Like Veins of Red Rubies (Most Precious Book 1)

LIKE
VEINS OF RED RUBIES

By Nicolas Abel

Copyright
©
2015 Nicolas Abel

All
rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic,
electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any
information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the
author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and
reviews.

The
characters in all of the stories are fictional. They are not meant to represent
any real persons living or dead.

CONTENTS

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

"Look at them, Victor. The
gems, they're lovely aren't they?"

"Yes Ms. Emily," said
Victor. "They're quite the shiners."

"I'll ask that you call me
Mrs. Barrett now."

"Oh well of course, Mrs.
Barrett." Victor said. "Again, congratulations on the wedding. Stanley's
lucky to be with you. But if I may speak about my cousin, he's a genuine guy. I
do hope you keep him sane."

"That's why I'm with
him."

"My conscience is clear
then," said Victor. "See you around." He waved and walked away.

"Did you show the ring to Victor?"
said a voice from within the domicile. A man in a clean, brown suit emerged.

"Oh Stanley, everyone loves
this ring. I love it the most." Emily jumped and wrapped her arms around
him.

Stanley caught her and held her
up. He smiled and whispered, "I'm glad you like it."

Emily looked into Stanley's eyes
and said, "It's not just about the ring. It's great, but a ring's just a
ring. It's that we're finally able to be together in our own domicile."

"Yes," said Stanley.
"Thank you for thinking like that, really." He stroked Emily's chin.
"Where in this entire bunker can I find a girl who's as thoughtful and
pretty as you are?"

"I’m just as lucky to have
found you."

Stanley smiled widely, creasing
the sides of his cheeks. "Let me tell you something, our babies are going
to be really adorable. And smart."

Emily pecked Stanley's lips and
giggled.

Stanley said, "Come on,
let's go get our pills." Stanley draped his coat over his shoulder and
held Emily's hand. As they walked down the domiciles, the lights along the
ceiling brightened. The metal wall panels changed from their black hue to a
light grey one. They reached the main chamber. People passed by, giving smiles
and some gasps when they saw Emily's ring.

"That Stanley Barrett boy,
he's a man now," said Mr. Albertson, who was sitting on a bench with his
grandson. "Not that dreaming little boy who used to dash around the
streets, no. He's got a real heap of duties now."

Stanley and Emily went up to the
end of the queue. They pecked at each other and swiped each other's noses. They
whispered into each other's ears and giggled and did this the whole time until
the line shrunk. They inserted their coins into the vending machine and
received their pills and cups of water. They went aside and swallowed their
pills then drank their water. Stanley picked a drop of water that hung off
Emily's lips and she giggled.

The clock of town hall rang nine
times, signaling nine in the morning.

"We've had our nutrition for
the day," said Stanley. "And we have the rest of it to ourselves. Do
you have any suggestions?"

"We should visit your
sister; she wants to see the ring."

Stanley crunched his nose.
"Okay," he said.

"You don't seem too
excited."

"I wanted to go somewhere
else."

"Where in this small bunker
could we go?"

"I'd say we should go to the
cave," said Stanley. "Let’s get away from everyone else."

Emily smiled and bit her lips.
She placed her hand on Stanley's chest and leaned in. She whispered into
Stanley's ear, "I didn't really want to visit your sister. I was just
thinking about your family."

"You know we're the closest
family now," said Stanley.

"I'm so glad we can
communicate like this," said Emily. "I'll lead the way." With
both hands, she pulled Stanley away from the street and to the wall. They
walked along it until they reached an open part. A water pipe had broken five
years ago and the metal sheets had burst and folded to the side. The council
advised that no one should be near it, but Stanley and Emily would sneak in and
have private talks.

They walked inside to a spacious
cavern. A small pool of water was at the far end, and the rocks had formed to
look like beautiful statues. Even the ceiling had jagged rocks that pointed
downward. Stanley and Emily would lie down and stare at them, talking and
letting their minds run amidst the grooves and curves of the intricate
outcroppings. Sometimes, the odd drop of water would fall and land on their
heads, and they would laugh.

Emily led Stanley to the base of
the lake and lay down. Stanley did too.

Emily raised her hand and let the
ring sparkle. "Tell me how you got the ring," she said. "It must
have taken ages to dig this many diamonds."

"You know, I thought of
mining that only two months after we met. I thought you were the most beautiful
thing ever, and I just had to prepare." Stanley pointed across the lake to
an opening. "You see that hole over there? Whenever I had free time, I'd
sneak over there and just dig. It was a fool's hope to find anything, but my
intentions were set. It took ages, heck it took so much of my time that I
couldn't sleep some days. But I kept digging, knowing that one
day,
I would find some pretty gems. And surely, I found a
cluster of them. I was so overjoyed that I danced within that small tunnel and
hurried back home to get them refined."

