Prologue

"It would bring grave danger if anybody were to find this box." A man carrying a torch down a long marble corridor whispered to a man behind him.

"Imagine the wrong people getting their hands on this." He whispered back hoping and praying that no one was listening or following them. What they were doing could get them both killed.

The corridor was long and dark. The torch was dim so no one would think anything was out of ordinary just someone walking to their room or to the nearest bathroom. The man holding the box looked down at it. He thought it was a gorgeous box, it vibrated with power. He knew it was evil and contained horrible things. The box looked like a miniature chest, it had a lock on the front of it. It was black with gold designs on it. There was jewels decorating the top with gold lines flowing and connecting each gem in a way. There was a Amethyst, Swiss Blue Topaz, Peridot, Spessartite Garnet, Blue Sapphire, Citrine Quartz, and a Ruby.

Their feet were barely making any noise for fear that they would wake the master of the house. They finally came to a stop in front of a floor to ceiling painting. It was a painting of a man sitting upon a horse he was missing half of his leg due to a lion eating it. Both men looked around paying close attention to the shadows, they were making sure that no one was following or listening to them. The man with the torch started to run his hands along the frame. He was looking for a lever. The lever was hidden to the naked eye. He finally hit and the picture gave a little "GASP" as musky air leaked out of a slit in the wall. The man with the torch passed it off to the guy with the box, he pushed the picture open with all his strength. The man carrying both things walked into the opening in the wall first. The next guy stepped in and grabbed the handle and pulled it closed. He then retrieved the torch and started forward.

The walls were covered in dirt and grim. It was almost suffocating how closed in there were with two inches between them standing side by side. Spiders, beetles, and other insects scurried below their feet.

"Are you positive that no one knows this is here?" Asked the guy holding the box. The box seemed to be giving off its own array of light.

"Yes." The guy with the torch answered.

The tunnel they were walking through was a maze. It turned every which way. The guy holding the box didn't know how the guy in front of him knew where he was going. He had to have searched this place before they brought the box here. He heard a faint noise, a noise that you wouldn't hear unless you were concentrating.

"Did you hear that?" The man holding the box asked.

"No." The guy holding the torch answered. He was being very short trying to remember the way to go so they wouldn't get lost and die before hiding the box.

The guy holding the torch came to a stop. He held the torch out in front to show concrete steps. The darkness below seemed so much darker than the darkness they were in now. The guy started down the steps. The guy with the box stopped he looked down into the blackness. Fear pulsed through him. Should they really go down there?

"Are you sure we need to go down there? We are pretty far in here nobody knows this hear. We should just leave it here." He called to the other man who was halfway down the stairs. He turned around and looked at him.

"I would rather be safe than sorry on this matter. If the wrong people got a hold of that box... Well you don't even want to know what will happen.

If you aren't going to come down I will do it myself." He said and started up the stairs. When he reached the guy he held his hand out for the box. The man clutched the box closer to him. He took a deep breath and walked down the stairs.

The temperature dropped as they descended the stairs. The could make out their breath in the darkness. The torch barely helped them see an inch in front of them. When they reached the bottom of the steps they took a second to listen to their surroundings. They heard the scuttling of the bugs that nested down there. One noise caught them off guard, they couldn't quite make sense of it but it was unhuman and unearthly. It shook them to their core. They walked deeper into the darkness. They both walked into a wall.

"Here. We are going to leave it here."

The guy with the box bent down and placed the box on the ground. The light it had given off seemed to disappear when he stopped touching it. All he wanted to do was hold it again. He stood up straight and both men turned around.

When they turned around there was a creature an inch away from their face. It was completely white with ice blue eyes. It seemed to be floating above the ground.

"Ouch." It screeched at them and in a flick of it's arm it sent the torch flying to the ground and in that time they caught small glimpses of corpses on the ground. The torch was extinguished immediately. Both men screamed. The creature screamed back at them. The stood there frozen in fear.

"What did you bring me?" It screeched at them. It swiftly floated between leaving a gust of cold air to hit them in the face.

"A box." The man who had carried it down there..

"A pretty box. Pretty, pretty Box. All the horrible things you hide inside." It screeched in pleasure as it bent down to get the box. The creature sat down with it's knees up to it's chest as he held the box.

Both men got the same idea at the same time. They both slowing started backing away from where they thought the creature was. The man who had been carrying the torch tripped over something making a loud thud. The other man could here the creature cut through the air as it reached the other man. It bent him half backwards. The his heels were touching the back of his head. The other man heard all the bones break in his companions body. He started to sob. He knew he was not going to get of their alive.

"Why would you want to leave me? Why would you want to leave such a pretty box." It screeched getting closer to him. He felt the coldness of the creature as it started to touch him.

"Tears!" The creature sniffed at his face.

"They reek of fear and grief." It licked the tears off his face. He turned to run away but before he could even take a step the creature snapped his neck.

The creature floated back to the box. It got into the same position it had been in before the men had tried to escape. He started to slowing stroke it as if he was petting a cat.

"Pretty. Pretty. Pretty box. Oh yes. I know of the horrible things. Yes. Horrible horrible things. Oh no, never. I'll protect you box. I'll keep you safe. Oh yes pretty pretty box. I will do as you command." It screeched to the box as if it was talking to it.