Black Iris

I have always hated the outdoors; the bugs, the smell, the dirt, and the never-ending trees. I used to consider myself to be a pretty fearless person or as close to it as one can be, but when it came to a hike in the middle of nowhere, I had rather been sleeping next to the rustic hearth keeping warm. That wish will never come true thanks to a bet my friends and I made, I had to begin a long and useless trek into the middle of the woods to find an elusive flower called the Balck Iris. No matter how much I complain, I was actually a little intrigued, I have never felt so drawn to a plant I have only seen online before. Hours went by unnoticed due to the trance I was in and just as the sun was starting to go down, with no trail to follow I walked aimlessly deeper into the immeasurable overgrowth.

A few hours later nightfall had descended upon me at a shocking speed, so I finally made the logical decision to give up on the hunt admit defeat. That choice came too late since I did not recognize a single tree or bush or sound, I was lost completely and utterly lost. I shouted for help, all the while knowing I was way too far to be heard. Demoralized and all alone, I sensed something moving just in the shadows, I looked but it was always out of sight no matter where I turned. I did the only thing I could, I ran away but it felt as if I was dragging it along with me, my body was just so heavy and lethargic.

I vainly tried to outrun the overwhelming feeling, pushing through the branches that scraped my skin drawing blood, but no matter how fast I ran I couldn’t get away. I felt a brush of air at my neck like a faint breath and spun around leaping away, only to plummet into a hole that felt 30 feet deep. I was stuck, but I didn’t feel alone, I must have hit my head falling unconscious as well because I was thinking of the preliminary court case which involved me when I was a child. I thought I had forgotten all about it, it’s all still so blurry, but it’s getting clearer. I could just barely smell the fruity scent of the Black Iris through the haze, I didn’t even question how I could recognize the strange flowers sent.

It was a long time ago. A serial killer had targeted me as his next victim, and I almost was. The way the disgusting man worked was by taking children off the street at random, he would wait for any reports about missing children to show up on the news. It was terrible he would sit right in front of the screen and not move an inch and during every commercial, he would turn his attention towards the child that was taken. He would enact his cruel fantasies on the hopeless children and if they could survive until the cops not only acknowledged the genius behind his schemes, but they also had to successfully follow the clues carefully laid out and catch him in the act. No child ever survived, that is until me.

I figured out how to lock myself away in my own head, to hide from the trauma, I dissociated from my own body in order to survive. I was lucky that the detectives who presented themselves as my guardian angels showed up when they did. They came right as I thought I couldn’t take anymore and rescued me. Strangely enough, once I was back in the arms of my parents I could barely recognize their faces, but that was likely due to the severe trauma that my body healed overnight.

It was almost the perfect ending the only thing I had left to do was attend the trial. It was incredibly short and uneventful, thanks to a trial by his peers the monster was given the death sentence. Until the end, he refused to repent to save his soul. It was a happily ever after.

“...He’s been unresponsive since he was 10 years old, he’s 18 now whatever that sick bastard did to him is permanent, the doctors don’t know what else to do. They’ve tried every operation they could think of and this last one was all they had left. Think of the time he was able to last here as a blessing; if it wasn’t for that mysterious donation of $20,000 tucked into a black notebook filled with the prayers of thousands of random people cheering for you son, we would’ve had to pull the plug last year. Leave the Black Iris’ on the bedside before you go they calm him...”

I opened my eyes and looked around the dark hole only now noticing the bed of Iris’ I’m laying on, waiting for my rescue ...I never really realized how dark it truly was, it’s almost peaceful.