When The Roses Bleed

13 | during christmas

London ; December 25th, 2016

I'm neither asleep, nor awake. Although my eyes are closed, and my breathing is steady, I feel my body tense, as if it's ready to defend itself — after seeing Rosalanea in the living room mirror, I feel unsafe, even in my own home. I don't understand; Rosalanea was so nice and loving to me, but after murdering Dr. James, I don't feel the same around her.

The door creaks open. I awaken from my half-asleep state. I stop breathing for a moment, then slowly, inhale and exhale in a smooth pattern as I was doing before. Footsteps quietly make their way towards my bed, and soon, I feel a hand tuck away a few strands of loose hair behind my ear.

Gathering up the courage, I peek one eye open. I see my father's figure, and I feel my muscles relax slightly.

My father didn't say a word about Rosalanea during or after the movie; he acted as if nothing happened. I was too scared to bring it up.

"Stay safe, my princess," he whispers, caressing my hair.

Then, just like that, he got up, and was gone.

✙

I feel my mother tugging at me, trying to get me to wake up. When my eyes open, I see her smiling brightly.

"Merry Christmas!" she exclaims.

I yawn, sitting up, "Merry Christmas, Mother."  Looking around, I see a tray in her hand with fried eggs and a glass of orange juice on it.

"Surprise! Breakfast in bed!" She puts the tray in front of me. A wide smile forms on my lips. "Do you like it?" she asks, as if searching for my approval.

"I love it!"

My mother grins as I begin to eat the deliciously-cooked food. She leaves my bedroom, quietly closing the door. Quickly, I devour the breakfast, eager to get up and rush downstairs. Although my parents have been acting strange, it's a good type of strange, so I'm not complaining.

As soon as I'm done, I put the tray on the nightstand and exit my room, walking into the living room.

Underneath the Christmas tree, I see multiple nicely-wrapped presents. I give a toothy grin, eager to unwrap them.

"Mornin', kiddo," my father says. He is sitting on the couch, slurping down some coffee while reading a newspaper. He seems looser than usual.

I look at him. "Can I open them?" I ask quickly, referring to the gifts.

My mother walks in, wearing an apron. She giggles, "Of course!"

✙

Today was the best Christmas I've ever had.

It all started with amazing presents — I received multiple gifts, but my favorite is a brand new laptop. I feel ecstatic; it's gorgeous, and in order to show how grateful I am, throughout the entire day, I kept on repeating "thank you".

The rest of the day was filled with several Christmas movies and sitting in front of the fireplace, slurping down hot chocolate. At one point, we even went outside and had a snowball fight. Although I still hate the snow, I have to admit, I had a good time.

Everything feels normal. We're finally a normal family again.

Around 5-o'clock, my father and I sit around the dining table. As my mother sets up the table, I realize that she's made an entire feast! The food could be enough to feed at least five people adequately. As we start eating, I notice that the food is not disgusting — in fact, it tastes delicious. Usually, my mother can't cook even if her life depended on it, but I don't complain.

While I'm still eating, my mother speaks. "Your father and I have been talking..." she starts.

I stop eating and look at her, tilting my head slightly.

"We realize that we've been absent from your life ever since Jake passed away, an it hasn't been fair to you," my mother says. I flinch slightly at the mention of my brother's name.

My father speaks, grabbing my mother's hand, "Just because we're grieving, doesn't mean that we have the right to treat you the way we did, and we're so sorry. But we want things to go back to normal; Jake wouldn't want us to be like this."

I feel tears build up in my eyes. I nod. Not knowing what else to say, I voice a small, "Thank you..."

My mother smiles, "Things will be different from now one. A good type of different."