Reborn Deceit

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Rose

Rose woke with a start. What had caused her to jerk awake, she wasn't sure. Glancing at the alarm clock to the left of her bed she groaned when it ready 12:05 AM. Trying to straighten out her mind, Rose couldn't remember having been dreaming, so that wasn't what woke her up.

She had only been asleep for about half an hour. She remembered glancing at the clock when she walked in the front door after Damian had brought her home from the club after their encounter with Luca. Just the thought of Damian and all the things he said to her caused a goofy, teenage grin to slide over her face.

A shadow moving in the darkness of her room caught Rose's attention, making the smile drop from her face and wiping all happy thoughts from her mind. Her whole body froze and she held her breath, not daring to make the sheets over her body move even an inch. Someone was in her room.

Rose looked through slits in her eyelids, desperately wanting to see whoever was in her room but not wanting them to know she was awake. She thanked the heavens that Mira had convinced her to keep her dagger, the one Damian had given her after their lesson on how to use one, inside the top drawer of the table by her bed. But Rose wasn't sure if she was going to have time to grab it before her attacker tried to kill her. 

The shadow moved again, this time making its way closer to Rose's bed. Rose tried to keep her breathing even, but it was no use. As quietly and secretly as she could, she slid her left hand to the side of the bed, keeping it under the sheets but getting it closer to her only weapon.

The shadow took one more step towards Rose's bed, moving into the soft glow from the moonlight that was streaming in the bedroom window. Rose stopped breathing, but not before she got a smell of sulfur.

The girl standing at the end of her bed was someone that Rose had never seen before in her life. The girls' auburn hair fell just past her shoulders, framing her oval face. In the low light Rose could see freckles dotting her face. The girls entire outfit was black...and so were her eyes.

She was a demon.

Rose locked eyes with her girl. Right when Rose was about to scream, the girl launched herself on the bed.

Rose scrambled to get out of the sheets but the girl's body slammed down on hers, locking Rose on her bed. Without thinking, Rose bit down hard on the girls right arm, causing her to scream in pain and lift her arm. She coughed to avoid gagging as the girls arm left a wrotten and metallic taste in her mouth. The small attack gave Rose enough time to bring her knee up into the girls stomach and push her off, letting Rose slip out of her bed.

Immediately Rose went to reach for the drawer containing her blade, but a strong shove hit her in the back, sending her stumbling forward. Rose fell down on her knees, and before she could regain her footing, the girl slammed down on top of her, trapping Rose again, this time on her carpeted floor.

"What the hell do you want?" Rose screamed, thrashing her arms and legs, desperately trying to get free. Fear pounded through her veins and tears stung the back of her eyes, but she couldn't panic now. Not yet. She needed to survive, then she could cry.

"They told me I couldn't kill you," The girl hissed in Rose's ear, sending chills down Rose's spine. "But I really want to."

At the girls words, Rose fought harder. The girls entire body radiated that terrible smell, the smell that accompanied Demons everywhere they went. Rose fought hard not to gag as the smell invaded her senses, buring her nose and eyes.

The girl moved her right arm, and Rose took the opportunity. Se raised her own right arm, shoving her elbow into the side of the girls face. The demon howled in pain and Rose threw her off of her, then scurried to her desk. Grabbing her phone, she pressed her speed dial number one.