Code

CHAPTER 30

“WE’RE GOING IN.”

I rattled the gate, hoping to spring it free. No such luck. A thick steel padlock held the barrier in place.

“Cemeteries are out of bounds!” Shelton’s whine was a personal best. “We can’t disrespect the dead.”

“The sun symbol matches.” I waved the black-and-white cloth. “The cache must be hidden in that tomb, and we’ve got less than eight hours on the clock. Or did you want to come back after dark?”

“No, sir!” Shelton shivered. Literally. “I’m not down for midnight tomb raiding.”

“Tory’s right.” Hi was peering back toward the bridge. “We’re alone, and already flaring. A quick in and out, and nobody knows the difference.”

“Nobody but God!” Shelton squeaked. “That’s holy ground!”

“Enough.” Ben gripped the wall and vaulted over with ease. “Come on if you’re coming.”

“A little help,” I requested.

Hi intertwined his fingers. I stepped up, swung a leg over the wall, and dropped inside. Hi scrambled over next, losing his balance and tumbling in a heap. Ben grabbed Shelton’s outstretched arms and pulled him across.

I tossed a guilty glance over one shoulder, eyes and ears on full alert.

No one in sight. No sound of alarm.

We mean no disrespect.

The mausoleum’s marble walls formed a square structure no larger than a minivan. Three steps led up to a door flanked by stone columns and sealed by an iron grate. Faded Latin phrases decorated the sides.

Shelton sighed. “We’re really going in?”

I pointed to the rising sun adorning the roof. “Seems pretty clear.”

“Stop wasting time.” Ben motioned Shelton forward. “Open sesame.”

“Since you asked so nicely.” Shelton stepped to the grate, lock pick set in hand, head shaking in disapproval. “You’re lucky. I almost didn’t bring these with me.”

“The coast is still clear.” Hi was keeping watch on the trail. “But I feel like a grave robber.”

“We won’t disturb anything.” I meant it. “The dead will understand.”

“Hope so.” Hi wiped sweaty palms on his blue checkerboard shorts. “I can’t be haunted this semester. I’ve got a full schedule.”

A rusty screech signaled that Shelton had beaten the first barrier. I cringed, but no one appeared. Shelton moved to the stone door.

“We’ve got to be careful inside.” Ben’s voice was tight. “The last cache was dangerous. This one might be, too.”

“Got it!” Shelton straightened. “Somebody tell the brothers these locks are a joke.”

“Let’s move.” Ben swung the door inward, revealing a steep staircase descending into darkness.

“Oh come on!” Shelton’s hands flew to his head. “Underground? You can’t be serious!”

“It’s a short flight,” I said, trying to soothe Shelton’s nerves as I peered down into the gloom. “I have flashlights in my pack.”

“Shh!” Shelton froze. “I heard something.”

Hi inhaled sharply. “Someone’s crossing the bridge!”

“Inside!” I hissed. “Ben, close us in!”

“Hide in the dead man’s house!?” Shelton looked frantic. “That’s your plan?”

“Move!” I pushed Hi and Shelton toward the steps. “We can check for the cache while the person passes.”

We scurried inside. The hinges squeaked again as Ben pulled the door shut.

“What about the outer grate?” I asked. “Did you close it, too?”

Ben shook his head. “Too much noise. The door alone might’ve given us away.”

“Lights, please?” Shelton’s voice cracked.

Fumbling in the darkness, I handed one flashlight to Ben and powered the other. Slowly, we crept down the stone stairs.

Ten steps, then we entered a dusty chamber three times the size of the monument above. A sarcophagus sat at center stage. I swung my beam, scrutinizing the room with my flare vision. Crumbling stone markers adorned the walls, each engraved with a name and date.

“The boss man must be in here.” Hi rapped the sarcophagus with a fist. “Whoever that is. And his family is probably stashed in the walls.”

“Look!” Ben’s light was trained on the sarcophagus lid. A rising sun was chiseled into the rock.

Then Ben’s beam caught a splash of color. Scarlet.

I added my light to his. An object was resting beside the symbol.

