Translations:

Descends de là - Get down from there

Tu vas te faire mal - You're going to hurt yourself

Non, Maman - No, Mom

Je vais bien - I'm fine

Maintenant - Now

D'accord - Okay

Ma petite oiseau chanteur - My little songbird

Grande soeur - Big sister

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Suspicion haunts the guilty mind.

-Shakespeare

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"Rosie! Descends de là! Tu vas te faire mal!" Rose was scrambling up the tree in their backyard; her wispy blond hair pulled back in a slowly slipping ponytail. She pulled herself up another branch, swinging her short legs over the side and waving down at her frantic mother.

"Non, Maman! Je vais bien!" Rose shrieked, puffing out her cheeks and sticking out her tongue. She kicked her legs back and forth as her mother set her arms against her hips.

"Rosemarie! Maintenant!" Her mother jabbed her finger towards the ground, frowning fiercely. Rose stuck out her lower lip in a pout, but another yell from her mother had her maneuvering her way down.

"D'accord, d'accord," she grumbled, inching her way down until her toes brushed the grass. Then, before she could set herself down properly, her mother scooped Rose into her arms and hugged her for a few moments before pulling away so she could look Rose in the eyes.

"Rosie," she began, her voice stern, but then her voice muted, and whatever she was going to say next was lost in the flood of inaudible whispers that filled Rose's head. Everything darkened, and Rose twisted around in her mother's arms, trying to see where they were, but her mother's grip had become painfully tight, and Rose could only crane her head around to look.

They were on the roof of the hospital, the dim light and color being leached from the sky indicating it was passing dusk into night. Struggling harder to free herself from her mother's painful grasp, Rose turned back around to face her mother. A strangled gasp rose in her throat.

Her mother's eyes were gone; the pits that once held them seeping blood and fluid, gaping grotesquely. The gasp was slowly turning into a scream, but Rose couldn't seem to voice it as she stared into the holes that had once held her mother's pale blue eyes. Eyes just like her sister's. Eye's Rose had felt lucky not to inherit as it would have driven her mad every time she looked in the mirror.

The oppressive whispers rose to a crescendo in Rose's ears. Finally, she was able to make out what they were saying. Your fault, they hissed, the cacophony of malice making her head pound. All your fault.

Their whispers turned to shouts, and Rose woke up screaming.

***

Panting, each breath grating against her sore throat, Rose looked around wildly, taking a few moments to orient herself in the still vastly unfamiliar bedroom. Even once she convinced herself that she was nowhere near that hospital, it still took turning on every light in her room to stop her shaking.

Suddenly stifled in the hot room, Rose walked shakily to the window and threw it open, letting the early morning air raise goosebumps on her arms as it rushed in to cool the room. She took a big, shuddering breath, finally feeling her pounding heart slow down. Slumping against the window sill, Rose stared down at the garden below her, watching as the sun slowly spilled over the wall. The cool breeze suddenly felt uncomfortable, hair rising on her goosebump-covered arms, and Rose finally shut the window and turned to wrap herself back in her covers.

Unfortunately, someone else had gotten there first. Rose let out a startled shriek as she clapped eyes on the lean form of the blond vampire sprawled across her bed. Well, she supposed it was his bed seeing as he was the permanent resident of the house, but that didn't make her feel any better about his intrusion.

The blond intruder--was it Shoe? No, Shu--opened his eyes lazily and glanced at her sideways, apparently irritated with her shriek. This rubbed Rose the wrong way, as she felt her surprise was very warranted. "Must you be so loud?" He complained, and Rose bristled. "I'm trying to sleep."

"Yes, I must, considering you appeared on my bed out of nowhere," she snapped, marching over and sharply tugging one of her stuffed foxes out from under him. "It's rude and frankly creepy to make yourself comfortable in someone's bed without an invitation."

Instantly, she regretted that last statement, as it put a smirk on Shu's face. He tilted his head towards her, the glint in his eyes scaring her. "Oh? And what would it take to receive an invitation?" Rose chucked a pillow at him, momentarily wiping the smirk off his face.

"Nothing you could do," she grumbled. Surprisingly, Shu laughed, and she found herself staring. He was much better looking when he did that. Rose, stop it. Embarrassed by her wayward thoughts, Rose spun away from Shu and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her lack of sleep was getting to her, that had to be it.

"The way you flirt is shameful," he teased, and Rose groaned in annoyance. This entire scenario was weirding her out, and she wanted Shu out of the room and the hell away from her. Turning back around, Rose stalked over to the side of the bed he was on and, after a quick second of hesitation, yanked Shu off the bed. He yelped in what Rose assumed was surprise because she doubted she could actually hurt him.

"Out. I can't stand you anymore," Rose said, dragging Shu towards the door. Her hair rose, and she was once more covered in goosebumps as suddenly Shu's leg was no longer in her grasp. Gasping, she looked up to find in standing in front of her; face pulled into a dangerous frown. He backed her against a wall, still glaring, and Rose found herself glancing around the room to find any weapons.

