Immediately she was pulled into the mausoleum and a hand fell over her mouth. “Stop screaming,” Matt’s voice said calmly.
Jorden thought about slugging him too, but at the time she was too damned happy to see him and all her body would allow her to do was throw her arms around him and hold him close for a moment. When his arms wrapped around her she was finally able to breathe. It was Matt and he was alive and safe.
“What in the hell is going on here?” Matt finally asked, though his tone was far from irritable.
Hell indeed.
Jorden forced herself to let him go and she took a step back. “I’ll tell you once we get out of here. This place gives me an uneasy feeling,” she said as the nausea she had experienced the night before started to return.
“We aren’t quite finished here,” Ana said, though when all eyes turned on her she looked as though she wanted to suck the words back in.
Matt looked away from Ana and looked back down into Jorden’s eyes. “The same?”
Jorden grabbed her stomach and lightly nodded. “Damn it Matt, I’m serious. We need to leave now.”
Matt knew that she was serious by the look in her eyes and he nodded. “We’re done here,” he said firmly.
All eyes turned to Ana and she appeared as though she might protest but then thought better of it.
When Jorden saw the look of disappointment in Ana’s eyes she forced a smile. “Don’t worry Ana,” she said, “you’ve gotten more than you know.”
Caretaker’s Cottage – 2:00am…
Matt took the afghan from the rocking chair in the corner of the den and wrapped it around Jorden while she told him, Ana and the others who’d heard the commotion in the living room what was going on. She had showered and changed her clothes, though she was still chilled and it was difficult for Matt to erase the image of her terrified face and mud soaked figure in the doorway of the mausoleum.
“Don’t you think that you overreacted a bit?” Tony questioned. “I mean I heard what you heard and while it was disconcerting, it still could have been anything and even Syd said that he could have gotten the translation wrong. And as far as the growl goes, it still could have been an animal of some kind.”
“Then maybe you can explain why none of us heard it that night,” Jesse argued.
“You know how sensitive the mikes are. It could have easily exaggerated the wind or one of you breathing,” Tony said logically.
“You don’t believe that any more than I do,” Ana said then looked over at Syd. “How certain are you on the translation?”
“I listened to it a dozen times and I’m as positive as I can be that the translation is accurate,” he confirmed. “Nigel agrees.”
Everyone looked at Nigel, who stiffened and sported a “deer in the headlights” expression. “He had me listen to it after you ran out,” he explained. “He didn’t tell me what he thought until I’d told him what I’d heard…it was the same.”
“So we’re agreed that we need to focus on the mausoleum and the monk who is buried there,” Matt stated, hiding his own worry behind his inherent strength. He then looked at Nigel and Jonas, “Anything on the history yet?” he asked.
Both of them shook their heads. “We’ve been able to dismiss about a dozen reports and articles, but we still have a lot to go through,” Nigel said. “We did manage to break the information down into classifications however, including one devoted to the monastery and the sect that lived on the island. We can shift our focus there if you’d like.”
“I would, and I don’t want you to abandon it until you find me something.”
Nigel nodded and motioned for Jonas to join him.
“What? Now?” Jonas questioned. “It’s after two in the morning.”
“Do you have a problem with that?” Matt asked almost defiantly.
Jonas held his hands up and took a step back. “I’m not looking for a fight here, nor am I looking to supersede your authority, but I think that even you would agree that it’s already been a long night and we should all get some rest and start fresh in the morning.”
Once again, Matt had to admit that Jonas was right and it had his insides turning in knots. “Fine. We can all use a break I guess.” He looked at the faces of the others, all of which were tired and worn. “No more investigating until tomorrow where we can take a look at these places in the light of day. Research and analysis will continue tomorrow morning. Any questions?”
No one said a word.
“Fine then. I want all of you to get a good night’s rest, and I’ll see you all in the morning.”
Everyone but Matt and Jorden left the den, and the only reason he stayed was because she did.
Not knowing what else to do, he walked around the coffee table and took a seat on the sofa beside her. “Are you all right?” he asked finally.
She nodded. “Just tired,” she said then looked at him with a slight smile. “And while I hate to admit it, I’m a little freaked out.”
He looked at her curiously and put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her. “You’re not usually this squeamish,” he said as he pulled her close to him.
Often, Jorden was strong willed and didn’t like to be coddled, but this time she surprised him when she allowed him to hold her. “I know, but I think that this trip and everything leading up to it are finally starting to take their toll on me,” she admitted further. “Did you know that Isis got sick up in the bell tower tonight?” she asked.
The news came as a surprise and he couldn’t stop himself from scooting back to take a look at her just to see if she was serious or not, though it wasn’t necessary. Jorden wasn’t much of a joker and she certainly wouldn’t kid about something like that if she were. He then pulled her back close to him so tightly that he could feel her heartbeat against his side. “Why don’t you take tomorrow off? Tony and Jesse can handle the analysis and we’ll be fine with the others on the investigation front. I think you could use the rest.”
