenth, and since then, he had been offering rides to every girl in town. I would say literally, but clearly his heart was only holding out for Jessie’s approval.

  “Which way are you going, Pearce?” Jessie questioned, as he had taken the wrong turn two roads back.

  “The scenic route!” he proclaimed, as we drove over a dirt track through the forest beside Lake Meed. Memories of the gang swimming in the clear fresh water stirred through my mind, as Jessie hitched up the radio.

  “It’s given out storms, guys,” Jessie informed. “It’s a good thing we left when we did!”

  “True,” I uttered as I snuggled into Lucian's chest, yearning for the fervency of his touch. Staring out of the window through the cloaked forest beside us, I couldn’t help but feel the chill of his body caress my own.

  Blasting through my hankering thoughts, the car leapt to the side. Pearce panicked as Lucian leant forward over him keeping the steering wheel central.

  “Don’t
brake!” he shouted, “let it slow down on its own.”

  The tyre had blown and the car hurtled towards the treeline. Every instinct screamed for us to brake, but Lucian said that we would only spin out if he did, unable to control where the vehicle ended up. With his advice, we slowed down to a peaceful, resilient stop.

  “Man, that made my heart pound!” Pearce sniggered, resting his hand on Jessie’s.

  The adrenaline had hit us all at that heart stopping moment, well, all except Lucian, who was always perfectly in control.

  “Stay put. I’ll replace it.” Pearce ordered.

  “Want a hand?” Lucian challenged.

  “No, I’m good. Thanks man,” he said as Lucian nodded in acceptance.

  The three of us sat patiently while the car shook and trembled as Pearce attempted to replace the tyre. Lucian wrapped his arms around me, pulled me close, and kissed me deeply. Jessie sat singing with the radio, not even noticing the lustful teenagers in the backseat of Pearce’s convertible.

  A bellowing scream pierced the darkness surrounding the car as Pearce screeched to get back inside. A bloodied hand thudded our window and then something huge grabbed him and pulled him into the woods beyond. As quick as a flash, Lucian warned us to stay inside and lock the doors, then sped away after Pearce and whatever had taken him. Jessie appeared in shock, gobsmacked at both Lucian's speed and the huge beast that had taken our friend.

  I trembled as I heard Pearce’s cries absorb into the air that encompassed us. Tears fell from my porcelain face, shivering as the salty taste caressed my cold lips. I knew the monster. It was the beast that killed my mother. It changed my life and now it had my friend. How had we not seen it coming? It had appeared from nowhere, taken him leaving only a bloodied handprint in its place.

  The forest fell quiet, not a stirring in sight. I couldn’t hear Pearce's struggles any longer, or his cries for mercy. Even Lucian no longer growled through the altercation. The only apparent sounds were that of a broken female whimpering and the ectopic palpitations of my own heart. Adrenaline streamed through my muscles as my fight or flight instincts kicked in. I couldn’t wait, couldn’t stay there like a deer in the headlights. I needed to help them, to do anything to save them. Lucian couldn’t take that thing on alone.

  Adrenaline does funny things to you. I had convinced myself that, somehow, I could take on the razor-edged beast, battle it down, and dominate it to do my bidding.

  “JESSIE, JESSIE!” I screamed. She looked up at me through tearful eyes. “Stay here, do not leave this car! I need to help them.”

  And with that, I was gone. I left the car, slammed the door, and ran through the cold night towards what I thought were where the screams were coming from. Trailing through the darkness bought along its own set of fears; the shadelings. They’d developed a taste for me, and like leeches to blood, they had screamed out and suctioned my life away. That alone was enough to send any sane person running in the opposite direction, but then I was never known for my sanity.

  Leaves crackled, twigs snapped; the forest enjoyed tempting my fear with its creeping hands. The sounds grew louder as I trod closer, a gurgling before me deep down in the underbrush. It was Pearce, lying there, soaked in blood. Running over to him I tripped, falling over a rock and bashing my head in the process. Pain seared through my skull as I gripped my head, putting pressure on the wound. I crawled over to Pearce to help him up, to get us out of there.

  There was no way Pearce would be able to move without help, though. His leg had been slashed open and blood was spurting everywhere. I pulled my belt off, attempting to minimise the blood loss.

  “Taylor,” his voice strained, “Lucian, he’s...” he trailed off as Lucian appeared by my side, covered in blood.

  “Lucian! What happened? Are you okay?” I yelped, my voice pitched high.

  “Shush, Taylor, it’s still nearby. I can feel it.”

  “Whose blood is that?”

  “Mine, the beast's, Pearce’s, probably yours. I lost track,” he said. “He won’t make it, Taylor. I had to do it.”

  “Do what?” I asked.

  “It’s okay. He’s lost too much blood. The shadelings would have taken him if I didn’t help.”

  “What do you mean help?”

  “Just know, he will survive and be stronger for it, but please be quiet, it’s still near.”

