The Hell Flower

The Hell Flower #6

She was standing in the field of flowers, again. She glanced around. There was the forest, ahead of her, dark and scary. Behind her was a field of gold, shiny and dancing with the breeze. She couldn't feel any wind. She looked around, readying her heart for anything to happen.

A gentle stroke on her ankle made her jump. She looked down and saw the cat making eights around her legs. The cat was alive. It purred softly, visibly happy to see her. She smiled back.

"Hi..."

Her voice got lost, but the cat meowed and brushed its body against her legs. Then, it suddenly turned heads and ran towards the forest. Dahlia hesitated, before running after it. She wanted to warn the cat. Don't go there, it's scary. You shouldn't go there. But she just ran after the cat, not a word coming out of her mouth, her heart beating faster. Suddenly, the cat slowed down, and just like it had done with Dahlia, it rubbed itself against a large body. It was a dog. A very, very large dog. Dahlia stopped, surprised by the large black dog suddenly appearing in front of her. The cat seemed to know the dog, or at least like it very much, as it kept purring and rubbing its body against it. Instead of the cat, the dog was more interested in Dahlia. It approached, and the closer it got, the bigger it seemed. Yet Dahlia didn't feel scared. She walked up to the dog who had emerged from the forest, curious about that feeling, tickling at the back of her mind. When the dog got close enough, its large head right in front of her, she lifted her hand to touch it. It was warm and soft. The large dog wagged its tail happily and lowered its head to be closer to her. She smiled. She knew that dog... How did she know that dog?

Another dog appeared, suddenly, right next to the other one. An identical dog. Then, another one appeared, on the other side. Again identical. Dahlia stopped stroking the first head, confused. She knew those dogs...

Suddenly, something happened that made both the dog and the cat turn their heads, but she didn’t hear or see anything. They ran, leaving Dahlia alone. Their figures ran towards the forest, going inside. Dahlia wanted to follow them, but her feet stayed stuck there. She watched, as their silhouettes got harder to see in the dark forest. The cat disappeared into the shadows. The dog, much larger, could still be seen a bit. She watched as it approached a human silhouette. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. The figure raised a hand to stroke the dog, just like she had done before. She took a step forward. She knew them. She knew that figure.

"Child."

She glanced back. The field of gold. It was warm and bright, and someone was calling her. Someone she knew, too.

"Come back, child."

Dahlia hesitated, glancing back at the forest. The silhouette and the dog were gone. The darkness was still there, steps away from her. She looked down at her feet, which wouldn't move. They were still in the field of flowers. Colored flowers, like the ones she'd seen before...

A soft music woke her up.

Dahlia opened her eyes, surprised by their alarm clock's music. Sitting on her bed, Sam was already busy stretching.

"'Morning," she smiled. "It's rare that you make it to the alarm!"

Dahlia nodded, but she didn't feel as happy as she should have by that. She wished she'd stayed in that dream a little bit longer. It had felt even more vivid than usual. She grabbed the tiny notebook on the bedside table, a hand-sized one Helen had gifted her just for her to take notes on her dreams, and started writing as much as she could remember. She'd also do small drawings, when she could remember well enough.

"So you still had one of those dreams," Sam sighed. "How was it?"

"Nicer than usual," said Dahlia. "I saw that cat we buried last night. It was alive, and it went into that dark forest..."

"The cat from the bar?"

Dahlia nodded. Of course Sam already knew everything, Victoria had probably briefed her.

"What else?"

"This time, there was a dog... No, three dogs. Three huge... Black dogs... But they weren't scary. They felt familiar, too, and the cat went with them into that dark forest."

Sam frowned slightly, but didn't say anything. She was used to random elements popping up in Dahlia's dreams, sometimes just once, sometimes several times. They both knew the large dog was a first, though.

"And there was the field of gold, again, and someone... Someone called me," Dahlia muttered, trying to hang on to the fading memories of her dream.

"...Someone called after you? Was it a male or female voice?"

"A female voice, I think. But a deep one. And... The flowers... I saw flowers... I've seen those flowers before."

