AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
I cannot believe that I missed the fact Sister Kate Valentine HAS been to San Francisco and HAS met with Reverend Guilliam! I re-watched some episodes and about just freaked out over my mistake. I've gone back and fixed my continuity errors. Sorry…..
Also, a whole paragraph was supposed to be deleted in the last chapter, but didn't for some strange reason. So if their entrance into the law office made no sense… sorry about that. That too has been fixed.
:)
"They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon."
Revelation 9:11a
Chapter 22
Sister Kate Valentine sat in her office attempting to focus on the newspaper in her hand rather than worry over those who had left that morning. The front page had more than enough news to distract her. It was all about the earthquake, which was no surprise. She imagined the line-o-type machines had been working nonstop over the weekend to print the new event. It worried her.
[Extensive damage occurred in the Attica area from a strong shock on Saturday April 7th, 1928. Two hundred and fifty chimneys were thrown down, plaster was cracked or thrown down, and other building walls were noticeably damaged. Many cemetery monuments fell or were twisted. Dishes fell from shelves, pictures and mirrors fell from walls, and clocks stopped. An increased flow at the Attica reservoir was noted after the earthquake; a number of wells near the reservoir went dry. There was some damage at Batavia and other points at similar distances. A wall was cracked at Sayre, Pennsylvania. The earthquake was felt throughout most of New York and the New England states, northeastern Ohio, northern Pennsylvania, and southern Ontario, Canada; a total area of about 250,000 square kilometers.]
Sister Kate put the paper down. She hadn't expected the source of the earthquake to be so far north. She stood, walking over to the far desk to pull out a map.
"Attica," she mumbled as she unfolded the large map, pressing smooth the creased folds. "Attica… where are you?"
Her finger trailed across the cities, moving up along the state. "Close to Niagara Falls," she huffed. "Yet, I imagine we don't have the full picture." Her eyes locked onto their northern nation and in that moment decided to contact one of her French sisters in Montreal, Canada. She needed to know where the earthquake had been the strongest. It was a just a hunch that the seismic incident warranted any concern. She just felt moved to look into it… just in case.
The ride back to the Magdalene Order, out of downtown New York and through the Bronx, was a quiet ride for Sister Mary and Reverend Jack. Sister Rosette and Chrono were sitting behind them in stoic silence. Mary and Jack shared many concerned glances along the way. Neither knew what to say from the earlier dramatic show of such raw emotion. It had been a harsh reality, to all those present, that they really didn't know how Rosette and Chrono were actually feeling throughout this conflict. On various levels, the duo's easily given friendship had given them all a small amount of pride, as if they were all on the same page together. However, now after seeing demonic hatred in one and a soft understanding pain in the other, all others realized they hadn't really known much of Rosette's feelings at all. How could they?
Chrono was finally able to think clearly by the time they turned off the main highway. He hated his reaction for Rosette's sake alone. If it hadn't been for the fact that it had caught him so completely off guard, he would have handled the encounter better.
Glancing sidelong to his dear Rosette, he could easily see she was working to seal her own emotions away. He hated that.
"AHHHahaaH!" Chrono suddenly stretched wide with a loud exasperated sigh. With dramatic flourish, Chrono flopped his arms across the back of the seats and rested his head back to break the tension he had caused.
Rosette turned a quizzical look his way. "Chrono?"
Chrono lulled his head to look at her and smiled. "I might have lost my composure today," he joked. "Sorry, Rosette."
She smiled back.
He needed to give her, her confidence back. "What's there to worry about when we know we'll win?" he asked confidently.
Her smile grew bigger. "Exactly!" Rosette agreed. "What would Sister Kate think if we showed up brooding?" she asked comically. She needed to bury her trembling fears within herself.
"I wouldn't know," Chrono answered back keeping conversation light. It wasn't as if Valentine ever sought his presence all that often.
"Well," Rosette informed, "She would surely take that as a sign I was getting soft and probably try and keep me cooped up even more than she already has!"
Reverend Jack smiled as he listened to the banter behind him. It marveled him to see how they pushed passed the pain of their hearts and forced humor and good will to the surface for his benefit as well as Sister Mary who drove beside him. He imagined if they hadn't had an audience, they would be carrying quite a different conversation. It was a hard emotion to swallow.
A quick glance to his left showed tears running down his driver's face. It was a wonder, too, at Sister Mary's dear heart; still able to cry for her friend when Rosette couldn't cry for herself.
A knock on her door brought Sister Kate out of her studies as she called out a "Come in."
