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“See you later Mom!” Claire said cheerfully, turning back before turning to walk out of her science class. Miss Bloomie gave a small smile in response. “You too, have a good day, Claire.” Bloomie said calmly, patting Claire on the head, before watching her little girl walk away.
A sensation of warmth bloomed in her chest, which was gladly welcomed by the science teacher. It was a break period, that meant all the students were all doing their own thing, and the teachers got some extra time to prepare for their next lesson. Bloomie didn’t have much to do, the classroom was clean, and all the books and papers were put away, and the test papers were all on her desk waiting to be graded.
Bloomie internally winced. She…really didn’t like grading tests. Not that it was hard or taxing. When they went well, then she was fine. But if even a single student failed…
Maybe it was just a curse in this school, or maybe it was that demonic entity known as ∆lice tucked away in the school. But whenever she saw a failing mark on one of her student’s tests…Bad things happened.
She really did care about her students, and she definitely didn’t want to go so far as to cause physical damage to them. But if they failed, it’s like she loses complete control of her own body and later finds the gruesome aftermath.
Bloomie walked towards her desk and sat down on her chair, reaching out to grasp the first paper she saw. Grabbing a red marker, she started looking over the questions, and marking off the correct and wrong answers. As time marched on, the motions became blended together, her mind taking a back seat as her body gradually graded each paper.
Her mind went back to the student last spoke to. Claire. God, she really hopes that she didn’t fail…No, she won’t fail. She and Claire practiced for this several times before today. Sure she did have a little trouble grasping this subject, but she’ll be ok. She’ll remember all that..
She’ll…She’ll survive this.
Bloomie shook her head as the movements of her arms stopped. She blinked a few times before looking down at her desk, only to see a dozen papers with red markings. When had she finished those? Everything was all a blur…
Bloomie looked down at the papers with a sharp eye. So far, things were going smoothly. No students have failed, most with B’s and A’s and the rare instances of a C here and there. A barely noticeable satisfied smile slowly crept onto her face. Maybe today she wouldn’t have to-
F-
That singular letter snagged like a hook into her eyes. A familiar, painful feeling formed in her head. Like the worst migraine ever, as she stared at the single piece of paper. Her pupils slimmed into thin slits, and a subtle tremor in her caused the chair she had sat on to shake, as she slowly lifted her gaze towards the name on the page.
C̷̢̱͇͕̖̬͙̫̼̫̲̺͇̼̻̞͍̫͙̭̟͕̟͔̘͔̹̜̅͊̅͊͆̇͆̊̉̽́̂̐͑͌̂̃̈́̌́̈́͛̌̈́̽̏̈́͌̄̔̕̕͘͜͠͝͝͠l̴̢̛̛̛̛̪̜͔̪̜̼͔̙̠̳̖̤̼̖̬̬̰̈́̍͛̃̅̒̇̓̈̐̍̃̍́̃̏̈́̂̀̆̂̀̎̋̓͑̃̔̓̈́̿͐̿͂̋̕͘̚̕͜͝ả̴̧̧̘̠̜͉͚̘̤͔̣̲̣̼͔̹͙͉̘̗̩̩̖͓̹̗̘̮̖͑̉̉̇̊̚͠i̴̧͓͕̞̭̲̭̩̞̟̹͚̭̜̫̜̖̖͍̪̙̇͒̏̉̐̋͑̈́̔͐̔̋͆̒̈́͘̕͜ͅr̴̨̲͍͎̙͕̲̙̦̘̬͙̼̳̮̙̪̎̅̊̾̑̿͆͋͊́́̽̈́͌̒̉͒̓͗̋̀̔͊̾̃̄͆̏̍́̽̈́̑̂̓͒͗͘ĕ̵̛̛̥̝̯̆̾͊́̇́͗̾̊̄̍̇͊̈́́͂̆̔̅̓̓̍́̿̂̐̑́͛̔̍͋͒̕͠͝…
…what was the name? The raging pulsating sensation behind her eyeballs caused a hazy red glaze across her vision, picking out the name was impossible in her current state.
And yet…Even though her eyesight didn’t pick it up, it seemed her body did. Without a doubt she was going to do something she didn’t want to do. But her body wouldn’t stop. Not only was it moving on its own, but the pain in her head only intensified with every passing second. The walls of the school started to blur, and sounds of students around her became muffled.
