Chapter 10: Rose Finds Cal hard to let go
Rose went to bed excited that night. 'My God!' she thought to herself, 'soon, I'll be on a DATE with Jack, wouldn't THAT be nice!' Little did Rose realize that Cal had spiritual powers, including the power to seduce, charm and kill that Rose was not yet aware of. Rose climbed into bed, as usual, but she was met by a dream, one of many that she would never forget. The dream took place at around midnight, and lasted for only a few seconds, but it was the impact that it left on Rose's mind, which left her shaken for a while.
12:00 A.M.
Rose found herself walking to her locker, working out her combination, minding her own business, but all the while, she could sense that someone was watching her, someone with a presence, and a personality that she didn't like! She looked up, and lo and behold, she was staring DRACULA right in the face! Rose stepped back in shock. Dracula looked at her with his red and beady eyes, which were designed to pierce right into souls, and destroy them. Rose saw Dracula's lips part in a very menacing way, and this made every hair stand up on her body in fright. Rose heard Dracula say to her, "Once in my grasp, always in my grasp!" She then saw his lips part into a very menacing smile, which was so sinister that it made her heart stop, in both her dreams, and in her physical body. She could smell death, as well as human blood, which numerous legends (which she had always assumed were hearsay and old wives' tales, at least, UNTIL NOW!) had informed her that he lived off of! The apparition of Dracula disappeared, but not before he placed a strange, round ring, which appeared to be made out of black enamel, and appeared to have waves, on either side of it in Rose's right palm. "Aahh." Rose screamed in pain, physically, she waved her right hand, because, she could feel a sharp burning sensation in her right palm. Dracula then said in her dream, "Sweet dreams, BABY!" She saw him smile a sinister smile, again, and then he raised his black cape above his head, with both of his arms, and then disappeared. Rose woke up out of her dream, in a state of sheer fright
12:45 A.M.
Rose, frantically, fumbled for the switch that would turn on her table lamp, and a sense of relief flooded her body, when she found it, somehow, it served to wash out the fear, which had flooded into her body, as a result of the dream. However, she felt her right palm throbbing in pain, she looked down at it, and to her shock, she noticed that a round mark, with little points in it, in the shape of a ring, was burned into it! She immediately had flashbacks to her dream, and she could swear, she could hear sinister laughter in the room, which seemed to come from another dimension! Now, Rose, really felt confused, so confused, that she did something she really shouldn't have done. She walked to the mirror, which stood on top of her dresser drawer, and she held her right palm up to the mirror, and she saw a vision she would never forget.
As she was holding her right palm up to the mirror, she blinked her eyes, as though she was being revisited by flashback visions, which she was. She saw nothing but a dull yellow smoke, as she was looking at the burn mark on her palm, and she saw the apparition of Dracula, dressed as a sinister gentleman, a devil in black gentleman's clothing, a 'great pretender' in the waiting of the long list of courtiers and suitors. She saw his grotesque, non-human face, which made him look like a monster, and it sent chills up her spine, when she saw this head on a human body. Dracula walked to her, and she could hear his voice echoing, as though it was coming from another dimension, as he said, "No need to worry, my darling, I am a 'God' and a 'demon' at once. My ability to trick is surpassed by my callousness for the human race. It is my duty to trick and deceive, and it is yours to be beguiled. I am the master at making a wolf appear to be a gentle lamb. Have no fear, when you're grown, you'll know and appreciate true love. I am the 'man' who makes people know the true meaning of the phrase 'hit by cupid's arrow' because I am the opposite of the 'God' cupid, I am his evil counter part!" It was then that Dracula disappeared. Rose looked at the wound, and saw that it was bleeding, she wiped the blood off with a Kleenex, and, she saw Dracula's apparition in the wound, and he was laughing at her. She felt her heart stop in shock. The apparition disappeared, and so did the wound mark. When Rose next looked at her right palm, she saw that it had completely healed. But, she immediately sensed a presence behind her. She looked in the mirror, and she saw Cal's apparition, and the sultry look in his eyes, really caught hers. His eyes looked as though they had found its prey, and were honing in on the kill! Cal stroked Rose's shoulders very gently and she heard him say, "Darling, I do apologize for the way I acted yesterday, but I just had to show a lady how to act, that's a gentleman's duty! Here's something to make up for the hurt feelings, darling!" Cal then stooped down, and kissed Rose, gently, on her right cheek. Rose felt a gentle peck, on her cheek, which moved her. Cal, then placed a holographic image of a Hope diamond necklace on her neck, and he smiled at her, and looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes, as he said, "For you, my darling!" in a voice which moved Rose, spiritually, and emotionally. Cal's apparition disappeared. But Rose felt much different about Cal. 'My God!' she thought to herself, 'what a gentleman!' She then climbed back into bed to sleep.
Jasmine saw it differently however; she had been watching the entire encounter, from her invisible place in the spiritual realm. She chuckled to herself in amusement, as she thought, 'just another soul I HAVE to save! Poor Rose, she should have said, 'Cal is a BASTARD, after he blew me off, he tried to sucker me in, spiritually, with what has to be the oldest trick in the book that evil uses to bait innocent 'godly' people'. But, to no avail, she'll learn, and when she's matured, she'll know what the phrase, 'to be hit by Cupid's arrow,' means.'
