text: Black Rose By Charlotte S “Max! Time for dinner!” called Max’s mother from downstairs. “Coming!” called Max from her position on her bed, her feet on the wall and her head hanging off the edge, books piled around her. She flopped off her bed to the side, a cascade of books following shortly after, scattering across the unattractive cow print rug that her mother had insisted on buying. Max gave a couple of them a halfhearted shove towards her bed, before picking herself up and heading towards the door. When she got downstairs, the table was already set and in the center was a huge bowl, half full of spaghetti and pesto. The other half of the spaghetti was on her brother’s plate, and he was eagerly grating heaps of parmesan cheese on top of it. “Save some for the rest of us, Carson” Max’s mother laughed, as she sat down next to him at the table. Max giggled at him as she slid into her chair, and Carson retaliated by sticking his tongue out at her, before grabbing his fork and taking a monstrous bite of his spaghetti. “So,” said Max’s mother, swallowing her mouthful of spaghetti, “I was thinking maybe you two could go to the park tomorrow morning? I have a job interview at ten, and I need you out of the way.” “But Mom-” Max started to protest, but her mother cut her off. “I’ll give you money to get ice cream afterwards.” Max hesitated. “Fine.” She said reluctantly. “Yes!” Carson shrieked, jumping up from his seat and knocking his spaghetti plate over the edge of the table, causing it to crash to the floor and scatter spaghetti and ceramic chunks everywhere. “I’ll get it” Max’s mother sighed, wiping her mouth with a napkin and getting up from her seat, careful not to step on the broken plate. Carson surveyed the mess he created from up on his chair, where he’d jumped when the plate fell, and meekly asked if he could be excused. Their mother nodded, and he cautiously stepped down from the chair, sidestepping the heap of pasta on his way to his room, where he resumed building the lego spaceship he had been working on for weeks. The next morning was clear and sunny, with only a few soft clouds in the sky, and Max was wearing only her t-shirt and cargo shorts as she and her brother walked to the park. Carson was wearing only shorts, he had refused to put his shirt on when they left the house. Their mother had let him go topless, as long as he put his shirt on if they went inside any buildings. Max carried her mini backpack with Carson’s shirt, the ice cream money, and several books, and Carson carried two of his action figures, the Hulk and Batman. As they turned the corner to the park, Max instinctively veered towards the sidewalk, to avoid the man that usually sat on the steps of the corner store and whistled at passing women, but he wasn’t there, so she turned and went the more direct way. Once they arrived at the park, Carson immediately ran off towards the play structures, heading straight towards James, a friend from second grade that had played at their house several times over the summer. Max settled down by a big oak tree - her favorite spot - and took out one of her books. She opened it to the bookmarked page, and was immediately enthralled, the real world drifting away around her. It felt like only a couple of minutes when she heard a high pitched scream coming from the bushes across the playground. Max jumped up, tossing her book to the side, and ran towards the bushes from which the scream had been emitted. When she got there she found Carson and James, standing in a small clearing in the bushes, both of them crying and Carson violently shaking. In front of them was the bloodied body of the man from the corner. He looked exactly as Max remembered, grey-brown wisps of hair under a black beanie, grey stubble peppering his bony chin, and the same maroon zip up sweatshirt he had been wearing two days before. His body was laid out on its back, his arms crossed over his chest, and resting between his yellowing teeth was a single black rose. Max gasped, took a step back, and quickly looked around to see if anyone else had seen. The playground was bustling with children and parents, all laughing and playing, but it all seemed miles away now. Max looked back at Carson and James, still crying quietly, and gently pulled them away from the clearing back towards the playground. “He’s only playing”, she said, her voice shakier than she had planned. She steadied her voice and tried to calm her nerves a bit. “He’s getting ready for Halloween.” “But Halloween isn’t for two months,” Carson protested. “Maybe he just wants to practice so he can be really convincing.” “But-” “Come on, let's play over here.” Max led the boys over towards the monkey bars, trying not to sound worried. She left them there, and once they had reluctantly begun playing, she crept back to the bushes. Once she got to the clearing, she bent down to look at the body. Without touching it, she looked closely at the black rose placed in the man’s mouth. It’s stem was a medium green, the same color as the leaves of the bushes Max was in, and it’s petals were a deep black, like the night sky without any stars. Unlike the rest of the man, the rose didn’t have a single drop of blood on it, it’s stem and petals remained so pristine that it could have been fake. Max noticed out of the corner of her eye a small movement to her right, and she looked over but didn’t see anything at first. On closer inspection, however, she found a small section of lined paper that might have been ripped out of a notepad, and on it something was written in blue ink. She scooted around it to see, and read “Ten oclock am. First of many. Ther’e there is no stopping it. The Black Rose will never be stopped.” Ten oclock am. First of many. Ther’e there is no stopping it. The Black Rose will never be stopped. Max gasped, jumped up, and started running towards the playground as fast as she could. She grabbed Carson by the arm and dragged him with her to the big oak tree where she had left her backpack and books. She grabbed the backpack, stuffed