Super Mario Continuance (REITERATED)

Chapter 21: Somebody Else

There was a knock at the door. No response. Riba listened for anything on the other side. Nothing. He had been told Rosa never left the servant's quarters during the ritual preparation. Only Riba, Alice and Alfred knew of what happened to her. She had killed herself.

At first, he saw nothing but a dark room. For some reason, the cabinet that always remained closed was open. Riba walked in. He thought he was going to sit down on a bed to think, but then, he bumped into something.

He looked up, and saw a ghastly face that looked like a Shy Guy mask. No way... this was Rosa? She looked like television static. Though he had seen her body, he had never seen her spirit. At least, he couldn't remember doing so. "Ncgh!" Riba grunted.

"Riba, dearest, what's wrong?" Marie asked.

"Stay back," Riba warned. He noted that Rosa's head was stuck in a position to where it appeared she had hung herself. Drooping down... "You don't want to see this." But it was too late. Marie, Rae, and Mercy all saw.

"What the Hell?!" Mercy shouted, stumbling back. "Rosa! She committed suicide!" Suicide was a grave sin in their minds. And anybody who committed it would be damned for eternity. Yet... nobody cared about sins at the moment. Rosa was always close to everyone, and though they knew she was dead, it came as a shock to everyone that she had committed suicide. She was happy enough in her life--- so... "Why?"

Riba saw a note on a table in the room. He read it. "The note says she killed herself as to get out of here without letting people know that there was a ritual going on. She said it would have broken her honor as a maid," he stated.

"Rosa..." Marie whined.

"I can't believe it," Rae sobbed.

"Rosa!" Riba exclaimed. "You need to help us! Do you know anything about the girl with dark blue hair?"

A crack of bone. Rosa's head looked up from its vacant stare at the ground. "Effigy?" Rosa asked, in a dry husk of her voice. "Where is my Effigy?"

"Is that her name?" Riba replied. "I thought you would know where she was. What do you know about her? None of us have ever heard of an Effigy, all we know is that she was part of the family."

"She..." Rosa spoke. "She is my child. I had a child with Alfred, just before everything fell apart."

This also came as a shock to everyone. They had never heard of Rosa having a child. "We had her in secret. We knew Lady Alice was up to something, but we didn't know what. To protect Effigy, we kept her a secret from everyone, and rarely let her out of the servant's quarters."

"So that must have been the strange child in the family photo," Marie stated. "The one we thought was an angel of some kind."

Nobody knew quite what to say. "I never saw how she died. I regret it every day I go on... please, find my baby and return her to me. Please. I beg of you."

"Do you have any ideas as to where to find her?" Riba asked.

"The attic. Check the attic," Rosa instructed. "She loved to play there. It is the only spot I could think of her going."

Just then, they heard a pounding on the door on the left of the room. Rosa screamed. Looking over, there was a large crate blocking the door to the bathroom. It appeared to be falling, however.

"Rosa!" Alfred's voice shouted. "Let me out!"

"No!" Rosa cried, turning away. "You'll hurt me again!"

"Oh, Rosa," Alfred replied. "I promise I won't hurt you. We can be together again, just like old times. Doesn't that sound fun?"

"No, it doesn't!" Rosa shouted. "I know what you're trying to do. You attacked me!" Rosa cried. "I won't let you do it again!"