Flowers For McGee

17 - Empty

Rose sits in the cold chair beside Cameron and she had her arms crossed as the officer stared at them. The room was silent other than their own breathing and the ticking of the clock. It was around midnight and Rose was exhausted emotionally, mentally, and physically. She didn't doubt that the man across from her and Cameron felt the same way.

"Miss Carson, I need you to answer me," The officer says. "What were you two doing out there, you do know it is illegal to dig graves?" He asks them and Rose was glad she wasn't sitting next to an i***t. Any other person she might have to tell to be quiet every so often, but Cameron knew to not speak. That's what her dad told her to do. He told her to be quiet until he got there, but this time he wouldn't be showing up and she wasn't getting in trouble for being out past curfew. This time it would be Maggie, but Maggie was already there and mad as hell.

"Your mom said she would work this around. You aren't getting in trouble. Cam, your sister will be here to get you." The officer says and leaves, clearly done with the two teens.

"I'm sorry, Cameron." Rose says and he shrugs. She felt extremely guilty about dragging him through all of this with her. She should have done it alone.

"It's fine," He says and messes with the zipper of his jacket. Rose sighs and turns to face him. "I've had my fair share of trips in here."

"I meant about your brother." She says and he looks at her. "You shouldn't have had to go through that and it was my fault."

"We didn't like each other that much anyway," He says and shrugs. "I wouldn't be able to do it, Rose. This thing with dead people and stuff. You're trying, I'll give you that. I'd have told McGee to piss off."

"Thought about it more than once." She says and they both laugh. "This is actually really hard. I try to joke about it, because how painfully predictable it all is, but it's tough."

"Predictable?" Cameron asks.

"It's like the movies, easily predicted." She say and frowns as he shakes his head.

"I guess I don't understand." He sayd and she let's it go over her head, she wasn't in the mood.

"Kids, you can leave. Don't come back, please." The officer says and Rose and Cameron both stand to leave. A short blonde woman stands with her arms crossed next to Maggie and Rose almost ran back into the room at the disappointment.

"Let's go home, Cam." The girl says and he walks over to her.

"Callie, let me explain it to you, yeah?" He says and puts his arm around the girl's shoulder and she agrees to let him reason with her. "Bye, Rose." He says and turns to wave at the jealous, raven haired girl.

"Bye, Cameron." She says and then looks at her mom.

"They listen to each other, how nice is that?" Rose say in a taunting tone and she didn't care how angry her mother was. Rose was even more so.

Maggie raises her hand and slaps Rose across the face and the girl cups her cheek with surprised eyes. Rose tastes the familiar metallic liquid in her mouth and Maggie walks out of the station and leaves Rose there with everyone looking at her. She was surprised Maggie got away with hitting her in a room full of cops, but Rose was sure none of the cops cared what the mother did to her delinquent daughter.

-

Rose woke up extremely early that morning, three hours later to be exact, to shaking on her shoulder. She opens her eyes and sees McGee leaning over her with worried eyes. She burts into a fresh set of tears at the sight of him and she hugs him. He was cold, but she wasn't too concerned about it. "I thought something happened to you." She sobs.

"I'm fine, what happened to you? You are filthy and your cheek is swollen." He says and she looks down at herself. She didn't change before she laid down. She was positioned on top of her blankets and her blue comforter was covered in mud.

"We found the graveyard, Cameron and I did. Gwen showed us where to go and you're grave is empty." She says to him and he sighs sadly.

"At least you tried." He says. "Let's get you cleaned up, this mess is unacceptable." He says and Rose crawls of the bed. She takes nightclothes and goes to the bathroom.

"Will you stand watch and make sure I don't die this time?" Rose asks McGee as he sit in the chair against the door.

"I'm not going anywhere." He says and Rose worries abut how he says that.

-

Rose shakes her blanket off amd chucks of dried mud falls to the ground and she crawls into the bed. McGee sits at the end of the bed as Rose complains about her mom.

"Technically, I went to jail because of her." Rose says dryly and pulls the blanket up to her chin.

"Were you in a cell?" He asks.

"I was in cuffs. We are running from a freaking dead guy and bam, the police are there. And it was all for nothing, McGee." She says as she struggles to not be mad at him. "Gwen led us to the wrong place, I don't understand." She says im a frustrated tone and she doesn't know why she is even trying to go back to sleep. Rose has to get up for school soon anyway. She gets off her bed and grabs Gwen's diary out of her nightstand. The notes Gwen had been leaving tucked inside.

"Maybe she was trying to trick you." McGee says.

"I don't think she was." Rose says and dumps little slips of papers out of the diary and walks out of her room. Rose walks down the stairs and she heads to Johnny's room. She didn't know if he was awake or not, but he would be if he wasn't.

She stands outside his room and she can hear him talking. "Gwen, I don't understand these." He says. "I was listening and Rose went out there and dug that grave up, but nothing was in it. It was an empty box, what did she do wrong?"

Rose opens the door and Johnny turns toward her and a shadow moves under his bed. "Rose, what are you doing?" He asks her and she narrows her eyes at him.

"You've been talking to her this whole time?" She asks him and he doesn't say anything, he just looks down. "Johnathan. why didn't you say anything about it?"

"Until yesterday. I wasn't sure what to do. Apparently you haven't been truthful with me this whole time, either. I've never actually spoken to her. She only shows me dreams and then she gives me these." He says and holds up pieces of paper similar to the ones she has.

"Can she show me?" Rose asks and the girl's hand presses a piece of paper on top of the bed. Johnny picks it up and shakes his head.

"They are so hard to decipher." He says and hands it to Rose. On the paper are two trees and a black circle between them.

"McGee worries that she is tricking us. Why don't you communicate with him, Gwen." Rose asks and her head pokes up from beside the bed. She presses a finger to her lips and then pats her throat with two fingers. After this, she makes a squashing motion with her hands.

"She isn't allowed to. Her voice box was crushed by the fall when she died." Johnny translates. Gwen looks to Johnny and he motions for Rose to step closer.

She takes small steps toward the two. Gwen is suddenly inches away from her and her hand covers her face.