Office Plants

I jerked awake as my alarm started its everyday obnoxious squealing. “Ugh, Why. Why is it morning.” I groaned to my phone, reaching out to swat it so it would shut up. Once there was peace and quiet in my room again, I closed my eyes. I really didn’t want to start my day. 

In the silence, I could hear my coffee machine gurgling and sputtering from the kitchen. At least if I got up, I could get some caffeine in my system. That might at least make me feel a little bit more human. As I pulled myself out of bed, my cat, Kazi, glared at me for disturbing her.

I ignored my annoyed cat, and zombie walked my way into the kitchen. I needed some of that sugary goodness. I poured some of the black gold and took a deep sniff of the beautiful aroma. I was just about to take my first glorious sip of coffee when I heard Kazi’s bell coming from my office. Of all places for that cat to go, she just had to go into the office.

“Hey, Kazi,” I said as I pushed the door open, “You know that you are not-”

My voice ran out as I took in the sight of what was once my office. On the far wall was a shining and glimmering tear, a jagged rip that reached from floor to ceiling. There were dozens of long vines emerging from it. They were reaching every which way spreading across the room. One was tangled up in my computer, pushing itself into the fans. Then another was in the middle of my bookcases, splitting them in half and scattering my books. I heard one to my right, rustling through the trash can, crushing the leftover Coke can from my lunch the day before. 

I stood there for what felt like an eternity, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. The sounds of bells and a cat yowling interrupted my gapping. That’s when I noticed the large vine reaching under my desk. It had trapped Kazi, pushing her against the wall as she hissed in vain. Surprisingly, the vine seemed to be kept at bay by her dagger-like claws. I reacted out of instinct and knelt down to attempt to save my cat.

As I brushed by the root, it seemed to sense my touch and whipped around and wrapped tightly around my wrist. I let out a scream as tiny thorns embedded into my flesh.  I yanked back, trying to free myself from the grip of the plant. I swear that the vine tightened its grip in response.  I saw Kazi streak past my foot and out of the room. But by then, I had bigger things on my mind than my cat.

The thorns in the vine were digging so deep now, they were starting to draw blood. The red blood droplets stood out brightly against the dark green of my captor. The vine began to slowly pull me closer to the shimmering tear in my wall. 

I wasn’t sure what that thing was at the center of my wall, but I had no interest in finding out.  But the more I fought, the tighter the briars sliced into me.  It was nearly impossible to get any traction on the tiled floor, I was being drawn closer and closer to the glittering thing in the wall. 

What in the world was that? The thought hit me that it could be a portal to another dimension. But that’s not possible. But there it was, and the last time I checked, I was not starring in any sci-fi movies.   Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the hammer I had used to build the now destroyed bookcase. Kazi had managed to wound this thing, maybe I could too. I grabbed the hammer and swung hard at the vine, claw end first.

It let out an ear-piercing screech and finally released my arm. There was green goo oozing from the gash where the hammer had hit it. Thank goodness for my inability to put anything away.

 Before I could do anything else, run away or try and hit it again, another two vines lunged towards me. They grabbed ahold of my ankles, yanking me off my feet. Losing my balance, I fell flat on my back with a thud, unintentionally released the hammer. Another creeper came up from the floorboards and snatched it away. My only weapon, my only hope…was gone.

I was only feet from the gap in the wall, yet no closer to figuring out what it even was.  I let out another scream, trying to find something to grab on to, anything to stop myself from being dragged any closer to that thing.

 Inches from the wall now, I started to be able to see through the tear. It was really a portal!  My eyes widened as I stared into the void.  At the other end of the evil vines looked like a giant sunflower. However, instead of seeds, there were hundreds of teeth. They were dripping with what looked like that same green goo coming out of the gash I left in the vines. The teeth spun around, slicing the air.

The vines drug me toward the dripping mouth, and I screamed again as my feet breached the portal, I felt the green goo start to splatter onto my feet. I could feel this nightmarish flowers hot breath on my feet.  

In a last-ditch effort, I let out a final cry, when suddenly I sat up straight. I was back in my room. Kazi was glaring at me from the bottom of my bed, her tail twitching in annoyance. Oh, thank god, It was only a nightmare. I swung my feet out of bed and reached for the lamp. As I moved, my wrist shot with pain. Turning on the light  I got a good look at my wrist, it had deep scratches all around it. The wounds had small dark thorns embedded deep inside of them.

My breath froze in my throat, and my feet seemed to move off their own accord.  Practically hyperventilating, I ran into my office. There was nothing there. The wall was still as I left it. Of course, there was nothing here. It had to be a dream. But that didn’t explain my wrist. Where could these wounds have possibly come from? Did Kazi attack me overnight?

I was pacing back and forth. How could this be? My wrist started to ache more and more as I moved. Finally, I took another look at it, hoping that maybe the look of the wound had changed, and I could make some sense of all this.

My skin was red and inflamed. Each of the tiny thorns seemed to have doubled in size, and each had what looked like dozens of little vines coming from them.

“Calm down, Laine,” My breath was coming faster and faster. “You have to be dreaming. But you can’t feel pain in a dream, right?”

I resumed my pacing, trying not to touch my wrist, despite it really starting to itch. The sensation began to spread up my arm, and I finally couldn’t resist scratching as it reached my shoulder.  I took off my long-sleeved shirt as I headed for the bathroom to get a better look at what was going on.

The mirror revealed a horrifying sight. From wrist to shoulder, I had hundreds of vines sprouting out of my skin, they were all about 2 inches long. I swear I could even see them growing more extensive as I watched.

In a panic, I grabbed one of the vines and yanked with all my might. My vision blurred, and I fought not to pass out. It had felt like I had pulled on one of my own nerve endings.  I gasped again in disgust asI could see tiny green sprouts coming from what looked like every inch of skin. I have to do something! I can’t just let these ..these... Things use me as human fertilizer to keep growing. I grabbed my razor from the shower and took a few deep, steadying breaths.  After a moment, I pressed the razor to my leg. Maybe the small ones wouldn’t hurt as much. I drew back on the blade, and the last thing I remember is hitting the bathroom tile.

*Meat. I need meat.* I was awake now, and I am hungry.  I could sense that there was a source nearby. I reached out for it with one of my hundreds of appendages. * I am so famished. I need sustenance * The meat was hiding from me. I could hear it hiss at me as I reached for it.