Spooky Scary Skeletons (RANDOM BOOK #3)

"_____?"

     A cruel grin crossed his face as he watched the last one leave, his smile the only clear thing visible through the deep dark where he hid. "Excellent..." He murmured, staring down at her with a expression of hunger.  "Soon she'll be back where she belongs."

~×~×~×~×~×~×~×~×~×~×~×~

     Lilith watched Shade vanish through the door, and as soon as he was gone she set off, moving farther into the white of the room with no end.

     She walked for hours, her pace steady, yet quick. She knew what she had to do, something deep within her was telling her to go The Memory Tree. If Cassia had left any sort of clues behind, it would be there.

     "Why didn't I ever think of this before?" Lilith muttered, a little cross with herself she'd wasted time talked to the humans. If she hadn't, she was sure she would have thought of this much sooner.

     And yet... Some of the humana had been a little bit helpful. Some of them were quite straightforward, but there was one she didn't quite understand. What was his name...

     "Ah, I'm here." Lilith interrupted her own train of thought by speaking aloud as she reached a patch of white that seemed the same as the rest of the room.

     "Should be right around here..." Lilith raised her right hand as she closed her eyes, concentrating. Tendrils of dull metallic purple magic flowed from her palm in wisps. These wisps all traveled to a single spot and gather there, forming the shape of a key.

     Opening her eyes, Lilith released the flow of magic, and took the few steps toward the key. She glanced behind her, once. Something seemed a little off... As quick as she could, she turned the key, and stepped into thin air, vanishing from the room.

Behind her, he grimaced. But, it was no matter. He could easily wait her out...

     Color, swirling around her, the brightest color she'd ever seen before. It was almost hypnotic, the hues and shades...

     And then, just as quickly, it was over. Lilith stumbled out of the portal on the other side and quickly locked the oak door behind her.

     Turning around, she first noticed a large purple bottle on a platform in the middle of the room. Then, she noticed the tree. "No!" Her hushed whisper echoed around the cavern as she ran to the tree, stopping a mere foot from it.

     She almost didn't want to touch the tree, it looked so... Sickly. As of all the life was slowly draining from it. "Oh, Cassia..." Lilith's eyes filled with tears. "What happened...? Is this my fault our tree is like this...?"

     Lilith fell to her knees at the base of The Memory Tree, and started crying. All the pain she had been holding in, putting up her anger fueled walls for those humans, it all came crashing down as she cried like she hadn't ever cried before.

     Soft footsteps. Lilith didn't even notice as they drew nearer, the footfalls sounding rather heavy. Closer and closer they came, until someone laid their hand on Lilith's shoulder.

"_____?"