Farah's Bloom

Part Fifteen - Reality Hits

Farah lies there, in the greenhouse, surrounded by thoughts and memories clouding her asleep mind. She is weak and has no energy. Her eyes haven't opened since she was hurt. Bloom, her daughter, lies beside her with her eyes closed from days worth of no sleep. She clenches her mothers hand as she finally rests. The greenhouse is quiet, with nothing to be heard apart from the wind blowing swiftly outside on the grounds. Headmaster Silva and Ben Harvey surround the grounds, making sure that everyone at Alfea, including Farah and Bloom, stay safe from the blood witches. It was still unclear how many there are, but Bloom wasn't thinking of much right now, only her mother.
Farah softly closes her hand against Bloom's, and with her eyes closed she managed to provide comfort to her.
Bloom's eyes open and she gazes at Ms Dowling. She came to Alfea and she has never looked back. Farah Dowling has taught Bloom so much, and it brings Bloom utter sadness to think of her being so lifeless.
But it's a good sign that Farah can hold her daughter's hand. Bloom smiles softly as she fills with comfort, knowing that Farah was still with her and had gained the strength to hold her hand, softly, but still there.
"I can't do this without you, mum. There are things I need to tell you, and things I need to do. But if I do them, there's there's chance it could come crashing down on me." Bloom blurts out. She holds Farah's soft, pale hand and she speaks to her as if she was awake and listening to every word...Well, she might be.
"And you are the strongest person I know. If I turn to Musa, Aisha, Stella and Terra or Sky, it can put them in danger."
Bloom thinks of her friends and how happy they were when she told them that Ms Dowling is her mother and how supportive their words had been. She knew she could count on them. But she didn't want to put them in danger, and she didn't know the strength of the blood witches yet or how many there were. Bloom was puzzled with thoughts and she wanted to defeat them, but she wasn't sure how to or if her powers would work. Her power worked on the burned ones when she defeated them and turned them to their original human forms, but blood witches? She was clueless.
With these words, something in Farah seems to change she turns her eyes through her lids, and moments later theh spring open. Bloom closes her eyes before she sees her mothers eyes widen, and she breaths in deeply, like she has been holding it in for a while.
"Bloom. Help me up." Bloom straightens up and looks down at Farah.
"Mum! Your awake. I must tell Silva and Professor Harvey!" Bloom starts to get up from the cushioned filled floor, but Farah puts her arm across her.
"Help me up, Bloom. Please." Bloom hesitates and looks her mum in the eyes. That calm gaze she had missed.
"You are too weak...I can't. " but Farah gives Bloom the same look she had given her after the first lesson of the term, when she told Bloom to mind her tone. With that look, she knows that she has no choice but to help her up, no matter how much energy she has.
Bloom places her hand under Farah Dowling's back and one hand on her shoulder and she slowly pushes her up, with the help of the chair that Farah uses to stand up with. She manages to stand and towers over Bloom. She dusts her slim dark dress off and picks a leaf from her tights, along with another that had gotten stuck to the bottom of her dress.
"Ben and his plants. Then again, I cannot complain. I am alive and awake. It's all thanks to you, Saul and Ben. I am very greatful, Bloom." Farah smiles at her daughter and places a hand on her shoulder as if to say a gentle thank you. But within seconds her expression changes, and she is filled with worry again.
"Bloom, tell me. " Bloom is about to ask what, but then realises she had mumbled words to her thinking she couldn't hear her. She takes a deep breath in, but before she can speak and get her words out, her head goes blank. Images swipe across her brain which causes Bloom to fall back in the chair behind her. Farah catches her just before she falls and lowers her softly to the chair.
"Bloom, are you alright? What's happening?" Farah speaks so fast that it makes her blood raise. She feels a sense of worry as she looks at her collapsed daughter.
Meanwhile in Bloom's mind, images of the past and present flash before her. She sees fires, witches and children being kidnapped. She sees a witch using magic and laughing, which gives her a shudder to her spine. Once the images have flashed by, Bloom opens her eyes and looks at a worried Farah, who's staring down at her with a hand on her shoulder, gently shaking.
Bloom is shaking, she realises, and she stands up from her seat but begins to wobble, so Farah ushers her to sit.
"Bloom, tell me what's going on. I need to know." Farah Dowling demands.
Bloom breaths in, attempting to clear her mind of the awful events that had appeared to her.
"I had another vision. While you were being treated, I went into the woods. A blood witch wouldn't give me answers, but she had somehow connected minds. Everytime I have a...vision, they gain power. I don't know how many witches there are, but one seemed to have power over me." Bloom feels tears of fear trickle down her pale cheeks and she begins to cry. Farah sits on the chair beside her and she comforts her, with her arms wrapped around her.
"Oh, Bloom.: Although Farah doesn't speak many words, her mind is filled with many thoughts. She wanders how she help her daughter. She hadn't faced a blood witch. Have they came back for revenge? Do they want to take Bloom again?