Blood And Roses

Chapter Two: The Petals

TW: Discussion of vomiting, discussion of blood
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The first time it happened, it was on Friday, at 2:45 a.m.

Tia was fast asleep when she woke up in the middle of the night, and she felt a burning sensation in her throat. Not so bad as to be obvious at first, just a bit of an ache.

However, as she tried to sleep it off, it became more and more apparent. She tossed and turned, trying to ignore it, just as she tried to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. But before long she jumped out of bed, her throat aching intensely.

She bolted downstairs to the kitchen sink, hunching over and gagging on her own breath. She coughed and heaved for a few minutes, but then the burning subsided, enough for it to be somewhat bearable for the night, so Tia could finally go back to sleep. But something was amiss.

She couldn't tell what, but she felt something, a herb-like taste in her mouth. Like a leaf or a petal. Something plant like. She didn't know what it was, but she assumed it was just from something she had eaten earlier. At least, that's what she hoped it was.

She decided that some water would help the pain subside, she hoped it would anyways. The burning was such a strange feeling and she didn't like it one bit. She tried to sleep it off, this time being just a little bit more successful with the help of the water.

This should've been the first sign that things were getting bad. The warning signs were all there, and Tia didn't have a logical explanation as to why her throat would suddenly start to burn, and that terrified her beyond comprehension. She tried staying calm and thinking rationally, but it was hard.

Could she maybe have caught a cold? That wouldn't explain why she felt like she was going to throw up. And why it felt like something was growing inside her, like a vine. Several vines. Long vines with thorns decorating every side of them. It didn't make any sense.

She knew she should've went to the doctor, but she was never a fan of E.R. visits, and she had things to do, her friends were counting on her, she couldn't let them down, not today at least. She had work, things to do, and a date with Aurora.

Tia had never been one to put herself before her friends. She was like that by nature, she always wanted to make sure her friends were okay before worrying about herself, a trait she developed by watching her best friend, Veronica. The two weren't great at putting themselves before others.

Tia should've listened to her instincts. Her intuition was hardly ever wrong, and she knew she should've listened, but she was stubborn, she didn't want to put herself first. She felt like she didn't need to worry, everything would be fine, right? Tia was convinced that it was nothing serious.

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The second time it happened, it was exactly a week after the first time, at exactly the same time.

It was Veronica's birthday, and the whole friend group had been invited by Veronica's older sibling Fantasy to help throw a party for Veronica. Of course, Tia was the first to be asked, and obviously agreed.

Veronica had never been one to celebrate her birthday, because most of the time, her friends weren't around to celebrate with her. Fantasy knew that, and yet, they were somehow able to get all Veronica's friends together on her birthday, and it was surprisingly much easier than they had expected.

Veronica was often described as the mom of the group. She took care of everyone and looked after them no matter what. Everyone always admired that about Veronica, and Tia had started to mimic those traits, because she admired it so much. The group all wanted to show Veronica how much they loved her.