For those who like to read… I hope this is a treat for you~

Your Life Is A Rose

Guide:

Roses

 

Pink – Autumn

~Gentle Sympathy~

Blue – Heather

~Impossible Beliefs~

Purple – Cody

~Full Enchantment~

Red – Selene

~Unconscious Beauty~

Black – Jasmine

~Deadly Farewell~

White – Alice

~Silent Innocence~

~ Chapter Rose ~

 

“Let’s get a move on, people,” I say to everyone.

Why are they standing around the same painting?  We can’t be here forever!  It’s just a painting of a creepy old man!  I thought to myself.

 

No one still turns around to start moving on.

 

Wait!  I have a great idea!  I smirked.

 

“Did any of you know, that when you stare at it too long the person in this painting will literally come out of it?” I explain to them in a spooky voice.

 

Suddenly, everyone turns around slowly, and actually believe me, for they start pacing towards the next hall of paintings.

 

Wow!  What a change in character… I giggled darkly.

 

I took one last look at the stupid painting, and start to follow the others.  But, I didn’t take notice that when I turned back around again, the person in the painting actually came out and grabbed my arm with his wrinkly hand!

 

“Aaaaah!” I exclaim.  “I didn’t actually mean what I said!”

 

No one seemed to hear me, except for the man, who just chuckled, and took me through the painting, into the dark, dark depths until I could no longer see anything, and I felt my consciousness slip away from me.

“W-What the..?” I woke up in a room of violet on the floor, alone.

“Hello? Anyone..? What… happened?” I slowly sat up.

“Jazzy? Heather? Anyone?” I got up on my feet slowly, calling for my friends.

I am all alone… aren’t I?

I stood there for a while until I got the idea that I couldn’t stand there forever. That’s when I started walking around this now unknown building.

Maybe I can find my friends here… Perhaps they got trapped too?

 That’s when I saw many hallways in a circle around this one table with a vase on it, filled with five roses each of a different color. I could also see a note on it.

“Roses… In a vase… In the middle of all these hallways?” I blinked, confused about my situation.

That’s when I heard footsteps.

I stayed put. I had no idea whose footsteps I was hearing so clearly. That’s when my four other friends, each came from a hallway.

Heather, Cody, Selene, and last but not least, Jasmine.

“Hey!” I called to them happily.

They greeted me back and we all gathered around the vase.

“What in the world..?” Selene tilted her head to the side a bit while looking at the roses.

“There is a note. Who wants to read it?” Heather pointed out.

“I will… Maybe it will tell us about this madness.” I picked up and opened the note, reading it out loud-

“Dear visitors,

Here are some roses for the each of you.

Take care of them for they are very important.

If the rose ??? so too will you ??? away.

See you soon!

???”

Some of the words were too blurry for me to read.

 

“What the heck does that even mean?” Cody gently snatched the note out of my hands and reread it to himself. “What-?”

 

I shook my head. “Just leave it be. I just think we need to take these roses. It looks like they have a ribbon on the stem with our name on it. That pink one has mine.” I said calmly as I picked up the pink rose.

On the ribbon it said-

“Autumn Francis

Gentle Sympathy”

After I read that I looked up to see everyone else pick up their roses one by one.

 

This was crazy… The roses on top of the notes meant something that was totally unnatural… What was it?

 

I went over to my friends, holding my rose close. “Don’t worry guys… We’ll get out somehow…” I smiled a bit. “We will do this together!”

 

Everyone looked at me with a slow nod before looking at each other. Then we began walking down the hall no one came from. It had walls of violet and it seemed to go down for a long time. When we made it, however, we saw nothing but many paintings. These were all by the artist Guertena, his arts and crafts were all in that art gallery we were in! The Weiss Guertena Gallery of Arts.

 

Treating it like the regular gallery, we looked at all the paintings and sculptures in awe. I could have sworn though when I passed this one oil painting of a women, the eyes blinked and looked at me! I must have been hallucinating there… or maybe this place is more dangerous than we thought…

After looking at that room we made it to another. It had headless, black-colored mannequins wearing Red, Blue, and Yellow.

 

“That looks really creepy…” Selene said, Heather saying something similar.

