Disappearing Rose

Who am I?

I woke up from a car accident with amnesia and a man showed up claiming to be my fiancé.

He said,my best friend Rose has been missing for a year.

He said,Rose tried to kill me.

But I saw in my dream that I was the one who killed Rose.

1

I stood in the dark forest,surrounded by a gusty wind,as if it were a ghostly whistling.

In front of me was a mutilated body,open and bloody.

I subconsciously wanted to scream,and when I looked down,I realized that I was holding a knife in my hand.

Blood dripped from the tip of the knife,staining my shoes red.

Through the bleak and pale moonlight,I finally saw the face of the corpse.

--It was my best friend Rose.

I finally let out a scream.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I opened my eyes violently,and what came into my eyes was a ghastly white ceiling.

A smell of disinfectant came from the white walls,bottles and gowns......

Intuition told me that this was a hospital.

There was a young man standing at the door of the ward.

He was handsome and distinguished,and he was holding a bouquet of delicate roses in his arms.

I froze,“Who are you?”

He frowned,“I'm your fiancé,Jack.”

I wasn't convinced,“Don't be ridiculous.”

Yet this man told me seriously that we met on a trip to Mt.Fuji a year ago.

My name is Rachel and I'm a traveler.

During my four years of college,my best friend Rose and I have traveled to quite a few places around the United States together.

And a year ago,we did plan a trip to Mt.Fuji.

Could it be that I met Jack on that trip,but what about Rose?

However,Jack told me that Rose had been missing for a year.

I subconsciously asked,“How did she disappear?”

Jack shook his head,“I met you after she disappeared,I haven't met her,but you told me that you were traveling to Mt.Fuji together and she tried to kill you......”

“And then she disappeared.”

2

I blurted out,“That's impossible!”

Rose and I were best friends,how could she kill me?

I looked at Jack skeptically,but suddenly I realized that he looked a lot like the senior I had a crush on in my freshman year of college.

I had a crush on a senior majoring in the same field,and I had the courage to confess my love,but unfortunately,he rejected me.

But I have to admit,Jack is my type of guy.

“You just woke up,you need to rest,don't think about things you can't remember,let's wait until you are discharged from the hospital.”

Jack poured a glass of water for me,his movements and tone were gentle.

But there were more important things at the moment,after I got my cell phone from Jack,I immediately called Rose several times.

However there was no answer.

I tried another call to Rose's mother.

However,Rose's mother's reaction was greatly unexpected.

Her tone was cold and she seemed to have no concern for Rose's whereabouts.

Rose was very young,her parents divorced,although she followed her mother,but her mother soon remarried and had a child,she and her mother's relationship is very general,in front of me,she seldom mentioned their own family matters.

But this excessively cold attitude of Rose's mother is still too strange.

Without waiting for me to pursue the question,Rose's mother hung up the phone decisively.

I had to open my college friends group in Facebook to try to find out any clues.

Everyone had their own new lives,and very few people talked in the group anymore.

I scrolled up and turned to a missing person's notice I had posted myself.

When I found out that Rose was missing,at first my classmates were very enthusiastic to help forward it,but gradually,only a few of them would occasionally pop up to sigh and lament.

From the missing person notice,I found out that Rose disappeared right after the trip to Mount Fuji a year ago.

Just then,Jack came over with a plate of washed fruits.

I casually scanned it and found that they were all my favorite fruits.

But for some reason,I had no appetite.

What was the matter with Rose's disappearance?And what about her trying to kill me?

In a flash,the dream from before reappeared in front of my eyes,the forest in the dark night,the mutilated corpses,the blood-stained knives......

I suddenly had a heart palpitation and chills surged to my heart,so I spoke,“After I get out of the hospital,I want to go find Rose.”

Jack put down the fruit plate,“I'll accompany you to look for her.”

“No matter where she is in America,I will find her......accompany you.”

His tone was so gentle it was almost eerie.

The next whole day,Jack was busy in front of my hospital bed,gentle and considerate,can be called a model boyfriend.

If it wasn't for the fact that I wasn't a rich girl and my family didn't have a huge fortune,I would have suspected that Jack had ulterior motives.

