Black Rose

9.

You have until the next full moon to bring me your friends.

I woke up sweating. Alice's warning replayed in my head all night. I didn't know what to do. If I brought them to her, then I'd get my mom back, but risk losing them as friends. If I didn't bring them, I'd risk losing my mom. I can't lose my mom. Alice promised me that she would give us our powers back if we wanted them. I don't want to trust her, but right now, it's the only thing I have that makes me believe I'm making the right decision. I bring them to her, she does her magic, defeats the threat, gives me my mom, then gives us our powers back. That was the deal. Or we could perform the ritual ourselves, but I can't help but think there's a catch to that option as well.

Rayne and Tula were still asleep. Tula was next to me on the bed, the softest snores escaping. Rayne was bundled up on the couch, lifeless like a doll. I crawled out of bed and tip-toed out of the room, carefully shutting the door behind me. School was in a couple hours, so I decided I'd start getting ready now. It would keep me distracted for a little while. I took a long shower, and shampooed. Some of the dye was still rinsing out of my hair, staining my skin. I brushed my teeth, combed and straightened my hair, and put on a bit of makeup to conceal the bruise on my face. I was tired of looking at it every time I saw my reflection, and when everyone looked at me, I felt as if that was all that they stared at.

Walking into the living room and lounging on the couch, I pulled out my phone. Scrolling through the calendar, I looked for when the next full moon was. Two weeks. November second. Homecoming. Of course. But how do I go about it? For one, I promised Scar that I wouldn't go back to her. And for two, they would never willingly follow me to her. I didn't want to trick them into it. I feel like I've tricked them enough already. But I had to think of something.

"If you think too hard, you'll get wrinkles."

I looked up and smiled. "Wrinkles are a sign of wisdom." Badge came to take a seat next to me, lifting my feet up and then placing them back down across his long legs. "What are you doing up?"

"I heard you moving around," he replied. "Thought you might be up to trouble again."

"Wasn't it you who said you wanted me to live a little more dangerously?" I asked jokingly.

"I think you may have been taking that a bit too literally." Badge's eyes bore into mine, and like always, I couldn't keep from blushing. The corners of his mouth hitched up. "I missed that." He brushed his thumb under my chin, only sending more heat to my face.

"You don't have to rub in the fact that you know how to get me flustered."

"I'm not rubbing in anything. Simply admiring what it is that I want." He pointed out matter-of-factly.

I sat up, raising an eyebrow. "What do you really want Badge?"

"You," he replied simply.

I looked down at my lap. "You know...there's a question I've had for you for a while. I don't really know why I haven't asked it yet."

"Do you ever run out of questions?" He asked teasingly.

I smiled and shook my head. "W-What's your name?" He furrowed his eyebrows. "You know, like, your real name?"

He gave a ghostly chuckle. "I can't have my government name being passed around like that."

I playfully hit him on the arm. "Come on. I wanna know."

He looked at me long and hard, his lips twitching, trying to keep from smiling. "Reed," he finally said.

I smiled. "Reed," I repeated. He gave a full on grin, exposing my favorite dimple. He placed his hand over his face, and swiped it down as if to get rid of his smile. "What?" I asked, amused.