Filed to story: A Little Princess's Journey from Darkness to Light Novel
Old Mr. Rosewood blinked in surprise. Tears welled up in his eyes as memories of his daughter’s death resurfaced. “Take me there… Take me to Amelia…” he wheezed. It had been over ten years. He never thought he would live to find his daughter’s remains, but now there was hope!
“Be patient, Mr. Rosewood. Even if you go there yourself, the police won’t allow you near the scene,” Valentine tried to calm the old man.
Noticing Anthony’s expectant gaze, Charlie immediately sprang into action and rushed out of the room to call the police.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Rosewood! I’ll keep an eye out too!” Lilly offered.
Old Mr. Rosewood’s eyes appeared downcast as he looked away from Lilly, leaning against the bed frame. “I spent my whole life building and running my business without ever compromising my conscience. When my worker’s parents fell ill, I provided them with money for treatment and even helped them contact a specialist overseas. I lived an honorable life. The only mistake I ever made… was murdering that young lady…” he sighed.
Valentine’s jaw dropped slightly. Did the old man just confess to murdering Roxanne Larson?
Lilly nodded as Pablo whispered something in her ear, then turned to Old Mr. Rosewood again. “Grandpa Rosewood, why didn’t you find out where Amelia was buried? How did she die?” she inquired.
Old Mr. Rosewood let out another long sigh. He had appeared better just moments ago, but now he seemed to wither once more. “Amelia was our precious, kind-hearted sweetheart. She was the type of person who would give her favorite limited-edition dresses to her best friend. She was always considerate of Roxanne’s feelings, so she would remove the tags from her dresses and tell Roxanne she didn’t want them,” he recounted to Lilly. “We were also fond of Roxanne and allowed her to freely enter and leave our house… But who could have known that a seemingly kind, innocent girl like her would turn out to be the devil incarnate!”
Pablo wrapped his arms around himself and listened intently.
“Don’t be too kind to someone, for you never know their true intentions…” Old Mr. Rosewood warned. Unfortunately, he had learned this lesson the hard way. The truth finally came to light as he described the events from over ten years ago.
After Roxanne Larson left her job at the printing factory, she accumulated a significant amount of debt due to her unhealthy spending habits to maintain her lifestyle. Yet, she remained unsatisfied and eventually developed a desire to replace Amelia Rosewood.
“One day, she called us and informed us that she had fallen victim to a fraudulent clinic while attempting to purchase medication for her parents. She claimed that she was being held hostage by the clinic and demanded a ransom of ten million dollars, insisting that someone personally come to her rescue. In a state of desperation, she cried over the phone, and without hesitation, sweet Amelia rushed to her aid,” Old Mr. Rosewood lamented with a pained voice. He regretted raising his daughter to be excessively kind and considerate, as he never anticipated that it would ultimately lead to her demise.
Old Mr. Rosewood closed his eyes as he continued, “Roxanne Larson was not being held hostage in a clinic. She had willingly gone to an illegal plastic surgery clinic that preyed on the vanity of young girls, enticing them to sign up for expensive cosmetic surgery packages. It was a despicable business, to say the least… Roxanne had offered the clinic ten million dollars to perform a surgery on her, using someone else’s skin, in order to look exactly like that person. Unbelievably, the clinic accepted the offer! Can you imagine? There was an actual syndicate carrying out surgeries using real human skin!”
It wasn’t just the outer skin that they could replace. The clinic had the ability to dissect and replace every internal organ in the body! By the time Old Mr. Rosewood learned of this news, Amelia was nowhere to be found. Roxanne returned with her face and clothes stained with blood, crying frantically as she informed the Rosewoods that Amelia had been captured by the criminals while trying to save her.
“While we were desperately searching for Amelia, Roxanne had managed to deceive us and infiltrate our home under the pretense of taking care of me and Mrs. Rosewood. I was truly foolish for not seeing through her disguise…” Old Mr. Rosewood bitterly chuckled. Tears streamed down his sunken cheeks as he recalled the agonizing details. When they finally found Amelia, all that remained of her were scraps of flesh and tissue. Her bones and major organs had mysteriously vanished.
“Since Roxanne was not the one who performed the surgery, she was at most an accomplice to the murder, deceiving Amelia and luring her to the clinic. The courts may not have given her a severe sentence, but we decided that she should pay for her crimes with her life!” Old Mr. Rosewood bellowed, his eyes flashing with furious hatred, before burying his face in his frail hands. “But no matter what we did, Roxanne could not reveal the location of Amelia’s buried bones, as she was not the one who mutilated her…”
Old Mr. Rosewood would have made the same choice if given the chance again. “My greatest regret is not killing Roxanne Larson. It is not teaching my daughter to be cautious of people…” he sobbed miserably.
