f o u r t e e n

"Oh, so your brother's coming here in a few days?" Ashton asks, sounding a bit dejected.

Tobi chuckles and ruffles his hair. He turns over in her lap and gives her a look, making her laughs harder. "Yeah, sorry. He only told me yesterday morning. Didn't give me a whole lot of warning either, babe." Pressing his face into her stomach, he groans loudly. Gripping his cheeks, she turns him to face her, a teasing smile on her face. "I know you're only upset because you won't get to spend the night for a few days."

His face flushes and he turns over. She laughs as he mutters, "That's not the only reason."

With her index finger, Tobi pokes at his cheek repeatedly. "It won't be that bad. Besides, you're leaving to go out of state to visit your old friend tonight."

Ashton turns over and sighs dramatically, saying, "Yes, but I'm going to miss my beautiful girlfriend so much."

Giving another laugh, she pushes him off of her playfully. "Enough theatrics, ya dork. You should get going if you wanna make your flight."

Once she says this, Ashton jumps up and rushes to the door, muttering, "Shoot, shoot, shoot. He's gonna kick my ass if I miss my flight again." She laughs as he hurries out the door. As soon as it's closed, it opens again and he pokes his head in. "Love you, Tobi. I'll see you in a few days."

He slams the door as her hand waves absently. "Love you, too." She says to the empty room. "I'll... see you later, I guess." Then, she adds somberly, "I hope."

❀❀❀

Tobi leans over the counter, writing the names and phone numbers of her brother, father, mother, Dennis, and Ashton on a piece of paper. Under the phone numbers, she scribbles some quick instructions.

Please grab the box from under my bed. It has some very important things in it for all of you. -T

She uses a magnet to stick the paper to the fridge door. For a moment, she stands and stares at it, thinking about why she was doing this. Pushing a loud sigh past her lips, she gives a wry smile and moves away from the counter to clean the apartment. "I should get this place cleaned up for when I leave."

❀❀❀

As coughs erupt from her body, Tobi grips the counter so harshly that her knuckles turn as white as a sheet of paper. Blood pours from her mouth to the floor, covering her front in crimson. I can't breathe... She wants to scream for help. Nothing but blood and flower petals rush from her mouth and cover her surroundings.

Tears stream from her eyes and splatter into the massive puddle of blood on the floor. Her vision is blurry and quickly fading as coughs continue coming from her body, refusing to stop. There's no time for her to even try to gasp for air as she heaves a river of blood from her mouth, petals flowing along with it.

Too weak to continue kneeling and grasping at the counter, Tobi collapses onto the tile of the kitchen floor. She claws at her throat, trying desperately to get oxygen to her lungs. Writhing on the ground, she grapples at the counter, trying as hard as her body will allow her to pull herself upwards again.

As she tries in vain to pull herself from the floor, her bloody hands coat everything in a layer of red. Her eyes are wide and fearful as she tries to drag her body towards the front door. She wants to scream for help, but she can feel the flowers in full bloom in her throat and lungs, suffocating her and forcing her to be silent.

Arching her back on the ground, she continues clawing at her throat. She feels the flower heads blooming at an unprecedented rate as if with a mind of their own. By now, she is no longer able to cough, just writhe silently on the floor of her kitchen, tears flowing down her face and blood still pouring from her mouth.

As if trying to knock the flowers loose from their place in her throat and lungs, she thrashes and bangs her head on the floor. Help! She wants to scream as her legs kick and scramble in the pool of blood surrounding her. Help...

Her body begins to stop struggling, going limp as she loses feeling in her limbs. Once her legs stop kicking, her vision begins blurring. Darkness engulfs her mind as her arms fall limp near her, splayed in her own blood. As she lays there, her consciousness rapidly fading, her phone buzzes on the counter. She's barely conscious when she hears the tone followed by Ashton's voice.

"Hey, I ended up missing my flight." He sighs from the other end and Tobi's eyes are as wide as saucers in her skull as she fights for consciousness to listen to his message. "I'll probably book another one for a tomorrow. Anyway, I'm headed back to your place now, so I'll see you in a bit." She wants to scream at him to stay away, to not come here. But she can't. He chuckles and adds, "Love you, babe." The tone sounds again and is followed by silence.

A fresh torrent of tears streams from her closing eyes, her mind filled with images of Ashton. She can't fight it anymore. Tobi's eyes close and her breathing slows to a stop. Soon, it's nothing but her corpse laying there in the kitchen, a pink anemone flower stained red with her blood now sitting in full bloom in her gaping mouth.

✿✿✿

Ashton walks into the apartment complex, a spring in his step. Although he was a bit disappointed to have missed his flight out of state, he was still excited to see his girlfriend for another night. As he steps onto the elevator, he jabs the button labeled three with his thumb. Once the doors begin to close, two other people step on and press the buttons labeled one and two.

He almost sighs at the luck but instead leans against the wall of the elevator. Ashton closes his eyes and envisions Tobi with a wide smile on her face. He thinks about every expression he's ever seen her wear. Blushing, crying, smiling, sulking, angry, contempt, worried -- he loved every one of those expressions, always letting one of them flash in his mind's eye. A smile settles on his lips and he lets out a pleased sigh.

Now he was glad he'd missed his flight. The elevator dinged and opened on the third floor, startling him. He'd been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed the other people leave the elevator. Slowly, he paces down the hall and makes his way to her front door. When he knocks, however, he receives no answer.

He makes a face and knocks on the door again, still getting no reply in return. With a sigh, he turns the doorknob. "Babe, I'm comin' in." As he pushes open the door, the scent of copper his him like a wall, overpowering his senses. Staggering back into the hall, he covers his mouth and nose and mutters to himself, "What the hell is with this smell?"

He pushes open the door and drags his eyes around the apartment again. His eyes drift to the doorway to the kitchen right next to the front door. The pool of blood doesn't register in his mind even as he stares at it, eyes wide. Voice barely above a whisper, he asks, "T-Tobi...?"

Even when he receives no answer from the house, he can't move. His feet feel as if they're stuck to the ground, his mind blanking. It feels as if the walls are condensing around him, trapping him in place as he stares hard at the crimson puddle seeping from the kitchen. He feels his stomach twisting and churning as he stands there, still trying to get his body to function -- to do something.

A shaky breath leaves his body and the rest come in shallow breaths. Finally, after what seems like an eternity of standing and staring, he's able to take an unsteady step towards the doorway. With that one step, he already sees it: Tobi's bare foot stained a gruesome shade of crimson from the blood dried to it. Taking in a sharp breath, he takes another step. Then another and another until he stands in the doorway of the kitchen, staring at Tobi's dead body. His knees go weak and buckle under him.

As he sits there on his knees, a torrent of tears sliding down his cheeks from his wide eyes. As he stares at her corpse, the only thing that comes out of his mouth is a small and surprised sounding, "Tobi...?"