"The truth is rarely pure and never simple"- Oscar Wilde

Rose's POV:

"Madeline DuPont is Madeline Quarsiekiev But of course you should know that since that is the reason why you killed her..."

My world stopped for a moment as a surge of memory hit me with it's pestiferousness.

"Please let me go!" I begged helplessly as I writhed on the floor, clutching my stomach as it pained from the vicious kick my mom delivered earlier. Tears fell undauntedly as pleas for mercy came out from my throat in the form of wretched whimper.

"You stupid bitch!" The woman I had come to call my mom, threw the bottle full of scotch away, making it clash on the cold surface with a loud shattering sound, "How dare you touch her?!" She pointed a finger toward my dark haired foster sister, who stood in a corner, trembling.

My eyes went to my sister, her black, almost brown mane was ruffled, her pretty pink princess dress was marred with dirt, some of it also stuck on her skin, making her beautiful white derm stand out more. Her smaragdine eyes were shadowed with melancholy.

She seemed scared, and disgusted with mom's behavior.

A sharp pain shot from my scalp which seemed to burn down my derm. I cried out in pain, clutching my mom's stronger hand that was gripping my hair with my much smaller ones. Her iron grip seemed to tighten more at my protest.

More tears leaked out as I tried freeing my hair, but no avail. An acuter pain went through my head as she pulled on them, tearing some of it.

"MOM PLEASE!" I screamed as my heard burned, "I AM SORRY! I WILL NEVER TOUCH HER!"

Suddenly, her grip loosened as my hair was let go. I clutched my head.

It hurt. It hurt a lot.

Little black dots danced in front of my vision as the agony became too much to bear. My eyes twitched as I struggled to remain awake.

"You better not touch her again," Mom stated, her voice scarily calm, "She is to be sold in a good price and I don't want you to associate with her."

And with that, she turned into her heels and left the room with shoulders squared p, as if, she didn't just hit a five year old, leaving me to deal with the pain she conflicted upon me.

My eyes hurt from crying, I was too exhausted to cry, but my eyes still moulted tears. They cried for my bodily grief, they cried for me.

I stared at her retreating figurine as rheum fell in drops, mingling with my sweat and getting their rest on the marbled floor.

"Rose-" A broken voiced whisper was heard, alarming me.

"Rose-" My foster sister ran toward me, her pink teddy bear still clutched tightly in her arms. I took in her blurry ghost of a figure through my misty vision.

"I'm sorry," Her voice was watery, her green eyes widened, "I'm so-"

"Go away..." I whispered, trying to crawl away from her.

"No! Rose!" She whispered, clutching my hand tightly. She was warm, unlike me. Her deerlike smaragdine eyes regarded me with sadness and guilt.

"I don't- I never meant wh-"

"It's done," I said cutting her off, "If mom sees me with you, she'll kill me and sell you."

Her grip on me tightened as her eyes filled with tears. "I don't want to leave you!" She cried out, her tears leaking free, "I want to make up for my mistakes! I want to apologize! I am so sorry Rose!"

I gave her a smile that was saturated with bitter sweet melancholy. I contemplated whether to tell her or not about my escape plan....

"Rose please forgive me!" She wailed harder as her sheet white skin turned into a light pink, "Today I understand how tough it is for you, today I understand my mistake- Rose- I always thought of you as my big sister- but when you told me to run away- when you told me that they were planning on selling me which will make me do bad stuff- I thought-"

She sniffled and continued, "I thought you were jealous of how mom treats me- I am so sorry Rose- only if I could take them back- I wish I could've protect you from dad-"

"Shh." I whispered, cutting off her ramble. She obeyed as she sealed her mouth, staring at me with her huge, teary emerald green eyes. I tried to extend my hand as I tried to embrace her, but the pain didn't allow me to. I hissed as a sharp pang of agony ran through my clavicle.

Noticing my pain, Madeline kneeled and crawled toward me, taking my hand gently and fitting her face in it.

"Big sister-" She whimpered, "I never knew that dad.... did....that...." She barely choked out the words, anew tears leaking from her eyes, "I never knew that sister- Please be with me? I want to escape- I want to be free-"

I should tell her.

I gave her a small smile as my own tears leaked. I felt a strange rush of emotions toward this girl. She never believed me, she complained and whined and her accusations led to my daily beatings- yet- I still felt for her. An euphoric empathy engulfed me as I stared at her.

"I am escaping today. Can you help me?"

She stilled. "You are leaving?"

I nodded my head hesitantly as I sat up with great difficulty. My joints pained from all the beating and malnourishment I had gone through, but I ignored the pain for now.

She nodded vigorously as her grip on my hand tightened, "I will help you! How can I?"

"Open the front gate for me? When mom sleeps? I will be ever grateful..."

She shook her head as she spoke with determination, "It is I who will be grateful. I want to right my mistakes. But..." She gave me a sad smile, "That means we will never meet again..."

I gave off a laugh as my throat constricted with sorrow, "Silly!" I ruffled her already ruffled hair, "Who says that?! We will meet again! At some point of our life, god will definitely bring us together! We will meet again and when we do, we will make up for our lost times...."

"Is there-" She seemed nervous as she fidgeted with her fingers, "Is there anything that can connect me to you?"

I pondered for a moment.

Was there?

"I am running to the city. Wherever the lights take me. Mum told me to stop when I reach lights."

