Hey, everybody! Here is Chapter Twelve, the second to last chapter. I will include a Chapter Thirteen, and an epilogue. Thanks for all of the support, guys. This story has 18 favorites and 30 alerts. I'm posting this because I have exams next week, and want to give you a long chapter before I must take a small hiatus from writing every day.

As for discussion on the sequel: I'm doing my best to write one up, and I started a bit of the prologue for that today in school. I have a poll up on my profile page about what types of romance to include in my version of Book of Secrets, which obviously involves Andrea. Go and check the poll out if you can! Vote as well! I'll probably merge a bunch of the poll options into my story - I already have two romances in mind, and one of them is slightly AU. But you'll have to wait awhile to find out about those romances! :)

Chapter Twelve: One Step Closer

Ben, Andrea, Abigail, and Riley worked their way down the tunnel to join Ian and his gang at the end of it. The darkness grew as they ventured further into the hole, and Ben, who pushed past everyone to get in the front of the group, called back, "Watch your step. There's a piece of floorboard missing here." He jumped over the hole in the floor, Ian following him.

Patrick and Shaw jumped over next, and Andrea, Riley, Abigail, and Shippen reared it up. Finally, the group emerged in an immensely large room. They stood on a balcony, which faced a humongous chandelier and several sets of rickety stairs. Andrea's breath quickened as the whole group huddled in front of the balcony's railing, staring unbelievably at the ruins they had uncovered.

Ben, leaning out to light a torch hanging on the chandelier, broke the silence. The fire spread to the other torches, the light revealing even more sets of stairs, plus an elevator system that looked as if it'd fall apart any second.

"Just look at all of this," Andrea breathed. "It's a dumbwaiter system…"

Shippen shook his head in disbelief. "How do a bunch of guys with hand tools build all this?"

Riley's eyes were as wide as grapes and as a glazy as a Krispy Kreme doughnut. "The same way they build the pyramids and the Great Wall of China…the aliens helped them."

Andrea fought back a giggle. Leave it to Riley to crack a joke in a life-changing moment.

Ian had had enough sightseeing. He stepped away from the railing impatiently. "Right then, let's go. What are we waiting for?" He nodded towards the closet set of steps.

Patrick Gates stubbornly shook his head. "I'm not going out on that thing – two hundred years of termite damage means a quick death."

Andrea stepped forward. "Grandpa…do what he says." She gave him a look that reminded her grandfather of the conditions Ian put both Patrick and Andrea through earlier that morning.

Patrick bit his lip and glanced hesitantly at her, but reluctantly stepped down onto the first step. The floor creaked threateningly as his shoe touched it. Andrea gave him a gentle shove, and he continued, his granddaughter following him. The group started to proceed down the stairs, silently, as if they were in a funeral procession.

A sudden rattling from above stopped the group in their tracks as they looked above with pale faces. As the shaking came to an end, Ian sighed with relief. "It's just the subway."

Their heart rates begin at a normal beat once again, but it was not like that for long. Almost the second they stepped forward to continue walking, a floorboard broke under the weight of Shaw. Almost as if the following were in slow motion, Shaw began falling…screams erupted…and Shaw's hand tugged at Andrea's arm, as she was right in front of him. She could feel herself leaning back to fall as well, but Ben quickly reached out and grabbed her out of Shaw's grip. Barely seeing straight, she could just see Shaw flying back first into the never-ending darkness – the lives were starting to be lost from here on.

There was then no time to catch a breath, for the rest of the floorboards the group were on top of creaked. It jerked downwards, and the group hurriedly rushed to safety. Riley and Abigail leapt over to the nearest stable staircase, whilst Ian and Shippen jumped over to the elevator, Ian pulling Patrick over with him. Andrea and Ben had been too slow, and still remained on the floorboard as it slanted over. Ben nearly fell off the side, but his niece was quick to press him against her side. Both breathless and holding onto each other for dear life, Ben held the document holder out to Riley and Abigail. "Here"

But he could not toss the holder over to them. Their floorboard gave out, and the two fell off, landing on another elevator, which almost immediately shot down as their weight was thrown upon it. Their screaming was at the top of their lungs as the elevator crashed against a staircase, causing itself to also slant over. Andrea was practically in hysterics and felt dizzy…as if she was about to have an emotional breakdown…she couldn't even think straight when she was thrown to her feet and found her body slipping off the side. Snapping out of her daze, she clutched the rotten floorboard with her quaking, sweaty hands. Ben rushed to the side, his body now in fear of falling. He reached his hand out, and although she doubted doing it, Andrea let go of the floorboard with one hand and grasped Ben's.

