Oh my gosh...I am SO sorry for the almost one-month wait on an update! May has been a super busy month for me, with Communions, Mock Trial events, Field Days, etc., etc. But here it is finally is - Chapter Eleven, the mark to the near end of the story. I expect maybe one more chapter, plus an epilogue, which I have already written out. This chapter is probably my worst...I found it very hard to write about Andrea in this chapter...so please forgive me if she sounds like a Mary Sue!
hollyclaw, I sent you this chapter, and I'm updating before you send corrections because another busy chunk of my life is approaching, and I want to get this up before that chunk begins. If there are corrections, I'll simply edit the chapter. Thank you so much for all you have done for this story!
I just found out today that this story was added to lightning8star's C2, "My Favorite Archives". Lightning8star, I don't know if you're reading this, but thank for adding this! It makes me feel very honored!
Enjoy!
Chapter Eleven: Trinity Church
Just moments after their big, Hollywood-like reunion, Andrea and Riley sat at a table in the Internet café, sharing an iced coffee with two straws. They couldn't stop smiling at each other – what had just happened was so unreal, but so perfect, as if it was meant to be. Nothing could dim their spirits.
"It was odd," Andrea admitted to Riley, holding his hand underneath the tabletop. "Well…not really odd…just…"
"Unexpected?" Riley finished for her.
"Exactly," Andrea nodded, grinning. "When Ian took me, everything changed. I realized how much I missed you and cared for you when you weren't with me…I guess it was because there were rare times in your employment to Ben when you weren't there for me." She laughed, the sunlight glistening on her head. "That sounded so scripted, didn't it?"
Riley laughed too. "No, it sounds fine. But the freaky thing is that…that was how I felt months ago. Only recently was when I was sure I liked you and tried to "make a move". I mean, the kiss outside the museum…I doubt that was really an accident. It might have been my system telling me to just go for it…" His voice trailed off, and he appeared lost in the moment, lost in her, and lost for words.
Andrea noticed it. Smiling, she placed a finger on his lips, quieting him. "Riley," her eyes continued to shine, "we don't have to talk about all of this now. We have all summer – all the time we need." She took a sip of coffee before continuing. "And don't worry about my family not approving you. Ben already does, and if he does, my grandparents will. And my cousins know that as long as I'm happy, they'll be happy for me."
Riley chuckled. "That's a relief." He glanced at her. "This doesn't mean you'll stop throwing negative comments at me, does it? Because the sarcasm makes you pretty attractive, as weird as that sounds."
That made her laugh right out loud, and once again, she was with the same old Riley she had known since she was fifteen – the Riley she had come to love.
Abigail popped out of nowhere, as it seemed to Andrea, and sat herself down at the table Andrea and Riley were at. "I just got off the phone with Ian," she said aggrievedly. "He and Ben are heading over to Trinity Church. A clue on the document that they found through the bifocals led them to it." She let out a sigh, and Andrea then noticed that Abigail's eyes were misty. Andrea then realized that Abigail was scared of the upcoming event – she was scared for Ben, scared for herself, and most importantly, scared of what would become of her relationship with Ben.
Andrea was drawn out of her thoughts by Abigail's voice. "Shaw's coming to escort us over there." Abigail's voice choked as tears emerged at the bottom of her eyes. "Ian said that…we'd better not try anything funny…he has a gun…" Abigail trailed off, beginning to breathe heavily as tears rolled quickly down her cheeks. "He'll shoot if he has to…"
Silently, Andrea reached out her free hand and laid it on top of Abigail's frail, white one. "Abigail…" Andrea began, trying to search for the right words. "I know you're afraid, but"
"It's not just that," Abigail shook her head stubbornly, wiping her face with the back of her hand. "Ian is going to hurt us. He'll harm one of us, I just know it. He already took you away, but you're not who he wants. He wants to hurt Ben. Ian wants to kill him or do something else horrific, so he can take all of the treasure for himself. Ben was always his bait to the glory…"
Riley's eyebrows were knit. "That's pretty deep for someone who doesn't even know when Ben's birthday is or what political party he's part of."
Abigail laughed through her tears, but then just looked back down at the table, eyes red.
