Lily Rose: Legendary

Chapter 8: Into the tree

I stayed in bed for the rest of the day. The doctor finally cleared me when it was close to dark. James offered to walk me home, and I didn't push him away.

"So, what are you doing when you get home?" he asked on our way to my house.

"Probably just read a book or something," I replied.

"Do you mind if we take a detour?"

I bit my lip and replied, "Okay."

He grabbed my hand gently and led me through the forest.

We finally arrived in a clearing. He brought me over to a normal looking tree and touched the bark.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Looking for...this." He pulled on one of the branches and a section of the tree's trunk opened up. I gasped and stepped back.

"How did you do that?" I exclaimed.

"It's not magic, in case you were wondering. I'm not a sorcerer or anything," he replied.

He led the way into the dark opening in the tree. He pulled down on something inside the tree, and the opening closed behind us, leaving us in total darkness.

Suddenly something flashed and James appeared in the darkness, holding a torch.

"Before I show you this, you have to promise that you will tell no one. This is my secret. No one knows except me...and maybe you. Will you promise?"

"Who am I going to tell?" I answered. "But...I promise."

He let out his breath and said, "Thank you." He gave me a torch and lit it up. The increase in light allowed me to see stairs leading down.

"Did you build this?" I questioned.

"No," he answered with a shake of his head. "I found it when I was really young. I used to imagine it used to be a hideout for outlaws."

"Hmm," I mumbled. I looked around. Definitely an old hideout. Probably the Jackal's.

I followed him down the stone steps, careful not to trip. It grew wider the further down we went. At the bottom, the tree had opened up into the size of small cottage.

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "This is amazing!" The dirt walls and the large fireplace were covered by stones in different shades of grey and brick red. There were several wooden chairs surrounding a beautiful wooden table. Hanging from the ceiling was a large wood chandelier. Comfy chairs sat on a fur rug in front of the fireplace.

James walked over to the fireplace and threw his torch into it. I did the same.

"So...what do you do here?" I asked.

"I just hang out. Maybe read a book...study," he replied. That's when I noticed the large bookshelf in a dark corner.

"Oh my goodness!" I exclaimed. "How do you have so many books. I raced over to the book shelf and looked at the titles. I grabbed the Tales of the Unbeatables.

"I love this book!" I cried.

He came over to me. "Me too!" he said. "It's my favorite."

"It's my favorite too," I agreed. Suddenly I realized how close we were. I shuffled away and went to sit in front of the fire.

"Would you like something to eat?" James asked.

"I'm okay," I replied, opening up the Tales of the Unbeatables. He sat next to me on the floor. We flipped through the pages, looking at the pictures and reading it together.

I yawned. It was hard to keep track of time underground.

"I should probably get home," I said, standing up and yawning again.

"I'll walk you back," he answered, standing up beside me.

We walked to my house in silence. When we arrived, I turned to him and said, "Thank you. For everything. You saved my life. And...thank you for showing me your little underground house. I had a lot of fun."

"Thank you for finally deciding to be my friend," he replied. I smiled at him and walked inside. I crept up the stairs to my room. I didn't want to wake up my step-mother.

I was just about to open my door when I saw a light out of the corner of my eye.

"Where were you?" a voice questioned crossly.

"I...I...was at school late and then I took the long way home..."

"Don't do it again," my step-mother commanded.

"Yes, ma'am. It won't happen again." I quickly entered my room and crawled under the covers. It was good to be back in my bed. But in this house...

It made me want to run far, far away.

A/N I love to dedicate my chapters to my lovely readers! So don't forget to comment so I know who you are. Thanks for reading!

Ciao!

-SiSi