Chapter 11: A Frightening Flashback
In her room, Rose was sitting at her vanity in her nightgown and was brushing out her long hair. The girl, although she wasn't very vain, stared at her reflection in the mirror watching the brush running down through her rich red tresses. She gave a sigh and reflected her thoughts on the first day of the voyage. She made the opportunity to get out her home life a realistic goal and experience the outside world.
Well, I did get off at a rough start with the spider psycho, she thought, and shuddered from her previous encounter with Scroop. On the bright side, I did have backup from Jim, Silver, Artemis, and Papa. They managed to save my hide from him. But Jim however, he does look a little rough on the outside, but he must have a good heart on the inside.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock outside from her bedroom. She immediately sat up straight and turned to the door and called calmly, "Come in."
The door slowly swung open, and Captain Amelia entered the room. The captain was still wearing her military outfit and walked in calmly.
"How are you doing Rose? How is your arm?"
"It's a little sore, but it's getting better."
The captain came up behind the young girl and placed her clawed hands on her shoulders. The redhead looked at her reflection and up towards her adoptive mother.
"I take it that you are still leisurely getting used to everything?"
"Yes," the girl nodded. "It's not easy being on a ship, but I'm hoping to get used to it eventually. Even though I'm still a little shaken up from that encounter with Mr. Scroop today."
Captain Amelia's face turned into suspicion and disgust at the mention of Scroop. Hearing about him almost killing her adopted child made her blood boil. Not wanting to rant in rage about the spiden, she took a deep breath, and looked at the girl with consistent eyes.
"I won't lie to you darling, but I suspected that this Spiden was up to something when I first saw him. This was the reason why I did not want you to go on the decks alone, without Mr. Arrow and I, otherwise it may leave you quite vulnerable."
The redhead nodded nervously. "It's probably best for me to stay out of his way."
"Not to worry darling, Mr. Arrow and I shall teach Mr. Scroop and the crew a lesson for a few weeks to not harm you again."
The girl nodded; relieved how lucky she was to not end up losing her life from the crew. The captain was about to leave the room, but Rose felt a question come up in her head and she spoke up, "Mother?"
"Yes?" Captain Amelia said, freezing her steps, and looked back.
"If I ask you about this question, will you be honest with me?"
"Of course, Rose, you can always tell me anything."
The girl hesitated, feeling nervous, thinking the question was stupid. Then she worked up the courage and asked, "Do you and Mr. Arrow think I'm… odd?"
"My adopted daughter, odd?" The feline gasped, coming up to the girl. "Now where on earth would you get an idea like that?"
"Oh, I don't know," the girl shrugged. "It's just that I'm not sure if I fit in around here, there's no one I can really talk to."
"Well, practically, you did gain the courage to talk to Mr. Hawkins to thank him. He looks handsome, but he certainly does have a rough exterior."
"He's handsome all right," Rose admitted. "But he did look melancholy, distant, and was very reckless for what happened earlier with Mr. Scroop. I think he might have a caring side. He didn't turn his back on me, like most of the others in my life."
"Well, I'm hoping you will have more opportunities to socialize with Mr. Hawkins, perhaps at times when you two are done with work for the day."
"Right."
It was around nine-thirty, and the two were growing tired and decided to turn in for the night. The redhead went straight towards her small bed and lifted the covers. Artemis also got into her cage and curled up underneath a branch. Captain Amelia turned off the lights but kept one light on as she watched Rose making herself comfortable in bed. She stood next to the girl making sure she didn't miss anything.
"Are you warm Rose?"
"I'm good, thanks Mother."
"We have another long day of work tomorrow, so get some rest," Amelia said, and then another thought came to her. "Look, if things don't work out, we can always go back home."
"Don't worry about it Mother, I think I just need time to adjust," the girl said, getting herself comfortable under the covers.
"Very well, good night." The feline, with a soft smile, leaned over and kissed Rose on the forehead.
"Good night mother."
The captain left the room, shut off the lights, and gently closed the door. The girl curled up in her bed and slowly allowed sleep to take her into the dream world.
Rose sat up in bed frantically, and she began to smell something foul reaching her nostrils. She looked down to realize that she was six years old again. She looked around to see her bedroom filled with smoke! She gasped! Her house was on fire!
She got out of bed and the wooden floor felt warm underneath her bare feet. She hurried towards the door and grabbed the doorknob. She pulled her hand back and shrieked! The redhead gripped her wrist and looked at her palm seeing red welts appearing.
"Mommy?" she called. "Daddy?"
