The black rose | Teen Ink

The black rose

November 15, 2011
By Anonymous

Chapter 1
Death.
How we reached this story is obvious. It all started with a murder. Here's the real story.
*******

There she lied, dying. Blood poring out of her body. John, her long lost love stood there while the others cried. He watched every gruesome moment of her death. He felt really bad, like he should have done something to help her live. The murderer was dressed in all black so John could not see who he was. He didn’t do anything; he just stood there, in shock. He did not think to move. He closed his eyes, hoping that it would be over soon. John froze like that, unable to watch his sweet Grace. Once moving had come to mind, he tried, but hcouldn't’t. coulddn’t believe it. Although he knew that the coldness of winter could give you frostbite and even numb you, he stayed there, almost frozen. Watching it go by. He tried to move, he tried to help Grace, but every time that he tried, hcouldn't’t. It was either frostbite just something inside of him telling him no, like he shouldn't help her, let her die.

Once the deed was done, his body caved in. He ran as fast as he could. He needed to help, he thought that there was something he could do on the way over across the street he kept saying, "Don't die, don't die, don't.......

All of a sudden, the paramedics were there. Helping her. Trying to make her live. The paramedics thanked John for what he had done and that he had saved them a lot of time but, there was nothing that John could do. The paramedics order John in an omnipotent voice to leave and go sit away from the crime scene. He felt like a rock. A pointless, worthless, big, grey, old rock. All of a sudden, that pointless, worthless, big, grey, old rock started to cry. He sobbed over in the corner where he could do nothing but watch the doctors examine the corpse. They took Grace on to a stretcher and took her to the hospital. John followed them, but he was not allowed to enter the room, unless they found evidence that she is alive.

“The chances are looking pretty scarce that she is alive, John” The calmly told John before walking away. “If you would like to say goodbye you may get dressed in sterile garments and you may enter the room.”

John said that he would be in soon. He would just need a moment to collect his tears and pull him together. The doctor nodded his head, and then left John to be alone inside of the waiting room.

"It is my fault." John sobbed.

"No it's not." A voice whispered, "It was mine."

The voice was so quiet; John could not recognize who the person was. When he turned around, nobody was there. They had vanished. All that was there was a rose. A black rose. It looked like the murder had killed and crushed the rose, just like they did with John's heart. He grabbed the rose, and then headed into the room. He got on the green cloths.

He turned around again. John saw some feet. He started to look up. Standing there was a doctor. They were about to take Grace to the cemetery, so they could make her a coffin.

"Did you see them?" John quietly asked.

"See what?" The doctor acted in an incredulous way.

"The murderer." John started to raise his voice.

"Nobody was here except for the other Paramedics, Grace, you, and I." He exclaimed. “You must have imagined a ghost.”

The doctor said that his name was Dr. William Yorkshire. He told John that if he kept on imagining things, to give him a call. At that note, he started to walk away. He was shuffling his hands in the most incongruous way. John tried to ignore it and watch the other paramedics put the thin, white, polyester sheet over his sweet, sweet Grace's head.

John knew that something was up; because his name....... he thought that he had heard it before. Someplace. Somehow.

John thought to himself. Was he on the news? In the tabloid; or maybe he was a friend from school some many years ago. He didn't know.

John tried to remember but hcouldn't’t. He thought as hard as he possibly could. Nothing rang a bell. He did not remember anything that happened on that day. All that he could remember was Graces death, and that was still a little blurry.

John started to exit the hospital thinking of ways that the murderer could have talked to him without him noticing him. He exited the hospital with a confused hospital on his face. He only knew one thing.

All John had known was that this killer had struck...... and will strike again.

Chapter 2

John started to walk home. There were some pretty horrifying and mysterious noises while he was walking home to his solitude apartment. All was quite. John knew that if he was ever going to catch the murderer he would have to keep his eyes peeled. He heard a noise. Then he looked all around him to make sure that there wasn't anyone trying to attack him.

