‘Perhaps yes, but it’s still better than if they were found wrapped up among the Pope’s personal effects within the Vatican’s secret archive itself.’
The doorway had revealed a further few metres of corridor before a ninety-degree turn-off to the right. With Federar again taking the lead, the three of them proceeded ahead and then around the corner, one after another.
‘Now that’s indeed a secret archive,’ Harker announced as, next to him, Stefani let out a light gasp, while Federar forced himself to smile at his two visitors because even the idea of showing them this place was as unsettling as anything he could have imagined.
‘Welcome,’ Federar languidly raised his arm and gestured ahead, ‘to the most clandestine location in the entire Catholic world.’
The room in front of them extended for over fifty metres, cut directly into the bare rock and illuminated by glowing uplighters that at first glance suggested a large wine cellar with support pillars of grey granite positioned in rows to create a grid comprising four passages. Each passage was connected to the other by walkways, allowing easy access to any corner of the archive, no matter where you were positioned. On either side of these walkways large containers were attached to the pillars and whilst some of these were transparent containers, others were covered by wire-mesh screens, and above all of them were buzzing units connected to a central system regulating the air temperature.
‘I never thought there could be so many items considered to be of danger to the Church’s integrity,’ said Harker inquisitively, and he began to head further into the archive. But he was stopped before completing more than a single footstep by Federar’s outstretched arm.
‘Do not for even a moment imagine that this storage facility is packed with such perilous objects,’ Federar replied sternly. ‘The things actually stored here take up less than twenty-five percent of the available space.’
‘But what a twenty-five percent that is, I’ll bet,’ Harker said, speculating on what amazing artefacts could be concealed down here.
Stefani, however, was looking mystified.
‘Then why all the extra space?’ she asked, noticing how much of the area was indeed empty.
‘I think I could make a guess at that,’ Harker answered, remembering gossip he had heard whilst training at the Vatican decades earlier. ‘I remember stories about further storage facilities that no one ever got to see. This place was originally excavated to hold the entire Vatican archives during the Second World War, wasn’t it?’ Harker suggested with an intrigued smile. ‘To stop anything falling into the hands of the Axis powers, should they decide to ransack the Vatican itself.’
‘That is correct, it was a safety measure for that real possibility in the context of that time.’ Federar moved over to the first row and approached an illuminated cabinet secured to a granite pillar by heavy duty iron bolts. ‘Hitler was trying to get his grubby little hands on literally anything with religious connotations. By the time this place was built, he had already acquired the Spear of Destiny and had sent Himmler and the SS off in search of the Holy Grail.’ He let out a small sigh. ‘Thank the Lord he never found it… but let us focus now on what you’re both here to see.’
With Stefani at his side, Harker approached the cabinet, too, and looked down at a single sheet of notebook-sized paper. Just then he couldn’t help but marvel at how such an insignificant piece of scrap could have such an impact on so many, including the Order of Tharmis which had evolved itself around it.
‘What’s kept in there?’ Stefani was pointing to the cabinet adjacent, housing an aged book with cracked leather binding, but Federar immediately moved himself between the display and her line of sight.
‘Nothing that concerns you, young lady.’
Harker tried to catch a glimpse of whatever had aroused Stefani’s curiosity, but in view of the archbishop’s protective stance and the no-nonsense expression, he withdrew and concentrated instead on what they had come here to see. Shame, he thought, because he would wager there were far more intriguing things to get sight of, given the very nature of this archive.
As Harker craned his head closer to the sheet of paper, he noticed that its edges were discoloured and brown, undoubtedly due to its age, but the writing it contained was in modern Latin, and far removed therefore from the Aramaic script he had seen projected by the Blessed Candle. Harker had initially considered revealing to the archbishop the existence of the Order of Tharmis, but he had second thoughts on such disclosure until at least he had taken a better look at the document for himself.
‘Can you get it out?’ he asked hopefully.
