Finding Beauty

Chapter 35

~The Hunter~

Shades of red and green flood my vision. The garden is filled with roses and only roses. All different shades of red. All of them glowing their enchanting color. They light up the space like fire flies making me feel calm and relaxed. But something about them, something I can't describe, makes them look sad.

I find myself wandering through the long and narrow place. Some of the roses are planted in the ground and some are entangled in vines. But at close inspection, I can tell they did not grow from the ground or vines. They were placed there.

How are they still living then?

A memory of Belle and I comes to mind.

"Do you believe in magic?" she randomly asked looking over her shoulder at me. Her hair was in a messy bun but strands of hair fell, framing her face perfectly. It was hard not to while staring at her.

I shrugged and joined her on the couch. "Not really. Do you?"

"I think so. Maybe it's childish but... Yea. I do."

I laughed and picked up the book on her lap. It was titled Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. "Could it have to do with this?" I teased.

Now, while staring at the rose garden, I have to fight myself to keep from believing. One of the roses pokes out from beside me, hanging from a fence. Hesitantly, I reach out to it. My fingers brush one of the petals. It's soft and delicate. A buzzy feeling travels from the rose and to my fingers.

Images flood my vision. It feels like I'm being transported to another place and another time. The garden disappears and a room appears. The room has people behind glass windows dressed in suits and dresses. Their faces twist with fear with their hands up. Other people are dressed normally and sit on the ground with their hands up as well.

It's a bank robbery.

"Everybody hands up where I can see them!" a man dressed in all black and a mask yells. He and two others rotate around the bank pointing their large guns at the people, making them scream and cry.

Another man holds a bucket where the people are forced to place their phones in.

My vision is directed toward a woman with a gap in her teeth who sits behind the glass. Her hand slowly inches toward a red button underneath the counter. A worker beside her gives her a shake of the head but she doesn't listen. Her finger taps it and alarms go off. Red lights flash and a robotic voice echoes from the bank's speakers stating the obvious.

"Danger! Danger! Please exit the bank. Police are being notified."

Everyone becomes more jumpy and the robbers are enraged. They go through all the bank clerks demanding who's responsible. They find it was the woman and point a gun at her. Without warning, they fire.

Another robber jumps in the way and they take the bullet in the chest for the woman. The robber crumbles to the ground and it is revealed he didn't sacrifice himself. He was pushed.

Before I or anyone else could see who pushed him, the lights start to flicker. The robbers and people look all around them seeming startled and confused.

Then the lights go out for a good few seconds and all that's heard are grunts and gunshots. The sound of limp bodies hitting the clean tiled floors.

People take advantage of the situation and charge out the doors. They frantically trip over each other in panic.

But not all of them manage to get out when the lights start to throb and flicker fast like strobe lights. I can make out one bank robber. He stands staring at the ground below him where roses lay scattered around dripping it blood. Three. Three roses for the three other robbers that are missing. Their guns lay on the ground as well.

His breathing picks up and he clutches his gun tightly. He spins in a circle as if anticipating something will jump out and attack him.

A figure in a black sweatshirt with a strong and buff frame stocks over to the robber who has his back to him. It's The Beast.

The strobe lights make it seem like The Beast is moving even quicker than he is. A crowd of people hide behind him and watch as he approaches the unknowing robber.

Is he protecting them? No. No, The Beast is a heartless monster.

I know what's going to happen before The Beast squeezes the trigger, now a feet away from the robber.

Several bullets are shot into the robber and he falls to the ground. Then, before my very eyes, he turns into a rose. His body starts to glow red, at first it's subtle but then it intensifies until the light is blinding and people rush out covering their eyes.

The lighting flickers back to normal with a hum of a generator. The Beast calmly collects the roses off the ground one by one as if he was just picking some flowers from a garden. Then he simply walks off as sirens sound in the distance.

I'm knocked out of the vision and stumble back. The garden comes into view again and I have to grip the fence next to me to keep from falling down. My breaths are shaky and I back away from the roses. My head spins and my stomach clenches. I think I might be sick.

I close my eyes to focus on my breathing to calm down. When the world is no longer spinning, I open them.

The roses- all of them - that are surrounding me right now are all people. The sick feeling comes back and I stumble to the ground, landing on my butt.

This is insane. Absolutely, insane. This can't be happening...Maybe I'm insane? Maybe my parents already slipped that medication they were planning on giving me into my food. Yea...that had to be it.

I pull my jacket closer to me, no longer wanting to explore the garden. I'd come back tomorrow. Maybe things will actually make sense tomorrow.

I can only hope.

Author's Note- Hope you enjoyed! If you did vote! Bye for now!