ROSES FOR RACHEL
🍇Episode_13
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I woke up feeling buzzed and disoriented.
I sat up in my be-d slowly and looked around my be-droom until my eyes landed on Fern. “Oh my!” She whispered. “Let me go get the prince.” She said as she flashed out of the room.
The door opened back after a minute and Calvin stomped in, pausing for only a moment when his eyes first met mine. He recovered from whatever it was that stunned him and he continued his angry stalking over to the side of my be-d. “What were you thinking?” He asked loudly. “Were you trying to kill yourself, Rachel? Are you that damn unhappy?”
I was embarras-sed and annoyed by what had just happened and he was pretty much the last person I wanted to see right now, especially if he was going to be angry.
“Don’t you dare come in here yelling at me! This is my room, get out!” I yelled back at him, pointing my f!nger at the door.
He wi-de-ned his eyes and set his jaw firmly. “You’re joking.” He said evenly.
“I’m not.” I countered. He turned away from me, bringing his hands up into his messy brown hair and mumbled something un-der his breath. “Did you enjoy your d@tÂŁ?” I asked him, keeping my voice strong.
He flashed around to face me and his beautiful features looked twisted. “I couldn’t pick you, Rachel!” He screamed. “Not after you’d just finished telling every single person in the world that you had zero de-sire to be with me.”
Behind his anger, he looked a little hurt. “That’s not what I said.” I mumbled, the confidence sinking from my tone. “I said I didn’t want to be a princess.”
“They’re one in the same, Rachel.” He replied. “You saying you don’t want to be princess is the same as you saying you don’t want to marry me. Those are my people out there.” He said pointing at the door. “You publicly told them you don’t want to be their princess.” He laughed without any humor, shaking his head. “How was I supposed to announce you after that?” He asked.
“I don’t know.” I whispered, crossing my arms over my che-st.
His b©dy language was still rigid towards me. “I can’t believe you.” He said shaking his head again.
“I didn’t ask for any of this, Calvin!” I reminded him. “I don’t want this.”
His eyes looked wounded. “Yes, you’ve made it quite clear that you have no de-sire to be here, Rachel. I hear you. I know. I can’t do anything about that, but thanks for constantly reminding me.”
“Whatever.” I sh0t back, looking down at my hands in my l@p.
Calvin walked to the foot of my be-d and began pacing angrily.
“Oh, yeah, whatever. ” He spat. “You’ve put me in an impossible position here, Rachel.”
“I’m sorry!” I screamed. “All I did was tell the truth!”
He snorted a laugh. “Yeah, that’s all you did, right?” He st©pped and turned to stare at me incredulously. “You publicly humiliate me, then break into a closed bar, watch TV, which is prohibited for you by the way, then you got yourself poisoned with an alcoholic drink that is only meant for our kind, then I had to give you my blood to keep you from dying tonight. That’s all you did though, right?”
“Why’d you bother then? You should have just let me die! I’m going to die soon anyway, why prolong the inevitable?” I asked with tears in my eyes.
“You are impossible!” He shouted to the ceiling and holding the sides of his head. “I’ve never met anyone more intent on ma-king me go mad!” He c@mÂŁ over to the side of my be-d, gr-abbing my face r0Ă»ghly, forcing me to look at him. “I am not going to let you die. Why don’t you un-derstand that? I’m going to protect you, Rachel. But it’d be a lot easier if you’d st©p fighting me at every single turn!”
“I’m sorry!” I yelled at him again.
He let go of me and sat down on the be-d facing away from me. “I’m really trying to un-derstand what you were thinking.”
“I wasn’t really.” I admitted. “I was just angry about everything. Being here, that stupid question, you picking Regina, you not defending me when everyone laughed at me.”
Calvin leaned down, his head in his hands, and gro-an ed. “I couldn’t do anything, Rachel.” He whispered. “I wanted to, but I couldn’t get up in front of all of my people and defend a girl who just said the stupidest thing she could possibly come up with.” He stood up from my be-d and walked to the other side of the room. “I still don’t know what I’m going to do about you. I’m sure word of your little pri-vate after p@rty has alre-ady spre-ad. I can still not believe you did this.”
“God! I said I was sorry. What do you want me to do? Get out of the be-d and grovel for His Holy Majesties’ forgiveness? Is that what you nee-d? Will that make you feel better?” I snapped at him then chewed my l!pwith a red face. I didn’t mean to be so bold, but for whatever reason I felt extra snippy now, and honestly his attitude was pissing me off. I’m not some child that nee-ds constant scolding, even if he is only trying to help me.
I jumped when he gr@bbÂŁd the bench out from in front of my vanity and snapped it in his large hands like it was no more than a pathetic twig. “You’re right!” He yelled, eyes darkening andl-ips curled back over his perfectly white shiny teeth. “This is pointless.” He tossed the pieces in his hands to the ground. “Why am I even trying with a girl who has done nothing but make it abundantly clear that she can’t stand this place or me? I can’t win with you.” He walked toward the door.
“Calvin!” I called out, trying to untangle my legs from my blankets so I could st©p him. “That’s not wha-.”
He held up his hand to me and opened the door. “That’s fine, Rachel. You just get your rest, you won’t be attending tomorrow night’s festivities.” Then he was gone, and Fern was back in his place.
My b©dy felt numb, but I got out of my be-d and went for the door. I was planning on hunting him down and forcing him to hear me out. I hadn’t meant to hurt his feelings, this is just all so messed up, and all my words c@mÂŁ out wrong. Fern cut me off at the door. “I can’t let you leave this room, Miss.”
“I just nee-d to talk to him.” I explained, trying to inch around her.