Even though Federar had decided to allow them access here into this highly secretive place, his hand hesitated nevertheless above the cabinet.
‘It won’t take long, Angelo,’ Harker urged and with his uncertainty evaporating, the archbishop nodded and raised the lid of the cabinet.
‘If this place is so secretive how on earth did you manage to get it fitted out with all this high-tech security stuff?’ Stefani asked, gesturing back towards the security door with its palm ID scanner. ‘It must have taken a few people to install all this.’
Federar kept the cabinet lid raised and gently pulled out the document. ‘The professionals who excavated this place during the 1940s passed away a while back, and as for the security measures, they were carried out in a single day by just one engineer.’ He clutched the document tightly in his fingers. ‘The man in question agreed to be blindfolded and driven randomly around the city before I myself led him down here to complete the work. Once finished, he was again blindfolded and then driven back to his offices by a roundabout route. He had no idea where he had been, so our secrecy was ensured.’
‘Having signed a non-disclosure agreement as well, no doubt,’ Harker ventured.
Federar smiled and nodded. ‘Just to be sure.’
He continued to grasp the item protectively and it wasn’t until Harker stretched out his hand that Federar reluctantly passed it over, allowing a first real look at this troublesome document.
The lighting, although low, was still bright enough for him to scan the lettering, which Harker began to read slowly out loud, line by line.
‘“What I write is the truth regarding of what is to come, and from the sacred lips of St Peter himself. It was no dream or whimsical fantasy but a revelation bestowed upon me so that I might release it to the world and offer a hope that has been decreed by the will of God himself. For unto me was revealed a moving image of that which will come to pass, and by this divine disclosure we may stave off that which Lucifer wishes to see come to pass. When the world is ripe and bursting at the seams with disbelief and avarice, the demon generals and the vile hoardes will see fit to firstly take possession of those in power and then reclaim their prize of hell on earth and return our world to the darkness from where it was born. I saw devastation predicated on a scale that few could even imagine, and during those vile days only the Blessed Candles might keep the rotting stench of the Devil’s breath from enveloping even the most devout and worthy. These same words I now write will precede three days of Darkness sent to shred all God’s children, no matter what their faith, and at that darkness’s end even those saved by the blessed candles’ holy light will be doomed to serve their beastly masters until the end of time.”’
Harker then turned over the document and what he saw on the reverse caused him to feel a lump in his throat.
‘“You are I and I am you. When he is myth and we are reality. This grand deception will be repaid in blood.”’
‘That’s what my father wrote,’ Stefani said, as these last words left Harker’s mouth, and he now thought back to what the late Dr Marceau had told him and he whispered. ‘“The greatest trick the Devil has managed to contrive is to convince humankind that he doesn’t exist.”’
‘What?’ Federar said loudly.
‘“When he is myth and we are reality,”’ Harker pointed to the sentence. ‘How many now consider the Dev
il merely a myth?’
Harker flipped the document over again and began to read it for a second time, but had only got half-way through it when he heard an odd noise coming from behind him. It sounded like heavy breathing that was becoming rapider with each passing second. He glanced over at Stefani whose stare was fixed upon something behind him, and Harker slowly turned to find the archbishop staring down towards the ground with his shoulders quivering as that heavy breathing turned into a high-pitched cry.
‘Angelo,’ Harker called out lightly, resting his hand in the man’s shoulder, ‘none of this is your fault.’ For he had hazarded a guess at why the archbishop seemed suddenly so overcome with emotion. ‘For what it’s worth you were right because, as far as I can see, this prophecy doesn’t offer us anything new.’
‘Doesn’t it?’ Federar replied, continuing to weep with increasing intensity.
