Roses for Rachel finale

ROSES
For
🍎 RACHEL
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Final_Episode 🍎

 

 

“Rachel!” He shouted desperately, stomping back to me, gr-abbing my face, forcing me to look at him. “You can’t stay here! I’m telling you, you have to leave! I won’t watch…I know you’re not going to be happy here.”

I blinked throu-gh my tears. “Is this because of what happened to your mom? I would never leave you like that, Calvin, I swear!”
He cried ha-rder, looking up at the sky. “Baby, that’s not the only reason. I don’t want to keep you as my prisoner anymore, like my father did to her, you can go. I nee-d you to go, live, Rachel.

This isn’t a life for you, being stuck un-der the ground, never enjoying the sun.” He tilted his eyes back down to me. “You deserve more than this, so much more.”
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I stared at him, feeling more than broken that he was denying me, telling me to leave. “I don’t want to leave you!” I insisted. “I can’t leave you! Without you to protect me, the vampire’s will hunt me down and I’ll just end up back in another feeder school, or worse!” I tried to make him see. “I can’t leave! I don’t want to!”

He sighed, k!ss!ngthe t©p of my head, then he let me go, taking a step back and a de-ep breath. “It was all a lie.” He whispered hollowly.

“What?” I g@sped, thinking he meant us.

He turned away from me. “Everything you’ve been told, Rachel, it was all lies.” He sighed. “You can leave, you’ll be safe.”

“How?”

“The vampire takeover…” He said shaking his head and I g@sped, every piece finally cl!çk!ng. “There was never any takeover.” He whispered. “We are still un-der the ground, humans don’t know about us.

My father c@m£ up with the idea years and years ago to create feeder schools, but to ensure that no one would try to escape, he had the idea to tell all of you that there had been a takeover, make you believe that there was no life for you to go back to…It was supposed to give you a s-en-se of safety in the feeder schools. Then he wanted to do this whole stupid competition, and he kept up the rouse, he even threatened all of the people with being s£nt to the dungeons if anyone ever told you the truth.” He was talking so fast that my mind could ha-rd ly keep track. I was just standing numbly, watching him pace in front of me. “He thought it was funny, keeping you all in the dark. He planned on the last night of the completion to televise the announcement about the truth to the winner. He was a cruel bastard, Rachel, but I’m no better because I’ve let you believe it all this time.” He ran his hands throu-gh his hair. “I wanted to tell you, but then the closer we got the more I feared the truth would cause me to lose you, and the thought killed me, but now…I know it was so wrong, and I can’t keep you here anymore.”

I crumpled to the ground, my legs finally giving out. “I can’t believe this.” I muttered breathlessly, my hands scra-ping against the gravel beneath them.

“Rachel, I am so sorry, there are no words!” He said loudly, standing over me. “The rebels…the whole thing with the uprising, it was because there are vampires out there that want the takeover to be a real thing. That’s what they were trying to f0rç£ me to do, but I won’t. There is a reason that our kind is separate from yours and I believe it should stay that way. I swear as long as I am king, I will never let that happen.”

“I…I can’t…I…” My words wouldn’t come out right, and as heavy as I was breathing, I still didn’t feel like I was actually getting any air into my lungs. I’d just found out that the last eight years of my life had been a complete lie, and I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with that.

Calvin knelt down, helping me back up and he held up my hand, placing the envelope I hadn’t even realized I’d dropped, back in it. “You’re going home, Rachel.” He whispered sadly.
I looked up into his eyes. “I am home.” I whispered back hoarsely.

My words seemed to only make him feel worse, even though I thought he’d be happy. “You don’t belong here, Rachel.”

“I belong with you.” I said quic-kly, but he shook his head. “Why don’t you want me?” I asked weakly, in shock that he still was insisting I leave.

“No, you don’t.” He replied sadly. “I wish it true, but it’s not.” He shook the envelope. “Go home, Rachel.”

I bur-st with tears. “Home?” I asked and he nodded his head.

“Your mom, she’s fine, she is still living in the same house and everything.” He told me, tears running down his cheeks. “She’ll be so happy to see you.” He smiled throu-gh them. “You’re going home, baby. You can have a real life, a full one.” His voice cracked as he pushed the envelope into my hand and started pushing me towards the car that was still waiting.

“No!” I screamed against his che-st, gr-abbing him ti-ghtly. “I can’t leave you!” I cried, but he pu-ll-ed me off of him.

“Rachel, plea-se, you have to go…You have to, it’s where you belong.” He said waiving the driver of the car over.

“Calvin, plea-se!” I begged, fighting with all of my strength.

He wouldn’t look down at me. “You want to know what would happen if you stayed here?” He asked. “Greer and Tessa are both dead, Rachel! I won’t stand by and let that happen to you! I love you so much, and I love you enough to let you go.” He said sadly, pu-lling me off of him again. “You’ve got to go.” He said as he shook, trying so ha-rd not to look at my face.