While her mind was preoccupied with the searing pain in her brain, she was walking…somewhere. She had no idea how many hallways she walked down, but upon a muffled grunt sound from somewhere in the building, her body followed.
She stopped moving as a hazy figure came into view. She stood as still as a statue as the unknown figure walked towards her. It stopped when it noticed the science teacher in front of them. And without a single word, her arm raised up with a paper in her grasp, making sure whoever it was knew what was about to happen…
She was running, her breathing intense from the effort of chasing her prey. Her box-cutter arm swung to the left in an attempt to slice into whatever was running away, she missed but that didn’t deter her ravenous sprint. She continued her pursuit with raging vigor. Her prey turned a corner, and when Bloomie caught up they were nowhere to be seen.
Her head was pounding as heavy as her breathing in her chest. Making a splitting pain so bad it was nearly enough to make her vomit. But despite her brain begging her body to stop the chase and just go someplace else to get the pain to stop, her legs carried her further down the hallway. She didn’t make it very far before the sound of a locker door and scrambling footsteps behind her.
Her head turned to see blurry splotches of color moving up and down the hallway. One blurry figure tried to run off in another direction only to encounter another blurred aggressor.
The chase continued agonizingly long to Bloomie. The searing pain never relented for even a second, like a thousand hammers hitting against her skull rapidly, and it only seemed to get worse as she dashed and sliced alongside the two other blurred figures. Somehow, even in the torrent of confusion and raged pursuit, her body didn’t attack them. Instead teaming up with them.
As time marched on though, the pain started to become too much. She started stumbling after every swing of her blade and the blurring got so bad that she slammed into the walls as she ran.
She swung her arm in another attempt to kill the failing student, however ended up losing her balance and collapsed to the ground. She remained on the ground for several moments, before attempting to use her blade arm to prop herself up while her other hand gripped her throbbing head, fighting with the comforting grip of darkness to stay awake.
The blade attached to her arm slid out from under her, causing her to slam back onto the cold, unforgiving floor tiles. The world was going dark, the walls around her slowly morphed into a dark gray color.
The strength in her body was long gone, she couldn’t stay awake much longer. What would have been the point? Just attempt to continue the pursuit with a splitting headache that was already crippling her?
Miss Bloomie finally decided to lay on her side on the chilly floor, allowing herself to freely slip into unconsciousness…
The pain is still there…
It hurts
“…oomie? Bloom!..”
Pain…It hurts so bad…Make it stop
“…Bloomie!…wak…up!”
Make it sto-
“MISS BLOOMIE!”
The shrill shouts of a panicking student yanked her out of unconsciousness, The pain in her head more subdued and mellowed than before she slipped under. Bloomie used her blade arm to prop herself up, which went a lot smoother than when she first tried after she fell.
She blinked away the haze and looked up towards the voice. The hair made of bubbles gave away who it was in an instant. Bubble was shaking in fear, gripping her teacher’s clawed hand. Tears streamed out of her panicked eyes.
“Ugh..B-Bubble?..” Bloomie grunted as she propped herself up against the dark lockers behind her with the help of Bubble. While the pain in her head was mostly gone, she still felt oddly weak. “What…What in the world..happened?”
Bubble stiffened as she recounted the events before finding Bloomie unconscious. Her rigid posture was noticed by the science teacher, which sent an unnerving shiver up Bloomie’s spine.
“..Bubble? What happened?” Bubble didn’t know how to respond at first, but took as deep of a breath as she could, and opened her trembling mouth to speak. “Y-you were chasing…Claire, but then-” Her words were immediately cut off by Bloomie shooting up and facing entirely towards the girl with hair of bubbles. She was chasing…Claire?
“What? I was-I was chasing CLAIRE?! I-Is she ok?! WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!” Her shouts were loud and desperate, as she gripped Bubble’s shoulder with a strong grip. Bubble clammed up, pulling her arms up with her hands clenched. Bubble stumbled on her words, but after a moment of silence to compose herself, she took a deep breath and spoke once more.
“She…She’s at the exit door next to the gymnasium…I..I don’t want to go there.” Bubble said slowly, hesitating to tell Bloomie what exactly happened. Even with that small bit of information, Bloomie’s energy surged as adrenaline raced through her veins. Without a hint of hesitation, Bloomie moved to her feet, and took off down the hallway, leaving a frightened, confused Bubble behind.
