Never Walk Alone- Chapter 3
Turns out Dimitri and I missed classes one through five. And lunch! I walked into Life Nutrition and waited in the seat closest to the door. Dimitri walked in with Adrian and Eddie. When he saw me, he walked over to me and squatted down in front of me.
"You gonna be okay babe?"
"Not really. I want to get out of here. Do you have the keys?"
"Of course. Do you want me to take you home?"
"No. There's somewhere else I need to go. Can I have them?"
He silently nodded and handed me the keys. I got up to leave until I heard the one voice I have dreaded for years.
"Miss Hathaway, where do you think you are going?" Stan Alto asked.
I hated Alto with a passion. He was rude and had a bad attitude. Not to mention all the rumors that have gone around about him in the past. I mean, who sleeps with students and then turn around and does the same with their mothers… Talk about a slut!
"I think I'm going to walk out of that door, get in my car, and leave this school to prevent anybody any kind of bodily injuries caused by me having a mental breakdown mixed with a panic attack. Got a problem with that Alto?" I asked. My temper was easily triggered today.
"I don't think you are. I think you are going to have a seat in that desk right there and I think you are going to listen to the introductory lectures all teachers have to give at the beginning of the year. Now sit."
"I don't think so Alto."
Then I left his classroom. I walked out of the school and to the car. I spent an hour driving to the campgrounds a few miles out of town. When I got there, I got out an began my hike. I climbed to the top of a relatively small cliff and stood there. Then I turned around and faced the setting sun. It appeared as if the sky had been set on fire. The moment I faced the sunset, memories came flooding back to me. All the trips with Mom, when she even bothered to visit me. Very few of Janine Hathaway's charges have died. There were only 2, and they died on another guardian's watch. So when she was between charges, she would come get me and we would go camping. The last time was 3 years ago when I had last seen her. When I was "15 and forgiving" and now, all I wanted was my mother and father holding me close while I cried my eyes out. They know the horrible ugly truth about this day, 14 years ago.
"Will! Come play dolly with me!" I screamed at my older brother. He had just finished his final year of schooling. He had returned from receiving his assignment from the Court. Will would protect the students at St. Vladimir's Academy in Montana. That's where I would begin my schooling. The only reason I would be going there is because Will would be there to help me and watch me.
"Rosie, I'm sleepy. Can we play in a few hours?" He asked me.
"Do you promise we'll play later?"
"I promise." Will asked as he bent down and kissed my forehead.
I smiled up at Will as I stood to hug his legs. My big brother was 18. His full name was William Michael Hathaway. Will loved me with all he had, and took every opportunity to prove it. We had special names for each other. Will was Princess Protector. I was Princess Rosie.
About 3 hours later, Will came and found me, asking if I was ready to play dolly with him. That was a real big brother. Playing dolly with his little sister. He sat with me and played with me for hours, until dinner was done.
"Kids! Dinner is ready!" Mom shouted from the kitchen and dining area.
Will and I raced to the dinner table every night. He always let me win. He was just entering the dining area, pretending to be winded and exhausted , as I climbed into my chair.
"You beat me again Rosie. Look at you! You'll make the best guardian this world has ever seen."
"I'll be just as good as my big brother! Nobody can be better than you Will!" I said to him in the 4-year-old, high pitched voice of mine.
"Thank you Princess Rosie!" He said. Mom often worked late, so Will was the only family I really had. That's the only reason I hadn't been shipped off to the nearest school (which happened to be St. Vlad's!) and left there.
We ate in a comfortable silence. Then, when I finished, Will took my dishes and told me to go shower and prepare for bed. After I showered and dressed in my fleece pink TinkerBell pajamas, Will knocked on my bedroom door before coming inside.
"Ready to be tucked in Princess Rosie?" Will questioned.
I nodded my head and crawled into bed. Will came over and pulled my fleece TinkerBell blanket till it covered my chest. Then he bent down and kissed my forehead before saying "Night Rosie. Sleep tight."
"Princess Protector?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you stay with me? I think a monster is in the closet!"
