Chapter 4: Day: Mara and the Dreamers’ Club | Red Rose (Scenes 5-8) [R-15]

Red Rose (Scenes 5-8)

5

For the next several weeks, Mara and Nico made love to each other after their parents went to sleep at night, but they had to be sly. They would do nothing inappropriate during the day, and both girls knew why. They had to keep their ordinary familial lives separate from their secret lives. They left nothing to chance during the day. At night, when their parents argued, they would wait till their parents had cooled off and gone to bed, and only when both girls heard their parents' snores and slumbrous breathing would they even consider doing it. And even when they did it, they had to be quick and alert to their parents' shifting on their bed, for it could mean anything from moving sheets to mother and father getting up and walking. As such, they never took off their clothes when they did it, because it was too much of a hassle putting their clothes on when they had no lock on their door. Their parents could barge in unannounced at any time and catch them in the act, and placing a chair against the door knob would seem too suspicious.

And if they wanted to keep their own familial relationship on healthy terms, for both sisters knew they were doing something reproachful to their parents, they had to respect their own boundaries. At night, they would wait till their suppers were sufficiently settled in their stomachs, and even then they wouldn't do it if one of them wasn't feeling well or was too sleepy or just wasn't in the mood. And even when they did it, neither of them would ever do it below their waists, because those were the places where they wiped themselves after using the toilet. That left everything else above the waist, but they placed limits there, too. That meant no biting or squeezing, only mild pinching and tickling and kissing.

Those were the ground rules of their nighttime game.

They even tried to rationalize their actions in their own words one night after a bout of love-making, or 'bed wrestling,' as Mara would blushingly have it.

Nico, always the passive one, lay on her back, while Mara rested her head on her sister's breasts, listening to her heart beating through her shirt.

Nico said, running her free hand through Mara's hair, "We can't do this forever, you know."

"I know."

"Think our parents know about this?"

Mara raised her head from her chest and shook her head. But then she added, "It's not like we're masturbating or anything. And we don't have any sex toys. We're bed-wrestling, that's all."

To this, Nico said, "Do you have any idea how crazy you sound right now?"

Her words invited action, so Mara put actions to her words. She began kissing Nico's cheeks and lips, then went down planting kisses on her neck. All the while, she fondled her sister's breasts through her shirt, and she made love to her again that night.

6

The trio of girls entered Celia's dorm, located near the staircases going up and down the dorm building, several doors down the hall from Colbie's dorm. Tall bookshelves lined three of the four walls in her dorm, all of them packed with tomes on the occult, witchcraft, and magic, and a few massive grimoires lying underneath her bed. And thick maroon curtains covered the blinds of the window looking over the courtyard, shutting out much of the light from the outside.

She flicked a switch, turning on the dorm lights overhead, and threw the manila envelope onto her desk facing the curtained window, and they all took off their overcoats and sweaters and placed them on top of Celia's bed rest at the foot of her bed.

Celia shut the door and locked it, then headed back to her desk and opened the contents of the envelope and studied the Cairns twins' medical records for several minutes standing up, thumbing through the pages and pausing on certain details that caught her eyes.

Colbie and Kendra, sitting on Celia's bed, waited for her with bated breath, both giddy to find out what the heck was going on with their fellow student, Mara Cairns.

Time passed.

Celia took two of the pages out and handed them to Colbie, then gathered up the rest of the papers and stuffed them back in the envelope. She then crouched down and peered under her bed, lifted the cover of one of the massive tomes and placed the envelope there.

All the while, Colbie and Kendra looked at the information on the pages.

Colbie said, "I know what PK is, but what's LT stand for?"

"Living targets," she said, getting up and pulling a chair from her desk and sitting on it.

Kendra added, "And what's that mean?"

"It's psychokinesis that affects living targets or living things, like people, animals, even plant life. That's what Mara Cairns has: PK-LT."

Colbie and Kendra traded glances.

