Black Roses {Skephalo}

Thorns [Day Twenty-seven]

-Darryl's POV-

Turning up to the coffee shop for the first time in over a week seemed strange. I'm not scheduled to return to work until February, but I needed a change of scenery.

Luckily, I'm one of those people who enjoys their job. Both of them, actually. The coffee shop just has such a nice atmosphere about it, the sweet smell of the flowers hanging in each window adds to that. Currently, there's snowdrops.

Normally Natasha picks out which flowers work best depending on the season. We change them up every couple of weeks, as it always adds a fresher look to the shop.

However on a rare occasion when we have a little extra budget, she'll let me pick out some roses. She knows they're my favourite, and I always pick different coloured ones depending on my mood.

It's no surprise that over the past few months, the roses I've picked out have always been blue.

The fact the roses disappeared from the windows since we've been gone feels almost comical. Zak's... gone, and so are the blue roses.

Working the night shift without seeing him is going to be so weird...

As will recording. Of course I have other friends to record with, but Skeppy and I talked almost everyday. Since we met back in 2018, I've been in most of his videos. Guess it'll remain that way, seeing as his channel will never get another upload. The fans will be so upset.

Oh my goodness the fans...

We haven't told them. Nobody has said a word about it, other than announcing they'll be taking some time off. I've been avoiding social media, but from what Vincent has said, people are making some theories.

The entire side of our fandom. Muffin squad, dream team, everyone else in our group of friends just suddenly announces they're taking a break. All at once, with no explanation why.

The only person who hasn't said anything is Skeppy, whose social media hasn't been updated since the 24th. The day he died. People have noticed he's the only person staying quiet, so theories have been centred around him. Most wrong, but apparently, some people have guessed he's dead.

But how. How do we explain to the fans what happened? Some magic notebooks turned up, then went missing. Zak started puking black roses, and some demon girl told us we have to find the books in a week or he dies. We couldn't find them, so Zak died. He choked to death on flower petals, barely a week after his 20th birthday.

It sounds so much worse summed up like that...

The whole thing sounds crazy, makes us seem delusional. People won't believe it actually happened, and the theories will get even worse.

That's not a normal occurrence. People don't just die like that normally. Sure there's other instances of hanahaki, but not with these notebooks controlling everything that happens.

They predetermined how this would play out. Items made to manipulate people's feelings, makes them fall in love with people they never meant to. But it never worked for Zak. He was supposed to love Annabelle, but for some reason, the notebooks couldn't change his feelings.

"Darryl!"

I'm snapped back into the real world by the voice of my ex-roommate. Before I can react I'm wrapped into a hug, held so tightly I can barely breathe.

"Darryl I heard what happened. I'm so sorry! I wanted to come visit, but your friend said you didn't want to see anyone."

Natasha visibly trembles as she speaks, her voice mimicking her actions. She takes my hand, leading me inside. There's nobody here yet, the shop just about to open after lunch break.