•Camilla•
1868
I no longer love you, dear. I know what you are thinking. Now, I must admit. It is true. I have lost all fondness of your person. I can not love the one who has inflicted internal pain on me for eternity. I will grant you the opportunity to see my loving sign off one last time.
Love, Penelope
______________
Dread awakens within my being as my grandmother and I approach the house. I have been gone for no longer than 4 hours yet it feels like a great challenge to return due to the information I know now. Information I did not know then.
My grandmother stays close behind me. She does not pry nor does she force conversation. She respected my need for silence on the drive back and that respect continues as I reach for the handle of the front door.
Slowly and carefully, I open the door, terribly cautious for what ever reason. Though, when the contents of my home is exposed, my legs nearly give out and my heart refuses to beat.
Thrashed glass. Thrashed furniture. Thrashed home. There is nothing in this house that has been untouched. My heart wails as I examine the sight. My favourite full-body mirror no longer stands. What remains is the hundreds of shards laying at my feet.
The kitchen I once baked fresh goods in now lays futile and unsafe to enter. Tears well in my eyes as I absorb the harsh reality. However, the somber feeling is put on hold as I recall who was with me the last time I was here.
You can stay here. I might want you to still be here when I get back home.
Shit. Phoenix.
My heart thunders in panic as I turn to look at my grandmother who has not yet recovered from her silent shock, mouth agape. My breathing pattern pattern becomes uneven as I make may way through the house screaming the name of the one person on my mind.
"Phoenix!" I yell. I stumble on a shoe that haphazardly lays on the floor. I reach for the console table to balance my steps and notice that I was wrong. There is one thing that has survived the home invasion.
The vase of Phoenix's roses.
My throat catches as panic turns into worry turns into urgency. I need to find Phoenix. If something happened to him...
"Phoenix!" I try again. Nothing. Tears well in my eyes as I stumble up the stairs, unable to clearly grasp my surroundings. I ignore the desperate calls from my grandmother as I climb the endless flights of stairs with a missing man's name on my tongue.
"Where are you?" I whisper to myself as hopelessness threatens to take over. A small thud above my head freezes my entire body. I stand still, awaiting another sound, but when there are no other sounds to follow, I go off instinct and make my way to my bedroom.
I burst through the door of my room and the fifth shock of the day flashes right in front of my eyes. My father. Strapped to a chair. Gagged. Phoenix. Standing above the chair. Gun pressed against a head. My father's head.
"Phoenix..." I whisper after a good 15 seconds of pure shock. I take deliberate steps towards the scene with my hands held up in surrender to let him know that I come in peace. "Put it down."
YOU ARE READING
Rose Thorns & Love Letters
Romance"Your Father is my biggest enemy." He proclaims as he tilts her chin up with the hand that is not gripped around the nape of her neck. Her eyes gloss over as she looks down at the loaded gun held tightly in her trembling hands. The gun that is press...
