“Tomorrow it is,” Iris said, and pulled her hand gently away. “No goodbye kiss, huh?” she couldn’t help it. She’d never acted like that before.
Colton laughed with closed lips. It was as if he was afraid if he opened them, she’d pull him closer again. “No,” he shook his head playfully. “You have a best friend to call and gossip to about your adventures today. I know how this works in the girl world.”
“I don’t think so,” she said. “It’s late, and Zoe hasn’t called me. I guess things are going well between her and Cody.”
“Oh. So my younger bro scored big time tonight,” he fisted his hand in the air and bit his lip.
“You’re bad,” Iris laughed. “Don’t say that about my best friend.”
“Is she really your best friend?” Colton said, his eyes scanning Iris’s face in a gentle way. No one had ever looked at her that way, with all this care and eagerness. In fact, Colton’s look was as good as a kiss for the night.
“I’d die for her,” Iris said. “You have no idea how many times she’s saved my ass.”
“This ass?” he pointed at it.
“Come on,” Iris said and got out. “You’re really bad.”
“Iris,” he held the door before she shut it.
“Yes?” she tilted her head down.
“Next time we kiss, let me make the first move,” he joked. “Please?”
Iris nodded, her face fluffy and red, like pink cotton candy. She shut the door and walked to her house.
Inside, Charles was sitting on the couch, watching the news. Rarely had Iris seen him watch the news, unless there was something of great importance happening in The Second.
“Hey dad,” she said.
He replied by raising the volume. He was watching the news and looked worried.
“Is something wrong?” she wondered, and sat next to him.
“The Council is arresting any family that is still mourning their Bride,” he said. “Any family that still has memories, pictures, evidence, or hasn’t emptied the daughter’s room after being Called by the Beasts.”
“That’s strange,” Iris said. “I always imagined the Beasts knew about the few families not fully complying with the rules. I thought they just didn’t bother that much. It’s inhuman to think that every family can just pretend they’ve forgotten their daughter.”
“The Beasts are inhuman, Iris.” Charles said, still watching the news. “Your assumption is pointless.”
“You’re right, dad. But, why now?”
“I don’t know why now, but I know they are arresting any family keeping a red rose somewhere in the house.”
“What?” Iris’s heart sank to her feet. “Our red rose?”
Charles nodded. “There are no red roses in this world but those you found in the Ruins. Red roses are evidence of breaking the rules now. It’s considered to be the weapon used in a crime.”
“Do they know about us?” Iris touched her father’s face and pulled it slightly in her direction.
“Yes,” Charles said. “They know there is a girl who gives a red rose to the families of the Brides. A girl they are looking for now.” He had tears in his eyes. “I shouldn’t have agreed to do this. I’m afraid they are going to hurt you now.”
“But they don’t know who I am,” Iris said. “I never showed my face to the parents and I always used gloves.”
“Do you think the Beasts can’t get you if they wanted to? They already know it’s a girl who sent the roses. How do you think they knew?” Charles said.
“Well, I run away after I ring the bell every time. Maybe someone saw me and recognized me as a girl. My hair could have fluttered from under the hood.”
“I won’t let them hurt you. You understand?” He held her face in his hands. Charles had rough hands. Hands that had been scratching, nailing, and digging into paintings for years. Hands of a carpenter, a painter, and a protective father. “I’ll say it was me.”
“Don’t worry, dad,” Iris patted his hand on her face. “I don’t think they’ll catch me.” She looked over his shoulder at the TV. The news people were announcing that the possession of such a red rose had been declared prohibited. Illegal. They claimed it was a sign of an unjust uprising, and that the Council was going to stand up to it with no mercy. “This is ridiculous,” Iris said. “Can’t people of The Second see how beautiful the roses are? Don’t they question where they really came from? What happened to these people?”
23
Iris finally retired to her bed after what she’d thought of as a day full of surprises. She thought she’d take some time, counting the stars outside her window, thinking of Colton. Wasn’t this supposed to be one of the best parts of being in love—at least, on the verge of falling in love, she hoped?
