part0019

The door leading from the Abbey library to the tombs beneath closed with a thick thud. Roni slumped on the bottom stair and rested her head against the cool stone wall. Sully stood a few feet away taking in his surroundings.

As he kicked at the dusty floor, he rubbed his backside. “I do not care for these nuns at all.”

“Jokes?” Roni uttered the word with more bite than she had intended. But if she held back, she thought tears would flow — for now, she’d rather be angry. “I’ve screwed everything up, remember? A little bit ago, you were fuming mad at me. Now, you’re making jokes?”

“A little bit ago, the worst things I had to deal with were your screw ups and your attitude.” Sully paused his inspection to lay a comforting hand on her head. “If you recall, a few minutes ago, I was stumbling through my first big moment as leader like a bar mitzvah boy delivering his sermon in front of his family.”

“Ah, now is quite different. I have been trapped before. I’ve been held hostage, too. I’ve faced monsters — though never monstrous nuns but what’s the big difference, really? The details might be new, but being stuck in a troubling and dangerous situation — that’s fairly standard for the Parallel Society. Goes with the job.”

Roni chuckled. Then sniffled. Then wiped aside a tear. She thrust to her feet and stomped back up the stairs. Banging on the door, she said, “Open up! Let us out!”

“Stop with all that racket,” Sully said from below. “You really think they’ll let us go after all they did to put us here?”

“I’m not going to sit around waiting for Sister Mary to decide it’s a good idea to throw us into the rift.”

“No, that wouldn’t be good, either. Lucky for you, you’ve got me. Now, come sit down here again and let me think. We need to prepare.”

With reluctant steps, Roni returned. “You have a plan?”

“I will soon, if you stop distracting me.”

As she sat, Roni watched Sully think. He lasted less than ten seconds.

“You can’t stare at me. How am I supposed to come up with a plan if you’re staring at me?”

“Sorry,” she said. “It’s not all on you, though. I can come up with a plan, too.”

“I don’t think that’s what we need from you.”

Rather than argue, Roni lowered her head. She could feel Sully staring at her, now, and she did not like it. The longer he said nothing, the heavier his stare pressed against her. At first, she thought he merely wanted her to understand the difficulty of solving their dilemma while another teammate waits expectantly. But after a moment, she peeked up.

His brow rose even as his mouth turned down. He had let the planning slip aside. Something else rested in that look.

No, Roni thought, I can’t lie to myself. I know exactly what he’s waiting for.

Still, she refused to lift her head, refused to let the thought congeal into words. The cool darkness of the tomb wrapped around her like gentle snowfall. Cold comfort, but better than facing the myriad of problems surrounding them.

“Roni.” His gentle nudge slammed into her.

“Okay, okay. What do you really need to know? You heard Sister Claudia. You’re a smart man. Can’t you figure it all out? Do I have to say it?”

As he often did, Sully read the moment right. He started rummaging along the walls yet continued to talk with her. “If we’re going to make it through this day, then yes — you need to tell me all the specifics. It’s usually the details that make the difference.” He glanced up the stairs. “From the quiet, I’m guessing we’ll be stuck here for a bit. You might as well get the whole thing off your chest.”

Roni laughed. A deep, hearty laugh. This hunched, little man could remain so calm at the precise time she needed it. Maybe he had more special powers than she realized. She gulped and her chest tightened. She felt like a teenager about to admit that she had taken drugs or had gotten knocked up or some other possibly life-altering event.

“Maria never fell into that book. I held onto her as long as I could and when I thought I let go of her, the rift happened, and well, I don’t know exactly how it went down, but she’s inside me.”

Sully’s boredom tripped up Roni’s thoughts. Still, she went on, “Yes, well, I can hear her in my head. Not much. Not like sentences. But sounds and feelings. I can feel her on my skin. She reacts to the things she knows about.”

He stuck his head and arms into the nearest alcove. He pulled out the bones of a long-deceased nun and placed them in a pile against the wall as he continued his macabre work.

“Why are you not taking this seriously?” Roni said, making no effort to hide her anger.

Using the flashlight on his phone, Sully squatted down to access the lower alcove. As he continued removing bones, he said, “I am taking this seriously. And I appreciate you not telling Gram about this.”

“I wouldn’t dare. I can see how hard it has been for her with everything that’s happened. There is no reason to hurt her more. But I thought you should know. As leader. I thought you would find it important.”

Poking his head out of the alcove, he dropped a thick femur onto the ground. “I understand that you think you have part of Maria in you. I also understand that you think it’s important. And it might be. There’s nothing I can do about it at the moment because, in case you missed it, we are trapped down here.”

“There’s no need to be nasty. I’m telling you this because when Sister Claudia grabbed me, she reacted to what she saw — namely, Maria. That’s why she didn’t throw us into the rift right away. She thinks — I don’t know what she thinks, but it can’t be good.”

Scanning the area with his phone, Sully went on, “You’ve been with the Society long enough now to understand that there are all kinds of creatures out there. I fully believe that you have felt the things you say, and that you’ve experienced them in the way you say they happened. That does not mean that is what happened. Only a short while ago, you showed me a video of purple floating creatures —”

“That’s right. And they went inside the nuns.”

Sully paused and looked straight at Roni. “That is what you saw, but it may not be what happened.”

“Instead of being ingested, or somehow melding into the nuns for that matter, these creatures may only look that way. In fact, they may exist on multiple planes. We’ve encountered similar things before. They look like they’re gone, but in reality, they hover around you, wear themselves upon you like bizarre clothing. They might be mimicking your feelings towards Maria instead of being Maria. You understand?” He brushed his hands on his pants. “All I’m asking that you do is consider the possibility that what you think to be the case might be wrong. Do that. And please, don’t mention this again — especially if Gram can hear. Okay?”

Roni nodded. She did not agree with Sully — in fact, she knew she was right. She could feel it deep in her bones — but she would honor Sully’s request nonetheless. At least, for now.

In a simple, yet blatant attempt to change the subject, she said, “What are you looking for?”

Sully snapped his fingers, turned around, and pulled out a skull. “Not looking anymore. I think I have all the bones I need.”

“For what?” But as the words came out of her mouth, she knew the answer. “You’re going to make a golem out of bones?”

“I wish I didn’t have to. This is a very dangerous, very bad idea. But Sister Claudia is planning on coming back. And she won’t be any friendlier than she was before.”

Roni moved towards the pile of bones. Cobwebs clinging to them turned her stomach. “Why exactly is this a bad idea? Besides being disgusting.”

As Sully set out the bones on the ground in the shape of a person, he said, “Normally when I make a golem, I am taking inanimate objects — like clay or paper or wood — and I bring them to life. These bones once belonged to a living human being. They had been alive already. Bringing once-living things back in this way is not right. Once-living things cling to their will. Which makes them difficult to control. However, these bones are more than simply old. They’re ancient. My hope is that they have been dead long enough to no longer care about what they once were.”

“And if they do?”

“Then I may be creating more problems than I’m solving. But we can’t sit here and wait to be tossed in the rift, can we? If you have a better idea for dealing with these creatures that have taken control of the nuns, let me hear it.”