Page 72 of The Blue Rose
Grabbing her chin, I force her eyes to meet mine. “I may have been lying to you, but I was never pretending. Every minute, every fucking second spent with you, was real. It took me longer to figure out because I’m fucked up, but I finally did. I didn’t understand the feelings you’ve awakened in me, but I finally do. I love you, Serena.” I lean down to give her a soft kiss on her forehead.
Tears stream down her face, and she leans into me, her head resting against my chest. I wrap my arms around her, unable to believe I finally told her I loved her, I don’t expect her to say it back. We have time for her to acknowledge the depth of her own feelings.
I love Serena.
She starts to sniffle, and I rub her back. She presses her forehead into my chest before glancing up at me. “What are we going to do about Tyler? The police are still looking for him.”
I kissed the top of her head, resting my cheek against her hair. “I already took care of it, they won’t find his body, and they’ll never know it was me.”
“What did you do with him?”
I turn us towards the incinerator and her mouth drops open, laughing. “I’m damn good at what I do, my little vixen, I haven’t gotten caught for a reason.”
She just shakes her head and nuzzles into my chest.
Now that she knows who I really am, and has accepted it, I need to make sure she doesn’t tell anyone. She keeps saying she never told Jessica her secret, but who is Jessica? She said she was with her the night we met, but when she introduced me to her, no one was behind her. I went along with it, nodding myhead and played it off because I thought she was too drunk and her friend already left.Maybe she thought the group of girls behind her was her friend?I don't know, but I need to find out and make sure my secret won’t be shared.
“You can’t tell anyone, not even Jessica.”
She looks at me with the most innocent eyes, her gaze telling me my secret is safe. “I won’t, plus, you met her, remember? She would never guess you’re the Morbid Monet.”
I brush my fingers down her cheeks, concern written all over my face. “Serena, I never met Jessica.”
She slaps my chest, rolling her eyes, stepping back from me. “Yes, you did, silly, at the bar where we first met. She was sitting behind me, I even introduced you. You didn’t say anything, just looked back and forth between us and ignored her, which I thought was weird because she is gorgeous and guys usually drop dead at her feet.”
I grab her hands to stop her rambling. “Serena, no one was with you.”
She tilts her head and looks at me. “What?”
“You were alone. There was a group of girls behind you, but no one else. I even tried to find her online, but there was no trace of her.”
She backs away shaking her head. “No, no that’s not true. She was there! I swear she was. Wait… why were you looking her up?”
“She was getting in the way, I needed her gone, but I couldn’t find her anywhere.”
She looks at me with confusion and fear, “But, I don’t understand.”
Her eyes pinch closed, and she falls to the floor, screaming in pain, crying uncontrollably. Panicked, I rush to her side, holding her in my arms and rocking her back and forth. “What’s wrong, Serena? Talk to me.”
One second she was fine, the next she’s in pain. It’s like my question caused her agony.Fuck, what do I do? What can I do?For once in my life, I’m scared, the woman I love is in pain, and there is nothing I can do to help her.
“Aster…” she whispers, gripping my shirt.
I rub her head, her shaking trapping the air in my lungs. “It’s okay, I’m right here.”
She’s crying into my chest, mumbling, “I did it, I did it.”
“Did what?” I ask.
She looks up, tears streaming down her face. “I killed her.”
I stop rubbing her back, frozen. “Killed who?”
“Jessica.” She whispers, slumping against me crying in my chest.
Holy fuck… she really is just like me.Jessica was real, and she killed her. She must have had a psychotic break and made her up in her mind to deal with what she did. Once she calms down, we will figure out what happened. Together. She isn’t alone, and I need to make sure she knows that.
She rocks back and forth in my arms repeating “I killed her” over and over and over again. We sit like that for what seems like hours and she eventually cries herself asleep. I lay us down, cradling her in my arms and falling asleep with her. When I wake up Serena is gone.
