Chapter 24

We stopped off at another location created by the strange earth people. I was told that this was a stronghold, a fortress. It was one of many dotted around the globe and was completely identical to where Calantha would be staying with Danny and the others that had been left behind. I only hoped that it was as impenetrable as Donalbain has been boasting it is, I couldn't survive if something happened to Danny, he was my life, my reason for living and there was no way anyone was going to take that away from me.

The three thousand square feet of the fortress was nestled on top of a large mountain in the Grecian part of the world. Apparently it was where the rumours of mount Olympus and the gods first started. Apparently some hapless young boy had spotted the earth people joking around and sparring with each other with their powers and he, being a rather intelligent man but a believer in a higher power, had concluded that these beings he had seen were gods and goddess that the priest had talked about. I was curious about this man but Donalbain shrugged the stories off saying they weren't important but they were one of the reasons that they now remained hidden; their influence over human kind became too great as rumours of their kind spread spouting mythology of gods and goddesses in different countries.

Apparently there was a reason that we were here. As we travelled deeper through the fortress with my own little entourage, my arms became covered in gooseflesh even though the endless corridors were relatively warm, especially with the heat radiating from Donalbain. We had passed several decrepit rooms that looked as if they had been abandoned for an age but most startling was the artillery within those little pockets of doom and gloom.

"They're from times when we have been attacked." He gestured to a room that we passed that had muskets and cannons as well as rotting wood tipped with handmade spear heads. "As you can tell the majority of this is human technology, we store it until we have time to destroy it. For such a primitive race, it still surprises me the number of ways you invent to kill yourselves." He glanced right mat me as he said this and all I could do was shrug my shoulders. What do you say to that? I can't say that I disagree because I've always been against unnecessary fighting.

He allowed me to peer into the gloom before continuing on. I knew that wherever we were going was important but no one would give anything away. In fact everyone was strangely silent, including Lucius who often found it impossible to keep his mouth shut. I think I strangely miss his commentary and the way he always makes everything into a flirting opportunity. Heck since the incident with each of us trying to dry hump the other, he has been strangely distant in the flirty sense. Maybe it freaked him out just as I did me. I snorted at the thought. Lucius would never let something like that affect him.

We had been walking for nearly thirty minutes before the group came to an abrupt halt. I bumped into the guy walking in front of me but he didn't even spare me a glance over his shoulder to check that I was okay. Rubbing my nose that was throbbing slightly I looked around to see what was so special but to me it appeared to be just that a nondescript hallway with no feature discerning it from the ones we had walked down to reach this point.

Donalbain pressed his hands out in front of his, feeling through the air as if searching something before grunting and pulling it back. He shook it a few times before turning to face us but I noted that his eyes were trained on me. "This is far as the rest of us can go, only you can continue on." He spoke with authority to show that I couldn't question his words but I wanted to know why the hell I even had to go down there in the first place. There was no way I was walking down these corridors all on my own unless there was a good reason. Donalbain must have saw the fight in my eyes as he gestured behind him, hissing when his hand came in contact with something I could not see. "The key is back there and only you can venture on. Only you will be able to decide what to do with the key, this ward is here so that no outside can influence the one who wishes to possess the key. If you choose to use it that is your choice, if you choose to destroy it, it will also be your choice. Just know that your choice will dictate the fate of the world."

With a gulp I nodded and looked down the corridor not sure what to feel. No pressure. Lucius came up beside me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I inhaled deeply taking in the musky smell that is him and let out a breath as I relaxed into his hold.  Giving me a squeeze, I soon felt his breath next to my ear.

"You better come back to me hot stuff," he voiced huskily into my ear making me shiver slightly. "After all, I still haven't shown you what a real man does in the sack." Before I could chew him out, he turned my head in his direction and placed a kiss firmly on my lips. I stiffened against his warm body and stared at him wide eyed. But I didn't push away, that was what startled me the most. I knew that somehow he needed this, after everything that he had discovered today, he needed this small comfort.

Waiting until he pulled away, I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my head into his shoulder, murmuring over and over again the reassurances that he should have been telling me. The way that his body relaxed I knew that they had worked to a degree but there was still the haunted look in his eyes as he stared down at me.

"Thank you," he whispered softly before allowing me to step away from him. I noticed that everyone except for Gabriel and Ezekiel had turned away from us, giving the two of us privacy which I was grateful for. I knew that Lucius would have probably have been embarrassed had everyone watched. What I didn't like however, was the looks upon Gabriel and Zeke's face as they stared between Lucius and I. It was an issue that I probably should dissect but not now, fate is waiting, romance and stupid looks can wait until later. If there is a later that is.

Clearing my throat so that Donalbain turned around, I nodded to the corridor behind him. "So I just go down there?" My eyes wouldn't look at his, they were drawn to the oddly alluring corridor that seemed to be calling my name yet at the same time it repulsed me, making me on edge so that my entire body was tensed and ready to fight the unseen foe.

