mixster

The mystery that is Rose Thorne

Act 1 - High school
Chapter 1

Act 2 - Six years after high school
Chapter 1 - Peculiar Reunion

'It's good to be back,' I sarcastically said to myself as I got off the train. There I was, still back in my home town until I could find myself another job and I had already done a lot of searching. It could have be worse, after all, as at least I had a place to stay.

I walked out into the car park, the sun dazzling me for a moment. It seemed to be lunchtime already. My car stood gleaming on its lonesome in the far corner as I walked over. A commotion of some sorts was picking up on the adjacent walkways, but I couldn't see what.

My bag fell into the boot, slightly sinking into a suitcase. I wondered how I would ever get the crinkles out of my shirts after they had been in there for so long. A problem for another day, as I had needed to get 'home'. Six years since High School and I was back with my parents - humiliating in a way.

On my way out, someone ran in front of my car. I braked hard, just missing them as they sprang passed. Upon looking at her, she seemed awfully familiar. Hearing a gruff voice, it seemed that she had taken something from him. It clicked into place and through the window I called to her, 'Rose?'

She turned and nodded back. I reached over and opened the passenger door, beckoning her in. She didn't hesitate at all, even though it seemed like she didn't recognise me. To her credit, I'm sure I looked a lot more friendly than the bear of a man chasing her.

By now he was also just short of the car. I didn't dare wait for her to even close the door before I began to accelerate out of there. She struggled with the seatbelt as the door slammed. Under her arm was a well-worn, thick black book. She was panting hard, which helped explain why she was so willing to jump into a car rather than keep on running.

She barely looked any older than when I had last seen her, apart from her face. A scratch curved across the side, joining her left eye and ear. Was it a scratch or a scar? I wasn't sure if there were bags under her eyes, but I hoped it not to be bruising.

Her breathing slowly returned to normal and she said her thanks to me.

'Any time,' I replied with a smile - classy. What to ask her? I guess it's best to start at the end as I had no idea how far back this would go. 'Why was he chasing you?'

'Was? He still is, silly!' she said with a little chuckle. I didn't like the sound of that.

'Please tell me he isn't following us.' I checked the mirror for erratic cars.

'Oh, I haven't seen him, but I think it likely that he won't leave me be.'

I sighed. 'Okay, so why is he chasing you?'

'This book of course,' she said while holding up the book towards me, seemingly unaware that I couldn't really read it right now, as I was busy driving.

'What is the book about?'

'I have no idea yet.' I let out another sigh; did she still have to be like this? I was hoping it was something she only did due to being young. There was something a little cute about it though.

She continued, 'He really didn't want me to have it, so I reasoned that it would be a good idea to keep it.'

Her reasoning was always great. Keep the book that makes burly men chase you. Onwards went her explanation, 'Of course, I wasn't sure at first, but as he didn't start calling me a thief and just threatened to kill me, it must be something he didn't want the police seeing if I were to get caught for stealing.'

I glanced across and saw her staring out of the window, a look of boredom reflected back at me. It dawned on me that I wasn't actually sure where I was going. I didn't really want to take her back to my family's place, especially as I'm sure it would end up deeply embarrassing for me.

'Rose,' I prompted, turning her around, 'Where did you want to go?'

'Home would be greatly appreciated,' she said. I was about to ask her where exactly home is, but she seemed to realise I didn't know where that was for her. 'The parking lot opposite our old High School will do.'

I nodded and began thinking of what to ask next. It seemed weird to be asking about all this, but then again, it was Rose.

'About the book, where did you take it from?'

'Oh, erm, an antique shop.'

'What were you doing in there?'

'Why, following the man whom chased me of course!'

'Why were you following him?'

'Um, I'm not sure. My notes at home will tell me, but I think it was because of his involvement in smuggling - that sounds sort of familiar.'

What was I getting myself into...

Rose turned around, looking at the back. I flinched remembering the state of it, with the rubbish, odd clothing and general grime. She didn't seem to mind, but you never know with her. I disliked the silence as she stared at it all and found myself unable to think of any more questions.

'Was there anything you wanted to know from me?' I suggested, hoping she would take the bait.

'Not really - I don't think you're involved with anything of interest. Unless, where are you working?'

I'm pretty sure I cringed. I didn't really want to admit I was unemployed, but I also knew I couldn't lie to her, well, I couldn't make up big lies.

She read me, 'Ah, never mind then. I guess I don't have any important questions then.' At least she was back to staring out the window.

'Does that mean you have some less or unimportant ones?'

'Well, I always do. I guess I could ask where you're staying? I'm confident not at your own apartment.'

It was obvious enough, really. No job and clothing in the car suggested as much. 'At, er, a hotel.' I hoped she didn't care enough to poke through it.

I glanced over and saw her eyebrows furrowed. What was she thinking? 'Well, if that's true, I must insist you stay in my other apartment - I guess it's the least I could do after you saved me a lot of running and the possible loss of the book.'

She always managed to surprise me. 'Other apartment?' I questioned, thinking that I may as well get some information before I politely declined. Though, she did seem to perk up a bit with where this was heading.

'I owned three adjacent apartments, but knocked them down turning it into two apartments with shared lounge, kitchen and dining facilities. Oh and a small library of course.'

I was a little stunned by this. 'How did you manage that?'

'Oh, someone else handled it for me. I think they got some kind of permission and then hired some builders and they did it while I was in Peru.'

She could be quite dense sometimes, well maybe not dense - literal? 'No, I meant how did you end up owning three adjacent apartments?'

'You know, I honestly can't remember. I think I inherited them or maybe they were going cheap due to a gruesome murder in one of them.'