She suddenly realized why the flowers had felt familiar. She could remember it because she'd seen similar flowers in that guy's hair, the one who had suddenly hugged her at the bar. It was the same flowers, she knew it. It made her smile to remember his silly expression. Perhaps her dream had mixed a bit with reality, just like with the cat. It didn't happen often, but it did happen. One of the entries in her notebook had a dream where she'd dreamt of a similar place she'd seen on TV, right before it had changed back to the field of flowers. She'd also dreamt of people who were dead, who'd appeared in her dream, just like the cat, older historical figures who'd walked past her and gone into the darkness. Pets were a first, though. Especially the large black dog, she couldn't shake that feeling that she had seen it before. Dahlia scoured the pages of her notebook, but she couldn't find any mention of a black dog before, not even a dog at all.

"You look a bit better without those dark circles," Sam said with a smile. "Come on, Helen's cooking breakfast, we don't want to miss out!"

Although it was Saturday, Sam had to go to the university to check on her experiments, and Victoria had work. Nevertheless, the girls usually made a point to have breakfast together at least once or twice on the weekends, and had set all their alarms around the same time. When they got down to the kitchen, Helen was cooking as expected, and Victoria was chugging down a gigantic mug of coffee while busy on her laptop. Only Clara was missing.

"Morning ladies," said Sam, hugging Helen from behind to take a peek at the pan. "Yum, eggs!"

"Clara isn't coming?" Dahlia asked, tightening her cardigan around her shoulders.

The girls had opened the veranda to air the kitchen with some fresh morning breeze, and let out the smell of Helen's cooking. The rain had stopped, and the sky was a gentle baby blue over the still wet grass of their garden, the sun sending gentle warm streaks on the glass of their veranda. It was going to be a very nice day, one of the last of summer. There was already a fruit salad, some warm banana bread on a wood board, and a large pitcher of coffee on the table. Sam helped herself to a cup while Dahlia began picking herself some tea. It wasn’t until she saw the different labeled tea bags on the shelf that she realized something.

"Helen," she got her attention. "Did you put something different in my tea last night?"

She wouldn't have suspected anything just from the dream, but Dahlia had slept deeper and still felt strangely relaxed that morning, which was unusual. Her friend grimaced, and glanced towards Victoria, who slowly put down her cup with a prepared-for-anything expression.

"It was both our idea," said Victoria. "Just a little something to help you relax."

"You did what?" Sam exclaimed. "Vic! Helen!"

"Chill out! We just gave her some of Helen's tea, the one with a bit of hemp oil," quickly explained Victoria, while Helen made a sorry face to Dahlia. "You're a scientist, you know that s**t's harmless. It probably did less than the beer she had."

"Still," Sam frowned. "You shouldn't give her something she's not aware of! Dahlia's not used to it, too..."

"I'm fine, Sam," said Dahlia. "If anything, I did sleep better, so I'm grateful for that. And I know they meant well after what happened last night. Let me know next time, though. I'm more than willing to try it again, if I can get fuller nights like this..."

"Oh, by the way," Victoria said, closing her laptop to put her plate back in front of her. "Those guys are fine. Just a twisted wrist and a couple broken ribs. I called my nurse friend this morning, she had them on her night shift. And I was right, they were above the legal limit to drive."

Dahlia nodded, but as she was standing in the corner and watching Helen cook while sipping her tea, her mind had already wandered elsewhere. She remembered the silhouette she had seen the night before. She hadn't mentioned it to Sam for some reason, but that morning, she couldn't help but feel that the silhouette outside and the one in her dream were strangely similar. Had she taken that from reality, too? But she'd dreamt about that silhouette before...

"Dahlia, stop dreaming! Breakfast!"

Indeed, Helen was busy serving the girls their eggs -one each for Dahlia and Helen, two for Sam and three for Victoria- along with toast. Sam watched Victoria empty half a can of baked beans on the last third of her plate with a grimace.

"You British people and your beans. I'll never get how you stomach that so early..."

"Fills you up," Victoria shrugged. "I'm starving, it was high time you two woke up, Helen made me wait. I would have gone running later if I'd known... Those eggs are so good, Helen. One day I'm going to marry you, babe."

Helen chuckled and signed something about how she could dream on. Unlike her partner, she had a smaller appetite for breakfast and mostly pecked at the fruits, like Dahlia. Sam was the other big eater, but instead of beans her plate was filled with a little mountain of green spinach, and fresh cheese. Everyone also helped themselves to a thin or thicker slice of Helen’s wonderful banana bread.

"What about Clara?" Dahlia asked.

"Studying again," Helen signed with a sorry expression. "I kept her a plate."

