Pretty lies

thirty four- nothing

Isadora Rose:

How can children run so fast on such little legs? Rico is practically running laps around me at this point.

I felt bad that we never finished our game yesterday so I agreed to races  today. One part of me is glad to forget about the stress for a second and spend time with my little  brother. The other part is questioning whether I just pulled a hamstring or not.

"Ha, I beat you again!" Rico chants to himself triumphantly.

"Yeah you did little man." I think I'm having an aneurism.

"You want to have a another-"

"No!" Rico's happy,  little face quickly turns to one of sadness as his lip begins to quiver.

"Oh no, I didn't mean that. We can play a new game- that's what I meant to say."  I fucking hate myself sometimes. That sometimes is turning into very often.

"Can we go in there?" He points over to a big oak door with a gold lock. Looks like the goddamn chamber of secrets.

I make my way over to see if it's open- which it is.

"Looks like we can."

As the door pulls back, a room of great seats excellence appears behind it. It has floor to ceiling shelves, each one decorated with clothbound books of the ages.

I feel like I've walked into one of Mia's dreams. She'd die if she saw this many stories in a single room.

"Isa, look at me!" Rico beckons from behind me.

I turn to see him spinning on a grand chair behind a desk covered in papers. At this moment, I realise that we are probably not allowed to be in here. Well, it's already happened so what you gonna do.

"You look so grown up and cool." He looks like a mini CEO and it is making my heart ache.

"Do I look like Alexander?"

"Who's that baby?"

"The tall man with the funny beard." Oh sweet mother of Jesus.

"You mean the man who's house this is?" I'm gonna piss myself.

"Yeah that dude. Do I look like him now?" This is probably his office now I come to think of it. Shit.

"You look way better than him."

As I move next to Rico, one specific paper catches my eye. I read the words 'Rose Blood'  in bold, black ink.

What the actual fuck is this and why does Alessandro have this?

"This is boring now. I'm going to go find the pretty lady." I hardly recognise that Rico is speaking to me before he leaves.

Unconsciously, I sit down on the chair and lean back as my eyes flick over the pages.

There is pictures of my apartment, my mother and some kind of manuscript- the call.

Alessandro has a manuscript of sorts from the 911 call I made that night. Why?

Something tightens in my core as I flick it to the next page. A family tree covers the page in gold and silver writing. My name -Rose- is the centre of it all.

"What the hell is this?" I mutter under my breath, not being able to manage any louder.

One thing sticks out over all the names and branches. There is a space for another. Someone was scratched out from the tree.

The names above read Luis and Kia Rose, my aunt and her husband. That's when I realise who's name is missing- Iris.

Why wouldn't she be there? She's my family. She's a Rose, so why isn't she on the Rose family tree?

Before my mind can strain for another second, the phone sounds. I don't dare reach for it. No one can know I've been in here.

The ringing eventually halts but then a voicemail begins to play.

"Alessandro, pick up the fucking phone. It's Mario, Dante told me about the tree and I found the other Rose. Her name is Iris Rose, the only child of Kia and Luis Rose. If your theory is right, which I believe it must be, she is the one who took the Rose children. I don't know why yet but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. Get back to me as soon as possible man."

I can't hear anything.

I can't feel anything.

I can't see anything.

The world seemed to have gone dark and cold. A pit forms in my stomach as my throat closes up. My head strains against the beating as thoughts cease to flow.

I think I'm going to be fucking sick. That's the only thought that remains. I refuse to recognise who's name was just said and what they have done. I can't hear them say her name like that.

Before I know it, my eyes raise and they meet another pair. The paper drops from my hand as the room feels like it's spinning. Round and round and round.

I can't recognise who I'm looking at or maybe I do. Nothing is making sense and everything is still fucking spinning.

That was when everything went-

Alessandro Marino:

She knows. She knows that I know. She knows that I know and I still didn't tell her.

I feel like shit for leaving her in the dark and for practically forcing her to find out this way. It's not like I placed the paper in her hand but I still feel at fault.

She passed out when I walked it. I watched her fall to the ground as all the colour left her face.

I found a voicemail from Mario, I assume she heard it too. All I know is that she read the file and now she knows exactly what has happened.

My sister and her brother sit next to her bed. She seems so peaceful yet so tortured. This must of broken her. It would do to the best of us.

"We've fucked up." Dante echoes from the left.

"Big time." Tristan  responds from my right.

"How do you think she's going to be when she wakes up?"

"She's on a lot of medicine right now so I don't know if she'll be conscious for a while." My doctor found a lot of problems when he checked her out: dehydration, exhaustion, all the bad shit you don't want to hear right now.

"We put her there." That's all I can say about this. We are the ones who put her in the bed.

"No, we didn't. We only-"

"Kept the biggest secret imaginable from a Rose."

"What does her name have to do with anything?" What a stupid question from Dante.

"It's not the name. It's the blood. All Roses have serious anger issues so I know this will set her off."

"Big time." Is this his new favorite catchphrase or some shit?

"Don, your mother is here to see you." A voice says from nearby.

"Tell her I'll be down in a minute."

"No need." Shit.