She looked at me nervously, but she wouldn’t let me by. “I will sÂŁnd word that you want to talk to him, but I can’t let you leave.” She told me again.
“Why not? I promise not to go looking for trouble.”
“It’s not that, Miss Rachel.” Her eyes lingered on mine for a moment and then she looked away.
I pushed away from her and over to my mirror.
Everything looked normal, except for my eyes. “What’s going on?” I skrie-ked, staring into my bright blood red eyes.
Fern was at my side, patting my shoulder in un-der a second. “It’ll wear off, it’s just the blood.” She explained. “I know it looks scary, and jarring, but it’s temporary. Once the vampire blood is out of your system you’ll be back to normal.”
“What does it do? The blood I mean.” I asked her, still lost in my own reflection.
She reached for my arm, leading me back to my be-d. “It cleansed your blood from the…well, the drink you had. You’ll be a little temperamental, maybe some strange dreams, red eyes, but only until the blood is out of your system, then you’ll be back to normal.”
“But the prince will still be mad at me.” I whispered as I crawled into be-d.
Fern pu-ll-ed up my blankets and turned out my lights. “Oh, miss, I’m sure he’ll come around.” She replied before she closed the door.
I still had my doubts though. I may have just showed him that I’m more trouble than he wants to put up with. Lying in be-d, going over everything that had happened tonight, I couldn’t really blame him.
đź’źđź’źđź’źđź’ź
Over the next three days, Fern showed her loyalty to me by keeping her word. Three times a day, every day, Fern sÂŁnt messages to Calvin begging him to come back and see me. I counted myself very lucky and I was incredibly thankful to have a handmaiden like Fern to get me throu-gh those lonely days. She was the only thing getting me throu-gh. What I wasn’t happy about was that every single one of my messaged went unanswered. My che-st ached every time Fern would return, no prince in tow. I hadn’t la-id eyes on him since our big fight. I didn’t expect the loss to feel so…altering, but it did. I missed our banter, his smile, the way my heart quic-kens around him.
Though I’d not seen him in person, I’d seen Calvin in all of my dreams.
Very, very intense dreams.
Each one felt so incredibly real, like I was actually living them out, and then when I’d wake up I’d have to re-adjust to my surroundings because the s-en-sation was so jarring. Fern would rush to my side every time I’d wake up stunned and ask me what I had dreamt about but I’d never dare speak them out loud.
Sometimes I’d dream that I was in his room alone with him again. When I’d wake up from those dreams I’d be g@sping for air and covered in a thick sheen of sweat when I’d jo-lt upright in the be-d. Other times I’d dream of being back above ground, dancing around in a beautiful garden with a little brown haired boy, and a stunningly gorgeous woman with dark brown curls and one de-ep dimple in her left cheek. Those were the dreams I’d wake up from smiling or even giggling, only to want to cry a moment after. They were ha-rder to get over because the feel of being outside un-der the sun shine was so real that once I was back in the real world I’d have to remind myself that I’d never be running throu-gh a garden in the sunlight again.
The dream I’d had last night was the most emotional. I was walking throu-gh the many corridors, just exploring as I like to do, until I’d discover her b©dy. The beautiful woman I’d been with in the garden. She was laying out on the floor, her curls sprawled around her head and big grey eyes staring to the side at nothing. The most shocking thing about her was the look on her face. She looked terrified. I would just stand there as a boy, older than the little one from the garden, but clearly the same boy, would run screaming to her and shake her lifeless b©dy. He’d beg her to wake up and all I could do was watch, tears running down my cheeks.
The moment I woke up from that dream I begged and begged Fern to go to Calvin for me even though it was the middle of the day. Fern sleepily complied with my request, probably put on edge from the urgent tears that burned my cheeks. I paced the floor in front of my be-d while I waited for her to return and I nearly knocked her down when the door cli-cked and I rushed to it only to find that she hadn’t brou-ght Calvin with her, only a note.
đź’¬
đź“°Rachel, plea-se st©p sÂŁnding for me. I’m still working on a plan for how to keep you alive, but I don’t want to see you. I’m sorry, but it’s just too ha-rd to be around you. – Calvinđź’¬
Fern had watched me carefully as I re-ad it, probably expecting me to cry my eyes out, but all the note did was make me that much more determined. I’d hurt him, I know that. But I also know that he really likes me, otherwise he wouldn’t keep putting up with me or putting himself on the line by trying to protect me. Fern told me that she heard that the king had tried to have me sÂŁnt away, but that Calvin st©pped him.
That tells me he still cares and that I might still have a chance to try to make it right.
I hadn’t been able to attend the last three nights of d@tÂŁ selection. For whatever reason, it took the blood a little longer than expected to finally leave my system, but now staring into my soft blue eyes I knew they’d not be able to block me out again. Frankie and Greer had alre-ady had their d@tÂŁs, and since I hadn’t been in attendance, Calvin took Lexton out on a second d@tÂŁ last night. The thought of him forming new relationsh!ps with other girls while I’ve been cooped up in this room made my skin itch. Itch to get out of here and f0rç£ him to see me. It’s easy for him to deny me via message, but something in me told me he couldn’t do the same if he was looking into my eyes and could see how truly sorry I am that we fought.
I dropped the note on my be-d and Fern put her hand on my shoulder reas-suringly.
“Don’t lose hope, Miss.” She smiled and I think I surprised her by returning the gesture.
“Oh, I’m not.” I as-sured her.
I jumped on the ba-lls of my feet when there was a firm knock on my door and I sprinted over, yanking it open with a prayer in my heart that it might be Calvin.
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đź“°To_be_Continued