The Dark Realm

Lost

This hallway was shorter than the first two and instead of staying level or sloping downwards it went up. When they reached the end of it they came to two doorways.

"Which one should we go through?" Luke asked. Lilly looked between the two. Randomly she chose.

"This one." She said pointing right. She went into it. Luke attempted to follow her in but the doorway seemed to seal itself. He could see Lilly and heart her but he couldn't touch her or follow her in.

"Luke," Lilly's voice was slightly muffled through the seal. "Go through the other one. I'm sure we'll find our way back to each other."

"Always." Luke smiled at her. Lilly felt her heart melt at her best friend's words.

"Luke, be careful." She told him.

"I will. The same goes for you. I know how clumsy you can be. Please, be careful." Lilly nodded. She took a deep breath and turned around. It was another hallway, but this one was one a couple feet long before coming to a door.

"See you later, alligator." She whispered, barely loud enough for Luke to hear. He smiled.

"In a while, crocodile." He said as he went into the next doorway. It sealed behind him.

Lilly stood in front of the door, trying to figure out how to open it, when suddenly she felt something in her pocket. She had a new key. She used it to open the door and went inside the next room.

The same thing happened to Luke. A key materialized in his hand. He opened the door and entered the next room, prepared for what ever the room might do.

Serena didn't know what to do. She couldn't follow either of them in. The enchantments on the tomb didn't allow her to transport herself into the final room with the ring, which is why she was simply following Lilly and Luke. She stepped closer to the doorways, hoping to find a way to follow them in. A third doorway appeared. Serena smirked and entered. Just like with Lilly and Luke, a key appeared and Serena used it to open the door to the next room.

Lilly stood, surrounded by high walls. She ran forward.

"LUKE, CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Lilly shouted as loud as she could. No answer. She turned a corner. She saw that there were two paths to take. Randomly she choose a path and went right only to discover that it was a dead end. That was when she realized that she must be stuck in a maze.

"Ugh, why did it have to be a maze?" Lilly groaned. She recalled a time in 6th grade when she had gone to a Halloween maze with Jade and Luke.
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"Lilly, why did you wander off like that?" A 12 year old Luke asked. He was out of breath barely catching up with the girl.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just wanted to find the scarecrow. I think I might have seen it." Lilly said innocently.

"Well, at least stay with me. It will be better for everyone if we stick together." Luke said. Lilly smiled.

"Of course! We'll always stick together! Now come on!" Lilly grabbed Luke's wrist and dragged him forward. Her hand slide down to his. Luke's face turned red when he realized that they were holding hands.

After about a minute of dragging Luke, Lilly let go. She thought that she had seen a scarecrow and sped up to get there quicker, not realizing that her friend couldn't keep up. She turned a couple corners before she checked to see if her friend was still following. He was gone.

Lilly sat down on a bench next to the scarecrow she had been trying to find. She stamped her card with the stamp pad that was there. That was the point of the maze. Find a stamp from every Halloween creature. There was a zombie, ghost, witch, vampire, pumpkin, and scarecrow. So far Lilly and her family had found everything except the scarecrow.

Lilly decided to stay put. Her parents would have to get here eventually if they wanted to finish there stamp sheet. Why did she have to leave them? Why did she have to abandon Luke? She should have slowed down, it was just she was so excited that she sped up.

She was sitting there for at least twenty minutes before someone found her. She heard footsteps and stood up.

"Over here!" She exclaimed. The footsteps got louder until she found who they belonged to.

"Luke, I'm so glad you found me. I'm sorry that I ran off on you."

"You parents are right behind me with Jade. I ran into them after I lost you. Please, don't ever do that again." Lilly nodded.

"You won't ever have to find me again. Next time I get lost you can just let me find my own way out. I deserve it after running off." Lilly looked down ashamed.

"Lilly, it's not that big of a deal that we lost you. It's a maze after all." Luke smiled, trying to make his best friend feel better. More footsteps were within earshot.

"I know but-" Luke interrupted the twelve year old girl.

"Lilly, It's fine if you get lost from time to time. I'll always find you."
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Lilly smiled to herself as she thought about that. She remembered how she felt sitting alone on that bench. She was worried that no one would find her and she would never find her way out, but then her best friend had come along. Luke, could almost always make her feel better.

She looked around the maze. Was there anyway to cheat? No it didn't look like it. What exactly was she looking for in his maze anyway? Luke? For all she knew he was in a completely different room, maybe he wasn't even in a maze at all! The ring? Maybe, but where was it? The center, possibly. What if she wasn't supposed to find the ring in this room. Maybe it was in another room and she just had to find the door to it. Ugh, she wished that she knew what exactly she was supposed to find in this maze.

She turned another corner. She was really sick of this maze by now. She rounded a corner and found herself in the center of the maze. A cube sat in the middle.