Chapter Twenty-Nine

(Meg is glaring at Ratigan)

Meg: You're really trying to make me mad enough to kill you!

Ratigan: (laughing) Oh, get over it! Someone needed to tell you that your writing stinks!

Meg: Now my AP English teacher isn't taking ANYTHING I write seriously anymore! I tried to be original, and I got mocked for it!

Ratigan: Believe me, you're anything but original. Everything you do, or anyone does for that matter, is an imitation of what someone hundreds, or even thousands, of years ago has done.

Meg: And you think that you're original?

Ratigan: I never said anything of the sort. We're all just imitations of each other.

Lizz: That sounds really philosophical.

Ratigan: Thank you, Lizz.

Meg: LIZZ! STAY OUT OF THIS!

Lizz: Well, maybe you need to show your AP English teacher that your style is your style, no matter how melodramatic or silly it may seem to her.

Ratigan: Not exactly what I was thinking…

Meg: YOU NEED A LIFE! (storms out of room)


Rose walked through the familiar streets, feeling like a complete stranger. They felt a part of her, and yet they felt like they did not belong to her at all.

She recognized the butcher, the seamstress shop, the iceman's cart, and yet she hid her face from the familiar sights; they were too foreign to her.

Rose approached the heavy, worn door. Stepping inside, she took the well-known flight of steps up to the second landing, to the third door on the right. She raised her fist and…

Hesitated.

She took a deep breath, and then knocked on the door.

She heard nothing. She knocked again.

No response.

She tapped the wood one more time.

The door swung open and Elaine McGeady stepped forward. She looked sternly at the cloaked figure before her.

"Yes? What do you want?" she asked, sounding rather irate.

Rose clenched her hands together. "I want to say that I am sorry for all the grief I have caused you."

Elaine took a step back. "Who are you?"

Rose lifted off her hood. "May I come in?"

Elaine gave a start. "What? You!" But she moved aside to let her daughter pass.

Rose stepped into the flat, so strange and empty. It was tidier than it had been in previous days, but also sparse in homeliness.

"What makes you think you can come back here, after all you've done to me?" Elaine demanded, starting up on the all-too-familiar tone she took when scolding her children. "You think you can just come back here? Are you hiding from the police, Rose?"

"No, I am not," Rose said shortly, already regretting having come back here.

"I've heard all about the evil things you did in London, Rose! You think I haven't heard? Everyone just loves to remind me of how my evil daughter tried to kill the Queen!"

"I didn't try to kill the Queen! Professor Ratigan did!"

"Have you come back here to kill me too?"

Rose sighed in exasperation. 'Now why would I do that?"

"You want to hurt people! That's all you ever think about!"

"No!"

"Yes, Rose! You only care about yourself! You never give a thought to others!"

"Mother!"

"What?"

"Hear me out! Just listen!"

Elaine folded her arms and glared at her.

Rose decided that that was her cue to start talking. "I've done many wrong things in my life-"

"Hah!"

"Mother! Please, let me finish!"

Elaine said nothing and continued to glare.

"I ruined everything. I admit it. I don't have anywhere to go. I need something to hold on to-"

"Now you'll admit it!" Elaine exclaimed sarcastically. "Before you didn't need me, but now you run crying home to me, expecting me to fix all your problems! Well, maybe I don't want to fix your problems, Rose! You were selfish to me, so now I'll be selfish to you!"

Rose felt as if she was losing grasp of the situation, a feeling common to her when she used to live with her mother. "Mother, please…"

"You didn't need me, Rose! Well, maybe I don't need you! You're evil! You're selfish and you think only about yourself and you're evil!"

If she says evil one more time…

"You've failed, and now you expect me to help you?"

Rose wrung her hands.

"What happened to that rat you ran about with? You're a traitor! A traitor to you family, to the country! I have never known a daughter to be so dishonorable, so evil!"

"I don't even know why I came here then!" Rose exploded. "I'm not even here for two minutes and already I want to leave! I came because I wanted to change my life!"

"It's too late for that," her mother smirked.

"You don't love me," Rose murmured in disbelief. "I'm your daughter, and you don't care what happens to me?"

"You never loved me, even after all I've done for you!"

"What have you done for me?"

"I've cleaned, cooked, cared-"

"All you ever did was scream and yell! You were a good mother when you weren't trying to punish us for some trivial mistake! You love to yell! You're miserable because there's no one left here to yell at! You loved to yell at Father, at your parents, at Francis, Jessi, Gwen, and I! We love you, but we hated what you became when you yelled!"

Elaine McGeady gave Rose a look that could kill. "How dare you talk! Your sins are more terrible than anything I have ever done, and yet you blame them all on me!"

"I never blamed any of them on you! I'm a bad person, but should that condemn me from having a second chance? Father would take me back!"

"Your father isn't here anymore, Rose! And you don't get second chances until you start showing respect to others!"

