All Roses Have Thorns

Erin IX

Sierra stood at the edge of the cliff, only wearing a thin nightgown. A cold winter breeze blew, ruffling the edges of her skirt.

"Erra?" Erin trudged through the snow, her boots kicking up the fresh powder. She called out, "Are you insane? What are you doing out here?!"

She didn't turn around. "And why do you care?"

"Because you're my friend? Come back inside!" She wrapped her coat even tighter around herself, her shoulders shaking in the cold.

Sierra turned, her bare feet barely making a mark in the snow. "Are we though? It doesn't seem like we're friends." She took one step back, one step closer to the edge. Blood began to ooze from the sky behind her, close to the horizon beneath the clouds.

"We- We're friends!" Erin yelled. "Please come back!"

The white sky was halfway covered, the blood now dripping onto the snow behind Sierra, which wasn't much, considering how close to the edge she was. "Then why do you hate me? You can't hate your friends." She took another step back towards the edge.

"I don't hate you!" Erin could see the muscles in Sierra's feet moving. "Don't-" She lunged forward, but she knew already. She was just too far away, but still she ran forward.

Sierra smiled, a smile to cover up her pain. Her foot began to move. "Sorry, Erin." Only her toes were touching the ground now. "I'm gonna sit this one out." She stepped down and plunged off the edge of the cliff.

"Sierra!"

Erin sat up, her breathing hard and her back sticky with sweat. She threw off the covers violently. "I- I would never..." She stood up, trying to shake it off. "Just a dream... it's just a dream!" She paced around in a circle, her hands clenched into fists.

She knew she was hurting Sierra, but she was hurting too. She was unprepared and suffering from stress, and adding her soulmate into the mix would only make things worse. But the look in Sierra's eyes was almost enough for her to give up on ignoring the problem. Almost.

"No, no, no. No. No! NO!" She stopped and punched the wall. A scream came out of her throat as she clutched her now bleeding hand. She bit her lip, muffling her groans.

Thuds sounded from outside her door as her father raced up the stairs. "Erin? Erin what's going on?!" He turned the knob and rushed through the door, which slammed into the wall. "Oh crap." He took a quick look at the blood coming through her fingers and ran back out to get something for her hand. "Broken or just bleeding?" He called out.

"Uh..." Erin sat down. "J-Just bleeding!"

Her dad returned less than a minute later, holding an antiseptic, gauze, and medical tape. He ripped open the wipe's package. "What did you do now?" He asked, but he probably knew the answer. Erin's eyes went to the fist-shaped dent in her wall, and he followed her gaze. "Ah."

She let out a small hiss as he cleaned her scraped knuckles. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, Merry Christmas, I guess."

Erin blinked. "Right. Merry Christmas," she put on a smile.