Black Harvest

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

The passage at the foot of the stairs went straight for about twenty feet and made a right angle turn to the left. It opened into a long, high cave, hollowed out by the old mineral springs. The cave was dark. It had irregular walls with strange shapes hanging from the ceiling. Nick felt like it was ready to swallow him.

The bones started right away.

He didn't know what he'd expected. Maybe skeletons, wrapped in moldering rags. Maybe dried out, leathery bodies. Coffins. It wasn't like that.

Arched, oven-shaped shelves lined the walls. The shelves were piled with bones. Some shelves were filled with thigh bones stacked like firewood. Some with arm bones, others with the small bones of feet and hands. Some were filled with rows of empty skulls staring at nothing. Hundreds of skulls had been fastened onto the walls. They climbed and curved over the shelves. The light from the candles flickered and danced over the bones.

The bones were mute. The skulls had nothing to say. The crypt smelled of dust and centuries of silence.

"Guess the monks liked the idea of community," Nick said.

Ronnie held his candle high and peered at the skulls. "Gives me the creeps."

They walked toward the far end of the chamber. A thousand empty eyes followed them.

All that was left of the temple of Demeter was a cracked wall of marble and slabs underfoot. A large block of stone stood in the center of the slabs. It bore dark and ancient stains. A large niche had been cut into the wall. It was empty.

"Why down here?" Ronnie said. "Wouldn't they put it up on the surface?"

"Demeter and Persephone were worshiped in something called the Eleusinian Mysteries," Selena said. "The main temple was probably up top. Down here would be for secret rites by the priests. It's a cave, it's perfect. That big stone is an altar, probably for animal sacrifices. Ronnie, give me your candle."

She took it from him and held it up. On the wall over the niche was the figure of a horse.

"There's Persephone's symbol again. Looks like a dead end."

"We're in the right place for it," Ronnie said.

Nick heard a scrape of something on stone. His ear began to burn.

"Douse the light." His voice was quiet. "Someone's coming."

They blew out the candles. The chamber went black. At least there aren't any spiders. He drew his .45. Maybe it was a priest, wondering why the crypt was open. Maybe not.

A gleam of light showed at the entrance to the cave. Someone with a flashlight. Then a second beam. A large man stepped into the cave, silhouetted by the light behind. He held a flashlight in one hand, a gun in the other.

Not a priest. Not smart, either.

A second man followed. He had a gun. Another light moved behind him.

At least three. Maybe more behind or upstairs.

The first man flicked his light over the piles of bones. The probing beam found Selena against the old temple wall, her Glock extended in both hands. He shouted and raised his gun.

Nick shot the first man and dove for cover behind the stone altar. A second later Ronnie followed. Selena dropped to the floor. Everyone began firing. Muzzle blasts lit the crypt at both ends, painting the skulls and bones in brief flashes. The noise of the guns filled the cave. Fragments of ancient bone spiraled into the air. He felt the wind of passing bullets. Rounds ricocheted from the walls and the altar and whined around the cave in the dark. The second shooter went down. Then the third.

Silence. Nick's ears were ringing. No one else came out of the passage.

"Anyone hit?"

"No." Selena's voice was tight. "This damn floor is hard."

"Me neither." Ronnie's voice was soft.

"I'm moving right." Nick shuffled to the right, came to Selena climbing to her feet.

"Stay behind me. Don't get too close."

He felt his way along the wall. His hand touched bone, teeth, the rough edge where an eye had been. He jerked his hand back and kept moving. He reached the passage.

Selena and Ronnie came up behind.

Three bodies lay by the entrance to the passage. They weren't moving. Blood pooled around them. A lot of blood. Their bowels had let go. The stench made Nick choke.

Selena stepped over them without thinking. She'd taken four steps before she realized what she'd just done. Three dead men. She might as well have stepped over bags of trash, for all the feeling she had about it. The realization rocked her.

"What do you think, Ronnie?" Nick's voice was quiet.

"Might be more around the corner. Bound to be more upstairs."

"It's like Fallujah. Remember that factory?"

"Yeah, I remember."

Nick crouched down and took a fast look around the corner.

"It's clear to the steps."

The steps were only wide enough for one person at a time. Anyone up top would have a clean shot at them as they came out.

"Fallujah, we had grenades. This sucks, Kemo Sabe."

"Kemo Sabe? You going native on me?"

"I always wanted to say that. Tonto always said that to the Lone Ranger when the shit was about to hit the fan. Kemo Sabe. Has a nice ring to it."

"What does it mean?"

"You don't want to know."

Selena said, "If you're done…" They turned to her. "How do we get out of here?"

"The altar's not far away, ahead and to the right. We go up one at a time and get behind it." Nick grinned at her. "Fast."

He ran up the stairs and came out of the opening and rolled forward behind the altar. The sound of an Uzi on full auto echoed in the church above. The screens behind the altar shattered. Shards of old wood bounced down the steps. They heard Nick's .45 lay down covering fire.

"You last. We'll cover you."

Ronnie went up the stairs like Nick had done and disappeared. In a second Selena heard his Glock. Overhead it sounded like World War III. She pictured the altar, the space behind it. She took a deep breath. The adrenaline kicked in and she ran up the stairs.