THE GIFT OF A FATHER'S FURY

Rose's Pov

"Where am I?"

I looked around, but all I could see was a brilliant white light shimmering all around me. There was no wind, no air it was almost like time had paused and all that was here was just bright light and the white tiled floor.

"Did I make it to heaven?" I asked myself.

Panic gripped me. I hoped I wasn't in heaven right now. My dad would be so ashamed of me, when he seems me. I bowed my head, my legs giving up as I collapsed. My knees hit the floor with a sick, heavy thud.

Suddenly, a single rose petal dropped in front of me. I picked it up and stood back up as thousands of them began to fall from the sky. Deep, red rose petals... without a single thorn.

I guess I finally got my Rose without thorns, I smiled faintly.

"Rose!"

I spun around. A voice called me from the distance soft, steady, and achingly familiar. It was my Father's voice.

He was really here. I made it into heaven. My heart hammered against my ribs, should I run to him or hide? I had destroyed his legacy. I had let his life’s work be stolen by the man who poisoned him.

I instinctively tried to clutch my belly again, but my hand met a flat, firm stomach. There was no bump. My belly was so flat like I was never pregnant. I realized then that my unborn child must have entered heaven a separate way. It was good for my child leaving me, having a disgrace as a mother was totally nuts.

I turned to run. I couldn't face him. But as soon as I took a step, my dad was suddenly standing right in front of me. I almost bumped heads with him.

"Ahh!" I let out a scream.

He didn't flinch, he welcomed me with a warm smile and pulled me into a hug. My hands hovered in the air, I couldn't bring myself to hug him back, after all I had done to him.

"I am sorry, Daddy," I choked out. "I did so many wrong things since you left. Richard killed you, daddy... it’s all my fault." I burst into tears, shaking in his arms.

He drifted back a little bit. "Don't blame yourself for the evil they did to you, my child. It was never about you, it was always about them. Even if you had been wicked to them, they would have done the same thing. It was just our destiny to end this way."

"But it's not fair, Dad," I sobbed. "The devil is in hell, and he did all this to us!"

"The devil isn't in hell, Rose. He is on earth... dressed in a suit and tie."

My dad reached out his palm to me, it was fist tight closed. He opened it, and a long, sharp thorn lay in the center. "Give these thorns to your enemies. Make your fate theirs. Become a thorn in their path before they can become one in yours." He smiled at me.

I picked up the thorn, looking at it carefully. "How do I give it to them when I am already dead, Dad?"

I looked up, but he wasn't there anymore. I was frightened. I quickly turned around, and suddenly the white light shattered.

I saw people everywhere, drinking. Everything in the hall was black, the flowers, the chairs, the dresses and lilies. Just in front of me was my dad’s grave. I scrambled backward, my heart racing. How was I even here again?

People filled the hall, all of them wearing black. Workers, neighbours, friends and family that had all abandoned me with Richard. They all sat, faking sadness in front of my dad's corpse.

My dad’s picture was hung everywhere. The hall was packed with people chatting and drinking, like it was a high class party but this was exactly my dad's funeral. Did I go back to a memory of my dad's funeral?

"Hey, Rose... I am so sorry."

A familiar voice cut through my state of confusion. Before I could process it, Katherine grabbed my arms and hugged me tightly. She was wearing a black silk dress like mine, and also the same shoes with me. Katherine had always wanted to be me in everyway. The scent of her perfume made my skin crawl. The memory of her stabbing me continuously, quickly flashed in my very eyes.

Suddenly, I jerked away and shoved her with everything I had to the ground.

"Argh!" She hit the floor hard.

"Rose! Why would you push her like that?" Richard came running over.

He grabbed her off the floor, frantically dusting off her gown. He checked her palm and saw a tiny wound. He panicked, immediately blowing air on the injury. "We need to get you to the hospital," he said.

This was something Richard would never do for me. In my other life, I was sick and dying in a basement, and he wouldn't even check on me. Before he even showed his true colours, he had never cared for me, not in this way.

But for a scratch on Katherine? He was ready to call an ambulance.

I snapped my gaze away from them, looking at the crowd. Am I alive? This was indeed my memory. But the difference was that I hadn't pushed Katherine back then. In the past, she was the one who pushed me to the floor, pretending there was a spider in her dress.

Richard had run to her while I was left on the floor in pain, trying to get to my feet. Have my thorns...become their thorns?

I looked down at my hands. My palm was still closed tight. I opened it and saw the black thorn my dad had given me, lying at the centre of my palm.

I looked at my hands, they were neat and soft. I looked at my dress, it was an expensive black mourning gown. The silk gown felt so cold against my skin. This was the same gown I wore in the past.

There wasn't a scratch on my body. It was as if I was never locked in the basement, I felt brand new.

Did I really die? Or had I been dreaming since...? No, it couldn't be a dream. The betrayal still felt as bright as the day.

I snatched Richard’s phone right out of his hands, while he was still tending to Katherine. They both looked at me like I had gone crazy, but I didn't care.

I checked the date. It was Friday, February 6th, 2023. This was the day my dad was buried, this was exactly two years ago. My fingers were already trembling as I kept staring at the date.

In my past life, I died in February 2026. I had been locked in that basement for so long I had lost track of time, I instantly felt a cold chill, as the phone dropped from my hand to the floor. I instantly froze, my heart beating frantically.

Did I really just go back in time?