Chapter 34
As the Hardy's and Royce stopped in front of the black charred remains of what used to be Bishop Industries, the night took on a whole new aura. It was surrounded by yellow police tape and eerily quiet. No birds or usual buzzing of insects or rustling of leaves. No wind at all. It was if the whole place was in mourning.
"Creepy." Joe said, quietly.
"And sad. I used to work here during my summers off school." said Royce as he got out of the taxi.
Fenton asked the driver to stay and he would be well paid before they all traipsed up to the dismal remains. They saw that the porch had been evacuated of the creature's burned corpse.
"I wonder if they found all the others." Frank wondered.
"I'm sure they would have gotten a hold of Royce if they had found his grandfather." Fenton stated.
"You think he's still alive?" Royce half hoped, not knowing why. Maybe just the urgency to know for sure that his grandfather wouldn't be hurting anymore people.
"I don't know, son. He could very well be in here and they just haven't found him yet. But that seems unlikely. They usually are very thorough in their investigations." Fenton answered. "Let's go in but be careful." he warned.
They picked their way through the burnt rubble and ash. The roof was gone. All that had remained of the bricks that made up the outside walls had fallen and were uneven, some still intact in their color, others blackened by flames. Soot covered everything as though it lay dying and needed a burial.
"There's the stairs that lead down to the tunnels." Joe said as he made his way over to them.
The others followed, not wanting to leave Joe to himself for long. Frank berated himself for letting his brother come, but he supposed that was the protectiveness coming through. He just couldn't bear to think of his brother hurt if something were to happen. He'd been through so much already. Scenarios of: What if Arlon was still around or one of his creatures to exact revenge, to: what if a partial wall fell and Joe was trapped under it or worse… Stop it Frank! You're letting your imagination run away with you. Nothing is going to happen. Get a grip before someone thinks your losing it.
"Yep, these are the stairs alright. There are some debris on the steps but I think we can manage." said Joe, enthusiastically.
Once at the bottom, they saw that there had been holes dug out of walls that suggested that the cops and the firemen had done a thorough search of the place. There were places that stunk of a strong odor of chemicals, wood, sheetrock and the remains of blackened personal items. But the most distinct smell of all was copper. The tinny coppery smell of blood that had burnt from living flesh.
"Oh man, what's that smell?" Royce asked, half gagging, covering his nose.
"I'm not sure, but I think that's probably the smell of someone who didn't make it out." Fenton said, gravely.
"Found him." Frank's voiced was muffled as he had his arm up to his nose and mouth to protect it from the smell as best he could. He was standing over in the far corner of the room that had held the cages of those who were captives for months. Fenton shivered as he was grateful for their escape as he looked around before coming over to where his son stood.
There on the floor was the half blackened remains of one of Arlon's creatures. Either the forensic crews hadn't found it, or, they would be back in the morning to retrieve the body. It lay half in and half out of a door in the floor that suggested it went to an underground fallout shelter.
"I thought we were already underground." Joe asked, wrinkling up his nose at the putrid smell. He too raised his arm to cover his mouth and nose.
"I wish I could see what's down there." Fenton said. "But we can't move anything until we know for sure the police have gone over everything."
Frank looked up to see just the three of them.
"Where did Royce go?"
Fenton sighed. He told them to stick together, not to be running off from the group.
"We'd better find him." he turned around to go, his sons following.
"Royce." Joe called, out whispering loudly. "Where are you?"
As they left the room, the door to their right was completely blocked. Frank remembered it led to the operating room. The door was smashed open with rocks, debris and ceiling in the opening. He remembered that at the end of the tunnel was the room that had the bomb. Made sense this part of the building and its tunnels would be demolished.
Turning to their left was the door that led to the tunnels where the classical room was and to the miner's room. Were they destroyed too?
Turning the knob in his hand, Frank opened the door. It was rusty and screeched terribly.
"Aaah!" Joe cried out, putting his hands up to his ears. The sound was loud and piercing.
"He didn't go through here or we would have heard him." Frank told the others.
"The only other way is back up the stairs. Maybe he went up top for some reason." Joe said, as he looked for any indication from his father or brother on what they wanted to do. "Or we can keep going."
"What if his grandfather escaped and has captured him?" Frank questioned.
"It's a possibility." Fenton agreed. "But not by himself. He hasn't got the strength."
"We can always come back down." Joe said. "Let's go find him."
"Are you okay enough to keep going up and down the stairs?" Frank asked. He was worried Joe was going to burn himself out and they would have to quit before they got started.
"I'm fine."
"So you keep saying." Frank grimaced.
"Well, what if one of you go up to look for him and one stays here with me to search on?" Joe suggested, his eyebrows raised in hope.
"What do you think, dad?" Frank asked.
The light in his father's eyes shone as it seemed that things were getting back to normal for him and his sons. The casual way Frank had asked his dad was very encouraging. He smiled inside.
"I'll go up. But be careful."
