Found Obsession

Chapter 110: Stolen Body. Unseen Deaths. War.

March 17, 2006

Rose stood in the graves, her steps heavy as she moved through the silent space. She had successfully stolen Sasha's body—and Edward's as well a month ago.

Now, she stood before Sasha's resting place, staring at her sleeping form. There were no signs of torture, no evidence of harm. Sasha had been found in a bed of red roses, a single white rose placed delicately in her hands, just like Mark. A note had been left at the scene, but Rose hadn't even cared to read it.

Sasha was gone.

Rose leaned against one of the stone pillars, her gaze fixed on the crypt where Sasha now lay. Her calm exterior was a thin veneer, holding back the storm threatening to consume her.

She held the teddy bear up, staring at it for a moment before walking over to Sasha. Gently, she placed the bear in Sasha's hands, arranging them carefully. When she stepped back, she thought Sasha's face looked more peaceful, as if she had found some semblance of rest.

But Rose's hands trembled. The weight of the pain in her chest threatened to crush her, to pull her to her knees and send her spiraling into the same catatonic state she'd barely survived before. It felt like the same unbearable agony she'd experienced when the children's case had unfolded, when her colleagues had died, when she lost Raven, and when every new piece of information that was found was to much.

She felt weak. So weak.

For someone born into a lineage that had caused so much suffering, Rose couldn't help but feel foolish for believing she had any right to grieve. Maybe she deserved this pain. Maybe it was her penance.

As her gaze lingered on Sasha one last time, Rose used the mark to protect herself against her new loss. Her trembling hands steadied as she exhaled slowly.

With deliberate movements, Rose sealed the crypt.

Edward, Mark, and Sasha now rested side by side, just as she had ordered them. Their crypts stood in quiet solidarity.

And in front of them, Raven's crypt stood alone.

Rose's gaze lingered on Raven's crypt, her voice barely above a whisper. "You were part of them all this time, weren't you?"

Rose couldn’t find the explanation of emotions in her.

Her memories churned, unearthing fragments of the past. She remembered the time Lucas had barged into her hospital room with his high-and-mighty demeanor, pretending to be someone from the upper echelons of society, looking down on Rebecca and Raven calling them losers. It had been during her bout with the gastric ulcer—an encounter that now felt like a distant echo.

She thought back to Halloween, the night everything shifted. Elijah had infiltrated the event, and it was Lucas who had helped him. Lucas had all the information of the event. Then came the massacre at her parents' mansion, Lucas probably pretending to be drugged—a carefully staged scene, she now realized.

Is that why Lucas had enjoyed placing the mark on her? Because he hated her as well.

Rose chuckled bitterly, shaking her head at the irony. Lucas, promising his loyalty for Levi's sake.

"Levi," Rose whispered, the name heavy with unspoken emotion.

Deep down, Rose hadn't wanted Lucas to be one of them. For Sasha's sake for she knew Sasha had given up her heart. And because of Levi. Levi had been that only person she had managed to help let go of so much hate and live, that had forgiven her. 

It was Levi's forgiveness that had mattered most. Levi, his trust despite being a Hansley, had confirmed that her line of justice—however fraught—wasn't entirely wrong. His understanding had given her hope that there was still a chance.