You guys are awesome.

Thanks for the reviews and OH MY GOSH I'm so sorry for the delay! Please forgive me!

Okay, I realized this chapter isn't as long as I expected it to be, but I hope you enjoy it!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the 39 Clues!

Chapter 9:

"Or maybe I do. . ." said a voice behind them.

Amy suddenly woke up. She was so frightened she slipped from the bench and fell to the ground. "Ouch," she mumbled as she got up. She looked around and then realized she had dozed off on the bench in the garden while reading her book. She realized sweat was dripping from her forehead and wiped it off. That dream. . . she thought. I vaguely remember, but it has something to do with Natalie and her stupid brother.

Then she looked at her watch. Dinner must've already started!

She rushed to the dining room, where everybody was already busy listening to a speech. There was pindrop silence. When Amy suddenly burst in she saw everyone's eyes on her. She blushed and looked for an empty seat, hopefully far, far away from Ian Kabra. Instead she found one right next to Ian Kabra, Ian on the left and Dan on the right. She groaned and stared at the seat.

Fiske cleared his throat. "Um, Amy, you may take a seat next to Dan, if you don't mind,"

Amy nodded her head slightly toward Ian. Fiske just gave a 'sorry-I-can't-do-anything-about-it' face.

Amy sighed and pulled the chair closer to Dan, making him groan.

"Yes. As I was saying, the Vespers -" Amy saw Ian wince. "-are making various moves on several people. It is no attack, not even part of it. The Vespers are scarier than you think. They make Isabel look like Mother Teresa." Fiske glanced toward Ian's direction. Natalie and Ian just stared at the table, as people gave them dirty looks.

"So we are expecting some more people, some of them contestants in the Clue hunt," Fiske continued, "So when they arrive tomorrow, you know the drill. One of you show them around, give them their rooms and let them do what they have to."

Fiske smiled. "You all may now have dinner."

Amy had dinner with Jake and Rachel, but hardly spoke. As she ate her food, she felt something weird. The food tasted different. But she just waved the thought off.

After some time, when Amy just finished, she smelled something sweet and smelled like medicine. "D-do you ...guys.. smell...that?" she asked, dazed.

"Yeah. . ." they mumbled. And as quick as lightning everyone fell asleep.

(BREAK)

Ian woke up, still dazed from the incident in the dining hall. "Argh," he grunted.

"I-I-Ian?" a small, scared voice said from the corner.

"Amy? Where – where are we?" he asked. The room was pitch black, and locating Amy's voice was hard. By the sound of her voice he could tell the room wasn't that big.

"I d-don't know. W-w-where's everyone else?" she stuttered.

"I don't know either. Is there a light somewhere here? Like a switch?"

"I don't know. We should probably search," she whispered. "There should be something."

Ian got up, he wasn't sure if Amy did, but he began to feel the walls for a switch. He was searching when his hand met somebody else's, and he guessed it was Amy's. He cleared his throat awkwardly and moved it away. "Ahem, sorry uh, Amy," he muttered.

"I-it's okay," she replied. Soon, after about five minutes, Amy screamed in delight. "I found something!" she said.

She flicked the switch on, and the room flooded with a dull light. As soon as their eyes met, Ian smiled and Amy looked away.

"There should be a door somewhere here," she mumbled to herself. "But where?" he turned toward him and he shrugged. "I don't know."

Amy sighed and looked around. After searching and searching for an hour, they finally gave up. They sat next to each other and after a long silence, Amy began to tense. Ian seemed confused. Just when he was about to ask her why she got up and put her fingers to her lips.

Ian frowned. He got up and stood next to her. She whispered, "I hear something," and started walking toward the corner. Ian reluctantly followed. After a brief silence she muttered, "Nothing. Absloutely nothing when I'm sure of it."

Ian paced the room. "I'm sure it's the Vespers who did it." He looked at Amy and she silently nodded.

Two years ago they had been confronted by Vespers, who wanted Gideon Cahill's ring. Casper Wyoming, she remembered. Casper Wyoming had been the Vesper who'd tried to kill them. Also, Bruno, had endangered their lives by trying to cut the wires of a cable car back in Switzerland. After a while they went back underground, and no one heard of them since then. Thinking of those moments made Amy shiver.

