Playground of Bones

Prologue

The first time they had met was at the playground.
It was a regular playground, unrecognizable from the others.
Bordered by tall oak trees, the sunlight streamed down through spaces between the branches, giving it a golden tone
The structures were ordinary as well, creaky swings and a spiralling slide, nothing unusual.
It looked simple enough.

But despite its dull appearance, it was mesmerizing.
If you payed attention to small details, like the patterns on the chains of the swings, you could tell quite clearly that this was no normal place.
It was like a labyrinth, no matter how much you explored, there was always more to it.

It was beautiful in its own way.

But

Like everything beautiful, it held a secret.

A dark secret.

There had been 10 of them at the beginning,
6 girls and 4 boys. All different ages.

At first they were scared of this strange place that they had been brought to,
But they eventually learned to accept it as their home.
It was always daytime here, never raining or snowing.
An endless summer.
It was perfect for them.

The children laughed and played.
In a place where they belonged.
They had always been different from other children, but here, they fit in.
Everyone here had the same aura around them,
The aura that had kept them from blending in.

An aura of power.

But as they grew older, the aura faded.
It kept fading, dissolving into the shadows.
Until not a shred remained.

That was when the screams began.

Ripping apart the peaceful silence enveloping the playground, they increased in volume
Each cry telling its own woeful story.
A tale of pain and loss.

For what seemed like an eternity, they kept going.

Until one day, the silence returned.
But it wasn't the same as before.
The silence wasn't the peaceful one they were accustomed to,
It was an eerie one.
A warning.

That was how the Playground of Bones was created.