Will came over and sat in a chair by my bed. He read me a bedtime story and eventually left after I fell asleep, even though he still checked on me throughout the night.
*time in flashback: 4 a.m.*
"Rosie! Wake up!" Will pulled me out of bed and into his arms. He had panicked eyes and I could hear the fear rising in his voice. He was running toward the entrance to our secret escape tunnel. He stopped in the entrance and stuffed me inside. "Rosie! I need you to run down the tunnel until you get to Mommy on the other end. Do you understand me Rosie?"
"Will, I'm scared!"
"I know Rosie. I need you to be brave for me. Okay? Be brave and run to Mommy!"
"I don't wanna leave you Will!"
"Rosie, you have to. Bubba's going to stay here for a little while and give you time to run. I need you to go. Now! I'll see you on the other side Rosie. Go!"
"What about Clarissa and Jace?" Those were my favorite dollies. They are the dolls that Will gave me for my fourth birthday. The last thing he ever gave to me.
"I'll go get them. You run ahead of me. When we see each other again, you'll get Jace and Clarissa. Please, Rosie, run ahead now! Go!" Will was begging.
I nodded my head and turned away from Will to begin running with tears racing down my face. After running about 2 miles down the tunnel, I turned back to look for Will. I saw him ducking into the tunnel with Jace and Clarissa in my Little Mermaid backpack in one hand and closing the tunnel door with the other. Then he began running in my direction. That's when I turned around and continued running toward Mommy. After running another few miles, I saw my mother and ran faster to her. I jumped in her arms and she held me while I cried. Then I heard Will getting closer. He popped out of the tunnel with my backpack. Mommy set me down and I ran to my brother. I collided with his legs and didn't let go. He looked down at me.
"Rosie, put your backpack on. Jace and Clarissa are inside. I promised you that you would get them when you saw me again."
I obeyed my brother and put my backpack on, the continued hugging my brother. I was terrified. Only now did I realize why my brother had grabbed me out of bed. I smelled the bitter smoke and saw the murderous flames consuming my childhood home. I realized the tunnel was lit. it never was. The light in the tunnel was a result of the flames. My brother extended a larger backpack with much more inside to my mother. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened. His hands then shot out and he pulled me under him at the same moment that my mother ducked. Then I heard the gunshot. Mommy then shot the person out of a nearby tree and killed him. Will screamed in agony and pain as I jumped from fear. I crawled over to Will, who had rolled away, as he clutched his chest in pain.
"Will? What's wrong?" I asked. I screamed at him as he closed his eyes. "Bubba! Look at me Bubba! Don't leave me. I need you! Princess Rosie needs her Princess Protector. Bubba!" I kept screaming at Will.
Eventually, he opened his eyes and looked at me, hanging over him. He lifted his arm and pulled me closer. I hugged him, holding him tightly around his blood soaked, snow covered neck. He held on to me with the little strength he had left. "You be strong for me Rosie. I need you to stay strong. You take Clarissa and Jace and you go with Mommy. I put them in your backpack with some of your clothes and all the pictures of us. Be strong for me Rosie. I need you to be strong and go with Mommy because I can't."
I cried and held Will tighter. I distinctly heard footsteps crunching in the snow far off in the distance. My mother picked me up and pried my hands away from Will's neck. She began to pull me away.
"No! Will! Don't leave me alone! You're the best there is, you can't leave me here alone. Will, don't go. Be strong and fight." I screamed as I jumped from my mother's hold and ran back to my brother, clinging to him. He gently pulled me off of him and kissed my forehead one last time, ever so gently.
"I'll always be with you Rosie. You still wearing that necklace I gave you for Christmas last year?" I pulled it out from under my shirt and showed him. He kissed the necklace. "See? Always with you and right by your heart. I love you."
Mommy pulled me away and held me tightly as I tried to get back to my brother. He turned his head toward me and, as I gazed into his piercing electric blue eyes, muttered his last words with his dying breath as Mommy ran with me in her arms. She ran with me tightly clutched in her arms through the snow covered woods
"I love you Rosie."
Then I saw all life and light fade from his eyes.
And so did my will to fight.
A part of me died that night with Will.