Faking Sanity

Blood Blossom (Ch. 3)

        "Who...who are you?!" I was now shouting. Again, that girl standing in roses ignored me, I had called out to her several times with no reply. There was no wind, no rustling of roses, the girl didn't move. Gritting my teeth I stepped forward, the pain spreading quickly as the thorns pierced my bare feet. Moaning at the pain I took my other foot and stepped forward, blood trickling onto the rosebuds. A grotesque gurgling as if something was drinking came from beneath me as the rosebuds twitched. Stumbling backwards I landed on my back, the roses had begun to twist and squirm. About six of them twirled and spread their petals, displaying the blood-red leaflets. I sat back in horror, It's as if they're drinking my blood. A chill rattled my bones as familiar giggle filled the air. It started quiet, the girl moving for the first time as her body swayed with laughter. Then the sound grew, echoing off invisible walls and tugging at my soul. Her body rocked back and forth, causing the long dark hair to sway rhythmically. She spun around on one heel, taking a step towards me. I heard the roses twitch as the cuts on her foot deepened. Ten roses total have now blossomed. That leaves ten buds. Leaning over, her hair fell around her, tickling my cheek. I could see her whole face now. Smooth pale skin with blood-red lips and a small nose. Her eyes were wide, long eyelashes emphasized her deep pupils and hazel irises. The bright hazel eyes were speckled with orange and...red? It's difficult to describe. I have never seen eyes this color...or is it that I've never even seen this color? Could a color that mesmerizes and terrifies like this truly exist in reality? Her smiled vanished and shifted into a frown. 

       "Sage." She said in a monotone voice as if disappointed. "How could you forget me so easily?" I woke up in a cold sweat. I quickly ripped off the covers feeling my feet sting. Horrified I gaped at my bare feet that were covered in cuts and bleeding onto my sheets. I let out a startled cry when I noticed something else, a thorn. A green thorn lodged in my left foot, just under my heel. My door flew open as Dad ran in, no doubt I had woken him with my shout. 

       "Sage! What's wrong?!?" He looked around the room, I pushed the blankets over my feet and laid back down.

       "Just a dream...sorry." I looked down, hoping he wouldn't notice the blood that had started seeping through my blanket. 

       "Alright. Go to sleep." Dad yawned as he walked out, closing the door behind him softly. A large sigh escaped my lips, I lifted the blankets and stared at the bloody sheets. Nausea bubbled up inside me as I realized how much blood I was actually losing. Wrapping the already bloodied sheets around my feet I limped to the bathroom. I grabbed the box of bandages and locked the door. I sat on the edge of the bathtub and placed my feet inside it as I unwrapped them. Turning on the shower I carefully caressed my aching feet. After washing them I tuned off the water and carefully dried, and wrapped, all my cuts. I had four on my right and six in my left. The rose thorn I pulled out widened the cut it was lodged in due to it's odd curving shape. Looking up I saw the small clock hanging on the wall read: '2:10'. I woke up about ten minutes ago, but this clock is ten minutes ahead meaning I woke up at 2:10. Two days ago I woke up at 4:32, then 3:21, and now 2:10. There seems to be some kind of pattern, like a countdown. If I'm right then tomorrow I should wake up at 1:00...what happens when it gets to 00:00? A chill trickled down my back as I tried to forget about it. I crept back to bed, having washed my sheets and thrown them in the dryer I yawned as I pulled out my phone. I'll have to stay up until the sheets are finished so Mom and Dad don't get suspicious. Their the kind of parents that notice if you eat more or spend more time in your room than usual. There was one summer where I wasn't very active so I didn't eat much and my mom almost sent me to a therapist. My eyes fluttered closed but I opened them, sitting up and pulling out my phone. In an attempt to stay awake I flipped through my apps, yawning as nothing looked appealing. Finally I tapped a game that Tony had recommended, it was a shooting game where you try and make it through a hundred floors of a haunted house. I reached the boss of the eighth floor and felt my heart frantically pump as my breathing quickened. I'm not afraid of the game, it's not the game at all. After turning a hall I aimed my flashlight at the wall to read a message scratched there. "Sage. How could you forget me so easily?" Then I turned and saw the boss of the level. A girl with thorny roses wrapped around her legs and torso, pressing her white dress that was stained with blood against her pale skin. Her hair seemed to float around her, encircling the figure of my nightmares. I clicked the power button on my phone, taking a few deep breaths in a panic as I tried to collect my thoughts. Scanning the room carefully my gaze froze on a section of the room that seemed darker than the rest. A shadow stretched across the farthest wall of my room. It was the outline of a girl, her hair was rhythmically  gliding as she swayed. Then it faded, disappearing as one of the shadow's arms raised as if waving 'bye'. I sat staring at the wall for almost two hours before I realized I needed to go get my laundry. I kept my back to the wall, looking over my shoulder every other second. The creaking of the floor almost made me shout. Once I was downstairs I flipped on every light that was between me and the laundry room. Grabbing my sheets I nearly ran back upstairs, no longer caring if I made noise. I didn't even turn off the lights downstairs. In my room I flipped on the light and made my bed as quickly as I could. Maybe I imagined it, I thought before drifting off to sleep. In the morning I slid out of bed half asleep, drowsy from a lack of sleep. Looking at my alarm I realized it was 8:30 am, Saturday. With a sigh of relief I climbed back into bed, Mom will be at work until 2:30 and Dad won't be home until 6:00 tonight, and Minnie has daycare so I really don't need to get up yet. I laid back down, tossing and turning before it became obvious that I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. I moaned loudly, standing up and getting dressed. Downstairs there was a note on the counter: Sage, please turn off the lights if you go downstairs at night. -Mom. I sighed, at least she hadn't written down chores for me to do. What was that last night? It seemed so real. Ruffling my hair and rubbing my eyes I tried to distract myself by pulling out a bowl and some cereal. Pouring the small flakes I started to shovel them in my mouth, watching out the window as cars drove by. Everyone always complains about me not putting milk in my cereal, they say I'm 'eating it wrong'. Whatever that means. I just can't stand it when the flakes get soggy it's gross. I finished and plopped onto the couch, flipping through Netflix. After about twenty minutes of searching I settled on a show that Jenneca had recommended. It was about teenagers teaming up after a disease takes out most of humanity, they try to survive the desolated world. Pretty typical plot but she said I absolutely had to watch it. Episode one started as I felt my pocket buzz. Pulling out my phone I saw a message from Mom. Just found out Jenneca's been in a coma since Thursday night, want to get her something/go visit? Staring at my phone screen I felt my heart skip a beat. 