"W-w-well I guess we're uh, stuck here for some time," she muttered, holding on to a watch.

"What's that?" Ian asked curiously, pointing at the watch.

"N-nothing." Amy said almost immediately. Ian raised an eyebrow and gently took the watch in his hand. Amy looked like she wanted to beat his head off but she controlled her temper.

"I never knew you wore gold, Amy," Ian said, smirking.

"I-I -"

"What is it?" he repeated. He narrowed his eyes.

"I-it's Gideon's ring. Grace wanted me to keep it safe," she said weakly, staring at the watch.

Ian nodded. "I see. A very ingenious thing to do," he said softly, studying the watch. "Tell me more about this ring." he said, sitting down next to her and returning the watch. She sighed and brought out a picture.

"This," she began, pointing to the picture, "is Madeleine. And you know that, because of the fire, Katherine and Thomas -"

"- blamed Luke because he knew." Ian finished. "Yes, I know," he growled.

Amy nodded. "S-so, after ninteen years, Olivia told Madeleine to unite the family. And to keep Gideon's ring away from Damien Vesper. So after her Mother, Olivia died from the attack of the Vespers years later, she decided to set off on the journey to unite the Cahill family – with the ring." she took a breath. She went on with the story, about Luke's son, how Luke thought that Madeleine was a Vesper spy and didn't believe she was his sister, and how she formed a branch called Madrigals. She fled with the ring and it got passed on generation to generation, until it came to this one. Ian seemed surprised.

"Even the Lucians didn't tell me this much," he muttered.

She smiled. "Madrigals know about the branches more than you guys do." she said.

They locked eyes, and Amy saw that Ian had changed so much since the time they locked her and Dan in a cave, in Korea. Then Amy shifted her gaze uncomfortably.

But Ian still stared at her for some odd reason. Amy blushed and leaned against the wall.

"I wonder where Dan is," she whispered, looking up at the ceiling. Ian sat a few blocks away.

"I wonder where Natalie is. I really hope she is O.K," Ian muttered.

Amy smiled at this. But soon her smile faded. "How long have we been in here?" she muttered, checking the time in her watch, taking it out from a secret pocket in her jeans. "It says 1:00 here, but I don't know if it's AM or PM." Ian shook his head.

"I'd have known what the time is, but they took my BlackBerry!" he growled. "How couldn't they find that watch of yours?"

"Secret." she simply said.

After some time, they grew bored. "I think I'll go mad in here!" Ian whined.

Amy just stared at the floor. "Think of it," she said, looking up. "There has to be a way out somewhere,"

"Well, if you don't find that way now, I'll go crazy."

Amy was irritated. "Well, m-maybe if you help, we can find it faster!" she snapped.

Ian's eyes widened, and then he sighed. "Sorry," he muttered.

Then Amy lay on her back and gazed up at the ceiling. Then suddenly something clicked inside her brain. "I know where it is!" she exclaimed.

Ian immediately got up. "Where?" he said, excited.

She pointed at the ceiling corner. "See a latch, right there?" She stood up and walked to it. Then she pointed at one of the tiles below. "This one's loose," she said, pushing it in. It popped out, revealing a button. Ian gasped.

"Of course!" he said. Amy pushed the button and all the tiles slid to the side, revealing a ladder. "If we just climb this, then we can probably push the door open."

But Ian stopped her. "What if – what if there's a guard?"

She grinned and turned toward the ladder. "They'll have to face me."

But Ian didn't want her to take chances. "I'll go first. In case there's someone."

Amy frowned, but then managed a smile. "Um, o-of course," she said, getting out of the way. Ian climbed the ladder and studied the door. Then he opened a latch and slid the door to the side. What he saw surprised him.

Zack was standing there, a gun in his hand. "Hello, my friend," he said.

Sorry if there are mistakes. I really didn't have the time.

I hope you liked this chapter.

~AwesomeLucian