The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (8 page)

Gabrielle’s face scrunched with puzzlement
.
“That’s strange because when my Grandma Celeste gave me my pendant
,
she said that it once belonged to my mother.”

Jessica looked at Gabrielle with confused eyes
.
“Do you know what the symbols under the ruby stones mean? When I asked my
g
randmother, she just got this real weird look in her eyes.”

“That’s funny
. W
hen I asked my Grandma Celeste the same question, she got this weird look in her eyes
,
too,” Gabrielle responded. “Don’t you think it’s weird that we have the same pendant?”

“W-
w
ell, no
,
I don’t. I mean
,
a lot of people have the same pendant
,
Gabi,” Jessica stuttered.

Gabrielle’s face pinched with exasperation
.
“Not like these
,
they don’t. There’s something strange going on here and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.” She strode down the hall, her eyes quickly roaming the room. She quickly spun around when she realized that Jessica did not follow her. “Come on
,
Jess!” Gabrielle demanded impatiently.

Jessica stood stiff as a board, looking guardedly towards the end of the dark hallway.

Gabrielle stomped back over to her
.
“Jess, what’s wrong with you?”

Jessica’s eyes darted around the room
.
“Uh
,
I thought I saw something moving around at the end of the hallway,” she stammered.

Gabrielle’s gaze quickly shifted down the hallway
.
“What are you talking about
,
Jess? There’s no one else in here but us.”

Jessica smiled nervously and shrugged her shoulders
.
“I guess you’re right
.
”
B
ut her tone was far from convinced.

Gabrielle smiled hugely
.
“I know that I’m right. Come on
,
Jess, we’re wasting time here. Let’s explore this place.”

She strode down the hallway with Jessica reluctantly in tow. A few minutes later, they stood perplexed
,
staring at the wide staircase whose entrance was blocked by a thick red velvet rope.

Jessica looked over at her nervously
.
“Okay, well
,
we better turn around now
,
Gabi.” She quickly turned on
her
heels and started to walk away.

Gabrielle grabbed the back of Jessica’s cardigan, pulling her back as she curiously peered
up the stairs
.
“Hmm
,
I wonder what’s up there.” She released her grip on Jessica and ducked under the rope.

Jessica bit her bottom lip as she shifted from side
to
side.

Gabrielle looked over at her impatiently
.
“Jess, we have to see what’s upstairs.”

Jessica nervously twisted a strand of blond hair around her finger
.
“G-Gabi, I don’t think so. I mean
,
someone blocked these stairs for a reason,” she stuttered.

Gabrielle irritably placed her hands on her hips as she tapped her foot impatiently
.
“Don’t be silly
,
Jess. Don’t you think if this building were off
-
limits, the door would have been locked? Come on, you’re wasting time.”

Jessica looked around the hall nervously then timidly ducked under the velvet rope.

The steps creaked as Gabrielle sprinted up
stairs
with a breathless Jessica reluctantly following.

At the top, Gabrielle looked around. Her eyes narrow
ed at
the soft light that peeked
out from under the door at the end of the long
,
dark hallway.

“See that faint light at the end of the hall? Let’s check it out,” Gabrielle said excitedly.

She strode down the hallway and Jessica nervously followed.

A swift burst of cold air swept through the hallway, roughly brushing against their faces. Startled, Jessica jumped closer to Gabrielle.

Gabrielle looked over at her reassuringly
.
“Jess, relax
…
that’s just a draft
.
Come on, stay close to me.”

They stumbled down the dark hallway, barely seeing their hands in front of their face
s
. Gabrielle stopped in front of the door then pushed it open
,
j
umping back
in
surprise as the heavy wooden door creaked open to reveal a brightly lit passageway.

Cautiously, they stepped in, looking around the narrow passageway with awe
. They were
fascinated by the warm glow from the medieval
-looking,
lit torches that hung neatly along the concrete walls.

T
hey walked down the passageway as each torch showed them the way.
When
they approached the last lit torch at the end
, t
hey looked around in awe as they stepped over the threshold and smack
-
dab into another large room with walls lined with well-worn books that stretched
out from floor to ceiling.

A large gust of warm air swept pas
t
their feet
,
causing the torches to flicker and the heavy door to slam shut.

Jessica looked around nervously
.
“Uh
,
Gabi, where did that big burst of air come from? Because I don’t know if you noticed—” She gestured toward the book-lined walls
.
“
—b
ut I don’t see a single window in this room.”

Preoccupied, Gabrielle ignored Jessica and walked across the room with eyes lit
up with astonishment. With anxious fingers, she quickly plucked a book from the bookcase. Carefully running her fingers along the gold
-
stamped title
,
her face crinkled with puzzlement as she slowly placed the book back into the bookcase.

She spun around on her heels, looking around the room curiously. Spotting the crescent
-
shaped wood
en
table, she quickly stomped across the burgundy carpet towards it. With fascination, she ran her fingers along the table as she looked at the four odd
ly
shaped chairs gathered around it. She leaned closer, examining the strange carvings on the chairs.

“Wow
,
look at these freaky symbols carved into the
m,
” Gabrielle marveled.

Jessica hesitantly walked over and squinted at the carvings
.
“Hmmm
, w
hat do you think these weird symbols mean?”

Gabrielle walked over to the second chair
then
over to the third and the fourth
.
“Hmmm…all of these chairs have carved symbols
,
but the weird part is that they all seem to be a little different.” She scratched her head
.
“I wonder why
.
”

Jessica looked around the room uneasily
.
“Gabi, I really don’t care why. I just want to get out of this room right now.”

Gabrielle propped her hands on her hips as
she
looked around the room with frustration.

Tears quickly welled
up in Jessica’s eyes
.
“Please
,
Gabi! Let’s get out of here. I’m real nervous right now and weird things always happen when I get nervous.”

“Okay
,
okay
,
Jess. Let’s go,” Gabrielle replied grudgingly.

They quickly walked
out of the book
-
filled room and down the brightly lit passageway.
 

Jessica grasped and twisted the doorknob to exit the
n
looked over at Gabrielle
.
“Gabi, it’s locked.” She anxiously twisted the doorknob again
.
“Gabi, someone has locked us in here.” Her face turned bright
red as she hysterically tugg
ed at an
d twist
ed
the doorknob
.
“Oh
,
no!
Not again—please not again
.
I can feel it happening again.”

 
“Jess
,
don’t be silly
.
T
here
’
s
no way the
door
’
s
locked. If you would just calm down and stop panicking, you’ll be able to open
i
t
with no trouble.”

Gabrielle jumped back with shock as the door rattled
and
rumbled loudly and the doorknob twisted
and
turned frantically by itself.
S
he started to scream but it quickly strangled in her throat. She watched
in
horror as Jessica’s body trembled violently with fear
;
to Gabrielle’s utter disbelief, the image of Jessica’s body seemed to completely vanish.

She quickly rubbed her eyes with disbelief. Her gaze frantically snapped back toward the door and the violent shaking stopped abruptly
,
with a strange stillness filling the passageway. She grabbed the doorknob and twisted it with all her might but it simply would not budge. She took a deep breath and cleared her throat nervously. “Oh
,
come on
,
door,
open
. Please, come on
,
door,
open
. I say open,” Gabrielle demanded under her breath
.