 

“NAH! I think they look cool~!” Jasmine said, looking at them with a smile.

 

“Okay… Headless black mannequins wearing dresses and have Cs apparently. Looks like this Guertena guy was both a Pervert and a racist…” Cody said to himself.

 

I looked at him and sighed. “It’s not that! It’s art… He simply just wanted to sculpt headless women…”

I went over to this one painting of a women wearing red. It’s title: Lady in Red.

 

“Hm… That woman seems pretty normal…” I smiled at it and turned around, not seeing that the women was slowly forming a big insane smile on her face.

 

“Autumn… Get away from the painting! It’s smiling and it doesn’t look innocent!” Heather told me with some fear in her voice.

 

I quickly turned around and backed away, and that’s when the Lady in Red reached out and fell to the floor, crawling after us quickly. I screamed and ran with the others to the next door.

 

It was locked.

 

“FIND THE KEY!” Selene yelled out and we all ran in opposite directions.

 

Cody happened to be the first one to find the key but at the same time he found it, the Lady in Red had pulled me down and tore three petals off my rose.

 

“AH!” I yelled out in pain and hurried to my feet.

 

Cody saw what happened and grabbed me, pulling me and hurrying to the door with the rest of my friends. Once we got into the room we locked the door and all fell to our feet.

 

“What… was that?!” Selene gasped.

 

Jasmine looked over at me then to her. “I have no idea…” She replied.

 

Heather looked at my rose and pointed at me. “Your petals fell off! You look a bit hurt too. What’s going on?”

 

I looked at my rose and sighed with a slight smile. “I get the note now…” I said clearly.

 

Cody looked at his rose. “Eh? What do you mean by that?”

 

“I mean that the note told us… if our roses die… we too… will wilt away.”

 

Selene’s eyes widened as she gently tapped the petals of her rose. “So… the rose is our life?”

 

My eyes looked right at hers. “Yes… but the better way to say it is… our life is a rose.”

 

Heather slowly stood up. “Hey, if we stay together though, we won’t ‘wilt’ away! Come on… Let’s keep walking through this place and find a way out. Meanwhile, we should figure out how to regrow the petals on Autumn’s rose. Are you with me?” She announced.

 

“Yes!”

“Okay…”

“I’m in.”

“Agreed.”

 

We all nodded our heads to the idea and stood up and once again began walking down the hall together.

 

And the escape from the animated art gallery…

Began.

 

~Chapter Pink~

     

Gentle Sympathy was the meaning of my bright pink rose. To be honest, it actually fit me. I was always sympathetic, even to those who didn’t deserve that.

 

It was my bad habit.

 

I constantly forgave people who didn’t deserve forgiveness. Those who have hurt me… If they have problems like mine or maybe something else serious, I feel bad for them. My rose was me.

 

      Snapping out of my thoughts about my rose and me, I continued walking with my friends through this bizarre gallery. I remembered how I lost three petals on my rose and the pain I had quickly came back to me. It was located on my stomach and I didn’t like it.

 

It truly was horrible.

 

“SELENE!”

 

      I snapped back to full consciousness, hearing Heather scream out my friend’s name.

 

Selene had fallen through the floor.

 

      I ran up quickly and reached down the hole she had fallen in.

 

Nothing grabbed my hand.

 

“Selene?!” I called out for her, worried.

 

      “I’m down here! I’m okay! I had a soft landing… luckily. I believe it’s safe for all of you to come down!” She yelled up from the bottom of the pit.

 

      I nodded and looked over at my other friends. They nodded back as an agreement to jump down with me.

 

      “Let’s go.” I told them and all of us jumped down in the order of- Jasmine, Heather, Cody, and then me.

 

      Selene stood there with her red rose held in her hand beside her. She pointed to a vase.

 

      “I wonder if that can help Autumn’s rose…?” She slowly lowered her hand once we all saw it.

 

      Jasmine walked over to it. “The water looks so clean… it’s like… perfect and shiny, almost.” She told us.

 

      Cody carefully grabbed my rose from my hands. “Let’s see if it works, though.” He placed my rose into the vase.

 

Then its petals started to glow.

