In Bloom

Blood Offerings

"Yes. I do require blood."

"Please don't tell me it has to be human." Beta looked up. The plant only blinked at him. "Oh God, why me?"

"I do agree with that. Of all the places I could have ended up at, it had to be the room of an incompetent human. But, life works in strange ways, you could say."

"How much do you even need?" Beta sighed.

"Only a few drops." Fred seemed to shake with anticipation. "For now."

Beta cringed at those words. He was stuck, but it sounded like this plant monster was showing sympathy for him. For now he could follow along until he came up with a plan to get rid of this thing. He looked around his dorm to find a way to draw blood from himself. Beta refused to touch Fred's thorns.

He then remembered his bulletin board that his mom had bought him. She told him it was a good way to pin important things coming up, but instead he used it to hang up dirty socks and a bra he found on the ground one night. He took one of the pins out.

He pricked his finger. A small pool of blood formed at his finger as he held it over Fred. As it dripped onto Fred it groaned in pleasure. Beta face scrunched up at the sound.

"Stop! You're making it weird!"

"My apologies, it's just so satisfying after so long."

A few more droplets fell on Fred. Beta then pulled away.

"Whatever. That is all you are getting." He put his finger in his mouth and sucked again. God, if this was his new job he was going to look like a diabetic.

"You shouldn't suck on that, that isn't sanitary, especially with those black nails."

"Oh, fuck off! I'm not going to get AIDS from my own body."

"At least get a bandaid, or something." The plant mumbled. Beta eyes felt heavy despite just waking up. This whole thing was just so tiring."

"I'm going back to bed. Don't make much noise..."

"But the sun is out?"

"So, what?"

Fred didn't have much to say in reply, all he did was watch Beta close the curtains, dimming the whole room - before heading under his blanket. The plant didn't bother to wish him goodnight, he simply turned back to the laptop and decided to investigate the internet further.
                                     ————
"Do you live alone? I thought I heard different voices around your dorm." Fred asked, sitting on the kitchen counter as Beta made another instant ramen bowl.

"No, I don't live alone," He answered. "My roommate is at a party, so we're alone for now."

Fred nodded, looking over the small space. "It's surprisingly tidy..." Beta glared at him in response.

"Anyways, we need to take care of your blood diet. I heard you mumble that you'll eventually need more. You can't expect me to bleed out everyday or kill my roommate or something, even if I'd love to. Ugh, that guy's such a jerk..." Beta explained.

"My apologies, Beta, but my diet cannot change. I require human sacrifices." Fred answered, watching the human stuff his face with noodles.

"Is there like-" he asked between chewing, "-a way to get rid of you? No offense, I just really don't want to kill someone."

"Ah," Fred deadpanted, "Trust me, I would have left already if I could. Sadly, the one who awakens me has to be my servant. It's a rule I cannot break."

Beta almost choked on his ramen in response; "What?! What the fuck do you mean by that?!"

"Language." Fred growled, before continuing - "Remember how you woke me up? You stung yourself on my teeth. Your blood is now bound to my existence. No matter where you leave me, I will always come back to you one way or another. So, I suggest you start working at a hospital to steal those bags of blood you humans like so much."