chapter 3, The memory in The Rain
780 Words
The rain began before rose could ask another question
Heavy drops struck the pavement, washing the streets in silver while the city disappeared behind a curtain of water.
Sherry held her hand tightly.
“Rose, don't look back.”
But she did.
Across the street, the black car was still there.
Its headlights were off.
Its windows were dark.
Whoever was inside wasn't trying to hide anymore.
They were waiting.
Rose's breathing became faster.
“Who are they?”
Sherry didn't answer.
“Sherry, who are those people?”
He looked at her.
For a moment, the mysterious man who had always seemed calm looked almost broken.
“I promised someone I would protect you.”
Rose's heart tightened.
“Who?”
“My promise isn't the part you need to be afraid of.”
“Then what is?”
Sherry stepped closer.
“The reason I made it.”
Before Rose could ask another question, a loud sound echoed through the street.
A car door slammed.
Sherry immediately pulled her behind him.
Three figures stepped out of the black car.
Rose couldn't see their faces clearly through the rain.
But something about them felt familiar.
Terrifyingly familiar.
Then one of them called her name.
“Rose.”
She froze.
No one in her present life knew that voice.
Yet something inside her recognized it.
Suddenly, her head began to hurt.
A flash.
A little girl running through a dark hallway.
Another flash.
A woman crying.
A broken window.
Fire.
And a voice screaming—
“Take her and run!”
Rose grabbed her head.
“No…”
Sherry turned toward her.
“Rose?”
She stumbled backward.
“I remember…”
The rain seemed to disappear.
For one terrifying second, Rose was no longer standing in the middle of the city.
She was a little girl again.
She could smell smoke.
She could hear someone crying.
And she could feel a woman's hand pressing something into hers.
A small silver pendant.
“Never let them take this from you,” the woman whispered.
Then came another memory.
A man standing in a doorway.
A gunshot.
The woman falling.
And the little girl screaming.
Rose opened her eyes.
She was shaking violently.
Sherry caught her before she fell.
“Look at me,” he whispered. “Rose, look at me.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“My mother…”
Sherry went completely still.
Rose stared at him.
“You knew her.”
He said nothing.
“You knew my mother.”
His silence was an answer.
Rose pushed him away.
“How?”
Sherry looked toward the black car.
“We don't have time.”
“I don't care!”
“You will if you want to survive.”
Rose's tears mixed with the rain running down her face.
“All these years… I thought I had forgotten because I was too young.”
Sherry lowered his eyes.
“You didn't forget.”
Rose stared at him.
“You were made to forget.”
The words struck her harder than any scream.
“Who did this to me?”
Sherry hesitated.
“Someone who was afraid of what you might remember.”
Rose touched the pendant hanging beneath her clothes.
She had worn it for as long as she could remember.
She had never known why.
“Is this what they want?”
Sherry looked at the pendant.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it belonged to your mother.”
Rose's lips trembled.
“What is inside it?”
Sherry looked into her eyes.
“The truth.”
Another flash of lightning illuminated the street.
When Rose looked toward the black car again, the three figures were gone.
Only the rain remained.
Sherry took her hand.
“We have to go.”
Rose didn't move.
“Where?”
“Somewhere they can't find us.”
She looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“And after that?”
Sherry's expression softened.
“After that, I'll tell you everything I know.”
Rose swallowed hard.
“Everything?”
He nodded.
“Even if the truth hurts?”
“Especially if it hurts.”
For the first time, Rose realized something terrifying.
Maybe Sherry hadn't entered her life to save her from a broken heart.
Maybe he had entered her life to help her remember the part of herself someone had desperately tried to erase.
And as they disappeared into the rain, Rose held the silver pendant against her chest.
Inside it was a secret.
A secret her mother had died protecting.
And somewhere in the darkness behind them, someone was already searching for it.
To be continued...
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