This was an odd reaction from the man but, given the deaths surrounding this scrap of paper and Harker mentioning people’s loss of belief in the Devil’s existence, then perhaps the archbishop saw it as a personal failure in his role of maintaining the Church’s doctrine and belief system. That was, after all, his main role as head of the Congregation. ‘Whatever’s going on here then, I can say with all honesty that you are neither responsible for nor connected with the recent deaths, or those in Rome’s churches yesterday, or Father Davies’s. You have no reason to feel guilty.’
The weeping subsided and, as Harker decided to divulge the existence of Avi Legrundy and how she was the one killing church congregations, Federar began to shake his head whilst still continuing with his navel gazing.
‘It’s not guilt that I’m feeling.’
Harker glanced over at Stefani who responded with a sympathetic shrug. ‘Then what is it?’ he asked, not knowing whether he should hug this man or give him a wake-up slap.
‘It’s the feeling… no the urge,’ Federar continued and taking in a deep breath, ‘that makes me want to kill you.’
The archbishop flipped his head up violently, flicking frothy saliva into the air as he did so, and then clasped both hands around Harker’s throat with such force that his knuckles turned white. His eyes were now bloodshot and his facial muscles spasmed with such ferocity, and so awkwardly, that the prelate was barely recognisable. In fact he looked like another, unrecognisable person. ‘I want to kill you both,’ he snarled.
The whole performance caught Stefani by complete surprise and, as Harker wrestled with the man’s ever-tightening grip, it took her more than a second to react so that by the time she landed a heavy kick to Federar’s side, Harker’s face had already turned a deep red.
Her blow sent the archbishop sprawling to the floor with such force that he slid along the shiny stone surface a few feet, while Harker coughed and gasped to recover his breath.
‘Archbishop!’ Stefani yelled as Federar leapt to his feet and plunged headfirst towards them, snarling again as white froth spewed from his mouth, like an animal afflicted with rabies.
Even though he was still catching his breath, Harker managed to propel himself forward, slamming hard into Federar’s chest and sending him careering back against one of the displays, where his hand smashed through the glass with a tinkle. Harker was on him immediately but even as he reached him, he caught sight of the large shard of glass now gripped in Federar’s fist. He flung out both hands in time to grab the archbishop’s wrist and the two men fell to the floor in a desperate struggle to get control of the razor-sharp weapon.
Federar wasn’t just like a man possessed, he was a man possessed, and even though the twitching muscles made his face almost unrecognisable, it was the man’s supernatural strength that forced Harker onto his back. He now struggled for dear life as the shard bore down towards him, until it was only inches away from his neck.
‘Angelo, stop,’ Harker hissed under the archbishop’s weight, but his appeal for sanity only encouraged Federar to thrust even harder. He screamed wildly as saliva spilled from his mouth, just missing Harker’s face and dripping onto the floor below. With the assailant’s weight becoming too much to resist, Harker instead slammed a knee straight into the archbishop’s groin and sent the man yelping to the floor beside him. In the frenzy he fortunately let go of the glass shard which smashed into pieces on the hard stonework of the floor.
Harker had already risen to his knees and was ready to pounce when a fist came out of nowhere and slammed into Federar’s face. Harker looked up to see Stefani now offering him the same hand, which he grabbed to help haul himself to his feet. Although the blow was not enough to knock Federar out, it had left him temporarily dazed. So, after grabbing the document off the table and with no other plan, Harker took the one option seemingly left open to them.
‘Run.’ he yelled, as he grabbed Stefani by the arm and pulled her along with him. Such protection seemed a bit silly really considering it was she who had just saved him.
Within seconds they reached the elevator where Harker felt his heart sink as he scrambled to find the button. Then he realised the palm ID panel offered them the only route of access. ‘Shit,’ he shouted in frustration as the scuffling of footsteps somewhere back inside the archive began to get louder.
‘I’ve got an idea,’ was all Harker could manage before Federar burst through the entrance, his arms flailing and his mouth wide open like some crazed meth-head. He had launched himself along the short passageway in the blink of an eye and crashed into Harker’s waiting shoulder. With all his weight Harker slammed the archbishop against the wall, then pushed him forward and slipped one arm around his neck before jamming one of Federar’s arms up behind his back.
