Post by Rose Hauser on May 12, 2007 12:13:03 GMT -5
Rose sat at one of the desks at the back of the mathematics classroom, her legs crossed at the ankles and propped up against the desk that was across from hers. Her head bobbed up and down as she listened to the music that played from her MP3 player. Her long blond hair was tied up in a messy blond bun and held together with a #2 pencil. Months before, Rose's uniform would be nicely pressed, wearing her skirt at knee length and making sure her blazer was buttoned up. Her uniform now was slightly modified. A shorter skirt paired with a pair of fishnet tights instead of the standard knee length socks. Her tie hung low from her white dress shirt and was buttoned down enough to show off some of her more "prominant" features. The teacher had warned her more than once to start dressing more appropriately again, sending letters home to Blossom and Thomas more than once.
Something had clicked and changed inside of Rose.
Something she was trying to hide, but kept surfacing.
Aaron was very busy. Rose understood that. She loved him for his commitment to what he loved to do. The few moments they did manage to see each other she managed to place a smile on her lips and then kiss his and assure him that she was okay despite the threatening e-mails and calls that came in more and more frequency.
Her grandfather was a persistant man. Despite being only his grandaughter, the Hunter still considered Rose his property. He continued to persuade her to play the stock market, hack into hidden Swiss bank accounts and continue to accumulate the small fortune she had managed to create for herself.
He wanted her to be rich. Like the saying goes, "First you get the money. Then you get the power. Then you get the respect." Moreover, he wanted her to have the power. She was another pawn in his games; another branch from his rotted roots. In his mind, the future looked bright. Rose was slowly drowning and desperately wanted to say something, anything to those she loved. He kept her leash tight however, pulling at it whenever she would allude to her predicament to someone.
I'll kill them... he would whisper maniacally. ...just as easily as I could you...just as easily as your sister slipped from this world.....
"However will you protect those you love without the funds to back it up?" The hollow voice told her.
"They told me not to worry. That I don't need to protect them. That they would protect me. My mother. My boyfriend. They wouldn't let anything happen to me..."
"Funny little useless thing." The voice chuckled. "Your mother couldn't protect your sister, now could she? What makes you think that she'll protect you? After all, I still manage to contact you without much knowledge and you're too scared to approach her. And as for Mr. Morris, he's much too busy saving the world with the useless Military Intelligence. I'm sure you're a lovely distraction for him though."
Rose grew silent, clutching onto her cell phone at the thought of Lily, at the thought of her mother, and at the thought of Aaron.
"Don't you talk about them. I'm doing what you want. That should be enough."
"Not nearly." The voice said before the phone on his end hung up and Rose let the phone slip from her fingers to the floor in defeat.
The teacher walked down the rows, removing Rose's feet from the desk and the young woman looked up indignantly, shaking her head and continued to read her advanced mathematics text. She was now in the senior class, despite only being a sophomore. The school, and in particular the MI was very intested in advancing Rose's skills and by doing this, unwittingly helping the Hunter as they did.
As the bell rang, Rose closed her text and her blue eyes, once bright now dulled as she stared off at the lettering on the cover.