"Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead."
― Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack
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Chapter 23:
Rose pov:
I am sitting in the corner of a haunted dark bedroom. Bright red blood is spattered all over the walls. The lifeless body of a woman lies next to a torn up bed. Hovering over her is a shadow holding a dark red gun. I am unable to scream. Unable to move. My bruised wrists are tied to a damn chair.
Time stars reversing. The blood on the walls break away from the surface and float back into its entry point: A wound on the dead woman. A bullet comes out of her, returning to that very gun. She stands, the shadow backing up. Fear attacks me on all sides. Tears slide down my face. The shadow enters the light, transforming into a person. Into Peirce. And in front of him stands my mother. The scene stops rewinding and goes forward. The bullet once again hitting her.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"Stop,"
"Rose."
"Don't. Stop."
Matty shakes me awake. "Wake up."
"Huh?" I jolt upward, holding onto his arms "Matty. . ." I try searching for his face in the dark.
Someone turns on the lights.
"Are you okay?" he asks, clearly alarmed.
My grandmother stands next to him. She pulls on her robe anxiously, equally concerned.
I shake my head, "Bad dream." I assure while trying to catch onto my breath. Sweat runs down from my temples. Matty presses a wet towel against my forehead.
"You were screaming in your sleep." He explains "We thought someone was hurting you."
"I nearly got a heart attack," my grandmother tells me.
My heart is still racing. I wish this bad dream would go away. It's fresh in my mind along with the horrible feeling of fear in my chest.
"You're not going to school tomorrow." Matty declares "You're burning in fever."
"No," I protest "I've missed a whole week. I need to catch up before final exams."
"But you're sick," Matty continues.
"I'll be even sicker if I stay one more day at home."
They both look at each other. They try to decide whether they should listen to me.
"I'm fine." I assure them "Go back to sleep."
Matty shrugs, leaving the towel to me. Grandmother waits for Matty to leave. She sits beside me and holds my hand.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asks.
"Talk about what?" I innocently ask.
"About your nightmare. You've been having them for two nights straight now. I think I know what this is about."
"I don't want to talk about it." I declare. And truly I don't. It's too sick to mention.
She sighs, "When your mother died I had nightmares for a week."
I blankly stare at our hands, trying to hold back tears.
"They didn't go away until I told someone what was going on in my mind."
I wipe more sweat from my cheek. "I wish you could've told me sooner. I'm tired of mourning."
She rubs my arm, trying to comfort me, "I wish I could've told you sooner too. We'll talk about this in the morning, sweetheart. Get some rest. If you don't feel like going to school tomorrow tell me."
YOU ARE READING
to Kiss a Drug Addict
Romance"Why do you do this to yourself?" "There's a lot of reasons. My past, how it makes me feel and how bad it is without them. But lately, it's because it makes me forget the pain. It makes me forget you." Peirce is a drug addict. Rose wants to be his...
