Chapter 5

People celebrated Rose and Jericho’s display of affection, finally finding hope in their impending marriage. The world is to be saved. It was only Ty, Trick, Father Benedict, and Hunter (despite his slow wits) who noticed that something transpired between the couple. Rose moved to distance herself from Jericho, but he grabbed her wrist, pinning her into place. He kissed her back, his lips soft and warm. She wanted to run away, recover from the memories that consumed her senses, but she suddenly felt weak. She couldn’t have moved even if she wanted to. 

Clara and Henry. 

Their names echoed inside Rose's brain over and over again. Who the hell are these people and why did seeing them felt like a gun to the heart?

"You..." Jericho whispered as their lips parted, eyes unfocused as he looked at her. Rose could tell that he didn't expect the kiss, and was probably wondering why he allowed it. But she didn't have time to analyze his reaction because the world had restarted again.

The New Catholics had let out another loud cheer, and Rose had to give them a smile. Like an idiot. But it was all an act, a means to an end.

At the end of their long table, Father Benedict met her eyes and the old priest gave her a nod. She knew what was at stake and fully agreed to it. But at that moment, Rose wondered if she signed up for things that she wasn’t ready for. 

***

"So, that's it? You kiss me and act like nothing happened?" Jericho came at Rose as soon as they were left alone in Father Benedict's library. When the party settled down, everyone pretty much forgot about them, so Rose immediately sought to be alone. But of course, Jericho followed her. 

"I'm not acting like nothing happened. I was just trying to cover up the fact that I looked like I wanted to kill you back there." Rose replied, seemingly calm. 

"Oh, so it had nothing to do with what we saw?" Jericho asked. 

Rose whirled towards him, "What?! Y--you saw that too?" She turned toward the door and dropped her voice into a whisper, "What the hell was that? Who are they? And you called me Clara before so I'm assuming you know."

Jericho frowned at her, "What are you talking about? I meant about our future, Rose. When you kissed me, I saw the future. You and I--"

"What?" 

"We were--" 

"No, don't tell me," Rose said, holding up a finger. 

"What are you two doing here? People are looking for you." Father Benedict's voice interrupted them.

Rose didn't even hear him come in. But that wasn't important. She needed to know, now. She whirled towards Father Benedict. "When I kissed Jericho, I saw something in my head. Two people. Clara and Henry. And I don't know who they are, but somehow I feel a strong connection to them. Who are they, Father Benedict? Do you know?" Rose asked in a rush. 

There was a pause as Father Benedict and Jericho looked at each other meaningfully. 

"I was right. You know about this too," Rose said in realization, pointing a finger at Father Benedict accusingly. 

"I do." The old priest admitted. 

"Then tell me, who are Clara and Henry?" Rose asked, looking between the two men. 

"I can't tell you that, Rose. Because it has something to do with who you are. And you made me promise, remember? You told me not to tell you about your past. You don't want to know who you are." said Father Benedict. 

Rose opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. That was true. Everytime she resurrected, Father Benedict wiped all her memories clean except for the essentials—what her covenant with the New Catholics was, and the fact that a long time ago, she had asked Father Benedict to not tell her where she came from. 

"Does he know about this?" Rose motioned towards Jericho, who wasn't showing any signs of surprise about the turn the conversation was taking. She realized that it bothered her that she was worried about what Jericho thought of her. 

"Yes. He made me promise, too." Jericho said, looking her straight in the eye. 

"But if Clara has something to do with me, and you know who Clara is...then you have something to do with my past, don't you?" Rose asked him. 

Jericho sighed before answering, "You know, you can just ask, Rose. If you decide right now, Father Benedict and I can tell you about your past. Walk you through it. But we need to make sure you're ready. You might not remember it now, but there must be a good reason why you chose to forget. So we want you to be really sure." 

Rose scowled at that. So, she was supposed to remember why she chose to forget something in the first place? Incensed, she turned to Father Benedict, "How do I even know I asked for you to keep it a secret in the first place? For all I know, you're keeping it from me so I can be your slave forever. You're afraid I'm going to break my covenant with the New Catholics if I knew." 

"That's not true, Rose. Jericho is right. All you have to do is ask. But believe me when I say that you were adamant that I make that promise to you.” the priest answered.

This time, Rose did not answer. She was still on edge, reeling from what she just witnessed in her head earlier. But somewhere, deep inside her, she knew that both of them were right. She didn't want to know who she was. She was too afraid of what or who she might be. Her almost indestructible body that could kill easily. Her explosive temper that sometimes didn’t make sense to her, and is somehow tied to her powers. So many questions that she couldn’t bring herself to find the answer to. 

"Rose..." Jericho said, stepping towards her. He looked like he was about to reach out to her. 

But then a resounding chaos from outside stopped him and Hunter came barging into the room, screaming, "An attack! We're being attacked!"

Rose immediately sprang into action, "Grab Father Benedict and get him out of here. Down by the secret passages." 

"Where should we go?" Hunter asked in a panic. 

"I don't know. I don't care. As long as it's somewhere safe." Rose ordered, "Just go. Now!" 

"No, I'm not going. The council...everyone...they're all in there..." Father Benedict said weakly.

"I'll handle this, old man. This is what I'm here for, remember?" Rose told him firmly, pushing him back towards Hunter. She turned towards Jericho, "Are you with me or not?" 

"Right behind you," Jericho said, and together they stepped back into the hall.

It wasn't just chaos that met them, it was carnage. It looked like half of the attendees had been murdered by demons of different kinds. Blood splattered the walls and dismembered bodies now sat on the tables. Screams of terror and unearthly noises reverberated around the room. 

Rose stood there for a second, paralyzed at the sight.

"Look out!" Trick pushed her to the side. Just in time before a pride demon could freeze her to death. 

"Rose, focus!" Jericho shouted from behind her, where he was preoccupied with an envy demon. Rose vaguely noticed him move without the use of his cane. Beside him was Ty, half-transformed and unleashing all his rage on a couple of lust demons. 

"Don't tell me what to do," Rose grumbled at Jericho before tackling the demon nearest to her. It screeched in her ear and spurted black ink onto her face. But that didn’t delay her from pulling a knife from under her dress and driving it into the demon’s core. Before the creature could even process what happened to it, Rose was already hunting another one.

"Oh, Rose!” a familiar voice called out to her and Rose twisted around, trying to find it. 

It took her a couple of seconds before she located the voice to a young woman lounging on a seat in the middle of the party. The very same seat where Jericho and her sat moments ago. The woman was dazzling and looked like a queen—if queens were made of absolutely thick pride demon skin.

But then that skin peeled off before Rose's eyes, layer by layer, revealing what was underneath. And when everything came off, Rose suddenly couldn’t breathe because that woman looked exactly like her.