Everyone listened attentively as Old Mr. Rosewood recounted the details of his daughter’s mysterious death. The atmosphere in the room was somber and heavy, as if they were trapped in a suffocating space. Anthony glanced at Lilly, who held Old Mr. Rosewood’s hand gently, listening to his story without fear or judgment. Anthony wasn’t sure if Lilly fully understood the gravity of the murder incident, or if she should even be exposed to such things at her young age. However, he knew that Lilly was not an ordinary 4-year-old child.
“That means… Roxanne also only discovered where Amelia was buried after she died and became a ghost,” Pablo observed. What about the other 17 skeletons beneath the field?
“Don’t be too upset, Grandpa Rosewood,” Lilly tried to comfort the old man. She moved closer to him and whispered some words in his ear. Old Mr. Rosewood’s expression changed from shock and surprise to joy, and he finally calmed down.
“Great!” he said with a hint of bitterness in his tone. “It’s karma!”
Lilly noticed that the incense candle above his head was about to burn out. “Grandpa Rosewood, is there anything else we can help you with?” she asked.
Old Mr. Rosewood shook his head wearily. “No… There’s nothing else you can do for me. I can be with my wife now. Before she passed away, she reminded me to keep searching for our daughter…” His eyes were heavy, and he struggled to keep them open. “Oh yes, if you could, would you help me find someone?”
“I can try,” Lilly nodded, but Old Mr. Rosewood remained silent. His eyes were already closed, and he had entered eternal slumber. His face appeared peaceful, with a slight smile on his lips.
The room fell into a deathly silence. Valentine’s eyes revealed a complex mix of emotions. When Mrs. Rosewood passed away, it was Mr. Rosewood who took care of her affairs and arranged her funeral. But now, there were no more Rosewoods left. Valentine hesitated for a moment, then sent a text message instructing someone to arrange Mr.
Rosewood’s funeral and cremation.
“Let’s go!” Anthony said, gently taking hold of Lilly’s hand.
“Hold on,” Lilly stopped him. A wandering soul emerged from Old Mr. Rosewood’s lifeless body, staring blankly at its surroundings.
“I… What’s happening…” The ghost of Old Mr. Rosewood wondered aloud.
“Grandpa Rosewood!” Lilly greeted him. “You haven’t told us the favor you wanted to ask!”
The ghost of Old Mr. Rosewood was more responsive and alert than his human form, perhaps because he no longer carried the weight of being alive. It was as if a burden had been lifted from him.
“When I was searching for Amelia’s body over ten years ago, I met an old policeman along the way. He was an undercover spy at the time, and the criminals discovered his true identity. They killed his entire family, except for his grandson. Before he died, he asked me to find and take care of the boy, but I never found him…” Old Mr. Rosewood said with a hint of regret in his voice. “He mentioned that his grandson was around 7 years old back then, so he must be around 25 or 26 now. He was from South City, and his last name was MacNeil. Oh yes, his name was Erick MacNeil…” the ghost recalled.
As for the grandson’s first name, Erick didn’t reveal it to Mr. Rosewood before he died. Mr. Rosewood looked at Lilly in a new light as he shared this story, feeling a connection to the little girl as if they had crossed paths in a previous life.
Lilly mentally noted down the information Mr. Rosewood had given her. 256 years old… Last name MacNeil from South City… Erick MacNeil… South City? That was her hometown too! Lilly thought.
“Got it!” Lilly nodded reassuringly.
Just then, Charlie entered the room once again. “Mr. Crawford, the police have arrived at the crime scene. They’ve started digging up the school field,” Charlie informed.
Upon hearing Charlie’s voice, Lilly turned her head and saw the old lady in the green dress still silently observing her. The old lady smiled at her once again.
“I should go now… While there’s still time, I should go and search for Amelia,” Old Mr. Rosewood said. As if guided by an invisible thread, he somehow knew which way to go. As he passed the old lady in the green dress, he even stopped to say hello. “Mrs. Taylor! Don’t go around scaring young kids looking like that!” he chuckled.
Lilly held Anthony’s hand tightly with her right hand and waved at Old Mr. Rosewood with her left hand. “Goodbye, Grandpa Rosewood! Uncle Anthony, let’s go now. Grandpa Rosewood is gone!”
As Lilly approached the door, Old Mrs. Taylor cleared her throat and followed closely behind Lilly. “Lilly… Lilly…” she called out. “I knew your father…”
Lilly stopped abruptly and turned to face the old lady. “Who was my father?” she demanded to know.
“MacNeil… MacNeil…” the old lady repeated.
“What’s his first name?” Lilly asked, but the old lady only shook her head and continued chanting.
