The Poisoned Rose

Chapter Sixty-Four

Laughter and squeals were all that could be heard coming out of the nursery as Rose walked along the hallway and into the doorway of the room. All of the children except for two were running around the room, destroying everything in their paths as they pretended to be dinosaurs. 

"Where are your two sisters?" Rose called out to her children. 

"Katie took Elsie to her bedroom so that she could continue teaching her how to read."Louis replied. "They went ages ago!"

Still in a daydream state, Rose entered Katie's room, a small smile on her face as she expected to find the two girls reading together.

Silence.

She was met with nothing but an empty room.

"Katie?" She shouted, as she looked for any clues around the room, "Elsie?"

More silence.

And that was when it slowly began to creep in, to poison her mind, fear. It was as though she was in a nightmare as she ran around the house, searching each room for her children. For her firstborn child. 

Nothing. Again. And again. 

There were nowhere to be seen. 

"Polly have you seen Katie and Elsie?" She frantically said to the elder woman, "They were supposed to be in Katie's bedroom, but they weren't. And now I can't find them."

Shaking her head quickly, Polly replied, "No, I haven't. Are you sure they haven't gone into the garden?"

Rose rushed to the window and shook her head, "I can't see them. Go the nursery, make sure the other children are all okay. Where's Ada?"

"She has gone out to the village with your brother."

"What about Linda and Arthur?"

"They went to the beach earlier on this morning, you said goodbye to them Rose." Polly stared at her worriedly, "Is Alfie back from London yet?"

Bile began to rise up her throat, "No, he is not returning until tomorrow evening." Her hands began to sweat as her head began to feel fuzzy, "Go to the children Polly. JOHN!"

Seeing her husband in front of her, she ran over to him, "Where's Katie and Elsie?"

"What do you mean where are they?" He grabbed her hand as though he was trying to calm her down, "What's going on Rose?"

"I can't find them John." She whispered to him, "They are missing."

"Where have you checked?"

"Inside the house."

John glanced behind her at the window, "Then let's look outside."

The two, still holding hands, walked out into the cold air. Their eyes scanning quickly over the large garden. Rose walked forward, her hand slipping out of John's, as she noticed something different. A bush had been trampled upon. Stumbling forward, she choked back her tears as she stared down at the marks in the dirt. "JOHN!" She yelled as loud as she possibly could. 

He rushed to her side and stared down at the floor, "Whose footprint is that?"

"It's not the girls'." She muttered, "It looks like a man's."

"Come on love, let's see where they take us." The two scrambled through the prickly bushes and were met with tyre tracks, "Someone's taken them."

John turned to look at her before pulling her down the road, "They are going to be okay. We have nothing to worry about."

"Someone's taken our girls' John." 

"They are going to be okay, they'll be safe." He reassured her, but it was more for his sake then for hers. 

The two continued stumbling blindly down the road. They did not know what they were going to find. Or if they were going to find something.

"Dad?" A sweet voice that could only be Katie's shouted.

"Mummy." Elsie cried out as Rose and John walked into a clearing.

And there they were.

But they were not alone.

Tommy stood in between his two nieces, smirking at his brother and sister-in-law, "You took your time."

"What are you doing this for?" Rose asked him angrily, "They are just children."

"I was beginning to think you weren't coming."

Rose stared at him harshly, "Why did you not take Charlie? Your own child. He misses you Tommy."

"I needed you two to come so I had to take the things you love the most. You're most prized possessions." 

Shaking her head, she coldly said, "This is not the way to win Tommy." She stepped towards him, "You shouldn't have taken them, they are innocent."

"It was the only way."

"No, it wasn't Tom." John finally spoke to his brother, "This isn't right."

"Pretending to die isn't right."

"I did what I had to do to protect my family."

"I'm doing what I have to do to protect my business."

"This isn't you. It was always about your family, you are destroying us all."

Tommy chuckled, "John Shelby, the brother that got everything. My dear, loyal brother."

"You left me no choice."

"You chose your wife over me."

John applied pressure to her hand and that was when the two ran over to their children. Rose scooped Elsie up and held onto her tightly, "You're okay darling, don't cry, you are okay."

But Katie wasn't.

Tommy had pushed the eldest Shelby child away causing her to roll off the cliff. John screamed as he knelt down and tried to grab onto his daughter, "Come on darling, grab my hand. Come on, just grab onto my hand."

Rose joined his side and prayed, wished and hoped she would be okay. "Come on sweetheart." She encouraged.

The young girl stared up at John, tears rolling down her face, "I can't do it Dad."

"You can, come on darling."

The girl began to slip, "Dad."

Rose gripped onto Elsie as she struggled to contain the sobs that erupted from her mouth. John continued to scream as they watched Katie's hand slowly fall off the rock and then as she plummeted to the ground. 

Collapsing onto the ground beside her husband, the two held onto each other.

And then finally, she whispered, "Kill him."