Every Rose has it's Thorns Alt ending PG rating

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JosefsRose
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Every Rose has it's Thorns Alt ending PG rating

Post by JosefsRose »

This is the alternate ending. It is also the one my JM wanted me to write the first time around. You may want to find that box of hankies again. The muse was melancholy when this was written.


Deadly Nightshade.-alt ending


Bella sat in her office, going over some of the paper work stacked there. She jumped slightly as the phone rang. She cursed, “Nightshade Security.”

“Hey Boss, it’s Shelly.” She smiled she knew who it was, the young vamp just like to remind her. “I was gonna leave a message ,but your there. I’ve most of the paintings. Just one missing, the Monet. Do ya want me to drop ‘em off tonight?” Shelly’s tone was light, but she was obviously trying to stay away.

“No. In the morning should be fine. I have a report to write up, then I’m heading to a hot shower, and an early night. I’ll see you tomorrow, around lunchtime.” She smiled, The girl, tried her best to be normal, but she was all vamp. “Get some blood, and get some rest. Speak to you tomorrow.” Then she hung up. She thought about her meeting with Kostan today. The feelings she had, were confusing at best, damn right scary at worst. Then there was the painting in his office, she was sure she had seen it before. She fired up her computer, and scanned her e-mails, replying to those that needed her urgent attention, deleting the spam, and inconsequential ones. She dropped her head, she had a pounding head ache, and that was just one pain. She opened the top draw of her desk, and pulled out a small bottle of pain killers. She shook several into her hand and dry swallowed them. Grimacing at the taste, she stared at the screen. Opening up a blank file, she headed it.

Kostan, Josef.

Aug/ 12/ 2010

First meeting on the above date, arrived at the residency of the proposed client, general security was good. Both standard and infra-red cameras in evidence, as well as motion sensor. Further investigation of the grounds would be needed to confirm my suspicions of further monitoring.

Today’s encounter was not the norm, the house had been accessed by unknown males. The Client had been incapacitated, and several young ladies taken and bound. On arrival, one of the unknowns answered the door. His general appearance, and body language gave me warning. I gained entrance to the house, and then subdued the assailant. Two further men were in the house. Following one, he led me to the women they had taken hostage. I was forced to take much more drastic action, as his intentions were to eliminate the women. He was killed in the resulting action. The women were unharmed, and a little shocked. I released them, but asked them to stay put. I retrieved the attacker weapon, and proceeded to find the final man. He had just located the first assailant. Again I had to take action, this time to defend myself. I had no choice but to shoot the man at close range. The bullet travelled through him, and into the other man. Both were killed. Knowing my prospective client was still somewhere in the property, I did a systematic search. I found him on the floor of his study. I released him, from his incapacitation. A few minutes later, we both went to find the women. Due to the nature of the attack, other actions were to be taken by the client.

A further meeting has been arranged at his offices for the 15th. Hopefully this one will be less eventful, and more productive.


________________________________________________________

She closed down the file, and fired up the internet. She checked in on a few of her favourite sites. Then checked in on Facebook. She smiled as she saw the usual, banter going on, she had several alerts, and invitations. She had been a left message on her wall, from C. Leaner. Letting her know questions had been asked. She posted a reply, and logged off. She encrypted the file, and shut the computer down. In the morning she would contact the gallery owner, and let him know about the recovery of the paintings. For now, she need food, a shower and sleep. Heading to the apartment out the back, she went to the fridge, groaning as she realised that the others had raided it again. She was going to have to have words with them. Grabbing the phone she called for a take out delivery. Then headed to the shower. Undressing she looked at herself. Her body was criss - crossed with scars, and she had no knowledge of how she got them. She only knew what she had been told by the doctors, she recalled waking up in hospital. The smell triggering a flash of something, but it was gone so fast she could barely remember it. The doctor had told her that she had been in a coma, for the last three months, and that they had completed surgery on her. Over the next few weeks, she had gotten stronger, and come to terms with what had happened, and also her new face. She couldn’t remember what she had looked like before, so she just accepted it. She had asked about, payment, and numerous other questions, including the big one. Who was she? They couldn’t give her an answer. They hadn’t found any ID on her when she had been found. As for payment, it had been paid for by an anonymous patron of the hospital. He funded, cutting edge, and new treatments. She had been a prime candidate. They helped her find an apartment, and even a job. She came up with her own name. She had a thing for flowers, and decided on Bella Donatella. It sounded Italian, and she liked it. A play on words, if anyone noticed. She brought herself back to the present.

