37: House of Crypts

Using the internet, the kids were able to find where Victor Sr. was buried. Presuming that Mr. Wolf didn't know their move, they wiped the browser history and headed out, all seven of them heading for the cemetery.

It was a handful of miles away and did take some time to get to, but when they did arrive they found themselves to be alone among the rows of gravestones.

"Well, overcast day," Alfie commented, "Seems perfect for this!"

"Do you still think the zombies are coming?" Patricia questioned him.

"Alfie, I swear, if you say yes…," Amber started.

Alfie chose that silence was his best option at this point, so he didn't say anything.

"We don't know which one is his," Fabian said, "We'll each take a row and work right to left. Let's hurry."

"Hurry, but be respectful of the dead," Nina said.

"Right, don't want zombies to come after us," Alfie said. "Ow!"

"I warned you," Amber said after she hit Alfie in the side, "Just read the gravestones? That's not so bad."

"You're not the only one uncomfortable here," Nina assured Amber.

They were closer to the right edge, so they started there, as Fabian had said. They each started down a stretch of tombs, reading the names on each headstone as they passed by. Soon, when they had each finished their line, they moved onto the next few, but there were only a few, not seven.

"Now what?" Mick asked.

"There's a crypt up ahead," Mara observed.

"Maybe he's in there," Nina said.

As they headed towards it, there was another headstone, set off to the side. It wasn't the start of a new row, they didn't think. It was just set aside.

"This is it…," Fabian said, crouching in front of it, "Victor Rodenmaar Sr.," he read, "This is his grave."

"Why is it set aside?" Mara wondered.

"Who knows," Fabian said.

"Well, we're here," Mick said, "What are we supposed to do now?"

"I…don't know…," Fabian said. He hadn't thought about that.

"Well, we're not digging him up," Nina said, "That is out of the question."

"I think that goes without saying," Mara said.

"Zombies…," Alfie said again, stepping away from Amber. When she slapped, she hit nothing and looked at him, only to see him smile.

"Love you too," he told her.

Fabian kept looking at the gravestone and felt around it, "It's real," he said, "I don't feel anything that might move and give us anything."

He moved around to the back, "Wait…"

They all went to the back and looked at it. It was carved. Something had been written on the back.

"What is that?" Nina wondered.

"It's a map?" Fabian wondered, "I think…"

"A map?" Amber asked, "On the back of a grave?"

"Who would do that?" Mara wondered.

It was weathered, almost unreadable, but they could make it out. It showed the plots, it showed where this grave was, and it lead to the crypt off ahead. Fabian took a picture on his mobile and looked at it, "Ok, let's follow it for now, then we can use the picture."

As they started to walk towards the crypt, Mara made a comment, "Who's setting this up? Robert Frobisher-Smythe?"

"Yeah," Nina said, "Why?"

"Why would he deface the back of a grave?" she asked.

Fabian stopped, "Robert died before Victor Sr.," he said.

"So…someone else did that?" Patricia asked.

"They must have," Fabian said, "But why?"

"They defaced a grave," Nina said, "That's sick."

"What if Robert isn't who we think he is?" Fabian offered.

"What do you mean?" Amber asked.

"He's not a normal archaeologist. He's not a good person. He has someone setting up this game for him, even after he died."

"So you think that we're being stupid doing this?" Mick asked.

"We might be," Fabian said, "I mean, he had someone deface a grave to place a map. All of these riddles as well. They could be failsafes, or he could be playing a game for his own amusement. He's not really a good man, I don't think. Maybe more gray, morally."

"Gray?" Amber asked.

"You know, white is good, black is bad," Fabian said, "He's in the middle."

"Are we sure about this?" Alfie asked.

"I think the evidence is rather clear," Fabian said.

"But we have to finish," Nina said.

"We need to get Joy and Noah back," Mick said, "And we need to find Victor, and protect that book from Mr. Wolf."

Fabian nodded, "I just don't like it."

"We don't have to like it. We just have to do it," Nina said.

The group continued on, descending into the crypt. Using the picture of the map, they went to the coffin that was on the floor on the right. There was no name engraved onto it, just a word in Latin. 'Fuga'.

"It means 'escape'," Mara said.

"I love having you here," Nina told her, looking back at the stone coffin, "Well…now what?"

"I think we open it," Fabian said.

"Let me," Mick said, getting down and putting his hands on the lid. He pushed, budging it only a little. Fabian and Alfie joined in, able to push it farther, revealing a dark staircase that descended into greater darkness.

"So, underground," Alfie said, "Underground, under a crypt, under graves. Yeah, we're getting into horror movie territory here."

As they descended with two flashlights between them, they saw nothing. The trip took nearly a minute of walking. They didn't know how far down they had gone, but it was a decent distance.

They found something blocking the path. It looked like a rock, but they weren't sure. Giving it a push, they found that it was able to move. They could hear shouts on the other side, and stopped.

"That's Joy!" Mick said, pushing again, "Joy! We're coming!"

After some more pushing, the rock slid aside and opened them up to the cave-like room that Joy had been deposited inside. They rushed together, embracing as the others came in, looking around.

Fabian walked over to the tomb, looking at it. There were words on it.

"Victor Rodenmaar Sr.," he read, "This is his real grave?"

"So, our answer is inside?" Nina wondered.

"If we're opening it, I'm not involved," Alfie said, "Zombies aside, I'm scared of opening it."

Fabian nodded solemnly, "Yeah. Smythe made sure that Victor's father was part of this twisted game. I'm scared of opening it too. I'm also scared of what could happen inside of the manor. Smythe constructed its traps, its riddles. It's protecting something.

"Is any of this worth it? We've lost Noah yet, some of us have disappeared. Last time we had to get involved to stop something bad from happening. But this time? We're doing this why? Because we're bored? But we are stopping people like Rufus. But is it worth it?"

"I don't think so," Nina said softly.

"Could Robert have been like Rufus?" Patricia asked.

"What do you mean?" Fabian asked.

"Was he a bad man?" she asked, "You think he's gray, but…could he be bad? Should we be playing his 'game'?"

"No. No we shouldn't," Fabian said.