xp_logs | Rose Red: When Greed Rears Its Ugly Head

Klara Prast confronts her benefactor and discovers he's been using her abilities for illegal activities.

It had been several months since Klara Prast had left her small Amish community. After a terrifying two days out on her own, trying to find where Joseph lived, she'd found shelter with Mike Cooper, or "Coop" as he liked to be called. Coop owned a greenhouse. There were so many beautiful plants he could have grown, but his business needed hemp and poppies. In exchange for food and shelter and some discretionary income, Klara used her curse to grow the plants for him. He'd also told her that her abilities weren't a curse - they were a gift that she should make good use of. She wasn't sure if she agreed or not, but food and shelter were necessities. She was no longer welcome back home, and he'd taken her in even knowing what she was. She had to repay that, and it was good, honest work. In a way.

Only, now she wasn't so sure it even was good, honest work. The other night, she'd overheard one of Coop's regular clients talking about the great high he'd gotten off of the crop. Klara wasn't familiar with slang, but she got the distinct impression that it was something similar to a person becoming inebriated from consuming alcohol. The idea that she could be contributing to something like that was nothing short of horrifying. It was one thing to think of her connection to plants as a gift from God instead of a curse. It was another thing to use them for sinful purposes.

It was best to ask Coop about it. She was probably just imagining things. After all, he was a kind man who'd offered a young woman food and shelter without expecting that she become his mistress or anything similarly inappropriate...wasn't he?

She wrung her hands together, as she prepared herself for the conversation. She didn't want to seem like she wasn't grateful for what he'd done for her. Still, she had to know. No matter how grateful she was for his kindness, she wouldn't contribute to damning them both to hell. Walking from the greenhouse, she made her way to his small home office. Timidly, Klara knocked on the door.

Coop had not been having a good day so far. Actually, he’d been having a really awful day, so when Klara knocked on his door, he barked “What?” before turning and seeing who it was. Forcing a smile, he asked more gently, “What is it, Klara? Plants not doing too well?”

"I...I am sorry," said Klara, looking at her feet. "But the plants...they are being used for sinful purposes. Perhaps someone you are selling them to has lied to you, but I cannot keep growing them for you. I will grow other plants. I cannot grow the hemp plant and poppies anymore, knowing what they are being used for."

"I thought we had a deal, Klara," Coop said, keeping his voice all calm and reasonable-like. "You'd grow my poppies and my hemp, and I'd look after you. Give you a place to live, a decent job... You welching on me, Klara?"

"I-I..." Klara felt herself tensing up. It wasn't an easy thing to say, but she knew in her heart that it was the right thing. "I will grow other plants for you," she said. "Flowers, trees, fruits, vegetables...I just cannot keep growing the poppies and the hemp anymore. I do not want either of us to go to hell because of my actions."

"Klara, I'm not sure that you understand just how expensive your food and clothing and accommodation are or how much you money you owe me for them right now. Do you honestly think you can pay me back growing tomatoes?" Coop asked.

"But I can grow thousands of tomatoes," said Klara. She knew he'd be angry when she told him. She could have run away. And yet, it was better this way. Even if she was letting him down, her conscience was clearer if she was telling him directly and offering him an alternative. "Thousands of those or any other vegetable." Even not knowing how much things cost, Klara knew she wasn't a hefty eater. She was a small girl and avoided stuffing herself when she ate. She also knew that she was meticulous about cleaning and cooking. "I can cook and clean more," she tried to offer. "I can pay you back for the food by growing you more food than I could ever eat, and I can cook and clean more."

Despite her offer, she had the sinking feeling that nothing short of what she'd been doing for him already would be enough.

Coop got to his feet and slowly walked closer to her. "I'm not sure you understand me, Klara. We had a deal, and you're welching on me. I've been nice so far but you need to understand that I won't be so happy with you if you keep on arguing." He backhanded her hard across the face. Grabbing her hair with one hand, he held the knife to her throat. "You with the program now?"

Heart pounding, Klara found herself momentarily robbed of speech. Was her curse really so bad that it could corrupt a good person? Or had Coop already been corrupted by the evils of intoxication? It was hard to tell.

At the moment, all she could think about was getting out of his grasp. Right now, the best way to do it was to pretend to agree. She'd told him her intentions.

"I...understand. The program. I understand," she said, body trembling a little. "Please let me go. I understand."

He gave her a hard shake. "Good. Now, there's one more thing you've got to understand. I own you. If you even think of leaving me, I will find you and I will fuck you over like you've never been fucked before." Coop drew the knife's tip up from Klara's neck and rested it on her cheek, just below her eye. "Get it?"

"I-I get it!" said Klara, a little more urgently. He'd turned into a madman. A madman willing to murder if she didn't grow his plants for him. She didn't think her curse was that powerful. "I just want to go tend to the plants now," she whimpered.

"Alright. Just remember our deal, okay?" Coop said. He was willing to give her the space to think now, as it looked as though she would do what needed her to do. He stepped back, playing with his knife to give Klara room to leave.

Klara's pale grey eyes widened in horror at the sudden change in his demeanour. She was used to Coop as a kind and friendly person. Not this...monster. Turning, she ran as fast as her legs would carry her, away from the house and the greenhouse and out into the adjacent field. As she ran, the rose seeds she'd been keeping in her pocket dropped out and began sprouting enormous plants with sturdy thorny vines as thick as her waist.

The massive rose bushes sprouted up around her, tucking her in protectively into the sharp dark green tendrils as she trembled and sobbed.

"Please...somebody help me."