Rose with a Thorn

CHAPTER FIVE

I was definitely dreaming, I had to be. Keith was alive? Why did he kidnap me? What the heck was happening... why am I so special? These questions kept playing through my head while I was stuck in my past memories.

Did he not know what Miranda and Amelia went through? How much they grieved for him? How much loss I felt and how much guilt I had when I couldn’t remember what had happened to him?

I could feel tapping on my cheek, but I refused to open my eyes.

“Rose...” I vaguely heard through the mist that was my brain. “I know you’re coming back to me, little girl. Open your eyes so we can talk.”

I knew this was real but I didn’t want to believe it. I slowly opened my eyes, readjusting to the light and the fact that Keith was still crouched down right in front of my face.

“There she is... How about I do you a favor and untie you from the chair so you can see that I really don’t mean you any harm?”

“How are you even alive?” I asked. “You were deemed dead 8 months ago. This can’t be possible! Who are you?”

“Oh Rose, it’s really me. Let's get you undone and I’ll explain what I can right now.”

I nodded my head, knowing I was going to need my limbs detached from this chair if I was going to make a break for it. I heard the door close behind me and immediately I was back on edge. Did he just leave again?

“Okay this is how it’s going to go. You can’t get out of this room, it’s locked from the outside. I have someone waiting for a specific knock sequence to let me out. Now, I'm going to untie you and you’re going to move towards that far wall over there, you got it?”

I sighed, nodding my head. I might not be able to get out of here today, but mark my words I would not stay here forever. And if I could make it easier on myself by not being difficult right now, I'd like to be able to at least move freely. Once my hands were undone, I made my way over to the wall.

“Take a seat.” Keith said.

“No thanks. Being tied to a chair for who knows how long has me wanting to stand for a while.”

Keith shrugged, “Suit yourself.”

“What am I doing here Keith? And how are you even alive? I was there when you died! I might not remember what happened exactly, but I saw your burnt body after!”

“You saw what I wanted everyone to see, Rose. You know, I love my wife and my daughter, I really do. But you were much more special to me than either of them once I realized what you could do. I knew Miranda would never let me use you the way I wanted to, I had hoped and prayed that she would though. But she loved you so much, Rose. She never understood how your parents could have left you to wander that forest on your own.”

The mention of my parents brought tears to my eyes, knowing they raised me the first 2 years of my life and then something must’ve happened for them to leave me like they did.

“Don’t talk about my parents. You don’t know anything about them.” I said, harshly.

“Oh, but I do. When Miranda first found you and brought you home, you were so quiet and afraid. You were too young to make sense of anything that had happened, so I spent a long time doing some research. I looked through newspapers and listened to the news and radio of local towns, trying to find any indication of who your parents might be. I was out one day picking up a newspaper in the next town over when I saw a picture that looked like you. I pulled the flyer down from the stand and it was a MISSING ad, looking for anyone with any information about where this darling 2-year-old little girl could be found. I brought the paper home with me, fully intending to show it to Miranda, but when I walked in the door, you reached for my leg. The second you touched me; your face lost all emotion and you started shaking. I yelled for Miranda to come quick but the episode was already over and you were on the verge of unconsciousness. I asked you what happened and you said ‘bad people’ before you completely passed out in my arms.”

I felt horror flow through my body as I wrapped my arms around my torso. Did he just tell me my parents are still alive? And they were out looking for me? Oh my, they must have been so scared. I wonder if they ever stopped looking. I mean, it had been almost 18 years now...

“Anyways,” said Keith, “I knew there was no way I could show Miranda what I had found. At least not yet. Bad people? Who were the bad people coming that you mentioned? It wasn’t until about a week later that I had seen something I never intended to see.”

This whole time, Keith had been pacing back and forth, not even looking at me. When he said he saw something, I could see the shiver that passed through his body, and the smile that was now looking my way.

“That night, I was introduced to a whole other world I had no idea existed right under this small towns nose. It was glorious working my way to the top, you know. All the pain I got to inflict, and still come home every night to my beautiful family, and the girl that warned me without even knowing.”

My whole body was trembling at this point. The look on his face told me not to make so much as a sound or he would inflict some of that pain on me. I just watched him as he continued his pacing.

“I really would like to thank you, Rose. Over time, I realized these visions or whatever you want to call them happen right after a big burst of emotion. Your happiness, fear, confusion... I always wondering what would happen if we could work together to hone your skills and use them to my advantage in this organization... But Miranda had no idea what I had gotten myself into, let alone that I worked my way up to being the Boss. There was no way I could tell her and risk putting her life in danger. So, I came up with an idea to fake our deaths, yours and mine. Unfortunately, after I had everything set and ready to go, you had another one of your little visions and ruined everything!” Keith yelled. “Right before you passed out, you said someone was coming. I knew I couldn’t get your death set up in time as I heard footsteps coming towards our car and you were already unconscious in the back seat. So, I went forward with my own plan. I knew eventually you would try to leave because you hated this town and these people so much, so I only had to bide my time until you made your move. Luckily for me, you decided to leave a little earlier than I thought you would. You really couldn’t have left me with a better opportunity. I'm assuming you even left some sort of note for Miranda, which means she won’t even bother looking for you.”

My heart sank. He was right, I did leave her a note. I told her not to bother looking for me. I was so stupid. How could I be so stupid?

I turned to look up at him, and the words left my mouth faster than I could stop them. “You’re a twisted individual, you know that? What kind of a sick bastard kidnaps someone after years of preparation, just to lock her up like some dog, and then expect that I'll help you with anything!?”

Keith strode toward me. He backhanded me across the face before grabbing my chin and bringing me face to face with him. “You will help me, or I will do worse than hurt you. I will kill you.”