THE CRIMSON STONE

CHAPTER 7

"AARGH!" screamed Charlie as she fell from the walkway and landed with a loud thud on the hard cement floor. She landed in a big empty room with only a curtain on one side.

"Ouch…" she said while rubbing her sore bum. A second after she recovered from her pain, Charlie heard a loud explosion. "Leon…" she thought, looking up at the walkway she was thrown off from. It was dark, so she could only listen to the sound of Leon battling the demonic creature. There is no way she can get back up there to Leon.

Instead, she got up and began to walk towards the tall velvet curtain hanging on the left side of the room.

"Weird, I thought we were underground." Charlie thought to herself as she stepped closer to the curtain.

She pulled the curtain open and something gleamed at her so brightly, causing her to squint. It was surprisingly a crimson gem sitting innocently on a pedestal. Awed by its beauty, Charlie automatically reached for it as she was captivated by it. As her finger touches the smooth gem stone, the whole room began to vibrate as a gale-force wind suddenly seeped through the sordid dungeon-like room.

Her whole body started to lift from the ground. Through her squinted eyes she could see that the whole room was spinning. There were a lot of voices passing through her ears which sounded more like whispered words of different kinds. She started to lose her sight as her head was getting heavier by the second. However words keep pounding through her ears.

'….you are the chosen one…a Lightwood…heritage of the stone…must guard it…protect….your responsibility…..you are the chosen one, Charlotte Crimson Evans…"

And with the final eight words, her sight went pitch black.

Leon, who was watching the whole scene from the sewer hole, quickly jumped down into the room to catch Charlie just as the wind started to subside leaving her to fall onto the hard stony ground. Luckily, he managed to catch Charlie or the consequence would be serious head injury for her. Her body was limp in Leon's arm, but her chest was moving up and down at a normal rate, showing that she's fine.

Out of the corner of Leon's eye, he noticed that the ground beneath him began to shake and it started to go down in a circular motion. With Charlie still in his arms, he was aware of the sudden chill in the atmosphere just as the ground beneath them reached the bottom level of the room. Leon definitely sensed danger in every nerve of his body.

The area was dark, only light from the level above shone on them. They were like sitting ducks underneath the light, a hopeless prey that just waits for its predator to come forth to rip them to shreds. Ironically, before Leon could react a dozen robed men came towards them from all direction and knocked him out in one swift motion. They moved fast, and the job was done.

A few hours later…

Bright lights seeped through her eye lids as she awoken from her unintended slumber. Charlie managed to open her eyes and realized she was in some sort of laboratory. A lamp was placed directly on top of her, causing her to squint as she surveyed the room.

Charlie groaned as she tried to get up from where she was lying down. Her head felt heavy as if she just had a hang over, not that she has been drunk before. After being lucid enough, she also realized that not only was she strapped with a metal bar onto a table, but there was also a man in the room with his back to her.

He turned to face her at the sound of her groaning. The man had slick black hair combed to the back and his eyes glinted dangerously as it met hers.

"Ah, Miss Evans, good to know that you're finally awake. I apologize for not greeting my guests earlier. Welcome to my lair," said the man as he walked towards her with a syringe in hand.

There was something oddly different from the way he walked. He moved in long jagged strides. Like a tiger coming towards its prey. Charlie shivered. It was inhumane. He stopped at the side of the table and cast his reptilian eyes upon her face. The syringe was then jabbed into her fore arm and cold liquid was felt as it flows through her body. It burnt throughout her veins, causing Charlie to groan with agony.

"Who are you? And where's Leon?!" Charlie exclaimed as she twitched on the table in pain.

"I'm Benjamin Steax. And your pesky friend is being acquainted with my prototype, down in the dungeon," said Steax as he lingered along the table. "You know, this really brings back old memories. Of your mother, that is. How you look so much like her," he said as he stopped next to her and held her chin to inspect her face more thoroughly.

This however caused Charlie's heart to skip a beat at the mention of her mother. The burning sensation suddenly stopped. Leaving only sweat to trickled down her forehead. She opened her mouth to ask how he knew her mother, but only managed a whisper.

"How do you know my mother?"

"You see, your mother had something I want. No, scratch that. Something I need. And coincidentally enough, she was in your exact position eight years ago,"

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked weakly as she was still feeling fuzzy.

"It means, you happened to have what she had. But I hope your fate won't be the same as hers," Steax paused momentarily. "But I doubt it."

The gear in her head was starting to put the pieces to Steax's words together. However, before she could figure it out, he suddenly pulled her face towards his roughly, his anger suddenly showing through his slit of iris. Charlie winced as the muscle in her neck was stretch.

"Did you really think your mother, died in a freak accident?! Her life ended here, because I, genius Benjamin Steax killed her right in this very room!" he whispered harshly, letting go of her face and let out a sinister laugh. "Now for the second injection, and who knows, maybe you'll reunite with your mother." Steax said as he turned around to get the second syringe.

Charlie stopped breathing; processing what she just heard. Rage was boiling up in her now. With both her fists tightly balled up, the metal straps around her rattled as she tried to break free.

Steax, who noticed this, turned to face her and was startled to see Charlie's eyes. Her ocean blue eyes were suddenly illuminating orange light. Her irises were unseen as it glowed orange. "What the-"

"AAAGH!" Steax shouted as he was thrown to the back of the laboratory; where the rows of computers were. Charlie who managed to break the metal straps threw him with a force that came out from both her palm. She didn't even know how she did that. But it was instinct. He landed on the rows of computer; knocking down his experiment table he was earlier along with all the chemicals on it. Therefore, he was electrocuted as it spilled all over the computers. His body lay unmoved.

Charlie went over to inspect his body. He looked pretty dead to her. As she turned to leave, she saw a file on the floor that had her mother's maiden name on it. 'Lucylia Lightwood'

"I have to find Leon," thought Charlie as she recovered from her own shock.