A/N: Sorry it's a day late again. This chapters a bit longer than usual to make up for it. o)

Thanks to kimi-lee22, iluvjoe, shojobaby, Ozma, and BlueEyes444 for reviewing chapter nine! Enjoy this next installment and don't forget to review! :D

Paradise Broken

Chapter Ten

The Monastery

June 3, 2010

Frank slammed on the brakes when he reached the base of the mountain overlooking Paradise. The only thing on his mind was Samuel's words. He had to get into the monastery and stop Billy. But Joe...

Okay, new plan. He had to get into the monastery, get Joe the help he needed, and then stop Billy. Something pulled at his heart. He knew that he should do exactly what Samuel had ordered, for some reason, but he refused to do so while his brother was in his condition.

As soon as the car stopped, Frank jumped out of the front seat and ran around the car to the back. He flung open the door and hauled the tied up Joe—at least he wasn't hog-tied anymore—noose and all and slung him over his shoulder, his mind burning with Samuel's orders and his heart filling with guilt that he wasn't going to heed them. But he just had to get help for his brother first.

There was a small door at the base of the mountain, almost impossible to see for someone who wasn't really looking for it. Mouthing a silent prayer, Frank pulled on the handle and breathed a sigh of relief that the metal door wasn't locked.

With Joe still flung over his shoulder, Frank skidded through the door and found himself in a dimly lit tunnel. Some sort of slimy gel coated the walls. That stuff Black had been licking off his fingers. Worm sludge, he had called it. Gross. The junk smelled like a mixture of dirty gym socks and mold.

He ran as fast as he could until he reached a fork in the tunnel. One path led deeper under the monastery and the other ascended up a set of very slimy stairs. A speck of light could be seen from somewhere up above. Frank knew that he should be headed down, not up, but his brother...

Joe stirred. Frank quickly lowered his brother onto the ground as Joe opened his blue eyes.

The first thing Joe was aware of was a violent rocking sensation, back and forth, back and forth. Then he recognized the sound of heavy breathing. He put two and two together and realized that someone was carrying him, and that someone was running and out of breath.

Black!

The horrifying memories came flooding back and Joe shuddered. He remembered the relentless pulling on his muscles, the rough rope around his neck, being raised slowly from the ground. Frank had come and Black was about to slice open Joe's stomach and that was all Joe remembered.

Where was he now? Who had him? Who was running with him?

He made a slight movement and found that he was still bound. The running stopped and Joe felt gentle hands lower him onto a slimy stone floor. He painstakingly cracked open his eyes and felt a wave of relief wash over him as he saw Frank hovering anxiously over him. Then Joe realized that he was almost in complete darkness and the noose was still around his neck.

He let out a panicked yell and began to thrash around, the heavy noose around his neck picking at horrific memories and dragging him back to the churchyard where he had hung from a tree...swinging back and forth, back and forth, by his neck.

He felt warm, comforting hands grasp his grimy, sweaty face and heard Frank's soft, soothing voice.

"It's okay, little brother, I've got you." Joe forced himself to relax but he was aching all over and he couldn't suppress the the small tremors that radiated through his limbs and neck. He felt Frank cut the ropes that bound his wrists behind his back and release his ankles. Frank helped him into a sitting position.

"Get it off!" Joe screamed, terrified beyond reason at the feeling of the scratchy rope encircling his throat. He would not be able to calm down until the noose was actually gone.

Frank seemed to realize this and he quickly helped pull the noose from his brother's neck. In the dim light he could see that the rope was stained with blood. He put his hand at the back of Joe's neck and felt something sticky. Apparently the noose had cut into his brother's skin.

"Frank, is it really you?" Joe managed to squeak out.

Laying a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder, Frank confirmed his presence. "I'm here, little brother. I'll always be here."

Frank quickly filled Joe in on what had happened. When he got to the part about Samuel's sacrifice, Joe gasped and tried to struggle to his feet but wasn't quite strong enough yet. "We have to do what he said—stop Billy!"

Frank sighed. "Joe, we don't know who Billy is or what we have to stop him from doing. You barely just survived a lynching and you can't stand...the best thing we can do is go up and find Dad in the monastery. He and whoever else is up there can send Samuel the help he needs and you'll be out of danger."

