All was silent after the bird and evil figure left. Adam stood silent next to Langdon, his heart pounding in his chest. Around him, he could hear heavy breathing, sobbing, and Polly, who had finally stopped screaming. She now approached Adam with heavy footsteps. He felt her hand fall on his shoulder. Footsteps sounded next to him, and Sam and Virginia joined the small group.
Langdon rubbed his eyes and cleared his throat. "Journals?" he croaked.
Adam shrugged defensively. "I have no clue what he was talking about." He looked at Polly, her puffy red eyes still filled with shock.
"Well, he obviously thought you would," Virginia said. Her voice was pretty, smooth. Sam nodded in agreement. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Virginia smiled at him.
"Well, I don't," Adam scoffed. He backed out of the group and looked around the room. In the corner, two girls and Luke stood hunched over a phone as one of them typed frantically. Adam glared at them. Luke noticed and pushed the phone down. Both girls looked up sheepishly. "Not the time," Adam snapped.
Sam let go of Virginia and pulled Adam aside. "What did Libra ask you?" he asked.
"He wanted me to read his journals, but I don't even know where they are..." Adam glanced up at Sam, who wore an inquisitive expression.
"I think I might, though," Sam stated and walked towards the door. "Come on."
Adam followed him out into the hallway, the others' gazes on their backs. They walked down the hallway for a while, surrounded by the boring blue-gray walls, until they reached Leo's office. Sam opened the door carelessly and made his way to the desk. He began digging through drawers until he found a small button, like a car remote.
"What's that?" Adam asked.
Sam gave Adam a slight, mischievous smile before clicking the button. Adam jumped as one of the bookshelves slid aside mechanically, revealing a hidden room. Sam walked into the room as if it were nothing. Adam followed tentatively.
Inside, there was another plethora of bookshelves and a giant table right in the center. Sam jumped over the table and started searching the bookshelves, while Adam stood in the doorway and looked around.
After what seemed like forever, Sam let himself fall onto the table, where Adam sat, bored. "It's a lost cause..." he mumbled. Books lay scattered on the ground. Boxes had been thrown off the shelves and now lay open on floor, their contents spilling out.
Adam laid back on the table. The ceiling in this room reminded him a lot of the ceremony/opening room, covered in paintings of constellations. He traced one of them with his finger in the air, drawing the outline of what was supposed to be a ram. Sam did the same.
After a while, Adam sat up. "Maybe we're looking too hard," he said. He pulled his notebook out of his jacket and flipped to a random page. Inside, there were words scribbled all over in no order. Adam stared down at the page hard, wondering what had made him write it all.
He got up and search one of the boxes on the ground. Sam hopped off the table and followed his lead, digging through the boxes once again. Still, they found nothing. Their eyes met, and, in a final sigh of frustration, they decided to finally give up.
Just as they were leaving the room, a glint of red caught Adam's eye. He turned around and spotted a clear bin, filled with jewels. Without saying anything, he made his way to the shelf and pulled the shelf down. Opening the lid, he took one of the jewels out and studied it. It seemed to glow. He looked back and threw it towards Sam.
"That doesn't look normal," Sam said after giving it a long look. The gem glowed even more now.
Adam dug through the other jewels. There were twelve in total. "You think they're important?"
Sam looked at him like he was stupid. "Everything in this room is important, Alkine," he said, "but, in all fairness, we should probably take these back, just in case." He looked at the ruby in his hand, now slightly vibrating. "They're definitely something."
· · ·
By the time Sam and Adam got back to the main room, everyone inside was arguing. The only ones who seemed to make sense were Virginia and another girl, who stood tall with crossed arms. They pushed past Grant, standing by the doorway, and made their way to the girls.
"Did you find anything?" Virginia asked as they approached.
"Not really, but..." Sam pointed at the bin of gemstones in Adam's arms.
Adam handed the bin to Virginia and the other girl. After a minute or so, the girl pulled out a small, dark red stone. "They're birthstones," she said. She pulled out a larger piece of turquoise. "Why'd you bring these back?" she asked as she dug through them.
Adam peered into the bin. "Because this one was glowing..." He removed the ruby from the bin, but it looked normal now. It felt cold in his hands.
The girl looked at Adam skeptically. "It was probably just the light reflecting off of it," she said with a roll of her eyes.
"Cara," Virginia started, "I'm sure they had good reason."
