Blood Red Roses Ch. 4

Chapter 4

Gardens of Faith
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The vampires rested for a couple more hours before assisting Xanatos in the interior decorating. Nora, who had explained to Xanatos about their conditions, overlooked the construction. By the end of the day, each vampire had a room or two of their own. Each one fitted to each of the Guardians' abilities. They've also recovered some items from the ashes from their apartment. Among them were

Nora had a sound-proof room in a semi-dark violet color with black carpeting and was dimmed in lighting. She had a four poster bed with sheets of lavender, a mauve comforter and head panel. There were medium green ribbons wrapped around the poles at the foot of the bed as well. There was a desk at one side of the room with bottle-shaped incense burner with Chinese dragons sculpted on it, a modern-style writing utensil holder, a large desk calendar, and a stain-glass desk lamp. Paintings were hung around the room in a Feng Shui pattern. Each painting was either a landscape or an oriental design. Nora had protested to the elegance of the room, saying that all she needed was the sound-proof walls and some space for her to meditate. But Xanatos and Fox insisted, leaving Nora and the rest of her clan to accept the man's generosity.

Lucian's room as extremely spacious, giving him room not only his collection of weapons that have survived the fire, but space for him to train as well. He had an adjustable bed that folded up into an elegant sofa, giving him more room for his combat training. His room was a blood-red color with wooden floors and black rugs for his bed/sofa and weapon stands. On an end table next to his sofa-bed was an iron helmet with a plume of human hair. A gift from his pillar and a reminder of his predecessor, Malek.

Desiree's room was carefully built so as to contain the energy that radiated from her body. She, Nora, and the Xanatos' had planned on using Desiree's uncontrollable energy to power the entire Eire Building buy installing energy-gathering sensors within the dark violet walls and the stone floor. The Energy Guardian would still have to wear her insulated cloak when she sleeps on her heavily protected box-bed. According to Desiree, she was used to sleeping in such a bed with the cloak that once belonged to DeJoule, the former Energy Guardian.

Anthony had no physical requirements for his room. So, all he needed to do was paint his room a tan color and install white carpeting before he added his furniture choices placed into his room. His bed was a simple brass bed with several bookshelves on two sides of the room. There was also a pine desk with a pine chair.

There was debate on what Patience's room was going to be, but the Time Guardian knew what she wanted. She left the walls their stony look but with some tapestries she obtained and restored hanging here and there. There were some dark rugs that were placed under the furniture and at the door. Patience's bed was a daybed with cream sheets and a golden comforter. There were some throw pillows on the bed and a chest at what seemed to be at the foot of the bed so that she could store the pillows when she was not using it. There was a basin in the room that, according to Nora, helped Patience to scry different eras. She could tell the past, but she made it a rule not to tell the future. Also, on a small table was a large hourglass with red sand. Her inheritance from Mobius the Time Streamer.

Andrew had two adjoining rooms for his accommodations. They were painted a smokey grey color with a desk and chair underneath a loft bed and several bookshelves all around the room. The second room that was attached to his bedroom was his laboratory. Several large tables held various lab equipment and chemicals. Also on one of the tables were the Alchemic scales that belonged to Anarcrothe, the States Guardian before him

Morgan's room was fitting for the Death Guardian. She had a coffin-style bed with red sheets and a black comforter. Her room was painted black with dark flooring. She had a couple of shelves filled with her necromancer tomes. On a mahogany desk was an orb that was a gift she inherited from her pillar. The orb was blood-red with a skull-shaped mount. It was the Death Orb that belonged to her predecessor: Mortanius the Necromancer.

Rose's rooms were the last to be done, since it was more complicated. The Nature Guardian received some seeds where she began to re-create her plant-covered room. Grass took the place of carpeting and vines coiled along the emerald wall, leaving the doors to the hallway and the second room bare. Here and there, there were flowering plants that bloomed in diversities of colors. Her bed was a simple Captain's bed with vines and ivy acting like curtains at both ends of the bed. The sheets were a forest green with a dark violet comforter. The drawers beneath the bed were filled with various seeds and bulbs, though there were different drawers that had different kinds of mushrooms.

The room adjoining her bedchamber was the size of a small ranch-style house, with one half covered from ceiling to floor with glass for the plants that needed sun and a windowless half for the plants that required shade. Rose organized the plants by size, name, sun requirement, and what they did. That way, anyone who was visiting her greenhouse can tell aside from the small name cards what were herbs, regular plants, and especially poisonous ones. There was an open area that gave Rose her own private garden for her to look out at.

As Rose was finishing up her rooms, she looked at her water clock that she recovered from the fire and looked at the time. It was noon. With the events of the day, she needed something to eat. Thankfully, Xanatos managed to obtain a few truckloads of bagged blood of different types without arousing suspicion. Not only was it ready for the four Turned vampires: Nora, Lucian, Desiree, and Rose; but it was also enough in case the remaining unturned youths reached their Turns.

The Nature Guardian slipped into the castle's kitchen and retrieved one of the bags from the cooler. She then obtained a large, clean wine glass and poured the blood into it. She hoped that the Xanatos' wouldn't mind if she drank it that way. She had watched the first three try to drink straight from the bag, only to end up having a big mess on them.

After pouring the blood, Rose picked up the glass and began to sip. Since she was a newborn, it was proving difficult for her to not go into frenzy at the scent of the red liquid. Thankfully, she had been practicing with other fluids before the Turn. As she sipped the blood, Rose walked out of the kitchen and headed to one of the rooms that had the large windows. An advantage of being a newborn was that she was still invulnerable to the sun and it would take some time before her skin would become intensely sensitive to the golden rays.