3

A week later,I was discharged from the hospital.

During this time I tried hard to get my memories of the year back,but failed.

Jack brought me back to my house,took out a stack of Polaroid photos and handed them to me.

“These are pictures taken after we met,so you can see if you can remember anything.”

I took it and found that most of them were pictures Jack and I had taken while traveling.

Over the past year,Jack seemed to be gradually taking Rose's place by my side.

The more I looked at them,the harder it was for me to feel like I was forgetting something really important.

“I want to go to Mt.Fuji now,I must find Rose!”

I was expecting Jack to stop,but I didn't realize that Jack instantly grabbed his phone and booked a flight.

The next day,we arrived at the airport near Mount Fuji.

When we got off the plane,I couldn't help but look at this completely new city and couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

“How's it going?Can you remember anything?”Jack said with concern.

I shook my head.

“No need to rush,take your time.”

Jack had booked a mountain bed and breakfast near Mount Fuji.

According to him,that mountain B&B is where we first met.

When we checked in,the receptionist asked us to sign,but just as I picked up the pen,I realized it was out of water.

Jack took out a rose-red fountain pen and handed it to me.

I froze for a second.

There was a rose carved on the top of that fountain pen,and the body of the pen was engraved with a line of English--“ROSE”.

This was Rose's fountain pen,a birthday gift I customized for Rose two years ago.

Unique,only one in the world.

I froze in my tracks and quickly asked,“How did you get this pen?”

Jack looked at me fixedly,a strange light flickering in his eyes.

He seemed to be sizing me up,testing me,trying to find out something from my reaction.

While I was suspicious,he claimed that he had been here on a business trip a month ago,when he met a woman in the neighborhood.

He had borrowed a fountain pen from the woman in an emergency,and then he wanted to return the pen but couldn't find anyone.

I immediately became excited:“This is Rose's pen!That woman must be Rose!

However,when I asked the receptionist,she denied that there was no such person.

Jack blandly said,“Then maybe I remembered it wrong,”but I was a bit skeptical.

I was a bit skeptical.

Unfortunately,the security cameras at the front desk of the B&B have probably been overwritten long ago,so there is no way to check the security cameras.

But this mountain B&B did give me a sense of déjàvu.

I knew that I must have been here before.

After checking in and officially entering the mountain B&B,I don't know why,but I suddenly began to feel uncomfortable all over.

Whether physically or mentally,there was an extreme sense of depression and fear.

Even the ceiling seemed to be pressing down towards me,and the watermelon red color that should have been small and fresh became bloody,just like blood.

The scene from the dream swept before my eyes once again,and between the heavens and the earth,I even hallucinated Rose standing right where Jack stood now,smiling at me in greeting.

They looked exactly the same,even the corners of their mouths curved up in a similar way when they smiled.

I gasped for air for a moment,almost suffocating,“I'm suddenly a little sick,I don't want to go in there!”

“I'm so sick,I want to throw up......”

I was in a whirlwind.

At this moment,all I wanted was to get out of here.

Run far away and never come back.

4

Jack hugged the shaky me,“It's okay,it's okay......”

“You should just be too tired from the airplane ride,it's okay,just sleep,you'll be fine when you get up tomorrow.”

Luckily,with Jack's gentle comfort,I reluctantly decided to stay on.

However the room we checked into made it even harder for me.

Everything in the room gave me a sense of déjàvu,it seemed like I had been here before,but that shouldn't be a fond memory.

Because I started to get dizzy and cold sweat.

Jack watched a comedy movie with me all night to comfort me.

It was almost dawn when I finally fell asleep.

Then I had a nightmare.

In the dream,Rose and I had a violent argument.

Soon,the scene jumped to a corpse covered in blood.

The corpse's face was blurred and dripping with blood.

Just then,Rose's corpse suddenly came to life,and with her face covered in blood and her face hideous,she lunged at me violently.

I was so scared that I raised my knife and swung it at her,and when the knife went down,blood and flesh flew.

A knife and a knife and a knife......

Her spiteful eyes looked straight at me and slowly shed a line of bloody tears.

