The Ideal Deal

56

I stared at the rings on my finger and smiled at their beauties. I had never taken the time to fully admire them and how great they felt on my finger. They were truly beautiful, and the fact that they were a perfect fit made me feel even more confident in my relationship with Dominic.

My eyes flickered over to where he sat, and I noticed that he had been staring at me. His eyes then flickered to my hand before meeting my eyes again. "Out of curiosity," he started, "did you have a dream ring? I never really asked you."

I smiled while shaking my head, "I don't. These rings are better than any ring I could ever think of. I truly love them."

He smiled and gave a gentle nod before informing, "They've been family heirlooms for a very long time. I think they have a collective worth of one million dollars or more. I haven't checked the price value in years." My jaw immediately dropped as if it were reaching for the floor, and Dominic let out a low chuckle. "My grandmother was like: Dommy, I know you like that Winter girl. I know you won't admit it as yet, but when you do, I know you'll give her the moon and she'll give its stars. You must first give her these rings, however."

"Aww," I blushed. "Grandma Juliette knew?"

Dominic smiled, "She'd always mock me about it, but I never confirmed it to her. She gave me the rings with hope that you'd be the one I'd marry, and look how things turned out." He took my hand in his and placed a sweet kiss to it, causing me to blush even more.

"Wait," Jeff frowned. "Didn't the email also say something about the Circle needing a moon and its stars?"

My eyebrows raised in response as I nodded. "It did," I remembered. "Dom, maybe your grandmother was talking about something tangible."

"Maybe," he nodded while stroking his chin, which had a bit of hair. He was growing out his beard again. "If we go by what she said, you're supposed to have the moon's stars, and I'm supposed to have the moon. Maybe if we could find out what the moon is, we can find out what the stars are." Jeff and I nodded in agreement and stared at him, causing him to chuckle, "I don't know what the hell she was talking about."

"How about you, Summer? Did anyone mention anything about stars to you?" Jeff questioned, and I shook my head as I tried to remember if anyone ever brought up stars.

I then frowned, "Wait, I do own property at Stars street...and...Moon City. That's part of the address. I remember seeing it on the letter listing the things I got from my family's will."

Dominic then frowned, "Why would the Circle want a property of yours?"

I shrugged in response, and Jeff suggested, "We should check it out."

"My lawyer had sent me an electronic version of the letter. We should be able to find the address there," I nodded while taking my phone out of my jacket pocket. I then opened my email and pulled up the letter. "Got it."

"Alright, let's go," Dominic said while standing up.

Two hours later
We pulled up to an isolated area with large land. There was a drive way leading to a mansion on the land, so we followed it and parked in front the house. We all got out the car and walked to the house. I noticed that the door didn't have a regular lock, but rather had three circles intersecting each other.

"It looks like three combination locks," Jeff frowned. "There aren't even any numbers on them! They're words." Since it was a bit dark, I turned on the flashlight from my phone and shined it at the door.

"Babe, remember that nursery rhyme my grandmother used to sing us?" Dominic questioned as we stared at the Circles. "I think I know how to open the door."

In unison, we said, "When the sun had left." He turned the left circle to the word sun. "The stars were right." I turned the right circle until it stopped at the word stars. "And from behind, the moon was bright." Together, we turned the last circle until it stopped at the word moon. A few ticks occurred before the steel door opened. We slowly pushed the door open and entered inside. "Follow the stars." We stepped on the tiles with the stars until we had made it to the stairs. "Until you have reached the moon." I flashed the light from my phone up the stairs and noticed a marbled door that had crater like dents. Dominic and I then held hands as we climbed the stairs, and Jeff trailed behind us. "You will soon eat well, no fork nor spoon. Behind the moon holds no measure of the value of a beautiful treasure." We opened the door but found an empty room. "No one's ever seen the dark side except for those who look from inside." The three of us entered the room and looked around for any further clues.

Jeff walked over to the window and slightly tilted his head. "Look," he called us over, so Dominic and I walked over to where he stood. "The right side of the property is much darker than the left." The window was showing the backyard, where a bunch of trees were.

"Take a look inside the funnel. You'll wear yourself into a tunnel," I recited as I stared at the wardrobe. "Maybe it's a secret door."