the book that she had left on the ground inside of it, and slung it on her shoulder as she hurried out of the park. “Where are we going?” asked Carson, sounding panicked. “Back home,” replied Max, a bit out of breath. “We can’t go home, mom has an interview,” said Carson, sounding out of breath too. “Then we’ll go to Angela’s house.” Angela was Max’s best friend, and had been since kindergarten, and they did everything together. They were in a school play together in grade five, and again in grade six. They practically lived at one another’s house. Max could alway count on Angela if she needed help, or for a good time. Just as they arrived, out of breath, on Angela’s doorstep, Angela’s mother opened the door and stepped out onto the small porch, nearly bumping into Max and Carson. “My goodness, are you alright?” she asked as she stepped back into the doorway. “Yes, Mrs. Michaels,” gasped Max, “but I need to talk to Angela. Is she here?” “Yes, of course, come right in” Answered Mrs. Michaels, moving aside so Max and her brother could step in. Max ran into the house, leaving Carson with Angela’s mother, and raced up the stairs to find Angela. She skidded to a stop in front of Angela’s bedroom door, and stuck her head in to see if she was there. Angela was sitting on her bed, earbuds stuck in her ears, and a pile of yarn, beads, and other craft supplies scattered around her bed. Max hurried in, shut the door, and yanked Angela’s earbuds out of her ears. “Hey!” complained Angela. “What are you doing? Did my mom let you in?” “Yeah, and I really need to talk to you,” Max replied. “What is it? Are you okay?” asked Angela, sounding a bit concerned. Max leaned in close to Angela, so close she could almost hear her heartbeat, and whispered, “I found a dead body in the park.” “What?” exclaimed Angela, her voice considerably louder than Max’s. “Shhhh!” Max whispered. “I don’t know what to do. There was a note next to it that said something about a Black Rose. Please, you need to help me.” “Okay, I will! Calm down. Let's go to the park.” Max and Angela got up from the bed, and Max went to fetch Carson while Angela grabbed a backpack and stuffed some supplies into it. They met downstairs, and asked Angela’s mother if she could watch Carson for a little while. She agreed, and they hurried out the door and down the street towards the park. As they were walking, Max explained in detail what had happened, and Angela listened intently without interrupting once. As they neared the park, Max began to hear sirens, and when they hurried around the last corner she and Angela abruptly stopped walking. The whole stretch of road in front of the park was flanked with police cars, and there were police officers everywhere. Some were talking to terrified looking parents and children, some were stringing up crime scene tape all around the park, and others were bent down near the bushes where the body was laying. Max could make out snippets of what they were saying, but she didn’t understand most of the words. She heard “ Homicide,” “rigor,” and several other words she couldn’t fully make out. A tall, skinny police officer noticed Max and Angela standing on the corner staring, and came over to speak to them. “Hello girls, I’m sorry but the park is closed.” Angela started to turn away, but Max pulled her back to face the officer. “I found the dead body.” “Did you,” the officer’s face went ashen as he spoke. “Then I suppose you’d better come with me. Where are your parents?” “My mom’s at home doing a job interview. My brother’s at Angela’s house.” Max motioned to Angela as she said her name, then asked, “Are we in trouble?” “No, of course not,” the officer assured them, before turning to call one of the other police officers over. “My name is officer Daniels, by the way.” A chubby, squat officer with a belt that looked to be a bit too small for his waist came over. Officer Daniels explained the situation to him, and then turned back to Max and Angela, who had been intently watching the officers squatting near the body. “This is officer Mike. He’s going to bring you down to the station, and we’ll call your parents to come down, okay?” “Okay,” Max and Angela both agreed. Officer Mike led them to a police car, and Max and Angela got in the backseats, with officer Mike in the driver’s seat. When they got to the station, officer Mike led the girls to a room in the back, where Max’s mother was already waiting. She jumped up when she saw them, and rushed over to hug Max tightly, then Angela, a worried expression on her face. “Are you girls alright?” she asked frantically, as she looked them over for injuries. “They aren’t hurt, but we are going to need to conduct some interviews with both of them, once Angela’s mother arrives,” Said a police officer in the corner of the room, who Max and Angela had only just noticed. The next few days were a blur of interviews, police officers, and trips to the police station. Max missed the first day of seventh grade because she had to talk to an old, grizzled detective, and Angela - who had been allowed to leave after only a few interviews - had told Max about their classroom, classmates, and teacher, Miss Megan. Eventually, there was a trial for a man named Leonard Stakes, who they had found in a parking lot covered in blood, holding a knife that matched the stab wounds found on the back of the dead body. Max and her mother had to be at the trial, but she wasn’t made to testify, as the police already had enough evidence. Leonard Stakes was convicted of the first degree murder of Joshua Catall, and sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole. Thirteen years later, Max, still good friends with Angela, had a baby boy and named him Daniel, after the officer who they had met at the park the day of the murder. Two years after Daniel was born, Max became a forensic psychologist, working with children who were witnesses to crimes, just like herself. Max dedicated the rest of her life to helping child witnesses, and taking care of Daniel and his little sister, Alice.