2

"Mr. Ghost?" the boy repeated raising an eyebrow at her. "What makes you think I'm a ghost?"

"Because! Because you look like one!" she stated simply, her hand still outstretched expecting some sort of handshake. "If you can touch me and shake my hand then you're not a ghost."

The boy laughed and stood up, brushing off his shirt before walking over to Cynthia. "My name's Tate," he stated, firmly planting his hand into her palm much to her surprise. "I'm not a ghost. I live here though, with Luce here."

"Luce? Who's Luce?"

"The one that lead you here. Now come over here, your feet must be horribly cold," Tate said, pulling her towards the other side of the creek. "This is Luce here," he said, pointing at the little orb next to his head. "He said he was lonely and wanted a new playmate other than me, so he brought you here." Tate sat back down and stared at her. "So, what do you think of my home?"

Cynthia was too enthralled by everything around her to really put into words what she thought of his home. Never in her mind did she think such a place existed with its soft, silvery light, coming from everything that lived, lighting the paths which lead deeper into the forest. To call all of this his home, Cynthia assumed Tate had to have come from a rich family to own this much land; though no where in sight was there a single structure for dwelling so she wondered if the place was only an extension of what his family might own.

"Where do you sleep?" she asked, looking around for a bed.

"I sleep wherever I want. The grass is soft enough to be my bed," he explained.

"But what about raining? What if it gets too cold?"

"Oh, it never rains here, and it's always like this every day. I don't have to worry about that."

"So all you do here is play? What do you play?"

"We pick flowers, play hide-and-seek, chase the bugs around here and go exploring!" he said, his excitement growing. "Luce always cheats when you're playing any sort of game here, so you have to be careful!"

At the sound of exploring, Cynthia immediately perked up. "Exploring? Where do you guys explore? I wanna go exploring! My parents told me that we were going on an adventure today but then my brother ruined everything so I went on my own and found you! Oh man! I can't wait to tell my brother that there aren't ghosts here, there's a magical forest instead! Shows him right for listening to his classmate."

"Oh, but there are ghosts here," Tate interjected. "Well, at least that's what you earth children call them. Most of the time they're just tree spirits being bored and playing pranks on people."

"Ohhh, so like that really tall lady in the tree from earlier."

"Exactly. But that doesn't mean everything is harmless here. If we do go exploring you have to promise that you'll follow everything I do and everything I say, okay?"

"Okay..." For some odd reason, just like with the tree spirit, she found no reason not to trust this boy and what he said. Everything seemed to be without any other motives other than to have fun and to go on the adventure she had been hoping for all day.

"Wait right here for a bit, okay? Luce will keep you company. I'm going to go and get some things."

"But, why can't I go with you?"

"Because then it won't be a secret!" Tate grinned and ran off into the forest before she could have a chance to get up and follow him.

"Looks like it's just me and you now, Luce," she said to the little orb, poking at him, hoping to start some sort of conversation with him.

Luce squeaked and skittered around her head. He seemed upset at her actions, though he didn't speak at all save for some noises; or perhaps, he did talk, but in a language she could never understand. If she squinted, she could make out the faintest outline of a person with amazingly dramatic features. It was as if his whole body was made of crystals, radiating from the center of his body where the light came from. There was no hair on his form, simply more crystals growing thinner and thinner into many little points at the top of where his head was. If she concentrated, she could see his clothing was nothing more than different colored refractions of the same crystals of which he was made. A pair of thin, transparent wings fluttered furiously behind Luce, keeping him afloat. The more she watched the flighty light, the more she became entranced with trying to find the tiny features on his face. However, no matter how she squinted, she couldn't make out much more than two, miniscule specks of lighter color on where his face would be. Perhaps those were his eyes. She would never be sure as the spirit was always moving, and the light he created was too bright at some points for her to really even make out anything.

Eventually, Cynthia got bored of trying to figure out what Luce looked like and laid down on the grass. Tate had been gone for a while now, half an hour at least by her guess; but she had faith in what the boy said and expected him to get back soon. The idea of adventure and going to places she shouldn't be or hadn't been to excited her more than anything. She laid down on the grass and stared up at the ever extending canopy of tree leaves above her. "I wonder what time it is..." she mumbled to herself. "Hopefully Walter's calmed down by now. Mom and dad are probably looking for me..." she mused before turning over and staring at the incredibly vibrant grass.