Reverend Guilliam strode in with the rest of the team, with the exception of Sister Rosette and the Devil Chrono, who opted to wait outside on a bench.
"Did you find him?" Sister Kate immediately asked as she clutched her pen. "I'm surprised the gate didn't call me," she said more to herself as she returned to her desk.
"The gate did try calling you. Your line is busy. And yes, we managed to find him," he answered with a firm nod. "He wasn't in his office, but we already have the police informed along with his photo. There were two different photo's there, so I just passed one off to them to copy and brought this one back for our units." Jack passed off the photograph. "His name is Mr. Herbert McCain. He hasn't been seen in office since last week."
Sister Kate took the photo as she sat down at her desk. A quick glance showed her phone receiver left off the hook. "He looks so ordinary," she observed as she hung her phone up. "Mr. McCain. When exactly was he last seen?" she asked while reaching for her calendar.
"Not since Friday around noon, therefore-"
"-Therefore Rosette was the last one to see him," Sister Kate finished for the reverend. With a deep breath she leaned back in her chair. Of course her resident walking catastrophe was the last to see him.
Reverend Jack knew Sister Kate needed to hear what Chrono had to say from the demon himself. "There's more," he prepared her. "It would seem Aion isn't entirely gone."
Outside, Rosette and Chrono sat side by side in a comfortable silence. Rosette hadn't bothered to pester Chrono even once about what he had figured out. She didn't jump to her own conclusions or even willed herself to be angry. She simply sat there at his side, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her face, preparing herself for the emotional rollercoaster ride she knew she was about to embark on.
Chrono was grateful that his usually hot headed blond was giving him time to think. They had bantered a bit, as they had driven back, however that was more for Sister Mary and Reverend Jack's benefit as well as a small apology to Rosette. There was always an unspoken understanding between them to always do their best to keep the darkness at bay in everyone's lives. However, the tremors he had felt from Rosette as they had sat in the car made him sick and violent all at the same time now that he could dwell on it. He should have been quicker to realize her feelings over his own.
Rosette and Chrono were facing the larger building as they waited. It was only a matter of time when Chrono was sure to be called in. White souls walked in and out of their scope of vision going about their duties. Soon one was seen heading straight for them. Any other person would tense upon being called forth, yet for this pair it was all nothing new. With firm resolution they both stood just as Sister Anna reached them.
"Coming to get us?" Sister Rosette asked with a knowing smile and hands on her hips. "Took you guys long enough!"
Sister Anna smiled. "Well, your return brought us many surprises!"
"As if that's anything new," Chrono mumbled.
"Sister Kate wanted to make sure the destruction of the law office was all sorted out with the police chief first and to make sure every possible resource in tracking Mr. Herbert McCain down was being implemented, before calling you both in," she stated confidently.
Clearly Sister Kate was trying to keep up with the disasters as they came before adding to her work list. It also didn't help them to be working with a fairly new police chief since the last one lost his mind to the cult sigma.
"But we are all ready for you now."
Rosette brought a hand up in a clenched fist; a flame of determination in her face. "I'm ready!"
Sister Anna moved to guide Rosette and Chrono in and up into Valentine's office. It was starting to get easier to walk around the grounds blind. 30 steps down the hall, then up 14 stairs, turn right, then in 12 or 14 steps Sister Kate's office door should be on the right. Slowly it was getting easier.
Sister Anna led them in and for the first time it struck Rosette that Remington had not yet returned. Sister's Mary, Claire, Anna, and Sara were there. Elder Hamilton and Reverend Jack were there, as well as Sister Kate. There were three other brothers Rosette couldn't quite remember specifically, but it was obviously clear there were no angles present and that made her a little sad inside; though she wouldn't show it.
Chrono walked into what he figured was the center of the room based on those standing around and waited.
It was clear, even after all this time, it was hard for Sister Kate to allow Chrono into her office. The older woman took a deep breath as her steely eyes looked over her spectacles. If Chrono had destroyed an office in a fit of rage than he wasn't as harmless as others had grown to believe. Above all else, for her flock s' sake, she could never let her guard down when it came to the likes of him.
Yet, that wasn't the worst of it.
"Chrono," she finally addressed. "What have you discovered?"
Rosette crossed her arms and looked to her partner. She was ready to hear it herself.
Chrono gave a slight nod. "Everything I'm about to tell you is a guess at best. I just want to make that clear."
"Understood," Sister Kate acknowledged. "Any theory you may have, probably has more merit than our best guess. I'd like to hear what you have to say."