The dream ended with me standing in front of a mirror.

The face in the mirror was expressionless,and I was holding a knife with blood in my hand.

After waking up,I broke out in a cold sweat.

I remembered the fruit knife in my dream,Rose gave me a fruit knife before she disappeared,saying that it was made of special material and was incredibly sharp,and could cut fruits as well as defend myself.

I immediately had a bad suspicion and immediately picked up my cell phone,wanting to check if there had been any murders in this B&B.

However my search was not fruitful.

Not only had there not been any murders at this B&B,but instead there were rumors of seriously ill people who had miraculously gotten better after staying there,and the B&B had previously used this as a selling point to make a big deal out of it.

I've always been a half-believer in such rumors,but I don't know why,but at this moment,my first reaction was--ridiculous and laughable.

It was at this point that Jack wanted to take me on a walk to nearby attractions to help jog my memory.

Jack told me,“There is a wishing well in the hills around the B&B that is said to be very spiritual,and it is said that if you make a wish,your heart will come true,but only the owner of the B&B knows where that well is.”

I laughed at this:“It's just commercial hype for the B&B.”

I don't know why,but I was hostile to the rumored wishing well,and deep down I was even a little afraid of it.

I don't know why,but I always felt that Jack was testing me.

He had been watching my expression and reaction.

I suspected that I was being paranoid.

On the next journey,we didn't find the well.

Jack seemed to be a bit disappointed,but deep down I was vaguely relieved.

I didn't really want to see the well.

When we got back to the B&B,I had another nightmare that night.

Once again,I dreamt of Rose and the corpse,and the bloody fruit knife.

But this time,I also dreamed of an eerie well.

I dreamt that I pushed a corpse into the well.

5

After waking up from the nightmare again,I couldn't help but doubt myself.

I began to suspect that I had accidentally killed Rose.

I looked at the sleeping Jack on the other bed and subconsciously flipped up the photos and videos Jack had shown me earlier,trying to activate the lost memories.

Just then,I suddenly realized that one of the photos was a bit strange.

It was a photo of Jack and I when we first met a year ago,with this B&B in the background.

Something suddenly flickered.

I remembered in a trance that the person I took the picture with at that time was not Jack,but someone else.

So I immediately found a photography professional friend of mine and contacted her overnight.

After she identified the photo,there were PS traces.

I instantly got goosebumps,it was just a group photo,why would Jack do that?

Is he lying to me?

Is it possible that he does have other plans for me?

So I took advantage of Jack's sleep,and quickly looked through his cell phone.

But there were no suspicious messages on his phone.

Until I found out that he followed an extremely niche forum,which was full of stuff about psychological suggestion and spiritual implication.

Along the way,I was shocked to find that all those daily videos and travel videos Jack gave me were interspersed with one or two frames of gory images from horror movies.

The duration of these images is less than 0.01 seconds,which is invisible to the naked eye,but can be captured by the brain.

After receiving a strong psychological cue,the person receiving the cue will start to have nightmares.

No wonder I started having nightmares every night after I stayed at this B&B......

I instantly got a chill down my back and shuddered.

I suspected that Jack was up to no good and had a plan.

I was suspicious and suspicious of him in every way,like a conspiracy theorist.

He cared so much about Rose that it was hard not to suspect that he had something to do with her disappearance,and I even suspected that he had killed Rose to get her pen.

But if that was the case,what exactly was the purpose of his approaching me?

So in the next few days,I began to accompany Jack to act to find memories while quietly investigating Jack behind his back.

According to Jack,he returned from abroad a year ago,working as a barista,and met me on a trip.

I originally suspected that Jack had lied to me,but after investigating,I realized that what Jack said was basically true.

However,the time we met was not a year ago,but half a year ago.

Jack only appeared in my life half a year ago,it should be unlikely that he would have any connection with Rose who disappeared a year ago......

Yet I still hadn't discounted my suspicions about Jack.

I just didn't know what he was trying to do and what the purpose of those videos was,simply to scare me?

I didn't take any action next and continued to wait for my chance.

The trip was soon over,yet my memories still hadn't returned.

