Symbols of the Unknown

Chapter Four: The Ninth Symbol

After a short drive through town, they arrived at the location of the final symbol. This one was behind an old abandoned warehouse in town. As they were approaching, Robert could already tell this one was much larger than the rest. As they walked toward it, it looked like a combination of all of the other symbols. There were eight eyes in a circle around a star, and the background details had the combined shapes of all eight of the other symbols. This one also seemed to have more electricity crackling above it than any of the others, with it seeming to arc outward from the star in the middle. You could actually hear the snapping and popping here. "Something seriously crazy is going on here," Gabe commented, actually having to raise his voice over the crackling.

"You're telling me," Rob said.

Suddenly, they all jumped as they heard a crash from the warehouse.

"Stay here," Robert ordered Rachel as he and Gabriel drew their guns and approached the main entrance. As they entered, Rob gave Gabe a signal to go right, while he took the left. Robert then clicked on his flashlight, and moved forward. As he got to the last room, he pointed his gun and light in and saw a very unexpected face.

"Fine evening isn't it?" Thomas Hamilton said with a smirk.

"What on Earth are you doing here Tom?!" Robert demanded, not yet holstering his gun but putting it down. "Get in here Gabe, it's Thomas!" Rob yelled toward the other end of the warehouse.

"Good to see you Robby boy," Tom replied, clearly avoiding the question. At this point Gabriel runs into the room, and is just as shocked to see him. "Mr. Hamilton? What on Earth?!" Gabe exclaimed.

"Well would you look at the two of you, doing great taking care of my town," he responded.

"I'm sorry Mr. Hamilton, but you had better have a damn good explanation for why you were sneaking around here," Rob said, finally holstering his gun, Gabe following suit.

"Well, my daughter overheard you at the diner and told me that you guys were talking about some weird happenings around here, so I decided I would see for myself," he said, still with a coy look to him. At this, Gabriel seemed to be a little relieved, but Robert was still suspicious that he was hiding something. However, before he could question him further, Rachel got their attention from outside. "Guys! You're going to want to see this!" She yelled.

As the three men hurried outside, they were all left in awe. The large symbol had started to glow with an eerie red hue. They ran to Rachel's side and noticed the electricity in the air was going absolutely insane, to the point where they were yelling to be able to hear each other. "What the hell is going on?" Rachel yelled to Robert.

"I don't know, but you need to get safe," Rob said before turning toward Gabriel, "Take her to the car, and be ready to leave if anything happens. Gabe nodded, and the two quickly headed toward the car. Robert now turned to the old sheriff. "Now I know you know more than you're letting on, so do you have any idea what the hell this is?!" He yelled to Hamilton. However, before he could answer, his daughter Alyiah came running from behind the warehouse. "I told you to stay in the truck, go!" Thomas yelled at her. "You need to get out of here!" Robert yelled at her, agreeing with the old man, but also wondering why he brought her in the first place. Ignoring both of them, she kept running toward them, before suddenly, an arc of what looked like red lightning arced from the star, over the two men's heads, and hit her directly in the chest, before an explosion of energy radiated from her, and she collapsed.