'Now that couldn't have been easy to say,' thought Rosette.
Chrono held a rather neutral face as he took a deep breath to begin. "When we entered the law firm this morning, there were hordes of lesser demons crawling all over the place. It seemed like a possessed man would find it a nice working environment; a good place to blend in and not be easily spotted by passing angles and the likes of Rosette."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
"Therefore, with such filth swirling around the place, it wasn't until I grew nearer to McCain's office was I finally able to smell it."
It took everything in Chrono to remain seemingly unfazed at recalling such a scent. It made his blood boil, yet no one could tell by his outward appearance.
"It is Aion's for certain. I've spent centuries with him and can easily identify it."
"How can that be?" Sister Kate was quick to ask. "He was destroyed by your own hand, was he not?"
Chrono gave another slight nod.
Back then, Rosette had written Sister Kate a single note informing the order of his demise.
"I did. Aion is dead. He can never return to this world. He doesn't have a physical body anymore. However, he was clever."
Everyone could see Chrono's countenance darken.
"When I defeated him, his body slumped to the ground and began to deteriorate, but there was a brief moment when I felt his power pulse when he was being overly dramatic. I didn't think anything of it, but he could have been sending out a piece of himself. Only a high level, powerful demon can pull a stunt like that."
Sister Kate's eyes narrowed. "And why are we just now hearing about this?" she asked with her own suppressed furry. Aion was just too dangerous to not check into everything. "If you would have told us we could have hunted Mr. McCain down sooner and stop this… whatever this is, before it even had a chance to start!"
Rosette huffed. Reaching out a hand she found the wall to her left and leaned up against it with arms crossed. All eyes shifted to her.
"Something to add, Sister Rosette?" Sister Kate asked pointedly.
"You are all forgetting something important about that last battle in Central Park," Rosette stated flatly. She tilted her face to look back at Chrono. He knew.
"Rosette was being controlled at the time," Chrono painfully reminded. "And I didn't have my own power. I was injured. Weak," he bitterly admitted. "Rosette was finally able to break free from Aion's control, but she had to use up nearly all her remaining life-force to give me that strength needed to meet Aion head on and defeat him."
None of them had been there first hand. They couldn't have known what it had cost them.
"But Aion wouldn't go down easy," Rosette added. Just saying his name again from her lips brought back the memory of the taste of blood from biting her inner cheek; it made her sick.
"No he wouldn't. I was still pretty badly injured," Chrono admitted. "But I wouldn't take anymore life from Rosette. I wouldn't let her heal me."
They both had been so stubborn. It was endearing for them both to know the other cared so much.
"I was dying just as much as Rosette was."
Kate shook her head. "But Aion-"
"Aion was dead!" Chrono interrupted harshly, how dare she question what he knew to be true. Did she think this was easy for him to talk about? "I knew it to be fact! If that power wasn't just my imagination at the time, then it still shouldn't have mattered."
"Explain"
"If, and I say if... it didn't even cross my mind at the time. If he had sent a piece of himself out into the world, it should not have mattered. It would have drifted around until dissipating or latching onto some unfortunate unbelieving soul who would have lived his life being a demonic nuisance to those around him and nothing more. It would have no global impact."
"Okay," Reverend Jack now commented. "I think we are understanding what you are saying, but I imagine there's a 'BUT' coming up here."
Chrono tilted his face down, his deep blackish-purple hair hanging in front of his closed eyes.
"Like I said, Aion was cunning. I never in a thousand years would have thought he had planned a contingency plan in the event that he actually failed." Chrono couldn't help but shake his head at the whole thing. It was all too fantastic to be true. "If he had someone already linked to himself… if he had made promises to this McCain, building him up to fulfill some sort of plan in his absents, make the man believe he was special… chosen for some grand purpose… then if Aion had cast a piece of himself out, it would be drawn to that soul like a magnet, across any distance, to its intended host. When you find McCain… he'll have a branding mark on him somewhere. That I would be certain of."
Chrono let that theory sink in. To think that there was some fool running about the world doing Aion's bidding was more than frightening. Aion had to have dozens of men throughout the centuries on standby if he were to be defeated. Those fools; silver tongued words and empty promises was all that those deceived pawns ever received. Chrono tilted his head slightly to check on Rosette. She seemed unaffected by what he shared, but he knew better.
Sister Kate took the knowledge all in. "What you say does make sense. If you both are certain Aion is dead then finding his scent in your attacker's office certainly proves there's a connection."