But Iris was wrong. Going to bed didn’t mean the day had ended. Her phone beeped, and for some reason she winced in her bed.
It was a message from Zoe. It was short and to the point. And most shocking: “Help me!”
24
“She’s going to be alright,” Cody stood before Iris and Colton. He was blocking them from entering Zoe’s room in the Downtown Hospital. He had called Colton to tell him about the horrible incident.
“What happened? I don’t understand.” Iris panted.
“It was Vera and her friends,” Cody said, ashamed that he couldn’t save Zoe. “They hurt Zoe.”
“What about them?” Colton said in his usual calmness.
“Look, I’m sorry,” Cody said to Iris. “I should have helped her. But the boys, Vera’s friends, locked me in the room.”
“You’re making this worse, Cody,” Iris said. “Tell me what happened to Zoe.”
“Vera and her friends pulled a prank on her,” Cody said. “A horrible one. I told Zoe that I had a bad feeling about it, but she didn’t listen to me.”
“Okay,” Colton held his younger brother by the shoulder. “Take a deep breath and tell us what happened.”
“Zoe and I were going to leave the party after the clock struck twelve,” Cody said. “We were planning on going out on our own. We kinda… you know… things kinda clicked between us,” Cody said in a faint voice.
“That’s good to hear, Cody. What happened next?” Colton took care of the situation.
“Vera suddenly seemed overly nice to Zoe, and asked her to cut the birthday cake for her,” Cody said. “As I said, I didn’t like it, but Zoe thought she finally was blending in. Even though we’d been talking all night about us not fitting in at the party. If she just had stopped being so naïve and optimistic. Also, she and I were having fun, so she was kinda vulnerable, and let her guard down.”
“Okay?” Iris said, her heart still racing, wanting to see Zoe right away.
“Once Zoe walked to the cake and held the knife in her hand to cut it, Vera turned all the lights off. The switches didn’t even work anymore. I tried them. It was all planned. I heard Zoe trip, but that wasn’t the worst part. All of Vera’s friends had bought those night-vision glasses so they could see in the dark and they must have started scaring Zoe and poking her.”
Iris and Colton flushed with anger, but they were speechless. It was hard imagining someone would do that to Zoe.
“The boys pulled me in a dark room and locked me in,” Cody said. “I had no night-vision with me, so I started screaming. I didn’t know where I was exactly. All I could hear was Zoe screaming and calling my name. I couldn’t do anything about it. I felt so ashamed.” Cody didn’t cry, but he was shivering. “Then I heard one of Vera’s girls scream, and from there on, everything turned into a circus. Someone unlocked the door for me a little later. When I got out, Zoe had scratches and bruises all over her body, and the police had arrived.”
“That’s a good thing.” Colton said. “Who called the police?”
“Probably Vera.” Cody said.
“Why would she do that?” Iris asked.
“Because one of Vera’s friends was lying on the floor with a cut on her arm.
A deep one. My guess is that Zoe was scared, defending herself in the dark, and wounded the girl with the knife that was supposed to cut the cake. It was self-defense, but when the police arrived, Zoe was standing next to the birthday cake with a knife in her hand, spattered with blood, and there was a wounded girl on the floor. You could imagine how it looked in the eyes of the police.”
“Unbelievable,” Colton shook his head.
“Unbelievable?” Iris snapped at him. “That’s all you have to say? Those are your friends who did this. Your league. Your kind.”
“But—” Colton tried to speak.
“I’m going to kill Vera,” Iris said. “I swear, I am going to hurt her so bad.” Iris pushed the door open and entered the room. Zoe was sleeping, sedated with all kinds of tubes connected to her. It didn’t look like a critical medical situation, but Iris couldn’t imagine what kind of trauma her friend had had to live through. She ran to Zoe and hugged her, crying by her bed.
Cody and Colton followed, standing by the door. “I haven’t told Zoe’s parents yet,” Cody said.
“I’ll tell them. Don’t worry,” said Colton. “You did the right thing, bro. How did the police let you go so easily? Didn’t they consider her a suspect?”
