Dark Roses: Eight Paranormal Romance Novels

by P. T. Michelle

  Elia Robert Wilson. You will always be remembered.

  13

  It wasn’t easy for Colton to ask Eva’s parents’ permission to enter her room. They had only been together three months, and it wasn’t like Eva had been his soul mate or anything. Both of them were lost souls in a high school that secretly demanded you acted like society expected you to. As son and daughter of elders who were part of the elite Council, Eva and Colton played their parts right, wishing it was only until they went to college. Then they’d get to be whoever they wanted to be, without all that pressure—at least Colton thought so. He wasn’t sure about Eva, and it was one of the things that always threatened their relationship.

  Eva’s father permitted Colton the entry, although he demanded it to be quick. Colton said he only wanted to gather a present he had given her, so he could honor her memory. Remembering a Bride, although against the Law of the Beast, was a very intimate and special matter, practiced secretly among some citizens. It wasn’t like the Beasts didn’t know about it. They probably did. But the Beasts never showed their true evil nature, Colton was beginning to think. They were hiding somewhere up there in the sky, guarded by the lighting of their protective ships, playing The Second like marionettes. All under the name of democracy and the Law of the Beast. A few families secretly remembering the lost ones wasn’t a big deal.

  Colton entered Eva’s room and locked the door behind him, leaving her mother crying somewhere in the kitchen. She didn’t look like she could pretend her daughter didn’t exist yet. After all, it had been more than a week and no one had emptied the room.

  Eva’s room was classy. Everything in it was too expensive and glaringly girly. Colton didn’t know what to look for. After he had parted with Iris, he’d been wandering the streets like a lost beggar trying to find a place he could call home. Everything around him felt so fake after he’d been exposed to the Ruins and the idea of Pentimento. He’d started to question everything around him. And all of this was because of this unusual girl named Iris. Her name brought a smile to his face. He wasn’t supposed to feel this way about anyone but Eva at the time. But he couldn’t help it. He’d never missed a girl so fast. Hell, he’d only gotten to know her a little bit today, and they weren’t even friends.

  But Iris was irresistible. And the best part was she didn’t know it. Colton thought he’d never really met a girl like her before. He thought Iris was average in the looks department. A face like so many other girls. A body that was okay. Nothing special about her in the shallow way men were expected to seek in girls in The Second. But her spirit was so sexy in the most unexplainable way.

  Colton shook his head and sat on Eva’s bed. This wasn’t right. He’d never been interested in Eva the way he was in Iris, but Eva was still his ex, and no new girl was going to take her place unless he felt he did all he could to honor her somehow. Only, he didn’t know how.

  Why was he really in this room? Was he expecting to discover something? Eva was an open book. She wasn’t interested in the unknown. She’d even said she approved of the Beasts’ laws. Somehow, she was confident she’d never be chosen as a Bride because she was a Council member’s daughter.

  “You were so wrong, Eva,” Colton buried his head in his hands. “If even the Council’s daughters aren’t immune, then who is? Do the Beasts have some criteria in choosing the girls? If so, why did they choose you, Eva?”

  Colton inhaled all the air he could before his confusion suffocated him. The only thing that brought a smile to his face was Iris again.

  Gosh, who is this girl? I haven’t even kissed her.

  Colton stood up and began rummaging through Eva’s stuff. It seemed like a dull task now. He almost knew everything about Eva. She loved to take photos of herself, and always had to be positioned in the front of any photo taken of her with anyone else. Colton remembered that she didn’t like to be photographed next to girls who matched her beauty. There was a substantial number of photos of them together as well. Always hugging him, clinging to him, and making sure she was up front in those pictures as well. Colton thought he looked stiff in the pictures. “What a jerk,” he called himself. He thought his poses were snotty and unnatural. “Oh. Come on. You couldn’t have changed so fast,” he talked to his reflection in Eva’s wall mirror. “This one in the pictures is you. Always has been. You weren’t the kindest of students, and if Cody hadn’t told you about this curious girl who had a clue about the Beasts, you’d never have even looked at Iris. Don’t try to play as if you had a change of heart.”

