The Missing Crystal of Sapphire Cove

She pumped her legs as hard as she could. With every step the muscles in her legs screamed for her to rest but she couldn’t. She only had 30 second to get out of the cave before she was buried alive. Alice knew that this was a bad idea. She knew that she should have listen to that little voice in the back of her hear head telling her not to search for the missing crystal of Sapphire Cove but she couldn’t ignore the fact that her parents had look for this same crystal and never found it. He parents had used their last communication to tell her where to find it before they disappeared and she didn't plan on letting them down. 

Alice shook her head as she ran she couldn’t focus on the past she had to focus on getting out of this cave and protecting the artifact. The caves entrance was only a few feet away now. She could see the light from the beach coming through the entrance. Keep going, she told herself, you’re almost there.

Just then the cave shook and pieces of rock began to fall from the ceiling. Alice looked back for a second only to see a bright orange light shining off of the cave wall. Fire. She covered her head with her hands and started running faster. She felt the heat on her back as the flames rushed towards her. Running as quickly as she could, she made it to the entrance, took a sharp turn right and dove to the ground. The fire erupted from the cave entrance shooting out towards the sea. 

Thankfully this part of the beach was deserted. But after that explosion it soon wouldn’t be. Alice knew that it was best for her to get out of there before the police and fire trucks arrived. She did a quick check to make sure that she wasn’t injured and that the artifact that she had found in the cave wasn’t broken. As she checked the artifact she saw an inscription on the back “Here the saint lies”. As far as Alice knew there were not any saints in sapphire Cove. Then it hit her, there weren’t any literal saints in Sapphire Cove but there was a saint that was buried in the town. She took out her phone and shot off a quick text to Dr. Wang, her fathers best friend. If it weren’t for him she would have never known what her parents were searching for.

“Found it. Meet me at Founders Hall, and bring shovels.” She put her phone back into her bag and took off towards her car.

Founders hall was a remnant of the past built by Vincent St. John the first settler and fonder of Sapphire Cove. What once a beautiful colonial style building with columns that reached 15 ft high, was now a husk of a building covered in over-grown vines, grass, and weeds. Alice looked around to find an way to get into the building but the thick greenery covering the walls made it hard to see any type of entrance. Getting into the building would be harder than she thought. She needed to find where Vincent St. John was buried quickly. The light was starting to fade and there’s was something unsettling about being in an abandoned building at night even if she wouldn’t be by herself. Which reminded her that Dr. Wong hadn’t arrived yet. She pulled out her phone to check her messages.

“I am at founders hall. Where are you?” She didn't have to wait long for a reply. Her phone dinged letting her know that a new message had appeared.

“Running behind, will be there shortly.” 

“Great”, Alice said to herself, “I guess I will take a look around. I may not be able to dig up anything but I can at least find out where we need to begin digging”. Alice walked over to the statue that was in front of the building. Like the building, the statue had seen its better days. Covered in moss and vines she could barely tell what it was. The only clue that told her it was a statue was part of an inscription on the pedestal of the statute. Alice reach out and swept away the vines and moss to see the full inscription.

“Vincent St. John the first settler of Sapphire Cove” Next to the inscription was a symbol. Alice studied the symbol, it almost looked like the artifact that she found in the cave earlier that day. She pulled out the artifact that she had found in the cave earlier that day and compared the two. Sure enough the artifact and the symbol were the same. 

When she found the artifact in the cave she didn't know what or whose it was, but now she knew that it belonged to Vincent St. John. She was getting close to finding the missing crystal now, she could feel it. Alice held it up next to the symbol on the statue. The circular artifact began to let off a soft blue glow.

The blue glow began to get brighter the longer she held it to the stone. As the light grew brighter a grinding sound came from the statue. Alice looked up just in time to see the statue turning down into the ground. She took the Artifact away from the pedestal and watched as the statue sunk deeper into the ground and stone stairs began to form in a circular pattern. 

“Alice, there you are. When I got here I couldn’t find you. That is until I saw the blue light. What is this place?” Dr. Wang said looking down into the newly formed hole in the ground.

“I’m not sure, maybe what ever is down there can help us find the crystal. Do you have a flash light?”

Dr.Wang pulled out two flash lights form his bag and handed one to Alice. Flashlights in hand they both began to walk down the ancient stairs. She had never been afraid of heights but these stairs were high enough to make anyone scared of heights and to make matters worse there weren’t any rails. The stairs led to a circular chamber with a single circular column in the center.

“Do you think the crystal is in the Column?” Alice asked Dr. Wang.

“It could be. If we get close enough we might be able to see if there are any secrete compartments. However, I believe that there are traps that have been set. After all, Vincent St. John’s was known for his traps and riddles.”

