Masked Roses

Chapter Ten

Laying in the living room, I stared at the ceiling as blurry objects clouded my vision. Tear drops, squares, and even petals that turned into flowers. A few of them dispersed like ripples in water, making the area fuzzy and wavy before it disappeared completely. Closing my eyes slowly, I tried to settle my mind as I soon felt a hand grab my ankle, making my eyes fly open and make me sit up. I saw Jack sitting there as he lifted up my ankle and held it there while moving the other so he could sit down. The remote was on the other armrest, right next to him, and he picked it up while letting my feet fall back onto his lap.

Giving him a bored look, I sighed and laid back down before speaking up. "You could've just told me to get up. I wouldn't have cared." I said and I heard his arms rub against the back of the couch as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Eh. I just thought you wanted to be left alone and didn't want to get up because I wanted to sit down." He stated simply as he turned the TV on. I rolled my one eye as I turned my head to the side to look at the screen, seeing a man laughing with a woman as they read off some funny stories. I listened to the stories, finding them to be actually completely ridiculous. How did they find them funny?

I glared at the TV as I folded my hands on my stomach, watching the screen in silence. When the door from the kitchen opened, I sat up slightly and saw BEN standing there. He glanced at me and then Jack before closing the kitchen door behind him and walking over to the recliner closest to me. I laid back down on the couch and focused on the TV, glancing at BEN as he sat down with a huff. I could hear him mumbling something, but it was hard to hear over the TV. I closed my eyes slowly when a loud thump and a kick on the front door made me jump up and towards Jack.

He grunted as I wrapped my arms around him tightly, looking around frantically for anything as the room went deathly silent. There was silence for a few moments before another kick at the front door caught everyone's attention. Jack stayed still as I slowly felt his own arms wrap around me, but I barely noticed as something kicked at the door a third time, bursting open to reveal Jeff as he breathed heavily.

His face was splattered with blood, the crimson drops decorating more of his hoodie. He stared at the three of us as we stared wide eyed at him. He raised a confused brow before shaking his head, grumbling as he walked out of the room. I was confused, but didn't question it. Letting go of Jack, I went to pull away and lay back down, but I was tugged back, his arms keeping me close to him as I heard him take in a deep breath through his nose.

I froze up and glanced up at him in silent question. "What are you doing..."

He stayed quiet, leaning close to my ear, "Are roses going to be your natural scent from now on?" His voice had a hint of a growl and I scurried away when his grip loosened, my eye staring at him with my brows raised.

"You were smelling my hair...?" I questioned.

"Well, you were so close it was hard not to." He shrugged and turned back to the TV. I blinked a few times before sighing and getting up to walk into the kitchen, hoping that there was some snack I could have before dinner. Looking at my watch, I saw it was just an hour before dinner, the watch's hands pointing to display it was six eleven in the evening.

Opening the cabinet, I grabbed a mini bag of salty chips and tore it open carefully, walking to the table to sit down as I thought to myself and ate the chips. A whisper in my ear made me turn, finding nothing but an empty room. I furrowed my eyebrows and turned back to stare down at the table when a hand brushed my cheek, a crazed giggle hitting my eardrum as I heard fingers tap against the table impatiently.

"Well, aren't you looking better than ever." It cooed and I glanced at them for a second, practically seeing a reflection of my current self. Everything matched besides the look in their singular eye. Their one pupil was still small like a period on a piece of paper. Their outfit matching mine consisted of dark green leggings with a sweater fading from pastel green to white around the neck. Their shoes were a soft gray, but speckled with mud and blood and I would've gagged if there were more of the crimson stains, but there weren't.

Their cold fingers brushed some of my hair out of the way, but it fell back in front of my eye as I looked at them from my peripheral vision. They gave a toothy smirk, revealing sharp teeth this time. "I bet you're jealous of everyone here, huh? They all look so much more terrifying than you...But don't worry. As the faceless man and masked one said. This territory is taking its toll on you. Your whole body is undergoing changes. When will they stop? I don't even know." They let out a small fit of giggles before bursting into laughter as they sat in the chair.

A hand grabbing my shoulder and squeezing firmly broke my thoughts and they disappeared into thin air. Turning my head, I saw Toby standing there, his brows furrowed as he gave me a bit of a worried look. "Yo-ou alright, S-Serene?" He asked.

At the mention of my name, 'Serene', I narrowed my one eye. "Scarlet..."

"Huh?"

"I'm not Serene anymore...I'm not human." I turned to my empty bag of chips and leaned back in my chair. He stood there silently before pulling out a chair next to me and sitting down. He put his hand back on my shoulder as he sighed into the silence.

"S-Sorry...B-But are y-you o-okay? Y-You were st-staring at s-someth-thing." He stuttered and stammered, tripping over his words multiple times as he twitched. I wondered if he was actually crazy or if he had that tick disorder. I couldn't remember what it was called. Crushing the bag of chips in my hands, I sighed.

"I've been limiting myself with my medication...On those days I don't take it, I'll see things that aren't actually there. Hear things...The whole deal. It wasn't this bad before, and I was going to get a stronger dosage with the approval of my doctor, but...I was brought here before any of that could happen." I sighed and folded my arms on the table. Toby nodded and stared at the table, letting out a hum in thought.

"W-Well I'm a-always-s he-re if you nee-ed someone to t-talk to. J-Just sh-share bu-burdens and y-your hall-uci-cinati-tions." He offered with a pat of my shoulder. I glanced at him with a small, tight lipped smile and the corners of his mouthguard turned upwards with his smile behind it. Standing up from his chair, he walked away and out of the kitchen down the hall. I sighed and got up, throwing away my trash before walking to my room to pass the time with a book.