by Karl Morgan
“What kind of threat? I can’t believe the school could be in that much danger.”
Donnelly stopped and turned around. “Carl, only weeks ago, multiple nuclear warheads detonated nearby. If not for the shield you projected, even these bunkers would not have been enough.” He turned and continued forward.
They passed a second door on the right and kept going. Finally, they reached the point where the hallway turned to the right. Donnelly turned the corner and stopped. A single door stood on their right. It was a plain, wooden door, quite unlike the metal doors they had passed. “It’s funny how it always turns out to be a broom closet, eh?”
“What’s inside there, Professor?”
“We’ll go in a minute, Carl. There are closets like this on every floor and corner. Because this level has never been used, the custodial staff has taken to storing things in the broom closets on this level. In advance of some repairs to the marble facades in the main building, this closet and others were loaded with marble tiles. Since this is the ground floor, they were certain that the weight would not be an issue, and for years it was not. Just yesterday, one of the craftsmen came to retrieve some of the specific tiles stored in this closet and discovered that the floor had collapsed.” Donnelly turned the handle and pushed the door open. “Go ahead and look inside.”
Carl stepped up to the doorjamb. The sink was still connected to the far wall, but almost the entire floor had fallen away. He glanced down. The shaft seemed a hundred feet or more long, and broken pieces of tile could be seen in a large pile at the bottom of the shaft. There had been iron rungs built into the shaft, but many had been damaged or knocked loose by the falling weight. Carl stepped back. “That’s amazing.”
“There is no record of this subbasement in school records. It’s possible it predates the institution and was part of an earlier structure.”
“Has anyone been down there yet?”
Donnelly shook his head. “The headmaster has forbidden anyone to enter without you. After the incident with the Beast, he thought the coincidence of locating this was too convenient. Also, the dean has excellent Empathy skill. She sensed much pain and anguish down there. She actually suggested that we block the chamber below with rocks and backfill the shaft with concrete.”
“But what if there are more Sleeping Ones or important scientific discoveries down there?”
“That’s why you are here, Carl, but I want to come with you. My background will help us understand what we find.”
Carl nodded. “Okay, but let me go first to see if there’s anything dangerous first.” He disappeared.
Carl reappeared on the pile of rubble at the bottom of the shaft. He struggled to keep his feet as pieces of marble began to slide against each other. He sat and slid down to the bottom of the pile. He stood carefully and waved his arm to provide light. Now, the walls glowed softly. This room appeared to be a reception hall. It was twenty feet wide and a hundred feet long. Suits of armor stood every ten feet against each wall. A massive doorway stood at the end of the chamber. Its hinges had failed, and the doors were lying on the floor. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Professor, it seems okay. Just don’t land on the pile. It’s loose and treacherous.”
Donnelly appeared next to him. “Fascinating!” he exclaimed. “But this isn’t possible.”
“How do you mean, Professor?”
“You noticed the concrete shaft with the iron rungs of course. To support such a shaft, the concrete must be reinforced. That technology wasn’t invented until the nineteenth century. The stonework and armor here are clearly medieval, yet these islands were not discovered until the fifteenth century.”
“Maybe it’s a reconstruction or copy?”
“Yes, you’re probably correct. Lead the way.” As they walked toward the open doorway, Donnelly noticed that Carl kept looking at the suits of armor. When they were halfway to the doorway, he said, “You’re interested in armor, Carl?”
He shook his head. “No, there’s something else, but I can’t put my finger on it.” He walked over to one of the suits and raised the visor on the helmet. He gasped.
Donnelly hurried over to see what was wrong. “That’s an impressive manikin.”
Carl shook his head. “It’s not a manikin, Professor. This man has been petrified.”
“You’re saying he is a Sleeping One.”
“No, he’s dead, and his body has been turned to stone.”
“We can turn back if you like.”
Carl started moving toward the doors again. “Not yet. I have to understand what’s going on here.” Donnelly hurried to catch up. Carl shoved one of the doors aside and stepped into the next room. He waved his arm and the throne room was filled with light. The room was a hundred feet wide and two hundred long. A raised dais stood at the front with two thrones. Several rows of chairs were lined up in rows for members of the audience. A fully dressed human skeleton sat on each chair, except for one of the thrones. Doors led away and deeper into the structure. Fifty foot tall stained-glass windows lined both walls but there was no external light. “Yikes! I wasn’t expecting this.”
“Are they real skeletons, Carl?”
He nodded. “Do you sense anything else unusual, Professor?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure I know what it is?”
“Professor Donnelly, close your eyes and concentrate. Then tell me where this castle is.”
Ten seconds later, Donnelly opened his eyes and gasped. “Bulgaria?”
Carl nodded. “I don’t understand how it’s possible either, Professor. I mean, we were on the Azores when we entered the shaft. How can we be thousands of miles away in the same building?”
“I think we should report our findings to the headmaster now, Carl.”
Carl pointed toward the dais. “Which skeleton is missing?”
“The queen? We’d better go now.”
“Not from here, Professor. As long as we are in this building, we can’t go back to the school. We need to go back to where you appeared. That worked before, and it should still work now.”