She stepped into the stream of water, relishing the feel of it running over her. She closed her eyes and relaxed, she turned the water to as hot as she could take it. In her relaxed state images of Josef came up. She gave a smile, he was good looking, then the images changed. She was back in her Ferrari, and he was in the passenger seat. The wind was whipping about them, as she drove at speed. The car seemed to skid, then everything went black. Her eyes shot open, her breathing was erratic, and she shivered despite the temperature of the water. This time it was clearer, but she couldn’t place it. Her car, and him they were linked, was he the key to who she was. Did he know her. She would ask him on Friday when she saw him. The ringing of the door bell, brought her a welcome distraction. Turning off the water she wrapped a towel about her, then grabbed her robe. She checked the monitor, and saw the delivery guy. He had been hitting on her on and off for the last couple of months. She found her purse and removed the money. Opening the door, she smiled at him. “Hey if I knew you wanted more, I would have brought this when I clocked off. We could have shared.” He had green eyes and red hair, the freckles on his nose, made him cute. The thing was he was younger than her.

“Sorry, Brad. I keep telling you, a few more years. You’ve got some growing up to do.”

“Aww, I like older women, and you’re hot.” he blushed, his skin almost matching the colour of his hair. “Okay, okay. That’s $23.75.” she handed him thirty dollars.

“Keep the rest Brad. You always bring a little sunshine into my day. See you next time.” Then she closed the door, and sat on the sofa. She turned on some music, selecting a play list, then sat back to eat her food. She thought back to the paintings that had been recovered. Shelly had said the only one that she hadn’t retrieved was the Monet. Which brought her thoughts back to Josef, and the paintings at his house. She would have liked more time to study them. The classical painters, were a love of hers. She held an eclectic knowledge about them. How was it she was thinking about him again, it was like she was drawn to him. She put it down to vamp allure, though she had never felt it like this before. She finished eating, putting the remainder in the fridge. Again she smiled, her staff held two vamps and their supplies were hidden. At the back of the visible interior was a hidden area. So anyone not in the know, would never see the blood stored in bottles in the back. She returned to the lounge, and flopped down, her leg out in front of her, the other tucked beneath. She surveyed her damaged knee, so far it was the only thing that hadn’t been operated on. They had offered to give her a new knee, but she turned them down. She had no desire to go back into hospital voluntarily. She had spent enough time there already. So she braved the pain, and used a cane. Like today, it had it’s uses. She felt herself drifting off to sleep, so turning off the music, she limped to her room, and got ready for bed. She only hoped she wouldn’t have the nightmares again. She longed for one night of undisturbed sleep. Laying back she closed her eyes, and let oblivion claim her. She had dreams, but they were of shopping, and a party. Lots of people dressed to the nines, modern art on the walls. She seemed to be there, but she didn’t remember ever attending anything like this. She woke up, when her alarm buzzed. She stretched, she felt better than she had in a while. She tried to recall the details of the dream, but it was fading. Never mind, she was rested, and ready to face the day. Dressing in a pale blue shirt and jeans, she headed to the office. The machine already flashing with messages. She listened to each one, made several calls back, and checked in on a few of her staff. She unlocked the door at 8am sharp, and went back to her desk. The door opened, and a couple walked in, Bella looked up. “Morning you two, nice of you to come in today. I hope your feeling better.” her voice dripped sarcasm.

“Sorry Bella, we both had something that didn’t agree with us.” It was Gina who spoke up, Santos was keeping his head down. “I. we didn’t mean to drop you in it. What have you got for us today?” She was genuinely sorry.

“I rescheduled the appointments, you should have done yesterday. He’s a list, split it between the two of you. I’ll be out of the office later.” She handed them the list, and they went into the other office to work out who was doing what. Twenty minutes later, they were heading back out the door. “Call in later, we need to discus this.”