She somehow managed to not know all the things she should. It was about time to politely decline. 'As nice as that offer is, I'm fine in my, uh, hotel.'

I glanced across and she looked a little hurt by this. 'No, I insist! It won't be a problem at all, as it will be like you're in a completely separate apartment and you know I'll just be off reading or tracking people down. Not to mention I doubt you would be able to live in a hotel for long unless you saved up an awful lot.'

I didn't think that lying would keep me safe. 'I'll have a look and we'll see where that goes.' I wasn't sure, but I think I heard her give a little cheer. She really was quite peculiar. I reached over and turned on the radio, drumming my fingers in tune with whatever songs came on.

My thoughts had turned to what excuses I could use to not stay. It would have helped if she were a bit more normal and knew how weird it sounded offering random people apartments.



Chapter 2 - Scratching The Surface

We came to the destination. She led me to a tall building and pointed out how she liked it for looking out over a small, wooded park. I could not have blamed her as it was a nice bit of scenery in the middle of the large town.

When we started climbing the steps, I noticed she looked a little wobbly. I guessed her legs were still a bit stiff, so I offered my arm for support. She took it with a little smile and we made our way into the building.

There were only stairs up, but it was only one flight to her apartments. It was a peculiar design for flats - the stairs went up centrally, with four surrounding apartments. Each one was fairly big on its own for the location, but three together was practically a family bungalow.

'Here we are,' she said. I looked at the door, 221C. I had begun to wonder how it could be C, 'The bottom floor is 221 and then a mail and trash room. I have B, C and D myself, though I do forget has A - I think Tim or Tom.'

Her hand searched the pocket until she pulled out a small keyring with three keys on it. She started fiddling with it, pulling off one of the keys. 'Here we go, this keys for you - D,' she said while attempting to hand me the key.

It had caught me by surprise. 'No, erm, didn't I say I would see it first before deciding?'

She pouted at me. 'Fine.' With one of the other keys, she unlocked the door. Being C, I assumed this would be the shared lounge and so on. It opened into a long, thin hallway stretching sideways, with opposite ends leading to what would be the other apartments and a couple of doors in between.

Beyond the door in front was the lounge area. She went over to a side door and disappeared inside, returning slightly after without the book.

Faint sounds of a female shouting came through from another room, 'Rose? Are you back?'

At this, she gave an odd look before grabbing some small keys and disappearing back into the hallway. I looked and she went into one of the apartments, before returning in a bit with another woman.

They kissed at the door before she left and Rose returned to the lounge. I was going to ask, but I thought it would be better not to. It seemed she had changed quite a bit more than I thought.

'So, where were we?' She asked.

'The lounge?'

'Right! Kitchen next.' She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the kitchen area. It really was nice and was connected directly to a dining room of sorts, though the table had loose bits of paper and several pens.

I wasn't sure what she was saying, but it sounded like a listing of all the equipment in there. Before long she stopped speaking and continued on to the other room. At the other end, the wall opened up into the lounge. She pulled out a couple of chairs and sat on the one.

'So, what do you think?' She asked.

'It's a nice place, but I don't think I can accept,' I replied.

She gave me a slightly angry stare of sorts, like when you annoy a child. 'Well, why not?'

'Erm, I guess it's just that I don't really know you and it feels a bit weird.' Honesty seemed like it would work.

'You didn't seem to mind when you helped me escape being chased,' she spat back with confidence.

'Uh.' I wasn't sure what to say to that as she had got me pretty well. I thought that a car ride wasn't quite the same as a place to stay, but I guessed that she did. 'It's not so much that as I would feel like I would be taking advantage of your kindness.'

'Bah, not even you believe that. I don't, nor have plans to, rent it out or anything like that. If you really think that, you could always pay me rent or work for it. I could use a chef of sorts - can you cook?'

What had I done? 'A bit, but I don't really want to be a chef, I -'

'Well, how about cleaning, washing, ironing, that sort of stuff?'

'I'm not much of a maid nor do I want -'

'Darn. What could you do that would be useful around here then?'

'Nothing really, but it doesn't matter as -'

'There must be something!' She was pouting again, her eyes drifting off. I really had not seen this coming at all. She starting humming to herself and I had thought it best not to interrupt.

After a minute or so of that, her eyes widened and a smile formed. 'Of course,' she exclaimed, 'You can help me with my investigations and the like! Why, it would be just like that last year at High School.'

'What?'

'It makes so much sense though. I could really use some help as I've been turning away so many people recently and you're currently unemployed and I doubt you want to live with your parents much longer.'

'Erm, I - wait, my parents? How?'

'Oh, there was a note left on an old lunchbox thing - kinda obvious really.'

I blushed. It did sound quite appealing though. I didn't think there was any way I would accept when I went in, but she was getting close to converting me.

'Anyway,' she continued, 'Most of the time I end up with more money I need, so we could split it between us and you could contribute some towards food, bills and the like. That way, it would just be just like normal, except with a bit more flexibility, unless you want a formal, written contract?'

'Dammit,' I muttered to myself. She had me hooked. 'I'll try for a bit and if it's working, we'll get it formalised.'

She seemed delighted at this and stood up with fingers fishing for the key. I took it and added it to my own keyring along with car keys. No time was wasted as she showed me the bedroom, bathroom and small lounge with desk and bookshelf that was where I would live.

She left me to go get my things and unpack a bit. I also took the time to call my mum and tell her I found a job and place to live, though it was only a trial, so would be round to pickup a few others things later on.



Chapter 3 - The Hunt Begins