Rose with a Thorn

CHAPTER SEVEN

I couldn’t even form a thought after what Keith suggested I do for him. I literally couldn’t stop looking at him with my mouth hanging wide open. This man was truly crazy, I thought. Visions? He couldn’t be serious.

“Look... I know you probably don’t believe me, but the night I brought home that flyer intending to tell Miranda, you had grabbed a hold of my leg in excitement and that’s when it happened for the first time with us. You were only 2-years-old, Rose. You waddled over to me with a big smile on your face, and the second you touched me it was like you saw a ghost.”

“Have you lost your damn mind, Keith?” I yelled as I stood up out of the chair. “What 2-year-old has a vision of anything? I didn’t even know anything at 2! Have you seen any doctors? Had some psychological tests done? What the hell!”

“Calm down and sit down. Now!”

“You’re wrong. You were supposed to be like a father to me. You were supposed to help me, to protect me! And you spent my whole life using me!”

I couldn’t stop the tears from falling from my eyes. I loved Miranda and Keith in my own way, even knowing they could never be my real parents. I always kept them at somewhat of a distance. But I cherished all the time they spent teaching me and raising me. I didn’t even think Miranda realized the kind of man she married.

“Just listen to me, okay? I know what I'm asking for may seem like a lot right now, but trust me, it’s going to help you too. You'll finally get to understand what is happening to you! I thought if we worked together, you might actually be able to hone your skills. But I swear Rose, if you make me do this the hard way, you will be strapped to a chair and forced to do what I want, when I want. You will find out this information for me the hard way if that’s how it has to be! Now sit down in that chair right now before I lose my temper!”

I had never heard him so mad before. This must be some serious business he was trying to figure out to raise his voice like that at me while asking for my help... Well, demanding my help. I looked over at him to see his fists gripping the chair handles. Taking a deep breath, I sat back down. The sooner we got this over with, the better. I’d be happier in that dark room by myself.

“This doesn’t make any sense... You said it started when I was 2? Do you think my parents knew and that’s why they got rid of me?”

A fresh wave of tears started, but these ones were silent. Maybe my parents witnessed this and thought I was possessed or something. Or maybe... I didn’t know.

“Rose, can you hear me? Focus.” Keith snapped his fingers in my face.

“Uh, yeah. Get away from me please...” I said, pushing his hand away. Keith sat back in his chair and let out a sigh.

“The next time you had one I asked if you were okay and before you passed out in my arms you said ‘bad guy’. I was so confused... When Miranda saw you in my arms, she freaked out and demanded I put you in bed while she called the doctor. That was our first real fight, you know? 10 years of marriage and our first fight was over whether or not to call the doctor for a child we weren’t even supposed to have.”

“Stop.” I said, “Don’t do that. Just tell me the facts and move on. I'm too tired for this.”

“Okay, fine, have it your way. I convinced Miranda we would put you to bed and see if you remembered anything in the morning. When you woke up, you were the same Rose as usual, and you didn’t remember a damn thing. We decided to let it go, and if it happened again, Miranda was adamant that we called the doctor.

I remember asking you if you remember what you said but you just kept saying no. No, no, no... A couple months later, the same thing happened, but with Amelia. She grabbed your hands to play Ring-Around-the-Rosie because she was positive the game was named after you. But when she touched your hands, you started shaking and sweating. Amelia started screaming like the room was on fire, so in ran daddy asking what happened. You collapsed on the ground, but not before saying ‘Meal bad’. I thought you meant you had eaten some bad food. And then the next day Miranda got a call from Amelia’s day program saying that we had to pick her up, and they would explain when we arrived. We immediately left to get her. The program coordinator told us Amelia was being very bad that day, that she kept pulling the other kids’ hair. I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. You weren’t saying you ate something bad; you were telling us that Amelia was going to be bad.”

I could not believe what I was hearing. There was no way someone could accurately tell the future, let alone a little baby. It wasn’t possible, was it?

“Over the next few years, you kept doing the same thing. Sometimes someone would walk in the room and it would happen, and if someone directly asked you, you would say something before you passed out. All I had to do was watch. Within a few days, a week or two at most, whatever you had said would happen. Your words didn’t always mean one specific thing, but could sometimes be a suggestion towards an outcome of an action.”

“This is crazy, you know that?” I asked.

“Trust me, it’s crazier to see then for you to experience probably. You have this super power embedded in your brain. I watched this happening for years, until I came up with that plan to fake our deaths. I was so discouraged I couldn’t take you with me at the time, but I figured if I knew you at all, you’d try to leave this town as soon as you could. So, I focused on building an empire and becoming the Boss of it. But I was always watching, Rose. I learned to trust certain people and I would have them tail you when I couldn’t be the one to do it personally. I must say though, I was surprised when Adrian showed up at your door to get you. That was something I definitely had to see for myself.”

If I could kill Keith with a single look, I would’ve long ago. “Don’t you dare bring Adrian into this. I don’t even know him!”

Keith started to laugh. “You don’t have to know him, my dear. He knows all about you. Would you like to know why?”

I couldn’t stop thinking about how crazy this man was! I didn’t give a s**t about Adrian.

“I’ll take your silence as a yes.” He said, interrupting my thought. “You see, Adrian used to work for me, until yesterday. He used to keep an eye on people and things happening at the school. It was genius of me to recruit someone so young, to be honest. But then he inserted himself directly in your life and drove you to school. After all, he was only supposed to keep an eye on you from a distance.”

I was going to throw up. I didn’t think I could hear this. Actually, I knew I couldn’t. Just as I was about to stand up, I heard Keith make a little noise and one of his men pushed me back into the chair. “Where do you think you’re going? I’m just getting started.”

This was unbelievable, I thought. I rolled my eyes and leaned back in the chair.

“He was only supposed to watch you from a distance. It helped that he was also friends with Amelia, in case he had to get a little closer to you. And he was able to keep tabs on her too, which you know, as a father I am thankful for. But anyways, I got a call from one of my men saying Adrian hadn’t gotten to school yet, and the tracker in his car looked to be around my house. I thought maybe he was going to make sure your walk was safe; I do have enemies out there. But the next thing I know, Adrian’s calling me to tell me you were sent to the nurses' office, and were probably going to go home. The little bastard quit. He said something about you not being at all what he expected, and that he was now claiming you as his own. He told me to call off my watch dogs or I'd regret it, and then he hung up.”

I laughed. Such a typical man thing to do with a woman that wanted nothing to do with him. Rolling my eyes, I said, “Or he just realized you were crazy after all and didn’t want to work for you.”

That one earned me a slap. I sat there holding my cheek, my eyes narrowed as Keith continued.

“Again, to my surprise, I see Adrian dropping you off at home, and out walks Miranda. My heart was screaming at me to meet her again. But I’m the Boss of a major criminal organization, and I had plans in place that needed to be completed before I could return to her if I wanted to keep her safe. So, I stationed one of my other men outside to see if you left again, and I followed Adrian. He didn’t get far before he noticed me and pulled over. We had a very heated argument over you and who you belonged to. He was brave as he tried to stand up to me. But he was only 17 and he couldn’t run from a gun. I thought I would at least do him some kind of favor and not kill him right away. My last offering of peace to him was a bullet in his arm and a warning to stay far away. I heard he made it to the hospital, but I could care less if he survived or not.”