"I never knew that it took
so much effort."

"Do you like it?"

"Yes."

"Then my work has paid
off," said Stanley.

Emily kissed Stanley's cheek and
he giggled.

"You know," said
Stanley, "I came across a vein of rubies yesterday. I wasn't going to tell
you, but I can't keep it from you."

"Rubies?" said Emily,
her voice waning.

"Yes.
Rubies.
I'm planning on coming here tomorrow to get some more." Stanley turned his
face to look at Emily. "How does a ruby necklace sound?"

Emily didn't look back. Her gaze
remained on the ceiling and she paused before saying, "Good. That sounds
good."

"Just good?" said
Stanley. "You don't like rubies?"

"No, I'm just afraid of what
you might dig up," she said. She turned and faced Stanley. "If you
get all of these fancy things for me, I might fall in love with them, instead
of you."

"Emily, I know you and you
are not like that," said Stanley.

"But you never know."

Stanley reached out and laid his
hand on Emily's face, turning her closer to him. "I know you will stay the
same," said Stanley. "And I want you to. Because that's the reason I
love you; you're perfect just now."

Emily brought Stanley close and
kissed him.

"Let’s stay here for a
while," said Emily, "alone, together."

Stanley kissed her forehead.
"That sounds great."

They spent the whole day there,
talking and laughing. Their joyous banter echoed within the hall that kept them
separated from world. And they were able to ignore everything and focus only
upon themselves. But when they heard nine rings from the town center, they returned
to their domicile, as everyone else did.

Emily lay on her bed and slept,
but Stanley could not find rest. He changed into his casual white shirt, jeans,
and apron. He grabbed his duffle bag and quietly slipped out of his domicile.

"Rubies," he said, as
he started toward town. "She’ll like the rubies."

Stanley walked along the empty
streets. The row of domiciles was dark and quiet, except for the few lights and
silhouettes of people laughing and sharing conversations. He walked across the
town center and looked up at the clock that marked ten-forty.

"I have about two hours
tonight," he said to himself and continued on.

Stanley reached the broken wall
and went through to the lake. He set his bag beside him and knelt down to fold
the cuffs of his pants up to his knees. He removed his shoes and socks and held
them in his left hand. With his right, he grabbed his bag.

He stepped into the water and
took slow steps, the calm water rippling from where he walked. Stanley sunk
deeper as he went farther in, until the water rose to his knees. It grazed the
tip of his folded pants, but he started rising and continued to do so until he
reached the other side. He set his bag down and opened it and withdrew a towel.
He dried his legs then placed the towel, along with his shoes and socks on top
of a rock. He zipped his bag open and walked to an opening and climbed through.
It was dark inside the tunnel, but light was not required for he stopped when
he banged his head.

Stanley reached into his bag and
pulled out a light. He felt along the wall for a cleft and perched it there. He
reached inside the bag and pulled out an old digger. He slid the bag under his
stomach and adjusted it to cover him from the hard floor. With both hands, he
aimed his digger above the thin vein of rubies. He activated the digger and it
shot a beam of heated light that shot into the rock. Carefully, he dragged the
beam all the way around the vein until it stuck out by itself.

"There it is," he said.
He set the digger aside and grabbed a chisel and mallet. He placed the base of
the chisel closely by the ruby vein and gently tapped it with the mallet.
Little chunks of rocks fell away. He continued to pick at the rocks until the
vein fell out, and he dropped his chisel as he shifted to catch it.

"You’re not getting
away," he said, clutching the rubies. He brought it close and observed it
for a moment before placing it on the cleft. He looked around for more veins,
but there were none, so he brought the digger out again. For a long while, he
dug. But when eleven long rings echoed from the town to the cavern and up the
tunnel, Stanley stopped. He returned his gaze to the end of the tunnel and saw
a glinting point. He lowered his digger and ran his finger along it.

"What are you?" he
said. Without looking away, he reached down to the cleft to grab the light, but
his grip loosened and he dropped it. The light slid down the tunnel and
cracked, allowing the darkness to envelop him.

"Damn my luck," he
said. He reached forward and ran his finger along the sharp point. "I can
feel you right there," he said. "It would be a shame to leave
you." He set the digger in front of him and aimed toward it. He released a
beam and using the small bit of light, noticed that the point was red compared
to the surrounding grey rocks. He carved out the basic shape of the point, and
it seemed to go on for a long way up.