Kendra said, "So that's why she overpowered us so easily during our dream session."

"Yep,” Celia said. “I’m telling you, Mara’s an immensely powerful psychic. I couldn't even teleport out of there, because her pressure waves were so strong."

Colbie looked down at her feet and said, "And it took everything I had just to withstand her psychic attacks, and even then, I was at her mercy. She's a monster."

"And," Celia said, "it seems that she can wield all that power through her emotions, since Nico's intervention calmed her down a bit. If Nico hadn't said anything that time, we'd be dead right now, which leads us to Nico Cairns. She has ESP, specifically the telepathic kind that can travel across dreamscapes."

"That's why we heard her voice in our dream session," Kendra said. “Nico can communicate through other people's dreams."

"But there's one more thing, Colbie," Celia said.

"What is it?"

"The way Nico saved your life," Celia said, looking at Colbie through sympathetic eyes. “It’s called resurrection, and I’ve read about it in Christian literature. Do you know which gospel I’m talking about?“

"You mean John's Gospel?"

"Yep," Celia said. "Jesus resurrects Lazarus in that one, but I've never read of an account in which a ghost resurrects someone through dreams or even during sleep."

“Is that what Nico did?” Colbie said.

"Yeah," Kendra added. “She invoked a higher power to save you,” and she looked to the floor, downcast at Nico's farewell message at the end of the dream, “but she may have sacrificed her own spirit in the process. It was really sad seeing her go like that."

Colbie looked at her friends' expressions, and a pang of guilt thundered through her heart. "Wait, you don't mean that she experienced a—"

"Soul death?" Celia said. "Yeah, that's exactly what we mean."

The three girls remained silent for a time, lost in their own thoughts. The death of the body was but a change of state from one dimension to another, but the death of the soul meant the loss of one's own inner self, from which there was no turning back.

Colbie took it hard. If Nico really did invoke God's name to destroy her soul in order to bring her back from the dead, Colbie didn't want any part of it. She didn't want that kind of sacrifice, no matter how well-intended, weighing on her.

Celia and Kendra looked at their friend.

"Colbie," Celia said, "you were given a second chance."

“A second chance to do what?” Colbie said. “What exactly did Nico tell you?”

“She wanted us to find Mara,” Celia said, “but we can’t do it without your help.”

“Are you sure that’s what she meant?” Colbie said.

"Please, don't let it get you down,” Kendra said and sat closer to her friend and wrapped her arms around the girl's shoulders, then rubbed her back in soothing circles. "It wasn't just an act of sacrifice; it was an act of love."

"Love for Mara, not for me,” Colbie said.

"Don't say that," Celia said, getting up from her chair and sitting next to Colbie on the bed, wrapping her arms around the girl who was now beginning to cry. "Listen to me. You showed more courage in that dream than Kendra and I, combined. If there's anyone who can save Mara, it's you."

7

On the last night in their parents' house, the night when everything went south and their mother called it quits and wanted a divorce after months of arguing with their father over the same old things and one new thing, their mother said, "Fine! Tell them!"

"I will, and they'll know how much of a slut you are!"

Footsteps came running up the steps, their mother saying under her breath, but loud enough for them to hear as she came closer to their door, "Can't believe I married that bastard! Doesn't understand a fucking thing I'm going through right now—"

When Nico caught sight of their mother rounding the bend up the stairs, she closed the door she was peeking past and turned back to Mara, raising a finger to her lips.

"And he's using them to hide behind—fucking despicable!" Then the footsteps stopped at their door.

Both girls tensed, standing where they were on their side of the door, holding their breath for the inevitable, listening to their mother's heavy breathing on the other side.

Their mother sighed, then said, "Girls, may I come in?"

"Yeah," Nico said. "Sure, Mom."

