Ghost in the Roses

Chapter 13

Ah! Ah! That's freezing!! Brutally, I'm brought back. Something wet and icy rains from my hair and into my face. The shock moves through me like an earthquake and my skin turns into a mountainous terrain of goosebumps. The only thing I can make out in this black hollow is a pear shining down on me. It takes me a moment to realize that this fruit is actually a lightbulb dangling on a chain. This place is cold and my eyes burn from the brightness. It feels like I've been reborn again, but unlike a babe, sadly I have the mental comprehension of this terror.

Much like a pesky arthropod, the simple bulb hovers over me on its silver web. I want to get away from it, but can't: I'm trapped in its network of rope.

"Hello," a laugh.

I'm not alone in the dark. How comforting.

"This is how you say 'hello'?" I pretend to be unimpressed. "Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

My insult works and my captor's temper reveals himself.

"Why you, spoiled piece of shit! I'm going to rip you open!" a hunk who looks like he should be patrolling a dance club puffs up at me.

"Well, I bet at least she tried," I do my best to smile.

"Don't fall for his old tricks," someone new lets know of her existence in this damp hole.

"I hope your manners are better," I say.

She smirks, "Don't you think we passed all sense of propriety?"

"It's never too late to turn this situation around."

"And how do you suppose we do that?"

"I know you're keeping my friends somewhere here too. Let them go."

"What about you?"

"We can talk all night if you want. Tea, cake, the whole shebang. No more ice though please."

"Oh, Adrien. You are so naive," she laughs again. "We're tired of talking. We want something more. We want change."

"You know my name?"

"Of course, I do. We first met at the Academy's Receiving Ball, remember?"

"You've got to be kidding me! Anita?" I call her out.

"You don't have to call me that anymore," indeed it's her, there's no denying it as she comes out of the shadows.

"What do you mean? And what are you doing here?" millions of questions flood my mind, but start with just the first two.

"I'm not who I made you believe I am."

"What do you mean?"

"I lied to you. I learned your name and all about your family but yet, you know nothing about me."

That's when the weigh of the truth began to crush my heart. I'm such a dumb ass. She used me, right from the start. This 'Anita' that I thought I knew, all of a sudden turns into a complete stranger. Not even that, just a dream, a wonderful performance, an illusion. Anything, but real.

"There is no Anita Gables, is there?" I fight to keep calm.

"Oh, she is a real person and she is the daughter of a high knight, but she's not here. She's not me. That little princess is at Ladies' School on the warm Southern shores."

"What do you want, Ani...Whoever you are," I close my eyes.

"Adrien..."

But I don't let her finish. There is a boundary I feel nessesary to set, "Please, don't say my name."