(warning: blood)
Not wasting another second, Lilith dived to the closest thing one could hide in--which turned out to be an old wardrobe. Shaking off the confusion of why a wardrobe be outside the hallway, even if it is an abandon one, she all but pull Aurora with her as they squeeze at the back of the furniture. They both held their breath as the footsteps got closer. Soon, they could both see a shadowed figure walking calmly towards the direction of Aurora's room.
Lilith couldn't see who it was, but she was not about to stay there until they found out that it's empty. Signaling to the other girl to stay quite, Lilith tiptoe out of their hiding place as fast as she can and trying to stick close to the wall, hoping that the darkness could help conceal them. With her leading, she had no time to turn around to see the new person, but Aurora caught the sight of silver strands tied in a neat bun before the two of them turn in a corner.
"Okay. I think we're safe now," Lilith whispered after they walked further. "At least we managed to get out before someone came to check on you, or else we--aahh!" Whatever words she wanted to say was cut out as Lilith failed to feel the floor dropping down, sending her and Lilith, whom she was still holding, sliding down. The two landed in a heap. "Ow. Just how many holes does this place has?!"
"It's not a hole," Aurora replied as she sat up and shook her head. "The floor was designed like a ramp, but it's a little steep to walk."
"Ugh, who in the world would design their house like this? I just hope that they didn't hear us, whoever it was that went to your room." Lilith grumbled as she stood up. She patted her clothes a bit and felt relieved that nothing seemed broken. "Are you alright?" After hearing Aurora hum, she looked around to see where they are now. "What the--why is this room shaped round?"
The lighting here was much better than the hallway, with thin rays of light passing through the numerous cracks on the room. Aside from its shape, the room was also spacious, but there was not a single object to be found. "What even is the purpose of this room? And how can we get out?"
"I don't know myself," Aurora replied to the question. "I've only stumbled here once. But there's a small door in this way. This should lead us outside." Aurora then guided Lilith to the said door. She had never really like this room, so she never tried to venture around the area. She'd only know of the door when she heard some sounds coming from the other side many years ago. It was the next day when she was told not allowed to take another step outside again.
The door opened to the small forest east of the house. The tall bushes covered the entrance out of sight, so they managed to sneak away without being noticed. Lilith quietly gestured to Aurora to follow her, her eyes kept darting back to the house to make sure no one's following them that she failed to notice Aurora pausing in front of her. She made an 'oof!' sound when she collided to the other's back.
"What's the deal? Why did you suddenly stopped?" Lilith questioned as she massaged her nose. She looked up a moment later when she received no response and saw the other girl's wide shining eyes and open mouth as her gaze roamed the sight of a town for the first time.
"Oh right, it's your first time." Lilith cleared her throat. "Well, welcome to the outside world. . . I guess?"
The other girl either did not hear her or was just too overwhelmed to reply as her eyes never left the from the sight. "This. . . is how the outside world looks like?"
"Yep!" Lilith grinned and, grabbing her by the hand again, quickly ran towards the nearest building from them--which was a candy store.
"Here, have you tried this before?" Lilith showed her a bright round red candy and watched as the other shook her head no. "Well I guess it's a good food to start with. This is called a candy. It's a really sweet treat-or, most of the flavors, anyway-and is very popular to kids. Here, try it."
Aurora eyed the candy with obvious fascination before popping it on her mouth. A second later, her eyes widened in delight as she grabbed another different colored treat and popped it in her mouth again. Lilith laughed as her cheeks started to bulge like a hamster and asked her to stop eating them all at once. With the two busy in the stalls, they missed the bewildered looks on the shop owners and the shoppers sending their way. Who is this. . . girl that looks exactly like Miss Solerna?
The two girls continued to visit the shops to look at the wares being sold and to try out some food. Aurora seemed to be quite taken by all the new and weird foods around them that they managed to visit every available stalls that sold pastries and other treats. She's especially fond of all the sweet snacks they're tried so far.
"So, how was your trip so far?" Lilith asked while they sat down on a table, in the same restaurant she had dragged Henry yesterday. "I told you you'll enjoy it!"
Aurora had been smiling non-stop as they walked around the street, stopping only for a short time before going to the next. They didn't have enough time to let the other look at the places better, but she looked satisfied enough with their course.
Aurora put her handful of sweets down the table. "It's. . . different than what I initially thought. It's the first time I see so many people in one place, but I didn't feel uncomfortable." She looked up; the sky was slowly turning grey, signaling an incoming rain. "The air here is really cool, too, and. . . light. And it's much beautiful than how the books describe a town should be. And that maybe, I can actually find some ways to stay here and not be afraid of what might happen."
Lilith looked at the other and asked, "Aurora? What kind of magic did you have? And why are you afraid of it?"
Aurora's face turned serious as she thought for her words. Before she could answer her, however, they heard a voice calling Lilith's name. Lilith uttered 'shoot!' when she saw Henry walking closer to them. She looked around her in slight panic, despite knowing that it's useless as the boy already saw them.
"Lilith! It's nice to see you here!" He looked at the other girl and had to blink several times to make sure that he's not seeing things. His eyes looked at Lilith, then to the girl, then back to Lilith. "You two. . . look really similar to each other. So um, name is. . .?"
"Ahaha, her name's Aurora," Lilith quickly replied. "I, uh, guess didn't have you meet yesterday aha haha uuhh, guess I forgot," she babbled as she tried to look for an excuse for them to get away.
Aurora suddenly stood up, surprising the other two. "We need to go. Now."
"Huh? Why?" Lilith asked, confused at the suddenness. She sounded insistent as she went around the room and tried to pull her away from the table. "Come on. We have to go. Now!"
The restaurant door opening had the three of them looking at its direction unconsciously. Lilith recognized the man as the owner's wife's brother-in-law. He often delivers the food their family ordered from the market.
Aurora was now forcefully pulling her out of the restaurant along with Henry, but pandemonium suddenly erupted as the blood of the restaurant owner splayed on the floor as the brother-in-law slashed the man with a machete.
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Author's Note: still not following the draft exactly, but close enough. But yeah. We have a character that died. I'll be putting some warning at every chapter with elements that might trigger people so you guys could prepare yourselves.
If you enjoy this chapter, please don't forget to vote and comment! I would love to hear what you guys thought of the story so far.