 

      As it did so, the three petals that were torn off by that painting lady, immediately grew back. Almost as if nothing ever happened to it!

 

      I felt my strength come back to me. The pain in my stomach, gone. Cody picked up my rose and placed it in my hair. The water, still on the stem, dripped down upon my face.

 

      “Whoops, hehe~” He wiped the droplets that fell on my face, off with his thumb. “There. At least your rose is safer now.” He smiled.

      I blushed a bit then giggled. “Yeah, thank you very much, Cody~”

 

      My friend, Heather looked at us with that ‘awkward’ expression and shook her head.

 

      “Love birds!” Jasmine and Selene exclaimed at the same time, then laughed.

 

      I looked at them and rolled my eyes a bit with an amused smirk. They always did tease me and Cody like that.

 

Oh you guys… Whatever will I do with you?

 

      I grabbed Cody’s hand slowly and sighed silently.

 

      We’ve been here for a while now… and there is no sign of a way out! Will we eve—

 

“WAAAAAH!” We all turned to the sound of glass breaking, and a feminine voice that we have never heard before.

 

What in the world? Is there someone else here?

 

I walked in front of my friends, towards where we heard the loud yell of a young girl, it seemed.

 

Then I spotted her.

 

      It was a girl around our age. She had long white hair, blue eyes and she wore a blue winter coat as well as a long blue skirt and blue dress shoes.

 

So much blue…

 

      “A-Aah! Father will be so mad! I broke one of his mannequin heads! Nooo…” She panicked, then looked up at me. “EEK! I-I mean… Hi. I didn’t… expect to see you there.”

 

      I cocked an eyebrow and tilted my head curiously. “Hello! Um… Do you happen to be trapped here too?” I quickly asked her.

 

      She hesitated for a moment then slowly answered, “Well… Yeah..! Duh… Do you think I live here?” She huffed a bit.

 

      “Ehem… No. I was just asking a stupid question.” I rubbed the back of my head nervously.

 

      “If you say so…” The girl crossed her arms and looked at me.

 

“Soooo…” I said loudly with a deep breath. “What’s your name? I’m Autumn S. Francis.”

 

      “I’m Alice. Nice to meet you~” Alice smiled and bowed cheerfully, my friends coming behind me. “There are others?” She tilted her head.

 

      “Mhm. Meet my friends. Cody, Heather, Selene, and Jasmine.” I told Alice their names, my friends raising their roses a bit when called.

 

      Cody looked at Alice with suspicious eyes while she looked back at him the same. Heather, Selene, and Jasmine basically pushed me and Cody out of the way to begin talking to the new girl.

 

Things have just gotten strange.

 

 

      With a new friend, Alice, the gallery escape seemed much weirder. This new girl seemed to know a lot about this place. She named all the titles of the paintings and explained their back story. Maybe she knew a lot about Guertena’s paintings?

 

      Continuing into the gallery, we find ourselves trapped in a room of blue.

 

“Where are we?” I turned to Alice.

 

“Hmmm… I’m not sure. Looks like there isn’t a way out. Look for a hidden switch or key… Or even a passageway!” Alice began looking.

 

      I looked around with her, my other friends at different spots. Alice then glanced at my rose.

 

“Ooo! You have pink!” She smiled brightly.

 

“Oh? Oh! Right. I do~ What color rose do you have?” I asked her.

 

“Me? I have a white rose! It means ‘Silent Innocence’” She replied to me, holding out her pure white rose.

 

      After the short conversation we found a small hole in the wall. I was the only one daring to reach inside, checking for anything useful. Soon, I pressed into something cold. It felt like a button.

 

“Look!” I heard Selene say.

 

I turned around to see her pointing at a wall that was opening, revealing a secret hallway. Skipping, Alice went ahead of us, humming an unknown tune.

 

“Hey! Wait!” I ran after Alice, everyone following after me.

 

Alice slowed down and grabbed my hand, pulling me forward, skipping. I gasped quickly when she pulled me, but ended up skipping with her. Jasmine, Heather, and Selene laughed and started skipping as well, holding hands as they went. Cody just started speed walking, trying to catch up to all of the fast-skipping females in front of him.