Adam ignored Virginia and the girl, Cara. The ruby was starting to feel warm, and he could tell it was vibrating, too; a buzzing feeling spread throughout his hands and arms. He looked at it closer. It almost looked the sun inside, painted with golden yellows and deep oranges.
"What is it, Adam?" Sam came up and looked at the gem. "Whoa. That wasn't there before..."
Virginia also tried to get a closer look. "I don't see anything," she scoffed. "It's just a ruby."
"Are you blind, babe? There's, like, fire in there or something..."
By then, the small group had attracted a crowd of the others. No one seemed to see the fire inside the ruby except Sam and Adam. Langdon pushed up front. "Let me see it," he demanded. Adam handed it over obediently.
After a short while, Langdon looked up. "You're right. There is something in it..." The ruby started to shake violently in Langdon's hand. It glowed orange and a fiery red. Langdon's eyes began to glow the same; a sunset within his irises. Everyone backed up slightly, scared of what was to happen next.
Langdon developed an aura of orange, much like the one Adam had seen around Alan during the bird invasion. He watched quietly as the light blinded him, and there was no sign of Langdon. Then, all of a sudden, everything went still and quiet. Langdon stood in front of them again, but he was no longer just Langdon.
The ruby sat in the middle of an elaborate, golden necklace that hugged his throat and extended down to the middle of his chest. Inside it, the fire was now bigger and brighter, and red light danced on his face. He looked down at his hands, where impossibly long claws replaced his nails, and golden fur lined his arms. His eyes flashed a deep orange.
Adam stood in shock next to Sam and the others. Langdon turned his gaze to them in fear. Through his hair, small yellow cat ears sat on top of his head. No, they weren't cat ears. They almost looked like a...
"Lion," Sam breathed. "You're Leo."
Langdon gave Sam a funny look. "Um, yeah. My name's always been Leo."
"No. You're Leo the Lion."
"He looks more like an evil furry than a lion," Adam laughed. He took a step forward with one hand up. He caught a look at Langdon's eyes and pushed back a wave of anxiety.
Langdon gave a low growl. "Don't touch me..."
Adam ignored him and continued forward. Langdon growled again, but didn't move. Adam reached for the ruby, embedded in the necklace-chestplate. Langdon hissed this time and swung an arm at Adam, who ducked quickly, just managing to avoid five claws to the face.
"I said, don't touch me."
Adam looked at Langdon's orange eyes, now vicious, and backed up into the group to stand next to Alex and Luke. He glanced back at Virginia, who was still digging through the bin of gems. After a while, she stopped at turned her gaze to the chunk of turquoise in her other hand. She glanced up and briefly met Adam's eyes. She shook her head and looked to Sam. "Are they suppose to help embody the signs?" she asked.
Sam nodded. He took a tiny step towards Langdon. "Take the ruby out the necklace," he commanded.
Langdon didn't move.
"If you won't, will you let me?"
Again, he stayed still. Sam approached him slowly and pulled the ruby out of its bed. The orange light in Langdon's eyes faded, and his claws, the ears, fur, and necklace disappeared with it. He tossed it to Virginia and turned to the rest of the group. "No one touches those," he said.
Adam was taken aback. Sam sounded mad, and he rarely commanded people like that.
But, even though it was rare, Sam did it again. "It's getting late. Go to sleep, and we'll talk about the stones in the morning."
Everyone started to clear out, not questioning Sam after what happened, except Adam and Langdon. Virginia left the stones with them and shut the large doors on her way out.
Sam pulled out the piece of turquoise that Virginia had clutched. It shook in his hand like the ruby in Langdon's. He set it on the ground. "What's wrong with it?" he asked Langdon.
Langdon shook his head frantically. "I don't- I don't know..."
Adam looked at the piece of turquoise intensely. At first, there was nothing strange about it, but then he saw a glint of yellow, and the gem was ablaze. "It's on fire."
Sam nodded thoughtfully. "Your an Aries, aren't you?"
"What?" Adam looked up.
"Your birthday's in April?"
"April second, yeah."
Sam dug through the gems again and pulled out a tiny diamond. It was also engulfed in flames. He held it out to Adam. "Then this is yours," he said.
Adam reached for the diamond hesitantly, not able to shake what happened when Langdon touched the ruby. He sweat with anticipation as his hand neared the jewel. He closed his eyes, and, when his hand brushed against the diamond, he flinched back. Nothing happened at first, but as he wrapped his fingers around the tiny thing, it began to warm. He felt the heat rising, too, spreading throughout his body.
Then, Adam felt himself start to change.