It was quite hard to write about Scarlett and I'm a girl! Oh well, eventually I got it down.

Very, very, VERY sorry MadCatta!! Thanks for reading. :)

Oh and I just realized that theres another story (by maxridemad) that has Richard and Scarlett ending up in St. Meredith's too and Matt and Lohan ending up together as well, sooo just to let you guys know (MadCatta :P) I hadn't read any of that story till now. In fact, I tried to keep myself from reading any Gatekeeper stories so I wouldn't copy anything. (curiousity) Anyways, I don't even know if anyone cares.

Also, was it Kowloon that they swam through?? I just looked at a map and the name sounded familiar. Help!!?

Disclaimer: Don't own Richard or Scarlett, etc.

The Needle, the Effects: Part 1

Richard paced back and forth. Scarlett was in the room to his left, barely alive and he didn't know what to do. He had no money, no I.D. – his wallet had been lost at sea by the harsh waves of Kowloon – nothing to prove that he had Scarlett in his care legally He knew how creepy he must have looked, carrying a teenage girl in his arms with a fresh bullet wound in her chest. So he said he didn't know her, that he had just found her on the street like that and hoped the story fit. Now the hospital was getting in touch with her mother and father, numbers they had in her file. When Scarlett had been hit by the car, they had immediately called her parents. After that every time one of her parents would get a new cell phone or change their number, the first place they called was the hospital.

Richard was lucky. It seems Scarlett had been thinking of London when she was unconscious, and when they passed through the door they had ended up back in St. Meredith's. He was sure it was filled with evil now – in spirit and in the people that pray there everyday. It was disturbing to say the least, but none of them made a move to attack him or Scarlett – they probably thought she was dead – so he ran out of there as fast as he was able to. He made sure he wasn't followed and rushed to the nearest phone booth.

Being in a familiar place again makes Richard breathless, when they could have ended up anywhere. They didn't end up in some foreign country or a middle of nowhere. Which means, even though Scarlett's hurt, Richard had no excuse not to take action. He needed to take action. Pedro, Jamie and Scott were all out there, anywhere. And Matt.

Matt. For the past hour or so, Richard had been fighting with himself over the fact he had let that boy out of his grasp, not for the first time. It amazed him how much time had passed since he met Matt in Greater Malling. They certainly had become like brothers and right then, he just wanted his little brother back.

Scarlett was awake. She felt strong and rejuvenated. She looked around her; there was a bright red and orange horizon and a few bare trees. A small, grey tower stood a distance away, surrounded by the colours of a late sunrise. Scarlett took a stance and started off toward it.

She was dreaming. She realized this as soon as she blinked. Scarlett looked down at her walking legs. This was not her real body. Her hands trailed up her lips to her forehead. This was not her real face. That much was obvious to her. Although she did not know why her conscious had dressed her up in armour with a helmet to match.

Scarlett was soon in front of the tower. It was a couple times as tall as her. The flag at the top was white with a strange black sign filled with arrows and curves. It was stained with red and she could only assume it was blood. Immediately she was curious and wanted to investigate. Along with slitted windows, there was a small opening at the bottom of the tower, that was covered with a square plank of wood; a doorway that would be big enough for a big dog. She threw the plank away and crawled in. Whoever built this wasn't used to wars. There was no roof on the tower and it had a ladder that lead down, not up. In the middle of it there was a hole, that went further down than she could see.

Her curiosity bubbled and she practically flew down the ladder. The armour was light, although there was something at her side that was weighing her down. Looking down to her left she saw that she was carrying a sword. She almost fell off the ladder in shock. But she supposed it should have been obvious. In what situation would you have to wear only armour, without a weapon at your side?

She continued down the ladder and stared at the dirt walls that surrounded her. Whoever built this place put a lot of effort into it. The ladder too, was built with skill. She had no worries that it would break under her weight. It was immeasurably long and was practically in perfect shape. Maybe this tower was not used much...

Quickly she went, looking up briefly every so often to see how much farther from the light she was. She wasn't affected with claustrophobia, but it seemed like the tunnel was getting smaller and smaller. Soon her shoulders were brushing against soft dirt and she hoped she would be able to squeeze through to whatever was at the bottom – if there was one. Finally, after the smallest part of the hole – which she had to kick and dig her way through – it opened into a huge dome. She couldn't guess how big it was, but she guessed that it was a bit bigger than your average high school and about as tall as a 8 story building.

She climbed down with a greater speed than before, not in the least afraid, hoping to reach the bottom as fast as she could. It was hard; her breath was coming out in tiny huffs and, dreaming or not, she felt the sweat on her forehead. The light from above was brighter than it had been before – the sun was out. Now she realized why there was no roof on the tower; it acted like a lamp for the giant space below.

It must have taken her an hour or two to get to the bottom from when she had started climbing. Now the bottom was in her sight. The bottom seemed to be filled with shallow water. It was very dark on the bottom floor – the light from the top diminished as it went down. When she was only a metre and a half from the bottom, she simply jumped down.

She definitely regretted it.

Her shriek filled the huge space and she jumped for the ladder. It wasn't water at the bottom, it was a giant pool of snakes, weaving in between one another, giving the illusion of calm waves. Her hand grasped the ladder and she pulled her feet on. The snakes started to make noise. The giant area was filled with hissing that was almost as deafening to Scarlett as her own heartbeat.

Scarlett had never been very scared of snakes. In fact that was the animal she most looked forward to seeing at the zoo – when it was behind a glass wall. Being in a huge room with them was enough to make her eyes bulge right out of her skull. She was glad she couldn't see them, because she could certainly hear them. Her hand, almost instinctively, reached for the sword. She took a deep breath, but stopped to think about what she was about to do. In no way did she want to be surrounded by them again, but what other choice did she have? It was just a dream – well, nightmare.

The young girl had decided. She jumped and took off away from the ladder, hoping she would do some damage with her feet. With a shout, she slashed and sliced, shutting her eyes as tight as they would go. She could feel the weight of the snakes under her blade and she didn't want to see the blood and gore. What she wanted was to wake up.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. Her eyes opened. Oddly, she was facing the ladder now, many metres away. Much farther than she imagined she had gone. Did she jump this far? No, that was impossible. Still fighting off the snakes – even though they weren't attacking her back – she reluctantly turned her head to see what was behind her. An odd, small door sat barely a metre away. It was round with a door knocker. Half of the knocker was a long serpent head, the other half a curved, threatening tongue. There wasn't a door knob anywhere on it. After seconds Scarlett turned her head again to the numerous snakes. She backed away, kicking her feet out behind her, knocking the little snakes away from her proximity. Although, she thought, why bother? They haven't made any attempt in fighting back. Other than the hissing, they haven't even noticed she was there.

So she forced herself to calm down and let them swim around and between her legs, never letting her eyes leave her legs unwatched. It was very difficult to walk through them, however. Either way, she made it to the quaint door.

Scarlett now saw the door in great detail. The door was very old; the wood was a dark grey and the iron of the snake was rusty in the corners. No matter how disappointing the door looked, they eyes of the snake made up for it. They were extremely big in comparison to the head. Both of them were made out of a black stone of some sort; maybe a black onyx. They seemed deadly, like the snake was about to strike its prey, yet beautiful. Beneath her, the snakes quickened their speed.

She reached for the knocker. Her slim fingers grasped the tongue. The metal was cold and damp beneath her fingers. She raised it up slowly, taking in the creaking of the old and rusty stone. She released it.

The serpent-dome was filled with a bang it has been waiting for its whole existence.