They turned and walked through the reception hall to the pile of rubble. Both disappeared.
Carl Prescott and Professor Donnelly sat on a couch in Headmaster Dorchester’s office. Dean Whitehall and Professor Thorndike were also present. They sat on two chairs facing the couch. Dorchester paced between the two groups. After a few moments, he sighed, walked over to the chair behind his desk, and sat heavily. “This is most unusual. Tell them, Clarisse.”
Whitehall cleared her throat. “Based on the location in Bulgaria both of you have provided, there is no such structure or physical evidence that such a castle ever existed at that site. However, there are some written histories about an ancient kingdom there. Bertrand, you’re the expert on that.”
“Yes. Carl, remember when I spoke to you about the satanic cult that controlled large parts of Eastern Europe thousands of years ago?”
“Of course, Professor.”
“Well, as I told you then, the Roman army defeated and slaughtered them. However, there were survivors. They disappeared into the countryside. Eventually, other barbarians led to the collapse of the Roman Empire. At that point, in the medieval era, this group rose again, eventually settling near the Danube River, about halfway between the current Bulgarian capital of Sofia and the Romanian capital of Bucharest. According to texts from that kingdom, they again controlled large parts of Eastern Europe and worshipped Satan and his demons. What makes the story even more intriguing is that no other texts make any mention of them. It is as though decent society decided to erase and ignore the past. Of course, none of that explains the presence of the castle beneath our school.”
“Or how it can be in our subbasement and Bulgaria at the same time,” Whitehall concluded.
“Carl, you are our Invisible Hand. What do you think?”
“Headmaster, at this point I’m not too sure what to think. However, I know that Aida Whitehall is more sensit
ive to the paranormal than I am. I’d like to go back into the castle with her.”
“Only if I go too,” Dean Whitehall replied.
Carl smiled. “That’s fine with me.”
An hour later, Dean Whitehall, Carl, and Aida appeared next to the pile of rubble at the bottom of the shaft. Aida stood between the other two. They began to walk slowly toward the doorway into the throne room. When they passed between the first suits of armor, Aida winced and closed her eyes.
“What is it?” Whitehall asked.
“The pain was awful.”
“What pain? Are you okay?” her mother asked.
“I’m fine, Mom. It’s not my pain but that of those men in the armor suits. Their deaths were so terrible that their pain is still in this room.”
“Tell us about it, Aida,” Carl said.
“I can’t. It’s too terrible. Take my hands, and you can both sense it too.”
Carl took her hand. Instantly, he was the guard on the left. He was thinking about his day off with his family and pregnant wife when the spell struck. His skin suddenly petrified, sending pulses of pain through every nerve in it. The sensation of freezing solid moved slowly down into his muscles, eyes, tongue, fingers, and toes. One by one, his internal organs solidified along with the blood in his veins and arteries. Each petrification included spasms of pain impossible to bear. Finally, his brain began to turn to stone. He lost all of his senses. The last thought in his mind was about his pregnant wife. Carl released her hand. He looked up at Dean Whitehall, who was reaching for her daughter’s hand. “I don’t recommend it, Dean. I thought I’d die myself.”
The three began to move forward again. “Try not to feel their suffering, Aida. We have to get through this,” Carl noted, and his girlfriend nodded.
They stopped at the entrance to the throne room. Whitehall asked, “Did all of these people suffer like the guards, honey?”
Aida dropped her head to her chest and thought. After a few moments, she looked at her mother. “It’s weird. These people were happy to die. They even begged for death.”
Whitehall walked over to the nearest skeletons and looked carefully. She turned around to face the teenagers. “This is strange too. There is no evidence that the bodies decomposed in the clothing. It’s as though they were killed, and their bodies were stripped down to the bones. The skeletons were then cleaned and dressed. Who would want to die like that?” Aida walked over to her mother to examine the skeletons while Carl walked up to the dais.
He turned around to face them. “Notice how only this seat is empty. That has to mean something.”
“Let me come and sit on the throne. Maybe I’ll see what happened,” Aida noted as she walked forward.
Carl smiled and nodded. Then he put his hand on the arm of the throne. He gasped and then stood frozen.
“Aida, get back here. Don’t go up there. Something’s wrong!” Whitehall warned.
Carl did not hear the warning. Instead, he was laughing and still standing with his hand on his queen’s arm. She looked up at him and smiled. She looked remarkably like Barbara Conway. She patted his hand and then stood. She kissed his cheek, and in Barbie’s voice said, “Please take your seat, Majesty.” He walked over to the other throne and sat.
He looked down at his clothing and noticed he was wearing imperial robes. He could feel the crown resting on his head. He looked out at the gathering of courtesans in their finest court attire who appeared to thoroughly enjoy the audience with their lieges. A single prisoner knelt five feet away. His arms and legs were shackled. He was wearing the robes of a monk. Carl noticed a mirror on a nearby wall and looked into it. The face that looked back was not his own.
The queen spoke. “We all knew this day would come. When we started this adventure thousands of years ago, we understood the risks. Most of our brothers and sisters were slaughtered by the evil Romans. Thankfully, our friends put an end to them, am I right?”
The crowd cheered.
Carl said, “Here, here!”