She nodded as her waterworks began again, "Big sister- one day we will meet again- and when we do- I will buy you a lots of chocolates-"

I laughed as I said, "Silly."

"But... why can't we escape together?" She queried sadly, a shadow of grief overcasting her features, her eyes shining with hope.

"Because-" My voice broke- "If we escape together- the search will go on.... they will not stop until they find you- you're precious. But me? They won't even try. Plus even if I escape, there's no guarantee of my life. But you, if you escape- they will keep on searching."

I came to know that my foster parents were planning to sell her to a sex trade, but today, a buyer came and proposed their parents to sell her as his daughter. His last name was too hard for me to spell. Madeline will be happy in her new life. With me, she would be miserable.

Her eyes watered up more if that was even possible. Suddenly, she engulfed me in a huge embrace as she cried out, "I will miss you sister! One day I will be brave and get out of here like you! And then we will meet and talk a lot!" Sniffling, she pulled back.

She reached in her pocket and pulled out something and then extending it to me, "It's a shell. I collected it when mom took me to the beach. Please keep it as a parting gift. If you ever meet me, just show me this shell."

I gave her another smile.

I was able to escape that night.

She helped me.

It's just that....

A sob escaped me as her very last words echoed into my ear.

"Do you remember me Rose?"

"When we meet we will talk a lot!"

I glanced at Marienne who was now examining my shaking form with a frown, something in his eyes changed, as if he was trying to fight something all on a sudden. I wrapped my arms around me tightly as I tried to reminisce the hug she gave me.

Our parting hug. My very first human embrace.

My throat burned as tears formed in my eyes. All I could see was that five year old girl with dark hair and the greenest eyes I had ever seen, clutching her teddy bear tightly to her shaking form, wearing a dirty princess pink dress and whimpering as she witnessed my mom's merciless behavior.

My breathing became harsher as I tried to gulp down the knot that was forming in throat.

That girl, that five year old girl was all I could see. We met again, god did make us meet again, but.....

I broke into a wail.

But she wasn't coming back.

I couldn't talk to her anymore.

I wailed loudly, my voice hurting from both the knot and my sound.

Only if I knew that..... I would've held her a bit tighter, I would've tell her that I was really thankful to her for her help....

I had that shell.

It was probably still in my drawer back home, hidden in some corner. But I knew I still had it.

I screamed, the voice too loud in my ears. Marienne sat there, observing me, unaffected.

I wanted to meet her again.... but she wasn't here anymore.... she was gone..... her lost soul wandered somewhere in the labyrinth of the infinite universe.... among the quindecillion stars.... she was a star.... now out of any mortal's reach, bathing and shining in her own brightness.... She was immortal now...

She was dead.

My wails died down eventually, only gasps of sob escaped me. Marienne sat at the edge of the bed, unanimated and thoroughly confused.

And then, my sobs died down too. Silent tears cascaded down my eyes as I stared into nothingness.

The deafening silence permeated us.

"Marienne?" My voice into the silence, "I-"

"Are you done?" He questioned, his voice cold and assessed, yet it held a tone, something really soft in it.

I looked up at him. My energy was drained from all the crying and sobbing. The loss of my long lost foster sister weighted heavily down on my very soul. I was exhausted.

"If you are done then listen," his menacing, yet calm voice was demanding, "Ardent, Madeline's killer, says that he was hired. I came to know about him from the cc TV footage. But the thing is, a couple of footages are missing. He says a lady hired him, but I don't believe him, scratch that...." He sighed, seemingly frustrated, "I know he is lying.... Even after loosing three of his teeth, that bastard just smiles and lies through the teeth gap...."

I paled as I witnessed Marienne nearing me, keeping the eye contact, "I am sure that the lady was you Roseline.... I know about your dreadful past, Madeline was your foster sister and she called out for your hypocrisy a lot of times..... You couldn't bear her..."

My eyes widened in shock.

Lies....

"You loathed her..... She wanted to meet you and probably once even met you..."

"She didn't," I whispered, my throat burning at the thought. She was stalking me, yet she never contacted me. Why?

"So this went like this..." Marienne pointed an accusing finger at me. the malicious smirk returning on his face, making me shiver, "You met my amore, planned your revenge on her..... somehow got the killer into the valley.... and killed her because of her stupidity in her earlt childhood..."

"She did nothing!" I hollered, a surge of anger engulfing me.

"So you are saying that your foster father did not abuse you because you were being rude to her abut some bullshit?"

I froze as my hands started to quiver.

My eyes widened in shock as grief, misery and a sudden numbness rushed into my system.

I felt sick.

"It will fade away soon..... My dear Rose..."

"It will hurt a bit and then it will fade away....."

I clutched my ears as I tried to block the voice of my foster father.

"You don't need to pretend Rose..." Marienne's voice faded away, into the maze of the air, mingling with my rapist's, "Your act is over..... You can't hide for long....."

My head spinned as my foster father's moustached face flashed in front of my eyes.

"I tried to be patient with you...." It wasn't Marienne's eyes anymore, the turquoise orbs were replaced with a pair of dark brown eyes, his hand came up trailing a finger daintily over my cheek, a rush of disgust crawled into my skin from the fiery trail of the finger, "But you need to be punished...."

"It seems I have to punish you for your bad behavior Rose..."

The world became a blur of atrous as I saw a pair of shocked turquoise eyes before losing my consciousness.

That was intense in my opinion. I feel sad for Madeline and Rose :'( They could've been something if she was alive.

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