Shadows That Follow Us

Citali and Onyx thought opening The Door Beneath the Tree was the dangerous part.They thought the adventure was over once the door closed.They were wrong.Something followed them.A year later, eleven-year-old best friends Citali and Onyx couldn't be more different.Unfortunately for Onyx, Citali has never met a warning she couldn't ignore.And this time...Her curiosity may have brought something home.A shadow moves across Citali's bedroom wall even though she hasn't moved.Onyx hears footsteps behind her when she's walking alone.Objects disappear.Whispers come from empty rooms.And sometimes, when the girls look down-their shadows are facing the wrong direction.At first, Citali thinks it's exciting.Onyx absolutely does not.Then their shadows stop copying them altogether.They begin watching them.The girls soon discover that the doorway beneath the tree didn't simply connect two places.It connected worlds that were never supposed to touch.Every time Citali and Onyx crossed between them, something on the other side watched.Learning.It knows what they're afraid of.For Citali, the shadows force her to confront something she has never wanted to admitHer curiosity has always pushed their adventures forward, but when one of her impulsive decisions places Onyx in real danger, Citali begins questioning whether the part of herself she loves most might also hurt the person she cares about most.For Onyx, the shadows reveal an even deeper fear.Losing Citali.Onyx has always been the protector.The thinker.But Onyx is beginning to understand something she doesn't like.She cannot protect Citali from everything.And the darkness knows it.Soon the strange force following them begins turning their fears against them.Their friendship is tested.Their magic becomes stronger.Their arguments become bigger.And for the first time, Citali and Onyx discover that whatever is hunting them doesn't necessarily need to defeat them.It only needs to separate them.As Citali's vampire abilities continue developing and Onyx discovers new depths to her witch magic, the girls begin uncovering the truth about the mysterious doorway from their first adventure.The tree wasn't random.The door wasn't an accident.And Citali and Onyx weren't simply two curious ten-year-olds who happened to find it.Something wanted them to open it.Something has been waiting for them.And whatever lives beyond the doorway isn't finished.Not even close.To survive, Citali and Onyx will have to face frightening creatures, dangerous magic, secrets about themselves, and the fears they've spent their entire friendship hiding from one another.There will still be jokes.There will still be arguments.But underneath every mystery and every dangerous adventure is the one thing the darkness doesn't understand.Citali and Onyx aren't powerful because one is a vampire and the other is a witch.They're powerful because when one falls-the other reaches for her.When one is afraid-the other stays.And when darkness tries to separate them-they choose each other.By the time the girls finally discover what has been following them, they'll understand that the shadows were never the real danger.Because somewhere beyond the tree...another door is beginning to open.And this time-something is coming through.The door closed.But the shadows followed them home.