Horror Prompt
A trail of blood ends at the bedroom wall. How does your main character react?
Main Character
Rose- short black hair, deep brown eyes, rose pink glasses, legally blind without her glasses, 5’5″, 30 years old
Rose’s House
Chapter 1
Rose stares at her new home, a single story place with two bedrooms. She can’t wait to decorate the inside. She pushes up her rose-pink glasses as she walks towards the front door. Rose jingles her new keys and stops, staring at the lock on the door. She takes in an excited breath, slips the house key into the lock, and turns it. The satisfying sound of the lock unlocking reaches her ears.
Rose squeals and rushes inside. She spins as soon as she is in the middle of what she will make her living room.
“This is my house,” Rose yells. “My house!”
Rose squeals again and runs around the house, doing a little spin in each room. She collapses on the floor of her bedroom, out of breath. She lies on the soft carpet, staring at the ceiling, laughing.
A honk outside causes her to jump. Rose sits up and stares at her bedroom door. She scrambles to her feet and snaps. “The movers!” She walks to the front door and peers outside. A small moving truck sits in front of her house.
Rose waves and runs out to the truck. The guy sitting in the passenger seat rolls down the window.
“Hey, Rose. Your new house is beautiful,” the man says.
“Thanks, Tom. You and Jean ready to help me make this house into a home? By getting my stuff out of the back of your truck and into the house?” Rose jumps up and down like a schoolgirl. She has always wanted a house of her own. She was tired of living in apartments her whole adult life. Rose then finds the house she is standing in front of and she could afford it.
They had reduced the price of the house for a third time when she saw the ad. Rose called the agent, saw it in person, and was ready to sign the paperwork.
Jean leans over from the driver’s side. “You bet we are, Rose.” He turns the truck off, hops out, and disappears to the back. He opens the back of the truck, the loud sliding door catching Tom and Rose’s attention.
Rose walks to the back of the truck with Tom. She grabs a few boxes from Jean, even though he protests against her helping. She grins at him and walks back inside. Jean and Tom glance at each other, surprised. Tom shrugs and grabs boxes, following Rose inside. Jean grabs a handful of boxes and follows the other two.
They place the boxes in the rooms that are written on the boxes, leaving the furniture for last. Rose points to where she wants them to place her shabby couch, her lopsided coffee table, and tattered chairs in the living room. In her bedroom, Jean and Tom place her breaking bedframe, scuffed dresser, and too little side tables.
“You going to save up for new furniture next?” Jean asks. He looks at the furniture in the living room, then back at Rose, wrinkling his nose.
“That’s my plan,” Rose says. She sighs heavily at the sight of her worn furniture. She hasn’t been able to save up enough for new furniture for several years with having to take care of her sick mother for so long.
It has been a year since her mother has passed and she sold almost all of her mom’s possessions. The money she got covered her mom’s medical expenses and the funeral costs, leaving very little for Rose. But with the money from her mom and her savings, she could buy the house.
Rose glances back at her empty dining room. “And then I’ll be able to invite friends over again and not be embarrassed.”
Jean and Tom finish unpacking the truck and wish Rose good luck with her unpacking. Rose waves as Jean drives the truck away. She walks back inside with a grin on her face and shuts the door, closing out the world. Rose turns from the door after locking it and looks around.
With determination in her deep brown eyes, she rolls up the sleeves of her light yellow sweater and heads for her bedroom. She will unpack her room first so she’ll have a comfortable place to sleep at night. Her first night in her new home. She claps her hands and kneels down next to the first box, tearing it open.
It takes all weekend, but Rose finally has everything unpacked and the way she wants it. She would eventually buy paint for the bathrooms, her room, and the office. She might paint other rooms, too, but for now the walls will scream white.
After she takes the last broken down box outside, she sits on her couch and stares at her TV. She has it plugged in, but she can’t watch anything yet. Rose has already called her old cable and internet company to hook her up, but they can’t get there until the end of the week. Thankfully, working at the library will help pass the time.
Thinking about work, she jumps off the couch and picks her phone off the coffee table. Tapping on her camera, she snaps pictures of her room around her. She couldn’t wait to show her friends at work her house.
Rose walks through each room, snapping picture after picture. She ends in her bedroom, going into the bathroom first. After she finishes the pictures of her bathroom, she walks out into her bedroom. After a few pictures, Rose stops when she sees something on the ground. Red smudges on the carpet make her feel uneasy. It wasn’t there before, so where did it come from?
Rose takes a few pictures of it and follows the trail to her bedroom wall to the left of her bed. Her eyes widen when she looks closer. She turns her head and gags, covering her mouth, and nearly drops her phone. It’s blood!
Rose turns away, dropping her phone this time, and hurries for the door. An empty box she has forgotten to grab appears under her foot. She slips on it and screams. Falling, she hits her head against the wall behind her.