"Yes," He sighed regretfully as he patted my shoulder. "I'm sorry but I can't tell you the way, you must follow your heart, just know that if you choose wrong, you will be led out of the fortress and will be barred from re-entering. It is part of the protection to keep those of ill intent away from the key, of course it isn't infallible hence the reason for the book of Eve being taken." I nodded my head once more to show that I understood.

Sending parting glances at the others, they all sent me weak smiles in return. I could tell that none of these people here had faith in me, except for Lucius. His lips moved silently but I managed to make out the words he was mouthing. Come back to me. If I didn't know him better I would have thought there was something romantic about it all but this was Lucius and he didn't have a damned romantic bone in his body.

 Smiling grimly, I nodded my head before stepping past Donalbain and his men. It took two steps before I felt it. It clung to my clothes and tasted sickly sweet as I inhaled whatever was shielding the corridor but as I took another step, walking through it and out the other side, I just felt strangely warm and content, the gooseflesh the only sign that there had been something there. Thought I did kind of feel like someone or something had been riffling through my head. I glanced over my shoulder to see the men starting to leave, only Lucius, Zeke and Gabriel remaining behind to see me off. I gave them a wave before turning a corner and disappearing from their sight. From now on I was on my own.

The hallway that I was now in was brightly lit but barely ten feet away there was an intersection. It was the strangest thing. One side was as brightly lit as the hallway I was in, it looked cheery and inviting, the other corridor was gloomy and ominous; barely any light was piercing the gloom and overall looked like it could be a death trap. What startled me most was the fact that I did not want to go down the cheery hallway. My gut, my heart, my head, all of it was telling me to go down dark and creepy. Follow you heart Donalbain said. I let my eyes flutter closed for a moment and then, letting my feet drag me, I walked I only opened them when I felt myself a considerable way down the corridor. When I opened my eyes and saw blackness surrounding me, I gulped but kept my feet moving. I would have to rely on my instincts if I was to make it out of this alive.

I kept on walking blindly through the darkness before letting out a yelp when I ran into a hard wooden door. I could feel blood running through my nose as I blinked back tears. My fingers pinched the bridge of my nose as I used my left hand to try and push open the door or at least find a handle. When I found nothing I took my other hand that was uncomfortably wet with blood and pressed it against the door as I tried to push it open. I was surprised when the wood shuddered beneath my fingers before it vanished with a faint pop.

Without the wood there, I wobbled precariously for a moment before plummeting forwards and landing on the floor with a heavy thud. The breath was forced out of my lungs leaving me winded and gasping for breath.

"Ow, that hurt," I muttered between gasps as I laid there on the floor holding my ribs. I was there for a while before I finally unclenched my eyes as my breathing returned to normal. A gasp left my lips when I saw feet covered in jewelled shoes standing before me. Slowly lifting my gaze I was surprised to see a woman, dressed in the most extravagant clothing but looks wise she was probably the most ordinary looking person.

Her teeth in her smiling mouth were slightly crooked and were off white instead of the glaring whiteness that people seemed to love nowadays. Her body was curvy, like she eats well and didn't think that looking like a twig was fashionable. The most startling thing was her hair. It was the colour of snow, pure white untainted snow. Apart from the clothes the woman looked down to earth, her face showed her to be around 30 but I knew that she was probably closer to 3000 years old if her fashion sense was anything to go by.

"Hello," I mumbled as I pushed myself up only to feel a warm hand helping me up from the ground. I smiled gratefully at her. "Who are you?"

"Greetings, I am Evangeline Keyana," she gave me a huge smile before tugging me over to the other side of the room where there were soft comfortable sofas as well as a chaise longue. "What is your name? Oh and what year is it?" She rambled off another few questions until I held up my hand to still her words.

"My name is Savannah Holmes and the year is 2011AD." I glanced around the place that was covered in a layer of dust on nearly every surface except for an area of the bed that had an outline of a person.

"I was asleep for that long? I knew my gift would be a curse." She continued to mutter to herself, her thin lips pulling into a firm line as she stared at the bed accusingly. "I guess you have come here for the key."

I knew it wasn't a question so I nodded my head. "Yes, the book has fallen into the wrong hands and the only way to stop this from getting any worse is to destroy the key." Evangeline gasped and covered her mouth with her hand

"They let someone get a hold of the book, what were they thinking?" She shook her head back and forth before walking over to a cabinet that had been built into the walls before pulling open the drawer and taking out a jewelled dagger. It was rather garish my tastes but I watched as she stared at the dagger in consideration, a fleeting glance of pain on her face before she sat on the sofa once more. I knew I should have been scared of some strange woman with a dagger but I knew in my heart that she couldn't and wouldn't hurt me. Instead I took her silence as an opportunity to stare around the room.

