𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒

Rufus Comis

Days later.

"So what's the deal with your hair color?" Monica snapped Regan out of her thoughts. They were eating breakfast outside in the garden. She wasn't going to school that day. Monica told her to take a day off because she believed that Regan didn't look alright.

And yes, she wasn't.

"Huh?"

"I was talking about your hair, it has so many red strands. Why don't you tell me you dyed it?" Monica asked confused. If Regan hadn't noticed her hair, then her aunt did. And it was strange.

Regan's hair had gotten redder over the week. She had no explanation about it, just like there was no explanation about the weird things going around in her house.

Vesper told her that it could have been from sun rays or some hair dye, but it didn't make sense. The red strands seemed to grow from the root of her hair. And it was noticeable. Others could tell that she had dyed her hair red, when she didn't.

However, as mentioned before, she didn't really think a lot about it. Her mind was occupied only with the unsettling thoughts of the weirdness of her house and the unnerving man of her dreams.

She wondered if he was real and if the unknown place with roses in her dream was so. Apart from curiosity, she didn't know why she wondered. She'd never like them to be real. But at the same time, he felt strangely familiar as if she had always known him.

She had gotten even more paranoid and anxious and Monica had noticed it. But she didn't know what was going on. She didn't see anything wrong with their house.

But Regan did.

The mocking, taunting voice rang in her mind. She felt exposed even through the walls of her house. The furnitures behaved weirdly as well. The doors would slam shut on their own and lights would work their own on and off cycle, of course, when Monica wasn't around.

As for these damn red roses that she had been terrified from, well, they didn't leave her alone. They kept her at company every morning, and it had been a taunt, a reminder that someone sneaked in her room. She had to tell someone, but she didn't want to worry her aunt.

But right now, she was even more frustrated that her aunt didn't believe her hair changing color itself.

"Aunt, I'm telling you, I didn't dye it. I have no idea what's going on."

"But this needs to have an explanation, right? Just tell me dear, what's going on?" she said after letting out a long tired sigh. Monica had been trying to get Regan to say something. Even though she wouldn't believe what Regan said. It simply seemed illogical and ridiculous.

Before, Regan could easily fool around pretending like she was okay and now, when she thought about it, she really was slightly better before. At least she didn't have ridiculous dreams with fire and a prepossessing guy, telling her that he wanted her soul. She also wouldn't hear voices and feel watched and followed.

Either he was the source of the problem, or the house. Or these were both linked. Regan couldn't come up with a right assumption. But she knew he was rambling in her mind.

She overtried to give something logical about it, but nothing made sense anymore. That way, she reasoned that this thing was entirely abnormal and supernatural.

What's made her even madder inside was that her aunt didn't notice anything strange in their house. Monica never complained about the house and told Regan that she was the one who was exaggerating.

"The neighborhood and the house are safe, so, no need to worry." That was all Monica would say.

"Then we should ask a doctor about why your hair's color is changing," Monica said, standing up.