The door swung open, revealing the wreckage that had become their mother. Her face and posture said it all. She had the remnant of tears on her face and in her eyes, now red with repeated wiping and repeated bouts of rage and hatred through endless fights. Her shoulders were bowed, as if she had to carry the burdens of a deteriorating marriage alone, through skirmish after skirmish.

At the sight of her, both sisters came to their mother, wrapping their arms around her and crying into her clothes, saying over and over again that they didn't want her to go.

Their mother wrapped her arms around them, saying, "I don't have a choice, girls. I just can't stand being around your father anymore."

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Both girls looked at her, tears in their eyes, and their cheeks wet. They looked up at her with expressions of disbelief and disappointment, expressions that undoubtedly tore at their mother's heart to see.

Nico said, "Do you hate him?"

"No, no. Don't ever think that way."

"Then why are you leaving him?" Mara said. "Why are you leaving us?"

Their mother caved in, and she tried to avoid their gazes. Her face scrunched up in agony over their questions, as if she couldn't answer without breaking their faith in her, giving them another reason to cry, and giving them another reason to be doing what they were doing to cope.

She said, "It's all my fault. I . . . I failed you girls. I'm so sorry, but I just can't be around him anymore. I have to leave."

"Then take us with you," Nico said.

"I can't."

"Why?" Mara said.

Again her face scrunched up, and tears fell from her face and onto the ground. "I can't involve you girls in my problems. But please, Nico, Mara," she said, looking from one to the other, "whatever you're doing to deal with your problems, please, don't lose sight of who you both are! You're sisters, damn it! I want you two to grow up and have families of your own! I don't want you two to be like me! I don't want you two to be alone!"

At those words, both girls renewed their tears, saying that they were sorry, so their mother hugged them close to her, saying that it was okay. It was always okay, even when it wasn't, because that's what mothers do to protect their children from getting hurt.

After that, their mother went down the stairs, opened the door, and left the house with the door closing shut, and a chapter in their lives closed forever in its wake.

Silence fell on the house for several moments.

With tears still streaming down her cheeks, Nico closed their bedroom door and went over to her sobbing sister, trying to console her, telling her that everything would get better, but Nico wasn't her mother. She couldn't endure the way her mother could, alone. And even with Mara by her side, Nico doubted they would last long together.

But she tried her best, anyway. Not with words, but with actions. Placing her hand on her sister's shoulder, Nico kissed her eyes, then her cheeks, and then her lips, while her other hand fondled her sister's breasts through her shirt, and she would have gone on—

When they heard their father climbing the stairs and stopping at their door, but never knocking, then heard a shuffling of feet as if he were taking a seat and leaning his back against the wall on the other side.

They stopped what they were doing, and a silence lingered for several moments.

"I heard what your mother said," their father said, "about you two doing things. Not just anything, but . . ." Their father sighed, not finishing his statement.

Both sisters walked towards the door, but neither dared to open it, but only listened from the other side.

Nico said, "Are you mad?"

"I don't know about 'mad.' More like, surprised, or . . . worried." Their father paused for a few moments, then said, "Was it really that bad—the fighting between your mother and I? Was it really that bad that you two decided to . . . deal with it that way, and not tell us what was on your minds?"

Neither sister dared to answer with the truth, that it really was that bad, that they needed some way to deal with the stress of a breaking family without making things worse.

"You don't have to answer, if you don't want to," he said. "And I'm sure your mother's got her own reasons to be worried about you, but you two are old enough to make your own decisions, if that's what you want. Doesn't matter where you go, or what you do, or how you both live your lives. Whatever those decisions are, I'll still love you. Nothing's ever gonna change that."

His words calmed their fears, and Nico opened the door, and both girls stepped out and looked down at their father sitting cross-legged against the wall, his forearms resting on his knees, looking up at their faces.

He motioned them to get closer, and the sisters dropped to their knees and wrapped their arms around his shoulders, crying into his shirt, saying that they missed their mother, that they wanted her back home, that they wanted to be a real family again.

