What A Wonderful Alternate World

Chapter Seven: Obsession

It had been a month since Rose had been raped, and it had been about three weeks since Rose had been released from the hospital. Rose had been relieved to learn that she had not been impregnated by her ordeal, and once she had regained enough of her strength and felt up to it, she had told the investigating police officers that one of her attackers had been Brad Morton; although she did not know the names of her other attackers, she had been able to point them all out to the police using her year book from the previous year. Rose's parents had been disappointed with her when they learned that she had kept the fact the Brad had been abusive away from them, but they were just so relieved that she was okay that they told her that it was in the past. Now, all of her attackers were in prison and were awaiting trial.

It was time for Rose to move on with her life. Start over. Get into a new relationship. There was just one problem: Rose couldn't move on.

Every time she fell asleep, Rose could see the red dragon standing over her in that alley. Her parents and the doctors thought that she was simply imagining things, but Rose knew what she had seen. She knew that there was a dragon in that alley. She knew that she was perfectly sane. There was only one thing for Rose to do, and Rose found it to be the only thing that brought her comfort after her attack. She had a purpose: she had to prove to everyone that she wasn't seeing things. She had to capture proof of the dragon. The only problem was that she did not know how to do that. The way Rose saw it, there was only one way to get answers: the boy from the hospital--the boy that the doctors claimed had saved her life.

Rose's parents had taken what Doctor Johnson had said to heart. They both watched anxiously for their daughter to show any signs of aggression, depression or suicidal tendencies. They wanted to do something to help their daughter, they wanted to help her find something to that would occupy her--When Rose had finally asked for them to loan her money to buy a camera, they had gladly agreed to loan her the money. Now, every day, everyone at Millard Fillmore Middle School would just stare at Rose as she entered the school, a digital camera hanging from a lanyard around her neck.

&*%

School had just let out, and Rose hurried out of the building. Pressing her back against the side of the school, Rose held her camera in her hands as she watched all of the students pour out of the school. Rose tried to take in all of the students, but the students soon cleared out. Rose could not see the boy who had saved her; there were only two people she could see: a boy and girl with skateboards in their hands. The girl had chocolate colored skin with her hair up in two buns, and the boy had a hat over his head, and a blue shirt with a green alien head on it.

Suddenly, the doors to the school opened, and Rose smiled as she watched the boy with the spiky green hair and red jacket rush up to them. "Hey guys..." He could hear him say. "...Sorry I'm late. Rotwood just wouldn't let up today! He's totally whack!"

"Yeah, Jakie..." the girl replied. "...So, you want to go to the skate park?"

"Sure..." the spiky haired boy, "Jakie". "...I don't have anything to do today. Gramps doesn't need me..."

&*%

Rose was relieved to see that the three had decided to walk to the skate park. Because of this, Rose was able to follow them, and as they finally arrived at the skate park, Rose stayed her distance, watching as the three walked into the park.

As Rose held up her camera, turning it on, Rose noticed that the three had climbed onto the top of the ramp. As Rose positioned her camera, the boy with the spiky hair put on his helmet and went down the ramp, coming up on the other side. The boy did a back-flip on his board, and he came back down, just as Rose snapped a picture.

Looking at the picture on her screen, Rose frowned when she saw that the picture only came out as a blur. Sighing, Rose decided to try again, but as she looked up, she gasped when she saw that there was a man with long hair, a black T-shirt and jean shorts. He also had a name tag that was on his shirt; it occurred to Rose that this man worked here.

"Excuse me, miss..." he said in a forced polite tone. "...I am afraid that there are no cameras allowed here..."

"What?" Rose asked, slowly standing up. "I don't mean to be rude, but I didn't see anything that said that. Where does it say that?"

The employee did not answer verbally; instead, he pointed to the left, and Rose could feel a wave of embarrassment hit her as she read a sign that read: No: Cameras, animals, children under the age of seven.

"Oh..." Rose didn't know what to say, but she tried to think of something anyway. "...I...uh...I'm sorry..."

"Miss, I'm going to need to relieve you of your camera..." the employee held out his hand.

Rose glanced from the employee to her camera, and then back to the employee. "No, that's not necessary..." Rose slowly found herself backing up. "...I'll...I'll just be on my way..."

"Miss..." the employee repeated. "I need your camera. You can have your parents pick it up for you later..."

"But..." Rose tried to defend herself, but she knew it wouldn't matter. Sighing. Rose handed over the camera and then turned, walking out of the park as quickly as her feet would take her. Once she was at a far enough distance from the park, Rose muttered to herself: "I was wasting my time with him anyway. I need proof of the dragon..."

&*%

Rose quickly entered her house and closed the door behind her. Just as she saw her mother coming out of the kitchen, Rose made her way over to the stairs and started to make her way up them. "Rose, I need to tell you something..." Rose's mother tried to tell her daughter.

"Can it wait until tomorrow?" Rose asked, almost at the top of the stairs.

"Rose, this has to do with tomorrow..." Rose's mother continued. "...The trial is tomorrow. If Brad and the other boys who assaulted you are going to be found guilty, you are going to need to testify..."

Rose had managed to put her foot on the top step, but when she heard this news, she turned around, facing her mother. "What?" Rose asked. "Are you certain?"

"Yes, Rose..."

"I..." Rose stammered, running her hand through her hair. "...Do I have to go? I...I really don't want to..."

"Do you want to let Brad get away with what he did?"

"No, but..."

"Then yes, you need to go..."

"But Mom..." Rose found herself walking down the stairs. When she reached the bottom and was right at her mother's level. "...I don't want to go. They're going to make me re-live that moment. I...I don't want to..."

"Rose..."

"They're going to ask me everything!" Rose continued, a worried look on her face. "They're expecting me to tell everyone in that room that I was a helpless rape victim! I...I can't do it..."

"Rose, your father and I are going to be there..." Rose's mother told her, giving her daughter a tight hug. "Remember what we both promised you while you were in that hospital?"

"Yes..."

"What did we promise you?"

"That you were going to be there for me..." Rose repeated softly. "...You would never let me deal with this by myself..."

"Exactly..." Rose's mother released her arms from around her daughter's body. "...We've kept that promise until this point, and we have no intention of stopping anytime soon..."

"I know, but..."

"Rose..." Rose's mother put her hand under her daughter's chin. "...You need to do this..."

"But..."

"Rose..." Rose's mother stared deeply into her daughter's wide and worried eyes. "...We promise. After tomorrow, it will all be over. You'll never have to speak about it ever again..."

"You promise?" Rose asked, returning her mother's look.

"We promise..." Rose's mother smiled slightly. "...If Brad and the others are to pay, you'll need to tell the judge and the jury what they did to you. We know it's going to be hard. Please, Rose. Just take an hour or two to think about it..."

After saying this, Rose's mother turned and walked into the living room, but she stopped when she heard Rose: "Mom..." Turning around, Rose's mother watched as Rose took a deep breath, then said: "I don't need to think about it. I'll go..."

END CHAPTER

A/N: Please review!