6

When I got home,I searched the whole house,but I didn't find the fruit knife.

I had chills all over my body and I even felt like throwing up.

I opened my computer to see if there were any clues.

However,I found nothing,but from the computer browsing traces,I realized that I had become a big fan of a food anchor over the past year.

Not only did I tune in every day to watch that food anchor's live broadcast,I also rewarded the anchor with a lot of money every month.

I thought it was unbelievable because I didn't used to like watching these.

I subconsciously googled the food anchor,only to find that there were some strange rumors about this food anchor.

There had been viewers who suspected that this food anchor had been kidnapped and that every time she ate podcasts,she was guided and forced to do so.

Because this anchor has been wearing a mask that only reveals his mouth live,and never speak.

However,the anchor himself has denied this rumor,more people think that this is just the anchor in order to become popular malicious hype,and then nothing.

I was puzzled and watched back some of the recordings,but suddenly realized that some of the anchor's small movements were very much like Rose's.When Rose eats,she has a habit of eating.

When Rose eats,she is used to chewing slowly,she has to chew at least thirty times every time,because she has a small throat and it's hard for her to swallow big chunks of food.

I once joked with Rose that she would not be able to be a food anchor in the future,because food anchors eat very fast,and no one has the patience to watch her eat slowly for half a day.

In addition,Rose is used to chewing with her right half of her teeth,because her left teeth are not good enough to bite hard food.

And this anchorman,he's got it all together.

Could it be that this faceless food anchor is the Rose who disappeared a year ago?

I instantly got goosebumps.

But I quickly dispelled that suspicion.

Even the amnesiac me had discovered this matter,how could the pre-amnesiac me not realize it?

If this anchor was really Rose,how could the pre-amnesia me not do anything?

I didn't call the police,nor did I try to contact this anchor,just like a real viewer,with no other actions other than watching the live broadcast and rewarding.

I think,I might just be looking for Rose's shadow from this anchor.

7

On the other hand,Jack would still come to my house every day to look for memories of the past year with me.

He always behaved gently and considerately,which was impeccable.

He seemed to really want to help me retrieve my memories,no matter what,at least in this case,he was sincere.

But suddenly,I realized something that creeped me out.

I was a little surprised when I realized that Jack wrote with his left hand,“Aren't you right-handed?”

Jack laughed and said,“I was left-handed when I was a kid,then my parents corrected it,but now I can use both hands.”

I was instantly reminded of Rose,who was also an acquired righty,and according to her,she was left-handed as a child.

I thought it was just a coincidence at first,until I realized later that Jack's handwriting resembled Rose's.

Rose practiced her handwriting when she was a child,but not with a regular handwriting book,but taught by her dad,who was a college professor and taught her to write in a nice and special way.

And Jack's handwriting is almost exactly the same as Rose.

Besides,Jack has some behavioral habits that resemble Rose.

Are these all coincidences?

I even suspected that I had the delusion that the whole world looked like Rose.

Until I accidentally realized that Jack knew something that only Rose and I knew.

I usually don't make a point of calculating my physiological period,and I was lying on the couch listlessly when Jack suddenly came over and not only brought me a dessert cake,but also bought me ibuprofen.

Not only did he know that I wanted to eat sweets the most during my physiological period,but he also knew that I would have menstrual cramps,and he even calculated my physiological cycle.

My physiological cycle is different from ordinary girls,it only comes once every two months.

And these were things that only Rose had done for me before.

Just when I was in a bit of a trance from shock,Jack poured a cup of hot water for me,“Take the ibuprofen,in case you pass out from the pain again.”

The only time in my life that I passed out from pain was the first time I had my period,because I felt too ashamed,and I only told Rose about it,even my mom didn't know about it.

I was suddenly a little creeped out.

After Jack left,I went through Jack's social networking accounts,one by one,and finally found a coworker from his coffee shop.

This coworker seemed to be on good terms with Jack,and I found the personal information sheet that was posted when he and Jack donated blood together.

I was shocked to find that Jack's blood type,zodiac sign,and even date of birth were exactly the same as Rose's.How could these be just coincidences?

How could these be just coincidences?