Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

That bit of information made me want to bolt again. Will grasped my hand and gave me an encouraging smile before he led me to the entrance. The darkness dove down a set of stone stairs as rough as the church walls. A handrail of dubious age and support ran along the right-hand side of the wall and down into the dark depths.

A strange wind blew up from the catacombs and wafted over us. The air it brought with it smelled of dust and decay. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked up at Will. He looked more grim than usual.

“Stay close,” he whispered so our priestly ‘friend’ couldn’t overhear him.

Will went down first and I reluctantly followed. It was either that or stay with the priest, and I would have much rather risked the catacombs than remain with those creepily eager eyes.

The stairs descended for what seemed like forever but must have been fifty feet down into the bowels of the earth. The musty smell was nearly overpowering and the only light came from the flickering torches that hung at intervals on the walls. Their light allowed me to see a swinging door made of metal rods like those used in cells. It hung flat against the wall to our right.

The torches also showed me the countless body-length niches in the wall. Some stretched from the floor toward the ceiling and others were horizontal across the narrow tunnel in which we found ourselves.

One thing they all had in common was they were occupied.

I couldn’t help but let out a gasp as I caught a glimpse of my first mummy. Well, outside the realm of a movie theater. Their gaping mouth and empty eyes stared back at me with a hungry look that reminded me of Father Silas. I slipped up behind Will and grasped the back of his arm with both hands.

“T-they’re not going to jump out at us, are they?”

Will shook his head as he scanned the tunnel. His eyes glowed eerily in the dim light. “No. Most are merely husks that the priests keep to ‘liven up’ the place.”

A snort unwillingly escaped me. “Yeah, this place is loads of fun. What about the ones that aren’t just husks?”

“Those are the creatures that marry the living,” Will warned me as he took a few steps deeper into the winding depths. I noticed I couldn’t even see around the first corner, so sharp was it.

“Is there a way to tell which is which?” I wondered.

Will shook his head. “Unfortunately, no, though the bodies that have crumbled beyond recognition are less likely to be inhabited by a soul.”

My face drooped. “ Less likely?”

“But not completely.” He glanced over his shoulder at the steps. “Let’s move away from the steps. There’s every chance our conversation could be overheard by our curious host.”

We continued down the winding passage. The torches flickered as we passed, causing the shadows to dance along the walls and the many grinning skulls. We skirted a half dozen semi-fresh corpses that still had bits of hair and flesh on their bones. Their plain threads showed they were of humble origin. They stood near a niche that held an elegant skeleton with rings adorning their bony fingers.

“How do people get down here?” I wondered.

“Either they pay for their plot or win the lottery.”

I blinked at him. “Come again?”

“The city has a yearly lottery for those too poor to purchase a niche for their eternal rest,” Will explained to me as we snaked our way through the catacombs. Countless tunnels ran off the main path and into the bowels of the dead depths. “The winners hold on to their ticket and their relatives or friends can redeem the ticket at their passing.”

I wrinkled my nose. “That’s. . .lucky of them?”

“It’s either that or a burial outside the walls where any manner of animal might dig them up. The city has also been attacked in ages past and their dead desecrated by the invading forces.”

I winced. “That’s terrible.”

Will paused at an intersection where the path branched off in three different directions. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end at the sight. I’d seen too many movies to like what I saw.

“Do you really think they know anything about the Agency?” I asked him as I tried not to look at the myriad of cobwebs that ran out of a nearby skull.

“Did you notice the good father flinch ever slightly when I mentioned the Agency?” he returned.

I shook my head. “No. Did he?”

Will swept his eyes over the area and nodded. “It was barely perceptible, but my question definitely struck his soul.”

“If he has one. . .” I mumbled as I studied our grim surroundings. “Maybe one of these guys stole it to use as a needle.”

Will chuckled. “It would be small enough for that, wouldn’t it?”

I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered. “All joking aside, what do we do now? Do I strip naked and run around yelling that I’m available?”

Will’s eyes glowed a little more brightly in the dim light. “As tempting as that would be, I suggest we continue on our way and see if any of these ‘gentlemen’ are in search of a bride.”

I followed on Will’s heels as we continued through the dark, empty passages. Not a soul was seen or heard, and I felt as though we were the last two living creatures on earth. Not even the rats dared show their snouts. Their absence made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. There was just something not right about a place that even rats avoided.

We had traveled for another few minutes when the path opened to a long chamber some thirty feet wide and fifty feet long. The ceiling had a gentle arch to it that glided down into the dozens of niches set into the walls on both sides of us. Those holes were filled with the restful bones of the deceased.

Or so I thought.

A strange noise disturbed the silence and I pressed close to Will. “W-what’s that sound?”

He tensed as his eyes flitted about the room. “The dead.”

The noise grew louder and I realized with a sinking feeling that the sound was the rattle of bones. The skeletons shook off the dust of death and climbed out of their final beds. I had to remind myself to keep breathing as they surrounded us.

“A-are they staring at me?” I hoarsely whispered.

“Keep calm,” Will advised me.

That was easier said than done when dozens of empty sockets stared at me. One of the skeletons stepped forward. They wore the tattered remains of a robe and rings adorned their skeletal fingers. The dead creature pointed one of those bony things at me and its jaw moved as it spoke, but the voice seemed to come from the other end of a long tunnel. The tunnel between life and death.

“You are worthy to be a bride.”

I shook my head. “I-I’m not. Really.”

An unholy red glow came from the depths of those empty sockets. “You are worthy.”

“Will!” I hissed.

“Allow me to handle this,” he comforted me as he took a step forward. “Worthy patrons of the Grimton! I assure you she is worthy of your attention!”