Rosalie

Papa

My heart beating, that's all I can hear, and it's beating at an extraordinarily fast pace. My eyes are glued to the photo, it was one of the last ones that was taken of me and Papa. But how the hell did this get here? We went through all of the rubble from that day and found everything. This wasn't a part of it. This wasn't there. Who put this here? Is this another f****d up joke from Thomas? What the hell! What's going on?! He wouldn't do something like that to me. I drop the photo and collapse; I feel like my airway has closed and I'm starting to hyperventilate. Could this mean that papa is... no he can't be...it's been 10 years, he would've come back. I compose my breathing and scan my office carefully.      As I'm trying to find how someone could've gotten in here, I see a glimmer under my desk from my point of view on the floor. I look under the desk and see that a key is taped to the bottom side of it, with another note attached. I look at the key, it looks familiar, but I don't know why- then I look at the note.

'Look where you never have, and you will find what you've always been looking for.'    

Tears start to form at the corners of my eyes. It's him, it's really him. Is he here? Why wouldn't he just come home?  My head starts to hurt as I'm trying to figure out why, how, when, what and where. I feel dizzy and can't stand back up. Black spots start to form in my eyes, and I realize that's when I'm going under, but it's too late, darkness consumes the body and my thoughts.                                                                                                                              

-_-

(Thomas POV)    

Man, I would've expected to see Rosalie pass by now.

 I'm working at Mareve's bar, trying to figure out what the f**k could've been stuffed down a pipe to make it so that basically none of the water inside has little to almost no pressure. It's been hours since I've been trying to resolve the issue, and so I decided to take lunch. I look at the time and it's almost 2PM. Although Rose is known for her being late in the mornings, when it comes to a job, she's always prompt and early. Maybe she took another route to the house, though something doesn't feel right.

Rose and I are twins, and even if you don't believe in all of that mumbo jumbo about twins being able to sense each other, it's true. I always know if she's in trouble, or at least I get this inkling inside of me, as if something is stirring up and then I become anxious or worried. That's what I'm feeling at this moment, like I need to go to her. I pick up my plate and take it back inside to the dishwasher. I tell Mareve that I will return shortly and that I just want to go check on Rosalie.

Mareve smiles, "No worries, we still have water, so it's not pressing at the moment.”

I nod and turn back to head outside. I start to quicken my pace when I approach the shop at the end of the road. When I see that the door is still unlocked, I realize that my assumptions were correct. She never leaves the shop unlocked if she is gone, ever. I burst through and look around to see that everything is still intact, but Rose isn't anywhere to be found. I head to the back where her office is in hopes that she might have lost track of time, but as I open the door, my heart stops for a moment. She's here, on the floor, unconscious, clutching what seems like a photo, a piece of paper, and- a key? I rush to her side and gently lift her head off the ground.

"Rose? Hey wake up! Rosalie!" I shake her a bit, but nothing. I start to panic, "ROSALIE WAKE UP!" I think of the only thing I could do and pinch her arm as hard as I can. She jumps up and gasps for air. She looks at me confused, and then looks around the office, and then down at her hands. Her face goes sheet white, as she starts to hyperventilate and sob. I'm startled by this outburst, Rosalie isn't known to cry often, but I quickly wipe the expression away and gently cradle her in my arms.

"Hey, it's okay. What's going on, are you alright Rose?" I say in the most soothing voice I can muster. 

"It's...this...what..." She tries to speak between breathing and crying but can't make out anything coherent.

"Shhh, don't speak, just let it out for now." I say calmly and hold her a little more firmly against my chest. My instinct to protect kicks in and anger floods through me. Whoever made her like this is going to get their ass beat from me.

After sitting there for several minutes, she finally calms down, and all I can hear are light sniffles coming from where her face is buried in my chest. She then looks up at me and hands me the piece of paper that was in her hand. I read what's on it and become confused. "I don't understand, what is this Rose?"

She sits back and looks me in the eyes, "I don't know, I've only ever heard Papa say that to me in the nightmare I've kept having. This key was with it and... these." She reaches to the table and grabs what looks like a photo and another piece of paper.

I look at them both and my eyes widen. I look at her in shock, then with irritation. "Is this some kind of joke? Because it's not funny." I grimace when I see the pain in her eyes, and that's when I know she didn't know about it either. "Then how..." I trail off.          

She looks away, "I don't know... It was on my desk when I walked in. I swear I locked up last night. I just, I don't know Thomas." Tears start to form at the corners of her eyes again. Not me, though, I'm starting blankly at the photo of Rose and my father. This was a photo that I took, a little before the day he went missing. How did it get here? I stand up, determination in my mind and look at Rosalie, reaching my hand out to her, "Come on." 

She takes my hand, "Where are we-" She glances at the clock "Oh my God! I'm so f****d! I'm late!!" She scrambles up from the floor and starts to gather things inside her office, but I stop her.

"No, you're not going anywhere but home. Not until we get to the bottom of this." I see her beginning to protest and give her a stern look. She gives in and puts everything back. 

"I need to at least let them know I won't be showing up today." She says.

"Don't worry about that, I'll let them know you came down with something. Just go home and I'll meet you there." 

Rose looks at me for a moment, then quietly speaks, "Do you know what this means?" Her eyes look like they're looking through me instead of at me, "He could still be alive, Thomas. What if he's out there? What if-"          

"That's enough!" I raise my tone, making Rosalie jump back a bit. I can't bear that thought until I know what's going on. not after all of the years it took to get over it. No. I look at her and say much more gently, "Just... go home Rose. We don't know anything yet. but I know that we will figure it out, okay?"

