Wilted

Nature

     "I've never seen the inside of your place before." Pelle croaked, his voice was hardly the same, sounding a bit like he'd been gargling with shredded paper and staples.
"Huh, Yeah, I guess not." Jørn had to help him up the stairs, carrying what little things Pelle had with him, barely enough to fit in a suitcase. "It's nothing to get all hyped up about, but it's better than what you were in before."
Pelle kept quiet, his mind on a different plane, and his cold eyes staring through nothing. It was hardly different than how he normally was, but something about it unsettled Jørn to his core. He was close with him, sure, When it came to Pelle, he would fight a minotaur (or an angry Øystein) for him, but he'd never had to live with Pelle.
      The little room was tucked away, almost hidden from the rest of the living area. In a way, it was almost perfect. The stark white walls lacked much life, save for one window on the back wall, letting a few sunbeams spill through cheap plastic blinds, being wasted on sad, beige carpet.
"We'll set you up a cot, It'll work out fine…" Jørn sighed, turning behind him to get an answer from the blonde, only being met with familiar white drywall, "Oh Goddamn it!"
     The front door was left swung wide open, as Pelle often did when he started wandering. It made sense in a way, nobody could keep the blonde in one spot for long, especially when there was a forest to explore, or a pond to gaze in.
"Pelle?! Pelle goddamn it, can you just-" Jørn trailed off, spotting his friend knelt next to one of the bushes, his hands full of different colored flower bits of various sizes. "What the hell are you doing?"
Pelle said nothing, only responding in a shrug and a weak smile.

      "Orchid?" Linnea's voice cut the silence, making the other girl shoot up from her stationary yet again, "You got a letter, looks official." A certain creeping feeling crawled up Linnea's spine as she handed her friend the mail. An envelope that looked like that meant no good news, usually…
"Mail? I don't think I was…" Orchid's mouth hung open as she stared at the words held within, her hands beginning to shake, no expression left on her pale face.

'We regret to inform the next of kin, Mildred Erickson was found Dead at 89, Cause of death…'

     There should have been tears.
Orchid knew there should have been tears spilling from her eyes, painful sobs and everything that came with grief.
But there wasn't.
There wasn't anything.

     "I can't do this anymore, Linnea…" Orchid said flatly, no emotion to her voice anymore.
"What are you talking about?"
"She's dead. The only one in my family who ever loved me is dead. Everything and everyone I love is leaving me, I can't do it."
Linnea placed a hand over her mouth, for once, truly speechless.
"I'm leaving."
"You can't! We were supposed to sign up for spring classes! You have to-"
Linnea was cut short by the slam of a door, and the sound of footsteps almost running down the hall.

      Linnea always knew that wherever Orchid went, Death followed. You can't carry around dead animals and shards of vivianite without inviting something dark in its wake, like a dark, malingering shadow. It didn't seem fair, she thought, as She was nothing but kind, at least to her.
     Hell, Orchid always knew that she was cursed, magic or no magic, and as she sat in the forest just outside the college, breathing in the smell of fresh earth and blooming flowers, she couldn't help but feel a presence.
      "This seat taken?" The familiar voice of a woman sliced through her like a knife, piercing the silence. Orchid looked up, a shot of burning panic engulfing her.
"Emma? Emma! Please, I don't know anything about Varg, or Kristian, or Øystein! I don't know anything, please leave me be!" Orchid yelled in a mix of fear and anger, still not able to find the tears to cry, though there was more than enough volume.
"Woah woah woah, calm your ass." The other girl sat down, shockingly calm, "I promise I'm not gonna kill you…" her words sounded genuine, much to Orchid's surprise.
"Oh. Why?" At this point she might have welcomed it.
"...You didn't have anything to do with it. Varg lied, big shock, I shouldn't have beat your ass. I should have beat Rebekah's though."
"I don't know who that is, and you took out one of my teeth, you can fuck off." Orchid's words came out more blunt than she would have liked, given the circumstances.
"Damn, didn't you grow some balls?" Emma was almost disappointed by her reaction, though it stung, she couldn't say she didn't deserve it, "I'm almost impressed, you barely fought back before."
"I guess so."

(A/N: To anyone still reading, just know how much I appreciate you.
The show must go on.
Rest in Peace, Dead )