Keeper of Skulls

"The Keeper of Skulls"

Little Nicoletta was terrified. She had no idea where she was or what she was doing here. She rose to her feet and looked around her. Trees. They stretched as far as the eye could see. She couldn't really remember what she looked like, so she looked down to her feet. She was wearing a plain white dress, and brown slippers. Unsure of what to do next, and seeing that there was nowhere else to go, she ventured forth - into the woods.

The day started like any other. She woke up, ate a good breakfast, got a bath, brushed her teeth, and shuffled off to school. On the bus, she heard some boys talking. The three of them were in different colored t-shirts: red, yellow, and blue.
Nicoletta began to listen in on their conversation.
"Did you hear?", asked Yellow.
"No, what?" replied Red.
"I heard that Cindy disappeared over two weeks ago and hasn't been back." said Yellow.
"Did she move or something?" asked Blue.
"No, her parents just can't find her anywhere!" replied Yellow.
"Weird, man." said Red.
"Yeah, weeiiiiird." added Blue.

As she ambled through the forest, the light began to fade gradually. As it did, Nicoletta could have sworn that she heard the sound of rustling grass. She dismissed this thought at first, thinking she was just hearing things, but soon enough, the rustling started up again, this time much louder. Nicoletta started to walk a little faster, becoming more and more nervous. And then, before she could react, there was a swift, sharp, and painful swipe across her back. She staggered forward and managed to turn slightly to see the forest come alive. Branches, vines, and flowers came to life. Horrified, the little girl ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Suddenly, she heard the pitter patter of little feet. She looked behind her to see other children running around, near, and alongside her, some screaming loudly. A little boy, younger than Nicoletta, started to run past her when a vine shot out, wrapped itself around the boy's torso, an with one powerful yank, sent him flying backwards. Nicoletta turned to help him when she saw two little girls, twins, skewered on a sharp branch covered in oversized brambles.  Searching frantically for the little boy, she turned to see him raised above one of the massive flowers littered about. The flower opened up, revealing a mouth and throat. The vine slowly and gently unraveled from around the squirming boy, all the while lowering him towards the mouth. The boy slipped through the vines and fell into the flower, it's "mouth" closing on him, sealing his fate. Nicoletta watched in horror as the plant swallowed the little boy, sending him down to a pouch just above the ground. The pouch started to shake and wriggle violently until suddenly it stopped, and shrunk down to nothing. Nicoletta started to cry when there was a sharp slash across her cheek. She tripped over herself and tried to regain her balance. When she did, the crack of a whip connected across the middle of her back. She managed to get ahold of herself and run. She ran, and ran, and ran until she couldn't run anymore and collapsed. She lie there, motionless, on the ground for a long, long time as her consciousness drifted back to a familiar place...

"Hey, Nicki! What's up?" a voice called from down the hall. It was him. He ran to her as fast as he could. When he got to her, he started to speak almost immediately. "So I looked in my backpack the other day when school let out." He wasn't like all of the other boys. He had no problems being around girls at all. "I found a letter." Nicoletta started to feel anxious and uneasy, her eyes shifting all over the place, sweating heavily.  "Did you write it?" the boy asked her. Little Nicoletta started shaking all over and was sweating even more than before. She nodded weakly. "Oh, okay. Well, I wouldn't mind going to that place either. I've been meaning to check it out, but I didn't want to go alone. Buddy system, you know?", he stated. Nicoletta was ecstatic and practically jumped for joy. She liked him - a lot. "I guess I'll meet you after school then?" he asked. She nodded. "Okay, see you then!"

Nicoletta came to once again. Blood was running from scratches spread out over her body. Her dress was torn to shreds, and her feet were now bare - the brambles must have caught on her slippers and torn them off at some point. She could barely make out anything in the nearly pitch black darkness of the valley, but it didn't even matter anymore. There was no turning back. She weakly began to press on, wandering off into the darkness. The ground was a strange texture indeed - feeling smooth but bumpy at the same time. It was fragile as well, occasionally breaking apart and lodging fragments of itself into her feet. The pain was gradually getting less and less bearable. When suddenly...

She could see a light off in the distance - a small, pale golden flame.

The two of them walked through the forest together, searching for the entrance. "Man, I can't see it anywhere, and it feels like we've been looking for it for hours!", the boy groaned. Nicoletta nodded in mutual frustration. "Hey, Nicky? Did you ever hear about the Legend of the Golden Flame?" Nicoletta shook her head no. The boy continued speaking, "They say that if you travel around late at night for too long - really weird things happen." Nicoletta stopped and looked at him, her curiosity piqued. He turned, faced her, and continued talking. "Plants start to come to life,  puddles turn into bottomless pits of water, and the dark plays really terrible tricks on you the longer you stay out at night. Finally, if you stay out even later then that...you'll see a gold flame. It'll be the single shred of light in the pitch black darkness. But whatever you do - don't go near it. Ever. Run away, as fast as you can. If that flame catches up with you...you're done for."

Nicoletta couldn't move, she was paralyzed with dread and fear - the same feelings she had felt from the moment she had entered this strange world. The flame came closer and closer, and soon enough it was upon her. She was finally face to face with the master of this world.

"Sweetheart, whatever you do - never, ever go near the ruins on the outskirts of town." a woman's voice started to say. Nicoletta looked over at her mother. "Bad, bad things happen to little children that go near them. It's where the Keeper of Skulls lives." said her mother. The little girl wondered nervously what her mother was talking about. "He is a terrible monster that collects the skulls of little children to build his kingdom. He keeps his favorite skulls hanging from a necklace around his neck. He loves little girls' skulls the most.", said her mother.

She then realized all too well where she was. She had been stepping on the skulls of others the entire time. The Keeper of Skulls stared into Nicoletta with his hollow eyes.

She didn't even get the chance to scream.