"We will." Joe said.
As Fenton trudged back up the stairs, Frank and Joe made their way down the tunnel to the first opening that led to the classical room. Surprisingly, there wasn't much debris to hinder their way. Frank opened the door at the end of the tunnel and stepped inside. Joe on his heels.
There as big as life was the creature from the Frankenstein novel. Joe shivered and followed his brother over to the open safe.
Frank put his hand in to retrieve something in the back. He pulled it out and Joe sucked in his breath. It was the medallion.
"How'd that get in there?" Joe asked.
Frank touched his chest to make sure his was still there. It was. He pulled it off to compare the two.
"Look at that. Arlon had one of his own all along." Joe stated.
They saw the Eye of the medallion that was the same as theirs. The same silver and gold colors with the same inscription on it. 19 In lumen of aspicio 91:6,7,8.
"In the eye of the beholder." Frank whispered to himself, as if getting it for the first time.
"What does that mean, Frank?" Joe asked, quizzically, then shook his head, catching himself. "I mean- I know what it means, that it's a matter of personal opinion, but, how does it fit in with this?"
"I think it means that what one sees in this, is not necessarily what another sees." Frank tried to explain. "In other words, this inheritance our forefather had put out there for us to find, could have a whole different meaning to each of us. It could be interpreted in a different way. It may mean treasure to one but it could also mean nothing to the other. In other words what we, the Hardys find could mean treasure to us, it would give us back our heritage and crest. But, on the other hand, it could be utterly worthless to the Bishops."
"So Mr. Bishop was looking for the treasure, but he found out it was different than he expected?"
"Yes. He expected to find money. But that wasn't the case so he decided to use our grandpa to help him with his own treasure so to speak. If grandpa would have given him his formula, then together with his own formula, Bishop would have sold to the highest bidder and made his own fortune."
"Wait!" said Joe, "I thought there was money. Dad said all monies involved."
"Yes, but I'm assuming it was only for us Hardys. And instead of money, the Bishop's only got to keep what was theirs. And now since Bishop found out there was no money…" Frank explained. "He wanted to make his own fortune."
"But with it came hardship and destruction for his whole family." Joe shook his head in awe that anyone could be so caught up in lies and deceit without a care for any of his own family.
"But this is telling us that this destruction is coming, but, we should believe it won't come near us. We won't be entangled in it." Frank began.
"And grandpa knew if we could just believe in God and let Him be in control, then we'd be okay." Joe finished, smiling.
"I believe that is what he means." Frank's eyes shown. "If we keep a level head and let the inheritance run its course, then things will be okay."
"Well Mr. Bishop sure had destruction come down on him." Joe said, looking around in disgust and pity.
They heard their father calling them from a distance. Frank went to the door to guide him back to them.
"I couldn't find him." Fenton said, worriedly.
The boys glanced at each other and together they went out to find their friend, Frank taking the medallion with him.
HBHBHBHBHBHB
Arlon and his two cronies dragged Royce along with them to a waiting van in back of the property. The boy struggled but he couldn't get away from them.
"They'll find me…and you will be in…so much trouble." Royce huffed as he battled for release. The two criminals, along with Arlon, took some rope from the van and tied Royce's hands and feet and tossed him in the back and slid the door closed.
"Where are we going, boss?" Don asked, as he got in the front seat. He looked to Craig who was sitting in the seat behind, also wondering.
"Ireland." the old man said gruffly.
"What?" Craig exclaimed. "I can't go to Ireland?"
"Who said anything about you two going?" Arlon's grin grew wickedly.
Relief flooded their faces but soon grew wearisome.
"What do we do now?" asked Don. "When will we get our money?"
"You'll get what you deserve now."
Arlon stuck his hand inside his coat making them believe he had a packet of money for them.
As Arlon sat in the driver's seat, he withdrew out a pistol. The two cronies gasped, but before either could escape, no one heard the silencer go off- twice.
HBHBHBHBHBHB
As the Hardys went back outside they heard an engine roar to life. Making a dash to the back side of the burnt shell of the building, they could make out a van and two black shapes on the ground.
"Let's get back to the taxi, we need to follow it." Fenton said, after they had made their way to where the van had sped off and found the two bodies. "We can call the police about these two. There's nothing we can do about them now."
"There dead?" asked Joe.
Their father nodded his head and they made their way back to the taxi. Once inside Fenton told the driver to follow the road around back of the property and try to follow the van, already dialing the police.
As they were tailing the van, Frank and Joe showed their father the medallion and their thoughts on the matter.
"I agree, nice theory, boys." Fenton praised. "I also think he's gonna try to escape the country."
"To Ireland?" Frank deduced, not really surprised.
"Yes," Fenton concurred. "But we need to stop him before then." he leaned up toward the front and asked the driver, "Can you go any faster? We need to stop this person."
"I'll do my best," the driver grinned, before gunning the taxi to its maximum speed.