She reached up to her shoulder and grabbed his hand. “I appreciate the gesture, but I’ll be fine. Besides, after what happened to Isis tonight, I want to listen to the bell tower recordings first.”
“I can take care of that,” he assured.
That’s when Jorden pulled his arm away from her and turned to face him. “Like hell! Analysis is my job, not yours,” she lectured defiantly.
Matt smiled. “I knew that you were in there somewhere,” he said with a bit of relief, though not completely without worry. “Fine. Get back to the analysis tomorrow,” he allowed but then quickly added, “but not too early. I’m serious when I tell you that you need the sleep. You look like hell.”
“Really?” she questioned with feigned shock. “And here I thought that my new makeover was turning heads,” she said then stood, handing him the afghan as she rose.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” Matt said as he watched her leave.
Briefly she turned to face him with a smile. “Damn right,” she said finally and disappeared up the stairs.
Matt rested back and looked down at the computer screen, which held the first mausoleum recording, while he held Ana’s recorder from their night of investigation in his hand. He knew that he couldn’t wait to listen to either one of the recordings, not after Jorden’s reaction to the original.
It was going to be a long night.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Italian Alps – Friday – 10:35am…
Contrary to Matt’s orders, Nigel was up before six in the morning and already going through the reports on the monastery. It wasn’t long before he was joined by Jonas, though they weren’t able to get far. It didn’t take too long before they realized that a road trip was in order, and before any of the others were awake, they took off, leaving only a note for Matt and Jorden telling them what was up.
While Jonas was an ass as far as Matt, Jorden, Nigel and the others were concerned, having him aboard to help with the research did have its rewards. Under normal circumstances Nig
el would have been on his own and likely renting a wreck of a car, but with Jonas at his side, they were able to hop a small plane and were headed for Milan. From there, they rented a rather nice SUV, which came with a state of the art GPS system, and headed for the monstrous Alps.
When they arrived at the monastery, they found it in a condition not much improved than that of Lorenzo. It had long been abandoned, though there were some signs of a transient or two having passed through occasionally.
“Exactly what are we hoping to find here that we can’t find in the local hall of records?” Jonas questioned.
“I already checked there. Most of what I found was sketchy thanks to a bloody dam break about thirty years ago. The deluge of mud and water wiped out everything, including the local library and all information about this place with the exception of its location and existence.”
“Don’t they keep information like that on file in Rome?” Jonas questioned.
“You would think so but oddly enough I couldn’t find anything on this place outside of a couple of articles about its closure. Of course that was almost four hundred years ago so I imagine that we should be happy that I found out about this place at all.” He continued to lead the way to the back of the monastery.
They hiked in silence for a while and Nigel was thankful for the peace and quiet, but then realized that it was too quiet. It suddenly struck him that since his arrival he hadn’t heard the sounds of nature outside of an occasional breeze blowing through the trees.
“Do you have any idea where you’re going?” Jonas questioned; suddenly breaking the uneasy silence.
Nigel almost jumped and in spite of his irritation at the increasing whining from his current research partner he was almost thankful for the noise…almost. “It’s not like I have a map or anything like that. Now if you’d like to speed this up, perhaps you can help me look for something resembling an office rather than pissing and moaning like you have been for the last two hours!”
Jonas didn’t say much after that, but instead he followed while occasionally ducking through a door here and there, but even with his help, they found nothing – nothing that is until they came across a small room beneath the rear staircase. By that time Jonas had excused himself and gone outside…likely to take some refuge in the car.
Nigel, on the other hand, had pressed on and it seemed that his perseverance paid off.
The staircase was narrow and the room, if it could be called that, was little more than a broom closet and equally narrow. Still, it was the only room in the monastery that appeared to be untouched by transients and time. A chill that swept down his spine made Nigel wonder if that was a good thing.
The chill, which had really just been an irritating tingle, flourished when he stepped into the room and it turned into a full blown shiver. It wasn’t as though it was any colder in the small room than the rest of the decaying monastery, but there was something about the plain room that didn’t sit right with him.
Inside the room was very little; a small bed that appeared more like a cot, a rickety wooden desk with a chair next to it, and a small dresser. There was nothing that appeared out of the ordinary, but that didn’t stop Nigel from searching.
It seemed most logical to start at the desk, but all he found there was rotting wood and dust – the rotting wood he discovered when he took a seat in the plain wooden chair beside the desk. Almost as his bum touched the seat, the legs of the chair all but disintegrated and left him in a plume of dust on the hard and cold, wooden floor.
His small accident did not daunt him and he continued with his search.
Inside the desk was very little. Any paper that may have been there disintegrated long ago and nothing else remained but a golden crucifix on a golden chain. Nigel picked up the crucifix and pocketed it, thinking that it could possibly lead them somewhere, or that maybe Isis could possibly pick something up if she touched it. If not, at least he could return it to the monk at Lorenzo.
Next, Nigel moved on to the cot. When he turned the blanket back it fell apart in his hands, though it didn’t matter; there was nothing there anyway…not even under the mattress, which he checked out of habit.
