The Princess of the Roses (Under Severe Edit)

The Princess of the Roses

-Rated R for gore!-

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess. She was the Princess of the Roses. She lived happily in her castle, with her mom and dad, the King and Queen. She had lots of friends in the kingdom, but soon, they became jealous of her. Her best friends soon came up with a sinister plot. They invited her to a walk in the woods, and left her there. All alone, to die."

What a sad story. I placed the red covered volume back on my pile of books and sighed. I really have to go home. I glanced toward the grandfather clock in between the tall oak shelves. Nine fifty, the library will be closing soon. I picked up the fairy tale book, titled Princess of the Roses, and leafed through the pages. After the first paragraph, the pages just stopped. That's strange, the rest of the pages are blank. Almost fifteen blank pages stared back at me. This piped my interest. I'll check this one out too. I pushed the mahogany chair back, and picked the book, and a few others off the matching table. I silently made my way through the maze of bookshelves. I placed the three books on the marble counter, and the old lady librarian smiled at me.

"May I see your card?" she asked sweetly, pushing back some of her silver hair.

"Of course!" I slid my Fortville library card over. She rang the books up, and gave me the card back.

"Have a good night," she glanced at the computer monitor for a second, "Elva!"

"You too!" I grabbed the books, and pushed the glass doors open. I breathed in the cool evening air, and started on my way home. I seemed to have been walking on air, smiling in a daze. I walked weightlessly on my black flats, smiling at a stray black cat who sat on a park bench. What a happy night. My joyful daze was suddenly interrupted by a loud siren. What is that? From the distance, I saw smoke. So much smoke... Is there a fire? My face creased in worry as I kept walking. A fire truck zoomed by, towards my house. I shook slightly as a wave of terror shook me to my core. I sprinted down the concrete sidewalk, my ebony hair flying behind me. My fear quickly turned into reality as I turned the bend onto my street. The fire... it's my house! I dropped my books on the ground. "My house..." I muttered in defeat, "It's gone..."  Firemen sprayed water on the raging inferno, as blackened ashes fluttered around in the night air.

Shakily, I reached down and grabbed the books. I trembled as I tiptoed over to a bright red fire truck. The sirens created a buzzing in my ears, and I whispered, "E-excuse me?"

A tall fireman turned around; "Yeah?" he talked outrageously loud, because of the wailing siren. "Little girl, you shouldn't be here. It's dangerous."

"This is my," I let out a small choking sob, "This is my house!"

"Oh!" the man squatted down to my eye level. "I am so, so sorry. Do you need anything?"

"N-no," I stumbled over my words, eyes brimming with tears.

"Hey!" he yelled, turning around. "Call Child Protective Services!"

Child Protective Services? Does that mean that...? No! They probably are just going to give me a home since mine is gone. "Where are my parents?" I asked.

"I'm very sorry to say this, but your parents," he sighed looking down at the ground. "Your parents couldn't get out of the fire."

"What do you mean?" I squeaked, my eyes brimming with tears.

"They," the fireman's eyes watered. "They died. I'm very sorry!"

"They're dead?" I asked, and I started sobbing.

"Don't cry!" he pleaded. "Some nice people are going to come soon, and you'll be fine with them. They will help you find some nice people to live with. Maybe some family. Would you like that?"

"No!" I yelled, "I want to see my mom and dad!" I ran past him, as he yelled for me to stop. "Mom! Dad!" I wailed the fire felt like it was burning my face. Then I saw him. He sat, covered in ashes, on the side of the fire. I raced over, the flames licking at my legs. I grabbed his arm, and pulled him into a hug. Some firemen ran over to me, and grabbed my arms gently. They guided me to the ambulance, and some ER workers started to check my vitals. I kept hugging him, my teddy bear. I shook some of the ashes and dirt, and pulled out some twigs out of his chestnut fur. "Mr. Derry is safe." I smiled, trying to cheer myself up. 

An ER worker in blue scrubs kneeled down in front of me. "Some nice people are going to come to help you, okay?" she explained. I already knew what happening.

"They're going to give me a new place to live." I avoided the word home. It didn't feel right, and my stomach tightened and twisted up thinking about it. 

"That's right." she smiled. "Let's introduce you to the nice people." she led me over to a grey, old car. A smiling woman was standing outside the door, with bleached teeth. She obviously had spent too much time in the tanning booth.

Why would someone do something like that to be pretty? It's not even pretty.

"My name is Anna," she said, in the usual kneeling position. "What is your name?"

"Elva." I replied, holding my books and Mr. Derry.

"Well Elva, you aren't going to see your parents for a while," she tried to explain the situation without making me cry again.

"Because they're dead." I said, stone faced.

Her smile faded, "Yeah. They are." Her smile came back on her face, "We are going to give you a new home. Maybe with some relatives. Would you like that?"

"No." I said blatantly. "I want my mom and dad."

"Sweetie, you seem like a very smart girl. You know that they can't come back."

"I don't care!" I yelled. Fireman had then successfully put the fire out, and the clump of neighbors gathered on the sidewalk in front of the house.

"Okay, now I need you to answers a few questions." she explained, pushing a few strands of blonde hair behind her ear. "What's your name?"

"Elva York."

"Okay Elva, do you know of any relatives that live nearby?"

"My grandpa and grandma are dead, but my aunt and uncle live in Greensburg."

"Greensburg is out in the country! Have you visited there? Do you like it?"

"Yeah. I like the country."

"How old are you? When is your birthday?"

"October 10, 2003. I'm ten." I said it a bit proudly, I am happy to be ten.

"Wow! Ten is a wonderful age!" She smiled a way to friendly smile. "Now, I'm going to take you to a big place, there I'll fill out some papers, and let your aunt and uncle know about the tragedy. Then we'll ask them if you can live with them."

"Okay." she opened the door for me, and I sat on the black leather seat. I looked out the window, at the ashes, and the bags. Matching black body bags, sitting on the pavement staring back at me. My heart snapped into thousands of pieces, and a solitary tear rolled down my cheek. I hugged my books and Mr. Derry close to me.

They are gone. Really, really gone. I miss them already. 

-The user that this was dedicated to made the amazing cover!-