Night passed into day, and Rose woke up, feeling very good, that she had finally found her true Adonis in Cal! Boy was SHE in for a rude SHOCK! Rose got dressed, and she went downstairs. Ruth looked at her wryly as she said, "You're up early, and you're starting a TRADITION here!" Rose said, "Well, I just decided that there are other productive things to do in the morning, besides sleeping in!" Ruth gave Rose a very wry smile as she said, "I think Cal's the best thing that ever happened to you, he's helping you grow up!" Rose said, "Cal is a gentleman, I guess.but.well, he does have his good points!" Ruth responded with, "I'm sure he does, even evil had its good points!" Rose protested, "Mom! Cal is a gentleman!" Ruth replied, "Ah, my darling, there are gentlemen, and then there are pretenders, which is Cal?" Rose, tartly retorted, "why, Cal is a gentleman!" Rose bit into her bagel in a sign of defiance. Ruth shot Rose an off look from the corner of her eye, as she said, "Well. We'll see!" Rose hurried off to school.
Rose went by her locker, when, lo and behold, she saw Cal there. Rose, immediately floated into a dream-like state, and she smiled, as she said, "Cal, I had a dream about you last night, where you appeared to me in the form of a true gentleman!" Cal smiled at her, as he walked behind her, and he lowered something onto her neck, and clasped it on. "It's a necklace," Cal told Rose, "It's the Hope necklace, which was King Louis XIV's wedding present for his wife. It's fit for a queen, and it's for this reason that I thought you should have it, MY QUEEN!" Rose felt elated. Without thinking, she rushed off to the bathroom, to look at it. Cal's eyes flashed a red glare of evil, and the shadow of Dracula slowly emerged from underneath his feet, as he said to himself, with a plotting look in his eyes, as he wrung his hands, "Yes! I've got her!"
Rose went into the bathroom, so that she could look at the necklace. She was blinded by it. The necklace was composed of many small, bright white diamonds, and had a huge, blue diamond, as a pendant, in the middle. The reflection of the light from the white diamonds was so bright, that when Rose looked at the necklace in the mirror, she was blinded by what she saw! She put her arms in front of her face, as though she was trying to shield herself from the sheer brilliance of the necklace. She felt very elated as she walked out of the bathroom. In fact, she felt as though she was walking on a cloud. It was then that she saw Jack, and she saw that his jaw was wide open, and his lower jaw was almost touching the floor.
"Rose.Rose." Jack stuttered, the words, almost gushing out of his mouth, "who gave you that?" Jack pointed, in amazement, in a state of speechlessness, at the necklace on her neck. Rose looked at Jack, and she said, in a very uninterested manner, "Oh, Cal did." Jack's eyes were, literally, popping out of his head, as he said, "Rose.Rose.the thing is a work of art, I mean.it's so beautiful, it MUST BE CURSED!" Rose gave Jack a startled look, "What do you say, Jack?" Jack took a few steps back, demurred, he silently whispered to himself, "Nothing, nothing.never mind, Rose." Jack continued, but, Rose noticed that Jack looked to the side of Rose and her necklace, as he was talking to her, as if he was deliberately trying to avoid looking into the blinding reflection that the necklace gave off, because he was trying not to get possessed, and mesmerized by it, "It's a nice necklace, Rose, I'm sure you really like Cal now!" It was then that Rose's spirit snapped, and her face fell, she looked down at the floor, in a state of despondence, to reflect the current state of disappointment, and confusion that she was experiencing, she said, in a very small voice, "No, Jack, that's not it.this necklace means NOTHING to me, I mean, it's NICE, but.I feel as though there's no substance to this necklace, just as I feel as though there's no substance to Cal, or our relationship, but I feel, fatally drawn to him. Every time I think about this necklace, I feel as though I'm the luckiest girl in the world, and I feel a wonderful feeling when I think that Cal gave me this necklace, and this feeling feels just like LOVE!" Rose gave Jack a very confused, distraught, and desperate look when she looked at him straight in the eyes as she was talking to him. Jack was taken aback when he saw the look in her eyes, which, appeared to him, to be a soul in distress, seriously crying out for help. The look in Rose's eyes was so dire that Jack didn't know how to react, so he put his right hand on her right shoulder and he said, in a very comforting voice, which was matched by a very comforting look on his face, "Don't worry Rose, no matter what, I'll always be there for you!" Rose saw the sincere, yet intense look in his eyes, which made his eyes look as though they were burning with an intense passion, and she was, genuinely, confused, because she had never seen such a look in anyone's eyes before. She wasn't familiar with the concept of the soul, and the spirit, as Jack was, but she could tell that, deep down inside, there was something in Jack that, genuinely, wanted to help Rose out. Rose stuttered, and gave Jack a helpless look as she gently said, "Jack, I love you!" Jack said, "Well, I'd better go to class." He turned around and walked away from her, but he shot her a backwards look as he said, "I love you too, Rose, that's why I'm here to help you." Rose looked down at the floor, feeling genuinely confused, she said to herself, in a state of deep thought, "Why would Jack be here to help me, from what? A mad chainsaw murderer? Oh please, that's the stuff of tabloids, what could possibly be so bad in my life that I would need saving from?"
Poor Rose, she still didn't understand the concept of the spiritual realm. She didn't understand that there are powerful souls which lurk in the invisible spiritual realm, which can access peoples' souls, and affect their actions, thought patterns and behaviour in the physical realm, but Jasmine did, and Jasmine knew that Rose would soon find out about the spiritual realm.