 

      “Slow doooown…” He said as he continued walking.

 

“Nah~” Jasmine giggled as she started the arm swings.

 

“This is too fun to stop. Maybe you should stop being a guy and skip with us~” I laughed out.

 

“Wait, wha?” Cody started walking faster, going past Jasmine, Heather, and Selene to walk beside me.

 

“You heard me~!” I grabbed his hand. “Com’mon~ Skip down the yellow brick road~” I smiled at him with humor.

 

Smiling back with a sigh, he started to skip beside me. “This is just weird. What guys skip?” He looked to his front, smirking.

 

“The unique ones! The… Fun-loving… dudes…” Jasmine replied to his question.

 

Selene just shook her head with a grin. “Guys who skip are just really cheerful.”

 

“-And weird..!” Heather said quickly.

 

“Hey!” Cody looked back at them.

 

“Okay, Okay, let’s just walk from now on…” I stopped skipping with everyone and continued down the hall by walking.

      In the distance we could see another hallway to the right and a pink door which was blocked in vines and thorns with pink roses up ahead.

 

“Hey, it doesn’t seem like we can go in there. Let’s go down the other hallway!” Alice tried to pull me down the hallway on our right but I refused and pulled my arm away.

 

Somehow, that door caught my attention. I started to walk towards it, attracted to the aura it made me feel as I got closer and closer.

 

“Autumn, be careful, there are thorns!” Cody tried to run over and stop me but Alice tightly grabbed his arm. “Let me go!”

 

“No.” Alice told him sternly. “There are pink roses, and she is attracted to them. Don’t you think this door was only meant for her to enter?” She tilted her head.

 

Looking back at me, Cody shook his head slowly. “I don’t want her to go in there alone.”

 

      As Cody said that, I started to walk through the tangled bush of pink roses, somehow unharmed. Finally reaching the door, I turned the knob and went inside. The door closing by itself.

I looked back at the door that closed on its own and shrugged, beginning to walk in the room. It was completely pink with many pictures that reminded me of me. One of the paintings showed a little girl wearing a dress, sitting on the rainbow. It was titled- “Imagination.”

 

      She looks like me when I was younger… How strange… I thought to myself I kept walking. As I walked around I thought I heard a voice speak to me. It was very faint, though by how I heard it, whatever it said must’ve been important. I kept listening for it, but it never spoke to me again.

 

      I continued walking into the room until I came to this hallway. When I walked down it, I saw paintings of me. It was me growing up. However, there was a white figure behind me in each photo. The more I walked down, the darker it got. When I got to the picture of the present me and the white figure was completely black, I froze. The shadow seemed to get closer. I could now see its face, it was the face of a ghostly demon! I let out a scream and ran away from the pictures as fast as I could until I was safe enough to stop and face a giant painting of a pink rose.

 

      “What… the..?” I said to myself, examining the painting.

 

      The pink rose looked 3D almost, the vines of it hanging down. I walked up to it, noticing a single rose bud on the vine. I opened it up to find a pink key, which I decided to keep in my pocket. That’s when I felt something grab my leg.

 

      It was another vine that pulled me down, dragging me onto the floor. It kept dragging me through many rooms before throwing me. That’s when I landed on the ground, in front of my friends.

 

      “There you are!” Cody said, immediately helping me up.

 

I smiled and held his hand, my other members of the group coming to welcome me back. They asked me questions about the room I entered but I was somehow unable to say anything about it, not even the key. So I just said it was completely pink and got everyone moving along… again.

 

~Chapter Blue~

 

Heather was one of my first friends when I first entered my school up here in P.A. I knew right away that she was full of creativity. Even now I do, when I see it in her poems that she creates and how she explains things that sometimes I can’t understand.

 

      Her bright, blue rose fits her well. She holds the rose of “Impossible Beliefs.” It was one that was very different from others. It strayed from reality. She seemed to keep awake well, though.

 

      Now that I thought about it more, I believed I had those impossible beliefs, as well. I used to always bask in my imagination, fleeing from reality to receive my false happiness as much as possible.

 

It became addicting, though.