  Colton began to worry. Talking to himself wasn’t something he usually did. Besides, he remembered now when he first saw Iris dangling her feet from above the principal’s office. He thought she had big toes at first. Something he hated in girls. But then when he stared at that clumsy girl with chocolate smearing her lower lip, something happened to him. Something he could not explain. He doubted she had any idea he was looking up to yell at her, since her chocolate wrapper fell right on his face. It wasn’t the phone that caught his attention the first time.

  What’s wrong with me? I couldn’t even open my mouth and shout at her when I saw her staring at me as if I was the Easter Bunny.

  Colton ruffled his hair and shook Iris away from his brain, although she had already booked a place somewhere inside his skull.

  He was about to put Eva’s album back in the drawer, when he saw a photo standing next to Vera. They were close and almost had the same taste. That’s why they rarely took pictures together. Each one was intimidated by the other’s beauty. Colton knew tomorrow was Vera’s birthday—he’d been invited before Eva was taken. He contemplated going or not. An eighteenth birthday for a girl in The Second was a big deal, and he respected that.

  Colton flipped through one more pictures before a vision struck him. A vision that urged him to flip back to Eva’s picture with Vera. A third girl was standing next to them. Someone he knew.

  Colton looked more closely at the picture. The three girls were embracing in the school’s stadium, probably before one of his Steelball games, which he was a master at. He was right. He knew the third girl. Next to Vera and Eva, stood Elia Wilson. She was a fascinating beauty like the other two.

  14

  While waiting for Zoe the next day, Iris didn’t finish her homework—she thought she was too old for calling it homework anyway. She spent her time surfing the internet instead, looking for answers about the Brides. Why were these girls really taken? What did the Beasts do to them, and on what basis were they chosen?

  As usual, no one discussed the subject freely. Not on the social networks, not in private forums, and not even in private messages between friends. The Call of the Beast had been happening for decades. It was unquestionable, and no one longed for explanation anymore. No one was ever blamed for these kind of catastrophes. And it always boggled her mind.

  Still, she wasn’t going to give up. Someone, somewhere, knew something about the Beasts. If they were communicating with the Council, teaching them what to tell us, then there must be someone who had seen or talked to a Beast face to face somehow.

  Iris estimated thousands of girls had been taken throughout the years. The Beasts took about fifty-two Brides a year. More or less. They’d never been specific about dates. The big problem for Iris was that the Brides’ names were erased from existence, even their family pretended they had never been born—at least they were forced to. This left no traces for Iris to find enough connections between the girls. She could only track the ones who’d been taken since she was fifteen, the first time she’d asked her father to place a rose in front of the girls’ houses and let their parents know they’d be remembered. She’d found the roses in the Ruins and thought they would leave a precious impression if given to the parents.

  Suddenly, her room’s door sprang open and Zoe dashed in.

  “Zoe!” Iris said. “You look fantastic.”

  “Really?” Zoe said. She was dressed very girly in a blue dress with an extra embro
idered shawl. She even had a blue ribbon in her hair. “It’s going to be a big birthday, you know. I thought I’d do my best to look as good as them.”

  “Come here, sweetie,” Iris pulled her closer, and fluffed Zoe’s hair a bit. “You look like you’re going to meet Prince Charming today.”

  “Yeah,” Zoe rolled her eyes. “As if there is one for me.”

  “Don’t say that,” Iris said, Colton’s image flashing in her head. “He is waiting for you. It’s just that you’re too busy with all the boys chasing you, so he’s gotta wait.” They both snickered.

  “So no homework, I guess,” Iris said.

  “Don’t let my appearance fool you,” Zoe flashed two notebooks from under her dress. “I finished mine and yours, so you could rest your case.”

  “Oh, Zoe. You’re amazing.” Iris hugged her. “But you didn’t really have to do mine.”

  “I had free time, and know you hardly pay attention in class. I want you to have good grades to go to college.”