Thundering footsteps echoed through the dark blue hallways, Bloomie’s breathing was as fast as it was during the previous chase, but without the splitting pain, which was a godsend. At least she could focus on finding Claire without fighting with blurry vision and losing balance. Several students stood nervously as they watched the science teacher rush in the direction of the gym.
Bloomie’s eyes met the doors to the school gymnasium, causing her posture to raise up a bit. She immediately took a left turn down the hallway towards the emergency exit door. She skidded to a halt as the sight of the glowing exit sign came into view, as well as a few figures standing in front of the door.
Bloomie took a single step forward, but froze as she stepped into a warm liquid puddle, sending a chill up from her leg to her spine. She nervously glanced down before snapping her head down as she saw a small patch of a dark liquid spread across the floor tiles.
Warm, sticky blood…
No…No. Nononononono…
The rhythmic pounding of her heart quickened in a second as she looked back up towards the exit door. She didn’t register anything around her, only focusing on getting to the end of that hallway and getting to her little girl.
The three figures turned around at the sound of Bloomie’s footsteps, and moved to…Do something. Maybe try to stop her from seeing the aftermath, maybe try to talk her out of moving forward. Whatever they were going to do, it definitely wasn’t going to work. Quickly shoving the three out of the way, Bloomie focused on the…
…
“CLAIRE!!!!”
A guttural scream bellowed from Bloomie’s throat, anyone nearby had to cover their ears with how loud her screams were. Bloomie looked on in horror at Claire’s broken, bloody body, splayed out on the ground, sitting in a crimson pool of blood. One of her eyes popped out of its socket, sitting not too far away from her head. So many slices patterned all across her skin, going deep into her flesh, signature wounds from Miss Circle. The wound around Claire’s midsection looked especially deep…
Bloomie wrapped her arms around Claire in an attempt to lift her up.
“CLAIRE! DON'T WORRY, IT’LL BE OK. I’M HERE, I-”
..However the connection near her stomach and waist was weak enough to split apart as Bloomie attempted to pull Claire up, making a disgusting squelching sound, the trickling of blood ringing through her head.
Bloomie froze as the flesh of her daughter split apart from itself, Claire’s legs thudded dully to the tile floor, and the rest of her body rested against Bloomie’s chest. Bloomie’s gaze was fixated forward, her eyes burned as tears streamed down her face.
“…no..Claire..Please, god no…” A weak, pathetic cry crawled out from her throat, as she tightly held the mutilated corpse of her own daughter, burning her face in her brown hair. Squishy intestine sloping out from her rib cage, the blood staining Bloomie’s white skirt was so dark it appeared black in the dark gloomy hallway. She couldn’t even attempt to force her emotions back as sobs wracked her throat.
Bloomie’s grieving sobs were sucked into her throat as an unknown presence stood in front of her. She took in a staggered breath before slowly turning her head up to face the culprit of the crime. The tall stature, the spiky black hair, and the compass still stained with sticky red blood. Unmistakable.
Miss Circle…
“You…” Bloomie said through clenched teeth. “You did this…Didn’t you..? Circle didn’t show any signs of remorse for what she did. In fact, she simply smiled down at the grieving mother, almost mockingly. “Hm..I don’t understand, Bloomie. How can you not remember? This is how things are here, she fails, she pays the price. Thems the rules~”
“You..YOU KILLED MY FUCKING DAUGHTER! HOW COULD YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Bloomie screamed out in despair and rage, while tightening her hold on the corpse nestled against her chest. Miss Circle raised an eyebrow at her words, looking amused.
“Hm? ‘I’ Killed your daughter? Oh Bloomie, I wasn’t the only one! After all…” The 9 foot tall woman got down on one knee, staring directly into the science teacher’s tearful eyes. “You were quite the help during that little chase..A shame you gave out a little while in, oh well~”
This son of a…
“I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW I WAS CHASING HER! AND I WOULD NEVER WANT TO KILL HER, AND YOU KNOW THAT. DON’T YOU EVEN DARE TRY AND FLIP THIS ON ME!” Circle rolled her eyes lazily at the sentence that was yelled directly at her.
“Mhm, sure sure. Whatever. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I got Oreos to eat.” Without another word, the math teacher walked down the hall Bloomie had just run down, (the lack of the three figures from before surprising Bloomie for a split second) and went out of sight as she turned the corner.
Bloomie was at a loss for words. She knew Circle was more accepting of the whole killing students thing, but this was just so disgusting and disrespectful it was almost laughable.