 

      It got to the point I believed my creations and fantasy land were real. Of course they weren’t, but my high desire for joy and light made me believe that. Without my imagination, I knew I wouldn’t be able to live. I’d die giving up the one thing that has kept me going for so many years. Even if it was fake. False love, hope, achievements, dreams, happiness, and me. I was fake there. I wasn’t real, and neither was anything there, and that dreamed paradise.

 

      Shaking my head, I snap out of my thoughts about the meaning of the blue rose. I knocked on my head twice to tell myself to “stop being crazy” and yawned. We walked for minutes and all we’ve seen were harmless moving pictures and no doors… yet.

 

“Hey, Autie~!” Alice giggled, grabbing my hand as she smiled.

 

“Don’t call me that… It’s… weird.” I told her as I rolled my eyes. “Just call me by my-“

 

“Squirrely-girly~” Cody stopped me from talking by calling me by the nickname my dad gave me since I was born. “Squirrely-Squirrely-girly~”

 

“Stoooop..! Only dad can call me that!” I said sternly, biting my lip.

 

“That’s cute! But… I’d rather call you Pink! I think calling you all by your rose colors would be fun!” Alice jumped in front of me with her hands behind her, walking backwards with her eyes closed cheerfully.

 

“Then it’s okay to call you ‘white~?’” I smirked, leaning forward towards her, everyone laughing.

 

“Aaah… Nevermind! But I’m still calling you ‘Pink!’”

 

“Then I’m calling you ‘White!’”

 

“Noooo! I’m Alice! Al…ice!”

 

“Then I’m-“

 

“Calm down you two!” Jasmine crossed her arms, giving an annoyed expression.

 

“Okay, okay…” I said with a sigh as I walked slower, Selene bumping into me.

 

“Ack!” Selene jumped back as I nearly fell forward. I then began walking fast again.

 

“Oh my, you guys… What happened to us?” Heather said with a face-palm.

 

We all shrugged.

 

      After walking for quite some time, we made it to a huge room with a lot of furniture. We all looked around to check if it was safe before deciding it was good enough to sit and rest. Everyone passed out on the couches, except for me and Alice. For one, I didn’t want to sleep in a place like this, and for two, I felt something different in Alice. Not the unique different but… humanly different. There was something very unnatural about her, and thinking about it ended up making me stare at her.

 

“What?” Alice asked me, waking me up from my daze. “Why are you staring at me?”

 

“E-Eh?! O-Oh! Sorry. I was just dozing off, didn’t mean to stare.” I laughed quietly and nervously.

 

“Hm… okay~” Alice seemed to sound sweeter and she sat down on the floor, putting things down in front of her.

 

“What did you-?” I said walking up to her, then silencing myself when my own question was answered.

 

In front of her on the floor was a little sketch book and crayons. She seemed to be drawing a group of people.

 

“Who are they and where did you get the materials from?” I asked, sitting next to her.

 

“I got the drawing paper and coloring sticks from my younger sister! And I’m drawing me and everyone else, because I would like to be your friend…” Alice smiled at me.

 

“You’re already my friend, Alice. I really do love the picture so far~ By the way, I love to draw too.” I said to her happily.

 

“Really? Do you draw your own creations?” Alice tilted her head in interest.

 

“Mhm! Lots of them. They are very important to me too. Just like all of my friends.” I nodded as I spoke to her.

     

      Alice smiled brightly and continued drawing her picture. It only took a few minutes before she finished and showed it to me.

 

“Who are they again?” I asked, holding the paper with two hands.

 

“Oh! It’s all of us, silly~!” She giggled, clapping her hands together with cheer.

 

      I looked at the picture seeing everyone and naming them. Me… Alice… Heather… Selene… Jasmine… Oh?  I started scanning the whole picture.

 

      “Where’s Cody..? You forgot him. He really isn’t hard to forget, really.” I pointed out to her.

 

“Oh? I-I did? I mean… Yeah! I know. I just wanted to draw an ‘all girls’ picture. Teehee!” Alice stuttered, holding her hands behind her back.

 

Something isn’t right now… She tripped over her tongue like it was a lie. This whole gallery is like a lie. Who is she, really?