Rose and Jack were in Biology class. Rose sighed, because Biology was NOT her forte. She always wondered why she had to learn about things she would NEVER use. Rose found herself drawing, mindlessly, on a piece of paper, while the Biology teacher ranted on, and on about the genome, and talked about the exciting new discoveries that the field of Genetics was yielding. Rose, mindlessly, got out her Nokia, and began IM-ing Jack.
Rose: So Jack, how are you?
Jack: Not now Rose, I'm busy listening to the lecture!
Rose: Oh, come now, Jack, SURELY, you can chat with your LADY LOVE!
Now, Jack's brow wrinkled in confusion, 'Lady Love?' he thought to himself, 'I thought she was in love with Cal!' Then in hit Jack, 'Rose is CONFUSED!'
Jack responded with the following message: Rose, let's talk after class. I think it would be really important for you!
3:00 P.M.
Rose and Jack met outside of Biology class. Jack was milling around. Rose asked Jack, in her piercing innocent voice, "Jack, you said you wanted to talk to me?" Jack looked Rose straight in the eye, and when he looked at her, he was caught by the deep and bright blue colour of her eyes, which reminded him of the ocean. "Look Rose, you always say you're in love with Cal, but then you act as though you're really in LOVE with ME! Now I know that the teen years are the time for hormones and feelings of 'puppy love' to run out of control, but." Then he came up closer to Rose (normally, he respected cultural norms for space, but this time, he felt Rose could benefit from a real heart to heart talk) "I think you're REALLY confused!" Rose became quite indignant, "I am not Jack!" Jack responded, "Ok, so WHY DID YOU IM ME IN CLASS?" Rose replied, "Well.well, I.well." Then it happened!
Jasmine was watching everything from afar, and what happened was so instantaneous, that it reminded her of the effects of the price of a stock (when derivatives are being traded) the minute insider information (insider trading is illegal) regarding the stock price is leaked out to the public - the advantage that the person who harboured the inside information, which is reflected by an increase in the stock price, which is enjoyed only by the person who harbours the information (which is why insider trading is illegal in America, and in other mature economies, but not in Pakistan - you should see how insider trading information distorts stocks on the Pakistani stock exchange) disappears the minute the information is leaked to the public.
My dear readers, imagine the example given to you by Jasmine of the effect of leaked insider information on the price of a stock as you read what Jack saw reflected on Rose's face, and what Rose felt.
Jack saw that Rose's face, immediately, became quite florid, and ruddy, as though, somehow, she was being hit with special information and insights from the beyond, perhaps from a distant spiritual realm, which was invisible, and impermeable to the ordinary human experience! Perhaps, Jack reasoned, only certain humans had access to that information, which helped them see the world in ways that others, who didn't have access to this information couldn't. Jack felt like hitting himself, because he was an artist, 'but, for all of my artistic abilities, I seem to be unable to tap into this realm, as Rose can!' he thought to himself in frustration! Rose stuttered, as some sort of innate, and distant realization washed over her face. It reminded Jack of the experience he had seen people who had been hooked to illegal drugs face, when they finally sobered up to the bitter and harsh reality of their addiction. Rose, then looked, very meekly at Jack. She had a look of real helplessness on her face, and an even more helpless look was reflected in her eyes. When Jack saw this look in her eyes, he was very troubled, because, somehow, he could see a very innocent soul being trapped by some unforeseen power, when he looked into her eyes, and it disturbed her, because in all of his 17 years, he'd never seen anything like it! Then Rose looked down at the floor, the supine position.
'Uh-oh,' Jack thought to himself. The supine position was a bad position because it indicated resignation, and an unwillingness to come to terms with the situation being faced at hand, it signaled a desire to hide behind fear, and childishness, it signaled a lack of self-confidence, and an unwillingness to become a stronger person, by facing harrowing battles in life. Jack KNEW there was a strong spiritual force in Rose, which could fight! He had seen it numerous times when he looked in her eyes. So, as he had done before, he, placed his right hand underneath Rose's chin, and he lifted it, so that she was making eye contact with him. Then Jack said in a stern tone, which reflected to Rose that he wasn't going to take any beating around the bush, "Now, Rose, you're going to tell me exactly what's bothering you." Rose turned her head away, and she looked like she was going to cry, as she said in a breaking and cracking voice, which broke Jack's heart, and made him feel like crying, "No, Jack.I can't.it's too hard." Then, Jack said in a gentler voice, which made Rose more willing to talk, "Do you think you can talk about some of it?"
Then Rose turned towards him, looked him straight in the eye, and said, "Cal is a vampire, who's out to get me!" Jack stuttered, he was choking on his own saliva, "VAMPIRE! Oh, come on, ROSE, VAMPIRES DON'T EXIST!" Rose looked disappointed, her face fell, and she said, "Well, I should have known you'd never understand. I'd best go now." Before Rose could go anywhere, Jack put a firm grip on her right shoulder, and he said, "No Rose, I can see that this is bothering you, so I'm willing to listen." Rose said, "Let's go to the cafeteria." In a serious voice, and Jack could tell, by looking in her eyes, that she was damn serious!