All of a sudden something jumps on John's back and starts to strangle him. He started to kick punch. All he wanted to do was live. He thought it was the murder.

He threw the person off his back and stared at him.

John asked "Who are you!"

"It's me, your best friend, Clayton."

"Oh" John said while being very sad at the same time.

He started to help Clayton up from the ground while checking if he had any broken bones at the same time.

"What’s wrong with you man?" Clayton questioned. "You've been all Topsy-turvy ever since Grace died."

"You know that I am on the look out, Clayton." John commanded.

The apologized and started to walk back to the house. John lives in the same apartment building as Clayton. In fact, they live right next door to each other, so they could walk home together everyday.

Once they got back to level 7, section F, rooms 284 and 286, they departed. They checked each others rooms twice before saying there final goodbyes. They said good night and then departed to their own apartment room.

John fell asleep. He had a pleasant dream . . . until it turned into a nightmare. The dream part was about Grace, and all of the fun times that they had together, them laughing and playing, having the time of their lives. The nightmare part about the dream was that Grace gets murder,

John woke up. Not a natural wake up which you do everyday. He woke up to someone screaming. He recognized the voice. It was Clayton. John ran over to his room and to find no one there. Clayton was captured by the murderer. He left another rose. John finally figured out that the roses are like a puzzle, and that you would have to get all of the roses in order to capture the murder.

John sobbed back to his room. He walked over to his mirror to wipe away all of his tears and he saw a blur. A clear blur holding a black blur.

John turns around and there standing there, was the murder.

Chapter 3

He jumped with fright. He did not know what he was in for. He walked forward, slowly. John backed up until he finally tripped and he was on the ground. John looked around him, for something that he could use to defend himself from this wicked creature.

He grabbed the book the he tripped over and threw it at the object. It went right through him. The murderer came closer and closer until he was right on top of John.

“Please don’t kill me” John said with fright coming from his eyes.

The murderer looked around and then moved away from John. He was so relieved that he was free from the murderer, but before he could think twice about it, the ghost came back. He had an umbrella. He swung the umbrella and smashed it into John leg. John tried to fight back, but the object was invincible. He could not be stopped by the force that John was portraying. He looked around him, hoping that he will find something that he could use to protect himself. He saw the rose. He tried to get away, but the force was to strong. He would let go.

John thought about Grace, and all of the great times they had together. Then John thought about how that murderer killed Grace and how angry he was. He unleashed his anger and punched the murderer. He broke free and grabbed the rose. His anxiety was overpowering his anger, and he did not want to fight the ghost anymore. John started to quiver. He dropped the rose and shut his eyes as fast as he could. He pretended it was a dream. A horrid nightmare of a dream. Finally, the murderer attacked John and he fell to the ground and pleaded him to keep his life.

John opened his eyes. The ‘thing’. The horrible ‘thing’. It was gone. He looked all around him, just to make sure. Nothing. It was gone. He got up with the fear gone and now, relieve in his eyes. He started to walk around. Rummaging through the debris. He thought to himself.

If the murderer had left so quickly . . . where did he go? Yes, that was the question. John took extra precaution when entering his bedroom. He slowly opened the door, but nothing was there. He began to think of where he could have gone. The bathroom! No. The closet? No. Maybe under my bed . . . still nowhere to be found. He began to think that the ghost just floated away. John also thought that it was all a dream and he fell back to sleep.

When John was deep in his slumber, he heard a noise. He arose from his bed only to find that the murderer had entered his house and destroyed all of his belonging about Grace.

“WHY!!!” John screamed at the top of his lungs.

John new that he will never forgive this object now.

John continued to search for the mysterious object. He knew that it had left John apartment. He thought back to all of the clues that could help him find out where the murderer has been lurking. All that John could remember was the roses. John knew that there was something else. He knew that it was something that was very important. He thought back to when Clayton had vanished. Where did HE go? He went outside to get a tabloid and read it on his way back up. He went to section about missing people, and Clayton was still on the list.