Alice looked around, the walls and ceiling were made of smooth stone. It was amazing to think that an underground chamber the size of foot ball field lie beneath the the Founders Hall. There was no sign that suggested any sort of traps. That is until she looked down. The floor tiles were covered in some sort of symbols.

“The Greek alphabet!” Alice said.

Dr. Wang pinched his brows together and looked at Alice clearly confused at what she was saying. 

“The floor is covered in the Greek Alphabet but they are out of order. Here is theta,” Alice said pointing to the tile nearest to her, “next to it is Omega and over there is Epsilon and then there is alpha.”

“If it is a riddle and a trap, then I believe that we need to step on the right letter. But does that include vowels?

Alice didn't know the answer either. “‘There is not need for both of to go across.” Alice pulled out a small not book. It was her parents journal. In it they kept record of every trapped and riddle they faced. So they would know what to do for next time. “Stay here a call out the letters to me. 

“Alpha is first,” said Dr. Wang.

Alice searched the floor for Alpha, then stepped on it. She was grateful it wasn’t to far away, that could increase her chances of stepping on the wrong tile.  

“Beta.” 

Alice searched for beta and stepped hopped on it. 30 minutes later she had reached the other side of the room. She was only a few letters away from reaching the tile.

“Chi, Psi, and Omega” Dr. Wang closed the book.

After Alice stepped on the last tile a small part of the column began to open up. The compartment of the column was a small square hole. This had to be where the missing crystal was hidden. Alice stuck her hand in the hole. She had hoped it wasn’t a trap like the cave and tiles. She felt around in the hole and found a smooth object. Grabbing a hold of it, she slowly took it out of the hole. The smooth stone shaped crystal shone brightly as she help it in her hands. There was something mesmerizing the way the light danced off the crystal making it shine different colors. 

“Did you find it?” Dr. Wang’s voice startled Alice and brought her back to reality. 

“Yes, I did.” Alice crossed the tiled floor back to the other side this time stepping on the tiles starting with omega. When stepped on alpha the small hole on the column closed.

Alice handed the stone to Dr. Wang. As he admired it, Alice turned around and grabbed her bag off of the ground and slug it across her back. 

A sudden clicking sound came from behind her freezing Alice in her tracks. Then a cold metal object was pushed into her back. It was a gun. “I am sorry, Alice.”

Alice whirled around to see Dr. Wang, and 3 other men whom she didn't know, standing behind her with guns ready. Any sudden movement and she would be dead and forgotten just like the crystal in his hand. “Dr. Wang, what are you doing? ” 

Wang grinned. “Getting what is rightfully mine, of course.”

“So, you were the reason my parents disappeared.”

“Yes I am. Your parents kept going on about how once they found the crystal they would give it back to Sapphire Cove. I couldn’t have that, I didn’t spend 10 years searching for this crystal only to have it put into a museum and collect dust. I knew that with your parents gone you would be the best person to use to find the crystal. So I took you in after your parents died and watched you. To speed things along I gave you the letter which I had claimed they wrote. Naturally I had to have you pick up where they left off in the cave and after that everything fell into place.”  

Alice was stunned the one person she trusted with her life had lied to and used her for his own personal vendetta. 

“You said my parents died, what happened?”

A sick smile crept across Wangs face. “A Cave in.” 

Alice lunged at Wang but before she had a chance to even move she felt a sharp pain in her neck. She fell to her knees, her vision became blurry. She tried to stand but fell again this time she stayed down.

“Sir, what should we do with her?” One of the henchmen asked.

“Leave her here and tie her up. We can’t have her following us. Get the car ready we are going to - ”

Alice didn't hear the last part, she tried to stay conscious but she slowly lost that battle and the world went black. When Alice woke up her body was stiff. She looked round trying to remember what happened. Then it hit her, Wang had betrayed her, knocked her out, and took the crystal for himself. Alice had to get out of there, she didn't know how long she had been out so she had to hurry if she wanted to catch Wang.

Alice looked around for something to cut the rope that she was bound with. She saw her flashlight lying near the stair way. She crawled over to the flashlight kicking it as hard as she could against a wall breaking the flashlight into many little pieces. She grabbed a sharp piece and began cutting the ropes. 

Once the ropes were cut she looked around for her bag. Wang had taken it. There was no way she could call for help. She sighed the only thing she could do now was try to make it up the stairs, even though she did not have a flash light she was still able to see. The moon gave her enough light to see what she was doing.  

Putting her hand on the wall. She began to make her way up the stairs. Once she made it to the top Alice collapsed to the ground and started to lose consciousness again. The last thing she remembered was hearing the sounds of sirens and seeing bright red and blue lights burst through the trees. Alice knew that she wouldn’t finding Wang that day but she never stopped looking for the man who killed her parents and stole the one thing they had come so close to finding.