“Somewhere, for someone, it’s just a cassette of memories which kept them alive.”
•EVELYN / ROSE•
That was probably the longest drive of my life, in these twenty-four hours my life had turned upside down.
First my kids got hospitalized and my daughter's condition was critical when a guy with eyes familiar to my kids, declared his claim on my kids.
He thought I was a fool, or he was mistaken that I was weak. I could be anything but that, in these five years I've learned to cope with my unknown past, I know how to connect dots.
And after connecting everything that happened in these past few weeks after Mr. Knight entered my life, it led to a conclusion.
Xavier Knight is indeed related to my past, but to what extent, I didn't know until tonight.
How could I be so foolish to not acknowledge the feelings, his look, that unknown connection to his son and the familiarity between my kids and him.
I knew, I was afraid to voice out the truth, but somewhere back in my mind, I know who he is to my kids. But, for now I don't know what he is to me.
There was a mess of emotions from inside, but my face remained blank. I was afraid for Alex's safety but at the same time I was furious at the person responsible for this. Wait until I get my hands on this person.
How dare they touch my Alex?!
I'll squeeze the person's neck and watch the light leave their eyes. I'm not a violent person but when it comes to my kids, I could be worse than a psycho killer.
My heart hammered in my chest followed by an unsettling feeling settling in the pit of my stomach when I neared an abandoned cottage in the distance.
Immediately pressing the break paddle, I moved out of the car. Dry leaves crunched under my boots as I ran through the weald, dodging branches from the way. My lungs started closing up due to insufficient oxygen supply, but I didn't stop, I can't stop. My Alex is waiting for me, I need to get him as soon as possible. Pointed branches scrapped my exposed skin while I ran as fast as I could. Finally, the cottage came into view, increasing my pace. I stopped in front of a small rusty gate.
The wooden cottage in front of me was old, judging by the dry flowers in the lawn with brown grass on the ground. The cottage had few holes in the walls giving a clear view of the inside, but currently it was dark, the windows were replaced with two planks of wood crossed over another.
My racing heart was back to normal by the time I reached the front porch. With the shaky breath, I stepped on the worn-out wooden step protected under my weight making me freeze.
What if it breaks if I had more pressure on it?
My train of thoughts was broken when I heard a young male shriek from inside, "Alexander!" I yelled in alarm and ran towards the door, not caring about breaking the step anymore.
Throwing the door open, I entered the dark house.
"Alexander!" I yelled again, but instead of a reply, a loud thud answered me.
Whipping my head around to find the door closed, turning the entire room dark, the only source of light was the light of fresh dawn peeking inside to the holes in the wall and the gaps on the wooden plank over the windows.
I froze when I felt someone behind me. My heartbeat quickened but I refused to let them scare me. Before I could even turn around, a sharp pain surged through my brain, making me scream loud and that was when I realized I was hit by something.
The pain was excruciating, it felt like someone was stabbing a knife in it and dragging it down slowly. Black dots splashed in front of my vision before that was all I could see.
.
.
.
I felt two little hands on my head… but I couldn't make out what the person was trying to say.
Cool hard object was placed against my front as a slip back to consciousness. The pain in my head was still there announcing its presence by slamming against the walls of my brain. I groaned before slowly opening my eyes, my lashes were matted with blood making it hard for me to see.
"Rose…" I heard Alex's broken voice from behind, with a lot of energy, I forced myself to flip around on my back.
I took several deep breaths before opening my eyes again. On my left I saw Alex's tear-stained face with a bloody wound on his head.
"Rose, Y-You are hurt b-badly," Alex sobbed beside her.
With another deep breath, I planted my palms on the cold floor and pushed myself up.
Giving him a faint smile, I brushed his hairs that curtained his face when I was able to sit straight. "Look at me, Xander."
Slowly looking up at me with teary eyes, I assured, "We'll be fine, I'll get you out of here, come here," I stretched my arms as he immediately moved and wrapped his arms around my chest.
Rubbing his back, I kissed his forehead and checked the wound that horrible people gave him. It was a scratch but deep and it may leave a scar too, but at last he was with me, safe and secure.
Suddenly sounds of heels clicking on the floor echoed throughout the dungeon, immediately I waited for the person to show me their face but when a familiar pair of black eyes came in view, I wasn't that surprised as I thought I would be.
"Evelyn!" She smirked at me and opened the lock before entering the cage we were in.
Alex immediately tightened his arms around my waist as his head was into my chest, his body was slightly shivering and by now I realized she was the person who had my kid live his life in fear, the person who made me live as Rose Clinton, the person who tried to kill me five years back and who took my children's father away from them.
"Savannah!" My voice was clearly audible and filled with an immense amount of hatred.
First, she tried to kill me, now she had her hands on my Alex, how dare she?!
"I see that you are not surprised. Was it that obvious?" She walked closer.
I didn't answer through, just watched her every move with hooded eyes.
"How it can't be, after you tried killing me five years back, you're doing it now, where's the difference?"
"Let's just say, I get a bonus kill today." She said, eyeing the scared Alex.
I immediately tightened my arms around him as anger boiled inside my heart. She crouched in front of me. As she made a move to grasp Alex's arm, I held her wrist tightly and looked her in the eyes.
"Touch my son, and I'll make sure to feed your head to the dogs!"