"I've hit the pot,"
Stanley said with a silly grin. He opened his mouth widely and chuckled.
"I've hit it, I've hit it." He dug farther up along the point when
the rocks around it cracked. The protruding tip fell to the tunnel floor and
slid down. It sliced Stanley's left arm as it went by and slid all the way down.

"Gah!"
Stanley wailed. He let go of his
digger and it slid down as well. He rolled to his back and brought his damaged
arm to his face, but he couldn't make anything out in the dark. Liquid dripped
onto his face and rolled down his cheeks. But he did not pay much attention to
it. He used his good arm to search for the cleft, and when he found
it,
he grasped the thin ruby vein and held it close to his
chest. Pushing with his damaged arm, he slid down, using his bag as a buffer.
His legs almost cracked when he abruptly crashed to the bottom. Frantic, he
patted the ground, but cringed when he felt the broken glass that was once the
light. He patted elsewhere, but not long after, he felt something sharp dig
into his skin, and he reached down to where it was less sharp. He grabbed it,
stood up, and waded clumsily through the water which fluttered violently,
dampening his clothes and washing over his face. He staggered out of the cavern
to the town and looked down to what he held. It was thin, long and red, with a
pointed head at the top. The arm that held it was covered in dirt, torn open
and bleeding.

"Hey Stanley, what are you
doing out so late?" a voice called from down the street. "It's me,
your cousin Victor." But his greeting was interrupted when he gasped.
"What's happened to you?"

Stanley looked up and uttered,
"Get my things. Please! I need medicine." He scurried over to the
vending machines and struggled to count his change. His trembling, bleeding
hands barely managed to fit the coins in, but he managed and received a pill
and a cup of water. He swallowed the pill and washed it down with the water. He
crushed the cup with a tightly clenched fist and released a long, raspy sigh.
He glanced at the gash on his arm which spouted the dirt and sealed.

Victor approached with Stanley's
belongings, but he was holding the sharp rod far away from him.

"Stanley," he
said,
voice blunt and clear. "Where did you get
this?"

Stanley did not answer. He took
his bag and started packing it.

"Stanley," Victor said
again, this time snapping his fingers. "You have to answer me. Where did
you get this?"

Stanley rose and slung his bag
over his shoulder. "I was digging," he said. "That’s when I
found this."

"Digging where?"

Stanley pointed behind him.
"It was through the busted wall, past the lake."

"You’re not supposed to go
there," Victor said. "What would ever drive you to do so?"

Stanley stared back with large,
baggy eyes that surrendered to Victor’s thin, sharp ones. "I wanted to get
rubies for Emily."

For a moment, Victor did not
speak, but he twitched his eyes. He pointed to Stanley’s arm. "That gash
you had," he said, "was it because of this thing?" He shook the
rod.

Stanley nodded. "Yes. But
it’s fine. I’m all healed and I don’t feel anything."

"You may be fine, but what if
someone else had found it?" said Victor. "What if they couldn’t get
their pills on time and died?"

"It was far into the earth,
somewhere no one should have been," said Stanley. "It could have only
happened to me at that precise moment."

"I think we should share
this with the council," said Victor. "We can’t keep the discovery of
such a weapon to ourselves."

"I suppose that would be the
wisest thing to do," said Stanley.

"I will call a meeting
tomorrow morning. I will come by and walk with you."

Stanley nodded.
"All right."

"Goodnight and keep yourself
safe," Victor said. He carefully held the rod as he walked away.

Stanley turned and made his way
back. He walked by the row of domiciles. Every domicile was dark except for
his. Emily was waiting out front in her nightgown. When Stanley approached, she
dashed over, face pale and frowning.

"You made me suffer,"
she said. "Why are your clothes so dirty? Your face looks battered. Where
were you?"

"I went to get the
rubies," Stanley said. "But I couldn’t get much." He opened his
hand and revealed a thin strand of red rubies that was covered in dirt and
dried blood.

Emily’s eyes drooped as she said,
"I don’t want you to waste your energy trying to get them for me. As long
as you’re with me, all I want is for you to rest."

"But I saw a vein; I had it
right in front of me. I can get it tomorrow, I know I can."

Emily pressed her thumb against
Stanley’s lips. "No more from you," she said. "No more."

Despite every feature on his face
being down, Stanley managed a smile. "Thanks for always caring about me.
That is why I love you." Emily opened the door and Stanley entered.

Stanley took a long shower and
changed into his sleepwear. He lay down beside Emily who had already fallen
asleep. As his eyes closed, his mouth opened to whisper into her ear, "I
will get those rubies for you."