A/N: A million thanks to Caranath, Chelle, max2013, Lady Emily, zenfrodo, Stork Hardy, Kenna, Guest, catlover1033, ILoveMom, Vinsmouse and Jackie for reviewing! We're getting very close to the end! Thanks to all who are reading.
Chapter 38
Emily bit her bottom lip as she stood with Bess in the woods staring at the rock formations in front of them. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do next. Detective work with Joe was fun. Detective work without him was…intimidating.
"Now what?" Bess asked. "I don't see anything in these rocks that looks like a keyhole."
"Neither do I," Emily said.
She looked at the map again. Joe had marked the coordinates on it, and she and Bess had somehow managed to find them in the woods, and then move about a mile to the west. The footprints they thought might have belonged to Joe, Frank, and Nancy had ended abruptly. That worried Emily more than she cared to admit. The newly falling snow could have covered them, but she didn't think the explanation was that simple.
Emily shivered. It was too quiet out here. And there was no sign of Joe, Frank, or Nancy anywhere. The wind howled as it passed through the tree branches overhead and she pulled her parka more tightly around her.
She was feeling very uneasy about the whole situation. Uneasy enough that she went back to the cabin and phoned Father François at the local church to explain the situation. He promised to relay her information to the police and send someone out to investigate as soon as possible.
But that help was at least thirty minutes away.
And Emily wasn't willing to wait for their arrival to try and find Joe.
No matter how scared she was.
She didn't think they had time.
OOOoooOOO
Nancy watched Simone warily as she continued to arrange items on the wash basin. She was still holding the wine in her mouth. She didn't want to let it trickle out for fear that Simone would give her another glass of it…but she couldn't hold it in forever either.
Simone turned and surveyed Nancy.
"How are you feeling?"
Nancy didn't reply.
"That was a very special wine. It's an ancient recipe made with the mandrake root. It will make you feel wonderful and more able to accept the spiritual truths to which you will be exposed."
Mandrake. From the nightshade family. A hallucinogenic.
Yeah, Nancy was sure this was the source of Delacroix's visions, not some manifestation from heaven. Fabulous. She sighed inwardly. Time to act stoned out of her mind.
Simone continued to observe her, so Nancy started to sway a bit. She closed her eyes and opened them again. She gave what she hoped was a soporific smile, and she began moving her body as if she were hearing music in her head.
Simone stood in front of her.
"That's it. You're starting to feel relaxed now. We'll be able to begin the ritual in a few moments."
Nancy closed her eyes and lolled her head forward. Getting into position. Knowing she had only one shot at this, she wasn't going to screw it up.
Simone bent her head close to Nancy's.
"Miss Drew?"
Nancy's head shot up, and she sprayed the wine she'd been holding in her mouth all over Simone's face.
The woman gasped and shut her eyes.
Nancy fisted her two tied hands together and forced them upwards as hard as she could.
She caught Simone in the nose.
Blood poured down the woman's face.
Simone staggered backwards and her foot caught on a rag rug lying on the floor. She fell, hitting the back of her head solidly on the corner of the wash basin, collapsing on the floor in an unconscious heap.
Nancy's heart was racing.
She glanced at the thick wooden door. Hopefully nobody had heard anything. She didn't have much time to get out of her restraints before Delacroix's thug returned.
What on earth could she use to cut them?
The glass.
She got to her feet and hopped over to the wash basin. Grabbing the glass, she broke it against the side of the cabinet. A large triangular piece was left in her hands.
Nancy whispered a silent prayer of thanks as she held it steady and began moving the plastic zip tie on her wrist along its razor sharp edge.
OOOoooOOO
Emily was still studying the rocky formations in front of her, trying to spot what might be an entrance to a cave, when Bess grabbed her arm.
"A key that isn't a key!"
"What?" Emily asked.
"Right there." Bess pointed across the woods at a group of boulders. "What does that look like?"
Emily squinted. There was an opening between the rocks that looked exactly like a keyhole. That had to be it. She hugged her friend.
"You found it, Bess!"
"Which means we have to go in there, doesn't it?"
"Of course. We don't have time to wait for the police. They're going to take at least thirty minutes to get here."
Bess sighed and adjusted her backpack. "Then lead the way."
OOOoooOOO
Joe was feeling very groggy.
He opened his eyes slightly. Lights flickered around him.
Candles.
Chanting.
Someone was chanting. It sounded like the monastery when the monks walked through the halls together.
Was he in the monastery?
The cathedral?
No, it smelled too musty. It smelled like dirt.
He couldn't tell where he was. He felt a hard slab of stone underneath him. He was lying on something. An altar? How weird.
If only he wasn't so damn sleepy…
OOOoooOOO
Emily paused and fished a flashlight out of her backpack as soon as she and Bess stepped through the keyhole opening of the cave into a long, narrow tunnel.
She shone her light around. Stalactites reached down from the ceiling like hundreds of calcified icicles. There were large stalagmites on the ground as well, that were partially blocking the path. The combination of the two together in the dark, confined, space made Emily feel as though she were walking into the mouth of a beast. She shivered.
"Be very quiet and let's make sure we stay together," she whispered.
"You won't have to tell me twice," Bess said, grabbing onto the back of Emily's jacket.
They walked cautiously for about fifteen minutes, the path winding and narrow. Emily was trying very hard to stay calm. This sort of adventure without Joe made her very nervous. And she couldn't shake the feeling that danger lay ahead.
Bess poked her in the back. "What's that smell?"
Emily paused. She'd noticed it, too. It was sweet and almost cloying. She took a deep breath, then grabbed Bess's arm.
"It smells like incense."
"Oh, great," Bess hissed, sniffing the air. "Are we walking into a den of hippies or something? Do you smell pot, too?"