 

      The next day came quickly. I had passed out unexpectedly the day before. My friends and I decided to walk around in this room a bit more while Alice still slept. That’s when we found a secret room full of books.

 

“It’s all of Guertena’s works. They seem to tell info on each painting.” Cody said, flipping through one of them before putting it back.

 

“I suggest we all look at them, then. They are separated by the starting letters. ‘A-D E-H I-L M-S T-Z.’ That’s enough for each of us. Everyone grab a book and read!” I grabbed the first one, A-D and began reading.

 

      Abortion… Afraid of Fear… The Almond Tree… So many- Uh?!  I gasped, looking at the next page. Alice… The painting on the page was her. The girl of Silent Innocence.

 

“Oh my god! Alice is a… is a-!” I panicked, dropping the book before the door flung open, my friends dropping their books of paintings, getting beside me.

 

“Heeheehee~” Alice smiled brightly with a hint of insanity by the door. She then gave a blank, angry stare, pulling out a palette knife. “You shouldn’t have read that book…~!”

 

“Autumn, stay back!” Cody put his hand in front of me before dark, shadowy hands grabbed his legs from the ground. “Gah! I can’t move..! Alice!”

 

“Hahahahaha! Jasmine, Heather, Selene… Aren’t you my best of friends..? Oh… and Autumn the most. You’re such a leader… such a gentle, protective person. All your friends adore you. I do too! But hey, let the man go~ Let us only be a group of best girl-friends! It will be fun to hang out in the real world! But leave the poor, little boy behind. We can’t leave with six friends, only five! So what do you say… Pink?” Alice took a couple steps further, holding out her hand.

 

“A-Autumn… I’m scared.” Selene hugged Heather’s arm tight.

 

Heather looked over at me, “What are you going to do? I can’t imagine leaving anyone behind, never mind your boyfriend! Whatever Alice is… I think… We have to let her go.”

 

“She isn’t real!” Jasmine looked down at my book, the page still on Alice. “She tricked us into thinking she was human! Made her our best friend while lying! Now she has a knife in her hand and threatening to take Cody away from us… Don’t take her with us. You and Cody are too perfect for each other to separate like this anyway…”

 

“A-Autumn,” Cody looked back at me, the shadows making their way to his throat. “Will you… fall for that trick?”

 

I stared at Alice with fear, listening to the voices of my friends. Her hand was still held out, her eyes filled with no emotion. She was waiting for an answer, but— “No!”

 

I pushed Alice down. The shadows around Cody fled as I went up to her. “I won’t ever give up Cody for a liar like you! We all… trusted you. You’re evil! You’re just like all those other damned paintings!”

 

Alice didn’t respond. She just gave me a sad, quick glance before scurrying away.

 

“That serves her right..!” Cody stood up, crossing his arms.

 

“I thought she was a friend… A brand new… awesome friend.” Selene sighed, looking over to me.

 

“Though she was very childish… She was very nice. I can’t believe she was a painting all this time.” I looked away, feeling the betrayal.

 

Heather looked over to the ground. “We overcame this difficult situation perfectly. We shouldn’t feel so bad about this. She chose to toy with all of us.” She walked over to a bookshelf, spotting a blue glimmer. “What the..?” She walked over to it, grabbing what was glowing under the shadows. It was a sapphire blue key.

 

I walked over to her, seeing the blue key. “What’s that for?”

 

“I don’t know… Should I keep it?” Heather handed it to me.

 

I nodded. “Yes, keep the key. It could be for something important… Like mine.”

 

Heather nodded as everyone looked over at me.

 

“Autumn, what should we do now? Y’know… Alice might be after us or creating some sort of plan…” Cody walked up to me with a concerned look.