"Abigail, stop this," Andrea said firmly. "You know you're not the only one scared of what may happen. I'm scared too. Ben has been my fatherly figure for my whole life. It'd be unnatural for me not to be afraid. But…things are different with you. You've only known Ben for awhile…" The corners of her mouth turned up slightly to form a small smile. "…But yet, you're different from any of the women Ben has dated in the last ten years."
Abigail looked at her, confused. "Is that a compliment?"
"Totally," Andrea assured. "You should have seen the chick that he only dated because she was one of my mom's old friends. She had a unibrow and dyed red hair."
"This isn't helping me, Andrea."
"Look," Andrea sighed. "Let me just get to the point. I know that you and I haven't been all buddy-buddy this whole time, but that whole time, when I supposedly hated you…I was observing the way you treated Uncle Ben and how Ben saw you. You've made him happier than I've ever seen him, Abigail." Andrea could feel her eyes growing misty. "And…it's all right if you're romantically interested in him…because…" She then turned back to Riley and beamed at him, squeezing his hand. "Now that I've been shown how unexpected and wonderful love is…I've realized that Uncle Ben deserves what I now have." She shared yet another smile with Abigail. "I officially call a truce between us."
The two women glanced at each other awkwardly for a moment, but then, both giggling childishly, hugged the other. Having been forgotten, Riley pretended to wipe away a tear. "Ah. Such a Kodak moment."
Andrea and Abigail laughed once more. The trio's happiness soon dissolved, for Shaw had burst into the Internet café, apparently trying to blend in as much as possible. But what was left of his "camouflage" disappeared when he spotted Andrea, Riley, and Abigail at their table. Grinning mischievously, he approached them, hand shoved in his pocket. Andrea couldn't help but think if that hand was there to guard a gun…
"All right," Shaw said to them through gritted teeth, "you three. Get up – now."
Their hearts leaping with sudden fear, the three rose from their table rapidly, immediately being led outside by Shaw. Andrea and Riley's iced coffee laid abandoned on the tabletop. The storekeeper, who had just poked his head out from the storeroom at that moment, bore raised eyebrows at his only customers' rushed departure…
Shaw led Ben's treasure-hunting team to Trinity Church with a hurried and threatening tone. When the door to the church creaked open, Andrea pushed past Shaw to rush inside the sanctuary, to find Ben and Ian standing up near the altar, and her grandfather sitting in a pew, two of Ian's cronies by his side. After shooting a reassuring look at her uncle, Andrea sat herself down besides Patrick Gates. "Grandpa! Are you all right?"
Patrick scowled at her. "What do you think? I'm a hostage."
"Grandpa…stop acting that way. Everything's going to be all right…"
"I told you, Andrea," Patrick protested. "I'm too old for all of this treasure hunting. You and Ben dragged me into this, and it's your fault that I'm here."
Andrea felt a sharp pain fly through her body. Never had her grandfather spoken to her with such sarcasm and hatred. Although this adventure seemed to bring herself and Ben closer, it now appeared to be destroying her relationship with Grandpa. So much – almost too much – had occurred over just a few days…
Riley and Abigail slid into the pew then. Riley slipped his hand into Andrea's, muttering to her, "It looks like a safe environment. You think they could pull a gun on us here?"
Andrea snickered at the comment and whispered back, "They're mean, but they're not mean." She tightened her grip on his hand. "Just in case, though, be ready to bust some moves."
Ian's stingy, Australian-accented voice broke the two's conversation. "Parkington Lane? Why would the map lead us here, and then somewhere else?"
"Just another clue," Patrick Gates murmured under his breath, shaking his head in denial.
"Grandpa…" Andrea gave his arm a squeeze, and then stood to join Ben and Ian at the altar. "Look, Parkington Lane has to be somewhere around here. Let's just check all of the tombstones here" She motioned towards the several death memorials over to the side. "And see what we can find."
Ben nodded in agreement, and before Ian could protest, he and Andrea made a dash for the tombstones together. Patrick, Riley, and Abigail were allowed to join Ben, Andrea, and Ian's gang in the search. Just as she was about to start scouting the premises, she caught out of the corner of her eye Abigail approaching Ben with a choked voice, "I'm so sorry…"
Ben reached out to touch her shoulder in a sympathetic, but longing way. "It's not your fault."
Making herself scarce during their romantic moment, Andrea joined up with Riley at one of the tombstones. "Found anything yet?"