The floorboard swung from side to side at first, about to fall any second. Only Patrick's cries of plea could be heard, as he yelled to Ian, "Get down there, get down there!"

Tears were now streaming down Andrea's face. Her nightmares were about to come true – she was going to come to her death after being abandoned…just how things were after her parents died. Uncle Ben couldn't hold on forever, and he had stronger legs and had a better chance of jumping over to a stable staircase before the strings of their elevator broke. He wouldn't save her…

"Andrea!" Riley's voice broke her bubbling thoughts. She could now see that the Declaration holder had slid off of Ben's shoulder when he plopped down on his stomach to grab her hand. The case was now rolling back and forth from the side, at as much risk of falling as Ben and Andrea had.

Andrea snapped her glance over to Ben. "The Declaration."

Ben was sweating, and breathing heavily. "Andrea, do you trust me?"

The tears came on even stronger than before. "Uncle Ben, I can't-"

"Andrea," Ben spoke with a firm voice. "Do you trust me?"

She could hear a wail erupting in her throat. Her vision misting, she nodded before her cries of protest could ring out. Ben let go of her white hand, and she shut her eyes as she felt herself fall. If they ever found her body at the bottom of the tunnel, it would be less disturbing if her eyes were closed. But instead of a death-causing crunch, she heard a loud creak as her body crashed against a floorboard. Creaking open her eyes, she found herself inches away from where Riley and Abigail were, their eyes round and full of shock.

Andrea jerked her head above to where Ben was – she watched with held breath as Ben snatched up the Declaration holder and leapt off the elevator, landing face first on the same floorboard she was on. The two watched in terror as the floorboard they were on merely seconds ago broke away from its strings and fell down into the darkness below.

Quivering as her tears began soaking her clothing, Andrea wept more as she flung her arms around Uncle Ben. "I was so afraid – with my abandonment issues…I thought I was going to have a panic attack…"

"Shh…" Ben soothed her, rubbing her back gently. "I'm sorry. I had to – to save the Declaration –"

Andrea broke away from their hug to face him, her eyes red. "I understand. I would have dropped you too."

"I would have dropped you both," Riley scoffed as he came up behind them with Abigail. "Freaks."

Andrea couldn't help it. She then reached over to hug Riley, pecking his cheek quickly. "I thought you'd understand," she muttered into his ear. "About the abandonment stuff."

Riley smiled at her, stroking her wet cheek. "I think that deep down, I do."

Andrea grinned back, and clutched his hand. She was wrong. Everything would be okay. Uncle Ben knew what he was doing…

"Get on!"

But did Ian know? Andrea bit her lip to keep herself from yelling at the villain as the elevator he, Shippen, and Grandpa were in made its way down towards them.

"Ian," Ben wrapped his now-bleeding arm around Abigail, and laid the other arm on his niece's shoulder. "…It's not worth it."

"Do you imagine any one of your lives being more valuable to me than Shaw's?' Ian shot at him. "We go on – no one stays behind."

"The status quo, son," Patrick muttered out loud, his comment directed towards Ben. "Keep the status quo."

Ben finally nodded. "Fine. We go on." He pushed Andrea quietly onto the elevator, Riley climbing aboard after her. Abigail followed, and Ben gave Ian a last reproachful look before climbing one as well.

The men handled the elevator so it rolled downstairs to a single floorboard, which lead through a door into a medium-sized room. "This is where it all leads," Ben explained as the elevator came to a stop. "Let's go."

They got off of the elevator in single file. Ben pushed aside the cobwebs in the door, and led the group through the entryway. He lit the two torches in this strange room, and then stepped aside to let everyone else come in.

The seven people surveyed the room – it was dusty, grimy, and most importantly…empty. Everyone looked upon the room in shock, bewilderment, and confusion. Finally, Shippen spoke, "So…where's the treasure?"

Ben was running his hand against one of the molding walls. He was silent, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"Uncle Ben?" Andrea didn't want to admit it, but it seemed as if everyone they had done…was pointless. "…Is this it? A dead end?"

Ben sighed, suddenly looking ten times older. "Yes. Apparently, we did."

"There has to be something else," Riley assured. "There has to! Another clue or-"

"No!" Ben's voice echoed throughout the room. "No, Riley, there's no more clues! That's it, okay? It's over! End of the road! The treasure's gone – moved – somewhere else…" He groaned, running his hand through his hair. He kept shaking his head, as if he still didn't believe it himself…

"You're not playing games, are you, Ben?" Ian snapped. "You know where it is."

"No." Ben shook his head. "I swear I don't."

"You're lying," Ian drew his hand into his pocket, and everyone took a step back when he pulled out a gun. Threateningly, he pointed it at Ben, but then jerked it towards Andrea. "Miss Morrison over here knows."