"That was quite a rude thing to do to someone who had come to check on you," Shu said softly, though certainly not gently. There was a threatening undertone to his voice that had Rose on edge, so much so it took her a moment to process his statement.

"Check on me?" Rose asked, utterly confused.

Fortunately, her confusion seemed to amuse Shu, and he smirked. "Of course. Unless you normally scream like you're about to be murdered." Now Rose was stunned.

"You mean to tell me you were worried about me. You?" Perhaps her incredulous expression wasn't the smartest idea, but thankfully it seemed to amuse Shu even more. He laughed again, and Rose felt her heart skip a beat. They were all so confusing, she decided, what with their ability to switch from angry to manic in a split second. Maybe the lot of them were bipolar.

"Why is that so surprising to you?" Shu asked, and she scoffed. Was he really that dense?

"Seriously? I've been threatened, attacked, and harassed since the moment I stepped through the front door, and you're asking me why I'm surprised you're acting even a little nice? God, you can't be that stupid," she snapped back, and his smirk vanished.

"Well, when you put it that way," Shu grumbled, unable to meet her eyes, and Rose used his moment of distraction to duck away from him, putting distance between them. Thankfully, he didn't follow her. He just leaned against the wall and watched her with almost predatory closeness.

"Glad you see it my way," she said, plopping down on the bed and bracing her hands on her knees. "Besides, you wouldn't want to get close to me anyway." Shu looked like he was going to say something, but just then piano music blared through the room. Rose jumped up. She knew that ringtone, her sister had set it months ago.

"Marie," Alaine sobbed the moment Rose answered the call. She could hear more crying in the background, as well as a man's voice yelling.

"Lainey," she soothed, trying to force down the panic rising in her chest. Panicking wouldn't help her siblings; she needed to keep a cool head. "Lainey, it's okay. What's going on?"

"Miri sn-snuck out, and Damien caught her," Alaine hiccuped, and Rose could tell she was trying not to cry. "I don't know how to fix this, Marie. What do I do?"

Rose started pacing, trying to let out her nervous energy. She could see Shu watching her curiously, but he clearly couldn't understand a word of the conversation they were having in English. Good. She didn't need him asking questions right now. "Okay. Okay, Lainey, I'm going to need you to get the first aid supplies. They're under my bed. Take Asher with you and leave him in my room. Can you do that?"

She heard rustling, and the crying and yelling faded away. "Yes. Yes, I'm going now. But Damien's still here." Rose could hear Alaine's anxiety, and she took a deep breath. She had to calm her down.

"That's fine. Just wait until he leaves. He never stays long, remember? But you can't help Miri until he leaves." Rose felt like she sounded a little too calm, but Alaine seemed to be hanging on to her every word.

"Yeah, he never stays long. I think he's almost done," Alaine replied, and Rose heard a door shut. "I'm in your room. Should I put on a recording for Ash?" She sounded much calmer.

"Great idea, ma petite oiseau chanteur. Just keep Ash out of Damien's way. He'll leave sooner," Rose instructed, feeling pride welling in her at how well her sister was handling the situation.

They were silent for a few moments, then Alaine spoke up. "I think I hear the garage door. I'm going to hang up and treat Miri, okay grande soeur?" Rose nodded, then realized that, of course, Alaine couldn't see her.

"Yeah," she croaked, her throat dry from fear. She swallowed several times. "Yeah, that's perfect. You're doing so well, ma petite oiseau chanteur." Alaine laughed bitterly.

"This isn't something I ever wanted to be good at, grande soeur. I don't know how you managed it for so long," Alaine replied, then sighed. "Bye, Marie."

"Bye, Lainey. Love you," Rose said, a few tears trickling down her cheeks. Alaine said she loved her back, then hung up. Rose realized she was shaking, and it took her a moment to figure out that it was from anger, not fear. It wasn't fair! Alaine shouldn't have to go through this, not at twelve. Rose stalked over to her suitcase and yanked out her computer, still completely ignoring Shu. She didn't have time for vampiric melodrama.

She had a plan to enact.

You're going to fail. Alaine, Miri, Ash, they're all going to die.

Not if I can help it.

Phew, that took longer than I meant it to! Sorry! Apologies aside, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope my plot's not boring you. I'm trying to move it along at a reasonable pace, but it might be starting a little slow.

What do you think of the song I put above? I love Louane's music, and I feel French artists need to be more appreciated. There's some amazing music I feel we just don't listen to because of the language difference, which is a real shame. I'll probably be including more of her music, as well as other artists I enjoy, so stay tuned for that.

I hope you're having an incredible day, and if not, I hope reading this made it a little better. I love and appreciate all of you. <3

~ Avie