Riley was staring dumbfounded at the tombstone he was in front of. "Tell me what this says."
Andrea squinted to read the faded letters on the stone, her eyes then widening in realization. "Exactly what we're looking for."
Riley chuckled to himself in disbelief. "Are you saying that I actually found a clue? The technology-obsessed sidekick found a clue?"
Andrea mockingly shoved his shoulder. "Stop acting so modest!" She turned to everyone else. "Guys! Over here!"
The group queued around the tombstone, Ben and Ian positioning themselves towards the tombstone. A light of eagerness spread through Ben's eyes as he read the tombstone. "Parkington Lane…he was a third-degree master Mason of the - HEY!!" Ben was suddenly pushed aside by Victor, who smashed open the tombstone with a powerful-looking hammer. Just as the tombstone was destroyed, a rotten, molding skeleton slid out of the little passageway the tombstone had been blocking. Everyone took a startled step back.
"Okay…" Still-frightened Riley's eyes were shaped like grapes. "Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?"
"McGregor, Victor," Ian acknowledged two of his sidekicks. "You two stay here. If anyone should come out without me…" He paused, taking a moment to glance at Ben, Abigail, Andrea, Riley, and Patrick all separately. "…Use your imagination." He gave a smirk that sent chills down Andrea's spine.
Ben was the first to muster enough bravery to crawl into the tunnel. He pulled a lighter out of his pocket and grabbed a cobwebbed torch from the wall. Lighting the torch, he pressed himself against the wall. "Come on. Nothing life-threatening yet."
Ian strutted forward, climbing in and not even hesitating to snatch Ben's lighter from him and light another torch. He began venturing further into the tunnel, not bothering to wait for the others to catch up with him.
As Shaw led her grandfather into the tunnel, Andrea realized that her feet were practically rooted to the ground. It was almost as if everything that had happened before this point was just a game, and now, the reality had kicked in, and she knew that things were no longer a game. Lives were at stake now…when would all of the risks and frights come to an end?
Riley placed a hand on her shoulder. "Andy? Are you okay?"
Andrea did her best to shake off her faint and apprehensiveve feelings. "Yeah…I'm fine." Not wanting to explain anything, she scrambled into the tunnel, Riley going in after her, with Abigail and Shippen at the rear of the procession.
She passed by Ben, and glanced deeply into his eyes. They held no nervousness, but just the eagerness that she had seen in them minutes before. Biting her lip, Andrea flung her arms around him and buried her face in his shirt. "I just want it to be over, Uncle Ben."
Ben rubbed her back with his free hand. "Sweetie, we're going to find this treasure. And when we do" He broke from the hug to smile at her. "You're going to wish all of this wasn't over."
From behind her, Riley added in, "You really wish that all of this would end?" He smirked playfully as he squeezed her hand once again. "Or that it never happened?"
Andrea turned to smile weakly at him. Ben glanced down suspiciously at the two's intertwined hands, but then nodded approvingly. "I should have known it was going to happen soon enough."
Andrea and Riley laughed softly, and Andrea flashed another smile at Ben before continuing. "Thanks, Uncle Ben."
The two began to follow the others to the end of the tunnel, but both suddenly heard a cry from Ben. "Come here, you!"
Andrea yanked around her head just to see her uncle pull Abigail into a passionate embrace, their lips meeting in a PG-defying way. Andrea could just feel her smile take over her face, and pumped her fist into the air. "All right, Uncle Ben!"
Ian snapped from the end of the tunnel, "Can we save the hooking up for later, Gates? I think we've found what we're looking for down here!"
The smiles evaporated, and slowly, the four people at the end of the line, plus Shippen, all filed further into the tunnel, no clue of what was about to occur.
Bad ending right there...I am truly sorry if this chapter stunk!
And also, I need ideas for a sequel to this story. The poll on my profile page stated that four people wanted a sequel taken place during Book of Secrets. I've been wanting to do this, but it just seems almost impossible to write Andrea into the story. And I'm also confused on what type of romance to include in it. Half of me wants to keep the Andrea/Riley thing going on, the other wants to destroy it, but to have it brought back at the end of the story. But that seems so stereotypical, since BoS has a bunch of quarreling couples in it, from Ben and Abigail to Emily and Patrick. Please leave a review on what ideas you have for a sequel! I'd really appreciate it!
