A/N: Huge thanks to Chelle, Caranath, max2013, zenfrodo, Stork Hardy, Jackie, Leya, bhar, Vinsmouse, VerityD, and Guest for taking time to review. It is very much appreciated! Thank you also to those who are reading!
Chapter 40
Emily took a deep breath to steady herself while Nancy and Bess headed down the tunnel corridor to reach the main floor of the cavern. She was more nervous than she'd ever been in her life. What if her plan didn't work? What if it made things worse?
She crept to the edge of the overlook and peered around the rocks. What was going on? Delacroix was standing in front of the altar praying in Latin, but something seemed off. He looked unsteady to her.
Emily watched for a moment as the man moved over to Frank. He chanted something, then sprinkled him with what Emily thought was holy water. He moved over to Joe and repeated the gesture.
The monk then handed Delacroix a chalice, and he held it high in the air as he said a prayer, then brought it down to his lips.
Emily smiled. Bottoms up.
She reached for the atomizer on Bess's bottle of perfume and squeezed it three times. The scented mist drifted down over the cavern, caught by the wind whistling through the cave. Emily sniffed. It did smell pretty. She sprayed the perfume two more times and waited for Delacroix's reaction.
OOOoooOOO
Frank had been quietly watching while Delacroix and his assistant nearly drained the decanter of mandragora. At least he thought that's what was in it. It was the same decanter the thug used to pour Frank and Joe's drink earlier.
And judging by the speed with which Joe succumbed to it, the stuff was pretty fast acting.
Frank almost smiled.
All he had to do now was wait for these two assholes to get stupid drunk and then he was going to jump them both.
And rescue Nancy.
Frank's stomach turned a little as he thought of how frightened his girlfriend must be right now. He was going to kill that jackass if he so much as put one hand on her.
Hang on, baby. I'll find you soon.
OOOoooOOO
Nancy had reached the main floor of the cavern through the tunnel where she'd been tied up earlier with Frank and Joe.
She made her way through the maze of stalagmites on the cave floor, with Bess following closely behind her.
Nancy turned to her friend.
"You stay on this side of the cavern," she whispered. "I'm going to sneak around to the other side, so we can come at them from both directions."
She stole a glance at Delacroix, who seemed to be a bit unsteady on his feet.
"He's going to be so smashed in a few minutes, that he won't know what hit him."
Bess nodded. "I'll wait for your signal."
Nancy smiled at her friend, then crept along using the rock formations for cover. She stopped when she was as close as she thought she could get to Frank and still remain hidden.
Her eyes welled up a bit with unwelcome tears when she saw him lying on that stone slab. She quickly brushed them away.
Don't worry, honey. I'm going to get you out of here as soon as I can.
OOOoooOOO
Emily squeezed the atomizer on Bess's perfume bottle again and watched. Her eyes kept drifting to Joe. He was still unconscious. That terrified her. What if something was wrong? What if he was injured and couldn't wake up?
She was distracted from her worrying, when she noticed Delacroix had paused in his movements in front of the altar, and began sniffing the air around him.
After a moment, the doctor began moving around the altar area, calling out in Latin:
"Regina, mater misericordiae:
Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.
Ad te clamamus, exsules, filii Hevae."
He was reciting the Salve Regina.
Calling for the Virgin.
Emily squirted even more perfume into the breeze, then sat back and positioned Bess's compact to reflect the light from the flashlight onto the Madonna.
She peeked around the stone ledge and saw Father Delacroix drop to his knees in front of the statue.
He was buying it.
OOOoooOOO
Frank realized something wasn't right.
Dr. Delacroix had stopped the process of readying Frank and Joe for their purification ceremony abruptly. The man was now chanting Latin prayers. They were prayers to the Virgin from what he gathered, but Delacroix's tone had changed. He now sounded slightly panicked.
Frank opened one eye.
Delacroix was prostrate on the ground in front of the statue.
He almost sounded like he was sobbing.
His assistant monk approached him.
"Father? Father, what is going on?"