If only Remington were there. Unknown to everyone there, the angel had seen something troubling beneath Aion's corps. A snake's burrowing hole. With all the information they now had, Remington would have been able to confirm the theory that Aion had sent out a piece of himself in the form of a snake.
"Are there any leads on finding him?" Rosette asked as a side thought.
"It would seem the last person to see him was you," Sister Kate informed to her annoyance.
"Figures," Rosette huffed. This was all so frustrating.
"There's more," Chrono spoke up.
It seemed as if the whole room tensed once more as all eyes returned to Chrono.
"Those adolescent demons who swarmed towards this place… I'm now certain they shouldn't have been awake and moving throughout the world. They are supposed to remain asleep until the end times of Revelation and I can tell you for certain we are not yet in those last days."
"What swarm?" Reverend Jack asked with a new growing fear in his soul. His team hadn't been there for the first attack.
Sister Anna jumped in. "A small swarm of phaser demons, the size of soccer balls, flew straight for the compound. They looked hideous, but Chrono and Rosette happened to be in their path and were able to destroy them all without casualties."
Chrono quoted the verse. "In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lion's teeth; they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails."
"Revelation 9," Reverend Jack whispered. "That must explain the perimeter wall," he nodded in understanding. "But where did they come from?"
That's the part that worried Chrono most. "There are hive nests deep in the ground all over the world. There's one massive nest on every continent with a few smaller nests scattered everywhere else. They sleep under the protection of a demon king who waits for the trumpets sound to destroy the seal that keeps them in slumber. If they were released now, no one would be safe."
That was something new to ponder. "You said there's a seal over these sleeping hives," Reverend Jack asked for clarification.
"Yes. Extremely powerful ones."
"Than how is McCain going to open them? He's human right?"
Then understanding struck everyone in the room.
Sister Kate brought a hand to her face. "That's Aion's plan then isn't it? The power he gave up is what will be needed."
Chrono solemnly nodded. "McCain's power is limited in some ways, but it will be enough to release a few of the seals in this world. I'd imagine at least 3 main hives. North America, South America, and Europe I'd guess."
"Has he already done it?" Sister Anna asked with concern. "Because we were attacked by some. Wouldn't we have heard something by now?"
Chrono had worked that out already. "Not necessarily, no. That attack was on Tuesday, six days ago. If a main hive had been awakened it would be global news by now. That tiny little swarm was probably from a minor hive located nearby and opened specifically to cause this church branch pain and grief. It wasn't supposed to be intercepted by me or else I'm sure it wouldn't have been opened. It also might have been a test to ensure his directions were correct before moving onto a larger scale."
No one liked the sound of that.
"If one of the larger ones had been opened, I believe it would have cause a massive earthquake at the very least. So we'll have a good warning," Chrono figured calmly.
Horror about filled everyone in the room.
"What?" Rosette asked confused. Everyone was looking mortified.
Sister Kate brought a weary hand to her face. Were they already too late? "While you two were asleep recovering from the dog pack attack, we did have an earthquake."
Now those with sight watched the color drain from Rosette's and Chrono's faces.
"WHEN?" Chrono demanded. These humans had no idea the horrors that might await them.
"On Saturday, a bit after 9 in the morning," Kate informed.
Elder Hamilton did the math. "Being Monday afternoon now… that was 53 hours ago," he figured.
"Are we too late?" Sister Claire asked distressed.
Rosette's fire lit. "We'll stop them! Chrono! Where's North America's main nest located?"
Chrono wanted to pace, but didn't have much room. "It'll take a while for the king to fully awaken… but where? I can't remember! Its north… Into Canada I'm sure, but I can't recall where," he answered frustrated; his mind flying through centuries of knowledge and history.
"Sister Anna, Brother James," Sister Kate barked. "Have all the first class level militia packed up to depart for Canada immediately! You have 30 minutes! Sister Claire, use the lower office and call the train station for tickets for them all!"
Those ordered bolted from the room.
"Sister Sara, inform those not going to prepare cars for everyone to get to the train station immediately!"
The older woman was already half way out the door.
"I can't remember," Chrono mumbled as he ignored the shuffle of the others. "I need to see a map!" he gritted out.
"But you can't see one," Reverend Jack shook his head. "Can you remember if it was near a land mark?" he tried.
Chrono continued to pace back and forth in his darkness; a hand running through his hair. "I remember water," he tried to grasp at the memory.
Rosette now pushed away from the wall and snagged Chrono's elbow. His whole tense body visibly sank under her gaze. She smiled. "I thought you couldn't forget anything," she quipped.