  The grumbling sound of the Earth below us shattered as the beast rose high, pounding towards us. A darkness surrounded its fiery body as it ran across the undergrowth at a tremendously exquisite speed, even one Lucian couldn’t outrun.

  “Run, Taylor, run!” Lucian bellowed as he jumped into the darkness, battling the beast with his own silver blades and a strength unlike any other.

  I watched in awe as he sliced and diced at the creature. The two of them merged into one as they sped about each other with a lightening force. Pearce gripped my ankle.

  “Run, get away!” he gurgled.

  And with that his eyes closed, muscles relaxed, and chest fell silent. He was gone, taken by the nightmare before us, killed by the murderous bloodlust of the beast. Completely and utterly gone.

  “Get back from him!” Lucian screeched at me.

  Taking his eyes off the beast, he missed a deadly upper cut and he flew, pounding onto the rock before me. I stayed by Pearce, weeping. He was gone, dead. By the looks of it, we were all next.

  “Taylor, move!” Lucian yelled as the beast targeted me.

  I winced, closing my eyes and cradling my body as I cocooned myself, waiting for the claws to end my life once again. But they never came. The forest had grown silent and as I opened my tear stained eyes, I saw the world had discoloured. Everything appeared black and white as the beast ran straight through me with a gnarled expression on its face.

  Lucian ran to me, pulling me away from it and back to the colourful, bloodied reality I once came from. Protecting my body, he stared into my eyes and kissed the tip of my nose.

  “RUN!” he bellowed in a deep, booming voice.

  The command shook through my body and every muscle obeyed, every lifeforce within me pushed forward. My legs ran faster and faster, as quick as they could carry me. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t stop running. I knew I had to, knew I needed to. He had implanted a thought in my mind and I had no choice but to except it. So I ran, back through the darkness, back through reality, and all the way to the teary-eyed female in the car, Jessie.

  As I reached the car, a streak of light flew past me. I swear I saw Elisha within that streak. They had come to help their brother, their kin. I had obeyed his command, no matter how he had demanded it. My work was done. I had run all the way back to the car and I was exhausted from it. Jessie stepped out, shaking in fear.

  “Taylor, is he?”

  “I don’t know, Jessie. Lucian's there. We need to go back.”

  “I, I don’t know if I can go in there.”

  “I have a feeling it will be safe now,” I said.

  We ran through the darkness towards the Darkwaters and their battle with death. As we reached them, Jessie shrieked in horror. Lucian battered down at the beast with silvered blades and fanged teeth. Julian struck it down with a storm of ice and snow. Nic’s polar bear form swiped at its frozen body while Elisha’s tantalising allurement kept it in place. It was a battle for the hardy.

  “What are they?” she cried out, turning the beast’s attention to herself.

  She cowered in fear as the beast battered the ground to get to her, to get back to me. I held her hand as I encased my body over hers, protecting her as much as I could. Strangely, it worked, as the beast couldn’t reach me again. It had run straight through me as I sat in a world of black and white mist. It had completely missed Jessie too, who sat there staring at our new surroundings. Even the Darkwaters had stopped, watching the beast as it puzzled, looking for us.

  Then, with the winds of change, an enormous howl broke the silence, a noise that carried on the wind and immersed the beast w
ith fear. A pack of Lycans appeared. They snarled at the beast and surged into formation beside the Darkwaters.

  The beast turned and fled, running off with a pack of hungry Lycans bounding after it. I saw the Darkwaters talking and Julian quickly picked up Pearce’s body and ran furiously in the direction they had come from. Jessie and I were back in reality.

  “Where’s Pearce?” Jessie asked.

  Before I could answer, before I could tell her of his death, Lucian spoke.

  “He'll be fine. Julian has taken him to the hospital. He needs to heal, so give him a few weeks and I’m sure he will be back on his feet again,” Lucian said empathetically.

  “But Lucian!” I exclaimed. How could he not tell her he was dead?

  “I will explain later, Taylor. All will be fine, trust me.” Strangely enough, I did just that.

  CHAPTER 11

  Rising up, ready for the new day, I remembered what Lucian had told me on the journey home. I knew he could control thoughts, but I didn’t understand how. He promised that he had only ever used it the once and that was to save my life and get me to run. Not that it had done any good, considering I ran straight back there again.

  The conversation in the car ride home had explained quite a lot about that night, well, as much as I thought to ask at the time. To be perfectly honest with the world, my body and mind was bruised and tired. Lucian had helped my head wound heal as he had kissed me with the surprising metallic taste of blood streaming into my mouth, sealing the wound as if it never happened. But he couldn’t cure the exhaustion, the downside of coming down from adrenaline and last night’s drug of choice. That was something only sleep and a nice hot bath could cure, so I had done just that. Once I was tucked into bed, Lucian appeared beside me, stroking my hair goodnight and kissing my forehead before he disappeared down the old oak tree.