Hallucination by Josie Wu (room on the broom read aloud TXT) 📕

with who died five years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter3

When I get back to my car, I can’t even think.

I can’t believe what I have just seen. How can I see a person who has already died? Am I crazy? Am I insane? Do I lose my mind?

Or maybe Rosie hasn’t die.

I mean I got the news of Rosie’s death from others after she left me, and I didn’t even have the chance to see her for the last time.

And the most unbelievable thing is that I start to remember things. Things that I am unable to recall for a long time. It’s like the door in my head has been opened a little and some memories escaped from it. Now I can remember the days when I was with Rosie.

So that’s why I can’t recognize her when I saw her earlier at the masquerade and it also explains why I am so attracted to her.

Because deep down in my mind, I still have feelings for her.

I still love her.

~ ~ ~

Feeling exhausted, I open the door and see Katy sitting on the couch with a book in her hand.

“Hey, look who’s back!” Katy looks excited.

“Hi.” I say tiredly.

I don’t feel like to talk right now, so I head directly for the stairs and decide to go to bed right away.

“How’s the party? Was it fun?” Katy asks with her eyes full of curiosity.

I stop and turn around, a little unwillingly.

“It was fun, I think.” I manage to give her a weak smile.

“Was there anything special?”

“Um…”

“Did you meet someone?”

“Um…”
“What does she looks like? Is she hot?”

“I…”

“Wait, wait, wait! I want all the details and…”

“Katy!” I shout, a little annoyed “Could you please shut up and we can talk about this tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.” Katy looks shocked and a little frightened because I have never talked so loudly to her before.

“I am sorry. It’s just I am so tired and you kept asking me questions and I…”

“That’s fine. I get it. I should let you rest now.” She gives me a smile with understanding.

“Thank you.”

I see Katy get back to her reading and I don’t know why, but an impulse pops up and there is a voice keeps saying I should tell Katy that...

“I think I saw Rosie again.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter4

“Alex, It’s time to get up!” Katy looks so energetic.

She jumps up my bed and looks at me with her bright eyes.

“I made you some pancakes!”

“Uh, thank you.” I still feel really sleepy.

“Come on! It’s getting late! You don’t want to waste this lovely morning, do you?”

“Okay, okay. Fine. You win.” I shelter my eyes from the blazing sunlight with my hand and manage to get out of the bed.

“I’ll be waiting for you downstairs!” Katy says as I walk into the bathroom.

~ ~ ~

“Here you come!” Katy puts down the newspapers when she sees me walking down the stairs.

She loves to read. “Knowledge is power. And also, reading helps me think and learn all kinds of information. You should read too!” She once said that to me.

“Get ready to enjoy the most delicious pancakes you have ever had!” She says and puts a plate of pancakes in front of me.

“I’ll go get some orange juice.”

I put a mouthful of pancakes into my mouth and it isn’t until now do I realize that I am really starving. The pancakes are really palatable.

“Hey, slow down! You might get choked up.” Katy then fills the empty glass with fresh orange juice.

“So?” Katy smiles mischievously at me. “Do you want to talk about last night?”

I put my fork down and quickly drink up the orange juice.

“Can you just wait until I finish the delicious pancakes?

“Oh, come on! I am really curious!” Katy pleads.

I sigh briefly. “Um… like I said, it was fun.”

“And last night…” Katy tilts her head “You said that you saw Rosie? Is she your classmate?”

My heart skips a beat as I hear the name. That is what I want to talk about with Katy. Although she asks as if she didn’t hear of the name, but from her eyes, I know that she does.

“Come on, you know her, don’t you? She was the first girl I fell in love with who died five years ago.”

“Really? That’s weird, huh.” Katy smirks. Although it is just for a second, I swear that I saw something flashed through Katy’s face.

“Are you alright?” I look at Katy, who seems a little distracted right now.

“Of course.”

“Are you sure? You seem a little pale.”

“I’m good.” Her bright tone sounds a little bit too pretentious.

“And since you have already finished your breakfast, you should get dressed and go outside to do whatever you want. It’s a lovely day, isn’t it?”

“Katy, if there is anything wrong, you can tell me.” I look her in the eye, but she avoids it. “Do you know anything about Rosie that I do not know?

“No, why would I?” She starts to pile up the plates. “You can leave now and I’ll clean up the table.”

“Okay then.” I watch her walking into the kitchen and I know that she is hiding something from me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter5

Later that night, I couldn’t even fall asleep. There are too many things stuck in my head and the temptation of knowing the truth is so strong that it keeps me from relaxing.

I know that there is something going wrong.

I get up and go to the bathroom, looking into the mirror.

Holy crap! I look like a mess! In the mirror are my tired eyes and my pale face. But at this moment, I don’t have time to worry about this. All I want is to know what is happening.

~ ~ ~

I pull up my car in front of the forest and take a deep breath. I don’t know exactly what I want to find out or whether I want to or not, but there is a voice keeps telling me that I have to try. Try to figure out what has been bothering me.