  Iris hugged her again. It wasn’t for the homework. She didn’t really like someone doing hers. It was because of Zoe’s unconditional love for her.

  “Easy with the dress,” Zoe pretended to be snotty. “You’re going to mess it up.”

  “Ah,” Iris placed a hand on her mouth. “I’m really sorry, my princess.”

  “I have about half an hour with you, before Cody picks me up.” Zoe said.

  “What? Cody?” Iris’s eyes shimmered. How didn’t she think of matching them up before? She thought they’d make a good couple.

  “He called me and told me he got my phone number by hacking yours,” Zoe explained. “I think he didn’t realize that was a creepy thing to do. He thought it’d make me like him, so he could ask me to go with him to Vera’s birthday.”

  “That’s something that Cody would do,” Iris pouted. “Sorry for that. I guess he liked you and didn’t know how to tell you.” Iris wasn’t going to tell her that Cody liked her too. She thought Zoe should have a chance with him, and then decide if she liked him or not.

  “Actually, I thought I’d go with someone you know, instead of feeling so alienated at Vera’s birthday.”

  “You’re the one who wants to go,” Iris pursed her lips.

  “It’s just a birthday. And I’d like to see how girls celebrate when they’re eighteen.”

  “If you say so.”

  “So tell me, how many rules have you broken since you left school this morning?”

  “A lot,” Iris said.

  “Oh, so skipping school while sticking your tongue out to a robot wasn’t enough?” Zoe sat on the bed, imitating how princesses lifted their dresses before sitting.

  “Thanks for switching the glue by the way,” Iris laughed.

  “I am still waiting for a thank you from Mrs. Wormwood, but I guess that will never happen, since she would have to know what was going to happen to her first, in order to thank me,” Zoe said. “I’m a saint. Ain’t I?”

  “You are. Aren’t you going to ask me again what other rules I broke today?”

  “I can guess,” Zoe tilted her head. “You went to the Ruins, practiced that weird hobby of yours. Found out nothing about the Beasts, and came back home. You’re very predictable.” she joked.

  “And who did I go to the Ruins with?” Iris grinned.

  “Cody?” Zoe guessed.

  Iris shook her head “no,” and bit her lip.

  “I’m not sure why you’re biting your lip. You know you can’t keep a secret from me anyway.”

  “Colton.”

  “Colton who?” Zoe said.

  “Colton.” Iris stressed.

  “The Colton?” Zoe’s eyes almost popped out of her head.

  Iris nodded with a grin on her face. “He is Cody’s brother. When he heard I knew something about the Beasts in the Ruins, he offered to come.”

  Iris recited all that happened between her and Colton to Zoe, who’d been so excited, she thought she’d skip the birthday. But then Cody called and said he’d be late another half an hour.

  Having gossiped all they could about Colton, Zoe couldn’t resist asking Iris about what she’d been searching the internet for.

  “Did you ever wonder what the Beasts really look like, Zoe?” she tried to sound uninterested, as if she were just making conversation until Cody arrived.

  “Will you ever stop being curious about them?” Zoe fidgeted, looking uncomfortable in her high heels.

  “Are you saying you’re not curious yourself?” Iris’s stare was sharp, piercing through whatever fake disinterest Zoe showed. Iris was sure she was curious.

  “I am,” Zoe avoided her friend’s eyes. “But thou shall not question the Beast.” she craned her head, as if someone could have heard them.

  “We’re not questioning them. We’re having a conversation about them. Don’t be such a coward.” Iris said.

  “Alright,” Zoe took off the high heels until Cody arrived. “I guess I broke all the rules today, wearing such a dress, and going out with a boy I barely know. So here is what I hear. Some students say the Beasts look like Aliens.”

  “Aliens?”

  “Those green creatures who look like frogs and have antennas in their heads?” Zoe reminded her.

  “I know what aliens are,” Iris mocked her back. “But how do aliens really look? I mean all that green stuff about them was only made to entertain kids. Besides, we all know that the Beasts are the aliens, whatever they look like.”

