Mysterious flowers

The clamour outside was nearly entirely muffled when I closed the heavy wooden door in a squeaky noise followed by the metallic thud of the handle going back into its original position. My eyes did not adjust immediately to the darkness so I did not dare take a step before I could guess the size of the room. My right foot was a few inches from a huge flowerpot with some tree growing inside so I was glad not to have knocked it over and hurt myself. God knows how much this would cost to repay. Better be careful and take only what I came for. I breathed in sharp. Right! I came for something very particular.

There was nobody else. What a relief. I was so grateful for the silence ringing in my ears. Nobody would look at me queer and ask questions. I just did not understand the point of these gatherings. There was litter everywhere and I had lost one of my bags when walking through a group. The thieves were getting better every year.

There were no other customers, only plants and herbs in phials, pots and odd shaped flasks. Some I could recognise, others not. There were cacti and green leaves assembled in bunches of the same kind. It did not smell of anything in particular but dust and greenery. All those flowers were showing off their luxuriously vivid colours. The leaves were emeralds and the petals various coloured precious stones glittering in the few rays of light that were slithering through the cracks of the door. I repressed the urge to caress some wide furry leaves.

As I took a step forward I could smell a sugary flower scent which changed with the next step to a more timid one. I was quite obviously not learned enough to recognise them. Where was the shopkeeper? As I made my way towards the back of the room, tiptoeing between the branches, leaves and rampant foliage that was pouring out of the pots and growing everywhere it could, I noticed one of the wall was entirely covered in various leaves and flowers. One could barely see the mosaic bellow.

I cleared my throat, not daring to insult the shopkeeper. Surely she must have heard me come in. Let's just wait a little more, shall we? No rush, I can have a look around.

As I more closely examined the wall full of foliage, some strange fabric attracted my attention. Could this be a curtain? I pushed a few leaves gently aside to uncover a sleeve. As I looked down, I could clearly see a dried hand hanging from it. My heart started racing. Don't look up the sleeve, don't look up the sleeve! I looked away from the arm but my sight fell on a pair of legs. I could clearly see the mud on the boots. The more I looked along the wall and towards the darkest corner of the room, the more bodyparts I could see.

My head felt heavy and my heart was thudding louder and louder in my ears. I tried to back out slowly, not looking at the heads and not breaking any pots. What was I doing here! My breathing sounded so loud I wished the noise of the outside world could dim it.

All of a sudden, claws came out of the foliage and grabbed at me. I heard the ripping of fabric and felt a dash of pain and warm liquid tickling my belly as I fell over.

I stumbled to my feet and ran to the door, tearing it wide open. The shouting and indistinct noise of all the people around stunned me for a second. I had to close my eyes, blinded by the light. I ran as fast as I could across the crowd to the hill upfront and turned around. I must have knocked half a dozen people on my way. Everything seemed so bright and confused. I squinted my eyes until I could reajust to the light. Nobody seemed surprised to see me panting. Nor did they seem to notice any other strange behaviour. Frantically searching the crowd, I could see no sign of anything unnatural. The door to her shop was still wide open but it seemed she had not dared come out. I waited, panting. Still no sign of her. I could see a red spark on the doorstep.

My clothes were soaked in blood but strangely I could feel no pain. I lifted the bottom of my blouse and it seemed the wound had already started to heal. Well, that was my favourite and it's ruined, oh well. There was a scar on my belly that had not been there before. How could it have healed so fast. Better not touch it. My heartbeat was slowly returning back to a normal speed. The spark was still there. Nobody else seemed to take an interest in it. I breathed out all the air I could to calm myself down.

As I was making my way slowly back to the door, ready to dart off at any time in any direction, I could see the red spark was a phial with some murky liquid inside. I grabbed it and backed up several steps.

Nothing happened. I could not see inside, it was pitchblack. There was no noise, no shuffling, no movement inside. Nobody was looking at me. Anyway, I had what I had come for and it seems I had paid the price for it so I could now leave. I pushed the door with my foot to close it and it creaked back into place.