The Second Ballad-Red Rose

[Flash.]

"Who do you prefer Mom or Dad?", my brother asked in a dry tone.

"Dad", my innocent self had claimed.

[Flash]

"Sarina, go and show your father your dance" Margorat spoke softly to her daughter.

"But daddy doesn't love me like you do Mommy"

"Trust me sweetheart...", Margorat's sad and miserable face smiled, "Daddy only loves you"

[Flash]

The ladies at the tea party enjoy their time, with the body of young Sarina lying on the table as Margorat regrets not killing her husband.

[Flash]

Men in black uniforms destroying the market. The well-lit-up cafe blew up, shattering the entirety of its windows.

Henson holds Micheals's hand and tries to escape the bloodshed. Micheal stabs Henson and kills him.

Aunt Sally's rocking room on the ship, made it hard for her to make pancakes, while Micheal hums as his chair rocks. The oil spills and the ship catches fire.

[Flash]

"Maryy! Maryy!" Aunt Sally screams as both she and Micheal catch fire.

[Flash]

Henson hugging me in his arms, "I'm sorry" he spoke in a sad voice.

.....

I slowly opened my eyes and a light above me flashed into my eyes, and I closed them again in pain and turned on my side.

It seems that I was in some sort of hospital or nurse's room. The place was too abandoned to be able to tell.

I got off the bed and my head was still spinning. I decided not to resist gravity and just rested alongside the bed.

"Mary!" a comforting and familiar voice called out, but I was too exhausted to respond.

Sara suddenly stood by my side with a worried look on her face. 'Ah, I made an angel worry about me.'

"Oye! How long are you going to lie there?", a very annoying voice from my brother disrupted any form of comfort I had.

"Can you not leave me in peace even in my dreams?" I shot back.

"Dreams? Oh, you're gonna wish that was true" He laughed. He seemed more rugged than usual, that's what you get for being a computer otaku.

I tried to stand up before a flying slipper hit me on the back of my head and I slipped back on the floor. "Do You Have Any Idea How Worried We Were?!" My mother's voice echoed like a blast, and my father apologized to presumably the staff and patients present around me.

Something stung my hand and I realized I was attached to an IV bag.

I paused, trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Am I awake?", I wondered looking at all the worried faces of my family.

"You little troublemaker! You even made trouble for Yaya and her mom! And what were you up to with that boy over there?" my mother's voice pierced me.

"What did I do? I was sleeping!" I said puzzled, while looking at the direction my mother was pointing at.

It was Henson, and he was sound asleep. He was wearing hospital robes like me,... "Why am I in hospital robes?" I asked Sara secretly to avoid making my mother angrier.

"Ah..." Sara looked puzzled, not understanding where to begin.

"For now, I think you should talk to Yaya and her mom, they've had a rough night bringing you here"

"Where is she?" I asked looking around. I didn't see any other loud person besides my mother.

"They're sleeping in the room next door, Yaya asked to wake her up as soon as you were up"

"Oh, okay lemme go see her", I sneaked away to the other room, while my parents were busy talking to the doctor, making sure there was nothing wrong with my head.

.....

Yaya was sleeping on the sofa, while her mother laid in bed. I opened the door as silently as I could to make sure her mother didn't wake up.

My sleeping friend with her red baggy shirt and loose pants made me see that she came in a hurry. She actually looked peaceful sleeping, for someone so loud.

"Yaya!" I whispered.

She kept on sleeping.

"Oye! Get up" I said and she woke up in confusion of what was going on, ready to karate chop me.

"Woah! Easy there tiger" I chuckled, it felt like it had been a while since I laughed.

She stared at me, and didn't say a word.

She looked around to make sure no one was listening.

"Mary, listen to me", said the person who had never made a serious expression in front of me.

I felt alerted.

"You have to save Henson"

"Save him?"

"Can you hear the narrator?" I was surprised at how she knew about him.

"How do you-?"

"Just answer"

"Ah, no, he doesn't appear in reality"

"Mary, this isn't real, you're still asleep"

At that moment, I thought if I let go of her, she would get absorbed in the background.

"Yaya! Help me, what should I do?"

"Mary,... You have to remember, you've told me about this dream, do you remember? You said you lost something here, what if you came back to find it"

"I've been trying to remember but I can't, some things are...different from the last time I've been here."

"That's a good start, when did you come here the first time?"

"I was trying to do something important..."

I looked around the room where we were sitting, and it brought back memories.

"... my brother...", my eyes were wide open with realization.

Yaya felt a chill in her bones.

"My brother was here"

A bright light immediately flashed in the room, and everything turned dark yet again.