Her heart pounding, Andrea slid behind Ben. "Ian, I don't either!"

"If you say so," Chuckling lightly, Ian shoved the gun back into his pocket and then turned towards Shippen. "Let's go." Wordlessly, he and his sidekick began heading back towards the elevator.

"Hey!" Andrea stepped back in front of Ben. "Ian!"

Andrea, Ben, Riley, Abigail, and Patrick all rushed out of the room, following Ian and Shippen. Ben yelled out, "Ian, you can't do this!"

"You can't just leave us here!" Abigail protested.

"Yes, I can," Ian said as Shippen pulled the elevator several inches upward. "Unless Ben finally tells me what's the next clue."

"There's not another clue, Ian!" Ben shot at him.

"Ian, why can't we just talk about this?" Andrea wailed. "Arguing is not the way to go."

Ian withdrew his gun again. "Listen, girl, I've just about had it with you –" Someone gasped as he began to pull the trigger.

"The clue, Ben," Ian threatened. "Where's the treasure? I almost shot your niece before…I can do it with fatal consequences now."

Ben shook his head, completely helpless.

"Uncle Ben!" Andrea called out. Why couldn't he lie? Didn't he see that Ian wasn't joking around?

Her grandfather, however, could see her desperation. "The lantern."

Ben's eyes flicked over to Patrick. "Dad."

"The status quo has changed, son," the old man replied. "Can't you see? Andrea's at risk of being hurt." He turned back to Ian. "It's part of Freemason teachings. In King Solomon's temple, there was a winding staircase. It signified the journey that had to be made to find the light of truth."

Andrea then realized what Grandpa was trying to do. Jumping in, she added from the top of her head, "The lantern is the clue."

Ian raised a questioning eyebrow. "And what does it mean?"

"Boston," Andrea said with a straight face. "The Old North Church in Boston, where Thomas Newton hung a lantern in the steeple."

Patrick continued, "And that light was to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming. One if by land –"

"-Two if by sea." Andrea finished. "One lantern. We have to look under the winding staircase for the treasure."

Ian nodded. "Thank you, Gramps, Miss Morrison." He nodded towards Shippen, who began moving the elevator upwards.

"Hey!" Patrick called out. "You have to take us with you."

Ian smirked. "Why would I do that? So you can escape in Boston? Besides-" He chuckled. "With you five out of the picture, there's less baggage to carry."

"What if there's another clue?" Ben quietly retorted.

"Then I'll know right where to find you." Ian claimed. The elevator sped up. "See you."

As the elevator began to move further and further up, the five yelled out their protests. "There's no other way out! You'll need us! Come back!"

A threatening bullet came flying down from the elevator, and the group ducked to avoid it. As it landed on the wooden floor, Riley announced glumly, "We're all going to die."

Andrea sighed. "Way to be positive, Mr. Sunshine." She then smiled. "And no one's going to die."

Riley raised an eyebrow. "What? But…"

"Everything will be fine," Ben said with a twinkle in his eyes. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Riley." He turned to race back into the empty room. "But everything is okay."

Abigail questioningly followed him. "All right, what's going on? The British came by sea – it was two lanterns, not one."

The three family members – Ben, Andrea, and Patrick – were now scanning the room more closely. Patrick glanced back at her casually. "Ian needed another clue."

Andrea studied one of the walls up close. "So we gave one to him."

"It was a fake," Riley said, catching on. "A fake clue!"

"That's right," Ben was tracing a fading painting of an eye on a wall. "…The all seeing eye…through the all seeing eye…"

Andrea peered at her uncle curiously. He had a hunch, she knew it. But what did the all seeing eye have to do with anything?

Riley was still focused on the phony information Patrick and Andrea had given Ian. "That means…by the time Ian figures it all out and comes back here, we'll still be trapped and…" His voice trailed off in horror. "He'll shoot us then. We're still going to die."

Ben was brushing dirt off of a figure below the wall with the eye. "No one's going to die." He looked back at the figure and smiled. "There's another way out."

"Where?" Abigail approached his side to look at the figure Ben was observing.

Andrea grinned. She now knew what Ben had been suspecting. "Through the treasure room."

Ben pressed down on a button by the figure, and the wall he was standing in front of jerked open. The group gasped happily. Ben handed his torch to Andrea, and Patrick gave his to Riley, as the two stepped forward to push the wall all the way open. They succeeded, and taking back their torches, Ben and Patrick led the crowd into the next room.

Please leave a review! Reviews are what gets my adrenaline pumping and my mind creating tons of ideas for the next chapter! And in most cases, they'd mean a quicker update, but I'll be busy next week, so don't count on an update soon.