         I spoke to her on Friday.

        How is this happening?? What's going on?! Tapping my screen I replied: What happened to her? A minute later my phone buzzed: She was in a car accident, someone sped through a red light and hit her car on it's left side. Her mom was driving and Jenneca was in the passenger seat. Tap, tap. Something was clicking against my window. Lifting my head slowly I screamed, throwing myself back and crouching behind the couch. It's Jenneca. How?!? I slid my phone above the couch, snapping a picture, not wanting to stand up. There was nothing in the photo, just a street with a red car driving by, but wait...what's this? The car has a dent on the passenger side. Slowly I gulped and sucked in a deep breath. Standing up I turned slowly towards the window. Tap, tap, tap. No one there, just a tree branch swaying in the wind and tapping against the window. Breathing heavy I sat back down on the couch, staring in a daze out the window. I probably sat for almost an hour before my phone buzzed again, catching my attention. It was Tony's Dad: Are you free this afternoon? There's something I need to tell you. I clicked my reply: Yeah, I'm not doing anything. How's Tony? No reply. I watched TV for a couple hours, not having anything better to do when my phone buzzed. It was Tony's Dad again: I'll be there soon. I turned off the TV and waited, gazing out the window. I've known Tony since we were in grade-school, now that we're in eleventh grade I don't see him as much but we still hang out pretty often. His parents are like a second family to me, kinda like the grandparents I never had. I saw the Navy Blue Altima drive up and went to answer the door. Before Tony's Dad, Luis, could even knock I pulled it open and smiled.

       "Hey, come on in." I stepped aside but he didn't come in, just fidgeted nervously with his hands. 

      "No...I'll be quick." He was surprisingly quiet, Luis was normally cheerful and obnoxious which is what usually led to him getting smacked by Opal, his wife. then I noticed the puffy bags under his eyes and the pink streaks in the edges of them as if he hadn't slept in days. 

       "What's up? Did something happen?" Come to think of it, Tony was only at school on Monday and then was absent all week, well I think he talked to me on Friday.

        "Well...see....." He sighed heavily, his eyes watery. "It's Tony....there was a robbery at a convenience store nearby...he got caught in the gunfire and-" Luis started to sob, shaking heavily he rubbed his eyes. "Tony is dead."