John went back to the front page and read all of the headlines. John kept reading one of the headlines over and over again. “Doctor missing! Worth $100!” Maybe that was a clue to where the murderer is. He started to remember the day that Grace had died. Who was there? Who was comforting him when he was all alone? Who was he? He remembered that it was a doctor. He started to remember that the doctor gave him a card. He ran around his room frantically searching for the card.

John tore apart the apartment penetrating for the slip of paper. He searched every morsel of his house then finally found it in the back of his closet.

John read the card. Dr. William Yorkshire.

John called the telephone number on the card. He typed in, 4. . . 9 . . . . 1 . . . . And then the phone started to ring. A nice lady answer the phone and greeted him with the words, “Hi, welcome to Yorkshire psychiatric hospital, how may I help you? John asked if he could make an appointment with Dr. Yorkshire, then the lady said no.

“Why not?” John replied eager to get him.

“Because Dr. Yorkshire had gone missing about 2 weeks ago.” The nice lady started to sound sarcastic now.

John thanked the lady and left with a big grin on his face. John knew who the murderer was now.

Chapter 4

As John hung up the phone. He ran over to his computer. He searched when and where William Yorkshire was last. He said that it was the mental hospital at about five, two weeks ago. John clicked on the ‘more detail’ button and read on. The article said that it was July 14, 1992. He thought of what happened on that day.

John had notice that it was the day that Grace had died. He remembered how he heard the murderer and that he saw William, but he did not see the murderer. All of the pieces were coming together now. Now all that he had to do is track down the murderer and then sneak up on him so then he could kill him without him ever knowing.
John knew that if he was going to sneak up to him that he has to have some other witnesses on his side. He immediately thought of Clayton. He thought that if Clayton had his phone that he would answer?

John dialed 7, which was Claytons speed dial. There was no answer. John knew what that meant. Clayton was dead. Why else wouldn’t he answer his phone? John thought to himself. The only other reason why would be that he didn’t have his phone with him.

John entered Claytons apartment. He searched his bed room for Clayton’s cell phone. He didn’t find it anywhere. He tried to call the phone again. There was still no answer.

John went back to his house and sat there, thinking. Where could Clayton be? Where could the murderer be? All that his train of thought did was going back to where Grace died. That exact spot.

“What could this mean?” John thought to himself, “That has to be a clue to solve this meaningless mystery.

Meaningless, that word . . . meaningless. John thought to himself. He had not heard that word since the new hospital opened 5 years ago.

John went to the hospital hoping that he would find more clues.

When John reached the hospital he asked the lady, that he had seen 3 days ago, if Dr. Yorkshire had returned yet. The lady said no, but this time, the lady told John her name.

“Clarita Amelia Rodriguez.” The lady said proud with a smile on her face.

“What is that,” John replied, “what you just told me?”

Clarita turned around and explained to John that it was her name. John asked Clarita if she knew anything about what had happened to John and if she communicated with him at all since William had gone missing.

“No,” Clarita said trying to think of something that she could do,” but I thing that I know somebody that did.”

Clarita told John that she would show him to the informational center where then he would talk to the head of the missing persons department.

As they reached the department the lady that was on duty there said that they have not communicated with Will. She told them that no one that worked in the building had communicated with him.

The lady said that John could go into hid office, but if he does, he would have to have a supervisor to accompany him to make sure that he did not steal anything. Clarita said that she would accompany him and then they set off.

On there way to his office they had passed many rooms that seemed like they had no purpose. Clarita saw John looking through all of the windows. She had decided to give John a tour since they had a very long walk ahead of them.

“On your right,” Clarita said trying to sound like a tour guide, “you will see the testing room for all of the medicines. We had studies animals then crated a robot that would have the same reaction as the animal that we had studied.

“Where do all of the animals go once you are done studying them?” John asked Clarita wondering if they kill them.

“They go into our animal hospital where we cure them and then set them free back into the wild.” She replied feeling proud of herself.

They continue on passing many more unnatural rooms. Finally they had reached William office.