Then the door swung open, and her parents appeared. The adults grew alarmed for a moment, but relieved to see their child.
"Rose!" they exclaimed.
Margaret hurried and picked up her daughter, holding her close in her arms.
"What's happening?" the girl asked.
"Rose, our house is on fire!" David said. "We must get out of here, before it gets worse!"
"Hold on tight," the mother said. "We'll have to go to the front doors, it's the only entrance that's not blocked!"
The little girl nodded and clutched very closely onto her mother. The couple hurried out of the second floor and made their way down the staircase. The heat from the fire grew unbearable. It felt that the staircase was endless, and the redhead hugged her mother closer, sweat formed on her face.
"Hang on sweetheart," Margaret said. "We're almost out!"
The family finally reached the first floor of the house. The flames grew bigger and bigger! Suddenly a beam fell from the ceiling and landed in front of them.
"Margaret! Rose! Stay here!" David ordered. "I'll find us a way out!"
As the father hurried to another room to find something to extinguish the fire. The mother kept her child close and placed her down on the floor.
"Stay close to me Rose."
Then a flange from another beam fell off and landed on Rose's left arm! The little girl felt severe pain and looked over to see the sleeve of her nightgown ignited! She screamed in terror and pain as it began to burn her flesh!
"Help! Help! I'm on fire!" Rose screamed.
Margaret glanced at her daughter, gasped and screamed. She hurried straight to her daughter to help her, using her hands to put it out! Despite feeling the burns on her palms, the mother would not stop until her daughter was safe.
David came back in to see his wife helping their daughter put out the fire. He carried a fire extinguisher and a bucket full of water. The man hurried straight towards them and poured the water over his daughter. The flames on the girl's arm got extinguished, only to leave a hole on the sleeve and a large burn on her arm. She shivered from the cold water splashing on her skin and soaking on her nightgown.
David grabbed his fire extinguisher and sprayed it down to clear off a row of flames. Picking up his daughter in one arm and grabbing his wife's hand, he charged straight towards the door, and forced it to open. Once the door was opened, he handed Rose to his wife, and pushed them out of the door.
Margaret picked up her legs as she began to run to a safe distance with Rose, but she stopped and wanted to help her husband. As David was about to follow them, he tripped over a piece of debris and fell down; a wooden beam came crashing down and landed on his leg! The impact made the man yell with pain!
"Daddy!" Rose screamed.
Margaret gasped to see her husband in danger placed the little girl down to the ground and said firmly, "Stay here Rose, Mommy will be back."
The woman ran to help her husband. Margaret pulled David from the debris and got him to his feet. The two of them limped away as fast as they could from the burning house and reached to Rose taking her to a safe distance as they heard the siren of the fire brigade coming to them.
Rose sat up, yelped, and gasped. She trembled and looked around, seeing that she was in the guest room on the Legacy. Cold sweat drenched her forehead, and she took gasping breaths. The girl realized that the dream she had was a flashback of how her fear of fire started. Looking over at the clock, she saw that it was three-thirty in the morning. She sighed and slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom. She turned on the water and splashed her face, rinsing the sweat off.
The redhead pulled off a towel from a hook and patted her face dry. She grabbed an empty glass and filled it with water. She took a few sips to moisten her mouth and felt the tasteless liquid sink into her tastebuds. Rose gave a heavy sigh, feeling her eyes welling with tears. She held them back and made her way back to her bed.
She laid back on the mattress and turned on her side, looking through the window to see the stars glittering in the skies. She sighed again and thought about the memory before the tragedy. Rose heard a chirping and her eyes turned to her peripheral vision and saw Artemis walking towards her. The redhead gave a soft smile as the chameleon nuzzled her nose against the girl's nose; Rose reached her hand out to pet her.
"Oh, Artemis," Rose said softly. "I feel that my past has been haunting me again. When will it ever stop? With the memory of my fear of fire, it makes me feel more shame and hurt. I must keep my past a secret and no one should ever learn of it. I just hope they never ask about it."
The chameleon chirped softly and turned a light blue, revealing sympathy and sadness towards her mistress. The girl cuddled with her pet, understanding that Artemis was doing her best to comfort her and stay by her side every minute. Rose sighed again, deciding to try and get more rest.
"Good night, Artemis, let's get some more sleep and get ready for tomorrow," the girl whispered, tenderly hugging her chameleon and she chirped, nuzzling her cheek. Rose laid herself back in her bed, and Artemis curled up on a pillow. The girl allowed her mind to clear up and once again, fell asleep, hoping that tomorrow will be better.
