A Rose In The Water

The night was young and the air was chilling. The wind smelled of the pollution driven beach front nearby.  The year was 1920 and Raven Underwood was in search of her Fiancé. Mark Eaglson. It was only a mere three hours ago when he had told her he was going in search of a local merchant who was selling lamb. Raven had rung nearly all of the markets she could think of and they all failed to catch sight of him.  She was deeply worried of what could have happened to him, for it was only last week he had proposed to her and lavished her with fresh roses. He always would tell her how beautiful she was and how much he loved her. How much he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and would never let her fall. These words burned through Ravens skull as she paced worriedly through their apartment.  She had chewed her fingernails to the nub when she found a white piece of paper sticking of out of one of Mark’s dirtied pants pockets. She quickly retrieved the paper and unraveled it hoping for it to reveal a clue of his where abouts.

“ Hello love, tonight  we shall meet at the beach front. I have a special surprise for you.  Yours truly.”

Raven read aloud. She chuckled at how quickly she jumped to conclusions and wiped the streaming tears from her face.

“ Oh how Silly of Mark , he must have forgotten to slip it in my makeup drawer where I would have actually noticed it.” She assumed.

   Raven turned towards her  murky mirror and tossed her curly brown hair around. She grabbed a rose and slipped it over her ear  as she reassured herself everything’s going to be okay. She let out a sigh and smiled to herself and the mirror as she headied towards the door. She stumbled down the steps out the door and towards the beach front which was only a few minutes from their home.  She began thinking to herself what could it have been? What did he have to show her? She was ecstatic, in love. She franticly skipped towards the beach front as the sound of the ocean’s swishing waves rung in her ear.  

“Mark?” She called out when she reached the beach front.

She took the rose from her ear and held it tight against her chest.  The beach was dimly lit by the fluorescent moonlight but she managed to make out a little. She jerked her neck towards the right as she noticed something moving near a tree.

“Mark? Is that you!?” The thought of him surprising her lavished her heart and filled her with delight. She smiled uncontrollably as she headed towards the quivering tree.

“Oh Mark, how splendid of you too leave this le-“

Raven found her fiancé locking lips with another woman.

“Mark…” Raven’s voice came in slow, mournful patterns.

“Raven, I can explain!” Mark stammered out.

“How could you do this to me Mark? I trusted you.” Raven said in pouring tears.

Mark began to stumble towards raven with his pants unbuckled but she shrugged him off and backed towards the beach front. Raven looked down towards the wave of water that had been caressing her feet and wiped the tears from her face.

“Stay away from me. MY brother will –“

“Now, Now raven we don’t have to tell your brother about this now do we? C’mon lets head back home were we can go over this.” Mark was dreadfully afraid of Raven’s brother. He was one of the biggest mobsters the city had ever administered. Raven’s brother was feared by everyone including the police.

“Oh … you didn’t tell her?” The girl said strapping on her bra.

The girl looked young.  She had a nice figure and had long black hair with fleshy plump lips.

“Tell me what?” Raven said with anger in her voice.

Mark began to speak but the girl interrupted,

“He’s leaving you.”  Those words cut through Raven’s skin like a razor as she pressed her hands over her mouth.

“Raven, No don’t bel- “

“To hell with you Mark.” Raven shouted attempting to dash away from the scene but only to have her stomach punctured by a long sharp piece of dry wood.  Blood spurred from raven’s mouth as she muttered her final words.

“Mark, I-I-I. I’m pregnant.”

Raven’s body sputtered towards the sea as the rose she was wielding floated endlessly about on the ocean’s freezing body.

Mark began to step back in horror at what he had just committed as he shouted, “oh my god… What have I done? I-I-It was a mistake! I didn’t mean to.”

The girl began to dash towards the city without saying a word to Mark, leaving him their grieving on his knees. Over the next couple of months there was a few search parties’ for the remains of Raven. She was assumed to be dead after the third month of endless searching. Mark and the girl kept the murder a secret as they went off to be married, leaving Raven behind as if she was just a dream. Then one day, an exact year away from Raven’s death. Mark’s body was found mutilated on the beach front. His killer was never found, the only evidence left from the scene was a bloodied rose that was clenched tightly in Marks right palm… Some say it was Raven’s sister. Others say it was Raven’s ghost that returned from the dead to seek vengeance on her cheating fiancé.

“No way! I don’t believe one bit on that garbage. You’re full of it Tony.” I shouted.  My names Andrew. Andrew Winterfield. I’m your average teenager  and we had just finished listening to Tony ramble on about the towns so called haunted lake front , And by “We” I meant me and my best friends.   There were 6 of us. Me, Tony, Walter, Gabe, Sarah and Casey. I didn’t believe Tony’s story, well at least I didn’t want to. The thought of someone’s dead ghost haunting the city gave me chills. I stood up from the lime green lunch table and tossed my plate of what remained of my pizza towards the trash.

