Chapter 9 - The underground chamber smelled like wet earth.Grandmother stood in front of the tree roots.
Massive roots hung from the ceiling.
They twisted around the walls like veins.
Silly moved toward me.
Grandmother raised one hand.
Silly stopped.
“Don't.”
My twin stood beside me.
“What is she?”
Grandmother laughed.
“You've finally asked the right question.”
She removed a ring from her finger.
The symbol on it matched the mark on my chest.
“This family has served the tree for generations.”
“For what?”
“Protection.”
“From what?”
“The thing beneath it.”
She touched the ground.
Something moved below us.
The entire chamber shook.
“What's beneath the tree?”
Grandmother's smile disappeared.
“Something older than any of us.”
“Then why feed it people?”
“We don't.”
She looked at me.
“We feed it memories.”
I frowned.
“Then why the disappearances?”
“Because memories need bodies.”
Silly interrupted.
“Don't listen to her.”
Grandmother turned.
“You've been lying for years.”
Silly stepped forward.
“I lied to save him.”
“You failed.”
“Not yet.”
Grandmother raised her hand.
The floor cracked.
Silly fell to her knees.
I rushed toward her.
Grandmother stopped me.
“Do you remember the fourth child?”
“Yes.”
“His name was Elias.”
My twin looked at her.
“Don't call me that.”
“You were born first.”
“I was born dead.”
“You were born forgotten.”
His eyes filled with hatred.
Grandmother continued.
“The tree stores forgotten things.”
“Names.”
“Faces.”
“Promises.”
“People.”
“And when a memory is strong enough, it becomes a person.”
I looked at my twin.
He was not a ghost.
Not exactly.
He was a memory given flesh.
Grandmother turned toward Silly.
“She discovered the truth at twelve.”
“She thought she could destroy the tree.”
“But instead, she made another bargain.”
I looked at Silly.
“What did you promise?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“My memory.”
“What?”
“I promised the tree that I would forget one person every year.”
I stared.
“Who?”
“People who died.”
“What?”
“That's why I don't remember Mom's funeral.”
“Why I forgot Dad's voice.”
“Why I couldn't remember Mai's face.”
She looked at me.
“I was paying the tree.”
My voice broke.
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
Grandmother smiled.
“Until tonight.”
The candles began extinguishing one by one.
Twelve.
Eleven.
Ten.
“Silly.”
She looked at me.
“I need you to do something.”
“What?”
“Kill me.”
I froze.
Grandmother laughed.
“Yes.”
“Kill her,” Silly said.
“She is the lock.”
“The moment she dies, the tree opens.”
“Then what?”
“The thing beneath it comes out.”
The chamber shook harder.
A deep heartbeat echoed through the ground.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
My twin whispered:
“It's waking.”
Grandmother looked at me.
“You have two choices.”
“Join the tree.”
“Or destroy your family.”
I heard something behind the walls.
Hundreds of voices.
Then one familiar voice.
Mai.
She whispered:
“Please.”
I turned.
“Please what?”
The wall cracked.
A little girl's hand pushed through.
“Don't let her open the door.”
Silly screamed:
“It's already too late!”
May you like
The final candle went out.
And something began climbing the stairs behind us.
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