I can see you

Chapter 25

(ROSY'S POV)

The voice fades, but the chill it leaves behind doesn't. My fingers tingled and my skin felt too tight and suddenly I was not in the car anymore. I was back there, in that house. On that night. I don't remember how it had started. Only how it ended. With blood, with fire and with Roy.

Her face flashed first. Not the blood or the scream. Just her smile tight, artificial, filled with something I used to mistake for love. Then the floor, the knife and everything else.

That night after I had come to my senses I had crawled over to my mother, her body laid twisted on the floor. Roy was explaining what happened but I didn't care. It was confusing, I had just killed the woman I hated most in the world, so why were tears streaming down my face? Why did it feel like something inside me had shattered?

As I knelt beside her, she smiled, actually smiled maybe for the very first time.

"You were born as my daughter," she whispered, blood seeping from the corners of her mouth. "So of course you're perfect. Just like me..."

Her eyes fluttered. Her voice rasped like paper tearing.

"You knew, didn't you? That it was always inside you. The same thing I had."

I couldn't move. My chest felt like it was folding in on itself.

"You didn't even hesitate," she murmured, almost with pride. "Just like I didn't... with your father. With your brother."

Her head lolled as she smiled. Her teeth were red with blood.

" you killed me because I tried to kill Roy and I killed them because they were the only imperfections We had. We always do what has to be done. That's what love is, Riya. Fire... or knife... it's all the same."

She coughed, wet and sharp, blood spraying her chin.

"There's oil. Everywhere... all over. I made sure. Just a spark, and it's done. No one would remember a thing. You would live your perfect life. You would finally become just like-"

Her mouth twitched. She choked, blood was suddenly gushing from her mouth. And then, before I could even register what was happening, Roy lunged forward and began stabbing her. Over and over with his eyes closed and tears steaming down his face. Her screams turned into gurgles, then silence.

He dropped the knife beside her and looked up at me with a faint, broken smile. His face and blonde hair were all tinted with splatters of blood."Hey, Riya... look. I am the one who killed her. You're nothing like her and you'll never be." He was trembling and his breath was coming in short gasps. Her golden eyes went to his hand and the knife clattered from his hand like it burned him. "I-I just wanted to protect you," he said blinking fast. "She was going to hurt you again. I had to... I didn't mean to-"

I stared down at the lifeless corpse, my hands shaking. "Roy... I wanted her to die," I whispered. "But not like this. Not like this."

"She was a monster," he said, voice low and urgent. "She killed your father and brother because she thought they were beyond saving. And you... you were never safe. Riya, I love you. I just wanted to protect you but I didn't believe you when you warned me about her. I should have believed you but I kept thinking that you were paranoid. But now I see what you went through all those years. I still want to protect you Riya."

I could barely breathe. The room was spinning and this felt like a nightmare I couldn't wake up from.

"We need to call someone," I mumbled. "An ambulance. Something."

"I don't have my phone," Roy said, trying to avoid my eyes. "She took it when I was at your place. Can you go get yours?"

I nodded numbly and got to my feet. As I turned to leave, I heard him call out behind me.

"Riya... I love you. And remember, none of this is your fault. You're the sweetest person I've ever met. Please... be okay."

I didn't respond. I couldn't. I looked at him with blank eyes and ran.

"You don't have to carry this, Riya," he'd whispered as I left the room. "They'll never find out. I promise."

As I reached my bedroom to search for my phone, I smelled something thick and choking. Smoke. I turned to the window and saw the entire house engulfed in flames. The flames bloom like petals red, gold, cruel. The house was dying and so was I. And maybe that's what she wanted all along.

No. No, no, no...

There was only one explanation: Roy had lit the fire. Just like she wanted. A crowd had already formed by the time I reached near the door. I couldn't get back inside, I couldn't save anyone. Once again I was powerless against her.

I didn't scream. I didn't cry. I just... walked. My body moved like it was no longer mine. I needed to wake up. This couldn't be real. If I just kept walking, maybe I'd wake up in my bed, and all of this would be gone.

I boarded a bus. I didn't know where it was going, and I didn't care. As long as it took me away from this nightmare. I stared out the window, half-alive, wondering what I'd do once I woke up because this had to be a dream. Then I felt someone sit beside me. A middle aged man. He smiled and offered me a flower, a white rose maybe. Its scent was sweet, almost intoxicating.

A whisper brushes my ear. "You survived because of me."Then silence and sleep. That's the last thing Riya remembered.

When she opened her eyes again, she was no longer Riya. She was Rosy now and she had no idea what she was running from. She didn't know the name Riya. She didn't remember Roy. She remembered a flower. A name whispered by a kind man.

"Rosy," he said and she nodded because that name didn't hurt.

She was Rosy awake, reborn, and living in that man's so-called orphanage.