The Bloodied Rose

Plot;

Every night, before she sleeps. Helen Lancaster, prays at her bedside window for ten minutes, prays for the loss of her loved ones and for the loss of someone.. She killed by accident. When one day, Helen awoke; around 3AM, and she noticed a bloodied rose, laying there at her bedside table, with a note.. Saying. "Remember me? Feeling guilty?" Helen, felt frightened, for she.. Realised whom the note was from..

Beginning of story;

"Another rainy day, a thunderstorm hitting this seaside resort hard, yet again." Helen said, as she carefully placed her jewellery into her nan's old jewellery box  that her nan had left to her in her will, including twenty thousand pounds, which Helen had used half to help her move home, to move closer by the seaside, Helen wasn't a lover of the city and it's lifestyle, she was too quiet, too shy for the life and vibe that a city can bring a person, London wasn't an ideal home for Helen, neither was it ideal for her children, Lucas and Sophie, whom were both aged fourteen, in high school, young teenagers, both believing that the world's against them. For a woman who was forty five, Helen could easily pass for mid-thirties, she had a young face, a beautiful smile (or so men had told her) and she had an equally good healthy body too, but.. Helen lacked confidence, she had a past, which had sadly put her down, every now and then Helen would fight depression, become ill.

Helen's kids were fast asleep, Lucas could sleep all day, Sophie.. Had nights where she'd suddenly awake, screaming, screaming as if someone's attacking her, and every time that occurs, its sends a chill running slowly down Helen's spine, because it ignited the memories again, memories that Helen wished that they wouldn't return. It was one evening, Halloween night to be precise, she was at home, alone, her kids being away for the weekend on a mini-break, with a friend and his family, down to Cornwall, where Helen would eventually move to with her children, and suddenly Helen heard a window smash, coming from upstairs, Helen paused at the bottom of the stairs, tapped her fingers gently on the bannister, felt a chill suddenly glide through her body, then made her way upstairs, her bedroom window was open, she'd always leave her door open, she was forgetful, she walked into the bedroom, it was so cold, Helen started shaking, but she could see nothing in her room, so she prayed, for ten minutes beside her bedside window, slammed the bedroom window shut and locked it, then slipped back into bed and slept like a baby, for the rest of the night, despite the weather. Helen awoke; it was 3AM, her nose was bleeding, she had a headache that was pounding away, as if a group of works people were hammering away at her skull, she let out a piercing cry.

Helen's eyes were beginning to sting, she needed her glasses. They were designer glasses, with a gold-coloured tint around the edges, comfortable enough for Helen to wear, Helen was fussy, like most women. Helen turned towards her bedside table, when suddenly something caught her eye, it was a rose, laying on it's side, Helen took a further look at the rose and then noticed that the rose was bloody, Helen gasped, placed one hand onto her mouth, felt some sick brew inside her throat, Helen swallowed the sick back down, and sipped a glass of water, this evening Helen had forgotten to pray, something she did usually every night, Helen placed her glass of water back onto the bedside table, when she noticed a note, with markings on the side, Helen placed her finger gently onto the markings, she froze, they felt like traces of blood, small traces, Helen smelt the markings, blood.

The note was crumpled-up, Helen had a worrying feeling inside her, her fingers started to tremble, she remembered the bedroom window being open when she entered the room earlier in the evening, she knew that the window would've been shut, her windows are always shut, then a chill slowly trickled down her spine, the thought of someone climbing into her bedroom window frightened her, she paused, walked towards the window, looked outside; nothing, nothing out there. It was a quiet evening, as still as a mouse outside, then Helen felt cold, as if a breath from someone was behind her, but nothing, nothing was there when she turned. Then she found a rose, it was bloody, but fresh, someone had been in here, and planted it.

Helen sat down on a chair beside her bedroom window, constantly on guard, knowing somebody or a group of people were in her home, somewhere, hiding, plotting something, had they known her? Did she betray anyone? Was she suddenly a stalker's victim? Tons of thoughts were whizzing through Helen's mind all at once, she composed herself, opened the crumpled note that she'd had found on her bedside table, it had a bloody stain on the top-right hand side corner, it was wet, a little smelly, a mixture of damp and a tiny smell of blood whirled through Helen's senses. 