  “Don’t shoot the messenger. I am just telling you what I heard.”

  “I don’t care about what you heard, Zoe. Use your head. Tell me what you think.”

  “You want my opinion?” Zoe raised her eyebrows. “You usually never listen to anything I say. Anyways, I think they are far more advanced than us. I mean, whatever metallic technology we live in with all those hologram inventions and communication methods, they live a much more transcendent life, if I may suggest.”

  “Like how?”

  “I don’t know,” Zoe shook her shoulders again. “I can’t imagine what I haven’t seen. It’s just pure logic. If they are our rulers whom we never see, and all of us are obeying them, even the Council, then those Beasts are the shit.” Zoe clapped her mouth with her hand instantly. “Lady Jesus, see what talking with you made me do? I have never said the S word before.”

  “Lady Jesus?” Iris neglected Zoe’s silly concern for uttering bad words. “You don’t believe in that crap.”

  “Oh, so this night is going to be full of crap and shit,” Zoe said. “My mom believes in it. I don’t know what to believe. I am just not as sophisticated as you. Since when do we have such deep conversations? Our friendship is built on you being the outcast who asks questions, and me being the shallow girl who saves your ass.”

  “You said ass,” Iris laughed.

  “Well, the train has run off the rails tonight,” Zoe said. “And it’s all because of you and your never-ending questions.”

  “Do you ever wonder why the Beasts take only girls?” Iris wondered. “And don’t say it’s all about Lady Jesus again.”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t. I even heard that Jesus is a man’s name,” Zoe said. “To tell you the truth, your question is the one that I keep asking myself all the time.”

  “So you ask questions.” Iris pointed out.

  “Of course I ask, Iris. I just don’t utter them, so I won’t get expelled or hurt. I have to work hard to earn a place in college and have a life. But when I lay alone in bed and I’m just about to go to sleep every night, I ask myself why the Beasts only take girls.”

  “And?”

  “Maybe they are only a male species,” Zoe suggested. “Or at least some weird sexless species. Maybe with all the power they have, they have that weakness that they can’t breed. And in some twist of life, they need females from The Second to breed.”

  “It’s a plausible suggestion,” Iris considered. “You think that’s why they saved the planet from decaying,
to preserve the female baby-makers?”

  “Could be. But then a million doors to other questions will open.”

  “Like?”

  “Like what do their babies look like?” Zoe said. “Part human, part Beast?”

  “We don’t even know what the Beasts look like, so it’s unimaginable.”

  “And what kind of species are they?” Zoe seemed to like the conversation now. “Are the babies also Beasts, or some second generation creatures? If so, where are they, or shouldn’t we see them too?”

  “Then how do you think they choose the girls?” Iris asked. “According to you, they have to be the most fertile.”

  “Or beautiful, in case the Beasts are really ugly. They call the girls Brides, right? This sounds like a marriage to me.”

  “That’s a bit inaccurate,” Iris corrected. “We are the ones who called them Brides and Beasts. And it stuck since then. The Beasts never called themselves anything.”

  “They could have easily called themselves gods if you ask me,” Zoe said.

  “So you really think they choose beautiful girls? Because I went over it in my head today and I noticed not all the girls were airheads.” Iris said.

  “Before we even continue this conversation, you need to change your mind about all beautiful girls being airheads. That just isn’t true.”

  “I didn’t say that,” Iris said. “But most of them are.”

  “No, that’s not true either,” Zoe insisted. “Elia Wilson for instance, was so close to being the youngest tennis player in The Second. Two years from now she’d have been winning trophies, and she was a ten in the book of beauties.”

  “She was?” Iris had never told Zoe about the roses she and her dad left at girls’ doors.

  “See? And many other Brides have been very interesting girls. Besides, I did some research,” Zoe said. “Absolute beauty was never the main criteria in choosing.”

  “Research?” Iris almost jumped from her chair. “So you do research and never tell me?”