“Sure, bye.” then they were gone. Bella just smirked, at first those two had hated each other. Now they were inseparable. She ploughed on with the paperwork, filling in the accounts, balancing the book. They maybe a small operation but they were profitable. She had chosen her team well. Her bumping into the cleaners had been fortuitous. Over the past twelve months she had gained clients from them, such as Josef Kostan. About twenty percent of her clients were vamps. She had a reputation for being thorough, and effective. She may not be the cheapest, but they all got what they paid for. She never took on cases of infidelity, or missing persons. Those were for the police or private investigators. She had met several, over the time she had been in business. Some of her work came from them. She thought of one, he was a vamp, and good looking with it. He was engaged to a human. Mick St. John. He was good at his job, she had asked him to look into her past, to see if he could find anything. He found nothing. It was like she didn’t exist before now. Time had flown, and her stomach grumble. She had missed breakfast. She went through to the kitchen, brewed some coffee, and made herself a sandwich. Taking both she walked back into the office. She had a start, as she notice Shelly leaning on her desk. “Girl, I swear your going to give me a heart attack one of these days. So you’ve got the paintings?” It wasn’t really a question.

“Yep, you wanna see them, or shall I return them to gallery?” She had pushed off the desk, keys in hand.

“I’ll take them back, I need to see the owner of the gallery anyway. Stick them in the back of the Ferrari. I’ll make the call, then get moving.” She tossed her own keys to the young vamp. She was reminded why she had employed her. Her reactions were quick, but she was silent as a ghost. She had the ability to get into places most thieves and burglars couldn’t. She had been caught, by Bella herself, trying to steal her car. She was given the option, work with her, of suffer vampire justice. She had chosen the former, that was six months ago, and she had never looked back. Shelly told her, later than no-one had really cared about her, and the fact she gave her an chance, meant a lot to her. Bella, called the gallery, arranging to meet the owner, to return the paintings, but also to receive payment.

___________________________________________________________________

Josef was just leaving his office when the phone rang. “Kostan.”

“Ah Josef, just the man. I wanted to let you know that the paintings that were stolen from the gallery have been recovered. They are being returned in an hour. I wondered if you would like to be here?” The smarmy voice on the other end queried him.

“Good afternoon Cordell. I was just leaving for the afternoon. I have some business to take care of, out of the office. You say the paintings have been recovered after all this time. Then maybe I will come to the gallery, I would like to thank whoever got them back.” he looked at the time. “I’ll be there in thirty minutes. The loss of those paintings has cost me a lot of money, and more than that. I am going to take them back into my own ownership. Expect me.” Then he hung up. He made on quick call to his house, just to let the girls know he was going to be later than planned. Then he headed out to the gallery, just as he had once before, two years before. He park outside, and strode into the gallery. Glancing round he spotted Cordell Lockyer, and crossed the gallery floor to his side. “ I hope this visit, will be less harrowing, than the last time I was here, Cordell.” He was standing stiffly, hands clasped behind him. The man turned to face him. There was something in his posture, an unease. Josef just put it own to his age. He had a couple of centuries, on the man next to him.

“Mr Kostan, Sir. I’m glad you could make it. This is a momentous occasion. Don’t you think?” He was nervous, but trying to hide it. There was a slight tremor in his voice.

“Cordell, as I told you, I am reclaiming the pictures. The only reason I came, was so I could personally thank, the person responsible for the recovery. I consider you inept. You will receive no more funding or financial grants from me.” He was cold, all business. His anger for the man in front of him, barely held in check. His attention was grabbed by the figure walking across the foyer. “Miss Donatella, a pleasure to see you again. May I ask why you are here?”

She was smiling, but there was a hint of confusion mixed in on her face. “Mr Kostan. I am here to return some paintings to the gallery.” She looked about her. She briefly closed her eyes. Then turned her attention to the other man. “Mr Lockyer I presume. I believe you met my colleague, Shelly Matthews. She was able to recover all but one painting. Do you have….” she stopped and looked about again.

“What is it?” Josef had seen this response before. Bella was on edge, and something wasn’t right. Rose had had the same body language before the attack on the gallery. He trusted it, he trusted her. He scanned the room, to see if anything was out of place.

“Nothing, I just feel like I’ve been here, and done it before. The strange part is, this is the first time I’ve ever come to the gallery. This sort of modern art isn’t quite my thing. I like chaos, something that needs interpretation by the viewer.” Josef looked back at her.