I felt arms wra-p around me from behind as a man started pu-lling me away from Calvin, towards the car while he watched, bringing his shaking hands up to his mouth to muffle his painful cries. I bucked back ha-rd against the man behind me and I got free from his grip, running to Calvin as he opened his arms for me, hvgging me ti-ghtly to him, and k!ss!ngthe t©p of my head over and over.

“I love you, Calvin!” I sobbe-d into his che-st and he pu-ll-ed my head back, looking down at my face, using his thumbs to wipe away my tears.

“Rachel, I love you too.” He whispered to me. “I will love you until the day my life ends, and probably even after that. I hold every memory of you in my heart and I will never forget you, baby, my perfect, beautiful, Rachel.” He cried. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, and I thank you so much for coming into my life and ma-king me a better man. I’ll never forget you…never!” He professed, then he k!$$£d me ha-rd , but too soon he was pu-lling away. “I love you.” He whispered to me, then he looked pas-sed me, his brows pu-lling together as he let me go.

“Do it.” He whispered to the man behind me.

“Calvin, No!” I shouted, trying to gr-ab him. “I love you!” I screamed out right before the rag covered my nose and slowly, his beautiful face faded away and I sli-pped into blackness.

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ROSES FOR RACHEL
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EPILOGUE
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Looking back on that day is always the ha-rd est.

The memory creeps up on me at the strangest times. While I’m taking a shower, or while I’m on my morning run. I’m haunted by our goodbye, but I’m blessed to have had the time I had with him.

Coming to terms with it all had been really ha-rd . When I woke up in the backseat of that black car, a stranger behind the wheel, and the sun beginning to rise on the horizon in front of me, I had a flood of emotions. I was purely devastated that Calvin had s£nt me away, not giving me the chance to decide for myself what I wanted, but instead, he took my choice, and in turn made me feel unwanted. Then I was angry. For hours in that car I was fuming mad, thinking of all of the missed clues, and knowing so many people around me knew I was just the walking fool. I was nothing but a tiny piece in the game that Gordo had put into motion. I hated him, and for a while, Calvin too, for keeping me in the dark for so long. As I boarded my plane the next day, back home to the US, I started to let go of the res£ntment…Just a little at a time. The flight was long, and full of tears too. Tears for my lost life, tears for my lost friends, tears for the lives of thousands of other girls just like me, and most of all tears for him…my lost love.

Calvin lied to me, so many times in so many ways, but he loved me too. As ha-rd as it was to wra-p my br@in around it, I knew it was true, and thinking of myself in his own position, I wasn’t sure how much I would have or could have done differently. I was so angry with him still, right up until the moment that I got off of my flight, and walked into the busy airport terminal in Nevada. Even with all of the hundreds of other people, rushing around and going about their everyday lives like everything was normal, I saw her in the crowd. Her thick strawberry blonde curls, standing out from the rest of the crowd.

My mother.

Vampires may have taken so much from me, but it was Calvin, the man who loved me enough to f0rç£ me to leave him, even though it undoubtedly caused him enormous pain to do so, who gave me back the most important thing.
Seeing her there, and feeling her familiar embr@ce made so much of the hurt I’d secretly carried for years and years, evaporate.

Calvin was right, she still lived in the same little house on the corner of Birch Street, and not a thing had been changed. Momma told me that she always believed I was still out there and that she knew one day I’d be coming home to her. She promised not to ask any questions. She explained that she had been contacted a few days prior and told that I would be coming home, and that she knew the circu-mtances were strange, but that she was just happy I was home.

That night when I curled up into my little blue twin sized be-d in my own childhood be-droom, I finally pu-ll-ed the letter from the envelope.

📬
📝My beautiful Rachel,
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I’m not even sure how to start this letter, other than to say how sorry I am. If you’re re-ading this, it means that I was finally able to be the man you nee-ded me to be, and you’re on your way home to where you belong. I hate myself for all the ways I hurt you, but I hope that one day, you’ll be able to find it in that big heart of yours to forgive me. I know I made so many mistakes, but loving you was never one of them. plea-se know that my feelings for you are the strongest thing I’ve ever felt, and know that I never lied to you about that. What we had, although fleeting, was the realest and truest of loves, and I can never thank you enough for showing me what it is like to love someone so much that you put their own nee-ds above your own. My hope for you is that you live, Rachel. Live a life without regrets, without questions, without fear. LIVE! Be the strong, radiant, smart, and loving girl that you are! Share your heart with the world. Enjoy the sun, the wind, and the rain. I hope that every day is a new adventure for you, and if you get lost a few times along the way, that’s ok, sometimes getting lost leads you to things you never even knew you wanted to find. I hope that every day is filled with happiness for you, I hope you find love again, I hope that when you do, that that man knows just how lucky he is to have you at his side. I hope you get everything you deserve out of life: happiness, love, laughter, success, and cobbler…don’t forget your cobbler. I vow to you, there will not be a single day that goes by, for the rest of my existence, where you don’t cross my mind. I love you, so much more than you could ever imagine. Wipe away your tears, beautiful girl. Breathe. I love you, Rachel.