The note read "Remember me? Guilty one."  At that moment, after reading the note, Helen looked back up to her bedroom window, then a thought, so terrifying slowly creeped into the back of her mind, "No.. No, it.. It can't be." Suddenly Helen leapt up, dashed quickly to the hallway, opened-up a cupboard, and pulled out a filing expander holder, and started digging through files, and letters and newspaper clippings that she had saved following the accident that she was involved in, five years ago, suddenly Helen looked-up, stared at the clock mounted on the wall, it struck 12AM, it was midnight, it was the day, the day that Helen killed that guy, Helen, flicked through newspaper clippings, "Tragedy, as man 24, killed after his car has a collision with another car, with a woman present at the wheel." "Scott Turner was driving home from the wedding of his best friend Jack, when suddenly, after speeding too fast round the bend, a woman named Helen, hit the side of Scott's car, police are assuming Scott must've panicked, as he lost control of his car, and the car seemingly skidded, and went crashing headfirst into a tree. Killing Scott instantly." Or so it seemed.. Thought Helen,  Helen shrugged off the thought that Scott was still alive and was presumably in her house, it just wasn't possible, can't be, Helen put everything back into the filing holder, and placed it into the cupboard.

Helen made her way downstairs, suddenly she felt the house seemed different, something wasn't right, maybe her mind was playing tricks on her, the lack of sleep over the past three days or so and with the depression seemingly taking a hold of her,may not of really helped, maybe she was just ill, "Maybe time away from this place, somewhere not familiar to me, somewhere new, might help ease my mind." Helen suddenly said quietly to herself as she made her way into the kitchen, but as she made her way into the kitchen, a funny feeling started swimming inside Helen's stomach, she started to sense that something was wrong, she opened the door, slowly creeped into the kitchen, made her way over to the kitchen sink, grabbed a glass that was on the side, and began to pour herself water from the tap. 

"Hello there Helen, remember me?" Helen froze, she was in shock.. It couldn't be.. He was dead, she'd had killed him, she witnessed his car going headfirst into a tree, it had killed him instantly, or so it had seemed. "It's not you, this is just a dream, i'm sleepwalking, there's no way, that you're alive.. You died, tragically, but you died.. In the car accident, your car hit a tree, there's no way that you're alive!" And with that Helen kept on pouring herself glasses of water repeatedly, heavily breathing, and started to do small breaths, counting to ten under her breath, Helen remembered the rose, on her bedside table, bloodied along with the note, "If.. You're really alive, and you're really here.. How'd you know where i lived? And when did you.. When did you, find a way into my bedroom?" "To plant that rose? Oh, gosh.. Helen, that was.. About.. Hm.. 1AM, i'd say, you was fast asleep, like you was dead, my.. Have you ever realised how beautiful you look when you're sleeping? Like so beautiful, have to say Helen.. i had to take five, and pause for a moment." Helen felt sick inside, a guy, whom she thought she'd had killed, was in her home, watching her sleep, what if the kids were home, what would he of done then?

"I have children.. Lucas and Sophie, both fourteen.. Have you hurt my children? You better pray if you have, because i will kill you, kill you!" Helen turned round, her eyes fixed onto Scott's, with a fire burning deep inside of her, not sure on what she would do if he had hurt her kids. "Oh, no.. No.. They seem like lovely kids, Sophie.. Well.. She has her mother's looks, stunning young girl, but.. One day, i'm sure.. She'll be a killer, just like her mother." "You're not DEAD!! You aren't dead, so.. I didn't kill you, but.. Maybe now, i wish that i did." Helen suddenly had tears streaming slowly down her cheek, she wanted to scream, but the sounds couldn't come out of her mouth, Scott sat there, scratching his forehead, tapping his fingers on the kitchen table, wooden, with stains, mainly consisting of coffee. "If.. I kill you now, that'd would make things even, revenge for me really, and your kids would be orphans too, hm.. Now.. I wonder, if.. They'd cope without you, would they?" "Yeah, gee.. I wonder myself too, i do.. But i also know, that right now, that it isn't going to happen, and.. You have no chance, of turning my kids into orphans."

Suddenly there was a scream, a yell, it was as if someone was in terrible pain, suddenly someone had collapsed onto the floor, there was a huge puddle of blood everywhere, it was flowing quickly, the white marbled floor which was clean before, like it was brand new, now suddenly looked like someone had just decided to paint it like a sea of red, there was a sudden delay of silence, nothing spoke, nothing moved, "Helen, Helen!! Are you ok?!" Helen was on the floor, in agony, she had slipped, and fell at the shock of the gunshot going off and of the sound that erupted shortly, she sat-up, felt the marbled floor with with her hands, she could feel the blood, warm, it was all in one big puddle, her hands were covered, so were her clothes, but.. She wasn't the one that was killed, so she breathed, and felt relief glide all the way through her body, and then, she smiled, and started to cry, gladly. 