But there was nothing to laugh about. Not now. Not with the corpse nestled comfortably in her chest. Not when it only looked back at her with dim, soulless, and lifeless eyes-
*Cough..* *ACH..! COUGH!*
Shuttering gasps and ragged coughing, weak lungs desperately attempting to suck in oxygen, made Bloomie’s heart drop in shock. No, that wasn’t what she just heard. There was just no way. Bloomie wearily glanced down at the corpse in her arms, but the feeling of shaky, shuttering hands trying to grip her arm made her blood run cold.
“M-mom…*Cough..* *COUGH!* ACK!”
Claire was alive. Barely, but alive.
“c-CLAIRE?! OH MY GOODNESS, CLAIRE! O-OK, It's..It’s ok. You’re going to be okay, sweetheart..” Bloomie said as soothingly as she could manage, moving to stand up. There was just one problem. Her legs weren’t responding to the command.
*Shit..now’s not the time for you to stop working legs, come’on, start working god DAMN IT-*
“M-mom..?” She refocused onto her daughter as she spoke, looking into her remaining forest green eye.
“Y..Y-yes Claire..?” She spoke hesitantly, a shudder laced her speech. Claire let out a few choked coughs, blood spurting from her mouth. “…Why did you attack me?” A small tear slid down her cheek, her voice cracked. Not in pain, but an odd combination of despair and guilt.
“c-Claire I…I didn’t-”
“Was I..*Cough!* Was I a bad student..?” Bloomie’s eyes widened and was quick to answer her question. “N-NO! You were never a bad student! You just..Made a mistake that’s all!..”
Claire didn’t respond, her continued gasps for air and scratchy coughs sent pangs of guilt through Bloomie’s heart. Claire’s shaky hand slowly lifted to Bloomie’s shoulder, and attempted to lift her body upward, with little success. Bloomie placed her clawed hand on her daughter’s back, pulling her up with ease.
She attempted to whisper softly to Claire to give her some degree of comfort, but that only lasted so long before an odd sensation on her shoulder where Claire’s hand had been. She had a sneaking suspicion that she shouldn’t look, but her curiosity was far stronger.
Bloomie didn’t know what she was seeing.
A small blob of black goop sat atop her shoulder, flowing out from Claire’s sleeve. Her eyes narrowed in both confusion and fear. She looked toward Claire cautiously, her eyelids feeling increasingly heavy.
“C-Claire?”
A small, childish giggle snagged like a hook into Bloomie’s ear, catching her off guard. That definitely wasn’t Claire’s laugh, but she was sure it came from her mouth. Even with limited light, Bloomie caught a glimpse of a little smile on Claire’s face.
“…you really are quite pathetic, aren’t you?”
That phrase. That singular out of nowhere sentence hit Bloomie like a ton of bricks. She’d never said anything in that tone before. Where had THAT come from? Was Claire angry with her? She didn’t really blame her, but the words still felt so harsh.
“You have a blade for an arm and yet..heh, you still couldn’t protect me. Well…”
Bloomie could only watch as Claire’s form morphed into what she could only describe as a monster. Just like Alice in her monstrous form. Black patches stained her skin, spreading out to cover her body. Her body looked like it was melting, black liquid dripping down onto the floor.
Bloomie suddenly winced in pain as a pain shot up from her shoulder. She snapped her head to the side to see the blob of goop had increased in volume and had wrapped around her shoulder, securing her place.
“That doesn’t sound like something a mother would do, now does it?”
The words were but more needle pricks puncturing her heart at once. Bloomie didn’t even try to force back the tears as she stared at the monster that used to be her bubbly, sweet little girl, absorbing all the vile words that she felt she deserved.
“Well, mother. While I would love to speak a bit more, I feel that we are out of time. Oh well!”
She moved her head closer to Bloomie’s, ignoring the newfound confusion stamped on the science teacher’s tear covered face.
“I think it’s about time…”
Claire raised her now clawed hand to Bloomie’s cheek, a few drops of Bloomie’s tears dripping onto her dark finger before sliding off.
“To wake..UP”
Claire swiped her claws to the side, slicing straight into her mother’s flesh…
———
Bloomie awoke with a sudden scream, hearing a startled meow coming from her right. She panted, her breathing uneven. Tears stung the corners of her eyes, rolling down her cheeks and staining the blanket.
She stared down at the bedsheets, trying to ground herself. A low growl beside her met her ears, giving her an anchor in reality. She focused on it, all while her labored breath slowed down. She finally looked to the side to spot a familiar black cat sitting on her nightstand.