“Vera dropped any charges,” Cody said. “The whole thing was just to get away with hurting Zoe. They are not interested in putting her in jail. They already have many wounded friends to take care of. Zoe, although blinded by darkness, gave ’em hell.”
“Zoe,” Iris knelt beside her, in tears. “Talk to me.”
“I think we should leave her alone for now,” Colton suggested.
“No. You leave us alone,” Iris snapped. “You and your brother!” She didn’t think twice about how irrational she was sounding. Colton and Cody would never hurt Zoe. But Iris needed to breathe, and the air in the room wasn’t enough to hold her anger. Instead of going to Vera and hurting her, she settled on lashing out on the boy she was falling for. “Please leave, Colton,” Iris said, without looking back at him. Iris hoped he understood her pleading. “I can’t stand you right now.” She couldn’t neglect the fact that those who hurt Zoe were his friends, the elite students who never cared for Zoe or Iris, sons and daughters of the Council members.
“I understand,” Colton nodded. She turned her head slowly forward. She was thankful he didn’t burst back into her face. “I just think Cody should wait for you in the hallway, in case you need anything.” He turned to his brother, “Don’t let her do something she’d regret, Cody,” he told his brother. “Hurting Vera will only hurt Iris’s future. We have to find a reasonable way to solve our problems. Not by killing each other, as if we live in a jungle.”
“Funny you say that,” Cody said. “When we’re ruled by the Big Bad Beasts in the Sky.”
25
Iris spent the night by Zoe’s bed. Her parents had arrived and waited outside. Zoe’s protective mother wanted to stay with her, but she had the flu, and the doctors couldn’t risk Zoe catching it and complicating her situation.
A while later, the night-shift girl entered the room to check on Zoe.
“Is she going to be alright?” Iris asked.
“Don’t worry. Physically, she is a strong girl,” the nurse said. “We’re only hoping she won’t suffer from any post-traumatic stress. What she’s been through wasn’t easy. “
“Poor Zoe. So when will we know that?”
“I’m not sure, but she’s not going anywhere until she’s better. Are you her sister?”
“I feel like I am,” Iris said, “But I’m not. She doesn’t have sisters. Her mother is waiting outside, because she has the flu.”
“I see.” The nurse nodded. “Do you have any idea who visited her once she arrived? The tall, young and attractive fella?”
“Tall? No, Cody isn’t that tall. And I am glad you find him attractive.”
“I don’t think his name was Cody,” the nurse said. She was only about two years older than Iris. “While changing shifts, the other nurses kept talking about a boy who came here named Colton. Yeah, I am sure it was Colton, not Cody.”
“Yes. Colton was here. He’s Cody’s brother, and he arrived before me.” Iris was puzzled. “What about him?”
“Hmm…” The nurse hesitated. “He was the first one to enter Zoe’s room after the accident. That’s what I was told by the other shift nurses. They couldn’t stop talking about him.”
“He is an attractive boy. He is used to that.” Iris’s lips twitched.
“I don’t think that was the main reason they gossiped about him.” The nurse looked as if she preferred to leave, realizing she was interfering in a matter not concerning her.
“What do you mean?”
“Look. This is what I heard. Colton came into Zoe’s room, and somehow she hadn’t been fully sedated yet. She saw him and screamed. The nurses said it was a hysterical scream, as if he were going to hurt her or something.”
“Colton? No way.” Iris defended him, but then wondered why she’d suddenly felt mad at him hours ago.
“I am sure there is a mistake,” the nurse said. “Sorry for bringing it up. I shouldn’t have. It sometimes gets lonely on the night shift, and I can’t seem to stop talking when I find company.” The nurse excused herself and left.
Iris couldn’t shake the thought from her head. Why did Colton arrive before her, and why did Zoe scream when she saw him?
26
A little before dawn, Zoe began to moan in her bed. Iris rubbed her weary eyes and sat up alerted next to her, in case she needed assistance or something.