Police arrived at Helen's residence, she was talking to Charlie, who was Helen's neighbour, whom had sneaked round to Helen's home after Helen managed to send a text to his phone, whilst she was still turned towards the sink, whilst alarmed at hearing Scott's voice suddenly, Charlie was mid forties, around six-feet tall, with black hair, average build, wasn't the most attractive guy, but Helen knew she'd always had his back, he would always look out for her, they both had kids of a similar age, they'd go out together, to the local beach, shopping, out at a restaurant for lunch or a dinner, which Charlie always insists on paying, much to Helen's disgust, she didn't like Charlie paying for everything, she was independent herself. Police continued to question Helen, about Scott and her connections with him, recounting her past again was upsetting, she was scared, frightened, worried that anyone that had known Scott would find out about this, and come after her, she was worried that maybe, this time, she wouldn't be as safe as she was this time around, thanks to the interference from Charlie, a key one of that.

So, whilst police wheeled away Scott's body, Helen slowly peeped her head through the kitchen door, whilst a separate police officer continued to ask questions, she was staring right at the lifeless body of Scott, thoughts were swirling through her head, "Helen, excuse me.. Helen." A police officer was trying to get Helen's attention, but all Helen could think about was Scott's body and how her kids were doing, Scott's body hadn't yet been placed into a bodybag, and helen looked further at the body and thought something was wrong, but.. Maybe right now, Helen's imagination was just playing tricks on her, she had hoped anyway..

Four hours had passed, the police had wheeled away Scott's lifeless body, and had taken numerous questions from Helen about Scott and her connection with him, and how the events had occurred, Charlie had gone back home, Helen was on her own resting, she made herself a cuppa' tea, sat down in the kitchen and began to cry, everything was too much for her, especially the events of today, she just needed a rest, she could do with a sleep, it was early morning, Helen hadn't slept since 3AM, she was tired, ill, emotionally drained too, she was shutting her eyes then opening them, she kept having a period of opening and shutting her eyes, when.. When she thought she saw something, like a shadow, coming from the hallway inside of her home, but Helen just shrugged it off, she was tired, a-lot has happened lately, she knew her imagination was playing tricks on her, she went off to bed, went off to get some sleep.. She walked into her bedroom, it felt cold, clothes were everywhere, a stain was on the wall, a coffee stain, she had wiped the blood stains off from her side of her bedside table, which were from the note, that was placed there, Helen got back into bed, looked-up at the ceiling, and counted to three.

Suddenly Helen felt uncomfortable, she was scared, she knew Scott was dead, but to her it felt like he wasn't dead at all, and it felt like he was still here, in her home. But Helen deep down, knew how insane that sounded, she knew Scott was dead, she saw his lifeless body being taken away from her house, so.. She knew that he was dead, she was alone at her home, she was safe.. Helen closed her eyes, the words "I'm safe" continued to whirl around her head continually, like a constant reminder that nothing was going to go wrong, and that Helen, had nothing to fear. Helen couldn't breathe, she was struggling, something was suffocating her, she had a pounding headache, Helen felt sick, like a bout of nausea was attacking her, she couldn't move, she needed fresh air but couldn't move to open any windows, she was in pain, terrified, and then, like Christmas day, just like that, Helen was gone, dead, killed by poison, when suddenly, someone walked into her room.

"Oh, oh poor helen, this is terrible, what have i done?" A man's voice was heard, the house was now suddenly clear of the fumes, the man removed his mask  from his mouth, it was Scott, he wasn't dead, Helen's chilling thought inside her head was true, and now.. He had gotten revenge, revenge in which he desperately craved, Scott called 999, and alerted the ambulance service and police that Helen was dead, he mentioned about the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning, the ambulance service said they'd arrive at the residence within 15-20 minutes, "Perfect." Scott told them, enough time he knew, to leave the house, and leave Helen there on her own.

Scott walked towards the front door, took one final look at the house, sighed, and wrote a note to be left on the kitchen table "Helen, sorry.. Sorry for what i've done, i know, we had our ups and downs, you upset me, i hurt you back etc, but this wasn't supposed to happen, not at all, believe me please, i am gonna miss you, we'll meet again one day, much love, Scott." And so Scott turned to walk out of the door and out of Helen's life one last time, he let out a little chuckle to himself, wiped a tear from his eye, and walked out of the front door of Helen's home, where she'd end up staying permanently, haunting whoever else, was to buy this home, once the home was able to be resold again, like the apparent death of Scott, had haunted Helen's life and memories ever since, they'd had that tragic 'accident' all them years ago, somebody else and their family, were to be haunted, by the death of Helen.