She wondered for a moment how hard they were looking, but a sudden movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention. Cynthia jerked upwards and stared into the forest, trying to make out what it could have been. In the distance, she heard the soft chimes of bells and immediately thought it was Tate returning. She moved to stand up only to stop for a brief moment, remembering that she had promised Tate that she would wait for him to come back. "But... it wasn't a pinkie promise so, it'll be okay, right?" she reasoned, with a grin and got up anyways, wandering towards where she thought she had heard the bells.

Luce squeaked and fluttered around her head angrily, squabbling in his own language at her. "Not now, I'm trying to find where that noise is coming from," she whispered to the little ball of light. "I'll be back before you know it."

The sound of the bells echoed around her similarly to the way the stream had earlier. At times, it seemed closer and at others, further away. There was no reason for those sounds to be there. No animal would make that sort of noise. Well, I'm only eight, there are probably lots of things that make noises like that which I don't know about, she reasoned before moving forward. A sharp jerk from her right pigtail stopped her from going any further. Luce was at the end of it, tugging at it incessantly and squeaking in both effort and his strange language. She couldn't tell what he was saying; however, she could gather that he did not want her to go any further than she already had.

"But it's booring just sitting here and waiting, how long is Tate going to be anyways?" she whined, moving on despite the little sprite trying to stop her. "If you're so worried why don't you come with me? At least I won't be lost that way," she pouted.

Luce seemed to sigh in resignation and rested on her shoulder, letting her do what she wanted to. He was surprisingly heavier than she thought he would be. The soft chimes of bells were coupled with even fainter flute sounds which came from all around as she went deeper into the woods. Cynthia kept note of where the stream was though. That happy gurgling sound never seemed to fade from the background and reassured her that if all else failed, she would at least be able to follow that sound back to safety.

The further she went, the darker the forest seemed to get. Everything still glowed but with a fainter light. Perhaps it was the fact that it was reaching nightfall outside the trees, or perhaps it was simply the nature of the forest around her. She didn't quite know, but she could have sworn everything had also gotten quite a bit colder the more she followed the sounds. Eventually she reached a clearing in the forest. In the center was a circle made of stones, a tiny bridge made of split logs lead to it from where she stood. There, in the center of the circle, sat the flute player and a small child holding bells which chimed every time she moved to the sound of the music.

It was a slow, hypnotic dance which Cynthia followed. The bells drowned out all other sounds of movement from the child. The two of them were dressed in matching colors of emerald green, jet black and a dark brown which matched the rich soil around them. They had pale hair which almost matched their skin color. Right at the hairline, there were tints of pale green which grew darker at the roots before fading into white and gray. Both of them had their hair done similarly, knotted, twisted and braided, held together with twigs and vines. Even through all of that, their pale hair cascaded to the ground. The child's hair seemed to almost draw images in the dirt beneath them as she shifted from one movement to another. The clothes they wore were simple enough; however, their jewelery took her breath away. On their heads and around their necks were wreaths of glowing color made of stones not known to her. They glittered with an inner light that put her into an almost trance like state as she followed the movements of the dancer.

Cynthia moved closer to them, careful to make as little noise as possible. The tune being played was something she was not at all familiar with, but it felt as though she should have heard it somewhere, long, long ago. Subconsciously, Cynthia found herself being drawn into that circle. Her body seemed to move on its own, and she could hear nothing save for the sounds of flutes and bells. The bridge was right there. All she had to do was cross over it and join them in their dance and song. It was all so simple. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she could feel Luce pulling once again at her pigtails, dragging her back into reality for a brief moment before she brushed the sprite aside to get closer.

For a split second, she saw both the child and the flute player make eye contact with her. They were ethereally beautiful, no doubt family of some sort with how similar they looked. The last thing she expected were those jet black eyes that held no welcoming warmth within them. They glittered like the gems they wore but held no life in them. That in itself sent shivers down Cynthia's spine, but they continued to pull her in with their hypnotic music. She didn't even realize how close she was to them until her foot passed through the circle of stones at their feet.

In that moment, she realized what they truly were and for that split second, she knew what true terror felt like.