The Confession in the Cafeteria
Rose looked around, once she and Jack had gotten to the cafeteria. Jack looked confused, if he didn't know any better, he'd swear that Rose was checking to see if anyone was around! 'Rose!" Jack asked in curiosity, "what are you doing?" Rose answered, "I'm checking if anyone's around." Then she closed the doors behind her. She approached Jack in a very serious manner, and it was then that Jack could feel every hair on his spine raise, in a state of fear. Rose's voice became very serious in tone, and very low, as she said, "Jack, yesterday, I had a dream in which I dreamt that Dracula was standing by me, by the lockers. He said something about always being in his grasp, once he'd gotten someone in his grasp. Then." Rose looked down at the floor sadly, as she said, "Then, today, Cal appeared and he gave me this necklace. I mean, I'd sworn Cal off last night as a bastard, but I saw him in my dream last night, after I saw Dracula. And the thing is that Cal, somehow, appeared in my room, and he put the Hope diamond on my neck. I was so enthralled by the necklace, that I, immediately, forgave Cal, on the spot. I was scared last night, and I told my mother about my dream, and she was NO help! Then this morning, as I was standing by the lockers, I saw Cal, again, ad I saw that he gave me the necklace, and I thought I was in love with him, but something tells me that he's not the one for me!" Rose looked up at Jack with a sad look in her eyes, which looked as though her soul was crying, probably for help.
Rose continued, "Somehow, I feel trapped!" Jack sighed, "Yes, that's exactly what I thought, that's why I WANTED to talk to you. I had a feeling that SOMETHING FUNNY WAS ON YOUR MIND!" Rose said, "I think you're the one for me, but, somehow, you just feel SO far away. It's as though an invisible barrier is keeping you away from me!" Jack said, "You know, it's funny, because, as an artist, I paint the spiritual realm, through art, and I see invisible barriers all of the time. I try to capture the essence, and the souls of living things when I paint. I didn't really think much of it, until now, but, now that you mention that you think that there's an invisible barrier that's separating you and me, I am beginning to wonder if there are really such things!" Rose asked, "And about vampires, and Dracula!" Rose shuddered; somehow, mention of that 'mythological' creature was enough to send chills up her spine. Jack replied, "Well, I didn't ever think that such things really existed, and I don't know that I do now, but I am willing to believe that there may be forces, that we may not be able to sense with our human senses, which may inhabit Earth, and may influence the way we behave, and the way we interact with others. Perhaps your dreams are a sign that an invisible, and evil force is working through Cal, I mean, I never DID trust the guy, and perhaps, the barrier that you perceive between you and me, which you assert is invisible, signifies that there may be hurdles for us to overcome, before you and I can realize true love. Perhaps, we were the true soul mates, and not you and Cal!" Rose's face lit up, and she said, "You're very wise, Jack, I wish I had your insight." Jack said, "Well, I'm an artist, and I think that helps."
Jack walked Rose home. As Rose was getting ready to go into her house, Jack looked at the necklace, and said, "In some ways, I think you're lucky, because there aren't many in this world who would have gotten such a necklace!" Rose asked, "What do you know about this necklace?" Jack shrugged, in a matter of fact way, "Not much, except that it's rumoured to be cursed. But I don't place much stock in rumours or legends. I mean I may be a more spiritual person, because I'm an artist, but I'd like to see tangible evidence regarding a phenomenon before I believe it. In that way I'm scientific minded. Most people don't think of artists as being scientific minded, but we do reproduce nature, in a more emotional form, and you need to have a lot of scientific knowledge and understanding to do that!"
Rose went into her house, and she went up to her room. She took the necklace off of her neck, and she placed it, lying face up, on her bed. The millions of little white sparkles, which the white diamonds gave off, as the light reflected off of it, impressed her. What caught her eyes even more was the fact that the light from the fixtures in the ceiling, seemed to play ff of the blue diamond, which somehow, appeared to have powers different from the other diamonds, or perhaps, that was just Rose's imagination.
Rose went about her business, as usual, and for her, the necklace was nothing but a 'nice piece of jewellery' but Jasmine knew differently. Jasmine knew that the necklace was part of a long and harrowing spiritual test to see where Rose's loyalties really lie. Since the beginning of time, legends, ancient and modern have talked about 'tests' that spiritual forces, which were invisible to humans, would put humans through, to see how strong they were, to see where their loyalties really lie, or to help them mature. Jasmine knew that this was happening with Rose. Jasmine knew that, while the process could be painful, the end result would be to make the person much stronger, and to mature the person. In Rose's case, this would happen, and she would find 'true love.' However, Jasmine knew that Cal would be hard to quit for Rose, because Cal was 'evil' and, when people are hurting, as Rose was, or when people are confused, as Rose was, 'evil' always appeals, because 'evil' offers the 'illusion' of power and greatness, which appeals to such people. However, 'evil' and its powers are an 'illusion' because 'evil' promises a lot, and yields nothing, because 'evil' has no power, instead, it gets its strength by feeding off of the spiritual energy of people. Rose, would, in her spiritual struggle, encounter a force opposite 'evil', which was 'good' the penultimate of it, which was an abstract force, which held the most awesome love, which healed all wounds, in the universe, many referred to this force as 'God' and over the centuries, different people, from Moses, to Arjuna, had different ideas of what this force was, and how to reach it. There has been no consensus reached, and there never will be. But one thing that people who really experienced this force always agreed on was the fact that the force was 'eye-opening' and maturing, in that it helped them see the world in ways that they hadn't before. Such would be the case with Rose.
