Ellie opened her eyes slowly, the floor felt cold beneath her as she rolled around to sit. Her flashlight was still fully lit in her hand, she could see Skully right beside her and she breathed a sigh of relief. The crypt seemed a bit less dark compared to earlier and she could see no sign of those dark vines. 

“That was strange, was it a dream or real? It felt so real to me. Did you go to that dark place too?” She asked Skully as she picked him up. 

There was no response, the silence of the crypt became even louder. Ellie stared at the skull, wondering why he didn’t reply. Skully would always have a comment on everything, even if it didn’t concern him. 

“Skully? Maybe you didn’t hear me…” Ellie muttered before she started shaking the skull. 

Silence. For the first time in a very long time, Ellie felt alone, completely alone. The crypt seemed more imposing, and her courage seemed to waver. She swiftly scrambled to her feet and glanced around. There was no sign of anything or anyone, no shadows, no vines, nothing. Ellie felt worried. What happened to Skully? She shook her head and picked up her backpack. She needed to get out of there. 

Ellie jolted out of the crypt, right back the way she came, up the ladder, and out into Old Dawn. She ran as fast as she could with the skull under her arm, and her mind couldn’t stop wondering why Skully wasn’t talking. Neon lights bathed the city in color and luminance, it truly looked like a colorful sunrise even at night. Downtown almost seemed to emit as much light as the sun itself. Normally Ellie would be in awe of it all, but in this moment she didn’t even notice how bright it was, it all seemed dark to her.

She raced straight into her room when she reached the apartment, she wanted to try talking to Skully again. What could possibly be wrong? Ellie sighed as she fell onto the bed, she lifted the skull gently above her head. 

“Skully? Are you there?” She bit her lip as she tried her best not to cry. 

Silence. Something felt terribly wrong to her, was this related to that dark place? Was it not a dream? Had she gone there with Skully? Her gaze shifted to the window, lights pouring in from the nighttime city. She felt alone again, abandoned by the world. Yet she refused to cry. Maybe Skully would be back in the morning? She felt indescribably tired, and worn out, as if all her energy had been drained from her. Ellie couldn’t help but fall asleep, even though she was worried, even though her heart felt heavy.

Morning was as silent as the night before, Skully hadn’t said one word. Ellie gazed at the skull in her arms, it was just a skull now. No rude comments, no fudge this and that. She had to get to work, it didn’t matter that she felt terrible, she still had to go. 

Ellie placed Skully neatly on the small desk in her room, perhaps he would be chatty again when she came back. She didn’t want to lose hope, one thing about Ellie was that she was always determined when it came to things she cared about, and she cared about Skully more than anything. 

“When I come back later I’ll try to figure out what’s going on,” Ellie proclaimed before she dashed out the door.

Though the silence would last, Skully did not utter a single word for two whole weeks. It was as if he wasn’t even there anymore. Ellie had never been so worried, so distraught. 

Even Artemis and Luke had noticed how down she had been. It had brought a halt to Luke’s plans of scaring her away, how could he when she was in this state? He was not cruel, he just didn’t like the idea of a roommate.