Dr. Delacroix lifted his head, his eyes focused on the Madonna statue.
"She is here. Look."
Frank glanced up at the statue and saw a beam of light focused on the Virgin's face. Where on earth was that coming from? Was this part of Delacroix's ceremony?
The doctor's assistant stepped backwards. From the look on his face, Frank didn't think the monk knew anything about it. The man seemed frightened.
Delacroix reached backwards and grabbed onto his henchman's robe.
"Can you not feel her presence? Can you not smell the flowers? She is here. Our Lady is here in our midst."
The monk's eyes flitted around the cavern and he swallowed hard.
And then Frank heard it.
A whisper of a female voice.
Ave verum corpus, natum de Maria Virgine,
Vere passum, immolatum in cruce pro homine, cuius latus perforatum fluxit aqua et sanguine.
It was Emily.
OOO
Nancy watched the altar from her hiding place. Emily's voice wafted down into the cavern. Somewhere between a chant and a hymn, soft and ethereal.
Esto nobis praegustatum in mortis examine.
O Jesu dulcis, O Jesu pie, O Jesu, fili Mariae. Miserere mei. Amen.
Dr. Delacroix released his assistant's robes and again fell to ground, blubbering unintelligibly.
The monk staggered backwards, bumping into a stalagmite. From her hiding place, Nancy could see that he'd paled noticeably. He wiped his brow with the sleeve of his robe, and swallowed hard.
"Henri!" he shouted, his voice echoing throughout the cavern. "Henri, where are you? Come here, now!"
Nancy smiled to herself. That wasn't going to happen. Henri was a bit…tied up…at the moment.
OOO
Frank closed his eyes again as the monk stumbled past him. The guy appeared to be pretty drunk, but he wasn't going to take any chances.
If Emily was here, that meant that Bess probably was as well. So there were at least two people to help him.
Although at this point, he didn't think Delacroix was going to be too much of a threat. Emily's vision of the Virgin, plus the mandragora wine had him completely out of it.
Frank opened his eyes again.
A movement in the shadows beyond the altar caught his eye.
Bess.
Time to make a break for it.
OOOoooOOO
Emily squirted more Diorissimo into the air then chanted the Ave Verum Corpus again.
She wasn't sure Delacroix could even hear her at this point.
The drugs in the wine were definitely having an effect on him. He was kneeling on the altar, directly under the statue, praying, singing and pleading for favor from the Madonna.
Emily peeked over the ledge at Delacroix's assistant. He was quaking in his boots. She gasped as a gun slid from the man's robes onto the dirt floor of the cavern. He didn't seem to notice. He started running from the shrine.
Directly toward Nancy's hiding place.
OOO
Nancy braced herself.
The monk was looking backwards at the Madonna statue as he ran. Nancy knew he hadn't seen her.
She positioned herself to strike, but the monk ran straight into a stalagmite. He hit the ground…hard.
Nancy whispered a prayer of thanks. She hurriedly pulled the man's hands behind his back and bound him with the duct tape she'd taken from the room upstairs.
That was too easy.
OOOoooOOO
Frank began to slide himself off the stone slab. Thank heaven Delacroix had tied his hands in front of him, and not behind.
Bess stepped out of the shadows of the altar and waited behind a stalagmite.
Frank caught her eye and held his hands up to his mouth to indicate silence.
Bess gestured toward the gun near the altar table that the monk had let slip out of his robes in his frightened dash from the cavern.
Frank nodded and Bess started creeping toward it.
Frank scanned the cavern. On a ledge overlooking the makeshift cathedral, he saw a familiar face.
Simone.
Her face was covered with blood and she was screaming like a lunatic.
A/N: I'm planning to post the next chapter on Saturday (as scheduled), but I am going to an out of town sporting event with my son. I believe the hotel has Wi-Fi, so it shouldn't be a problem, but nothing is ever perfect, so if I run into a snag, I'll post it on Monday...at the latest. Only one chapter and the epilogue after this one! Thanks for your patience. I really appreciate everyone's support throughout this story. You all are amazing!