AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We pull the boat ashore. The Temple sits high on the hill. To get there, we'll have to take the steep stairs that have been carved into the rock.
"How many do you think there are?" Ann says, peering all the way to the top.
"There's only one way to find out," I say, and start climbing. It is rough going. Halfway up, Ann has to sit to catch her breath."I can't do this," she huffs.
"Yes, you can," I say."It's just a bit farther. Look."
"Oh!" Ann says, startled. A great black bird flaps close to her face and takes a perch on the steps beside us. It's some sort of raven. It caws loudly, making gooseflesh on my arms. Another joins it. The pair seems to dare us to go on. "Come on, then," I say."They're only birds."
We push past them to the top of the steps, where we are greeted by an enormous golden door. The most beautiful flowers have been carved into it.
"How lovely," Ann says. She puts her fingers to the petals and the door opens. The cathedral is vast, with ceilings that soar high above us. Everywhere, candles and torches burn.
"Hello?" Ann says. Her voice echoes, Hello, ello, lo.
The marble floor tiles have been laid out in a pattern of red flowers. When I turn my head one way, the floor seems dirty and chipped, the tile broken in chunks. I blink and it is again shining and beautiful.
"Do you see anything?" I ask. Anything, thing, thing .
"No," Ann says."Hold on, what's this?"
Ann reaches for something in the wall. That part of the stone crumbles away. Something skitters across the floor and lands at my feet. A skull.
Ann shudders."What was that doing there?"
"I don't know." The hair at the back of my neck prickles in fear. My eyes are playing tricks on me, because the floor is going chipped again. The beauty of the cathedral sputters like the candles, flashing from majestic to macabre. For a second, I see another cathedral, a crumbling, broken shell of a building, the shattered windows above us looking eerily like the empty sockets of the skull.
"I think we should go," I whisper.
"Gemma! Ann!" Felicity's voice is high with fright. We run to her. She holds a candle close to the wall. And then we see. Embedded in it are bones. Hundreds of them. Fear screams inside me.
"This is not the Temple," I say, staring at the bones of a hand stuck fast in the crumbling stone. I'm chilled as I realize the truth. Stick to the path, maidens."They led us astray, just like Nell said they would."
Above us, something scurries. Shadows run across the dome. Ann grabs my arm."What was that?"
"I don't know." Know, know, know.
Felicity pats the quiver on her back. The scurrying comes from the other side. It feels close.
"We're leaving," I whisper."Now."
Suddenly, there is movement all around. The shadows flit across the top of the golden dome like giant bats. We're almost to the door when we hear it: a high-pitched keening that turns my blood to ice.
"Run!" I shout.
We bolt for the door, our shoes clacking across the broken mosaic floor. But it is not enough to drown out the hideous screeching, growls, and barks.
"Go, go!" I scream.
"Look!" Felicity shouts.
The darkness of the vestibule is moving. Whatever was above us has gotten to the door before us, trapping us here. The keening dies down to a low, guttural chant."Poppets, poppets, poppets . . ."
They step from the shadows, half a dozen or so of the most grotesque creatures I have ever seen. Dressed to the very last one in tattered, filthy white robes over ancient chain mail and sharp, steel-toed boots. Some have long, matted hair that trails over their shoulders. Others have shaved their heads bald, the cuts still fresh and bloody. One fearsome soul has but one long strip of hair in the center of his head, running from forehead to collar. His arms are ringed in bangles, and about his neck is a necklace made of finger bones. This one, the leader, steps forward.
"Hello, poppet." he says, smiling hideously.
He offers his hand. His fingernails have been painted black. There are deep black lines inked up his sine"Y arms, thorny stems weeping tears of pitch. They end above his elbow, where fat red flowers bloom in a band around his arm. Poppies.
