ROSE

Chapter Seventeen - Do or die

"No. This can't be… This can't be…" Kimberly repeated in her mind, thirsty for answers. She groaned in hope of attracting attention. Her efforts streamed down the drain. She was out of ideas of making herself audible.
 
"I have complied," Nicholas spoke to Rose. "I have brought you what you craved: the next human destined to ruin your reign. In my hand, I have the tool that you were after for decades." He unzipped the zipper and retrieved the music box.
 
Kimberly watched helplessly as Nicholas pulled out the music box. Although feeble, she gathered strength and groaned loudly at Nicholas. She yelled in her mind, "Don't do it!"
 
Nicholas halted and glanced at Kimberly for a while, he resumed: he extended his hand to Rose, but she did not touch it. She used her powers to lift the music box off Nicholas's hand and guided it onto a wooden table.
 
Nicholas continued, "I have kept my end of the rope. Now it's time for you to keep yours, we made an agreement that if I brought you the destined human to destroy you, you would unleash me from your spell."
 
Rose replied, "Gaze into the mirror..." He complied. After a short while of gazing into the mirror, he felt sharp pains in his chest. He groaned in pain and knelt down on the floor for support. No sooner had he knelt down than a dark mist ejected from his body. He panted heavily. Gradually, his pulse normalized. He gathered strength and stood upright. Steadily, he watched his reflection materialize from his feet up to his head. He caressed his face and giggled ridiculously.
 
Kimberly, however, was furious, she thought of squeezing the life out of Nicholas for selling her out to Rose and risking the lives of many people.
 
Suddenly, Nicholas reached into the bag pack and pulled out a peculiar stone: it was old and brown-ish. He threw the stone at the mirror with all his might. Purple mists ejected from the mirror after a loud bang, cracks raced across to the edges of the mirror as tiny pieces sprinkled on the floor.
 
"No! What have you done?!" barked Rose.
 
"What I should have done a long time ago."
 
Rose screamed and fell to the floor. Immediately, the force that engulfed Kimberly dwindled, she fell on the floor, producing an audible thud as she gasped for air and coughed heavily.  Glimpses of the North Community flickered on the cracked mirror.
 
Nicholas tossed Kimberly an amulet. "Wear the amulet and reach for the music box. Do what you have to do before she gets up!" He instructed.
 
Kimberly sat upright. "But you sold us out. How am I supposed to trust-"
 
"Just do it!" He commanded.
 
Rose was attempting to puzzle the mirror pieces back together but failed to do so as her powers were drained. Her body occasionally transformed into humans that she killed. Rose was furious, she lifted Nicholas off the ground and chocked him; his veins bulged from his face as a red mask covered his face, he kicked his legs in all directions.
 
Kimberly was caged in worry, frustration, and anxiety. Nevertheless, she immediately wore the amulet around her neck and crawled to the table. She pulled the music box and placed it in front of her.
 
Furthermore, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to relax her body, attempting to open a portal with her mind. Suddenly, she felt as though she were carrying something heavy on her shoulders. The weird feeling was restricting her from concentrating.
 
"Kimberly…" a voice called. The voice sounded familiar. She disconnected from her concentration and opened her eyes. A light was shining down on Kimberly in a dark room, she held the music box tightly in her hand as she scanned for the owner of the voice. She could sense something lurking behind her, but was unable to see it. Furthermore, she heard whispers and demonic chatter.
 
Abruptly, a second light was cast on Emily. She was standing afar from Kimberly, sobbing quietly. Her eyes were swollen, her skin pale.
 
For a while, Kimberly believed what she was witnessing but immediately she shook her head: "No. You are not Emily. You are disguising yourself as Emily."
 
"Why do you say so?" asked Emily, "Is it because I look like a monster? You are the cause of my suffering. I told you I was seeing ghosts, but you ignored me and let the ghost consume me. Look at me, I cried for help, but you ignored me."
 
Kimberly replied, "Stop ascribing your death to me. You are not real. You are a monster wearing Emily's skin."
 
"Monster?!" barked Emily. She gradually transformed into Kimberly and yelled. "You are the monster. I am only the reflection of your dark side. Something which you try hard to conceal."
 
Kimberly felt weird looking at herself from an evil perspective. She retorted, “This is not your home! Demons and ghosts are not welcome in this world. And I will do everything possible to send you back to your world."
 
"Is that so?" she inquired and transformed into Nicholas. "Are you going to send me back too?" He had a sad face, tears flooded in his eyes.
 
Kimberly was speechless.
 
Nicholas continued, "After everything I have done for you. I rescued you from the jaws of death, I risked my life to save yours, I took you to a safe place where Rose can't trespass, taught you what you know and freed you from her cage. And what do I get in return?”
 
"You have no control over me or my friends. You are only a fragment of my imagination," replied Kimberly.
 
Rose transformed into Mr. Williams. Anger was written over his face, his teeth were visible and breathed heavily. “You are a horrible child, Kimberly! I have never been so disappointed in you in my entire life. I warned you that Green Forest Resorts was haunted but you ignored me. You are only an irresponsible child who has put the life’s of others into great peril. Because of you, your friends are dead and more will die! How are you going to explain that?! I do not want to see your face!”
 
Kimberly’s pulse increased, a dose of adrenaline rushed through her body, her hands became feeble, she dropped the music box and opened her eyes.
 
“No!” screamed Nicholas on the floor. He was weak.
 
Rose laughed, “To think that you are the destined human to destroy me makes it more funny. Your heart is stained with fear.”
 
