Chapter 8

When she turned home, Monica was already there. She was cooking one of her veggie soups, which included broccoli and other vegetables. Regan didn't want to eat at all, but she didn't want to disappoint her aunt.

"Yes, aunt, I'm going to eat it," she said with a smile. Her mood was slightly better, not like it had been at Vesper's house.

She went upstairs to leave her bag in the room. The red bloody rose was laying there on her bed like a reminder to stop her from acting like she wasn't scared.

Regan went downstairs again, washed her hands and sat on the table, trying to forget what she saw at Vesper's house. They were talking about Monica's job, when Monica said something she hadn't noticed.

"There's a red strand in your hair," she said, her eyes narrowing in curiousity.

"Red strand?" Regan looked down at her hair, her eyebrows furrowing. She couldn't see it but it was confusing.

"Maybe ink fell on it?" Monica suggested.

"I don't know," Regan replied unsure, "I'll see it later."

"Okay."

After she finished, she went to the bathroom to see the red strand that her aunt mentioned. It was a small one, but still visible. Regan thought that it was ink and tried to wash it. But nothing changed.

That's were it started to get weird. The red color didn't wash out. Regan didn't want to think about it anymore. She thought to put her hair into a ponytail, but couldn't find her hair tie anywhere.

When she turned back, her eyes fell on the rose. It was like it was taunting, watching her, daring her to do something. With a furious move, she grabbed the rose, its thorns digging on her thin fingers, and tore away its petals, watching them fall gently on the floor like a broken soul. After she was done, she stomped on them and threw the stem outside.

But as she looked at the torn petals, she felt a wave of dread and guilt. It was just a flower. The deal was, who was doing that to her.

She collected the petals and let them fly out of the window, the wind carrying them away like a cloud of crimson silk.

After she did her homework, she ate and read. When it passed midnight, Regan was in her room and pretended to be asleep. She was scared to sleep. Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw the cold eyes of the creature with the name of one of the most brightest stars in the sky.

But even if she forgot about that, the red roses were a constant concern. Someone was sneaking in her room, and here she was, trying to sleep. She should give in to her fear and cautiousness, not act like the roses have legs.

She had never been so scared before.

As frustration reached its peak, she went to the kitchen to drink coffee. She wanted to increase stamina and decrease fatigue. But it seemed like they didn't work, because she was still tired.

It was ironic. She had always had an insomnia state. She had passed countless nights of rolling and tossing, of trying to sleep. And now, when she didn't want to sleep, It was like something was trying to lure her to.

————

The next morning, her aunt's voice woke her up. Regan sat up on the bed, rubbing her eyes, and realized she had seen the exact dream again. Her chest tightened with fear and she looked at her sides to be relieved there was no rose in sight.

"Dear, you look very unsettled," Monica observed. "You were talking and shouting on your sleep."

"Yeah, aunt, nothing to worry," Regan said, as she sat higher.

She couldn't understand. Why did she saw it again? She took a shower because her aunt suggested, but Regan hated morning showers nonetheless. After the shower, she wore flared jeans and a white long shirt. As she blow dried her hair, she noticed that the red strand was still there. It was red dye, she was sure. But how did it end up there? She couldn't help but think about the crimson word: 'MINE'.

She grabbed her schoolbag and walked away from the room which already held an odd vibe. The room started to get odd vibes since those weird red roses.

Her aunt was drinking macchiato as usual, sitting on the couch and looking at the TV. She quickly ate breakfast and left for school.

The whole road, her mind was a mess of red roses, dreams, and that black haired man. He was probably connected to the roses.

When she entered the class, no one was there; she was early. Regan waited for Vesper, but as the class filled, Vesper didn't show. The teacher did, and Regan learned that she had had an exam. She hadn't even known, hadn't studied, and now she was sitting there, panic rising in her chest.

She had to postpone it. She did, but the teacher said it'll affect her overall grade. Whatever, Regan thought. She didn't even feel well enough to do an exam.