"I… I…"

Rose stopped. Her mind went blank. She was tired of fighting her mother again, but she did not want to separate this way. Not again.

Elaine gave a triumphant smile. "You have nothing to say! You know I am right!"

"No, you're wrong," Rose said in a dark voice. Elaine's smile wavered. "You did not treat me with respect; therefore, I feel no obligation to show you any." She turned to go.

"Running away again, Rose?" her mother called mockingly.

Rose hesitated. It was a trap. Her mother wanted to continue the fight. It was better, had always been better in the past to let her have her say and ignore her. The fight would end sooner that way. But Rose's pride would not let her leave without defending herself.

"When I ran away…" she began slowly, turning back to her mother, "I was lost and confused for so long. I got myself involved with some very bad people. I shouldn't have. I am trying to answer for all that. Running away was probably one of the greatest mistakes of my life. I lost everything. But if you're not willing to forgive me and help me find my way back to the light-"

"Stop speaking dramatically and spit the words out, Rose!" Elaine barked impatiently.

Rose gritted her teeth. "I am not being dramatic!"

"You always were. You think this is some sort of cheap romance novel. You've always lived your life like that."

"That isn't the point!" Rose said, stamping her foot. "Stop interrupting and just listen! I need someone to be there for me! I thought I'd reconcile our relationship in the hope that it would purge me of some of my sins, but apparently that's too hard for you to do! Well, go to Hell, Mother! I'm sick of fighting you! I need a friend, not another enemy!"

She stormed out the door.

Elaine hurried after her. "You're a traitor and you know it! Don't run away again, Rose! I'll… I'll call the police!"

Rose flew down the steps, ignoring the opening doors on the landing. Tenants came out to watch the shouting match.

"Go right ahead!" Rose cried out. "I don't care anymore! I'm sorry for all I've done, but will they understand? NO! You never will either!"

"You won't last a minute out there!"

Rose turned at the bottom of the stairs. "I lasted over a year and a half, Mother! I'm willing to last as long as I can, without you!"

She strode rapidly out the front door.

On the train ride back to London Rose reprimanded herself. What had she been thinking, going back to her mother? She should have known better than to come crawling back to that selfish woman! And what had Rose accomplished? She only managed to make herself feel even worse than she had before. She felt truly forsaken.

Rose's hands flew to the familiar locket around her neck, suddenly furious with Ratigan. If he had not left her, she would have someplace to go. This was all his fault!

Rose was fuming. How could she have been so stupid? Why had she ever listened to him? What had he ever done for her?

She ferociously ripped the locket from her neck and threw it in her pocket. She would leave it at the flat. She would leave London that night; perhaps for America or South Africa or even Germany. She had to leave. She could be a teacher, a dime novelist, a whore… no, she could not go backwards. She had never fallen to Scarlet's level; she did not intend on degrading herself out of desperation. She would rather turn herself in out of desperation, if it ever got to that point.

I think it has gotten to that point.

Don't think like that! Stay positive! You won't get through unless you remain hopeful.

I hate him! I have to start anew! Change my name, get far away from here…

Rose felt bitter, and yet, she sensed a rare emotion along with it: hope. Things appeared bad, but she somehow knew that it could not last forever. It would get better, if only she would give it a chance.

But first, she needed to make a real change…

(Meg is writing on a piece of paper)

Luke: What are you doing?

Meg: Filling out a job application.

Luke: I thought you already had a job… or two…

Meg: I do.

Luke: Then why are you looking for a new job?

Meg: I'm not looking for one for me; this one's for that screwy rat that keeps ruining my life!

Luke: (looks at application) Kennywood Park, Pittsburgh, PA? Why are you trying to get him hired at Kennywood?

Meg: In October they're open on weekends from seven p.m. to midnight; it's called Phantom Fright Nights.

Luke: And Ratigan would want to work there because…?

Meg: For many reasons. One, he can scare stupid teenagers. JWJ, Leigh, Lizz, and I went last week, and we spent more time arguing with the ghouls than screaming at them. If he had been there, though… (evil laugh) JWJ would have wet himself!

Luke: Okay…

Meg: Oh, and in front of the one haunted house, they were playing the original "House on Haunted Hill" starring Vincent Price, as we waited in line! Ratigan has got to love Vincent Price now!

Luke: Why? He probably has never even heard of Vincent Price. Actually, you're probably the only person who has!

Meg: (sigh) And the third reason: Gory Park, eh, Lost Kennywood, is filled with these fake, giant rats on account of their indoor rollercoaster, The Exterminator. Ratigan would definitely scare some people there!

Luke: Don't you think he might be insulted?

Meg: Yes.

Luke: He doesn't have to accept any interviews or anything.

Meg: No, he doesn't.

Luke: So what makes you think the plan will work?

Meg: (pats Luke on the shoulder) You'll see.