Not Your Average Fairytale

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

            The four of them piled into Ashleigh’s car, which she drove the short distance away back to Rosalyn’s house. Pulling up now, Wynter noticed the rose bushes on the side of the house.

            They belonged to Rosalyn. Although she would never admit it, Rosalyn had a love for gardening, or at least gardening these flowers. Some weekends, she would wake up early and go sit outside and work on tending those roses.

            Wynter suddenly understood the irony of the whole thing. She’d always though Rosalyn liked roses simply because she was named after them, but instead, Wynter realized, it was much deeper.

            As they climbed out of the car, Wynter lead the way to the still-unlocked door. Pushing it open, they walked in to find soft music coming from the kitchen. Everyone froze, confused as to who was in the house.

            The sound of pots and pans clinking in the kitchen broke through the music, and with a bit of hesitance, Wynter took a step forward. The party made their way slowly into the living room.

            Everyone looked beyond confused as to what was going on. Surely Rosalyn couldn’t get up, Wynter thought to herself. Ashleigh opened her mouth as Everett shut the door, and the loud thud echoed through the house.

            The pots stopped for a minute. “Rosalyn? Is that you?” a voice called out from the kitchen.

            Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief as a girl walked into the room. She wore flowy pants and a loose tank top and possessed brown hair and tan skin. She was shorter than everyone there, but she looked almost older than everyone in the room.

            “What’re you doing here?” the girl asked.

           Wynter merely stared. Had you looked at the two, you would’ve never know this girl was Rosalyn’s younger sister. She looked nothing like her sister, and she certainly didn’t look the younger of the two.

            “Hello, Arabella,” Baylor said with a small wave.

            “Rosalyn’s not home, if you’re looking for her,” she replied, deciding that she didn’t particularly care why the group was in her house and turning around.

            She walked back into the kitchen, finishing making a bowl of ramen for herself. If she was being totally honest, she was a little curious why such an odd group of people had showed up while her sister wasn’t there.

            Arabella had called for Rosalyn the moment she got into the house, but got no reply. Taking that as evidence enough, she had settled into the house while she had it to herself for a little while.

            Wynter, meanwhile, looked back at the group with a confused look before leading the way up the stairs. Reaching Rosalyn’s room, they pushed open the door and entered with the girls leading.

            The room had felt slightly cold the first time they had walked in, but now it felt even colder. The air felt stale and off, and there, on the bed, laid Rosalyn exactly how they’d left her.

            Both guys rushed over to her, and Baylor quickly checked her pulse. Finding it to be even, he let out a sigh of relief. Her skin felt cold, though, unnaturally so. It worried him.

            Something else struck him as well. “Does it smell like roses to anyone else?” he asked, sniffing.

            Everyone inhaled, and they all noticed the same scent. In addition to the air being cold, it also smelled faintly like roses in the room as well. Everett asked to see her tattoo, and they gently flipped her over.