A single rose, tied with a purple ribbon. Flaring, I could make out every delicate petal, could tease the components of its fragrance from the stale air.

The ribbon was stamped with a row of leering clown faces.

There could be no mistake.

“Wait.” Hi cleared his throat. “Does that mean … Are we supposed to …?”

“Open the coffin?” Shelton backpedaled fast. “No chance!”

“But the Game,” I countered weakly. “The bomb. It’ll explode if we don’t …”

My voice trailed off. Necessary or not, like Shelton I had serious issues with disturbing someone’s final resting place.

“We have no choice!” Ben’s lips tightened as his neck flushed red. “If we don’t find the cache, everyone loses.”

“He’s right.” Steeling myself. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Be careful,” Ben warned again. “Keep an eye out for traps. Or hidden cameras.”

We crept forward, flare senses humming, listening for the slightest click, snap, or scrape. My eyes were everywhere at once.

A gigantic marble slab sealed the sarcophagus.

“Maybe the Gamemaster thinks we can’t open it?” Hi said. “It looks wicked heavy.”

Ben grasped a corner and strained to shove the lid aside. It didn’t budge.

“A little help,” he panted.

Shelton moved beside Ben and they pushed as one.

The slab inched backward.

“We shouldn’t slide the monster all the way off,” Ben wheezed. “The marble will fracture. Plus, we’d never be able to lift it back into place.”

Hiram and I moved to the other end, across from Ben and Shelton, and pushed in the opposite direction. Centimeter by exhausting centimeter, the lid rotated clockwise, until it rested sideways across the center.

The head of the sarcophagus lay exposed.

“An envelope!” Hi was closest, and reached inside. “Tory, shine the light!”

At that moment, my nose caught something pungent. Oily. Foreign.

A warning blared from my primordial brain stem. Danger! Urgent!

My hand shot out, caught Hi’s arm, and jerked it backward.

Something flashed where his fingers had been. A hiss filled the room.

“Whaaa!” Hi tumbled to the ground.

I leaped aside as a black silhouette darted in my direction. “Look out!”

A dark, sinuous cord slithered from the vault.

“Snake!” Shelton bolted for the staircase. “Snake snake snake!”

The reptile rose, fangs outstretched, exposing the white lining of its jaws.

“Cottonmouth,” Ben said hoarsely. “Aggressive. Very poisonous.”

We packed into the opening at the foot of the stairwell.

For a few beats, the cottonmouth watched us with cold, unblinking eyes. Then it slithered over the edge of the sarcophagus, dropped to the floor, zigzagged to the far corner, and disappeared.

Ben aimed his light after it, exposing a jagged crack in the floor. The snake was nowhere in sight.

“Gone,” Ben said. “It found a bolt-hole.”

“Are you sure?” Shelton moaned. “How can you know?”

“That’s a four-foot pit viper,” Ben responded dryly. “I’m pretty sure we’d notice if it was still around.”

Hi stared at his hand, as if imagining the bite. “I could kiss you, Tory.”

“Some other time.” To Ben: “Could that thing have gotten in there on its own?”

“Maybe, but I doubt it. Cottonmouths are water snakes, and we’re at least a hundred yards above the river. Plus the lid was intact when we moved it.”

“Then we know who left it for us,” I said grimly.

“This has gotten out of control.” Ben seemed to speak to no one in particular.

“Let’s grab the envelope and bail,” Hi said. “I’ve had enough for one day.”

“I’ll do it.” Ben crept to the coffin, pointed his beam inside, and leaped back. Waited. Repeated the process.

Satisfied nothing else lurked within, he waved us close. “There is an envelope.”

“Of course there is!” Hi grumbled. “I’m dumb, not stupid.”

Ben reached in to claim it.

Froze. Even in the gloom, I saw him pale.

“Oh my God.”

Ben’s golden eyes found mine. In them I saw naked horror.

I moved to his side and added my light to his.

The envelope was there, plum-colored, decorated with the now-familiar ghastly clowns. That barely registered.

My eyes were glued to what lay beneath.

Oh no.