It has already been midnight and in spite of all my unwillingness, I walk into the spooky forest again.

The house is still there in the deep of the forest. Isolated and gruesome. Even just standing here and watching the house, I can still remember seeing Rosie’s face under the moonlight.

I pluck up my courage, walk to the door, and Knock it for response. Few minutes have passed and no one answers. Just as I am about to leave, the door opens abruptly.

Standing in front of me is Rosie, the girl I have loved with all my heart and soul.

“What are you doing here? You shouldn’t have come. It’s too dangerous!” Fear is manifest on her face.

“Why?” I look at her beautiful eyes. “What is going on?”

Instead of answering me, she takes my hand and leads me into the dark woods.

~ ~ ~

“Listen,” Rosie fixes me with a serious look. “You are not supposed to be here, okay? And why do you know where I live?”

“I’m sorry, but I followed you home last night.” I pause, looking her in the eye. “I really miss you.”

“So you remember who I am? I mean that you remember the days when we were together?”

“Yeah.” My hand brushes through her soft and long hair. “The moment when I saw your face last night, I remembered everything.”

“Oh, god! I thought you would never regain your memories!” She holds me tight in her arms and I wish this moment could last forever.

“How could you be here? I thought you were dead. Or am I dreaming?” I give myself a pinch on the face to make sure that it is all real.

“Of course not! And I miss you too. I miss you so, so much.” She giggles and then squeezes my hand slightly.

“Why would I lose my memories? It’s like someone stole them from me.”

“They took away some parts of my memories too. But somehow, the memories came back, little by little.”

“Who are they?”

“I am not quite sure.” She shrugs. “To be honest, I don’t know. All I know is that they wanted to kill me, so that’s why I pretended to be dead and managed to escape from them.”

She fixes her beautiful eyes on me. “It’s been a long time since we last met. You can’t imagine how glad I am to see you again, to touch you again, and to feel you again.” She caresses my face with her warm hand. “How are you doing over the past five years?”

“Well, if I say I am good, then that will be a lie. I feel so … so numb for such a long time. It’s like there is a hole inside of me and I don’t know how to stop that feeling. I just don’t know what to do. Thank god that I still have my sister. She’s the only reason why I can get through all of this. I can’t live without her.”

Suddenly, the softness in Rosie’s eyes changes, turning into vigilance.

“You can’t trust her.”

“What? Why?” I say in perplexity.

“Maybe she’s not your sister.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I am not sure about anything right now, except for that I love my sister!”

“Perhaps she’s one of them. Believe me, you can’t trust anyone.”

“Then why the hell should I trust you?” I glare at Rosie.

“I love you, Alex. You are my one and only. I will never ever lie to you. You got to believe me, please.” She pleads.

“Rosie! Where the fuck are you? You’d better come back to the fucking house! You hear me?”

“Oh, shit! He’s back.” Rosie mutters.

“Who’s back?”

“You have to go now. You can’t let him see you. He’ll kill you!”

“Wait! You haven’t told me…”

“Go! Now!” Before Rosie pushes me away, she quickly kisses me on the lip. So tender and sweet that I’ll never forget.

I look back and she’s still standing there. Although she doesn’t say it out loud, but I know that she’s saying goodbye and there is an awful feeling that it will be the last goodbye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter6

I don’t go back to my car; instead, I watch Rosie walk out of the woods and to her house. I want to know who the man is.

With my ear against the door, I manage to hear their conversation.

“Didn’t I tell you not to get the fucking out of the house?” The man says angrily.

“I’m sorry.” Rosie says with her voice a little trembling.

“Did you have any idea that you could’ve put yourself in danger? And I haven’t forgiven you for attending that goddamn masquerade. What if anyone saw you? And why the hell did you dance with Alex? He’s coming for you now. I know you were just talking to him. You made my efforts all in vain! Do you know how hard it is to keep you safe?” Although I cannot see the man, I am sure that he is hitting the ceiling right now.

“I’m sorry, but you know that I hate to stay at home alone and couldn’t go out to enjoy my life! It’s driving crazy. As for Alex, I really miss him…” Rosie trails off.

“Look, I’m not angry with you and I’m sorry that I yelled at you, but all I want is to protect you. You are the only one I care about in this world and the last thing I want to do is to jeopardize you. You are my sister, Rosie, and I can sacrifice everything for you.” I hear Rosie start to sob and the conversation is over.

I feel so shocked and had to force myself to stand up and head for the car or I might just kneel down at the door forever.

The man is Rosie’s brother and I recognize his voice because I hear it all the time.

He Is … Brian.

~ ~ ~

On my way back home, I try my best to concentrate on driving since their conversation keeps repeating in my head, which really distracts me.

I see Katy watching an old movie on TV and sitting casually on the sofa when I return home.

“Where have you been? I’m so