The Bleeding Rose

A Break in the Case

"Have the police found anything?" Trey muttered to Cater. Cater looking at his phone screen to check for any incoming messages, unsurprised to see no new messages.

They had been looking for Riddle for over a week now with no signs or hints as to where he could have been taken. The police had even joined the hunt with no avail. To be honest, they were all beginning to lose hope, and in their lose of hope, they were beginning to grow frustrated with each other. 

Trey and Cater glared over at the fuming red Mrs. Roseheart. Steam practically blowing out of her ears. Trey and Cater were huddled besides each other at the Clover home kitchen table as Mrs. Roseheart screamed at them. They foolishly had believed that in this time of crisis, she might have even a little bit of a change of heart to push aside their differences. But instead, they found she only got worse.

"Maybe if you had been looking around Main Street earlier, we could have found him!" She pointed down at Cater who leaned away. Looking her dead in the eye as he scoffed in disbelief. 

"Maybe if you hadn't waited so long to look for him, he wouldn't have even been kidnapped" Cater spit back. Trey placing a hand on Caters trembling shoulder, his head whipping around in an ill aimed anger. That anger evaporating immediately as he saw the solemn look on Treys face.

We can't stoop down to her level. 

Cater nodded, shame at his own actions welling up in his chest as his head bowed forward. 

"It doesn't matter who was in the right or in the wrong, or whose fault it was. All that matters now is finding Riddle" Trey spoke with a reason and level headedness that even most adults couldn't conjure in such a time of distress. He was worried, of course he was. He was downright sick with disappointment and shame at not having some way to find Riddle faster. But he didn't have the solutions in the palm of his hand. And neither did anyone else, so right now they needed to combine their efforts. They could go back to hating each other later. 

A sudden click at the door captured everyone's attention. Trey flying out of his seat to the door, hoping that this was somehow Riddle who was knocking at his door. But instead, he came to stop above a pink slip on the floor. It had a concerning amount of doodles drawn on its surface. Roses and hearts littering the borders of the envelope. In the center in large cursive letters reading-

"You've been invited" Trey breathed in curiosity. Picking up the paper in his hand. Every i's dot was drawn as a heart. He flipped the letter from front to back as he adjusted his glasses to inspect it. 

"What is it?" Cater questioned. Leaving his chair to walk over to look at what Trey had in his hands. 

"An invitation to a dance" He angled it over so Cater could better read it. 

"Who cares about some dance invitation right now! Just throw it away so we can focus on finding my son!" Mrs. Roseheart screeched, her hands waving in the air.

"Ma'am, this might actually help find your son" Cater extended his hand out to Trey, messaging for him to hand it over. Trey obliged, Cater peeling open the sealing to pull out the specifics of the invitation. 

"I know about big events coming down the pipe, and a 'Rose Dance' is not one of them. Trust me, magicam would have been flooded with people picking out their outfits months ago if this were a true and planned event. And it says here that it's tomorrow" Cater leaned over so Trey could look at the card.

"Now, I don't know about you, but that reads as fishy to me" Cater finished, handing over the card to Mrs. Roseheart. Cater digging around in the envelop as she looked it over. "I think this is some kind of a trap or message that was sent by whoever took Riddle"

"Really?" Mrs. Roseheart, if Cater wasn't mistaken, almost sounded impressed.

"It could be nothing, but its more than what we had. I'll message the police" Trey pulled out his phone. Mrs. Roseheart handing the invitation back to Cater. He dragged his eyes over the specifics of the dance. It was tonight at 7:00pm. It was invite only, and was addressed only to Mrs. Roseheart. That was creepy, how did they know Mrs. Roseheart was even here. You would assume they would have dropped this off at her house. Not here. 

"Trey" Cater whispered, Treys looking up from his phone screen at Cater with confusion.

"Why are we whispering?"

"Something tells me we are being watched"

"What? Why?"

"Because, this invitation addresses to Mrs. Roseheart. How would they even know she was here unless they had been keeping tabs on us"

Treys eyes widened as he thought about it, coming to the same realization as Cater.

"What are we supposed to do about it then?"

"Go ahead and text the police, but, we just have to keep on the downlow. I don't think they are going to keep watching us from here on out. But, just to be safe, we can't let them know what we know"

"Alright, simple enough" 

Now came probably the worst part. Waiting for 7:00 to come rolling around. It was 2:47 right now, which left an awful amount of dead time. The most they could do at the moment was create a plan of attack and prepare for the worst. Even the thought of all that waiting was tearing Cater apart. 

They couldn't even create a solid plan though. They had no idea what they were walking into so for all they knew they could be a facing a ransom note, a diversion, or a hostage situation. 

----/\----/\----

The time had inched by, the clock now reading 6:30. They were all stuffed into Mrs. Rosehearts car, staring up at the dilapidated barn that overshadowed them. The paint that once eons ago was red was now faded to an ashy grey. Many parts of the wooded barn were missing. Holes gaping in the roof and large gaps between each plank of wall. It was positively falling apart at each bolt 

"Ok, don't forget. If things get too dangerous for us to be involved. We leave it to the police. Mrs. Roseheart, are you ready?" Trey, who had been pushed into the back seat, turned his head to look at Mrs. Roseheart.

She nodded her head softly, she was nervous. Her hesitancy clear in the slight tremor of her hand. She didn't know what she was walking into and for all she knew it was a trap set out for her. But that honestly didn't matter. What did matter was getting back her son, and she would gladly throw herself into a trap a thousand times over if it meant she could keep her son safe. 

"Magic pen?" Trey checked, Cater waving a thumb up as he continued to gawk at the building before them. Riddle could be in there right now.

"Ok, if everyone's ready, lets go"