The skin on their faces melted off slowly, dribbling into black pools at the ground. The music was no longer anything joyous. Instead, it became the dark cry of a screeching bird in the distance. Their eyes grew larger and larger, taking up more and more of their faces. Those glittering black holes multiplied themselves until eight, jewel-like eyes rested on their faces. Their jaws morphed and shifted into two large moving mandibles which hid multiple sharp fangs behind them. Their clothes fell off their bodies as they continued to change, their limbs multiplying and their abdomen growing and growing until their true form came into being. Their pale faces grew thick bristles and long, varying stripes of brown ran down their back as they hunched over and assumed their true form. Two giant arachnids stood before her, stalking around her and examining their prey intensely.

Her voice seemed to be locked away, making it impossible for her to scream for help or in fear; and as much as the instinct to run was urging her to leave as fast as she could, she was rooted in place, literally. Vines came from the ground and ensnared her legs. They wound tighter and tighter, making her whole lower body go cold and numb. They continued to creep higher and higher up her body, making it hard to breathe. Cynthia was sure she was going to die at the hands of these horrendous creatures.

She could see the greedy glee in their eyes then. That soulless look of pure joy when they saw their prey perfectly captured and helplessly waiting for them to feast. In the back of her mind, she could hear the larger one, what she assumed to be the mother spider, laugh in glee at how easily she was caught. "Come my children, it's about time we have a good meal." The voice was sweet and low yet there was a hint of something deeply evil about it as well.

She should have listened to Luce and Tate. She should have stayed where she was. She shouldn't have gone and let her curiosity get the better of her. If only she had been the good girl her mother always talked about, she wouldn't be in the situation she was in at that moment. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a swarm of spiders of all shapes and sizes come towards her. There was no doubt in her mind that they were more than eager to tear into her youthful flesh. Who knew when the last time they had the meat of a human was. The mass swarmed closer and closer as their mother led them to her. By now, the vines had reached her throat, wrapping themselves around her neck and slowly choking the air from her.

Of all the things she didn't want, she definitely did not want the image of those glittering eyes to be the last thing she saw when she died. She didn't want it all to end here. She was supposed to be on a great adventure that day, not be some foul creature's dinner. She regretted everything she did to find these people. She wished with all her might someone might come in and save her. Of course, she knew that was impossible. There was no way Tate would know where she was since she hadn't listened to him properly and stayed put. She was going to die, and the last thing she would see was a pair of drooling mandibles and eight thousand glittering eyes descending upon her like they would a Thanksgiving feast. Even through the numbness, she could see and feel the tiny bites from the spiders too impatient to wait for their mother to dine first. Soon, she would be covered with them and her body would be no more than a sack of venom infused puss for arachnids to eat.

At least, that was what she imagined her death to be if the whole grove wasn't suddenly set ablaze in golden flames. The spiders all shrieked and ran from the fire, all screeching, "We've angered the forest prince! We've angered the forest prince! Away, away before he kills us all!"

She felt the vines around her body loosen and melt back into the ground they came from. As soon as she felt her body again, Cynthia fell to the ground, everything still numb as the blood rushed back to where it needed to be. From behind her, the forest prince arrived. Decked in silver, green and black, he surveyed the area. Beside him stood his glowing steed made of white flames. In his hand, he held a gleaming sword engraved with script from ancient times. It didn't take long for Cynthia to realize who it was that had saved her. Tate had returned and somehow found her though she had wandered so far into the forest against his will.

The mother spider had not left, and she had changed back into the unrealistically beautiful flute player from before. She approached the prince with a sheepish smile, rubbing her hands together and laughing softly.

"My prince...." she cooed softly, approaching him and bowing deeply to him. "Oh, what an honor it is to see you here... My my, you've grown so much since you've last visited our little nest. What brings you here?"

"I do believe that you held my guest hostage," he stated simply. "I was only retrieving her."

"Oh, g-g-guest? Oh my, I wasn't aware that you even had a guest! Oh, do pardon my rudeness, we spiderkin do get hungry whenever the scent of a human is around. I could... barely... contain myself with someone so young and... sweet smelling," she whispered, glancing over to Cynthia and approaching the young girl. "So young and new to this world... I'm sure she is... tender," she murmured, dragging one long, cold nail across Cynthia's cheek. In an instant, she noticed all feeling leave her face where the spider woman had touched it. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she knew it, the spider mother had shape shifted once again and pounced at her ravenously.