As she looked out of the large windows, Rose gazed at the magnificent view of New York City in front of her. She had never been this high before, nor got the chance to see something like it. Rose sipped her blood quietly as she went over what had happened to her. Could the Sarafan really know that the pillar guardians were alive and were in vampire form? What would happen to them if they were found? What would happen to the family and the clan that lived here? As she was thinking those things, it made her feel worse than the night before.

These things wouldn't have happened if she had been more careful.

"In deep thought?" A voice spoke, startling Rose.

The Nature Guardian turned around, nearly spilling her blood, and saw that it was Fox, with her son in her arms. With a motherly smile, the former TV star approached the shy vampire.

"I know that look. You feel guilty over what has been happening the past few days, thinking that it was your fault."

Rose was stunned at the accuracy of Fox's answer, just being able to understand what she was feeling. But her guilt resumed as she swirled the blood in the glass.

Fox could tell that this vampire had a sweet nature and wouldn't hurt a fly. And after what had happened, she felt that she needed to smile.

Looking at her son, Fox got an idea.

Looking at Rose, she asked, "Would mind helping me with something when you are finished with you 'drink'?"

Rose raised her eyebrows in confusion but obeyed.

Once the blood was finished, she set the glass on a nearby table and approached Fox. But before she could react, Fox handed Alexander to her, surprising the vampire.

"Here. Why don't you play with Alex for a while?"

If she could, Rose would have stuttered at the unusual request. She didn't even trust herself with her newly 'enhanced' body. So why would Fox trust her only child to her? Fox, seeing the confusion, answered her.

"You may be a vampire, but you are still yourself. And from what your fellow vamps had said about you, wither you are a vampire or a werewolf, human or gargoyle, you have a good heart. Think of this as a 'training session' for your inner strengths. And besides, I think that Alex likes the lot of you."

Rose looked at the infant in her arms, who was trying to reach for her hair to play with. He did seem to have taken to her. Could Fox be right and that she can control herself?

"Well, I have to go. I have a few appointments I have to keep. Can I trust you to take care of my son while I'm gone?" Fox asked.

Giving it some thought first, Rose nodded in agreement. After Fox left, Rose began to figure out how to take care of Alex. She couldn't go to her friends, which would be humiliating and would doubt herself even more. After some thought, Rose decided to take Alex to her rooms and entered her garden.

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The gardens fascinated Alex with the various plants and flowers that covered the place. Rose made sure that the poisonous plants were blocked off so that there would be no accidents as Alex explored the gardens.

Hours passed and Rose was having a blast taking care of the infant. She would show him the plants she was growing and even demonstrated what they did. Alex had the time of his life when he discovered the Sensitive Ferns when he touched one of them and saw the leafs closing upon being touched. Later on, Rose managed to whistle in some birds that were nearby and showed them to Alex. She even showed him some birds that weren't native to New York, such as Cardinals and Blue Jays.

Eventually, the year-old boy yawned as it was close to his naptime. Seeing this, Rose picked the infant up and was about to leave the room when Alex began to fuss. Looking around, Rose decided to try a nest of plants for him to sleep on, since at the moment his bed was covered in seeds. Once the nest was finished, she placed him in it and in a snap, Alex was asleep.

As he slept, Rose couldn't help but smile. She was proud of herself for being able to control her nature by taking care of the boy. And she wasn't the only one. Each of the guardians went to check up on the pair after Nora had learned that Rose was babysitting. Needless to say, they were quite proud of the newborn.

Once Fox returned, she was amazed at how well that Rose took care of her son despite her unpredictability as a newly born vampire. She was so impressed that she asked Rose to be her son's nanny for a while. Though modest, Rose accepted, having liked spending time with Alex. Looking at her clock again, Rose saw that it was 3 0'clock.

She had an appointment with Nora and Lucian.

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When the sun set, the gargoyle woke from their stone slumber and began their new routine. Two clan members, including Bronx, would remain to tend to the vampires, while the rest went on patrol. This time, the ones who stayed behind were Brooklyn and Angela. Once the rest of the clan was gone, they headed into the castle to see the guardians' new rooms.

They were impressed with most of the rooms, although they felt a little weirded out when they saw Morgan's and Lucian's room. When they came to Rose's room, they were fascinated by the plant-life that she had grown.

"These are beautiful. These rooms remind me of the Amazon Rain Forest where we met that clan of South American gargoyles." Angela replied in fascination.

Even though he had never met that clan nor been to South America, Brooklyn still agreed that the plants were beautiful. A tender hand had touched this place.

But there was someone missing. Someone he wanted to see.

"Are you looking for Rose?" A faint voice spoke.

Turning around, the two gargoyles came across Patience, who had been walking nearby.

"Yes. Do you know where she is, Patience?" Angela asked.

Patience answered.

"She is training with Nora and Lucian."

"Training? For what?" Brooklyn asked.

"Upon Turning, the abilities that are unique to vampires surface, and need to be in control. Also, we have plenty of enemies, so it is a good idea to train for combat as well. But there are two types of training for us."

"Two? What are they?" Angela inquired.

"The training of the mind and the training of the body. Since it is in his field, Lucian is training Rose to harness and control her physical abilities, while Nora aids in the development of the psychic abilities that is natural for vampires. If Rose goes untrained, not only there would be a likelihood of her being captured again, but her body could destroy itself thanks to her untapped power."

"So, where are they?" Brooklyn asked.

"In the training hall. Mr. Xanatos is there as well."

The two gargoyles thanked the Time Guardian and left to find their friends.