Emily shook her head and continued down the tunnel for a few more minutes. She noticed that her surroundings seemed to be getting brighter. She clicked off her flashlight and found that there was enough light to see by.
"What's going on?" Bess whispered. "Now it smells like burning candles."
"I don't know. But there's light ahead." Emily held her finger across her lips to indicate silence as the girls crept forward, using the walls of the cave to steady themselves.
"Is it my imagination, or is it getting a little windy in here?" Bess said softly.
"I feel it, too. I think it's called 'breathing' in a cave."
Emily pointed to the walls ahead. There was writing on them. She paused to examine it. It was Latin, but the writing was in black acrylic paint.
"Cave dwellers?" Bess whispered.
"Modern cave dwellers," Emily said, her voice low. "This was done recently."
"What does it say?"
Emily swallowed hard. The words were a Latin prayer to the Virgin, but in this environment, they felt almost sinister to her. She felt coldness descend on her as she read from the wall in a shaky whisper.
"Salve, mater misericórdiae,
Mater Dei et mater véniae,
Mater spei et mater grátiae,
Mater plena sanctae laetitiae,
O Maria!"
"What does that mean?" Bess hissed, a slight edge to her voice.
Emily tried to keep her voice steady. Panicking would not help either of them.
"It's Latin. It's a prayer to the Virgin. The Salve, Mater Misericórdiae. Translated it means 'Hail, Mother of Mercy', but I'd say that for us…it means we're in the right place."
OOOoooOOO
Frank felt as though he were awakening from a deep sleep. He'd tried to keep from swallowing Delacroix's nightshade cocktail, but some had slipped down his throat despite his efforts.
Where was he?
He cracked open one eye slightly. He was still in the cave, but he'd been moved to a large cavern. Lying on a cold slab of stone.
What the hell was this all about?
Not wanting to alert anyone to his conscious state, he remained as still as he could.
A male voice was chanting in Latin. Delacroix? He waited for a moment until someone entered his line of vision. It was one of Delacroix's lackeys dressed in monk robes. Well, that explained things.
The doctor must have had these guys planted in the monastery to do his dirty work. That way he had an alibi for everything bad that happened there.
Frank watched as the man knelt in front of what must have been the main altar of this shrine. He listened carefully. The prayer was the Ave Maria. Frank tilted his head slightly and looked up.
There on a ledge overlooking the entire shrine was the Madonna of St. Sylvie.
OOOoooOOO
Nancy struggled to get the piece of glass to cut through her plastic ties.
Just another millimeter and her hands would be free.
She tried to hurry, but only succeeded in stabbing herself.
Deep breath, she told herself. She needed to stay calm.
Nancy glanced down at Simone, who was still unconscious. She didn't think the woman was dead, but hopefully she'd be out for a while.
At last the glass broke through the tie and her wrists were free.
Nancy flexed her hands and shook them to get the blood flowing again.
She ignored the feeling of pins and needles in her fingers, and the sting from what she thought must be hundreds of cuts where she'd missed with the glass and caught her flesh instead.
Reaching down for her feet, she started working on the ties around her ankles. They had to come off.
Unfortunately, using a piece of glass as a cutting instrument was not nearly as efficient as a knife.
She was halfway through the plastic when she heard it.
Heavy footsteps echoing in the tunnel.
Someone was coming.
OOOoooOOO
As Emily looked into the distance, the light in the cave seemed to grow brighter. She gestured to Bess who nodded in response. The girls moved cautiously toward the light, stopping when the cave seemed to open up a few feet in front of them.
Emily paused to get her bearings and realized they were on a stone ledge, overlooking a huge cavern.
She dropped to her hands and knees and crawled to the edge of the ledge she was on. Peering around a large rock and down into the cavern, she couldn't believe her eyes.
Dr. Delacroix was there, dressed in full priestly vestments, chanting as he lit an incense burner. He picked it up by the chain and began wafting it around the cave.
Bess sneaked up next to her. "What the hell is he doing?"
"I think he's saying Mass."
"Oh, so that 'excommunicated' thing means nothing to him."
As Dr. Delacroix moved from his position and approached the altar, Emily's heart jumped to her throat.
Lying on two stone slabs, apparently unconscious, were Frank and Joe.
OOOoooOOO
Frank tried not to cough as Delacroix waved incense all around him. He hated that smell.
One of the pseudo-monks approached Dr. Delacroix.
"We will be ready to begin shortly. Sister Simone is preparing Miss Drew for the ceremony."
"Has she been washed and dressed?" Dr. Delacroix asked.
"Brother Pierre had to go and get the rose perfume. Then she will begin the ritual."
Dr. Delacroix nodded and gestured to Frank. "I expect he will be out for a little longer. When he comes to, we'll be able to get him ready for his part as well."
Frank closed his eyes as the monk turned in his direction.
"Will he be able to…perform…in this state?" the monk asked.
"Oh, yes. Mandrake root is also used as an aphrodisiac in some cultures. Performing should be no problem for him. Especially when his girlfriend walks in here wearing only the sheerest of white robes…and nothing underneath."
What the hell?
Frank struggled to keep his breathing slow and even. He couldn't look like he was awake.
"You will marry them first?"
"Of course. If the Hardy brothers are to become knights of my realm, they cannot have any stains of sin from their previous lives marring their souls. They will be married under the eyes of the Virgin and then have purifying relations here on the altar to complete the cleansing process and atone for their sins."
It took all the self-control that Frank possessed not to fly off the stone slab he was lying on and beat the hell out of Delacroix.
Did this madman really think that he was going to have sex with Nancy on a stone altar in full view of everyone? As part of some sort of whacked out repentance ritual? This guy wasn't just a religious nut, he was a pervert, too.
Frank took another slow deep breath to stay calm.
Because he had to figure a way out of here.
Fast.