Labyrinth: Into the Malignant Book 2

Drop of Blood

We followed the girl to a weeping willow tree. She moved the branches and we both walked in. It was like opening the door to another world. Girls and boys were walking around gracefully. Each person had dark red hair with bright green eyes and green outfits made from vines. Vines covered everything from the people to the trees.

It was a meadow with different people dancing. No, they were flowing. Each person swayed as they walked and moved together as if the movement had been rehearsed. As we walked through the field, the people seemed to gravitate towards us. A skinny boy reached out towards me and I watched him curiously. He licked his lips and the skin on his hand did something weird. I was watching closely and was startled when the girl slid between us. She put her hand on the boy's chest, but his gaze was locked with mine.

I heard a huff behind me and smirked. "Now who's jealous?" I asked without turning around. Something touched my back and then wrapped around my back. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I turned around and saw the boy smirking. "What are y-you doing?" I asked "Nervous? Don't worry about all the other pretty girls here. They don't make me light up like you do" He said looking to our touching skin. I looked down and saw a small glow. His finger traced the marks on my side and I shuttered when I saw them light up at his touch.

"Follow me" The girl said drawing us both away from each other and continued walking. There were a large group of vines covering a strange looking complex made out of tree bark. The complex was rather large. It was sculpted to look like a huge tree with vines wrapping around it. There was something red on it though. I took another step closer and saw stone around the outside with red liquid rushing down. The stone aqueduct ran all around the village to the west of where we were. Over the meadow, people had little red things in their hands. They went to the aqueduct and scooped some of the liquid out. At first glance you could only see rushing red liquid, but after looking at it for a moment; I could see red rose petals swirling around decoratively.

I moved to touch the liquid but a hiss came and my hand was slapped away. "Do not touch it" The girl said. I recoiled sharply to get away from her and fell into the boy. He helped me stand firmly and we continued after the girl. She was walking into the complex.

She moved the barrier of vines away from the entrance and we walked in. It was very dark. Everyone moved around slowly and reacted with ease. We were in a dark colored hallway. There were doors ever few feet. We continued to walk towards the light at the end of the short hallway. It was like plant life exploded. Every piece of furniture was covered in various shades of green plants and random flowers. The roof went up into an open dome with the sun beaming down in a large circle in the room. Chairs were situated in the middle like a social area in a garden.

As we walked through the room, I had to check to see if I was going to trip on any roots. When we walked through the light, I saw the girl breath in and close her eyes. She seemed to slow down while she was in the sun. I watched her carefully and she quickly went back to normal. She turned and nodded towards a door. We walked in and I eyed her suspiciously. I didn't trust her at all.

The room was small. It had three hammocks like seats hanging from the ceiling made out of strong plants. There were three hammocks, one on one side of the old looking desk, and two on the other side. There was a large window on the other side of the room where the one hanging chair was. Sun light flowed into the room and landed on the girl as she curled up in the seat. She motioned for us to sit and I moved into the seat with ease. It swung a little, but was fine. The boy had more trouble. He was a little too big for the seat, but after a little bit of struggle, he managed.

"What is the deal?" I asked. "You see, when you fell, you were close to death. We gave you health and we gave you new clothes when yours were torn to shreds. We have something to ask for in return, it is up to you if it is big or small" She said. "I will decide upon the terms" I replied in the tone my father uses when discussing issues. "We want kiss from your lips, and we want the oil from his poisonous skin. If you refuse the deal, you will have punishment" She said. "Why do want these things? I'm not going to kiss you" I said revolted. "That is for us to know, do we have a deal?" She asked.