Zoe’s eyelids parted slowly. They were heavy and her eyes showing from underneath were reddened and tired. Her eyes didn’t move much. They stood fixed on Iris, as if she didn’t recognize her. Iris preferred that Zoe would talk first. She didn’t know what to say to her.
Zoe’s weakened and scarred hand, injected with an IV, crawled from under the sheets toward Iris, who stretched her hand out to her. Zoe clasped hers into Iris’s, still staring at her. Her hands were cold, and Iris could sense the fear passing from Zoe’s body.
Her eyes, Iris thought. Oh my, her eyes. What’s wrong with them? It’s like Zoe had seen a ghost.
“You have to rest,” Iris had to speak, still gripping her hand. “You’re going to be okay, Zoe. I won’t leave. We’re all here for you.”
“I-” Zoe coughed.
“You don’t need to speak now,” Iris said. “Just rest.”
Zoe’s cold hand tightened around Iris’s so hard, she wondered where she got the strength from.
“I know who the Beasts are.” Zoe said. “At least, I know who one of them is.”
Iris didn’t even know what to say. She blinked her eyes once, unsure if Zoe was aware of her situation or where she was.
“I saw him with my own eyes.” Zoe said, her tongue slurring. “He was here, in the room with me.”
“Here? When?” Was this real, or was Zoe just hallucinating?
“After I arrived in the hospital, a sudden headache struck me.” Zoe said. “It was terrible. So terrible, I couldn’t feel the rest of the pain in my body. I told the doctors, but none of them paid any attention to it.”
Iris said nothing again. Zoe must have been hallucinating. First she talked about the Beast, and then the headache.
“After the doctors left, the headache got worse,” Zoe said, “And then the Beast came into my room.”
“Just like that?”
“He asked if I was okay.” Zoe said. “I thought he was someone else at first, but then…”
“Then?”
“It was as if I had an epiphany, as if I suddenly could see him for what he really was. I can’t explain it, it just happened. He looked so evil. So scary, Iris.”
“I,” Iris pondered if she should just calm her down, or try to reason with her.
“Don’t you get it, Iris? The Beasts live among us. That’s how they see us and control us.” Zoe’s eyes looked painful. It was as if she
’d wanted to widen them and stare at Iris, but her eyelids were too weak to do it. “I’m telling you, the Beast came in the room, pretending to be him. He was shocked I saw him for what he really is. I screamed and the nurses came in and pulled him out.” Zoe craned her head, just a nudge, toward Iris. “They couldn’t see him for what he really is.” she whispered. “But I did. I bet he still fools you, Iris.”
“Fools me? Who is he?”
“Colton,” Zoe said, a shiver trembling through her body. Iris could feel it in hers too, like electricity. She had never seen someone so afraid before in her life. “Colton Ray is the Beast. You’ve always said it yourself. Remember when you said you thought he was one of them?”
27
The next week went very slowly. Iris spent most of her time at Zoe’s house. She’d been released from the hospital after the doctors said she was fine. Zoe had been dramatically getting better after the night she told Iris that Colton was the Beast. Iris considered it a heavy sign that Zoe never mentioned it again, as if it had never happened. She’d seen Colton once after the incident, and she seemed fine with him. She even messed with him and told him Cody was much cuter than he was.
On top of her worries about Zoe, Iris had to deal with her father calling her every two to three hours. The man was worried they’d catch the red rose girl whom the Council decided to call “the Beauty.” Iris was thankful for the concern, but wished her dad wouldn’t worry so much. She really needed to get home to him soon. The man seemed a bit lonely without her.
Zoe wasn’t hurt badly, at least not physically. She had proved to be as tough as Iris, if not tougher. Emotionally though, Zoe was devastated—now that the Colton/Beast thing was not an issue for discussion anymore. Zoe told Iris that what truly frustrated her about the night at Vera’s house wasn’t just the prank. It was that it could have been one of the best days in her life, since she and Cody had kissed briefly, and that she had been enjoying it. Zoe’s attachment to Cody seemed to be too much, too soon. But Iris wouldn’t tell her. Anything to help Zoe get over the prank was good.
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