Comet

The Elixir of Life

"So why did you ask me about the Lab now? You could have waited." He still didn't understand that clear little bit of information. It was alright the less he knew the better for him.

"I don't know, but shouldn't you go inside and try to get some sleep now?" Ethan thought about it abit and walked back inside rubbing his eyes. He would cry before he fell asleep tonight. I heard the soft tap of a door shut and looked back up at the slightly covered stary sky.

I might not come back, but at least I knew Isaac was an honest man and would take care of him for me. Not thinking anymore about it I walked into the darkness of the woods. I had to keep moving or I could never do this.

It took maybe two hours for me to glimpse the Lab's structure from over the final crest. It sat in the hollow of a small valley and stretched to all its natural outer walls. Smoke stacks from white marble reached angrily to claim the sky. It was a structure of indesency and death.

Descending the small hill I moved stealthily through the trees. Ethan may have said that the guard was more laxed, but that didn't mean that they weren't there. I kept my ears perked for the normal slithering sound but it never came.

It was only a matter of time before I came to the smooth white wall of the mini-fortress. Once again there was no one. They must all be inside protecting the expirements and secrets of the Lab.

Well this is perfect, I thought looking at the wall. Its completely smooth surface reflected the moon's light in fake spectral waves. How was I going to be able to climb to the top of this?

After a couple moments of thought I came to the best conclusion although it would definitely not be the best thing to leave in the morning light. They would see my knife marks clearly then, but for now I needed to get in and out quickly. No matter how reckless it was.

It was hard gut wrenching work climbing up the wall with two knives in each hand. My arms burned more and more as I reached for the next stab into the stone. My legs hanging uselessly below me. Nothing but dead weight weighing down my arms and my ascending body.

An hour later I was almost at the top. My arms on fire, numb, and begging to just let go. But when I reached up to stab the stone again nothing met my knife. It was open air and I was at the top.

It took everything I had to lift my body with one arm and use the other to grip the ledge. Finally I was over the lip of the roof and laying on my back gasping for air. Going down will be much easier I thought to myself as I regained the feeling in my hands and arms.

After a minute or two of panting I willed myself up and began to creep across the roof. The glow from the stone beneath me was eary and unattractive. I could see the grate that was the smoke stack Ethan used.

Apparently no one checked the roofs ever because it was obvious that someone had taken the bolts out and that someone had been in it. Any normal place would have fixed that by now if they knew.

Silently I crept over to the grate. It was easy to pick it up and put it to the side. The black hole that lay beneath it had a faint luminous glimmer to it. Some type of metal. Hopefully it will hold me I thought as I lowered myself into the hole. But my feet didn't touch anything solid as I thought it would and I panicked as I plummeted into the darkness. The only thing stopping me from screaming was the thought of the Dark Men finding out I was there.

Then there was something smashed against my feet first then my back as I slid down what felt like a chute. My head hit the metal hard and a low thud reverberated in the shaft. Fast and silent, I rocketed down the shaft. Turns came up unexpectedly and shot me to the left and right multiple times. I tried to focus on the little beads of light that glittered the shaft.