Half Mad (Sequel to Half Bad)

Chapter 6

✖ Chapter 6 ✖

        ROSE WAS NOT my Rose. My Rose wouldn't have glared at me with such hatred in her previously bright eyes. My Rose would have been tossing dirty looks to Cecilia instead of to me. She would have that odd mixture of confidence and fear in her gaze. She wouldn't show weakness, and though she wasn't showing any right now, she wasn't showing much of any emotion right now.

        Daniel shrunk behind me a little, but I was too stunned to tear my gaze from her. Though she clearly wasn't herself, she was alive. Which meant Carson's vision had been false or misread. Rose was still here, still breathing.

        I was shaking my head and I didn't really know why. I wanted to walk over to her, to tell her how much I missed and loved her even though that was the most pathetic thought I've ever had. I wanted to kiss her, to feel those soft lips against mine just one more time. But the more I looked at her, the more obvious it became that I couldn't possibly do any of that.

        It had Rose's body, but it would never be her.

      "Not quite the reunion you were hoping for, I presume," Cecilia spoke as she walked forward some, not phased by mine and Daniel's stern stares. Clearly she's used to being hated.

       "What did you do to her?" I snapped, eyes glancing over at Rose to see she was still standing still, eye hooded as if she were conscious, but not actually alive.

        Cecilia pursed her lips, clasped her hands. "Oh, nothing really. I just... fixed her," she said with a mere shrug of her shoulders. Cecilia's lips quirked upwards into a devious smile. "Go on. I'm sure she'd love to catch up with you."

        Clenching my hands together, my jaw locked as I contemplated my options. Rose was still Rose, in a sense. She couldn't hurt me. I didn't believe that she would. Whatever Cecilia did to her, it couldn't possibly be so horrible that she'd harm me or Daniel. Or anyone. Rose had too good of a soul for that.

        My mind wound back to the grocery store back in the woods, what seemed like forever ago. Rose had stopped my temper before I lost control of it. Another reason I haven't taken a step towards her. This was not Rose. Rose had never been one for violence.

        And yet, I couldn't help but to cling onto that little sense of hope that she was still partly herself.

        "Rose..." My voice was steady, a lot more confident than I felt. I was about to speak again when her eyes snapped to mine.

        Before I could prepare myself, she held her hand palm-up and lifted it, my feet flying out from beneath me and my throat being pushed against. She flicked her wrist, sending me into the wall hard enough to leave cracks behind in the cement. She let me slump to the floor before releasing her invisible hold on my throat, my breath leaving me in gasps as I tried to maintain my breathing again.

        I gaped up at her, eyes wide as I rubbed my neck. Then my glare snapped to Cecilia, but the shackles were still binding my wrists and my magic. "What did you do?" There was so much hatred in my voice, and even Daniel looked pissed, something I've never seen before.

        "I told you," said Cecilia proudly, smiling back at Rose. "I. Fixed. Her."

        "You ruined her. Rose isn't an experiment," I spat through gritted teeth, getting to my feet though my back was aching from the impact.

        Cecilia smirked. "She would certainly be a success, if she were one."

        Anger coursed through me, my jaw clenched so tight it hurt, my nails leaving indents in my palms. They took Rose away from me, twisted her into this being that doesn't even have feelings. Made her into a monster that has no other look than that of a dead soul, empty eyes with nothing more to see.