Black Roses {Skephalo}

Day Seventeen

R̸̡̭͍̜͈̰̦̯̮̼̻̞̗̻͓̰̦̞̥̞͗̂̆̏̌̓é̷̢̡̛̠̤͇̠̮̻̠̭̖̣͍̭͇̖͖̇́͜s̵̨̨̧̭͍͓̪̩̑̌̏͌͊͘͜͝c̸̢̰̤̘̝̣̫̟̖͚̤̟̟̖̰̦͐̇̆̅͌̓͑͐͆̉̇́̕͠ḩ̷͉̠̠̇̎̋͆͛͒͂͘͘͝e̵̙̼͉̙͍̹̲̳̣̠͓̮͑̎͊̂́̂́̀͗d̴̼͍̪̙̱͉̣̪̥̼̯̈́́̑̋̅̓͝ų̶̛̼̭͍̺̞̫͉̝̜̙̩̩͎̦͉̓̂̓̉̈̾̓̓͘̕͜ͅͅl̸̨̢̨̧̧͇͎̤̻̙̰̬͓̍̽̍́̌͆͌͛͌̏̓͆͑̾̕͘͝͠į̷̡͔̦̥͓̪̻͚̝͇̟̘̬̘͖̲̉̋͗͐̽͌͐́̏͐̊̏̐̚͝ͅͅn̸̛͉͖͎͉̱̘͚̠͙̝̹̂̑́̿̀̔̉͑͐̊̄̃̑̅̈́̎̏͘̕͠g̴̟̣͍͍͛̏͂̈́͒̃̐̀́̃̓̂̽ ̴̨̢̨̰̦̲̦͖̼̱̭̺̖̗̣̹̌̿̅̀̆́̂̓͂̈̎͛̉͒̅͋̄̑͘̚̕d̷̢̛̰̜͍̮̠͙̤̳̹̟͕̯̩̄̔͆̔͌̐̅͒̌͑͜e̸̡̨̧̢͓͚͇̖̪͙̭̠̍̈̈͂̏͆́̓̇̓͝ą̵̨͍̥̣͈̣̱͔͔̜̟̖̪̦͖̥͇̉̇̀̄͋͆̑̿̾̽͜d̵͉̫̞̹̪̣͛̀̒̏́̃̅̄̓̾̑̉͊͝͝l̵̛̺̻̬̝̗̹̔͂̍̾̓̑͗̾̑͜ͅį̸̨̢̺̳̜̜̰̳͓͚̞̳̲̊̇̾̀͛͊̒͌̋̍̋̒͊͐̓̏͘̚͜͠͠ͅn̸̢̲̜̹͚͉͋̈́̇̈̆͐͆̇̇e̷̢̢̧̪͙͖̗̬̟̰͈̲̠̒̈̂̂̂̓̓͌͆̌̆̓́̆̕͠͠.̸̧̣̲̘̭̀́́̒̋̌̓̎̑͑̔͒͂̏̓̕̕.̵̢̙͎̫̪̜̺͔̲̤̗̳͈̗̹͓͋̊́̅

——Wednesday, January 17th, 1:32 am——

~~~

-Zak's POV-

They couldn't give me a break, not even on my birthday.

My own fucking birthday...

As the familiar scene fades in, I look out across the water. There's something wrong with it. It's darker than before, the once mix of red and blue now a little purple.

This must be what happens when you beat the hanahaki. Your colours merge. I watch the swirling purple waters, smiling at that thought. We've beaten it.

Then the water swirls once more, deepening in the centre of the river. The water dips, creating a sinkhole. I stand to investigate, only to send a stab of pain through my chest. I wince, carefully sitting back down.

I'm forced to watch the sinkhole unfold from the riverside. The water in the sinkhole turns black, like it was dyed with ink. The darkness water mixes with the purple, infecting it with its' blackness.

The ghost appears from the sinkhole, still in the form of the fourteen year-old girl. That seems to be their preferred form since the incident a few days ago.

They approach me, gliding effortlessly across the now-choppy water. The waves lap at its' 'feet', gliding through them as if they aren't there. Which they aren't, at least I don't think they are.

The girl takes a seat on the grass opposite me, glaring at me in frustration. Her eyes have ghostly fires in them, smoke emitting from the embers. I choke a little, causing her to soften her eyes. "Zakary, we meet again."

I choke on the last of the smoke before it dissolved into the air. "I wish we didn't" I manage to splutter. A smile creeps across their ghostly lips. "The feelings mutual." They look out across the waters, as if searching for something.

"I wish this would've been like the rest of the times I've done this..." their eyes rest on me. "But you had to be awkward, didn't you?" I almost choke on air.

Me, the awkward one?

Says the thing that literally gives people a disease...

I roll my eyes, hating every second of this. Falling asleep was a terrible idea. I get no peace from these stupid, meaningless dreams every night. Half of them don't even make sense.

I sigh deeply, pinching the beige of my nose in annoyance. "So why are you here? I've won, you can leave now." The spirit returns my sigh, adding the eye roll to irritate me. "No, I can't" they spit. "And that's your fault. You've cursed yourself."