Chimerical

Smell The Roses

Reyna adjusted the weight of the heavy cardboard box in her slender arms, the flaps worn from overuse. The elevators mirrored walls reflected her face back at her and she used the opportunity to examine her new hair cut. Her once long straight blonde hair now came to her shoulders. It was tossled from running her hands through it, the layers sticking out on end in some places. She was still getting used to it falling in her face. The elevator dinged and let her out onto a marble hallway. Large windows let in natural light that lit the foyer up well even without the timed overhead lights on. The diamond shaped ring on the ring finger of her left hand glistened in the sun, making her smile. Her sneakers echoed against the walls as she made her way to the door at the end of the hall. Setting the box down, she knelt and reached for the long gold chain around her neck. On it was a golden key with the word love engraved into it. Pressing it into the lock, she swung the door open before grabbing the box again. This was the last box. All she had to do was unpack and this was officially her new home, her old one empty and the keys already turned in to the landlord. It was the beginning of a new chapter for her. The beginning of her new life with Thomas. Moving in with him was the last thing to do before the wedding she had been planning for months now. Everything was going to be perfect, the date set and the invitations sent out. Three more weeks and she would take a new last name and her new life would be set in stone. For the first time, she was really and truly happy. Her painted red lips pulled into a brilliant white smile when she saw a vase of flowers on the large kitchen island with a note attached to them. She made her way to them when a knock sounded on the door. "Come in." She called, expecting a visitor. Torrence let herself in, making Reyna forget all about the flowers. "You haven't unpacked yet?" She asked with a teasing smile. Reyna sighed. Her and Thomas were having a party to celebrate her moving in. All of their friends and his family were coming. Torrence, being not only her best friend but her future sister in law, was going to help her set everything up. "Just this last box." She reassured, setting it down on the coffee table. Torrence made a hand gesture for her to breathe in and out slowly. "Relax. Catering is already taken care of. The place looks amazing. And you have plenty of time to get ready." She reassured. Reyna nodded with a soft smile. She was so relieved to have Torrence. All of Thomas's family adored her. His mother took her to lunch and his brother Tanner came over for dinner. His father was even walking her down the aisle. Which was a relief since a life of foster families and group homes had left her otherwise alone in that endeavor. Everything was perfect. She looked down at her low riding jeans and baggy striped long sleeve shirt. Her birthmark nestled just on the inside of her hip bone in the shape of a crown was visible, earning her the nickname princess from Torrence. Her dress was hung in the bedroom, their bedroom, already cleaned and ironed. She had plenty of time. "I just wanted to see if you needed anything before I got ready myself." Torrence offered with expectant raised eyebrows. Reyna shook her head. "No. I think I'm good." She said with a smile. Torrence nodded and backed towards the door. "Well I'm just downstairs if you need me." She offered. Thomas's parents owned the building so Torrence lived on the floor below them. It was a happy convenience and perk of marrying her sweetheart. "Alright. See you in a bit." She agreed easily. Torrence left as she picked up the box and carried it into the office. Unfurling the flaps, she began pulling old journals and books out and stuffing them into the empty bottom drawer of the large oak desk in the center of the room. Her cell phone rang and she pulled it out of her back pocket, pressing it to her ear. "Hello." She answered. Thomas's smile could be heard over the phone. "Hi. I was just calling to check on the status of my beautiful fiance and to see if anything needs to be aquired on my way home." He said in a teasing business tone. Reyna was already smiling and laughed lightly. She could hear the radio very low in the background and knew he was driving already. "She is currently emptying the last box. I don't think anything is needed." She played along playfully. The box now empty she propped the phone in her shoulder and broke it down, carrying it to the recycling chute in the kitchen. She had kept this cardboard box for a decade now, never staying in one place long enough to throw it away. But now she wouldn't need it again. She tossed it into the metal door that would carry it downstairs to the dumpsters. "Did you get the flowers?" He asked, causing her to walk over to the vase with a cheesy grin and reach a hand out to graze along the edge of one of the roses. "Yes I did. They're beautiful thank you." She noticed a strange flower nestled in the center of the roses then. It was gorgeous and she had never seen anything like it. Then again, before Thomas she wasn't much for receiving flowers. "Well good I'm glad you like them. Maybe we'll have time to celebrate on our own before guests arrive." He suggested. She could all but hear his eyebrows waggling on the other end and giggled. "Possibly. But if you get here after my shower and I'm already in my dress you're out of luck." She teased with a disappointed sigh. "I'll be home in ten. Just stay in the shower." He said with seriousness that made her bite her lip to keep from laughing again. "Oh I don't know. Were running low on time. In ten minutes I could already be fully dressed and with your sister." She teased, dropping her hand from the flowers and moving into the large bathroom suite. She turned the shower water on for effect. "I'll be home in five. Take some extra time and read the card on the flowers." He suggested, trying to buy time. She giggled. "We'll see." She said in a single song voice. "You might have to wait all night until everyone leaves now. Even your mom insisting on helping clean up." She teased and he made a groan of disappointment. "Now I know you're just stalling so I'm hanging up now. I love you." She offered. "Love you too baby." He said sweetly before she hung up. Sliding her phone back in her pocket, she moved back to the vase of flowers and pulled the card out of the envelope sticking from the top. It was in his hand writing, meaning he took time out of his work day to go to the flower shop for the request himself. ‘Roses are red, and I can't rhyme, but I will love you, until the end of time. - Thomas.' She shook her head with a grin and picked the vase up before walking it to the dining table, already set up, to set them in the middle for a centerpiece. She lifted the vase to her nose and inhaled deeply, revelling the smell of the roses. And then, out of nowhere, she felt a tickle in her nose. She set the vase down and closed her eyes, sneezing. When her eyes opened, everything was strange. She blinked her eyes, sure that she was dreaming. She was in her apartment but it wasn't the apartment she had seen a moment ago. Dining chairs hung upside down, suspended in the air by nothing. The paint on the walls began melting down the walls and into the marble floors. She looked around at other oddities. The piano in the hall was slowly spinning on nothing at all and the tv began curling in on itself. The chandelier arms in the living room began swirling out slowly, curling and furling around the ceiling of the room. In a panic, she moved to run to the front door, only to find the living room rug was snoring, rising and talking with each breath. Running around it, she found the wall where the front door once was was now just that, a wall. The paintings on the wall were protruding their trees and bright colors and shapes, growing into the rooms. Her heart hammered in her chest. What the hell was going on? She looked around again and saw that all of the windows were gone as well, there was no way out. And then she had an idea. The garbage chute! It would lead outside. Leaping over the sleeping rug, she made her way into the kitchen area and saw that the chute door was still there. She ripped it open and used it to leverage herself onto the tall counter. With one last look around the room, that was still slowly changing into something else, she opened it and found that there was nothing behind the door but wall. This all had to be a dream. It just had to be a terrible nightmare. And how did you wake yourself up from a nightmare? She turned around and held her arms outstretched before leaning back and letting herself free fall off of the countertop. She saw the top edges of her kitchen being sucked away into a colorful vortex as she fell, cracking the back of her head on the marble floor painfully. The last thing she saw was herself being sucked away too, before her vision went dark.