Remember Me

Chapter 8

                                                                   CHAPTER 8

                Rosalie sat on the bench along the path that led to her home. It was chilly and dark outside, but she didn’t notice it at all. Her thoughts were occupied by the false memories of her childhood. She was unable to tell who spoke the truth, who lied, who was just a distraction… it wasn’t easy to soak it all up in just a couple of minutes.

                Waverly and Darius stayed at their house, although they were concerned why Rosalie looked so distant out of the blue. She plastered a fake smile on her face and thanked them, leaving the house before they changed their minds. Mary had her eyes glued to Rose all the time, but no one noticed.

                ‘’What are you doing out here? You’ll freeze to death.’’

                She looked up to see Andrew scowl, lecturing her. He offered her a blanket and she took it without arguing, too tired. He sat next to her and looked away. The silence seemed worse than yelling, manipulating their minds. Rosalie opened her mouth to pour out everything on her mind, but stopped. She had to know something else first, something much more important.

                ‘’Why did you lie to me?’’

                Andrew was taken aback by her whisper, her voice breaking in the end. He panicked, recalling his talk with Barry before he left. Remember my words. It’s better to tell her than to wait until she hears from someone else. It will be easier for both of you that way. It was too late to listen to his advice, he concluded.

                ‘’What do you mean, Rose?’’

                ‘’You’re a liar, Andrew. God, I should’ve seen it sooner.’’

                ‘’See what? You’re scaring me.’’ He tried to take her arm, but she shrunk back as if he were poisonous.

                ‘’All those years you’ve been lying to me. Alex will turn out to be a saint compared to you, brother. How could you keep the truth about our parents away from me? I deserved to know they weren’t as good as I thought.’’

                Andrew placed his head between his hands, nervous and disappointed in himself much more than in his parents. He was partly relieved, since she obviously found out about some things, but not all. He still had to share the rest, but now wasn’t a good time. Never would be a good time.

                ‘’I… I just wanted to protect you. Nobody’s perfect, Rosalie and our parents were no exception. If I created an image of perfect, loving parents in your head, you’d soon forget about all bad things that had happened and honor them. Liked it or not, they’re who they are and if it weren’t for them, we’d never see this world.’’

                Rosalie wiped away a stray tear that threatened to fall down her cheek. She wanted to stay strong, but her walls were collapsing. The inner peace was ruined, and she started to see everything in this world as a black or white thing. Sadly, there was no escape, no refuge.

                ‘’We aren’t kids anymore. Reality is harsh, there’s no point in making it idyllic. How could I feel good about honoring my parents when they deserved their punishment? They took so many lives, innocent lives.’’

                ‘’We don’t know why, we can’t just jump into conclusions. I’m not saying there’s a reason for killing people, but maybe they had to do it to protect their family, friends and the whole Kingdom. I didn’t know so much about them either, I found out one night when I snuck out of the tent. Our parents were fighting over leadership and they pointed out details of the attack. I didn’t see them as people, but as monsters. Now, it all makes sense.’’