even before this place.”
Alec nodded. “ To
Rochester Cathedral then. You know, I read books about this once.
Dan Brown made a fortune. Maybe I should start writing this shit
down.”
Kennard laughed but the others didn’t
get the reference. Alec sighed. “Never mind.”
Alec leapt them this time and landed them in the main aisle of the nave. The first
thing he saw was the pulpitum screen statues: religious men carved
from stone, perched eerily on the wall. “I have a healthy distrust
of stone statues,” Alec said. “After Egypt and China….” He
shuddered. “Look at them! They’re creepy as hell.”
The church itself wasn’t too bad, less
foreboding somehow, but still, Alec felt a general sense of
unease.
Cronin put his hand on Alec’s arm.
“Alec, are you well?”
“ Yeah, I’m okay,” he said. He shuddered again. “Something’s not right,
though.”
Eiji spun on his heel, instantly on
guard. “Which direction?”
“ No one is here,” Alec said. “But I can sense something. I don’t know what it is. Down
below us.”
“ The crypt,” Cronin said. He put his hands on Alec and
Kennard . Jodis and Eiji, who
were centuries-used to Cronin’s ways, reached out, and they found
themselves in the crypt.
“ I also have a healthy
loathing of underground pits and tunnels,” Alec mumbled.
Eiji and Jodis disappeared and
returned a moment later. “Completely empty. There’s nothing
here.”
Alec didn’t know how he knew ; he just did. He walked over to the far western wall, an
area that was cordoned off to the public. It was natural bedrock
with the numbers 1080—or the year, to be exact—carved into the
stone. Alec looked at Cronin. “Was that you?”
Cronin snorted. “Defacing church
walls, or graffiti for that matter, is not my style. Even back
then.”
Alec looked at Eiji. “You totally
would.”
Eiji nodded but looked at the
inscription. “Yes, but this is not mine.”
Alec laughed and put his hand on the
wall, he closed his eyes and breathed. “There’s something behind
here.”
“ It’s a solid stone wall,”
Jodis said. “Isn’t it?”
Alec shook his head. “Do you trust me
enough to leap us all in there?”
“ Leap into a stone wall?”
Kennard asked.
“ Behind it,” Alec elaborated. “I can sense it. I don’t know
how. A sense of space or something. There’s a void. A
cave.”
Cronin nodded. “I trust you
implicitly.”
Eiji and Jodis nodded, and Kennard
sighed dramatically. “Fine.”
Alec closed his eyes
and pictured the space in the rock wall and leapt them all there.
It was a room all right. It was huge with a low ceiling and
completely made from stone. There was no way in, no way out,
impossibly hand carved. The ground seemed to have a circular design
etched into the stone. But that wasn’t the most disconcerting
thing.
In the middle of the room in pointed formation stood five
stone statues. They were as
tall as Alec with cloaks of sandstone covering them from head to
foot, their faces lowered and half-obscured, their feet tethered to
the stone floor with heavy, rusted chains. But there was no
mistaking what they were.
A cacophony of hisses came from Cronin, Eiji,
Jodis , and Kennard, all
poised and ready for a fight. Alec threw out a protective shield
around them, but the statues never moved.
Using one of his many talents, Alec
got a sense of their true being. “They were Zoan. They’re stone
now.”
Eiji stepped forward ,
and crouching down, looked up into the cloaked face. With a sharp
gasp, he staggered backwards.
Then in a nanosecond, before Eiji could even hit the
ground, Alec threw out his hands. The stone Zoan statues exploded
in to a mist of dust. Alec
mentally grabbed everyone in the room, and he leapt.
CHAPTER NINE
They landed
in the middle of their apartment in New York, just as they’d been
in the stone room. Cronin had his hand out to Alec, Jodis was
reaching for Eiji, Eiji was falling on his ass, and Alec had one
hand
Alec nodded. “ To
Rochester Cathedral then. You know, I read books about this once.
Dan Brown made a fortune. Maybe I should start writing this shit
down.”
Kennard laughed but the others didn’t
get the reference. Alec sighed. “Never mind.”
Alec leapt them this time and landed them in the main aisle of the nave. The first
thing he saw was the pulpitum screen statues: religious men carved
from stone, perched eerily on the wall. “I have a healthy distrust
of stone statues,” Alec said. “After Egypt and China….” He
shuddered. “Look at them! They’re creepy as hell.”
The church itself wasn’t too bad, less
foreboding somehow, but still, Alec felt a general sense of
unease.
Cronin put his hand on Alec’s arm.
“Alec, are you well?”
“ Yeah, I’m okay,” he said. He shuddered again. “Something’s not right,
though.”
Eiji spun on his heel, instantly on
guard. “Which direction?”
“ No one is here,” Alec said. “But I can sense something. I don’t know what it is. Down
below us.”
“ The crypt,” Cronin said. He put his hands on Alec and
Kennard . Jodis and Eiji, who
were centuries-used to Cronin’s ways, reached out, and they found
themselves in the crypt.
“ I also have a healthy
loathing of underground pits and tunnels,” Alec mumbled.
Eiji and Jodis disappeared and
returned a moment later. “Completely empty. There’s nothing
here.”
Alec didn’t know how he knew ; he just did. He walked over to the far western wall, an
area that was cordoned off to the public. It was natural bedrock
with the numbers 1080—or the year, to be exact—carved into the
stone. Alec looked at Cronin. “Was that you?”
Cronin snorted. “Defacing church
walls, or graffiti for that matter, is not my style. Even back
then.”
Alec looked at Eiji. “You totally
would.”
Eiji nodded but looked at the
inscription. “Yes, but this is not mine.”
Alec laughed and put his hand on the
wall, he closed his eyes and breathed. “There’s something behind
here.”
“ It’s a solid stone wall,”
Jodis said. “Isn’t it?”
Alec shook his head. “Do you trust me
enough to leap us all in there?”
“ Leap into a stone wall?”
Kennard asked.
“ Behind it,” Alec elaborated. “I can sense it. I don’t know
how. A sense of space or something. There’s a void. A
cave.”
Cronin nodded. “I trust you
implicitly.”
Eiji and Jodis nodded, and Kennard
sighed dramatically. “Fine.”
Alec closed his eyes
and pictured the space in the rock wall and leapt them all there.
It was a room all right. It was huge with a low ceiling and
completely made from stone. There was no way in, no way out,
impossibly hand carved. The ground seemed to have a circular design
etched into the stone. But that wasn’t the most disconcerting
thing.
In the middle of the room in pointed formation stood five
stone statues. They were as
tall as Alec with cloaks of sandstone covering them from head to
foot, their faces lowered and half-obscured, their feet tethered to
the stone floor with heavy, rusted chains. But there was no
mistaking what they were.
A cacophony of hisses came from Cronin, Eiji,
Jodis , and Kennard, all
poised and ready for a fight. Alec threw out a protective shield
around them, but the statues never moved.
Using one of his many talents, Alec
got a sense of their true being. “They were Zoan. They’re stone
now.”
Eiji stepped forward ,
and crouching down, looked up into the cloaked face. With a sharp
gasp, he staggered backwards.
Then in a nanosecond, before Eiji could even hit the
ground, Alec threw out his hands. The stone Zoan statues exploded
in to a mist of dust. Alec
mentally grabbed everyone in the room, and he leapt.
CHAPTER NINE
They landed
in the middle of their apartment in New York, just as they’d been
in the stone room. Cronin had his hand out to Alec, Jodis was
reaching for Eiji, Eiji was falling on his ass, and Alec had one
hand
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