Roses

Chapter 7

Zoey

"We meet again," Abraham's words almost mirror my thoughts. He isn't in a wheelchair this time. Perhaps his legs work just fine, but not for long periods of time. Manny stands beside him and like that, they have a formidable presence.

"It was hard not to. Considering you two have been stalking me," I bite back. It actually impresses me. For all my previous thoughts on how the Thorns may be an integral part of Roses (every pun intended), I am not one to not call them out on their shit.

But is it bravery or stupidity? I am going to find out.

Abraham stares at me for a second and then rears his head back in roaring laughter. It's so loud I am tempted to flinch away. But it only makes Manny smile. Like he has waited a long time to see the sight before him.

"I suppose," the older man manages to say between his laughs. "It's the accurate term."

"It's not funny," I mutter. Even though I find his reactions weird, I can't bring myself to accept that he is like a real stalker and poses danger. He must be more than twice my age and uses a wheelchair, for Christ's sake!

"Of course not," he replies, his voice finally free of humor. "I am sorry if I made you worry."

I wasn't expecting a straight up apology but it does make me feel better.

"Why did you do it?" I press.

"I knew...," he takes a pause to run his hand down the back of his neck. "I knew your parents." My heart skips a beat at their mention.

I lost both my parents, in one way or another, when I was five years old. I barely remember them, let alone their friends or associates. I have no way to know if he's telling the truth but it's the first time someone has offered me anything about them.

"Knew them how?" I try to control the urgency in my voice but some of it must spill through as I see him register it. Fine! Let him know I'm desperate to find more about them.

If he really is telling the truth then he's the only one who can give me what I want. I could talk to my father by visiting him in prison. But that's not the man I'm interested in. I'm interested in who he had once been, before he went ahead and tainted our family name in blood. I'm interested to find out more about the woman who must have loved me even as she took her last breath.

"How about you come over for dinner sometime?" He answers my question with an offer and a smile.

"It wouldn't be safe for me to walk alone at night," I reply. In the days I had spent in Roses, the serial killer had only affected my life by preventing me to step out of the house after seven pm.

"My son will pick and drop you." For a moment I think it's Abraham that says it and my heart squirms in a way I don't like at all at the prospect of being in a closed space with Adam. But then I realize it's Manny who actually said it. I turn towards him and he offers me one of his small smiles he's been giving me the past one week. "He drives for Mr. Adam anyways." Ah, the young driver.

"Um," I mutter and look away. As much as I want that connection with my parents, I am not sure if I want to enter the Thorns' territory like that. They are intimidating and weird at worst and.... strangers at best.

"Please, Zoey," Abraham says and I almost hear his voice crack. "For Aurora's sake." Hearing my mother's name after what feels like a lifetime, in that desperate voice of his, does it for me.

"Okay."

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