The queen looked over and blew him a kiss. She turned back to her people. “Our generals say our lines will collapse any moment. Those cowards have vowed to surrender then, but do not judge them by that action. Unlike us, they are mortal and death has significance to them. We all know that Lord Satan will continue to redeem us. How else could we have lived such long and fulfilling lives?”
Loud pounding sounded on the doors to the throne room. One door opened, and a guard in armor stepped inside. He raised his visor. “Majesties, a runner advises that the lines have been breached.” The queen waved him off, he stepped outside, and closed the door.
Carl said, “It would appear the time has come, my Queen.”
“Say your goodbyes, my friends,” she said and then approached the king’s throne. She bent over and kissed him passionately. Leaning in, she whispered, “Thank you for your love and trust, my darling.” Then she stood and turned to face the crowd. The prisoner was looking down at the floor, and the onlookers were smiling and wiping tears of joy from their faces. “Worry not. There will be no pain.” She looked at the prisoner. “For you, I’m afraid there will be a great deal. Sorry.” She smiled at her subjects. “In moments, we will all be with Lord Satan, who has promised a celebration of our success that will last many years.” The audience cheered. “Part of the process is very disturbing. You may close your eyes if you wish.”
None did. Most were now holding the hands of their neighbors and looking forward to their rest in paradise.
The queen quickly stripped off her clothing and now stood facing them in her bra and panties only. She raised her hands over her head with her palms out and shouted, “Lord Satan, father, we beseech you. Take us home now!”
A ball of fire appeared in her hands, and the courtesans cheered. Carl could hear the monk praying. The queen pushed her arms out to her sides. Streams of fire shot from her hands and around the room. They returned to the front of the room and struck the prisoner, who screamed and was immediately burned to ashes. The assembled crowd chanted praises to the devil.
A small orb of light rose from the monk’s ashes. When it had risen as high as the queen’s eyes, she pushed out with her hands, and the orb exploded into a ball of blue fire, which swelled to fill the entire chamber, and knocked the doors off their hinges. The last things Carl noticed were the skeletons in their clothing, the petrified guards outside the broken doors, and darkness through the stained-glass windows.
Dean Whitehall pushed Carl away from the throne. He gasped for air and stumbled to the floor. “What happened to you, Carl?” the dean exclaimed. “You were frozen for minutes.”
“Stay away from that throne!” he said at last. “Oh my God, that was unbelievable. We have to go see the headmaster now!”
The meeting was delayed until after lunch because the headmaster was entertaining the parents of some students considering the school. Carl sat in the atrium at a small table with Aida Whitehall. “I know you don’t like her.”
“It’s not that I dislike Barbie,” Aida explained. “She’s just so forward and usually with boys who like me. With you, it’s totally over the top. It’s like her lifelong wish to make me miserable.”
“But we’re together now, okay?” Carl replied with a warm smile.
She nodded. “So, why do you want me to be roommates with her?”
“I’m convinced the demon named Sylvia is the one making Barbie act so strange. The queen in that throne room looked just like her too. I remember how the Beast ripped out your soul and threw it away. I saw that queen destroy the soul of a monk.”
“I thought Manny said they couldn’t be hurt.”
“Yeah, but what I saw looked like destruction. Maybe it came back to Manny, I don’t know. Anyway, I think that demon wants to take over Barbie’s body the same way the Beast took yours. That’s why all three look the same. The coincidence is too stark to ignore.”
“Why is Barbie so focused on you?”
Carl thought q
uietly for a moment. “Maybe it’s because of my talents? She’s testing my abilities to be sure she can defeat me.”
“Did you forget that I have the Invisible Hand too?” Aida asked.
Carl smiled. “Yeah, but if I’m right that everyone has it, but only a few can accept it, then the demon doesn’t know about you. The only time you’ve expressed that talent was in the hidden storage room, and there, only you, One, Victor, and I saw anything.”
“You want me to protect her from the demon?”
Carl nodded. “At least when the two of you are there alone. Having Barbie be my roommate would be improper and play into her hands. And I’ll be nearby the whole time.”
“What about Grace?”
“When we meet with the headmaster, we can ask if there are any rooms with three beds. Once he knows the issues, I’m sure he can come up with something.”
Aida stood and put out her hand. “If that’s what you think is best, I’m okay with it.” Carl took her hand and stood as well. “And if I’m around her, I’ll be sure that she’s not flirting with you. Let’s go inside.”
A sense of gloom hung over Carl Prescott after the meeting with the headmaster. Barbara Conway had called her parents about the situation, and they demanded that she be sent home immediately. The headmaster had teleported home with her while the others were inside the hidden castle. Carl tried to explain why she was now an easy target for the demon, but the headmaster noted there was nothing else that could be done. A parent’s decision overrode every other concern.
Carl wanted nothing more now than to be alone. He left the school and headed toward the nearest patch of trees. There, he sat down and leaned up against the truck of a tree.
He looked back at the school buildings and shook his head. The only chance he had to save Barbie had slipped through his fingers. Soon, the demon would locate her, remove her soul, and then come looking for the only one who could stop her.
“Hello, Carl,” a familiar voice said.