V: Rose

I had dinner with my parents yesterday. Things went quite well at first. However, one thing they said was... striking, to say the least. They mentioned how sad they were that someone named Rose was missing. They seemed to be deeply tired, in the way of grief that has long since transitioned from sadness to exhaustion.

I wasn't certain who Rose was, but I had my suspicions. They were confirmed when my mother mentioned that she was my sister.

My first instinct was to doubt their sanity. Of course, when I remember that... encounter I had, I'm forced to consider the possibility that perhaps my own sanity is what is lacking. Either way, my concern over what my parents said was plain. Fortunately, I managed to use it to my advantage, explaining that I was just worried about Rose's health. I think they bought it.

I fear Rose, not something as simple and mundane as a song or a book, was the thing that was taken from me. That my sister was taken away by the pale woman and that I alone had my memory of her erased.

But it has been a year since I met the pale woman. Surely I would have been reminded of her by now, somehow or another. If my parents still remember her, wouldn't they have mentioned it before now? Or have I remembered her again and again, but had her memory taken anew each time?

I do not know. I can only hope I am wrong.