✏All my love, foralways, Cal 😘

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Today is my 23 birthday, and just as I expected, a knock on the door wakes me up at exactly 6:00am, just like it has every year on my birthday since I returned home. I quic-kly tossed aside my yellow comforter and hopped out of be-d, gr-abbing my robe on the way to the door.

I took a de-ep breath, counted to three, and pu-ll-ed open my front door with a smile.

Sitting on my welcome mat, just like every other year, was a simple bouquet of red roses. Despite the smile on my face, I never can fight back the little tinge of sadness that they always bring up. I bent down, carefully picking up the crystal vase, and closing the door behind me. I brou-ght the flowers up un-der my nose, and breathed their scent in de-eply.

The first year home had been the absolute ha-rd est adjustment. It was rocky to say the least, but when my first bouquet of roses c@m£, it really f0rç£d me to step it up. Knowing that Calvin really is still thinking of me, every year ma-king sure I know it, made me want to work that much ha-rder to live the full life I nee-ded to. Of course there were other things that happened in that first year that put things into perspective for me, too.

“Flowers?” A little voice asked from behind me and I turned to see my sweet little brown haired girl with smoky blue eyes, and dimples de-ep enough to stick coins into standing in the hallway. She wiped the sp©t of drool from her chin and blinked up at me sleepily. “Pretty.” She muttered around a yawn as she raised her arms up and her Hello Kitty pajama shi-t rose up over her little belly.

I knelt down to tickle her side and she giggled uncontrollably.

“Not just flowers.” I told her, laughing too. “Roses.” I whispered, st©pping to glance back over to them.

“Like me?” She asked.

I nodded my head. “Yep, roses just like you, my pretty little Rose.” I smiled at her and tapped her on the nose with my f!nger.

“For me?” She asked, her eyes dancing over to the bouquet.
I couldn’t help but smile at her. “Yes,” I told her, handing them over carefully, and she grinned from ear to ear. “Put them on your table in your room.” I said. “Both hands.” I added as she began to walk back up the hallway to her room. “Rose?” I called to her and she looked at me.

“I love you.” I sighed, and she grinned again, her dimples digging de-ep craters in her chubby little cheeks.

“Love you, momma.” She replied before padding back to her room with the roses.

I lingered at the end of the hall for a minute, just thinking about my life. Having a baby alone had been difficult, and when I’d first found out I was pregnant, my mom had insisted I have the pregnancy terminated, but I couldn’t do it. The thought of something Calvin and I made together not even being given a chance at a life just didn’t feel right. My mom had been reluctant, but she supported my decision, and now Rose had her wra-pped around her little f!nger.

.sometimes there have been guys I’ve tried to get to know, but I always inadvertently end up comparing them to Calvin, and the relationsh!pusually ends soon after. For now, it’s just me and Rose, and I’m alright with that. I have a good life, a full one. Every day when I get out of be-d I am thankful for this life of mine. It’s not always easy, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
I can’t bring myself to wish anything had happened any differently. If I had never been taken, I would have never met Calvin, who despite it all, was everything to me, and without him, I’d never have gotten my beautiful little, Rose, without whom, I am sure I wouldn’t have been able to face some days.

One day, when she is old enough, I will tell her the truth. I don’t want to ever hold anything back from her, or take away her choices like mine were. One day, when the time comes, should she wish to meet her father, I will not hold her back. For now, though, I will enjoy every second I have with her, loving her with everything I’ve got, because she deserves the world.

Calvin has taken care of us from afar. The roses each year are the closest he’s come to contacting me at all, but every month there is money deposited into my bank account, without any explanation. I as-sume he knows about Rose, but I know he’d respect my wishes, staying away from her until it’s the right time.

Sometimes, when I’m alone at night, I like to imagine what that day will be like, if she decides she wants to meet him. I imagine taking her to meet him in some special place, and I picture the look on his face when he sees us for the first time, but my daydreams never go further than that. I can’t allow myself to think of such things. The pain becomes too heavy when I think of him too long. I have to keep my mind busy, which with a toddler, is not a ha-rd thing to do, but he creeps in. Calvin is always there, lur-k-ing in the back of my mind. Sometimes I want to book a flight and go to him so badly, but I know that I can’t. Not only because I have no idea how to find Castrum de Petra, but because it would just open up all of the old wounds that alre-ady took so long to heal. He was right, as he usually is.

There is never going to be a life for me there, not as a human, and I can’t become like him. Having people die to keep me alive would never be something I could come to terms with, and so I have to stay away.

I heard giggling coming from Rose’s room and I couldn’t st©p the smile that spre-ad across my face. Calvin gave me two of the greatest gifts you can get in life. He was my truest love. A strong, heart wrenching love, that formed me into the woman I am today, and he blessed me with that sweet little girl down the hall.

“Mommy!” Rose called. “Come pla-y!”

I laughed un-der my breath.

I regret nothing.

🔥 The END 🔥

Anything for Rachel is the season two of this story start tomorrow