Scarlet Rose

This is Molly’s story.

It was the town wide yard sale and everyone was running around. It was a nice day not a cloud in the sky. I have been out for hours already and was about to turn around when I saw an unfamiliar house. Something seemed to drag me too it. The closer I got the more I saw that it was in serious need of a fix up. The paint was peeling off and the wood porch was torn to shreds. The support beams seemed to cry out in agony. There was a picture facing away from me lying in the grass. I walked over it thinking that the house was empty.

When I flipped the painting over I gasped. It showed a bed. And on the bed was the body parts of what looked like a woman. The head sat in the middle with hair fanned out around it. The eyes where gone and left two black holes with blood dripping out of it. It looked as if she was trying to say something. There was a puddle of blood on the floor and if you looked close enough you could tell it was the form of a rose.

“You found my painting.” I jumped and dropped the painting but quickly picked it back up.

There was an old man about eighty staring at me.

“Oh um yes, are you selling it? I would buy it how much you want? 20? 30?” I asked him grabbing my wallet. I have always been into scary, bloody things.

“Take it for free.” My eyes widened. “But I must warn you. This picture is cursed. Don’t hang it up near your bed. Bad things will happen.” Before I could ask him about it he disappeared. I slowly walked back to my house not even looking at the painting.

I arrived home about seven o’clock. I was tired and decided to go to bed early. I hung the painting in the middle of two mirrors that hung on the opposite wall in my room. I ignored the fact the old man told me not to thinking that it was only a joke. Boy was I wrong.

I woke up around midnight with a terrible headache. I sat up and breathed deeply. I reached up and touched my head and nearly screamed. Warm liquid slide through my fingers, I looked at my hand only to see red blood covering up my skin. I hopped out of bed and dashed over to the mirror. I looked in to see that there was a deep gash across my forehead. Before I could wonder what had happened I heard a faint laughter. I looked over to see a hand holding an ax three inches away from me. This time I did scream.

I fell backwards onto the floor. The hand grew into a body. The head was crooked and looked as if it was just placed back on the body. Then I recalled the most horrifying fact.

It was the woman in the photo. “Scarlet rose, scarlet rose red with the blood of the poor soul. Scarlet rose, scarlet rose made with the blood of the stupid soul.” She chanted taking steps closer to me.

“Headless beast, headless beast the ax comes down with a nasty blow, headless beast headless beast first with me next with you.” There was a red blur as the ax came down.

“AHHH!” Little Ruby screamed as she opened the closet door to her new room. Inside was the body of a girl decapitated. The blood still looked fresh and if you looked close enough you could see that it formed a rose. There was another scream.

“Scarlet rose, red with the blood of the stupid soul…..”