She excused herself from the class, with the justification that she had a headache and didn't feel well. I wasn't entirely a lie. She grabbed her things and walked out of the class. The hallways were quiet. School was a creepy place when no students were around. It seemed as if the walls were watching her and were going to eat her whole. Finally, she got inside the girls bathroom and locked herself in.

She made a deal with herself. To stay there until the end of chemistry class.

The first five minutes passed really slowly, even though she was on her phone.

Then she heard some voices that made her rethink if it was the right to come here.

A girl and guy's voices, talking garbage and laughing, and then, going went silent. Regan cursed herself for staying in the bathroom. No where was a safe place. She hoped that these voices came from outside the bathroom, because it would have been terrible and disgusting if a guy entered the girl's bathroom.

She didn't dare to walk out or to show she was inside. She just held her breath and feared if anyone would knock and ask if someone was there.

As the silence lasted for more than a minute, she finally won over her fear and decided to step out of the stall. Just as she was going to unlock, a familiar voice was heard. It was a female who seemed to be talking on her phone, because a faint voice was heard. The voice was high and angry.

"Why did you have to write that?"

"You wrote it for me?" the voice was confused and then followed by a chuckle. "What about them?"

"A poison? But she's very well."

"Fine, fine. I'll keep an eye on her."

Regan's heart raced as she listened at the words. The voice felt eerily familiar to Vesper's, but she wasn't sure.

She unlocked the door, finding no one in the bathroom. She quickly checked the stalls, all their doors open, and then looked at the hallway outside but no one was there as well. As if she had vanished in thin air.

Anyway, who has these kinds of conversations? She remembered the word "poison", and how Vesper was talking about a girl. What weird things is she doing, Regan thought.

She saw the time on her phone and only fifteen minutes had passed. The bathroom didn't seem a normal place anymore, so she left and got inside the library.

Regan stayed there until chemistry class was over. She entered the next, which was physics but Vesper still wasn't there.

Later, in the cafeteria, she bought her lunch and sat on an empty chair, as far away from the center as she could.

Olivia appeared again, walked closer, but Regan didn't break eye contact.

"Hey there scarface, I don't see your lunatic friend around," said Olivia as she leaned on Regan's table.

"They're both lunatic," the blondie behind her added and they all laughed.

"And?" said Regan, her expression blank.

"Let's leave the loser alone, Liv," suggested the blondie.

"We will," assured Olivia, "just saying, your friend looks nice and innocent but she's a devil in disguise," she said to Regan and then leaned closer, "you see, I once saw her talking to a shadow. And it wasn't an innocent sight."

Her voice was barely above a whisper and Regan felt a shiver down her spine as Olivia said that. Vesper talking to a shadow?

"What?"

Olivia chuckled, a cryptic grin on her face, "Don't forget my words. See you, scarface."

They all gave their signature mean faces and walked with their 'hips swinging' walk. Olivia knew how to hit a nerve, but whenever Regan thought deeply about it, she remembered the fire, and she didn't want to.

But then she saw Vesper, who appeared from nowhere and sat in front of her.

"I've searched the whole cafeteria," Vesper said and let out a tired sigh.

"Where were you? Did you know about the exam?" Regan asked.

"What exam?"

"The chemistry one."

"There was an exam?" Vesper said bewildered.

Regan smacked her forehead, she had no idea.

"Yeah, nevermind, I didn't do it," said she.

"Why?"

"My head hurts," Regan said, "but why you skipped classes?"

"I was busy so I didn't came at all."

Regan crossed her arms and reminded herself of when she heard her talking on the phone.

"But, I heard your voice in the bathroom. You were talking on the phone."

Vesper's expression turned guarded and stiff, "No? Maybe you heard someone else. I wasn't at school. Did you see me there?"

"It was very similar to your voice. Guess I was mistaken," Regan replied with a shrug. She was sure that voice was like Vesper's.