 

I took his hand, facing my friends. “We’re going to continue on… and escape this maze.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

~Chapter Purple~

 

Full Enchantment was the meaning of Cody’s beautiful purple rose. I believe it fit him well. At least, on how he acts towards me. He is enchanting beyond belief. Every time I’m with him, I feel special and happy. He treats me like a princess by acting like a true gentlemen and that’s what is enchanting. Him… just him. He is the best thing I could ever ask for… my dream roaming around in the real world. At the same time… he thinks I am enchanting too in the very same ways. So does that mean that his rose fits me too? I wonder…

      I continued walking down a long hallway with bare walls with my friends. No paintings were seen for a while… we felt safe for a long time surprisingly. Ever since Alice left, we all felt like there would be bigger dangers ahead. After all, Alice wanted to get out of here with us without Cody and we refused. She might try to kill us now… or force us to leave without him. I, for one, will not allow that to happen. Not ever.

      My thoughts on the whole situation came to a sudden stop when I unexpectedly tripped on my own feet and nearly fell on my face. Luckily, my hands had caught me and saved me from that nasty hit.

“Geez! You alright there?” Jazmine helped me up. “Tripping on your own feet is like a talent.”

 

“Haha… Yeah. I’m okay. I was just roaming around in my own mind I guess and stepped on my own foot.” I laughed nervously.

 

Cody took my hand with concern. “You sure you’re okay..?

 

“Yeah! I tend to fall a lot… It didn’t hurt. I promise~” I reassured him.

 

“Well, okay, then.  If you’re sure…” Cody said, still feeling unconvinced.

 

We then, after walking for so long, finally came upon this bright door with roses surrounding it.  It was beautiful, and it was specifically the color of Cody’s rose.

 

“Wow…” I say to myself, breath-taken by the amazing sight before me. I wasn’t aware of how beautiful the color purple could actually get.

 

We all walk in, and are mesmerized by what we see next.  There is a corpse laying in the middle of the room.  Suspense fills the air, as we just stare at the dead body.  It’s scary seeing it, and no one says anything for a long time.

 

“What… happened?” Heather asks curiously.

 

“I don’t know… And I have a feeling that I won’t want to know…” I say.

 

I walk over to it slowly, making sure that my footsteps aren’t being heard.  I don’t know why, actually, but maybe I think that the dead person will suddenly jump up and startle everyone.

I now see that it is a girl who looks a lot like Alice…

 

“Oh, no…” I say, because I am almost 100% sure that it is Alice who is laying in front of me.

 

I start to tear up, even though I shouldn’t feel bad for her.  I remember what she said to us; what she was going to do with us if we went along with her.

 

“What’s wrong, Autumn?”  Selene and Jasmine ask simultaneously.  They stare at each other for a minute, and then look back at me.

 

“I think this is Alice…” I say, tearing my eyes away from her.

 

“Oh…” Everyone else says at the same time.

 

“I feel bad for her, but at the same time… I don’t as much, because of what she was like.” I say to no one in particular.

 

“Well, would you look at the pity party here… So nice to see you all again!”  Someone I don’t know says mysteriously, but sounding like someone I should know.  I turn around, and see someone…

Everyone else gasps, along with me.

 

“Is that…? I say, unable to believe my eyes.

“…The Lady in Red?” I say, mostly to myself.

“Yes…” She answers in the creepiest voice. “I want that young man over there to come with me into my painting, so we can live together forever!” She cackles like a witch.

“But… Why?” Cody answers for me.

“Because… You would be just perfect for me, instead of that snarky, little kid you call a girlfriend.” She smirks at me and waits for my response.

“You little-!” I say, clearly angry with her, and was about to grab her, when Cody pulls me back.

“No.  I don’t want you to get hurt, Autumn.” He says, protecting me.

“Aww… Now would you look at that?  The two little lovebirds about to be broken up for good…” Lady in Red says, forcefully grabbing onto Cody’s arm.

“NO!” I scream.  “You do not deserve to have him, and he is my boyfriend!”

“Too late…” Lady in Red says.  She grabs both me and Cody, and surprisingly and quickly drags us to the hallway where her painting is.

“She’s… too… strong…” I say, but still holding onto Cody.

I see the other running after us, but it’s too late.  I see darkness before me, and we are gone…

 

Just like that.

 

“No, No, No! We’re going to die..! I don’t… want to..!” I cried, hiding my face on Cody’s arm in fear.

“I won’t let that happen. Let her at me..!” Cody said to me in a sincere tone of voice.

((Aaaand that’s it for now. Thoughts?))