Sticky Shattered Glass Pieces

Chapter 55: Believe Me Not

"Who do you think came to the house last night?" Rachel asked me curiously.

"I am not sure but she looked exactly like you and that was creepy," I replied to her as I rubbed lotion on my hands.

"Is it a sign for us to ditch the plan to find that mysterious flower or the red diamond?" Rachel was worried.

"I am not giving up, Rach. Suga's life is on the line here," I explained to her.

"Okay, this fear got me to be a little selfish, I am sorry," Rachel apologized unexpectedly.

I looked up at her and smiled softly. I sat on the bed and started applying the lotion to my legs.

"If you don't want to follow me tomorrow to the beach, you can stay back," I looked back at her and smiled at her again. 

"No, I want to follow you to the beach. I want to see what is the next hint you are going to get after this," Rachel chuckled as she tucked herself into bed.

I nodded my head and climbed on the bed beside her. I tucked myself into bed and switched off the bed lamp beside me. I knew that I closed all the windows in the room and hall before heading to bed. I pulled the curtains and made sure the porch lights were switched on too. As time went by that night, we dozed off and the room became silent leaving just the aircon sound radiating the room. 

Suddenly, I woke up feeling cold. I opened my eyes and was taken aback to see the room window widely open. The chill air rushing into the room made the room hard and I noticed Rachel shivering in coldness. So, I quickly walked towards the window and pulled the window to close it. 

All of sudden, I heard Rachel behind me, "Go away! This is not your home!"

I did not know when Rachel sat up on the bed but she gave me chills when she yelled loudly as she pointed at the cupboard in front of the bed. I looked over to the cupboard and saw nothing, so, I rushed over to the light switch and quickly turned it on. Rachel was sitting on the bed still while still pointing at the cupboard. Her eyes were closed and she was grinding her teeth loudly. 

I walked up to her as I gathered all my courage and strength and shook her frantically. I called out her name loudly trying to wake her up but it was all in vain. So, I had to just push her back on the bed so that she could go back to sleep. I tucked her into bed and walked back to turn off the light switch but paused my thoughts to do such. 

When I almost dozed off, I heard someone whisper behind me into my ears, "Gladiolus flower, gladiolus flower, gladiolus flower."

I opened my eyes immediately and looked around the room. Rachel was sleeping peacefully after giving me chills and the windows in the room were closed too. So, where did that voice come from? 

Slowly, the bathroom door behind me creaked open creepily. I turned my head slowly and looked into the bathroom from the bed. The bathroom was dark and I did not see anything. I knew I was afraid as I was sweating and my heartbeat was beating fast in my chest. I did not know what to do, so, I sat on the bed just staring at the bathroom. My whole body felt as if it was paralyzed and I couldn't even reach out to Rachel who was sleeping beside me.  

I tried hard to move my first toe so that I would wake up from my nightmare. My hands were numb and I could not feel them anymore. Somehow, I managed to move my first toe and my body was released from being paralyzed. I fell from the bed being relieved but Rachel did not notice me on the floor. 

She was sleeping on the bed soundly when I fell to the floor hard. My legs were pricking with needles and I could not feel any sensation on my legs. I sat against the wall opposite my bed awhile waiting for the sensation to come back and for the pain to be gone from my legs. Then I remembered the voice telling me about a flower. Gladiolus flower. 

I managed to stand on my feet again and quickly grabbed my phone from the nightstand. I swiftly Googled the flower and one result from Google startled me. The flower is said to be cursed for generations. It is said that the flower brings bad luck and would worsen if have it with you. Experts say the flower can whisper in your sleep and make your whole body paralyzed while sleeping. 

"So, the flower is speaking to me?" I murmured under my breath slowly as I scrolled through the page online. 

"What flower?" Rachel yawned as she stretched her arms widely on the bed. 

I looked up and quickly snuck in on the bed with her as I showed her what I looked up online. She took my phone and started reading the article carefully. Her expressions did not change a little reading the article on the phone which made me a little curious. Isn't she curious as me about this flower?  

"So, what do you think?" I asked Rachel as she handed me back my phone.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked me back casually.

"Don't you think this flower may have caused us this situation now?" I stated the facts to Rachel in a severe tone. 

"It is just a harmless flower. How can you assume that this flower was the cause for us to be in this situation?" Rachel chuckled at me mockingly.

I sighed in disbelief and said, "Rachel, I heard a voice whisper in my ears telling me to find this flower."

"I know how it can be stressful for you to lose a loved one. You just need some sleep," Rachel shook her head and chuckled again.

"Why do you say so, Rachel?" I sneered at her angrily.

"Because you are hallucinating and hearing voices that aren't there!" Rachel looked at me in the eye. 

"Rachel! I am not crazy. I was sleep paralyzed just a while ago and I fell after I managed to get myself back," I tried to explain to Rachel what happened to me earlier. 

"I am not saying that you are crazy. I am just saying you are not in a good place now. You need to rest a little longer and I will take care for the rest of the day," Rachel's voice suddenly turned scary and stiff. 

"Why don't you believe me, Rachel? The flower is making us misunderstand each other. Don't you see that?" I again blamed the flower for us to misunderstand each other.

"If you are not going to take a break from blaming everyone and everything around you for what is happening, I may have to leave you alone," Rachel looked back at me with a smirk on her face. 

"I think you better do that before I bite your head off, Rachel," I sneered back at Rachel furiously.