Black Rose

The candles.

My eyes fell on Gwen and I immediately felt sick.

She was sprawled across the bed, her arms and legs tied to the bedposts. From head to toe, she was adorned in blood, cuts and bruises still fresh. Then, across her chest and stomach were drops of wax, coming from burning candles dangling above her, precariously hung from the fabric above the bed.

Bile rose in my throat and I clenched my eyes shut to stop myself from throwing up. Blake didn't give me my moment to recover from the shock, he just pulled me to my feet and wrenched me across to the bed.

"You want to join her, Rose? You know you deserve it, don't you? You have deserved every single punishment I have ever given you, haven't you?"

I sobbed again, opening my eyes to the sight of Gwen's trembling body beneath me. Blake grabbed my hair and forced me closer, then lifted my face. Right above me was a burning candle, and my fear got tenfold worse.

I didn't fight though. I knew that if I did, Blake would only be madder. I didn't want to make this any worse than it had to be.

Then the wax fell.

It hit just below my eye, and it stung, but it wasn't too bad. But all of a sudden the realisation set in. That one had narrowly missed, but if a drop hit my eye, I could be blinded.

That was enough to kick me into motion. I started struggling, whipping my arm around and trying to break free of his grip. He cursed and tried to get a stronger hold on me, but it was that action that gave him a moment of weakness and I was able to whip my head back and free myself.

I hit something, but I didn't bother stopping to see what it was. I ran, fumbling away, trying to get out. If I made it upstairs, I could run. Do what I hadn't before and leg it out the door. I should have when I had the chance.

But then Gwen started screaming, and I froze

Blake took the opportunity to grab me again, gripping my arm, neither of us realising what had happened. When he spun me around, I saw.

I had hit one of the candles, and it had dropped onto the sheets beside Gwen.

And the bed had caught alight.

The flames were quickly catching and spreading across the sheets, licking at her sides. Blake noticed it and let me go, cursing.

"Help me get her off!" I screamed, lunging at the ropes tying her to the bed. I expected him to go to another corner, but he did the opposite. He ran away from the bed. "Blake!" I screamed, panic rising within me. Surely he wasn't abandoning her?

The room was getting hotter, the fire spreading and growing, and Gwen was crying out in pain as it licked her sides. I was getting nowhere on the knots.

Then Blake came back with a knife, and pushed me aside, cutting the ropes I was working on. With a fervent speed I had never seen he moved onto the next one, quickly freeing one side of her. He then pushed her across, away from the flames. It wasn't going to help for long though, because the fire was spreading, and growing, quickly.

"We need to get her off!" I screamed, panicking.

"I know, Rose, but we also need to put out this fire." He snapped, moving around the bed to cut the ropes on the other side.

"How?" I asked desperately.

"There are pots in the kitchenette," He said, focusing on the ropes. "Get them and fill them."

I rushed away, running as fast as I could down the hall and to the kitchenette. I frantically scrambled through the drawers then finally found the pots and pans. I pulled the pots out and grabbed the biggest, then ran it under the tap and filled it as much as I could. Once it was full I ran back down the hall, trying not to spill the water.

When I came back in, the flames were double in size and twice as hot. I came in just as Blake was pulling Gwen off the bed, and dragging her a few feet away. I rushed over and tipped the water on the fire. It hissed and steamed up, but I couldn't even get close to dousing all of it. It was now all over the bed, burning the sheets and getting higher and hotter.

"It's not doing anything!" I cried out. "Don't you have a fire extinguisher or something?"

"Do you have a fire extinguisher in your house?" Blake spat angrily.

"Of course I fucking do, Blake, and I don't even have a fucking torture dungeon in my basement!" I cried out and he glared at me.

He didn't say anything, just ran out of the room, back down the hallway. I rushed after him. "Go to the bathroom, I'll go to the kitchen." Blake called out.

I did as told, ducking into the bathroom and filling my pot under the tap. The moment it was full I ran back and tipped it on the bed. Blake was right behind me.

"It's only getting bigger!" I cried out, desperately.

Blake just shook his head. "Come on! Keep going."

It was as we were going back to fill up again that I heard Jackson, crying out. I realised that he was coming down the stairs, crying anxiously.

I came out and rushed over to him.

"Lia, there's a fire!" He cried out, tears running down his face.

"We know, buddy, we're trying to fix it. Can you go back upstairs for me?" I asked, glancing back down the hall.

"No!" He wailed, looking back upstairs. "Fire upstairs!"

I frowned, confused. "What?"

I didn't wait for him to respond, I moved past him and took the stairs two at a time, my heart hammering in my chest. My eyes started stinging, and I quickly realised it wasn't just tears. I pulled open the door and a wave of heat washed over me, almost making me fall back. I pushed through and poked my head out, looking out.

Fire was spilling out from the kitchen, quickly spreading.

The tea towel.

In that instant, two things were clear.

There was no way we were going to get this fire under control.

And if we didn't get out of there, we would die.