The Golden Gift

Chapter Twenty-One, The Last Day

Hunter's Perspective

"guys, wait, since we're down here, can I check something?" I asked, stopping the group in their tracks. We were close to finding Amity, or so Edric's spell said. "What is it?" Edric asked and rubbed his eyes. They were sore from the enchantment, anyone could see how irritated they were becoming. "Well- I've just always wanted to know what is in my Uncle's lab, and.. Well maybe there's something in there we can use to stop him?" I suggested, trying to convince them it was a good idea. Emira shrugged and stroked the cat happily nestled in her arms. "Sounds okay to me, but we can't take too long." She said and looked at her brother who was tiredly blinking. The spell was draining his energy. "How about you and Daryl rest here while Emira helps me find something useful in the lab?" I suggested and smiled softly at the tired boy. He was so ready for a big lazy cat nap. "Err.. Can I go with you instead? I don't want to be stuck with some stranger." He stated and stared up at the albino demon.

"Not that you don't seem nice." The polite boy added and walked over to me. "Sure, I don't mind that." I hummed and offered my hand. Rascal hopped onto his shoulder and grabbed his glasses. "Hey-! I can't see clearly without those-." He snapped and just barely missed the bird stealing his glasses. I laughed as the goofy cardinal evaded his hands. Rascal placed the glasses in Emira's palm and tweeted happily. "I guess now I have a reason to come back." He sighed spitefully and tugged on my cold arm. "Let's go already." Edric prompted and I nodded. "Stay safe, we'll be back hopefully with useful information." I said and smiled at the two acquaintances. Daryl awkwardly stared at the younger girl and waved at me. Emira ignored him and put on her newly stolen glasses. "See you later dorks." She snorted and Ruru mimicked her demeanor, like a little furry parrot of chaos. Edric, entirely done with this weird parting, dragged me away and sighed in relief. "What's in your uncle's lab really?" He asked and looked over at me with golden caramel eyes.

"I don't know, but.. I at least know he hides his journals in there, and I want to read them." I told him and looked at the cold stone ground. He lightly teased my cold arm with his warmer fingers before folding our hands together. "You seem quiet now, Hunter." He observed and urged me to look at him. I refused to meet his gaze and squeezed his hand. "It's just that uncle used to take me down here a lot, mostly for my blood." I explained, pain straining my heart as I recalled his blatant extortion of my body. I was but a blood bag to him, but I eagerly leaped at the opportunity to please him. It's too bad that he never even saw me as a person. "Does it make you uncomfortable?" He asked and descended slowly down the old stone steps. I was even slower, so hesitant to revisit this place I knew everything and nothing about. Edric stood at the bottom of the stairwell and smiled invitingly. "Come on, come on, you can do it." He hummed encouragingly and held his arms open. I walked faster and eagerly hugged him.

"When this is over, let's just talk about all of this messed up stuff." He mumbled and turned to the lab door. I nodded and stared at the rather plain door as well. "Sooo... how do we get in?" He asked and I awkwardly shrugged. "I honestly didn't think this far." I admitted and kicked at the cracked floor. "I guess the only thing we can do is break it down." He stated and grabbed Ruru, quickly hitting the door with a beautiful spell. The door exploded, sending bits of wood flying into the old, deeply cold laboratory. "Well that worked." He chuckled and pulled me inside, careful to avoid the many splinters of wood. I looked around and began filing through his life's work, finding many gross and weird things in his private research. "Dude I think I found something." Edric said, catching my attention as he hit his wooden staff against a metallic object. I walked over beside him and stared at a partially hidden safe. "You should break it open with a spell." I suggested and he nudged me. "Now you're getting the hang of it boy." He scoffed playfully before hitting the safe with his staff.

The safe resisted at first, probably because of an old protection spell. After a few moments of shaking, the door flew open to reveal a collection of private diaries. "Perfect! Let's definitely take these with, do you have that weird bag spell?" I asked and found a small bag Belos probably used to transport his important papers. I held it up and he carefully formed the familiar spell above its open top. "There we go, now let's grab these books and go." He said and began stuffing the many diaries into the never-ending bag. The ground shook beneath our feet suddenly, showing the first late warnings of the spell taking affect. "Let's get moving before this whole place collapses-." He said with clear stress, shoving the last book inside and sealing it shut. I quickly followed him as he ran out, trying my best not to trip on the mossy old stairs. I just barely saw the others running quickly out of the building to safety, which forced me to run even faster. Inevitably in all of the rush in panic, Edric tripped and landed face first on the floor. His glasses flew forward and tumbled across the floor, shattering as they were swept aside.