Rose went to bed excited that night. 'My God!' she thought to herself, 'soon, I'll be on a DATE with Jack, wouldn't THAT be nice!' Little did Rose realize that Cal had spiritual powers, including the power to seduce, charm and kill that Rose was not yet aware of. Rose climbed into bed, as usual, but she was met by a dream, one of many that she would never forget. The dream took place at around midnight, and lasted for only a few seconds, but it was the impact that it left on Rose's mind, which left her shaken for a while.
12:00 A.M.
Rose found herself walking to her locker, working out her combination, minding her own business, but all the while, she could sense that someone was watching her, someone with a presence, and a personality that she didn't like! She looked up, and lo and behold, she was staring DRACULA right in the face! Rose stepped back in shock. Dracula looked at her with his red and beady eyes, which were designed to pierce right into souls, and destroy them. Rose saw Dracula's lips part in a very menacing way, and this made every hair stand up on her body in fright. Rose heard Dracula say to her, "Once in my grasp, always in my grasp!" She then saw his lips part into a very menacing smile, which was so sinister that it made her heart stop, in both her dreams, and in her physical body. She could smell death, as well as human blood, which numerous legends (which she had always assumed were hearsay and old wives' tales, at least, UNTIL NOW!) had informed her that he lived off of! The apparition of Dracula disappeared, but not before he placed a strange, round ring, which appeared to be made out of black enamel, and appeared to have waves, on either side of it in Rose's right palm. "Aahh." Rose screamed in pain, physically, she waved her right hand, because, she could feel a sharp burning sensation in her right palm. Dracula then said in her dream, "Sweet dreams, BABY!" She saw him smile a sinister smile, again, and then he raised his black cape above his head, with both of his arms, and then disappeared. Rose woke up out of her dream, in a state of sheer fright
12:45 A.M.
Rose, frantically, fumbled for the switch that would turn on her table lamp, and a sense of relief flooded her body, when she found it, somehow, it served to wash out the fear, which had flooded into her body, as a result of the dream. However, she felt her right palm throbbing in pain, she looked down at it, and to her shock, she noticed that a round mark, with little points in it, in the shape of a ring, was burned into it! She immediately had flashbacks to her dream, and she could swear, she could hear sinister laughter in the room, which seemed to come from another dimension! Now, Rose, really felt confused, so confused, that she did something she really shouldn't have done. She walked to the mirror, which stood on top of her dresser drawer, and she held her right palm up to the mirror, and she saw a vision she would never forget.
As she was holding her right palm up to the mirror, she blinked her eyes, as though she was being revisited by flashback visions, which she was. She saw nothing but a dull yellow smoke, as she was looking at the burn mark on her palm, and she saw the apparition of Dracula, dressed as a sinister gentleman, a devil in black gentleman's clothing, a 'great pretender' in the waiting of the long list of courtiers and suitors. She saw his grotesque, non-human face, which made him look like a monster, and it sent chills up her spine, when she saw this head on a human body. Dracula walked to her, and she could hear his voice echoing, as though it was coming from another dimension, as he said, "No need to worry, my darling, I am a 'God' and a 'demon' at once. My ability to trick is surpassed by my callousness for the human race. It is my duty to trick and deceive, and it is yours to be beguiled. I am the master at making a wolf appear to be a gentle lamb. Have no fear, when you're grown, you'll know and appreciate true love. I am the 'man' who makes people know the true meaning of the phrase 'hit by cupid's arrow' because I am the opposite of the 'God' cupid, I am his evil counter part!" It was then that Dracula disappeared. Rose looked at the wound, and saw that it was bleeding, she wiped the blood off with a Kleenex, and, she saw Dracula's apparition in the wound, and he was laughing at her. She felt her heart stop in shock. The apparition disappeared, and so did the wound mark. When Rose next looked at her right palm, she saw that it had completely healed. But, she immediately sensed a presence behind her. She looked in the mirror, and she saw Cal's apparition, and the sultry look in his eyes, really caught hers. His eyes looked as though they had found its prey, and were honing in on the kill! Cal stroked Rose's shoulders very gently and she heard him say, "Darling, I do apologize for the way I acted yesterday, but I just had to show a lady how to act, that's a gentleman's duty! Here's something to make up for the hurt feelings, darling!" Cal then stooped down, and kissed Rose, gently, on her right cheek. Rose felt a gentle peck, on her cheek, which moved her. Cal, then placed a holographic image of a Hope diamond necklace on her neck, and he smiled at her, and looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes, as he said, "For you, my darling!" in a voice which moved Rose, spiritually, and emotionally. Cal's apparition disappeared. But Rose felt much different about Cal. 'My God!' she thought to herself, 'what a gentleman!' She then climbed back into bed to sleep.
Jasmine saw it differently however; she had been watching the entire encounter, from her invisible place in the spiritual realm. She chuckled to herself in amusement, as she thought, 'just another soul I HAVE to save! Poor Rose, she should have said, 'Cal is a BASTARD, after he blew me off, he tried to sucker me in, spiritually, with what has to be the oldest trick in the book that evil uses to bait innocent 'godly' people'. But, to no avail, she'll learn, and when she's matured, she'll know what the phrase, 'to be hit by Cupid's arrow,' means.'
