Bitter Rose [Diabolik Lovers]

Chapter Six: I Wonder If I Can Find A Therapist Who Takes My Insurance

Translations:

Descends de là - Get down from there

Tu vas te faire mal - You're going to hurt yourself

Non, Maman - No, Mom

Je vais bien - I'm fine

Maintenant - Now

D'accord - Okay

Ma petite oiseau chanteur - My little songbird

Grande soeur - Big sister

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Suspicion haunts the guilty mind.

-Shakespeare

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"Rosie! Descends de là! Tu vas te faire mal!" Rose was scrambling up the tree in their backyard; her wispy blond hair pulled back in a slowly slipping ponytail. She pulled herself up another branch, swinging her short legs over the side and waving down at her frantic mother.

"Non, Maman! Je vais bien!" Rose shrieked, puffing out her cheeks and sticking out her tongue. She kicked her legs back and forth as her mother set her arms against her hips.

"Rosemarie! Maintenant!" Her mother jabbed her finger towards the ground, frowning fiercely. Rose stuck out her lower lip in a pout, but another yell from her mother had her maneuvering her way down.

"D'accord, d'accord," she grumbled, inching her way down until her toes brushed the grass. Then, before she could set herself down properly, her mother scooped Rose into her arms and hugged her for a few moments before pulling away so she could look Rose in the eyes.

"Rosie," she began, her voice stern, but then her voice muted, and whatever she was going to say next was lost in the flood of inaudible whispers that filled Rose's head. Everything darkened, and Rose twisted around in her mother's arms, trying to see where they were, but her mother's grip had become painfully tight, and Rose could only crane her head around to look.

They were on the roof of the hospital, the dim light and color being leached from the sky indicating it was passing dusk into night. Struggling harder to free herself from her mother's painful grasp, Rose turned back around to face her mother. A strangled gasp rose in her throat.

Her mother's eyes were gone; the pits that once held them seeping blood and fluid, gaping grotesquely. The gasp was slowly turning into a scream, but Rose couldn't seem to voice it as she stared into the holes that had once held her mother's pale blue eyes. Eyes just like her sister's. Eye's Rose had felt lucky not to inherit as it would have driven her mad every time she looked in the mirror.

The oppressive whispers rose to a crescendo in Rose's ears. Finally, she was able to make out what they were saying. Your fault, they hissed, the cacophony of malice making her head pound. All your fault.

Their whispers turned to shouts, and Rose woke up screaming.

***

Panting, each breath grating against her sore throat, Rose looked around wildly, taking a few moments to orient herself in the still vastly unfamiliar bedroom. Even once she convinced herself that she was nowhere near that hospital, it still took turning on every light in her room to stop her shaking.

Suddenly stifled in the hot room, Rose walked shakily to the window and threw it open, letting the early morning air raise goosebumps on her arms as it rushed in to cool the room. She took a big, shuddering breath, finally feeling her pounding heart slow down. Slumping against the window sill, Rose stared down at the garden below her, watching as the sun slowly spilled over the wall. The cool breeze suddenly felt uncomfortable, hair rising on her goosebump-covered arms, and Rose finally shut the window and turned to wrap herself back in her covers.