Witches Aren't Supposed to be Flowery

Chapter 10: Suffocating anxieties

Amity's pained wheezes echoed through the empty room. Her lungs were on fire, and her mouth was made of chalk.

She gasped and coughed and gasped again but the flowers wouldn't cede. They clogged her throat, grouping together, sticky with blood and blocking her airway.

She could feel flower after flower getting sucked up into her throat as small thorns poked harshly against her insides.

She doubled over, falling to the ground with her hands out to brace herself, barely keeping the strength to stop herself from collapsing completely. Her heart was beating in her head, loud and terrified and wild.

As her arms caved in, she fell onto her side helplessly, still writhing in her instinctive last attempts to get air.

I guess this is it. It all leads up to this. A sad, pitiful end, weak and alone.

She was alone. That was what hurt the most. She was lying on the floor, crying for her life, but no one even cared enough to hear. No one came to help. No one came to cry for her. No one came just to watch her sad excuse of a life finish off like an abandoned story.

But wait.

That wasn't true. There was someone there. Someone was there! Someone had heard her. Someone could help her.

The tears cascading out of Amity's eyes blurred her vision, making it nearly impossible to make out the person. She was sure she looked a whole mess and then some, but all she could focus on was the prospect of her safety and health. If she could just call out to them...

She couldn't see who it was. But it only took one word for her to recognize the voice.

"Amity?" Luz asked, stopping a few feet back.

Luz! Luz could help! She would help!

With all the strength she had in her, Amity reached out her hand towards Luz, hoping she would understand the universal plea.

But Luz stepped back.

"What's wrong with you?" the girl asked.

The question hit Amity like a knife to her already wounded chest.

Between the coughs and hacks and sobs, Amity had still heard Luz's words. Where the witch had expected to hear Luz's usual concerned and caring tone, she instead heard disgust. Horror. Fright.

Luz took another step back, and though Amity's sight was impaired, she could feel the glare Luz sent down at her.

"I don't love you."

Four words never hurt more.

And suddenly she wanted to be alone again. Because that was no longer what hurt the most.

But Luz stood, staring down at Amity with a hateful gaze as she was still desperately struggling for air.

Staring as her body began to shut down, her consciousness fading.

Staring as she went limp.

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When Willow awoke to a steady buzzing sounding through the silence of her bedroom, she was shocked.

To be completely honest, she was surprised the noise even woke her up, as she was usually a deep sleeper. Good thing it did, though, otherwise she'd be running late.

But as she sat up in bed, she felt like something was off. She glanced at the clock across the room, squinting at it as she blindly reached out her hand and fumbled for her glasses on her bedside table. Grabbing the lenses, she slipped them on and looked back at the clock, trying again to read the time.