Night passed into day, and Rose woke up, feeling very good, that she had finally found her true Adonis in Cal! Boy was SHE in for a rude SHOCK! Rose got dressed, and she went downstairs. Ruth looked at her wryly as she said, "You're up early, and you're starting a TRADITION here!" Rose said, "Well, I just decided that there are other productive things to do in the morning, besides sleeping in!" Ruth gave Rose a very wry smile as she said, "I think Cal's the best thing that ever happened to you, he's helping you grow up!" Rose said, "Cal is a gentleman, I guess.but.well, he does have his good points!" Ruth responded with, "I'm sure he does, even evil had its good points!" Rose protested, "Mom! Cal is a gentleman!" Ruth replied, "Ah, my darling, there are gentlemen, and then there are pretenders, which is Cal?" Rose, tartly retorted, "why, Cal is a gentleman!" Rose bit into her bagel in a sign of defiance. Ruth shot Rose an off look from the corner of her eye, as she said, "Well. We'll see!" Rose hurried off to school.
Rose went by her locker, when, lo and behold, she saw Cal there. Rose, immediately floated into a dream-like state, and she smiled, as she said, "Cal, I had a dream about you last night, where you appeared to me in the form of a true gentleman!" Cal smiled at her, as he walked behind her, and he lowered something onto her neck, and clasped it on. "It's a necklace," Cal told Rose, "It's the Hope necklace, which was King Louis XIV's wedding present for his wife. It's fit for a queen, and it's for this reason that I thought you should have it, MY QUEEN!" Rose felt elated. Without thinking, she rushed off to the bathroom, to look at it. Cal's eyes flashed a red glare of evil, and the shadow of Dracula slowly emerged from underneath his feet, as he said to himself, with a plotting look in his eyes, as he wrung his hands, "Yes! I've got her!"
Rose went into the bathroom, so that she could look at the necklace. She was blinded by it. The necklace was composed of many small, bright white diamonds, and had a huge, blue diamond, as a pendant, in the middle. The reflection of the light from the white diamonds was so bright, that when Rose looked at the necklace in the mirror, she was blinded by what she saw! She put her arms in front of her face, as though she was trying to shield herself from the sheer brilliance of the necklace. She felt very elated as she walked out of the bathroom. In fact, she felt as though she was walking on a cloud. It was then that she saw Jack, and she saw that his jaw was wide open, and his lower jaw was almost touching the floor.
"Rose.Rose." Jack stuttered, the words, almost gushing out of his mouth, "who gave you that?" Jack pointed, in amazement, in a state of speechlessness, at the necklace on her neck. Rose looked at Jack, and she said, in a very uninterested manner, "Oh, Cal did." Jack's eyes were, literally, popping out of his head, as he said, "Rose.Rose.the thing is a work of art, I mean.it's so beautiful, it MUST BE CURSED!" Rose gave Jack a startled look, "What do you say, Jack?" Jack took a few steps back, demurred, he silently whispered to himself, "Nothing, nothing.never mind, Rose." Jack continued, but, Rose noticed that Jack looked to the side of Rose and her necklace, as he was talking to her, as if he was deliberately trying to avoid looking into the blinding reflection that the necklace gave off, because he was trying not to get possessed, and mesmerized by it, "It's a nice necklace, Rose, I'm sure you really like Cal now!" It was then that Rose's spirit snapped, and her face fell, she looked down at the floor, in a state of despondence, to reflect the current state of disappointment, and confusion that she was experiencing, she said, in a very small voice, "No, Jack, that's not it.this necklace means NOTHING to me, I mean, it's NICE, but.I feel as though there's no substance to this necklace, just as I feel as though there's no substance to Cal, or our relationship, but I feel, fatally drawn to him. Every time I think about this necklace, I feel as though I'm the luckiest girl in the world, and I feel a wonderful feeling when I think that Cal gave me this necklace, and this feeling feels just like LOVE!" Rose gave Jack a very confused, distraught, and desperate look when she looked at him straight in the eyes as she was talking to him. Jack was taken aback when he saw the look in her eyes, which, appeared to him, to be a soul in distress, seriously crying out for help. The look in Rose's eyes was so dire that Jack didn't know how to react, so he put his right hand on her right shoulder and he said, in a very comforting voice, which was matched by a very comforting look on his face, "Don't worry Rose, no matter what, I'll always be there for you!" Rose saw the sincere, yet intense look in his eyes, which made his eyes look as though they were burning with an intense passion, and she was, genuinely, confused, because she had never seen such a look in anyone's eyes before. She wasn't familiar with the concept of the soul, and the spirit, as Jack was, but she could tell that, deep down inside, there was something in Jack that, genuinely, wanted to help Rose out. Rose stuttered, and gave Jack a helpless look as she gently said, "Jack, I love you!" Jack said, "Well, I'd better go to class." He turned around and walked away from her, but he shot her a backwards look as he said, "I love you too, Rose, that's why I'm here to help you." Rose looked down at the floor, feeling genuinely confused, she said to herself, in a state of deep thought, "Why would Jack be here to help me, from what? A mad chainsaw murderer? Oh please, that's the stuff of tabloids, what could possibly be so bad in my life that I would need saving from?"
Poor Rose, she still didn't understand the concept of the spiritual realm. She didn't understand that there are powerful souls which lurk in the invisible spiritual realm, which can access peoples' souls, and affect their actions, thought patterns and behaviour in the physical realm, but Jasmine did, and Jasmine knew that Rose would soon find out about the spiritual realm.