That pulled a smirk from his lips. "It's in there somewhere Rosette. It's old knowledge. Very old. It's not something I've ever dwelled on," he softy spoke down to her.
Sister Mary stood there miffed at no one but Aion. "He's lucky you two can only see cloths!" she huffed.
Sister Kate looked at Mary with a quizzical look, as she was on hold with the telephone operator who was working to patch her in to her Canadian Sisters.
That comment caught the Elders attention. "Chrono… you mean to tell me you both can see the clothes we are wearing?" he asked amazed.
"Ya, so?" Rosette asked.
He now got that devious look on his face. "Then simply wear the map!"
Sister Mary's jaw dropped.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Sister Kate exclaimed. "Yes I'm still holding," she quickly spoke into the receiver.
Rosette's smile grew. "Perfect!" she yelled. "Quick! Give me the map!" she moved forward while tearing her habit off her head.
"ROSETTE!" Chrono yelled in mortification as he quickly shoved Elder Hamilton towards the door along with a stunned Reverend.
You didn't have to tell the men of the church when to leave. The Reverend opened the door to flee the room before the wrath of all could come down on him; his men trailing behind him.
The Elder stammered. "But Chrono-"
"Move it Edward," Chrono threatened as he shut the door on the old man. "Go make some weapons or something!" he hollered at the inventor through the wooden door.
"Oh, you take all the fun out of it!" he complained, as Chrono finally watched his soul move down the hall.
Rosette was flinging cloths off herself in record timing down to her undergarments. If Sister Kate hadn't been leashed to the phone, Rosette would have been stopped.
"Get some paper clips!" Rosette ordered Mary, as she adjusted the map around her.
Mary was as red as a tomato and moved mechanically to the desk to find a few paper clips. With just the four of them in the room now the situation was less embarrassing to Rosette, but she wasn't about to let the world be destroyed on the account a few people might feel mortified for a few hours.
Chrono didn't turn around, but gently rested his forehead to the door. "Rosette, you can't just start undressing in a room full of people," he said exasperated.
"Oh it'll be fine!" she waved off as Mary paper clipped the map to her bra straps. "Now turn around Chrono!"
Chrono withered inside, but turned around slowly with a hand covering his eyes.
"Really?" she shook her head at him. "Hurry up and look at me Chrono. Now's not the time to be embarrassed!"
"What if I can't see the map, Rosette?" he stammered. Didn't she realize what she was doing?
Mary moved behind Rosette to hold the ends together while Sister Kate glared daggers.
"For crying out loud Chrono! Move your hand away! I've still got my underwear on, geez!" If Rosette could roll her eyes she would.
"Rosette, you are going to be the death of me."
She smiled. "Oh, come on. That was so last month!"
Chrono smiled too at that and finally lowered his hand to look at her. There she stood with her fingers laced together on the top of her head wearing a dress of paper that barely reached mid thigh. Yet sure enough, he could see the map.
"Well?" she now stammered. "Can you see it?"
Chrono slowly moved forward to keel before her. "I can see it," he whispered, as he forced oh so many distracting thoughts aside and focused solely on the map before him and began to get lost in its depiction.
"Okay, where are we?" he mumbled to himself. On both knees he placed a hand on her stomach and her side to press the paper flat. "Here's New York." He trailed up north.
Sister Kate looked away. "It hit the Niagara Falls area pretty badly," she informed. "But I believe we've just not heard the worst of it outside of our own nation," she explained while looking out her window, still on hold with the operator.
Chrono barely heard her. His mind was working beyond the clock; beyond time and into eternity. Following mountain ranges, oceans and rivers; Chrono searched the lands and his memories to remember something few beings even knew.
Rosette's stomach depicted the United States, however as Chrono moved to look at the landscapes into Canada, the map rounded around her bust. 'Oh, Canada,' Chrono thought as he forced his thoughts to the map alone and not what lay behind it. "Montreal… Quebec… it wasn't far from the ocean. The land had split… a channel was made. Yes! In through the Gulf of St. Lawrence… down," Chrono's fingers ghosted along the sharp curvature of her chest. "It was under a lake!" he now remembered. The large lake of St. Jean stood out, but that was too obvious. "No it was smaller," he mumbled to himself. "Down the channel, before the waters turn murky… here at La Malbaie… west. HERE!" Chrono's finger jabbed the smaller of two lakes which also happened to be a place that made Sister Mary turn an even darker shade of red. Chrono leaned closer to read the label. "It's currently called 'Saint-Aimé-des-Lacs' in this era," he informed now looking up at Mary who was just about steaming from behind Rosette.
