Found Obsession

Chapter 117: Father Gabriel Quill

Rose continued her solitary walk under the relentless rain. Each step felt heavier, her body shivering not just from the cold but from the turmoil within.

As she neared the buses, she caught sight of a few children staring at her through the fogged windows. Their wide eyes seemed to pierce straight through her. She froze for a moment, her breath catching. The weight of what she had done—and not done—pressed down harder.

Rose was certain Jonathan had pieced together her actions the moment they reached the kitchen. They must have returned looking for her, and then the sound of gunshots would have given up her location drawning everyone.

Her gaze shifted to the disguised woman standing nearby. Rose couldn't hold the contact. She couldn't keep looking at the children, couldn't bear the lingering questions, the fear and hatred in their stares.

She took a last look at that child with brown eyes before she looked away in shame. Without another word, she turned and began walking further and further away, her teeth chattering against the cold.

Her boat was filling with water. She felt it—her ship was sinking, and she feared it might drag her under completely.

The rain drenched her to the bone as she wandered into the quiet streets, the night cloaking her in its emptiness. She walked aimlessly, avoiding any thought of going back, avoiding Elijah's team, the inevitable questions, and seeing the broken Jonathan trying to hold himself. She couldn't bear for them to see what she had seen in herself tonight: a woman who had lost a part of her faith in justice.

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She eventually stumbled upon a small store, her soaked figure drawing strange looks from the cashier. Her body trembled as she selected clothes—a simple outfit, practical shoes, and a thick coat to fight off the chill. She carried them to the counter, her fingers fumbling as she paid. She didn't care about the stares.

After purchasing the clothes, she found the store's bathroom. It was small and dimly lit, but it was private, a space where she could shed the heavy weight of her uniform.

Inside the cramped stall, Rose sat down for a moment, took her time, her breathing ragged. Her mind replayed the events in a loop—the faces of the children, the bodies in the basement, Jonathan pushing away the boat, the lives her family had destroyed. Elijah. Every thought cut deeper.

She dressed methodically, replacing every piece of her drenched uniform and underclothes with something warmer and simpler. When she removed the last item, she felt a strange relief—a physical weight lifted, but the emotional burden remained.

With her hair down and her uniform stuffed into a bag, she stepped out of the stall and faced herself in the mirror. Her reflection stared back, pale and tired, her eyes shadowed by guilt, shame and horror. She washed her hands, and then leaned into the sink breathing as she closed her eyes.

She hadn't recovered her whole memories, and Rose found herself asking a questions to her old self.

What did you have planned? If she had been working all alone trusting no one and keeping everything to herself... Following that notebook. Those warnings. 

Her mind spiraled as she tried to piece together fragments of a life she couldn't fully remember. The faces of those children stared back at her in her mind's eye, their fear, their anger, their pain. The weight of their words echoed endlessly in her ears, and she wondered if the old Rose had heard them before from a group of children, how far had she found out?

Rose stepped out into the rain, pulling the hood of her coat over her head. She clutched the bag containing the uniform tightly in one hand as she made her way out. Her thoughts spun in endless loops.