(Skeleton Key) Game Master Read Free Page A

ground.
    I trotted at a sedated pace this time and kept a careful ear out for any abnormal sounds. The woods were eerily quiet. There weren’t even any birds chirping. No insects on the ground. It was a dead forest, yet trees lived.
    The more I thought about it, the faster my feet moved.
    There may have been a good reason the prisoners hadn’t fled into the woods. This place could be haunted for all I knew. Or little green men could string me up from a tree.
    There was a talking frog.
    The possibilities were endless.
    I shoved brush aside and stopped.
    The road. I had made it to the road.
    I sighed in relief and stepped onto the powdered dirt. My footfalls caused little clouds of dust to fly up with each step. “Hey, Kingsley, you know those woods across from where you were sitting—”
    “Don’t go in there!” he cried. My backpack rustled against my shoulders. He was trying to get out. “My dear, can you hear me? I’m serious!”
    I halted from my stroll and blinked several times. “I won’t.” I lied. It calmed him down, my straps no longer tugging at my shoulders. “But what was wrong with it? Why weren’t the prisoners—”
    “The Charmed Ones live in there,” he whispered.
    I kept walking. “What are they?”
    “Those are creatures you don’t ever want to cross.”
    I rolled my eyes. “That explains nothing.”
    His voice trembled. “They eat baby humona.”
    My throat went dry. “What about adult humona?”
    “It’s said the Charmed Ones will allow one humona to enter their woods every ten years. If anyone steps inside the forest, and they aren’t the chosen one, then they steal their eyeballs—and then roast the body over a fire.”
    My face scrunched in disgust. “Why doesn’t the Guard take them down?”
    He hummed. “Only one has tried. It didn’t end well.”
    “Are they magic?”
    “In the moonlight, they are.”
    I shook my head. “Then someone should take them out in the daylight. Letting fear dictate your actions only lead to shame.”
    “The humonas might feel as such, but they’re still alive. And you saw that cottage. No one has lived near the woods for over forty years. The Charmed Ones no longer have a flock of sheep to pick from, yet they stay in the woods. That is a win for the humonas after centuries of death.”
    My brows puckered. “Maybe they moved too.”
    “Never. The Charmed Ones also eat the animals in the woods. There is no wildlife there. They are still there.”
    “Ick,” I mumbled. I had seen that firsthand.
    The dust was flying up ahead, a large rolling ball. The road was being traveled. I glanced at the woods, the only shelter nearby. “Hey, Kinsley, say that humona was chosen. Does that mean they can go back into the woods anytime they want?”
    He was quiet for too long. “You went in there, didn’t you?”
    I gurgled, trying not to comment.
    “My, my. You were lucky.” He cleared his throat. Loudly. “As was I, since they eat wildlife.”
    I stared at the traveling…carriage…headed directly toward me. “Just answer my question. Can I go back in?”
    “No.” Instant and hard.
    I didn’t believe him. “Are you sure?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I saw the last one enter. He was too proud of being chosen by the Charmed Ones. He went back in, and he never came out.”
    Okay, perhaps I did believe him.
    Which left me with no options.
    I couldn’t outrun a carriage being pulled by four strong horses. I whined softly in my throat. It was now or never. My red brows furrowed over my green eyes.
    If the skeleton key wanted me here…
    I glanced down at the dirt beneath my boots.
    I couldn’t believe I was considering this magical stuff.
    But, if it wanted me here, then I was on the right path.
    The rolling dust cloud was almost on me.
    I stepped to the side of the road and raised my arm, hailing the driver in the front. He controlled the horses so he would be the one to stop the contraption. I placed an innocent smile on my face,