Moe Moe almost blended in with the shadows that veiled the room. The only reason she could see him at all was the bug catcher plugged into the wall, it emitted a blue light when plugged in so it made a decent replacement for a nightlight. The cat jumped back onto the bed, and slowly moved towards Bloomie to sit on her lap. Bloomie placed her hand onto the cat’s back, feeling the fluffy fur around her fingers, bringing a comforting feeling, something her frazzled nerves needed now more than ever.
Bloomie sighed deeply, finally feeling decently calm since her rude awakening, relieved at the reality that all that was just a dream, that Claire wasn’t…She shook her head, taking an opportunity to examine the room, finding everything to be the same, except for the open door, with a dark figure standing just beside it.
She gasped and quickly turned over, turning on the lamp on her bedside table. Light poured into the once dark room, revealing the dark figure to be…
“Claire?”
Claire looked nervous. Her stance looked like she was just about to take another step before Bloomie turned on the lights. Her trademark bow was gone, instead her body was covered by a cozy looking pair of pajamas, light green, of course.
“Uh..Mom? Are you ok?” Claire murmured, taking a few steps into the room. Bloomie gave out a shuddering breath, another wave of relief hitting her like a freight train.
“Claire…I-I’m sorry. Just…Can you come over here..please?” She breathed out, pulling over the blanket and patting the empty space beside her. Claire immediately accepted, quickly walking up to the bed, and sliding onto the soft mattress. She shuffled closer to her mother, as Bloomie pulled the blanket back over her. They sat in silence for a few moments, before Claire wrapped her little arms around Bloomie, Bloomie holding her tightly to her side.
They sat there, embraced in a comforting silence. Bloomie closed her eyes, relishing in the warmth and comfort that this child had brought her. “I uhm.. I’m sorry. Did I wake you up, Claire?” Bloomie asked, tightening her grip on Claire’s shoulder ever so slightly. Claire nuzzled into Bloomie’s chest.
“No. It was Moe Moe. He kept pawing at my face as I was trying to sleep and when I went to get him out of my room so I could go back to sleep, he kept meowing at me, sitting down and only moving forward when I got closer, as if he wanted me to follow him.” Claire explained, burying her cheek in Bloomie’s soft nightgown.
“I didn’t really know what he wanted until we got to your room. He pawed at the door until I opened it, but after he rushed in and I stepped in, I heard you mumbling something in your sleep…I couldn’t hear most of what you were saying, but you didn’t sound happy.” She continued, gripping the fuzzy fabric tight.
“But you already know the last part so I don’t think I need to explain.” “I see…”
A silence fell on the room, aside from the purring cat curled up between the two. It wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward, just quiet. That was until Claire spoke up again.
“Uhm, Mom?” She started slowly. Bloomie looked down with a gentle expression. “Yes Claire?”
“..I-I know I said I didn’t hear much of what you were mumbling, but…I heard you say my name a few times.” Bloomie’s eyes raised up at the words. She didn’t really know how to respond to that, the memories of the night terror just moments before still wriggling in the back of her mind, the memories of her guttural cries for her daughter.
”Did you..Were you dreaming about me?”
Bloomie bit her bottom lip, biting down on words she wasn’t sure she wanted to share with someone so young, and especially someone so dear to her. Instead of a verbal response, she opted for a small nod that would have gone unnoticed if Claire wasn’t looking up at her.
Claire gathered her breath, before asking
“What did you dream about?”
There it was. There’s the question she was dreading. Bloomie already guessed Claire would ask, but did she really want to tell her? Bloomie highly considered shrugging it off, but looking down at the little girl nestled into her arms, looking up at her with the most caring and soft green eyes she’d ever seen on a person, maybe she should just rip off the bandage.
With a deep, nervous, staggering breath. She opened her mouth, and let the words flow out.
“…Do you..Remember that thing that happens at school? What happens when a student..fails a test or exam or something..?” Claire nodded slowly, remembering the basic rule of the school.
“W-well. I’ve been a little bit nervous about you and your grades lately, with that test coming up next week. So..I suppose my brain decided to be a pain in the neck..” She explained, trying in vain to add a little hubris to her words before she had to get into the more serious details.
“It started fine, it felt like just a normal school day. Nothing seemed out of place, until I had to grade some tests…And you…” She breathed in deep, bracing herself to say the next few words. Bloomie felt a gentle tug on her clothes, she looked down to see Claire looking at her with a comforting and almost knowing look. As if she already had a hunch of what she was about to say next, and was just waiting for her to confirm.