“Well I for one think it’s real.” Sarah said revealing a charming smile.

“Oh please.  I’m with Andrew you can’t possibly expect me to believe that? You guys are full of it.”  Casey said placing her warm arm around my broad shoulders. She smelled of an apricot essence. Her golden locks fluttered in the breeze from the door as a tall student returned from eating lunch outside. I flashed Casey a smile and turned to Walter awaiting his judgment.

“Well I for one believe it.” 

“Me two. I think we should take a trip down to the beach this weekend, you guys game?” Gabe added. Gabe was always up for anything; He was the starting receiver on the football team and was up for any challenge you could possible throw at him.

“I’ll pass.” I said as Casey lifted her arm from my shoulder.

“Oh c’mon Andy, imp game!” Casey argued. I couldn’t believe she was taking their sides.

“Ugh  ... I guess, well I’ve got nothing to lose. “ I explained tossing my Janis sport back pack over my shoulder.

“Alright then. It’s a date. “Tony said winking as he retrieved a bite from his apple.

The bell rang and I darted away from the table without muttered a goodbye.  I was tired and was ready for this day to be over.  After the remaining 3 hours of school, I got in my dodge charger and drove myself home. My bed welcomed me him to a nice after school nap which I loathed for.  When I awoke I smelled the Aurora of my mother’s home cooking and glanced at the clock which read 5:30. I let out a sigh and shrugged off what was left of my headache and coursed downstairs.

“Hey mom.”

“Hey sweetie.” She replied turning a burger patty over on a blackened skillet.  The kitchen was dimly lit and I leaned over the kitchen island and battered my bright blue eyes.

“Mom?”

“Yea Hun?”

“Have you ever heard of the beach being haunted…?”

“Well…” This reply gave me shivers. She continued.

“That story has been floating around for ages now. It’s been around since I was in high school. What made you bring it up?”

“Well Tony-“

“That explains it.” She cut me short placing a small yellow fry in her mouth. Tony had a reputation and not a good one either. He was always in trouble for doing something wrong.

“Well Tony told us this story… about a woman named Raven Underwood?”

“The woman who supposedly rose from the grave to exact revenge on her boyfriend?”

“Yep that’s the one.” I reassured her.

“Well honeys I can re assure you its all fake.”

“So Raven didn’t die?”

“Oh honey the story’s real, I’m just saying as far as her ghost returning from the grave, now that’s false. Hungry?” She said extending a plateful of fresh burgers in front of my nose.

“Uh no thanks... sudden loss of appetite.” I said, as I rushed up stairs.

What if all of this was real? What if she really did return from the grave? It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t be! After all ghost didn’t exist.

The next day I received a text while watching Saturday evening cartoons and eating a bag of sun chips. I reached for my IPhone to reveal a text from Casey which read:

“Hey, were on our way to the beach. You should start heading down before it gets to dark. Might wanna bring a flashlight ;).”

My stomach fluttered with butterfly’s as I flipped the television off and flipped on my jacket.

“Hey mom I’m heading out with the gang for a bit I’ll be backing shortly.”

“Okay Hun has fun.”

I started towards the drive way and sped towards the beach as my mind raced with frightening thoughts. When I got there Tony and the crew were throwing sand and kicking water around at each other.

“Aye its Andy!”  Gabe’s voice greeted me.

I stepped over towards them and began talking. “So, what happens now?” 

Walters arm extended towards the sun that seemed to be getting swallowed by the ocean and said,
“When it sets, the action starts.”

“Action?” I asked.

“That’s when Raven’s ghost endlessly roams the beach only to find nothing but sand and a few sea rocks.” Tony said dangling his arm around my shoulder.

“Let’s make this quick.” I said sighing.

The sun soon went down and the conversation began to head off topic. It seems like we waited hours for her to appear but nothing ever showed.  Sarah scratched out on the sand and began yawning.

“Whelp, I think I’m done here. “ Sarah explained.

“Heh… I guess Andy was right.” Gabe said standing up and ruffling my hair. I hated it when he did that. It made my hair all frizzy like. 

“I told you guys there was nothing to worry about. It was a waste coming down here in the first place.” I bragged. We headed towards the parking lot until I noticed I left my jacket off in the distance.

“Hey I’ll be right back I have to grab my jacket. “ I explained.

“Make it quick.” Casey added.

I strolled off down back towards the beach front and leaned over to pick up my jacket. When I arose I saw a thin woman walking towards me.

“Can I help you? “ I asked. She was still a far distance away.

She didn’t answer me.  I began to get a better look at her as she came closer. I started to step back as I took site of a gashing hole in her abdomen. A hole that frightened me. Then I knew who she was as she yelled.

“Mark? Is that you?”