She walked to Kimberly and yanked the amulet from Kimberly’s neck and threw it aside. “This amulet is useless like you.” She roughly threw Kimberly into the corner close to her bag. She landed on the mirror pieces and bruised her hand.
 
Kimberly was panting and sweating heavily such that her shirt was soaked.
 
Rose continued, “I guess Thomas was right, you fear the hash words coming from your father.”
 
Kimberly glanced, “You lie. Thomas would never do something like that.”
 
“How do you think I entered your mind?” inquired Rose.
 
Nicholas spoke slowly, “Don’t listen to her. It’s only a trick.”
 
Rose made the music box float in the air. “For centuries, I have been waiting for this day when I finally destroy this music box.”
 
Kimberly crawled to her bag pack, she pulled out the bottle of salt. She wiped her forehead with her palm and sprinkled the salt on her hand, and rubbed her hands together. “Honestly, I didn't want to do this,” she spoke aloud. “I told Elizabeth that I don't deal with ghosts. You can destroy the music box if you desire.”
 
“What are you doing?” whispered Nicholas.
 
Kimberly did not answer. Instead she stood up and faced Rose. Blood dripped from Kimberly’s hand onto the floor.
 
“Ahhh,” groaned Rose. “You are just like me.”
 
“Yes,” replied Kimberly. “On that point you are right. I am just like you... a human!” She raced as fast as she could to smear Rose with the salt on her hand.
 
Rose snapped and screamed, the salt burned on her skin, she released the music box. Kimberly caught the music box before it could hit the floor. Thereafter, she closed her eyes once again and relaxed her body. She heard horror voices in her mind but paid no attention to the source.
 
Images of her friends deaths arrayed in her mind but she skipped through them. She felt weak in the knees and hollow in her stomach, her head ached, her pulse increased, blood pumped through her veins. She spoke with authority.
 
“With the music box in my hand;
I manifest all that which I command;
In my presence, I declare evil powerless;
Hear my command and return to your world."
 
Rose persisted to scream as her body continued changing form. A gale of black and white mist spun over Rose as thunder rumbled outside, shaking the floor. The gigantic mirror fell to the floor shattering into million pieces.
 
Bright light flashed in the mist above Rose as each purple mists were vacuumed into the music box making it warm to the touch.
 
Furthermore, Rose transformed into smoke and was vacuumed into the music box. Immediately, the gale and the thunder subsided. The bright light dwindled and the music box cooled.
 
Kimberly opened her eyes, there was white smoke in the room. Gradually the smoke escape the room. She saw Thomas and Nicholas on the floor. She moved the music box aside and crowed over to Thomas.
 
"Thomas!" She called out his name and shook him vigorously. Kimberly's eyes flooded with tears, she called out in a low voice. "Thomas! Thomas!"
 
After a while, he coughed and sat upright. A bright smile creeped onto Kimberly's face. She hugged him tightly. "Oh, thank goodness. Are you alright?"
 
He nodded gently.
 
She crawled to Nicholas and shook him. “Nicholas, we did it. Rose is gone.”
 
He smiled and coughed. "I apologise for selling you out-"
 
"No. You did what you had to do to save us. I won't blame you. I would have done the same thing If I were in your shoes."
 
Nicholas confessed, "Rose caged me in her spell a long time ago. The only way she would grant me freedom was if I brought her the next person with the vision of the pebbles. I would have told you about it, but she was watching me closely-"
 
“Why didn’t you inform me that the mirror was the source of her powers?” interrupted Kimberly.
 
“As I said, because she was watching me,” he replied. “and she wouldn't have allowed me inside. That would have made it difficult to weaken her. But you are smart, you found yet another way to do so.”
 
 “And the stone?” she probed.
 
He smiled. “You are one curious girl.” He paused for a while and explained, “The stone was given to me by Harriet. It is a peculiar stone which was once used to destroy demonic objects. I figured since the mirror was indestructible to natural forces, it certainly wouldn't be to one of it’s kind. I made sure to keep it a secret, not even Elizabeth knew about it.
 
"You are not an evil spirit. yet you were able to enter North Community, right?."
 
He coughed and replied, "You are right. I am not an evil spirit. Rose only made me her slave. But I was never going to betray anyone, so I had to play her game. I am sorry you had to be the one on the line-"
 
"Enough apologizing," interrupted Kimberly. "You need to get up. We need to destroy the music box."
 
Nicholas shook his head. "There is no future for me. I am going to see my family."
 
"No. What are you saying?"
 
"Elizabeth and the entire community are on their way to this place. Do me a favour, don't tell Elizabeth that I was under Rose's spell."
 
She nodded and smiled with tears in her eyes.
 
Suddenly, Nicholas closed his eyes slowly. His heart stopped beating as he stopped breathing.
 
Witnessing Nicholas slowly lose his life made Kimberly feel dejected. Tears streamed down her chicks. She sobbed quietly. Thomas limped to Kimberly to comfort her.
   
Afterwards, Thomas carried the music box while Kimberly carried the bottle of salt. They walked outside the hotel and stood beside the pool.
 
Kimberly opened the bottle and sprinkled the remaining grams of salt into the pool. Steam evaporated as the water changed colour to purple.
 
Thomas threw the music box into the pool. Immediately it began melting.
 
Moments later, they heard a crowed singing outside the gate. It was the North Community residents, they wore smiles on their faces as they sung songs of triumph.
 
Thomas and Kimberly glanced back at the source of the melodious songs, they saw Elizabeth and her people smiling as they marched passed the gate. Kimberly smiled back at them because peace was restored.
 

The End!
 

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Authors Note: Cheers for making it to the last chapter. I hope you have enjoyed the story. I appreciate the support you rendered throughout this journey.

-Mubita