Project X - Agents & Assassins [COMPLETE]

Chapter 11

Scarlett walked into the basement with a proud smile on her face. When August saw her walking in, he kindly walked up to her. She handed over the bag which was quite heavy. 'I suspected there was more in there that might be useful on finding our guy,' said Scarlett as she handed it over to her dad. 'I think so too,' said August. He opened the flap of the bag and looked inside. He took out the small statue and examined it with full concentration. 'I think we'll need to melt it down,' said August, 'to find out why Raphael wanted it so badly.' 

'Raphael?', asked Scarlett with an uncertainty in her voice. August nodded and looked at the confused Scarlett. 'Your creators name; it's Raphael.'

Scarlett nodded, signing she understood what he said. August walked towards one of the scientific tables and took out a tin saucepan. 'Scar, could you light a fire for me upstairs?', he asked. Scarlett nodded and went back upstairs, towards the fireplace.

Moments later, when the fire was already burning swiftly up and down, August walked upstairs with the statue in his right hand and the saucepan in the left. Speechless, he placed the pan above the fire and after a while, he placed the griffon in it. It didn't take long before you could see the gold melt in the heat and soon it was just a fluid.

And there it was; a small, almost unrecognizable chip. It was hidden in a small nugget of gold. August took a tang and slowly pulled it out of the pan. Then he silently walked downstairs once again. Scarlett didn't really know what to do, what was expected of her. Sure, she'd completed her mission successfully, even though she lost her sword, but now it just seemed no one needed her anymore, and that didn't feel nice.

'Are you okay?'

Dawn's voice ripped Scarlett out of her daydream. She looked up to Dawn and gave her an awkward smile. Dawn sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her. 'I know things must be hard for you right now,' she began, 'but you must remember to stay true to yourself.'

Scarlett frowned her eyebrows. 'Well that's cliché advice,' she joked. She looked up to Dawn but saw that her face didn't flinch. 'What's wrong?', she asked Dawn. Dawn shrugged her shoulders and sighed. 'I'm leaving for Tokyo,' she said after a pause of silence. Scarlett widened her eyes, but didn't comment. 'It's a secret and I'll leave soon, but,' she stopped, 'will you look after Thomas for me? And your dad as well?'

Scarlett didn't know what to say. Sure, Dawn and Thomas joined their team about a month ago, but Dawn really started to feel as a mother figure. And now she was leaving?

'I promise,' she said. Dawn smiled and gave Scarlett a small kiss on her forehead while stroking her fingers through Scarlett's auburn hair. 'Good, then I'll be off.'

Dawn stood up and silently walked out of the living room. Scarlett wanted to call her back, to give her a hug before she went away. And who knew for how long?

She waited until she heard the front door click, and then stood up. She walked back down to the cellar which was empty. Curiously, she walked around and saw the chip lying on one of the tables. Its shards were scattered as a small hammer laid next to it. She frowned her eyebrows as she inspected it. Why did her dad break the chip? Had he found out it was dangerous and that it should be destroyed immediately? But how did he find that out in the couple of minutes he was separated from Scarlett?

'Dad?'

Her voice echoed through the empty room as Scarlett slowly walked towards the metal door, to the training room. But as far as she looked, there really was no one there. How? She'd seen her dad walk to the cellar and the chip lay on one of the tables. She walked past the big and sharp weapons on the wall and peeked down into the fighting pit. Perhaps there was another door she didn't know of. Perhaps, there was another way out of the pit than the ladder. She walked towards the fence and let her body leap over it. She really had no idea. All she could see, was that she was surrounded by white brick walls.

'Dad?'

She knew her dad, she knew he'd always had something he wouldn't tell her. Either it was her secret surprise party when she turned six or it was a secret door in a secret basement for illegal weapons. Or at least, she didn't really believe that all of these weapons; the axes, the knives or the guns, were all legally purchased. Her dad wouldn't have enough money to do that. It was already a surprise that he had saved all that money for so long to renovate the cellar. She led her hand slide over the walls. If there was one thing she had learned from all the movies her dad watched on Tuesday evenings, it was that it was quite possible for a wall to hide a secret door. And it sure didn't take long till she felt one brick being pushed further inside the wall.

The floor trembled a little beneath her as she watched how part of the wall was pushed back and inside the other walls, leaving a big gap open. Scarlett's curiosity was now at its finest as she fervently stepped inside. As soon as she set foot inside the dark area before her, dozens of sharp, white lights flickered on. She had to blink her eyes a couple of times to get used to all the lights but when she got used to them, she didn't waste a moment on finding out where this aisle led.