5

Karina was walking in the desert. It was bright red..traces of smoke seen from far away. Her body felt cold and hot at the same time.

Her heart was beating at an irregular pace, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Her hands were shaking...

"Ka...rinaa...!"

She whipped her head around at the most familiar sound...

Mom...?

"Mom? Dad?" She bolted towards the familiar figure, tears forming in her eyes.

She ran straight through the blurry figure

"Wh-..what happened..?" She cried out.

The figure raised one hand, urging Karina to come forward. She slowly went towards them.

"They-"

Before they could finish, she was sucked into a black vacuum.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

She was thrown to the ground. The sky was dark grey..the dimmest light available...It was a humid forest.

Karina moved deliberately, glancing here and there.

She turned her head when she saw a person close to her face. She screamed...with no noise coming out of her mouth. She screamed even harder. Her chest felt like it was being compressed. About to explode out of her own body. The creature had wings. His face was hidden. She closed her eyes letting out a loud wail.

******

A ray of sunlight met Karina's eyes, and she sat up, brisk. Sweating profusely, she could hear her heartbeat as she stared into nothing.

Who was that person? What were they telling me? It's a fucking dream.

Who was that angel-like being? Why am I getting these dreams only after I saw him?

It was too overwhelming..a wave of exhaustion crept up over her, prying its claws in her.

Karina found herself already crying.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

The dream's after-effects were temporarily forgotten when she went to work. She inhaled the fragrance of a nova. Her mind felt free, later carrying on with her work.

Milo came in.

"Hey, Ms. Aberra...I'm here." He looked very hot. Stop. Relaxed, with a grey shirt and black pants.

When he was standing outside the shop, It felt familiar...just like another encounter she'd had.

Wait...

He's the short guy that had come by a week ago.

But maybe he came by because he wanted a job and liked this place. God, she was overthinking so much it annoyed her.

She shooed the thought away.

"Hey, Milo..call me Karina. We don't do formalities here."

"Sure, Karina. Shall we get started?" He gave a small smirk. He looked like he was enjoying himself.

Is there something she didn't know?

She gave an awkward smile, "Okay." He handed me the bouquet.

***

Weeks went by and It felt like Karina finally found a good friend. She was comforted with the start of a new partnership. He knew what to do like he didn't need experience.

Milo and she were just arranging stuff when he came up to her, "Hey Karina.."

"Mhm?"

"What are these? I've never seen them before." He held a nova, strangely deliberate with his words.

"W-where did you find..those?" Shit. Shit. She should've thought about this.

"It was right there. Tell me..what are these?" She looked at him. It felt different. Like he was waiting for her to tell him. Her senses flared with warning signs.

"These are...imported seeds of a rare flower. I got it from a friend.." He ignored her awkward smile.

"Right..okay." She knew he was skeptical but he left it. Thank fuck.

"Um..so my friend is coming here. To check on stuff. His name is Jonah."

"Oh..ok." Karina nodded.

"Speak of the devil," Milo whispered when a man walked in wearing a striped button-up shirt and jeans. He had messy dark brown hair.

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