Rose and Jack were in Biology class. Rose sighed, because Biology was NOT her forte. She always wondered why she had to learn about things she would NEVER use. Rose found herself drawing, mindlessly, on a piece of paper, while the Biology teacher ranted on, and on about the genome, and talked about the exciting new discoveries that the field of Genetics was yielding. Rose, mindlessly, got out her Nokia, and began IM-ing Jack.
Rose: So Jack, how are you?
Jack: Not now Rose, I'm busy listening to the lecture!
Rose: Oh, come now, Jack, SURELY, you can chat with your LADY LOVE!
Now, Jack's brow wrinkled in confusion, 'Lady Love?' he thought to himself, 'I thought she was in love with Cal!' Then in hit Jack, 'Rose is CONFUSED!'
Jack responded with the following message: Rose, let's talk after class. I think it would be really important for you!
3:00 P.M.
Rose and Jack met outside of Biology class. Jack was milling around. Rose asked Jack, in her piercing innocent voice, "Jack, you said you wanted to talk to me?" Jack looked Rose straight in the eye, and when he looked at her, he was caught by the deep and bright blue colour of her eyes, which reminded him of the ocean. "Look Rose, you always say you're in love with Cal, but then you act as though you're really in LOVE with ME! Now I know that the teen years are the time for hormones and feelings of 'puppy love' to run out of control, but." Then he came up closer to Rose (normally, he respected cultural norms for space, but this time, he felt Rose could benefit from a real heart to heart talk) "I think you're REALLY confused!" Rose became quite indignant, "I am not Jack!" Jack responded, "Ok, so WHY DID YOU IM ME IN CLASS?" Rose replied, "Well.well, I.well." Then it happened!
Jasmine was watching everything from afar, and what happened was so instantaneous, that it reminded her of the effects of the price of a stock (when derivatives are being traded) the minute insider information (insider trading is illegal) regarding the stock price is leaked out to the public - the advantage that the person who harboured the inside information, which is reflected by an increase in the stock price, which is enjoyed only by the person who harbours the information (which is why insider trading is illegal in America, and in other mature economies, but not in Pakistan - you should see how insider trading information distorts stocks on the Pakistani stock exchange) disappears the minute the information is leaked to the public.
My dear readers, imagine the example given to you by Jasmine of the effect of leaked insider information on the price of a stock as you read what Jack saw reflected on Rose's face, and what Rose felt.
Jack saw that Rose's face, immediately, became quite florid, and ruddy, as though, somehow, she was being hit with special information and insights from the beyond, perhaps from a distant spiritual realm, which was invisible, and impermeable to the ordinary human experience! Perhaps, Jack reasoned, only certain humans had access to that information, which helped them see the world in ways that others, who didn't have access to this information couldn't. Jack felt like hitting himself, because he was an artist, 'but, for all of my artistic abilities, I seem to be unable to tap into this realm, as Rose can!' he thought to himself in frustration! Rose stuttered, as some sort of innate, and distant realization washed over her face. It reminded Jack of the experience he had seen people who had been hooked to illegal drugs face, when they finally sobered up to the bitter and harsh reality of their addiction. Rose, then looked, very meekly at Jack. She had a look of real helplessness on her face, and an even more helpless look was reflected in her eyes. When Jack saw this look in her eyes, he was very troubled, because, somehow, he could see a very innocent soul being trapped by some unforeseen power, when he looked into her eyes, and it disturbed her, because in all of his 17 years, he'd never seen anything like it! Then Rose looked down at the floor, the supine position.
'Uh-oh,' Jack thought to himself. The supine position was a bad position because it indicated resignation, and an unwillingness to come to terms with the situation being faced at hand, it signaled a desire to hide behind fear, and childishness, it signaled a lack of self-confidence, and an unwillingness to become a stronger person, by facing harrowing battles in life. Jack KNEW there was a strong spiritual force in Rose, which could fight! He had seen it numerous times when he looked in her eyes. So, as he had done before, he, placed his right hand underneath Rose's chin, and he lifted it, so that she was making eye contact with him. Then Jack said in a stern tone, which reflected to Rose that he wasn't going to take any beating around the bush, "Now, Rose, you're going to tell me exactly what's bothering you." Rose turned her head away, and she looked like she was going to cry, as she said in a breaking and cracking voice, which broke Jack's heart, and made him feel like crying, "No, Jack.I can't.it's too hard." Then, Jack said in a gentler voice, which made Rose more willing to talk, "Do you think you can talk about some of it?"
Then Rose turned towards him, looked him straight in the eye, and said, "Cal is a vampire, who's out to get me!" Jack stuttered, he was choking on his own saliva, "VAMPIRE! Oh, come on, ROSE, VAMPIRES DON'T EXIST!" Rose looked disappointed, her face fell, and she said, "Well, I should have known you'd never understand. I'd best go now." Before Rose could go anywhere, Jack put a firm grip on her right shoulder, and he said, "No Rose, I can see that this is bothering you, so I'm willing to listen." Rose said, "Let's go to the cafeteria." In a serious voice, and Jack could tell, by looking in her eyes, that she was damn serious!
