The Curse of Windsor Castle

Chapter Thirty

Amy started sobbing loudly, and unable to hold back, Tamara let out a strangled wail, letting fat tears roll down her cheeks. The two of them sat together, alone with their pain and sadness for a long time.

    When both girls calmed down, Amy thought of what Vesterka said. "Tara, who's Chilako?"

    Tamara managed a watery smile. "It's obviously Nuntius Mortis. Mortis means death in Latin. No parent in their right mind would name their child death."

    Amy let out a sigh. "I suppose not." She drummed her fingers on her leg.

"What about Rebecca?" Tamara asked

Amy whirled around to see the girl, still curled up where the chairs used to be. "How are we going to take her home? Nuntius Mortis is dead, Vesterka is long gone—and probably took his body with her. I wonder how she's going to get rid of him."

"Focus, Amy," Tamara snapped. "We have an unconscious girl with us. How are we going to bring her home without being arrested?" The duo looked at Rebecca who was still dead to the world.

"Do you think we could pour cold water on her?" Amy asked.

Tamara sighed. "I'm calling Mum."

The girls sat in silence as they waited for Melinda to pick them up. After what felt like hours, Melinda finally pulled up. She stepped out of the car to see only one of her daughters with Amy. The girls were staring dejectedly at the floor "She's gone, isn't she?" Melinda asked.

The two girls huddled together with Rebecca in between them in the backseat while Melinda shed silent tears.

"Aunty Melinda," Amy said quietly. "Rose is probably going to cry when she gets to Maagiline. But she'll also be happy. She'll want you to be happy too."

Melinda nodded and brought up the subject everyone was trying to ignore. "How are we going to get that girl home?"

Amy showed her the emergency button on her in response.

"No way."

Melinda took Rebecca home to her confused family and left before to many questions could be asked. Thankfully, the girl began to stir as her father opened the door. Melinda quickly thought of an explanation—Rebecca fell asleep while studying with Rose—and rushed to the car before the girl could say anything.

After dropping Amy off, Melinda unlocked the house and let Tamara in. "It's so quiet without Rose here," she whispered.

"Tara, do you want to watch a movie?" Her mother asked.

Tamara nodded. "Let's watch Prisoner of Azkaban and Beauty and the Beast. Those were Rose's favorites.

During the two movies Tara and Melinda didn't stop talking because they know that was how Rose watched movies-- pointing out mistakes, yelling at the screen, singing the songs, and gushing at her favorite parts. "You know if we keep doing this," Tamara said. "It'll be as if Rose never left in the first place." Mother and daughter curled up together and continued to watch the movie.

Rose opened her eyes to find herself in a white room filled with cots. Where am I, she thought for a brief second before the day's events came crashing into her memory. "Hello," Rose called out before thinking. Stupid, she reprimanded herself. That's what characters in horror movies to before getting themselves killed.

"Hello, Rose."

Rose shrieked and whirled around before finding herself face to face with a man she had only seen once before: in a dream. "Dad."