It wasn’t until he opened the bottom drawer of the dresser that he found anything of value. Unlike the top three drawers, which all held very little but a shirt and a robe, and like the linens on the bed they disintegrated in his hands, the bottom drawer held several papers, but unlike the papers on the desk, these papers remained intact. They were still quite fragile – after nearly four hundred years, he expected nothing less.
Using as much caution as possible, he pulled the drawer completely out of the dresser and just as carefully began snapping pictures of each sheet of paper before gently pulling them out and setting them aside. After removing each sheet of paper he placed them in one of several plastic sheet protectors he carried with him in his bag out of habit; whenever the team investigated abandoned sites he took the plastic sleeves. Rare were the times he ever had to use them and he even contemplated not bringing them anymore, but this time he was glad that he had. Unfortunately he did not have enough on him to keep each document in its own sleeve and he had to group the old papers together, all the while praying that they weren’t destroyed in the process.
“Did you find something?” Jonas questioned as he entered the small room.
Nigel couldn’t stop the roll of his eyes. “No,” he sneered. “I’m down here attempting to conduct a one-man séance.”
There was a moment of pause where Nigel was sure he was being flipped the bird, but he didn’t care. Like anyone else on the team or in the world, he hated stupid questions.
Finally, Jonas squatted down beside him and glanced at the papers, though had presence of mind enough not to jostle the sheets too much.
“It’s all in Italian, but I can read some of it. Syd’s the real expert though.”
“Maybe I can read it,” he said then reached for the top sheet, which Nigel immediately stopped before his hand even got close.
“You want to help now?” Nigel questioned.
Jonas’s eyes narrowed and he pulled his hand back. “For your information I have been helping.”
Nigel remained skeptical.
“I wanted to find something more recent on the monastery on the island and came across something interesting,” Jonas said as he stood and headed for the cot where he took a seat while Nigel continued to secure the old documents. “Well since you asked,” he said sarcastically, “I’ll tell you. I discovered that there’s a town just off the coast almost in direct line to the island that suffered some unusual problems in the time that the monastery was open.”
“What kind of problems?” Nigel asked as he snapped the last picture then placed the last paper in the sleeve.
Babies born with deformities, an increase of cancer among the residents, some residents inexplicably going crazy and acting ‘possessed’,” Jonas explained. “What about you? You said that you understood some of it. What did you find?”
Using as much care as he had when he placed the papers in the protectors, Nigel placed each sleeve into his satchel. “From the pieces I could read, the monastery here was founded in fourteen-hundred-eighty-two by Lorenzo Santorini,” he informed.
Jonas’s brows creased curiously. “That can’t be.”
Nigel shook his head. “No kidding. That’s why I want Syd to take a look at these. Maybe I’m reading them wrong. Of course there could be a simple explanation, like it just being a different Lorenzo Santorini.” After securing his satchel, he stood. “Now, before heading to your cursed town I’d like to head down the mountain and talk to the people in Vene, see if they have anything to say about the monastery and if the history of their town had any misfortunes as well.”
Jonas nodded and together the two of them walked out of the monastery. For the first time since arriving, it felt as if they were finally starting to get somewhere.
Caretaker’s Cottage – 1:30pm…
Jorden slept in far later than she wanted and when she found Matt in the den with a pair of headphones on, she grew immediately irritated. She knew that he would probably take advantage of her absence and work on the EVPs without her, though she’d hoped that she was wrong.
“I was beginning to worry,” Matt said as he slid over to make room for her on the sofa beside him.
“I couldn’t get to sleep last night,” she admitted, “Too much going through my head.”
“And a fear of dreaming?” he probed.
It was a question that she didn’t feel the need, or want, to answer. “So have you found anything yet?” she questioned.
He shook his head and rubbed his face. “Just going over the EVPs from the church. Tony has had a DR in the church for two days hoping to pick up the murmuring they’d heard on night one.”
“Anything?” she asked as she plugged in her own headphones – the only ones she liked to wear – into her own laptop.
Matt shook his head again, only this time with disappointment. “Apparently our spirits are shy.”
She nodded and without another word she placed the headphones over her ears. The padding on the around-ear headphones made them comfortable, which she appreciated, but more importantly they blocked out all surrounding, outside noise.
For an hour Jorden listened to the EVPs from the bell tower, starting with her own when she was up there with Matt. She heard the sound of a conversation not spoken between the only two living people up there, just as she had the first time she listened to it. She then switched over to the EVP collected by Isis and Syd the night after and heard a similar conversation. She couldn’t make out all the words; they were slurred and scratchy. Nothing stood out that would have her believe that if there was a haunting in the bell tower it was anything but residual – simply put, voices stuck in time.
In spite of the fact that there were a few more minutes on the newer recording, Jorden was about to give up when once again she heard the vicious growl from the mausoleum and then night in the bell tower when she got sick, but unlike the night she was up there, she heard something else. Following the growl was a declaration of some kind followed by a terrified scream.
The Haunting of Isola Forte di Lorenzo Page 11