Even in the dark tunnel, Frank could see Joe's determined glare. "Frank, Samuel saved our lives. The least we can do is follow his instructions." Joe attempted to stand again and this time tottered for a whole two seconds before he was back on his aching butt again.

"Joe..."

"Frank, I know you're worried about me, but this is no time for worry. It's time for action, to do what that courageous kid told you to do."

Frank sighed. "Since when do you have such noble scruples?" He pulled Joe up and let his brother lean heavily on him as they descended deeper into the tunnels.

"Since a fourteen-year-old kid showed me the meaning of true love and sacrifice," Joe said fiercely.

About fifteen minutes after starting their descent, the brothers began to see long, fat, pink, slimy...things...stuck to the gooey wall. Upon further inspection, the brothers realized that they were actually—

"Worms!" Frank exclaimed, jumping back and nearly toppling over, having forgotten that he was supporting Joe.

Joe shook his head, looking sick. "Those babies have to be at least two feet long and a foot thick," he mused. "So Black wasn't kidding about worm sludge."

"I dunno," Frank said softly, eying the gunk coming out of the worms in a fashion that made Joe very nervous. "This stuff doesn't smell too bad once you get used to it." He reached out a trembling finger and ran it through the slime on the wall. The worms didn't react to his movement. He brought it up under his nose and sniffed. "It really doesn't smell that bad, Joe..."

Joe managed to give his brother a good kick in the leg, even in his weakened condition. "Hey!" Frank yelped, snapping out of his trance-like state. "What was that for?"

Joe rolled his blue eyes. "Something tells me this stuff isn't chocolate pudding," he said lamely.

The brothers continued on.

Not long after, Frank and Joe came to the end of the tunnel: a large wooden door with an exquisite brass handle and knocker. Frank tried the door. Unlocked.

They were in a study of some kind. There was a single desk—a red desk—some books scattered here and there, and not much else. Except...

On the wall, in scrawling, red letters, were the words:

Born of Black and White

Eaten with worms

I'm a Saint, a Sinner, a Guardian of the Word

The Circle knows me

the rest just wanna trip on Grace Juice, Baby

Showdown at Midnight.

After reading the cryptic but completely strange message, the brothers looked at each other.

"What does it mean?" Joe wondered.

"Born of Black and White...Black could be Marsuvees Black, right?" Frank responded.

"Eaten with worms...I guess that's referring to the monsters living in the tunnels," Joe continued.

"But the next part makes no sense," Frank went on. "Except for..."

"...Black kept on talking about Grace Juice," Joe finished.

"Worm sludge," Frank clarified.

"Strange," Joe said.

The brothers made their way across the room, Joe able to hobble pretty well without too much help from Frank now. There was another identical wooden door at this end of the study. The boys opened the door and found themselves in a massive library.

Thirty-seven children, all between the ages of twelve and fourteen, sat at large oak tables, scribbling away in blank books. Joe caught the title of one: "The Stories of History".

Everything clicked. Joe didn't know why or how, but he knew that somehow, someway, these kids were orchestrating everything that was happening in Paradise. This was what Samuel had been meaning when he had told Frank to stop Billy.

"Which one of you is Billy?" Joe asked, his voice a bit shaky.

All of the children looked up from their writing. Except one with blonde hair. He kept scrawling in the book as if there were no tomorrow. The curly-haired girl next to him pointed a shaking finger at the writing boy.

"Billy!" Joe said, but the boy refused to stop writing. Wrenching his arm out of his brother's steadying grasp, Joe hobbled a few steps forward. "Billy, they are killing a boy named Samuel in Paradise! You have to stop writing!"

Frank took a step forward, realizing what his brother had already concluded. "Billy, the stories you are writing are really happening! Marsuvees Black is real, Paradise is real, my brother's lynching was real, and Samuel's dying is real!"

Joe stepped in, tears spilling down his ashen cheeks. "You've got to stop this now, Billy—you're killing Samuel!"

Billy just kept on writing.

A/N: Please review! Chapter 11 will be here soon! xD

~Emachinescat ^..^