They entered the office, being careful not to break anything that they touched. They slipped inside; they were as slippery as a snake. They entered the room and inside it looked like a normal office.

They started to rummage around through all of his things. They did not find anything that could get them closer to solving the mystery. They continued on with there search throughout the room. The checked everywhere that would be logical. They check inside of his deck. They checked his computer hoping that there would be something that could get them just and in farther.

They found a little yellow post it notes on the inside of his antique wood desk. All that the note said was the word tangerine and a little picture of a computer right next to it. They thought that it had to do something with his computer and they were right. The word on the sticky note had unlocked them a whole new compartment inside of his computer.

Once they had opened the compartment, they realized that the new part of his computer needed another password in order to unlock it.

They tore apart the room looking for another little piece of paper. They knew that if they found it that they would have access to all of his secrets and all other things that was in his computer. They could not find the post it note anywhere. They thought that they should give up.

They decided that they had to leave and search somewhere else. On there way out of the door, they spotted a little shelf on the top of a trophy case. They where both untouched. All of the trophies on the shelf were cup and it looked like they had a lot of papers inside of them. They broke into the case and tried every word that was on all of the sticky notes. None of them were the correct password.

John and Clarita left the scene searching for more clues.

Chapter 5

They checked every room in the hallway and they could not find the word. It was getting late, so they decided that they should go back up to the lobby.

When they got to the lobby, they departed. John went back home, and Clarita went to her next post. Even though they left each other, they kept looking for clues, even at John's apartment. He took all of the things that the murderer used into a clear plastic bag, and took it to the evidence locker at the police station.

The police officer told John that they would search the items for things like fingerprints. All that they needed was his fingerprint so they could add it into the system.

John thought that, that was highly peculiar. Normally, they would need his fingerprint so they could take it out of the system and the items. John although thought that, said to himself that it was there job and they know how to do it.


They had John stay with them so he could answer questions.


John had to answer really weird questions, and to some, he did not know the answer too. John told them that he did not know the answer, but they just kept getting madder at him.


“Where were you on the night of Grace’s death!” The one office shouted.
“I do not know?” John replied, “I know that I watched her die, but then. . . I went . . . back to my apartment.


After John was finished answering their questions, he went back to his home, hoping that they would call soon.


John went to bed, but first, he put the phone on full volume.


“I hope that they call soon.” John said to him self.


When John woke up, the police station did not call. He thought that it was hopeless, and that he should call it quits. John sat on the couch and relaxed, while watching TV and eating potato chips.


The phone finally rang, but it John took his time, going to answer it. He thought that it was not worth it, and that it is probably not them. John answered the phone, and it was the police station. They had found out who the murderer was. All that they needed to capture him and they knew exactly how to do it.



They needed John to contact the hospital, and then tell them that the police were coming so t hey needed to keep that hallway clear.


When John called the hospital, they picked up and Clarita did everything that John had told them to do. They cleared the hallway, which Williams’s office was in.


They had to get everyone out of the hallway and make sure that they do not touch anything. It was hard, but they did as they were told. They double checked that all of the hallways were cleared and all of the rooms were vacant.



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This book has 3 comments.


on Nov. 9 2014 at 7:52 pm
Deandrea SILVER, Wharton, New Jersey
7 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
It is What It Is...

this is actually really good!

on Aug. 26 2013 at 10:14 pm
Freckles3 BRONZE, ------------, Ohio
3 articles 0 photos 32 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The universe is not only queerer than we suppose; it is queerer than we can suppose."
~J.B.S. Haldane

Needs a little work here and there regarding past/present tense switches, but other than that, really great work! Love the suspense, keep it up! 

on Nov. 21 2011 at 8:21 pm
AngelsLullaby GOLD, Neverland, Idaho
12 articles 7 photos 95 comments

Favorite Quote:
Music is a higher revelation from wisdom and philosophy. ~Ludwig Von Beethoven

Wow I don't know why your anonymous. This book is great! I love it! Please keep writting whoever you are :)