The florist : sunflower

Chapter 1: Welcome to the Chaos

Walking through the hallway of Arch mental asylum with a bouquet of sunflowers in my hand I couldn't help but smile. Visiting Derek Winston was one of the highlights of my day. You see as a mental asylum nurse it was hard to find joy in these hallow halls. Derek tells me stories, CRAZY stories, but deep down I feel like I know they're true. I can't explain why but it feels like... I was in Derek's position once. As I walked into the small white room Derek's face lit up. I sat down next to him, handing him the flowers. He took the flowers and smiled up at me. His messy blonde hair hung over his stormy grey eyes . His smile turned into a grin and he asked, " Do you want to hear a story Sophie?" I nodded eagerly and he began to speak.

My friends and I used to love doing challenges, but this was a challenge we couldn't win. It all started  on a Tuesday morning when my friend Alex told us about the Chaos House .(Hearing Derek say that sent a chill down my spine.) He told us that we could win 18 million dollars... if we survived. Hearing the winning prize we all signed up without hesitation, boy was that a mistake. That friday the people from the Chaos House waited outside of the school to pick us up. We drove in a sleek black limousine for about five hours until we stopped at a creepy black mansion. Alex and the others were super excited, but I had a bad feeling about it.

There were 8 rooms each customized to suit our hobbies. My room was colourful with lots of flowers. I loved gardening and it had been a passion of mine for many years. After unpacking my luggage I plopped down on my bed briefly closing my eyes I opened my eyes as someone knocked. My friend Shasha stood there with a smile. She wanted me to go check out her room. I let out a sigh as I got up and followed  her to the room at the end of the hall. The room was a golden yellow and looked like a ballet studio. With a bed of course. On her nightstand there was a vase of sunflowers. She looked super thrilled about her room, she always had a passion for ballet . (As he told me about Shasha , I had a picture of a Blonde haired girl with deep blue eyes , dancing to her heart's content in a field of sunflowes. And somehow I had a feeling that it was Shasha.)

Dinner was amazing, servants in red and black tuxedoes served us anything we wanted, but I felt like something was watching me. I brushed it off and continued finishing my lasagne. After dinner I went outside to get some fresh air. My friend Lia came with. She loved shooting and wanted to get some practice in, so I agreed to accompany her, we walked all the way to the shooting range. I turned my head to see that she had stopped in her tracks. I made my way over to her. She looked up at me and asked with sorrow in her voice ,"What is death really?" For a second I was shocked, Lia had never been a serious person and hardly ever talked about death but still I answered in confusion,"It's when a person loses their life, but you see death doesn't happen to you it happens to everyone around you. Cause if you die you don't get hurt but it leaves everyone around you shattered." She looked at me with tears in her eyes and asked, "If I die would you miss me? " I hugged her tightly and she understood. (At that moment I felt like I understood the pain of that conversation as if I lost a friend, but I dried of my tears and Derek continued.)

That night as I stared up at my fern filled ceiling I couldn't help but wonder about my death. I know it's dark right, but Lia's words were stuck in my head, spinning through my mind like a broken record.

I woke up with an alarm yelling in my ears and the blinding sun shining in my eyes. It's weird because i don't remember setting an alarm, but instead of questioning it I dragged myself out of bed and walked down the hallway to the fanciest bathroom I've ever seen. At the door there was a young girl with  raven hair standing there with different coloured towels.

She handed me a little box and a lime green towel. In the box there was a lime green loofah, lime scented body wash and lotion and 2 in 1 conditioner/shampoo. After a hot shower I threw on a black shirt and jeans, I laced up my sneakers and made my way to the dining hall. All of my friends were sitting there eating breakfast. I greeted them as I walked in and headed for the buffet table.I took a scone from the buffet and went for a walk. Then I saw her again, her raven hair in the most perfect curls I've ever seen. It looked like she was spying on me hiding behind the tree. "Who is she?" the question rang in my head. I went behind her when she wasn't looking. She stared at the direction I was standing just a few seconds ago confused as to where I had gone. I tapped her shoulder making her  spin around and fall back hitting the ground hard. "What are we doing?" I asked teasingly. Bending  down I reached out to help her but she knocked my hand aside and stood up. " I don't need anyone's help ." She snapped as she dusted herself off.
She started walking away and I followed, " That still doesn't answer my question." She didn't reply. "Can I at least know you name? " She turned around and glared at me, "Jessica." Then she disappeared.

Exploring the mansion I opened a set of doors leading into a grand library. Bookshelf lined the walls and couches were scattered across the room. In the middle of everything sat a brunette with her nose buried in a book. "Hey Nat." I greeted. She waved not even looking up from the book. Chuckling I made my way over to the Botany section. I searched for anything that looked remotely interested. After a few minutes I sat down with a book titled, Top 50 most dangerous plants. Natasha and I read in silence until Kayla and Andrea walked in. "Hi guys we wanted to know if you'd join us for game night." Natasha and I shared a glance and gave a nodd. "Great we start at seven." Andrea said as they walked away.

Game night was a blast, I was paired up with Shasha and Alex. We played  a series of board and card games. We managed to take second place. While Sam, Kayla and Andrea were in the lead.
We all packed up and headed for our rooms. On my way there I bumped into Jessica, making the vase of sunflowers she was carrying shatter on the ground. "I am so so sorry." I apologised as I bent down trying to pick up the broken shards. "No worries it's fine..." She trailed off as she looked at me with her steel blue eyes. She started gathering the sunflower at a quicker pace and rushed out as soon as she was finished. Completely ignoring her weird behaviour I continue walking to my room.