Chapter 3

Her violet-colored bed remained empty even when the morning star began to climb in the vast heavenly blanket.

Rozelyn continued reading her father’s journal that she found in that revolting room.

She didn’t know how to process her father’s words and messages. She doesn’t even want to continue reading, if not for the awestrucking revelation her parent have divulged.

So, she talked with her journal in order to calm herself. She always does that when she’s anxious or perturbed.

Her father even told her the origins of her name in his diary—causing her to reminisce about her childhood experience with him and her uncle Imani Onai.

As she was in the last part of speaking with her journal, the door that was shut a minute ago was now suddenly ajar.

Her russet-eyed stepmom was now grinning at her, dressed in sage-colored blouse and black jeans. Her luscious auburn hair was tied in a simple ponytail.

Perhaps she knew I was in there last night. Rozelyn privately murmured to herself.

“Get dressed, sweetie. We’re going to pick some apples.”

***

The orchard was crowded and echoing with revelry. Some are having picnics and some are taking their lovers for a toast.

The center building’s façade was carved like a blooming rose. Its lofty pillars are designed in Corinthian style.

The place was filled with various fruits and a myriad of flora. There are roses, tulips, orchids, apples, pears, mangoes and all kinds of berries.

Rozelyn’s euphoria cannot be described by just mere words that can be found in the dictionary. She was absolutely speechless.

“My belated birthday gift.”

Her stepmom then handed her a jewelry box, wrapped in a rosy gift wrapper.

The obsidian lavaliere was carved into a rose figure and is attached to a silvery necklace that glints under the morning sun. The jewel encompasses such sheer splendor. It’s like wearing the very essence of being glamorous.

“Thank you, Romaine.”

Rozelyn stated with tears falling down from her eyes. She’s probably the most fortunate stepdaughter to exist for having Romaine as her loving stepmom.

“There’s…”

Romaine looked at her with a serious face.

“There’s a deeper reason why I brought you here.”

“What is it, Romaine?”

“Follow me.” Her stepmom commanded.

***

Rozelyn’s eyes cannot believe that this kind of place existed. A garden filled with red roses, arranged in a circular manner and crafted to look like a Minotaur’s labyrinth.

“You already know why I brought you to this silent garden, Rozelyn.”

Rozelyn’s throbbing heart can be heard even at the depths of Tartarus. Was she referring to last night? 

The words her father left her made Rozelyn contemplate on why the hell Eku didn’t confess to her that they’re blood-sucking creatures when she was seven.

Rozelyn is always the kind of person that has difficulty in processing things. In fact, she was still processing why Eoghan broke up with her sixteen months ago. And up until now, she still can't contend that they are supernaturally blessed and eternally cursed by a million-year-old flower.

She shook her head like an innocent lamb as her attention drew back to the present situation.

In a blink of an eye, Romaine’s haunting smirk made Rozelyn quiver—both on the inside and on the outside. She’d never seen the woman who raised her smile like this in her eighteen years of existence.

“We’re vampires, Rozelyn.”

We? I thought that the fridge was meant for me and to me only? Rozelyn was again having her internal monologue.

“Legend has it that the Blood Tanzanian Rose, Ambrosia as the Greeks called it, was said to originate from the biblical Garden of Eden. When they were banished from the garden, Adam and Eve brought the flower of immortality here in these massive lands because they thought that the flower’s abilities remain intact in our world. Obviously, the two were wrong. There are also rumours that the flower was the only survivor when the dinosaurs perished. Some also say that it exists even before time was recognized. Nevertheless, despite the varied stories of the rose’s origin, one thing is certain: anyone who consumes it will live perpetually and eternally as long as one feeds on blood. They are eventually known as vampires. And the rest was history.”

Romaine moved her head towards the eastern horizon, avoiding her stepdaughter’s questioning gaze.

“Okay, I’ll tell the truth. Those were the only information I gathered as soon as I gobbled the rose when I was on the brink of passing. Even your father doesn’t know the whole story of that mysterious rose.”

“So, technically, we’re monsters.” Rozelyn finally spoke.

The wind seems to eavesdrop on their private conversation. It seems that even nature feared their presence due to the fact that the Ambrosia’s powers prevail to flow within them.

Rozelyn tried to remain serene. Her raven-black hair began to sway freely in the tranquil winds. She exhaled gently and bravely looked at Romaine with indomitable will.

“So we have to kill others so that we may prevail to live?”

Romaine glanced at her with unyielding eyes.

“Some price must be paid continuously.”

“With all due respect, in the first place, I didn’t ask to be immortal! And I will never wish to be. I'd rather live an exact one hundred year only, than to spend my whole immortal unending life drinking other creature’s blood!”

Rozelyn’s tears seemed to fall like a hurricane’s heavy rain. She could no longer keep herself from remaining silent. She will never spend her eternal life as a youthful teenager while secretly drinking blood in the shadows.

Romaine didn’t reply for another minute. And another, and another, and another.

The two remained unspoken. The entire garden was in quietude for the whole twenty minutes. Only the breeze and the insects and the water fountain’s splashing sound can be heard.

“You’re stillborn.”

Rozelyn’s entire world crashed. As if she was suddenly dropped into a maelstrom in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Her father didn’t mention those in his diary.

“You must feed twice a week if possible.” Romaine continued.

Rozelyn sighed. She pretended that she never knew her father. She pretended that she never plunged into an abyss of wrath and fury.

Romaine reached from her pocket and pulled out a minuscule bottle that was full of liquid that looked like blood.

“It’s time to commence your payment to the Blood Rose.”

Rozelyn only stared at Romaine.

“Experience is the best teacher. You must now start your experience in quenching your blood thirst.”

She handed the bottle to Rozelyn and folded it in the latter’s palm.

Deep inside, Romaine already knew Rozelyn hesitated. Her stepdaughter, despite her self-centeredness, always cares for another creature’s life—especially when it concerns the lives of fauna.Therefore she will decline paying to the Ambrosia—even if it means to craft her own demise.

“You can still help other people with your gifts, Rosie. Every rose has a thorn so as every monster has a heart,” she muttered.

“Drink.”

“No.”

“Even if you don’t do it now, sooner or later, brutality will guide your fangs and your claws later on. I suppose you do not want to drink your best friend's blood in the middle of your literature class.”

Her stepdaughter’s tongue was somehow stapled by a stapler.

“Rozelyn Nadeshiko Zadzisai,” Romaine began lecturing.

“Blood is always thicker than water—either literally or figuratively. If I were you, I’d drink that... because your father’s sacrifice would be wasted just because his daughter hesitated to drink from a dead mouse’s blood.”

Rozelyn was honestly indecisive—as she always is. The bottle just kept on glittering on her sweaty hands. But, as soon as her best friend was mentioned, she began to ponder and ask her higher self whether her decision was right or there are just some things that must be done even if you know it’s not that right.

“Rozelyn... every minute and hour, someone and something dies. So, death is just a part of life. It is crucial in the never-ending cycle of existence. Death is not the opposite of life. It is still life...without the fanciness and lifestyle of an earthling,” Romaine expressed in a genuine voice .

“Drink now, darling.”

So Rozelyn did.