The Confession in the Cafeteria
Rose looked around, once she and Jack had gotten to the cafeteria. Jack looked confused, if he didn't know any better, he'd swear that Rose was checking to see if anyone was around! 'Rose!" Jack asked in curiosity, "what are you doing?" Rose answered, "I'm checking if anyone's around." Then she closed the doors behind her. She approached Jack in a very serious manner, and it was then that Jack could feel every hair on his spine raise, in a state of fear. Rose's voice became very serious in tone, and very low, as she said, "Jack, yesterday, I had a dream in which I dreamt that Dracula was standing by me, by the lockers. He said something about always being in his grasp, once he'd gotten someone in his grasp. Then." Rose looked down at the floor sadly, as she said, "Then, today, Cal appeared and he gave me this necklace. I mean, I'd sworn Cal off last night as a bastard, but I saw him in my dream last night, after I saw Dracula. And the thing is that Cal, somehow, appeared in my room, and he put the Hope diamond on my neck. I was so enthralled by the necklace, that I, immediately, forgave Cal, on the spot. I was scared last night, and I told my mother about my dream, and she was NO help! Then this morning, as I was standing by the lockers, I saw Cal, again, ad I saw that he gave me the necklace, and I thought I was in love with him, but something tells me that he's not the one for me!" Rose looked up at Jack with a sad look in her eyes, which looked as though her soul was crying, probably for help.
Rose continued, "Somehow, I feel trapped!" Jack sighed, "Yes, that's exactly what I thought, that's why I WANTED to talk to you. I had a feeling that SOMETHING FUNNY WAS ON YOUR MIND!" Rose said, "I think you're the one for me, but, somehow, you just feel SO far away. It's as though an invisible barrier is keeping you away from me!" Jack said, "You know, it's funny, because, as an artist, I paint the spiritual realm, through art, and I see invisible barriers all of the time. I try to capture the essence, and the souls of living things when I paint. I didn't really think much of it, until now, but, now that you mention that you think that there's an invisible barrier that's separating you and me, I am beginning to wonder if there are really such things!" Rose asked, "And about vampires, and Dracula!" Rose shuddered; somehow, mention of that 'mythological' creature was enough to send chills up her spine. Jack replied, "Well, I didn't ever think that such things really existed, and I don't know that I do now, but I am willing to believe that there may be forces, that we may not be able to sense with our human senses, which may inhabit Earth, and may influence the way we behave, and the way we interact with others. Perhaps your dreams are a sign that an invisible, and evil force is working through Cal, I mean, I never DID trust the guy, and perhaps, the barrier that you perceive between you and me, which you assert is invisible, signifies that there may be hurdles for us to overcome, before you and I can realize true love. Perhaps, we were the true soul mates, and not you and Cal!" Rose's face lit up, and she said, "You're very wise, Jack, I wish I had your insight." Jack said, "Well, I'm an artist, and I think that helps."
Jack walked Rose home. As Rose was getting ready to go into her house, Jack looked at the necklace, and said, "In some ways, I think you're lucky, because there aren't many in this world who would have gotten such a necklace!" Rose asked, "What do you know about this necklace?" Jack shrugged, in a matter of fact way, "Not much, except that it's rumoured to be cursed. But I don't place much stock in rumours or legends. I mean I may be a more spiritual person, because I'm an artist, but I'd like to see tangible evidence regarding a phenomenon before I believe it. In that way I'm scientific minded. Most people don't think of artists as being scientific minded, but we do reproduce nature, in a more emotional form, and you need to have a lot of scientific knowledge and understanding to do that!"
Rose went into her house, and she went up to her room. She took the necklace off of her neck, and she placed it, lying face up, on her bed. The millions of little white sparkles, which the white diamonds gave off, as the light reflected off of it, impressed her. What caught her eyes even more was the fact that the light from the fixtures in the ceiling, seemed to play ff of the blue diamond, which somehow, appeared to have powers different from the other diamonds, or perhaps, that was just Rose's imagination.
Rose went about her business, as usual, and for her, the necklace was nothing but a 'nice piece of jewellery' but Jasmine knew differently. Jasmine knew that the necklace was part of a long and harrowing spiritual test to see where Rose's loyalties really lie. Since the beginning of time, legends, ancient and modern have talked about 'tests' that spiritual forces, which were invisible to humans, would put humans through, to see how strong they were, to see where their loyalties really lie, or to help them mature. Jasmine knew that this was happening with Rose. Jasmine knew that, while the process could be painful, the end result would be to make the person much stronger, and to mature the person. In Rose's case, this would happen, and she would find 'true love.' However, Jasmine knew that Cal would be hard to quit for Rose, because Cal was 'evil' and, when people are hurting, as Rose was, or when people are confused, as Rose was, 'evil' always appeals, because 'evil' offers the 'illusion' of power and greatness, which appeals to such people. However, 'evil' and its powers are an 'illusion' because 'evil' promises a lot, and yields nothing, because 'evil' has no power, instead, it gets its strength by feeding off of the spiritual energy of people. Rose, would, in her spiritual struggle, encounter a force opposite 'evil', which was 'good' the penultimate of it, which was an abstract force, which held the most awesome love, which healed all wounds, in the universe, many referred to this force as 'God' and over the centuries, different people, from Moses, to Arjuna, had different ideas of what this force was, and how to reach it. There has been no consensus reached, and there never will be. But one thing that people who really experienced this force always agreed on was the fact that the force was 'eye-opening' and maturing, in that it helped them see the world in ways that they hadn't before. Such would be the case with Rose.