“MacNeil… MacNeil…”
Lilly furrowed her brow, deep in thought, before speaking. “Master, why do they always repeat themselves?” she asked Pablo.
She was reminded of all the other ghosts she had encountered before. Her stepmother used to repeat, “You caused me so much misery… so much misery!”
When the vanity ghost became angry, she repeatedly yelled, “It’s not fair… It’s not fair…!”
Now, the old lady in the green dress couldn’t stop repeating the last name MacNeil.
Pablo consulted his small booklet and spoke while reading. “When a spirit lacks intelligence, it tends to repeat certain words over and over again. After all, once a human being dies, their brain is left behind. Some may have unfocused eyes, and some may drool uncontrollably, but a common characteristic among them is that they will repeat the last thing they encountered before their death…”
Pablo furrowed his brows as he flipped through the booklet for more information. Sweet Pea’s father’s last name is MacNeil, but there is no MacNeil in South City related to her. Finally, he found the name Erick MacNeil in the booklet, as well as Erick’s son, but there was no information about Erick’s grandson. How strange!
Pablo looked curiously at Old Mrs. Taylor as he tried to connect all the dots. The ghost in the vanity… Old Mrs. Taylor… Mr. Rosewood… Mr. Rosewood was looking for a MacNeil, and the old lady just mentioned that Lilly’s father was a MacNeil. Did Old Mrs. Taylor say that because she knew it for a fact, or was she simply repeating after Mr. Rosewood like a robot?
Beside Lilly, Josh whispered to her while cautiously surveying their surroundings. “Lils, have they left yet?” he asked, referring to both Mr. Rosewood and the spirit Lilly saw on their way in.
“Nope, there’s one right next to you,” Lilly replied matter-of-factly. Josh grimaced in fear as Anthony led both of them out of the house.
After Valentine had given instructions on how to handle Mr. Rosewood’s funeral, he turned to Lilly and was startled. He saw the little girl seemingly talking to herself, but he knew that probably wasn’t the case.
Almost as if Lilly could hear his thoughts, she turned around to face Valentine with a peculiar expression. “Mr. Taylor, remember to bring an umbrella when you walk back to your house!” she informed him.
Valentine was confused by her request, but he figured there was no harm in complying. It was just an umbrella, after all. A ghost wouldn’t pop out from it, would it?
He found an unused umbrella and opened it just before he walked back to his own house, completely unaware of the floating spirit that accompanied his umbrella and followed him home. “Ms. Lilly, thank you for all your help! My mother has been unconscious since she slipped and fell one day. After emergency surgery in the ICU, the doctors managed to save her life, but she hasn’t woken up…” he explained.
Pablo wrinkled his nose while reading his booklet. “Old Mrs. Taylor should have passed away properly… How is she still holding on to her last breath? It would be defying death if she woke up,” Pablo remarked in confusion.
As they conversed, Valentine led Lilly and her group into his home, a magnificent three-story bungalow with well-maintained front and back lawns. Valentine guided them upstairs to his mother’s room. As he pushed the door wide open, Anthony and the others were stunned and couldn’t believe what they saw.
The bedroom of the old lady was adorned with numerous talismans of different shapes, sizes, and colors. In the center of the room, there was a large king-sized bed surrounded by various machines that beeped at regular intervals. Old Mrs. Taylor lay unconscious on the bed, dressed in the same green dress as her spirit. Her white hair was neatly combed and tucked, but she had various medical needles and tubes intubated into her. A small gold bar was placed in her mouth, which Valentine explained was an ancient ritual to bring back lost souls who have lost their way home.
On the small bedside table next to the old lady, there was a statue of Mother Mary wrapped in a rosary and a few lit prayer candles. Hanging above the bed headboard was a gaudy spirit-calling banner that occasionally fluttered in the breeze from the open window. The room was not completely dark due to the half-drawn curtains, but the alternating shift from brightness to dimness created a spooky effect. It resembled a scene from a horror movie.
Pablo stared at his surroundings in a dazed manner. He could now somewhat understand why Old Mrs. Taylor was barely holding on.
Josh stood frozen in fear and dread, feeling terror coursing through him. Charlie’s palms became hot and clammy, causing him to accidentally drop his cellphone, which crashed loudly onto the floor.
Anthony managed to maintain some composure as he turned to Valentine. “What is all this?” he asked.
Valentine smiled sheepishly before sighing. “Over the years, I’ve consulted many experts to treat my mother, but they all said that her soul is lost and needs to find its way back home,” he explained.
Pablo frowned. “Lilly, ask him if he knows whether the old lady has already passed away,” he urged.
Lilly looked up at Valentine. “Uncle Val, do you know if Grandma Taylor is already dead?” she asked.