Their father wrapped his arms around them, rubbing their backs in soothing circles and shedding tears of his own, saying that he missed their mother, too, and that he would try his best to be a better father to them than he had been a husband to their mother.

And for that last time in their lives, at least with their father, Mara and Nico felt like they had a real family again.

8

While Colbie and Kendra were watching on Celia's bed, Celia pricked the center of her palm with a needle till she drew blood. She then kneeled down in the center of her room and placed her fingertips spread out on the wooden floor, letting a line of blood run down her fingers and drip, then lowered her palm.

Putting all her concentration and will into her spell and into her hand, she said, "Blood on blood, blood to blood, Life is in the blood. Help me find the living blood, help me find the blood of the dead. Help me find Mara Cairns, help me find Nico Cairns."

When a glowing seal of blood roses and black roses appeared on the floor of the room, she raised her hand up to her index finger, pinning the seal in place. She then shifted her concentration to her other hand, placing it flat near the middle of the seal, and in one swift motion she flung her hand wide with all her strength.

The seal expanded and spanned a radius of nearly fifty miles, large enough to cover most of the city of Larkington in its scope.

Celia now broke into a sweat, as she took a short breather to recover her strength.

Which wasn't lost on her two companions, looking on in awe, watching her perform one of her most difficult spells, the signature spell of her legendary grandmother, the Blood Rose Witch.

Kendra was about to say, 'Don't push yourself,' but Colbie stopped her just in time, grabbing her arm and shaking her head. Celia needed all the concentration she could get, and disturbing her now would waste her efforts.

Celia continued her spell, shifting her concentration back to her other hand and into her index finger pinning the spell to the floor. Her spell had its intended effect over the city of Larkington, now shrinking in size over an abandoned district, walled off from the rest of the city, just a block away from Shad-Row Academy.

She said, "I found them."

"Where are they?" Colibe said.

"They're in the Rancaster area."

"Are you serious?" Kendra said, getting up from the bed. "That place is—"

Again, Colbie grabbed her arm and pulled her back onto the bed, then whispered, "She needs to concentrate, so pipe down!"

"But why?"

"She's not done yet, so pipe down!"

Kendra pouted and folded her arms.

Celia continued her spell, placing a second finger (her middle finger) right next to her index finger, then splitting both fingers apart on the ground, focusing all of her concentration in the act, squinting her eyes as if in pain. And over the district of Rancastor, the seal split into two seals, one of blood roses and the other of black roses, both steadily shrinking and zeroing in on the locations of Mara and Nico within the walls of the former district.

When the blood-rose seal located Mara, and the black-rose seal located Nico's body, Celia said, struggling to keep her concentration, "Mara is in the center of the district, next to an old drug store, and Nico is in the eastern part of the district, next to a dumpster."

She released her hand from the floor, wincing in pain, dissipating the spell over Rancaster. She squeezed her hand tight to shake off the pain, dripping more blood onto the floor.

Both girls got off the bed and dropped to their knees beside Celia, when they saw her hand shaking and bleeding out more blood.

"Celia, does it hurt?" Colbie said. "Does it hurt really bad?"

"Yeah."

"You want me to get the nurse?" Kendra said. 

"No. Just get some medical supplies."

Ever the trooper, Kendra went ahead, unlocking the door to get to her dorm for supplies, then came back with them. "Here," she said, opening the bottle of iodine, and poured it over Celia's hand, making her wince and grit her teeth, as it washed out the blood.

Colbie then opened the bottle of water and poured it over her hand, soothing the pain a bit. "Is it better?"

"Yeah."

Colbie then patted her hand with a towel, making sure not to draw new blood, and then Kendra took the bandage and wrapped it gently around Celia's hand, before taping it down.

"Geez," Kendra said. "Your grandmother must've been a really powerful witch!"

"I know," Celia said, inspecting her bandaged hand. "They didn't call her the Blood Rose Witch for nothing."

Tsuzuku

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