Roses are Red

1. Run Away

My hair blows in the wind as I sit at my front porch waiting for mother to come home. The autumn leaves bundle at my feet twirling into mini tornados as the wind whistles around them. Jason was inside playing videos games as if he had no worry in life.

In front of our house is a long pathway leading to the main road far away enough to recognise a car slowly making its way down the path. I stand to wait for my mother's car to come into vision, but instead, I am greeted with a black Land Rover with tinted windows. I scowl at the car.

I hear a car door shut and a tall dark woman with a shaved head wearing a suit came out of the car, she walked towards me smiling.

"Elizabeth Jones?" Her voice was kind and caring.

I nodded "yes do I know you? Do you know where my mum is?"

"Is your brother-Jason-inside?"

"Yes-you didn't answer my question." I stood firm, I was worried; why was this stranger here, how did she know our names? When she gets closer she peers into the window and sees Jason, then turns to me.

"I'm a friend of your parents, may I come in? I would like to talk to you two?"

"How do I know that I should trust you?"

"Here," she hands me a small picture, scanning the photo I see my mother (much younger) and the lady in front of me hugging with glasses of champagne in their hands. My brow furrows I turn over the picture. Analise's 18th was written on the back. "I've known your mother for a very long time we practically grew up together." She said with a smile and I gave her a look of confusion. "I'm Carly-"

"How come shes never mentioned you before?" I cut her off.

"Your mother became a very private person, you'll understand though..." she brought two letters out of her coat pockets and showed me them. "Everything you need to know is in these letters your mother entrusted me with them to give to you when the time was right." I looked at the writing of the letters, one signed with my name and one with Jason's both in my mother's handwriting. I go to grab my letter, "that time isn't right now." She said firmly and then put them back into her pocket. "Now may I please come in?" I nodded she had enough proof that I could trust her but that didn't mean I was going to believe everything she said.

I lead her into the house and found Jason, mid-game, his concentration face at max.

"Jason turn the game off," I ask firmly, he ignores me, "Jason. Turn. It. Off." He groans loudly.

"Come on just 5 more minutes." I roll my eyes and walk to where his Xbox was and pulled the plug.

"What the hell! I didn't even save it! You think cause mums not here you can just control me and get what you want!" he puts his hands over his head and groans.

"You must be Jason," Carly spoke softly and Jason pulled back his hands and gave her a glance.

"Who are you?" he shook his head and furrowed his brows at her.

"She's an old friend of mums" I quickly answer giving him a warning glare.

"Yes, I am. Do you mind if I sit?" she points at the chair in front of her. I nod and she sits down. I scanned her features, she seemed butch almost not too butch as in scary but like she could win a fight, whether that was with words or fists I think she would still win. Her shaved hair was dyed a dark red, matching the trousers she wore. "Your mother called me just as you guys left your grandfathers, she wants me to take you somewhere safe for the time being."

"Safe from what?" Jason butts in.

"There are people who are angry at your family for something that they did a long time ago, they're the reason why you've been so secluded from everything. Your mother thought they had stopped but turns out they are hunting your family again, they want you-"

"Why hasn't mum told us this?" My mind was spinning, I felt sick to my core with worry and confusion.

"As I said she thought that this was over, she wanted you two to feel safe and never have to be on the run, until now..."

"You want us to run?" Jason was shocked and so was I, Carly nodded her head.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" I asked with a bitter tone, Carly sighed and pulled out her phone.

"This is the message your mother gave me, she knew you would say that so she wanted you to be able to trust me fully if I showed you this." She pressed her phone and rustling echoed through her speaker.

"Elizabeth, Jason you need to trust Carly. She is the only one that I can trust at this moment and Matt. I need you to do what they say no matter what okay, Jason please just listen." I nearly laughed but It couldn't get past my panicked state. "Elizabeth, promise me you'll take care of yourself and not be a reckless 18-year-old who wants to save the day, it's not safe," I mumble I promise under my breath. "These people have been hunting us for decades, I thought they-"I hear her choke up and my heart skips a beat. "I thought I had got rid of them, I'm sorry, please just stay safe and do whatever Carly and Matt tell you to do okay? Please." The voice message ends there, her words echoing in my mind. Then I think both Jason and I realised when we locked our tearful eyes that this was serious.
——-

We drove for a whole day, going north was all Carly said to us until we stopped at a safe house somewhere on the border. She promised that everything will be fine and said for us to get some sleep.

The room we were in was small three single bed all lined up in a row, mine was closest to the window. There was a dim light shining through the sheer curtains, I studied the light thinking back to my grandfathers glowing red eyes, did Jason see them too? He hadn't mentioned them, neither of us had said anything about what we had seen. There was no way I was able to go to sleep, every time I closed my eyes scenarios of what will happen flood my mind.

I know we have to run, where would we go?

Carly said that tomorrow we will meet Matt, mum mentioned Matt in the voice message she said to trust him like we should trust Carly. Every doubt in my mind leads me to two options, run to find mum or go with Carly and trust that we will be safe.

I see Carly's jacket over the chair swallowed by bags full of clothes Jason and I had stuffed in there. I see the corner of the letters poking out and my curiosity grows.

I edge out of my bed making sure I am as quiet as I can get, my feet meet the frozen floorboards and there is a slight creak. I step on my tiptoes closer to the envelopes, once they're in my reach I take them and sit on the bed, creating a larger creak than I expected.

I look over my shoulder to check they're both still asleep and take a sigh of relief and open my envelope as quietly as possible, it didn't quite work out. After a first attempt of ripping the envelope, I decided to lift my covers over my head while I rip it open to mask the sound.

My breathing grows heavy as I pull out the piece of paper. I close my eyes when I open the folded piece of paper up. I open my eyes and fill them with confusion, blank. The page was blank. I open Jason's in a fit of anger, blank they can't both be blank. They were. I groan with frustration and then hear a creak from behind me, my eyes open wide in shock and I turn my head around.

"You're a smart girl, your mother knew that." Carly was sitting up in bed with a smug look on her face, the street light from outside gleamed on the side of her face.

"They're blank," I said with an empty sounding tone.

"Those ones are, yes. You're mother knew you'd try to read the letter before you needed too, know curiosity killed the cat." Her smirk grows larger and she lays back down on to her side slowly. "Get some sleep, you'll need it."

I looked down at the blank pages in my hand and crumpled them up. I hate not knowing things, but I think this time I need to accept that maybe it's the right thing to not know anything, after all, I didn't before all of this happened.