Robert eased slowly to my side.  His injury would cause us problems but there was no time to be worried about that.  If I knew the old Pete he would not take my mutiny sitting down.  Burned facial features or not. 
“Argggh   ****! 

Pete’s pain was making my stomach turn. 
What was I thinking?  Where would we go?

The world seemed to be moving in nanoseconds rather than the regular pace.
My breath matched my adrenaline rush.  They beat on my chest relentlessly.  Still no time to waste.

I finally snap out of my daydream and whisper over Pete’s pain.  “The window, lets GO!!” 

“All right Maribel give me some time to get this open,”  Jake stands close by looking at me.  As if he were looking into the fabric of my being.

Snap!! Crack!! 

The window lock is broken with ease considering Robert is injured. 

We climb through one by one.  Jake grabs me by the sleeve.

“The others they are still alive, we have to save them Ms. B.”  His pulling of my jacket does not faze my frozen body. 

The day secretly slipped into night all through this ordeal.  My concept of time seems to be slipping from my fingers.  There goes all of my field training out of the window.

Robert stands close by and whispers, “Maribel we have to help the others.” 

"How Robert,they are surrounded and half of the room is filled with Smoke! Call it my woman’s intuition but they can not be helped guys.” 

Both Jake and Robert turn to  each other in ominous unison. 

They smile.

“That is where you are wrong my love.” 

"What are talking about Robert I have no time for this lets move!"   

Robert takes out a liquid filled vile from his pocket still stained with his crimson essence.  

 Jake turns around and opens a latch underneath a nearby bush that was no taller than him self.

“Robert before we go on anymore further what else is going on?” 

A uncertain look of anticipation overwhelms his face.  I step closer to his six foot statue so I could get a closer look at his wound.  To my dismay it was gone.

“Maribel, fate would have it that you are to play an intricate part in this experiment."

  Before I could tell him to cut the B.S. he interrupted my train of thought.

  “We have many experiments going on.  With that said I know how to prepare for the worse.”

“Let us go in here and we can continue this somewhere safe.”

 This was no normal underground shelter that I was expecting.  Once down the ladder there was a white door with one window.  It opened with a flash of brilliance similar to that of a fantasy nineteen fifties sci-fi movie.  We walk into another room where the air is thick with the smell of salt water.

We follow Robert into  a lab room with a giant chalk lining on the ground.  Inscriptions of some sort.

I know I have seen the insignia somewhere before but I could not connect the pieces.  It was a rounded circle with a snake coming up through the middle behind a cross.  A crown sat on top of the figure.  There was nothing else in the room. 

With my current luck with and diminishing number of people to trust I immediately become alert.  Robert walks over to me.  “Wait right there Maribel we are expecting guest”

“What do you mean.” I answer confused

Walking behind him, hand on my new 9.mm in my pocket. 

I will explain half now and the rest shall be know later.  Robert turns around and motions for Jake to leave and  watch the latch door outside. 

“Maribel……I can perform Alchemy.”

“Robert are you talking about those crazy old books that you were fascinated with”

“No those were subject books. The true text takes a little bit more ingenuity and skill to read.  I have dedicated my life and have subsequently deciphered  many hieroglyphs pertaining to replicating DNA.

  The science world knows of Alchemy’s relevance yet the public is misinformed into thinking that it was just a precursor to modern science.”  Robert rubs his forehead with a smile.

“It was a precursor all right, Alchemy is the grandfather of science evolving from many advanced civilization.  Feared throughout history for its mysticism and power many formulas and teachings have been destroyed."

“That is where the Society comes in right?”

“Exactly, they supplied many artifacts of formulas that are priceless.  They have never been tainted.” 

Trying to get a better grasp and understanding of what my husband was saying, my eyes squinted. 

“Not only was I teaching the children of the corn, but my supposedly dead husband is a modern day Frankenstein?”

Robert’s laugh bellows out in the empty room.

“No, no, no change your normal way of thinking.  All will make sense soon.  Alchemy has rules set by the universe.  The fundamental thing you should remember dear is the law of equivalent exchange. 

Something must be lost before you can gain what you want to manifest in return." 

Before I could answer Jake burst through the door, “They are here, They are Here!” 

****, I  completely forgot about that chopper I saw outside.  There must have been at least seven operatives on that one alone. 

The air seems to warm from the cold of the night forming condensed sweat on my forehead.  I cock my gun towards the door.  Robert steps forward and puts my hands down.

 
“What are you doing?”

“Wait and see”

I have never seen this side of Robert before.  It is unfamiliar and scary but for some reason I trust him and I loathe him.

Agent Humphrey Burst through the door with Agent Rowland and Chalmers by his side.

 
“Perimeter check, Agent Humphrey yells”
Five more men toting large guns aim at us by the entrance of the lab. 

“Clear,…. clear … clear.”

Agent Humphrey takes of his ear piece and walks cautiously towards the center of the room.  Where the inscriptions are….were on the floor.  They have disappeared.

  Something weird is going on.

 
Before I could say anything Agent Humphrey slowly proceeds towards me.

“Hand it ove..”

Before he could get another word out.  The room quakes with a violent shockwave. 

The insignia on the ground lit a bright blue aura around the room.  All of the agents froze in their footsteps. 

I could feel my lungs grasping for more air as the agents disintegrated into blue light before my very eyes.  They screamed to no avail for as fast as they had appeared in the room they were gone in no more than a flash. 

 I turned to my left and Robert’s glasses hid his facial expression. 

He was kneeling over the giant circle with his palms on the ground.  As he got to his feet the circle twisted and moved as if It were alive. 

I wipe my eyes.  It is still moving until it disappears completely.

“Like I said before Maribel,  we have much to talk about.”