The Secret Rose

     It was a dark and windy night. All that could be heard was the sound of two pairs of feet shuffling along in the darkness. The two figures appeared around the corner covered in black cloaks. "It's always so dark in there. Darker than midnight in Peru, man." "Silence! You are still too young to understand anything. But it's alright, there's still a lot of time left for you to mature. They will raise you up to become like The Chosen One. If not, you will end up like all the others who failed." You could almost hear him smirk. "Aw come on, you know I'm much better than them. I passed the first three tests without making a sound. In fact, I bet you I could..." "Shhhhhh! We have arrived at the place, our sanctuary."

    They had arrived in a narrow corridor. Stopping in front of an ancient wooden door. The elder man knocked the door so softly that a pin dropping on the floor would have been louder. But that was all it needed for the door to open by a crack, just big enough for both man to slip through. As soon as they entered, the door closed behind them by itself. The two man had entered a pitch black room. Suddenly a candle was lighted. The whole room was filled with people covered in black cloaks, standing in a circle. In the middle of the room there was a woman stripped down to her undergarments chained to a stone column. Only the lower parts of her body could be seen under the dim light.  "Now that we have all gathered, let the ceremony begin." All around them, candles were lighted simultaneously. "It is time my fellow brothers and sisters, time to hand down judgement on a traitor of The Chosen One." Taking a candle, the woman speaking stepped out of the circle. She was wearing a different cloak, one with the outline of a rose in gold at the back. "This woman has done things unimaginable to dirty our blood. I don't think I need to explain any further." She brought the candle close to the face of the woman, illuminating the woman's face. It was full of cuts here and there and the woman had passed out. Hissing sounds were heard throughout the room. "Yes, one of our brothers has managed to capture Melanie Briggs, the Head of Defense of Austria. She has made the minds of the people impure. It's our job as devoted followers of The Chosen One to cleanse our country." The chained woman started moaning. "I think it's time for us to begin." As one, all of the devotees raised up their left hand, revealing a tattooed black rose. As they started to chant, the woman devotee took out a knife from the sleeve of her right hand, thanking The Chosen One for giving her this opportunity.