With You Always

Chapter 3

Rosemary woke up the next morning more nervous than ever. She had a big day ahead of her, including a 20 pound bag full of resumes. Piling all the sheets into a beat-up folder she used for high school last year, Rose climbed into their small Chevrolet.
To Byron, everything seemed normal. He dropped off Rose at the bookstore, and headed to his own work at the local auto repair shop, but not before questioning her once again. "Ready to talk yet?" he asked with a smirk spread across his broad face. His jawline marked his face clearly as he awaited an answer.
"Nope," Rose responded with a contagious smile, shutting the door and pretending to head into the bookstore.
She waited until she was sure Byron was out of sight and then walked swiftly to several locations, hoping to land a job.
After submitting her resume to numerous coffee shops and stores of all kinds, Rose finally gave out and rested on the curb of a nearby grocery store. She quickly discovered that getting hired would be a much more difficult task than she first assumed.
Deep thoughts fluttered her mind as tears dropped reluctantly from her ice blue eyes. Byron would find out eventually, and Rose knew that. But she was determined to hide her secret, to save her pride and dignity.
Rose took the bus home, as she used to do after finishing her old shift around 5 o'clock. She figured the property would've been empty since her brother shouldn't have been home for another couple hours. Rose mentally face-palmed herself when lights flickered from the window. Taking a deep breath, Rose twisted the door handle, only to find it locked. Byron had barely ever locked the front door other than at night. In fact, Rose had to remind him almost daily whenever they left the house.
Once she successfully unlocked it, Rosemary inhaled a strong breath and stepped inside, turning on more lights. She called out, "Byron! Byyyrroonn!" but there was no answer. The house appeared as a ghost town, except for one big thing.
Neither Rose nor Byron were very good at cleaning. Their fortress was regularly filthy with dishes in the sink, messes on the floor, and on occasion, a rotting odor. But today was unlike any other day. Something just seemed...different. Everything about the household was spick and span today. Rose stood in awe, having never seen this house as clean as it was in her life.
All of a sudden, a strange-scary, disturbing feeling came over Rosemary. Her heart beat, faster and faster. Slowly, she crawled across the vinyl flooring until she was underneath the tiny oak table. Closing her eyes, she tried calming herself until she officially burst.
A creaking noise traveled and rang through her hectic ears. It was a door. She had a clear glance of the front door and saw no motion there. Her ears detected it from behind her; possibly in the hall closet outside the bathroom or upstairs. The sound of footsteps increased until she saw the silhouette of a muscular man entering the kitchen. Strong hands grasped her ankles and pulled her out from her hiding spot. It wasn't Byron, but the intruder who had her now. She knew she wasn't strong enough to fight back.