“You got a failing grade..”
Silence permeated through the room. She didn’t even need to explain any further. Without a word, Claire wrapped both arms around Bloomie, nuzzling into her nightgown. Claire and any student of the Paper School knew the fear all too well.
Yes, they all (mostly) like the school and they are ok with the work. But the constant threat of death for something as trivial as a bad grade? It was just enough to chip away at their mind and give them a good amount of anxiety and fear when a test day creeps up.
“You…You do remember that we don’t die permanently, right? We kinda just, wake up in our rooms the next day..”
“Yes…yes I remember.”
Bloomie squeezed her tighter, her eyes narrowing.
“Honestly that’s one of the only things that’s keeping me from pulling you right out of that school.” Bloomie’s voice contorted to one of bitterness as she held Claire close to her heart. Claire looked up at Bloomie as she continued.
“I know you can’t die for good when you’re in those school walls, I know you get revived and you wake up in your soft bed the next day. I just…I just don’t want you to die at all. I don’t know how it feels to die, but I know for damn certain I don’t want you to know.”
*Sigh..*
“I do like working there. I just don’t really want you there. If you went to some other school then I wouldn’t have to deal with the nagging fear of you getting a failing grade and accidentally killing you while I’m completely unaware-” Her words were cut off when Claire’s hand gripped her own.
“There’s no need to worry, mom. I’ve studied very hard for this test, I’ll be just fine!
“But-”
“Nuh-uh! No buts! You underestimate my knowledge, mother!” Claire boasted in a delightfully playful and confident way. Her humorous whimsy was welcomed fully by Bloomie, her bitter expression softening, but not turning into a full smile yet.
Claire's prideful grin lowered into a softer and reassuring smile.
“Heh..But, seriously. You don’t need to worry about me. I will be just fine, just trust me…Ok?” She said, gripping her hand softly, her soft thumb rubbing her calloused clawed hand. Such a gentle touch caused Bloomie’s eyes to soften, her lips finally forming into a gentle smile.
“ *Sigh..* What did I do to deserve a child like you?”
Bloomie wrapped her arms around Claire, resting her head atop hers. Claire happily returned the embrace and the two sat there in a comfortable silence.
After a few more beats of silence, Bloomie patted Claire’s back while pulling away from her. “Alright, I think I’ve had enough talking time for tonight, I’m sure both of us are still very tired?” Bloomie asked, taking in Claire’s eyes that seemed to be getting heavier, as seen by her struggle to keep them open.
“Mmh..Yeah. *Yaawwwnn…* I’m getting sleepy.” Claire drew out, rubbing her eyes drowsily. Bloomie let out a small chuckle at this. “Alright, you wanna go back to your room?” Claire looked down in thought. “Can I sleep with you tonight? If you happen to have another nightmare, I wanna be right by your side!” Her request was lighthearted, it warmed Bloomie’s heart in an instant.
“Heh..You sure you don’t just like being held? The last time we had a movie night you basically passed out when I held you during the credits.” Claire immediately became straight-faced.
“No comment.”
Bloomie laughed, shifting her body to rearrange her pillows, as her little night terror had caused her pillows to get all messed up. ”Alright, alright. You can sleep with me tonight.” She took a momentary glance to her right. “And that includes you too, Moe Moe.” A happy meow sounded through the room.
Claire flopped down on the clean pillow, a drowsy smile plaguing her face, her eyes closed in peace. Bloomie took a second to look at her daughter, a warm, comforted smile sat firm on her face. Of all the outcomes, she was glad she got to have Claire as her daughter, and she wouldn’t pick anyone else to be her child.
In a fluid motion, she leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Claire’s forehead, and moved to turn off the bedside lamp beside her. She laid her head down on the soft and cold pillow, still feeling a damp area where her tears had stained. With a quiet groan, she flipped over the pillow and laid down again.
After all was said and done, she lay down on the pillow, facing Claire who was now all of a sudden fast asleep. Bloomie let out a hushed sigh at this. She must’ve been really tired. And now that she thought about it, so was she. Her eyes were growing heavier by the second.
So she gave in, she wrapped her arms around the small body beside her, pulling her close. And soon let the darkness take hold of her in its comforting embrace, and fell back into the land of dreams. This time, no more tears or horrors waiting for her on the other side.