Stefani instinctively knew what Harker was up to and she secured Federar’s free arm with both hands and as he desperately attempted to twist out of the choke hold, together they edged him step by step towards the elevator.
‘Now!’ Harker yelled, whereupon Stefani thrust Federar’s palm up against the ID scanner and held it in place, and maintaining his grip, Harker used all his weight to keep the archbishop in position.
The green scan light descended the length of the plate and straight away the elevator doors slid open.
‘There’s another one inside,’ Stefani called above the man’s intensifying screaming.
‘I know, so he’s coming with us.’ Harker yelled back and then, with the choke hold still in place, he raised a foot and pushed it firmly into the back of Federar’s knee, sending him forward and into the elevator, with Stefani pulling his hand ever closer to the ID scanner located inside it.
Trying to subdue anyone is hard enough but dealing with a possessed madman within the tight confines of an elevator was near impossible. However, as Harker tightened his choke hold and Stefani dodged Federar’s snapping teeth as he attempted to bite her, they managed to slap his open palm onto the scanner. Within seconds the elevator doors closed again and as the ascent began with Harker applying a brutal chokehold to the Prefect of the Holy See and Stefani struggling to restrain his arms, it became suddenly hard for either of them to imagine how this could end well.
‘Once the doors open, we throw Angelo back into the elevator while we make a dash for the front entrance?’ Harker suggested, as Federar continued to resist them with every ounce of his strength.
‘You know we could go to jail for this, Alex,’ Stefani yelled over the commotion.
‘Really, Stefani!’ Harker yelled back sarcastically. ‘Somehow that never crossed my mind.’
‘I’m just saying, is all.’
She was right of course at this point but what else could they do? Call the Pontifical guard and explain that their boss had apparently become possessed, and had tried to take a bite out of each of them. Oh, and by the way, would you mind calling a taxi for us since we’re in a bit of a rush.
‘OK, we’ll tie him to his chair and then get out of this place… When his own staff find him, they can take it from there.’
Harker’s mild suggestion had Stefani looking hor
rified and, without warning she pulled her fist back as far as the confined space would allow and then landed a punch directly across Federar’s cheek, knocking him out cold.
‘I am not tying up the Prefect of the Holy See to his chair and just leaving him.’
It was now Harker who looked shocked. ‘Oh, right, but breaking his nose and knocking him unconscious is a reasonable alternative!’
‘It’s the lesser of two evils. We’ll leave him back in his office and when his staff find him, they can take charge and get him to a hospital.’ She gazed down at Federar, who was now at least still. ‘This is so bad.’
Harker, who was still catching his breath nodded in agreement. ‘It is. And it could get a whole lot worse, too.’
Chapter 26
‘Tom!’ David Carter called out, as he navigated the cobblestone road on Mont Saint-Michel as quickly as his rather ample frame would allow. Built on a granite rock just off the shore of Brittany in northern France this was one of the most impressive sights overlooked by regular tourists. Looking more like the castle from the Disney logo than an ancient monastic community, it was considered one of the most uniquely beautiful locations in all of Christendom. Tidal fluctuations meant that access from the mainland to this rocky island was only possible at certain times of the day, which – amongst other advantages – had made it the perfect location for the Templars to house their most secret vault, hidden deep inside the rock itself. But it also meant steep streets leading up to the abbey at the rock’s summit, and this was a fact that irked Carter every time he had to clamber up there… which as it had turned out was quite a lot.
‘Ahh, David,’ Dean Thomas Lercher replied, with a relaxed wave and taking another nibble of his salmon sandwich, ‘come to see me off, have you?’
The tiny cafe was a perfect place to relax and watch the passing tourists, although it was clear by Doggie’s expression that he could have done so without being interrupted by Carter, who now arrived with a reddening face, lightly sweating.
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