"Where?" Rosette asked obliviously as she tried to look down at the pressed paper.
Sister Kate now turned back around to see for herself.
"Look," Chrono told Mary. "Rosette just hold the rest of the map up. Mary, look here," he instructed.
Mary released the back edges of the map once Rosette hand enough of a grip on it. Mary was certain she was going to faint over all this.
"The geography has changed a bit over the centuries, but I'm sure it's under this small lake off the town of La Malbaie," he read off the paper. "McCain could have gotten there in 12 hours had he already had transportation in place."
"That's right!" Rosette now remembered. "He said he didn't have the time to watch us be torn to shreds! He must have had a car waiting for him."
It was all starting to come together.
"And it hasn't been as cold a winter as others have been. I imagine for April, it's not bad up there," he deduced now standing.
"I don't speak French," Sister Kate spoke urgently into the phone. "Is there no one there who speaks English?" she desperately asked the Canadian telephone operator.
"Would you allow me?" Chrono asked taking a step forward and tried to feel for the edge of the desk.
"Excuse me?" Sister Kate eyed him suspiciously.
"I know every language," Chrono tried again. "I can explain it to their operator for you," he offered.
They didn't have time for delays.
"Fine," she passed the phone off to him, to her chagrin. "I'm trying to reach Sister Florence," she explained as she now moved to Rosette and Mary to see their destination for herself.
Rosette couldn't believe her boss actually relinquished the phone to Chrono.
"Oui, bonjour," Chrono greeted. "J'ai besoin de parler avec une Soeur Florence, veuillez. Oui," he requested. "Elle répond pas? Très bien alors. Pouvez-vous patch moi par l'intermédiaire de l'église à La Malbaie?" It wasn't sounding good. He turned to face Sister Kate. "She's not answering. I'm now trying to see if we can reach anyone in La Malbaie," he explained.
Rosette began to remove the map causing Chrono to spin away fast. She really was going to kill him.
"Je vois. Lignes téléphoniques sont à la baisse dans ce domaine. Pouvez-vous gérer une transmission radio?" He shook his head. "All communications further north are down probably due to the earthquake," he quickly explained as he turned slightly. He noticed that Rosette was now almost fully dressed back into her uniform. The operator spoke, drawing his attention back to the phone.
"Rien. Compris. Veuillez informer l'église i Montréal de s'attendre à ce que la Magdalene Pour arriver par demain matin et leur dire d'avoir votre transport le plus rapide prête à notre arrive," Chrono instructed then set the receiver down.
"What did she say?" Sister Kate demanded as she moved back to her desk. He didn't look pleased.
"I told her to notify the church there in Montreal to expect the Magdalene Order to arrive by tomorrow morning and tell them to have their fastest transportation ready upon our arrival. She wasn't going to be more helpful than that," Chrono reiterated.
Sister Kate hung the phone up properly although she'd surly give the device a good cleaning later. "That's fine," she decided. She had many other calls to make. "Sister Mary, help these two pack for the train and send Reverend Guilliam back in when you see him."
"Got it!" she said as she adjusted Rosette's habit. "Let's go."
Rosette allowed herself to be led out of the room with Chrono at her heels. They were all working against the clock. 'Time is never with me,' Rosette lamented in her heart. Who knows how much time they had before the Demonic hive king would fully awaken. The earthquake alone must have already caused so much chaos and death. The world just didn't need a swarm of demons with nightmarish abilities to be inflicted upon them as well.
That newspaper article is real, however I just changed the date from: August 12th, 1929… {for the use of my story since Rosette died March (25th), 1928 (I just picked a Saturday off of a 1928 calendar)} …and changed the earthquake date to: April 9th, 1928.
I'm from California (currently in Rhode Island), but I never knew there were earthquakes over here. It's amazing what you find when you Google.
Chrono's French is brought to you by internet translation! His French:
* "Yes, hello. I need to speak with a Sister Florence, please. Yes."
* "She's not answering? Okay then. Can you patch me through to the church in La Malbaie?"
* "I see. Telephone lines are down in that area. Can you manage a radio transmission? Nothing. Understood. Please notify the church there in Montreal to expect the Magdalene Order to arrive by tomorrow morning and tell them to have your fastest transportation ready upon our arrival."
...
Rosette and Chrono with have some time together alone in the next chapter. Till then!
TBC…