Strange aura

As Aiden trudged through the sands, he felt exhaustion overtake him, each step felt impossible but somehow he pushed along, he didn't know where he was going or whether he would even reach somewhere but if he stopped, it would be all over.

He sighed, he looked at the bottle in his hand, it was empty adding to his despair, he looked closely but there was not even a drop of water in it, his hopes evaporated as the sun felt hotter than before.

Being lost was one thing, but being lost in a desert where vast stretches of sand followed you everywhere was another level of terror and he cursed himself for putting himself in that kind of situation, if he hadn't been so careless to separate from the group, he would still be safe.

As he continued walking, he could see something in the distance, it brought him a sense of relief and joy, he squinted to look at it more closely but all that he could make out was that it was something huge, maybe a tent?

"That shouldn't be there!"

That thought swarmed his mind but it also provided momentary relief which filled him with excitement and made him walk faster but all his hopes were dashed when he came near the object, it was very huge for sure but it was no tent, it was a large cactus with red flowers growing on top.

It looked strangely beautiful, he had never seen something like that before and didn't know something like that even existed, if he wasn't lost or exhausted, he would have taken pictures of this unique plant from every angle.

But that was a thought left for good times, when you weren't lost and starving and had plenty of water, not holding a bottle that was despairingly empty. He looked around and saw nothing, so he decided to take advantage of the shade of cactus.

Atleast he had somewhere to rest now but no food or water and no hope of being rescued, he leaned his head against the cactus being careful to avoid the thorns. The cactus was astounding, he felt extremely small compared to it, as he was lost in wonder he saw something oozing out of the cactus.

He was reluctant at first but then realized he had nothing to loose and tasted a drop of it, it was sweet and refreshing unlike anything he had before, the taste made him drink more, no matter how much he drank, it felt less.

He drank till he felt his stomach would burst if he drank more, his stomach was full but his heart was still not satisfied, he wished he could drink more but knew he had to stop, he sat down to look at the night sky, it wasn't hot as before.

He could see the stars clearly, they seemed to be twinkling with excitement, he felt joy seep his soul as if his soul was being nourished but then suddenly a pang of dizziness hit him.

He couldn't understand why he was feeling that way, everything seemed blurry for a bit but then it seemed normal again, he gazed up at the cactus, the flowers seemed to be brighter than before, he thought maybe it was an illusion or he was so exhausted that he hadn't noticed before.

An eerie sensation began to gnaw at him, he realized he knew nothing about this plant or whether it was even safe but he thought it was too far fetched to think that a plant would prey on a human, he hadn't read about anything like that in the news.

He tried to calm himself, survival was his first priority and he couldn't waste his energy thinking or even being terrified of things he wasn't sure about and the bigger concern was that he had nowhere to go in this vast and endless desert.

He checked his phone, the battery had died out but even with the battery the phone was of little to no use as there was no network in this brutal landscape, he felt miserable thinking if this was the end, he didn't want to end up dead in a desert where he had a slim chance of being found.

He noticed an opening in the cactus, it was large enough for a human to get in, his mind panicked, maybe it was a trap, maybe this plant preyed on humans, he hesitated but then thought it was safe if he kept a distance and observed it.

He slowly went near it but found to his surprise there was no opening at all, his mind was playing tricks he thought, he had succumbed to the exhaustion and now he was seeing things that weren't there!

He stepped back and turned to leave but then noticed the opening was there, he couldn't understand what was happening, was the plant trying to trick him, but why?, he wanted to go in and see what was there but a fear began to creep inside him, he didn't want to end up being some plants food.

Curiosity nagged him and he slowly checked the opening, he expected something to pop out and grab him but nothing came, it added to his relief but he was still scared, he took slow and hesitant steps inwards.

It was cooler inside, it felt soothing, apart from that there was nothing special that would strike him as odd, it seemed like the inside of an ordinary cactus, he kept looking at the opening, he was scared it would close up and he would be gobbled away by the plant but that didn't happen and he was left standing there.

He didn't want to leave but he didn't want to stay there either, so he quickly walked out, the night sky seemed more brighter than before and he felt as if he had been swept up in space, he caught a glimpse of something in the sky that he felt was the milky way.

His mind began to swirl up with thoughts of never being found and be left here to wither away, it disturbed him but the serenity of the landscape seemed to calm him, maybe he just had to wait a bit more.

Blood trickled down his nose and a few drops fell down mixing into the sand, he stepped back terrified, he felt fine, then why was his nose bleeding?, was he bleeding from inside or burst a vein due to heat?

He stood there frozen in fear as his mind tried to understand why he was in such a state, he coughed and spat blood, his eyes widened in terror, he looked around terrified, that's when he saw the flowers, they were glowing and it was not an illusion.

He coughed up more blood, he could feel his energy draining, he didn't know what to do, he wanted to get away from this plant, stand away from it but his mind refused to leave, it was as if his legs had developed a mind of their own as he walked towards the opening and went inside, it was oozing out a liquid which he drank despite not wanting to.

He started feeling drowsy, blood was trickling down from his nose and mouth, he leaned but that didn't give him any respite, he realized the cactus had tricked him into safety and had drained his energy, it didn't directly kill it's prey, it played games with them and slowly savoured them.