For the importance of what the room should hold, it was rather simple. Apart from the opulence of Evangeline's clothing and the dagger, the rest of the room seemed rather simple. Like they had decorated a small section of the room but forgotten about the rest. If she truly had been asleep for a long time it was understandable. What was the point in decorating the room if there was no one awake to see it?

With a sigh my attention was brought to the woman next to me.

"I am glad it was you that found me, I cannot even begin to wonder what would have happened if someone else had happened upon my chamber and awoken me from my slumber." She gave a delicate shudder and glanced away. When she looked back at me there was a look in her eyes that made my heart pound and I wasn't sure what emotion was fuelling the rapid pulse, only that I was not going to like what was to come. "So you want the key? And you want to destroy it?" She looked at me intently. I struggled to keep eye contact with her but I gritted my teeth and persevered while giving her a nod of assent. "Good."

Before I could even register what was happening, there was a dagger in my hand and it was position over her heart. I tried to pull away but her warm hands were wrapped tightly around mine keeping the dagger in place.

"Please," she whispered looking at me imploringly. "I have lived so long but always locked away. You must do this if you wish to save all that you love." She let one of her hands fall away from the dagger so that she could wipe the tears from her eyes. "Ever since I had that vision and commissioned the book, I have been looked away in ivory tower after ivory tower as time passed me by. Do you know that they cast immortality upon me, that the only way I could die was if someone were to run this blade through my heart? I tried to do it myself but the designers were cruel, they would not let me end my misery and every time I try I just end up falling to sleep for fifty years."

I frowned at her words. Why would someone do that to her? It sounds pretty cool to live forever, but an eternity in isolation...no thanks.

Evangeline saw the question in my eyes. "I am Eve, creator of the book of Eve, I am the key." Her voice was soft but I could hear the bitterness behind her words. "That's why I need you to kill me, I want to die. No, I need to die." Tear leaked from her eyes in big fat droplets that rolled down her cheek leaving trails on the skin of pale cheek. "I just want peace like everyone else, don't I deserve peace."

I stared at her long and hard as my hands trembled around the blade. Eventually though I shook my head before informing her in a dry whisper. "No."

She looked up at me with wide eyes before breaking down and crying, each sob a knife to my own heart as I felt her despair.

"I wish I could help but I don't think I can kill a person," I looked at her skin that had split under the tip of the blade and had caused a rivulet of blood to pour down her skin. "I cannot murder someone." I murmured moving my gaze away from the blood that was bringing visions of Harmony to my mind.

"You are a good soul, Savannah." Evangeline whispered. "Which is why I am sorry to do this." Before I could ask her what she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a hug. I stiffened for a moment wondering what was so wrong with a hug before I felt it.

A cry of despair escaped my lips as I felt the warm blood leak from her body and pool over onto my skin as she hugged me tighter before a ragged sigh escaped her lips and her body fell limp and toppled backwards. I numbly caught the dead weight of her body before it could slip from the sofa and pulled her towards me and hugged her tightly to me. I could feel my body shivering at tears ran down my face for the girl who had been forced to take her own life. I felt so guilty the blood was literally on my hands. I stared at them at they clutched her body and I noticed that my fingers were still tightly wound around the handle of the dagger.

Letting out my own cry of despair, I hurled the blade across the room so hard that it imbedded itself into the stone. Slowly I lowered my gaze to Eve's face and whipped the drop of blood that had bubbled out the corner of her lips with her dying breath. I was startled to see her lips curled up into a smile and I was glad to see that she looked at peace.

I don't know how long I stayed there holding her, I just know that her skin had become cold and her body stiff. Gently I slipped out from beneath her and lowered her down onto the couch. Using her long hair, I covered her wound with her hair. Now she looked like sleeping beauty, just waiting for her prince to kiss her and wake her up.

With slow and laboured footsteps that echoed off the walls, I walked outside of the room and watched as the dim light coming from Eve's room became cut off as the door reappeared in the frame. My feet led me out of there as my mind grieved.

I only stopped walking when warm arms wrapped around me. Looking up I saw Lucius' frantic face as took in my blood covered clothes.

"Savannah, are you alright?" He repeated the question over and over but all I could do was stare at him dumbly. "What happened?" An image of Eve's face popped into my mind as I heard footsteps approach and all I could do was collapse into his arms and bury my head into his chest as sobs wracked my body.

"I-I destroyed the key." I choked out between sobs before relenting to the numbness that had been begging to seize my heart. The last thing I remembered before falling into a tortured sleep was my legs being swept out from beneath me.

"Don't worry hot stuff, I'll take care of you," was the last thing I heard before everything disappeared into the numb comforting cloak of blackness.

Please comment and let me know what you thought and feel free to vote if you liked it. As you may have noticed, I've entered this story into the watty awards so every vote counts. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and for supporting this story, you guys really don't know how much it means to me. ~ Katherine x