Tainted Happiness {Formerly Returned} (Book 4) (Completed)

Chapter 10

Melanie POV

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I was expecting Rosa to look different, but I wasn't expecting to see only a bunch of pieces of her soul floating around. If I hadn't known that her soul was Torn, I never would have guessed the pieces to be her. I could hardly process what I was seeing. I immediately clasped my hand over my mouth in shock.

"Oh, Rosa." I said, as I fell to my knees, all the pieces turned to look over at me.

"Melanie..." Cory called out, only it sounded more like his voice was coming and going like the wind more than it was a call.

"Oh god" was all I could manage.

"The answer... lies... with someone... associated... with her memories... of...East Harbor... State Park..." he finished.

"Someone associated with her memories? What does that mean?" I replied.

"Someone... who caused her... great joy... and great... pain..." he tried to explain.

"One month... hurry... Mels..." Vince tried to say.

"It's not... too late..." Cory said before his figure slowly disappeared.

"Wait! Cory!" I screamed, reaching my hand out in an attempt to make him stay.

"The answer... lies in the caves... at East Harbor... State Park... Hurry... my love..." Vince said before he too, disappeared.

"I love you, Vince." I whispered as a single tear ran down my face.

All that was left was the pieces of Rosa. Right when I thought they too would disappear, they surrounded me, as if Rosa was trying to comfort me. After a bit, they too slowly faded just Cory and Vince had. I was left alone in a cold, lonely hospital room with only Rosa's barely living body to keep me company.

Kait POV

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We were called to go somewhere. I wasn't quite sure where, but I heard someone calling out for Vince, Cory, and I. We immediately ran toward the sound and came out into this open, empty field. Just when we were about to leave, the field transformed into a vaguely familiar hospital room that I couldn't quite see clearly. It looked like it was blocked off by a cloud of cigarette smoke. Right behind the cloud stood Melanie who wasn't appearing to be in the best emotional shape.

"Oh, Rosa." She said, falling to her knees.

It was then that I noticed I was no longer just a single figure. I was divided into multiple fragments of my being. Literally, I was Torn into pieces. When one piece did something, the other copied it exactly. When Melanie said my name, all of my pieces turned toward her, not just the conscious one that helped me think. Melanie looked about ready to cry, but then Cory spoke.

"Melanie." he called out.

"Oh god." Melanie said, obviously being surprised by something.

"The answer lies with someone... associated with her memories of East Harbor State Park." Cory stated, my pieces turning to look at him.

"Someone associated with her memories? What does that mean?" Melanie asked, obviously as confused as I was.

"Someone who caused her great joy and great pain." he finished.

"One month, hurry Mels." Vince said.

"It's not too late." Cory said as he walked away.

"Wait! Cory!" Melanie screamed in protest.

"The answer lies in the caves at East Harbor State Park. Hurry, my love." Vince said as he too, walked away.

"I love you, Vince." She whispered as a single tear leaked out of her eye.

I gathered up as much energy as I could and gave her a tight hug. She seemed confused as to what I was doing, but understood one all my pieces were there. It was at that moment when I knew I had to figure out how to gather up the pieces of my soul.

Melanie POV

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I let myself cry for a little bit before I finally knew that I had to pull myself together. I sat in the chair near the back wall of the hospital room and began contemplating the messages that Cory and Vince were trying to say.

"The caves at East Harbor State Park. There are no caves at East Harbor State Park! Or is there? Maybe there is, but no one knows about them. Someone has to know about them! They can't just be there and no one has found them! That park has been there for years! I think there's only one way to solve this. I have to physically go there and search for them." I pondered aloud.

"Are you talking to yourself?" Laura asked as she waltzed in.

"No, I was just thinking out loud. Do you mind staying here to watch over the body? There's somewhere I need to go." I replied, grabbing my purse and Rosa's keys.

"Uh, I guess not. Where do you need to go?" She said.

"East Harbor State Park. There's something there that may bring us an answer to this whole mess."

"Such as?"

"Caves. All I could really find out was something about some caves at East Harbor State Park could house the answer to Kait's condition." I said, walking out of the room.

"Goodbye to you, too!" Laura shouted, sticking her head out the door.

"Text me if anything new comes up!" I yelled back.

Once I was out of the parking lot, I began thinking a little more about how I could find these caves. I desperately wanted to know more about them and where exactly they were. Luckily the drive from Princeton to Marblehead was only a half-hour drive. When I got to my destination, I immediately went to visit the one family that Rosa always said would help me out around the park, Dick and Mary Aiden. Only this time they proved to be the only people that could've helped me with my request.

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This chapter was an interesting one to write. I've come to want to write more in the POV of Melanie. She's just an interesting character and I love figuring out the way she thinks and processes thing. She's also really the only one who actually does anything to help Kait. If something can be done, she's right on it, as you can tell from this chapter. Anyway, what do you think Dick and Mary will tell her about the caves and what do you think her reaction will be if she finds the caves? ;)

~ Kait