            Rose nods timidly, grabs the photo, notes and key, then walks out of her office with me close behind. We exit the shop, and she locks up before we make our way back. once we get to the point where the road splits to our home and her new job in opposite ways.

I turn to her and smile slightly, "I'll be home soon." and then turn the direction of the Mayor's new home without looking back because I'm so lost in my own thoughts. If you're back father, I am going to kill you myself for abandoning us all of those years ago.

-_-

(Rosalie's POV)          

After starting at Thomas while he's walking away for a while, I turn myself and start running home, with the photo and notes clutched in my hands. I then stop once I reach our house and look down the block where our old one still lies untouched. I can go there before Thomas comes back. I have to. My mind made up, I sprint to the place I once called home, my mother didn't have the heart to have the burnt framing demolished. I used to see her walk by it afterwards and just sit and stare at it. I think it reminded her of the happiness she once had, or maybe it gave her a sense of calm in the storm she was living in. Everything was removed that was redeemable from the burnt building, but not much was salvaged. This photo could've just been left here by accident, but that wouldn't make sense. It would look far more damaged and worn than it does now, and what about the notes? Or the key? I stop in my tracks and look at the somewhat of a building. Memories of my childhood flood my mind, as always when I look at this place. I stopped coming by here because it was too painful. Even now, it is difficult to bear. The framing still intact only had a few burns to it, but the rest of the house collapsed from the flames burning through. I would never allow anyone inexperienced to just walk in this mess.

I slowly walk over bits and pieces of broken glass and framing, searching for any clue that could potentially lead me in the right direction. After a little while, I found nothing and reluctantly gave up, in fear that Thomas might be back home soon and start searching for me frantically. I turn back out of the rubble, look back once more, taking in the memories, and then walk back to home. 

I walk inside the house, relieved to see that no one was home yet. I sit on the couch in our living room and just stare at the photo of me and my papa. I'm smiling on his shoulders, while one of my hands is wrapped around his face and the other is up in the air. He's looking up at me with a warm and loving look. I trace my fingers around his face, remembering his features; crow’s feet, blonde hair that is wavy and a little overgrown. His blonde and red beard that covered his face, and eyes that were almost transparent looking because they were such a light blue. A small smile forms on my face as I'm reminiscing the moment, where I wanted to be as tall as the mountains. I remember him lifting me up and saying, "You can be as big and powerful as you set your mind to be. Don't let limitations stop you." I laughed and shouted in glee, fisting the air, feeling like I was on top of the world. 

A single tear traces my cheek as I sit like that for some time, until I hear the door open then close behind me. Thomas walks in looking at me with concern. 

            "Are you okay now? How do you feel? Were you hurt?" He sits next to me, observing my face and body for any sort of bruising done. I remember hitting my head, but it didn't hurt at all. 

            I look at Thomas with reassurance, "I'm okay. I was just overwhelmed."

Thomas nods, still concerned, then his eyes glance down at the photo, and he gently takes it from my hands, inspecting the back and all sides of it. He runs his hand through his hair, with a look of frustration on his face, "I don't understand, this wasn't in our box of things that we found after the fire. Maybe it was something we missed? That makes no sense, though, because it still looks clean aside from the burns."

"My thoughts exactly. It means that someone had found it and kept it until today, but who? That's what I'm wondering. It couldn't just have magically showed up like it did in my office. I know I locked up last night too, and there were no signs of someone breaking in. So, it had to have been someone with a shop key. The only other person I know who used to have the same key is..." I trail off with my thoughts.

Thomas looks over to me, "Our father. That can't be though Rose, he's been gone for 10 years nearly. I just don't see how that's possible. He wouldn't just play some game with us like this, I know he wouldn't." He gets up and starts pacing the living room floor. "Can I see those notes again?" 

I pull the notes out of my pocket and hand them over to them along with the key. He takes them and reads them multiple times over, as if the paper would have a name or something on it. Then he looks at the key, still pacing, and sighs. "We might need to ask Ma about this." 

I take a sharp breath, "What? No! Do you know how much this would stress her out?! I don't want to remind her of the one man she ever loved and give her the glimpse of hope that I feel just to be disappointed!" 

Thomas looks at me pointedly, "She might know about the key, Rose, and she doesn't deserve to have something like this kept from her. What if you were in her shoes? Wouldn't you want to know that your daughter found a 10-year-old photo of your husband and some crazy ass notes scribbled in an unknown handwriting? What if this was a warning? Who knows, but I sure as hell would like to be a part of it if it were me."

I look down at my hands in shame, knowing he's right. I shouldn't have thought immediately to keep this from her. I just don't want to see the look of pain on her face that she's worked so hard to get rid of slowly over all of these years. I know that he's right though, "Okay," I say, still glancing at my hands, "You're right, I'm sorry."

I feel Thomas kneel in front of me and takes my hand, which makes me look up at him. He has a look of reassurance on his face, "I promise we will figure this out, as a family." He then stands up and walks to the kitchen, "You haven't eaten, and Ma won't be back until six, so I think you should eat and maybe rest. After seeing you the way that you were, I think that it took a lot out of you."

"I'm not hungry, but I think I will lie down." I say as I stand up and start walking to my room, "I need some time to process everything anyways." I turn around and look at Thomas before I climb up the stairs, "Thank you for coming to my rescue...again." 

Thomas smiles slightly, "Anytime."

I ascend the stairs, walk into my room, and lay straight down on my bed, sighing.

After all this time, I knew that you weren't dead. I felt it. Now, I will find you. I promise, Papa.