“Pollock, you like Jackson Pollock.” It had dawned on him, her movements, her scent, her eyes.

“Yes I do. How could you possibly know that.” Before she could continue, they were interrupted.

“Yes well this is all very interesting, but back to the paintings. Do you have them with you?” There was an insistence in his voice, an urgency. Bella looked at him, she had the urge to stall him. She was restless, and something about him was bothering her.

“Yes I do. They’re in the car. Before I return them, I would like to see where they were taken from, and what measures you have to ensure their safety.” She went towards the gallery where they had hung before. Unerringly.

“Yes well they were in this gallery.” Lockyer was uncomfortable, he kept shifting his weight nervously. “But Mr Kostan has informed me that he will be retaining the paintings in his own private collection.” Bella looked unsurprised. Her attention was back scanning the rooms. Her brow creased in worry, eyes darkening, focused. A hand on her shoulder commanding her awareness. “Shall we at least bring them inside, so we can check them over. I will not pay if the paintings have been damaged in anyway.” Even Josef was picking up on his agitated state.

“Mr Lockyer, you engaged my company to locate and return the pictures. We are regarded as one of the best, and for good reason. We ensure the safety of anyone, or anything we are charged with taking care of.” Her voice was tightly controlled. She turned back to Josef. “Isn’t that correct Mr Kostan?”

“Yes, she is highly effective in her duty of care. Now I believe I would like to see my property.” he laid a hand on Bella’s arm. A shiver ran through her. Lockyer turned on his heels and walked towards the main entrance, Josef stepped forward, and then paused. Bella hadn’t followed, she was lost in her thoughts.

In her mind, Bella was viewing the gallery. Studying the various works of art. Various works by different masters. She was gazing at a van Gogh. It was one of the starry night pictures. Next to it was a familiar piece. A sharp noise broke through the reverie. She spun round, Josef was stood behind her, his eyes wide, and white. His fangs drawn. She grabbed him, as a second shot crashed through him. Burying itself in her chest. She gasped and the pain broke all the barriers, that her mind had erected. She spun round as a small volley headed their way. Two more rounds found a target. Screams echoed through the building, then a deathly silence. Josef managed to look past Bella, to see Lockyer being beheaded, his lifeless form hitting the marble floor. He remembered what Rose had done years before, and lifted one of the paintings. The security screen dropped. The smell of blood in the enclosed area, was overwhelming. He faced Bella, she was slumped against the wall, a trail of blood smeared down it. Her heart was struggling, she was bleeding out. In a flash he was at her side. Her eyes were closed, a line of blood ran from the corner of her mouth. Josef knelt in front of her, taking her face in both of his hands. Her eyes fluttered open, and she tried to take a deeper breath. Their gazes locked, and she smiled at him. Her voice was just above a whisper, “Thank you Josef. I remember.” With her last remaining strength she pulled him forward, and kissed him. She gave him her final breath, then fell back, her heart stuttering to a stand still. When the security door was finally opened, they found Josef, still holding her, whispering softly in her ear. “Rose, my sweet Rose.”
What Josef want's. Josef gets!

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mitzie
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Re: Every Rose has it's Thorns Alt ending PG rating

Post by mitzie »

That was so hauntingly sad, my heart aches for them both!!!! :hankie: I love both endings!!!! So well-done!!!! :clapping: :clapping: :yahoo: :bmoon: :heart: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :thud: :thud: :thud: :thud: :notworthy: :hearts: :rose:

mitzie
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JosefsRose
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Re: Every Rose has it's Thorns Alt ending PG rating

Post by JosefsRose »

mitzie wrote:That was so hauntingly sad, my heart aches for them both!!!! :hankie: I love both endings!!!! So well-done!!!! :clapping: :clapping: :yahoo: :bmoon: :heart: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :thud: :thud: :thud: :thud: :notworthy: :hearts: :rose:

mitzie
Thanks Mitzie, :wave: :thanks:

There is truely nothing worse than a melancholy muse :sigh: . I don't like sad endings, so it was hard to write.

Jenny
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francis
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Re: Every Rose has it's Thorns Alt ending PG rating

Post by francis »

Oh, this is truly sad. Josef really needs better security. :comfort:
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