Indeed, there was a plate on a tray with an egg, toast and beans, a slice of banana bread and a tiny bowl of fruit salad waiting on the edge of the kitchen counter.

"That kid's going to miss out on the best of her twenties if she keeps going like that," Victoria sighed.

"Says the workaholic."

Victoria was about to respond to that, but Helen, who was sitting next to Sam, had missed the last bit and had them translate in sign language instead, so the conversation turned into a mini BSL lesson over breakfast. Dahlia agreed with Victoria, though. Clara was the youngest of them, and the one going out the least. It didn't sound like she had any friends in her year, either. The girls often had to insist for her to even spend time with them. It looked like she was barely getting by on her studies as a nurse, despite all the time she spent studying. When she didn't have her nose in her notes, she could be found in a corner of the house reading books, mostly romance or fantasy. She was a rather quiet person overall, and was the one who had bonded least with the group. Still, as she was the youngest, the girls made a point to always look out for her, even Victoria with whom she didn't get along much.

"What are your plans for today, babes?" Victoria asked while signing, looking at Dahlia and Helen.

They exchanged a look. Dahlia didn't have any plans yet, and since she was intending to drop her course, she wouldn't bother with studying either.

"Maybe a walk?" Helen suggested with a smile. "It's nice out!"

Dahlia agreed with a nod. The two of them liked to walk, and there was a nice shopping area just a few streets away from their house. Plus, she'd love some fresh air. She felt better than she had in a long time, and on such a nice and sunny day, she'd love to enjoy it. Across from her, Sam suddenly frowned and took out her phone.

"...Dahlia, it's your mom."

Dahlia frowned, and suddenly panicked. She hadn't checked her phone since last night!

"Don't answer," she told Sam, before jumping out from the table.

Confused, Helen turned to the other two as Dahlia ran out of the kitchen and back upstairs.

"Her mum," signed Victoria with a sigh. "Poor Dahlia, I bet she's got thirty missed calls and as many messages... What's the deal with her mum, anyway?"

"She's a bit overprotective," Sam admitted with a grimace.

"Overprotective? She calls and texts Dahlia ten times a week! If it wasn't her mother, it'd be called stalking."

Helen suddenly signed very fast and energetically, prompting Victoria to translate.

"Why is she ... Dahlia all the time? I didn't get that sign babe, can you finger spell? H-A-W... Oh, hawking! Yeah, I agree, what's her deal? Dahlia's the goodest girl around."

"Her mom's just overprotective because of... Well, everything going on with her," Sam shrugged, visibly not enjoying the conversation.

Victoria quickly translated for Helen, who pouted in response, and tapped Sam's shoulder to get her attention again, Victoria translating as she signed wilfully.

"Dahlia is anxious enough as it is. Why doesn't her mother give her a break? It's not like anything has ever happened to her! She's never harmed!"

"I agree," Victoria added. "Poor girl can't even get a boyfriend with her mom going nuts every time she even mentions meeting someone..."

"I know," Sam said. "But it's how it is."

Her tone clearly indicated the conversation was over. Helen and Victoria exchanged a look, both of them feeling a bit annoyed and upset on Dahlia's behalf. When their friend came back, some fifteen minutes later, she looked exhausted.

"You OK?" Helen asked.

"Yeah," she said, not convincing. "My phone was out of battery, so she got a bit... worried. Can I have some more banana bread?"

"Same here," said Victoria, getting up to slice it for both of them. "I'm feeling ravenous for some reason..."

Nobody talked anymore about Dahlia's mother, and luckily, Clara came down at the right moment to grab her tray and exchange a few words with them. The four of them managed to convince her to go with Helen and Dahlia on their walk, and Sam and Victoria left the table for her to have her breakfast with them while they left for work, both promising to be back for dinner. The girls took turns in the bathrooms after breakfast, and for once, Dahlia was glad to see her dark circles weren't too bad. She arranged her wilful hair by knotting a silk scarf around her head, leaving her curls to run wildly around her shoulders. Since the weather was so good and promising to stay good, she settled for a long maroon skirt and a simple off-shoulder white top, with a pair of white flower earrings, inspired by her dream. When she met Helen downstairs, her friend was sporting a jumpsuit with colorful stripes, and Clara joined them a minute later, in a cute blue dress. The three of them set off for their walk while it was still rather early.