Hell Flower

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I blinked as I woke up, but my vision was too blurry. Dark shapes shifted around me. I let my eyes slide closed again.

The sound of a fire crackling and spitting filled my ears. The rich scent of warm pine drifted over me, followed by the acrid, chemical smell of smoke from burning weeds.

"How long until she wakes up?" a distant voice called. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it.

"There was no tranquilizer in that injection," a second voice said. This one sounded softer, female. A cold hand touched my face, pushing my hair back from my forehead. "She shouldn't be unconscious at all."

I tried to move my arms, but with the effort, a surge of pain raged through me like wildfire. Everything hurt. My right ankle throbbed with a deep, nauseating pain, and my entire left arm was completely numb, all the way from my shoulder to the tips of my fingers.

"It's okay," the second voice called again as a hand rubbed my back. I recognized it—Liz.

Suddenly, my stomach turned like something was flipping over inside me. Gravity had changed direction, working in the left-right instead of the up-down.

"What the fuck," I muttered as I rolled onto my back.

The movement was too much. A surge of acid rushed up from my stomach. My lower jaw swelled with salty sweet saliva. I twisted myself so I was on my hands and knees, and with a painful wretch, vomit spewed from my mouth.

I gagged as my body shivered and shook. My abdomen burned. A second wave of nausea pulsed through me, and I was sick again. I spat a few times to get the taste off my tongue. I wiped my mouth with the back of the hand I could still feel.

"It's okay," Liz said. She rubbed my back. "You're okay."

My head ached like my skull was a pressure vessel. The tiny gashes that covered my body stung and itched.

Finally, I rolled over to face her. One sleeve of her jacket was shredded, and her lips were turned down into a pained frown. Her blue eyes glistened like she was about to cry.

"I'm sorry." Tears pooled in my eyes. "I'm so sorry. I'm so stupid." I clenched the hand I could feel into a fist. "I never should have trusted her. I-I . . ."

I gagged like I was about to be sick again, but all that came up was a hiccup followed by a violent sob.

"She tricked you." Liz placed her hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. "She manipulated you, Allison. It's not your fault."

"I should have known better," I said. "I shouldn't have fell for it."

"It's nearly impossible to fight back something like that—a demon in your own mind. She warped your perception of reality—made it impossible to tell what's real and what isn't. What's lies and what's the truth."

"You have to get it out of me," I begged. A sudden flare of pain radiated from the bite on my ankle. I gasped and grabbed it, terrified to untie my combat boot and see how bad it was.

"Please, you have to help me." I forced the words out between gritted teeth.

My gaze traveled over to the rest of Make Them Scream. All of them had shifted back to their human forms. Jake and Reggie stood with Veronica near the fire. The sleeve of Jake's shirt was torn, and blood dripped from his arm. A huge scratch ran across Reggie's face, from the corner of his eyebrow, across his cheek and down to the edge of his mouth. The blood glistened in the warm red light of the fire. Veronica hid behind him, holding his arm tightly and barely poking her head out.

Alex kneeled next to the fire, keeping his distance, but his eyes were focused on me. His face was drawn into a tense frown, and he clutched his ribs with one hand. The front of his shirt was torn to shreds, revealing deep gashes across his chest—claw marks. Fresh blood ran from them, painting his pale skin red. The bite wound on his neck was still visible, the skin raw and inflamed around it.