Chapter Five

We both yelled. As I was screaming I had half expected the bridge to fall down beneath us as we ran because we had been so loud. Or possibly everything to come tumbling down around us and for us to die right then and there. But nothing happened; and we were safe in the medieval tower.
    I could examine it more now. It was an enclosed tower with two door-less doorways for access to either side. In front of us was another edge. It was only about 20 feet away, we had to be very careful or we would fall into the still-fire that was lava. I could feel the heat from it and it made my feel uncomfortable. The drop into the lava was at least 100 feet down, but it seemed closer and more dangerous than ever. Surrounding Alec and I, were giant stone walls. It was not one huge stone, but stone blocks glued together with cement, as I had seem before.
    I looked in front of me and I saw the huge statue. It was a statue of a mermaid. She was very beautiful even though she was made of stone. She had a smiling face, as if to welcome anyone who walked into the lava infested room that she was held in. One of her delicate hands was outstretched toward the sky, and her other arm was tucked into her side with her hand facing outward. In that hand were six green gems that glistened softly and put eerie colors on the walls around them. She held her fingers slightly inward to almost protect the gems; but she also looked like she wanted someone to take the gems from her. Her hair was like a wave. It went every which way, and had a certain softness to it, even though-as I've stated before-she was made of stone. Her tail was not whole in the front, half way down it went into the cement that was under her. In the back you could see it come up again, to show that it was curved. You could see the detail put into it; the scales on her tail looked just as life-like as they would on a real mermaid (even though I knew they weren't real).
    Alec was transfixed. Not by the beautiful statue, but by the glistening green gemstones she held in her hand. He just stared. Not moving at all, but looking like he might any second now.
    I wasn't staring at the statue or gems anymore, I was staring at the boy who might just try to grab them. His eyes were very wide and his mouth hung open, and it didn't look like it was about to close anytime soon.
    "Alec, close your mouth. Do you WANT flies to get in? It's your choice." I faked a laugh and he didn't say a thing. Instead, he took one step forward and extended his hand forward. He was very close to the edge of the tower near the lava. Another step and he would be history. "Alec," I began in a more serious tone. "Look at me Alec. Are you ok? Don't move, you're gonna fall!" He took another step ignoring me, and I screamed and grabbed his arm before he fell. I pulled him away from the side and grabbed his shoulders. He still looked transfixed and wasn't looking at me; not once had he looked away from the gemstones. I grabbed his his cheeks just above his jaw and his lips squished together. I tried to get his head to turn towards me. "Alec..Alec! Look at me!" I had no idea he was this strong. He was completely ignoring me. The anger was building up inside and I just wanted to--Before I could think anymore my hand raised in the air and flew down to his face; it hit him with great force and automatically turn red.
    He yelped and then rubbed his cheek. "What did you do that for?!"  He yelled, vexed.
    I let out a sigh of relief because he seemed back to normal, but then immediately was irritated again. "What was wrong with you?! You wouldn't look at me, and you just kept moving toward the edge to grab those..those..stupid stones!"
    He shook his head from side to side slowly. "What are you talking about? Didn't we-"
    He was cut off by a very loud groan that came from beside us. We both stood motionless for an eternity, and then the groan came again. We turned our heads slowly to face the statue; and the ground shook beneath us. I grabbed Alec's arm and tried to steady myself, as did he.
    "What's happening?!" I asked, looking around frantically.
    "I don't know!" He practically screamed back. The ground didn't refrain from shaking this time-unlike when we fell into the marble tube-it didn't stop. The lava surrounding the statue began to bubble and burst into the air. Alec and I both took wobbly steps backward. I wanted to run, but something held me there. It held both of us there, and I wasn't sure what it was exactly; and it scared me. A very load rumble came from the lava-room again; and it sounded like it was coming directly from the statue. Alec and I both turned out heads to stare at it.

Reviews

[Matthew V. H.]

Love the use of the word "Vexed" good word usage.

A little more action now and we are starting to get into the meat and potato's of the plot.

I would like (once again) to mention the repeat words. When you are re-doing this ry and use a variety of words to describe the same thing.

Lava: liquid fire, orange death, burning ocean, etc... breaks up the monotony of the scene.

[Forist.johnston]

Like before, I feel it necessary to point out that there are spelling errors. But it was an entertaining little chapter all together.