by Jen Crane
Cooper and Kade. Nori searched the small room but they weren’t there. The cold fingers of fear first touched her spine then quickly suffused the rest of her body.
“Hey,” Nori said softly and caught the girl’s feral gaze. The whites of her eyes were the only thing on her face not sooty and black. She blinked, but didn’t speak. “Where am I?” Nori asked. “Where are your mom and dad?”
The girl’s eyes narrowed, and she stood, chewing her lip as she crept toward Nori.
“Good girl,” Nori cooed. “Come here. I won’t hurt you.”
Without a word, the girl kicked Nori square in the ribs.
“You little— Why did you do that?” She rubbed her side. “Was it you who hit me in the head?” The girl glared, still silent. “Do you know where my friends are?”
The girl backed away, one side of her mouth pulled up in a spiteful half-smile. She squatted in a corner of the room and watched, only moving to scratch her head or pick at her feet.
Nori sat locked in the tiny room with no idea how long she had or would be there. Or why. Her stomach fussed for food, so it must’ve been several hours. She was already feeling weak.
The girl continued to watch her, eyes narrow slits of disapproval, never acknowledging Nori’s repeated questions.
“You’ve got something,” Nori rubbed a finger along the side of her nose, “right there. Little black smudge of something…” Nori circled her face with a finger. “Alllll over your face.”
A scowl wrinkled the girl’s face, and as if she could no longer withstand the temptation, she finally swiped a hand along her nose.
“Aha!” Nori yelped, forgetting her throbbing head until it threatened to burst again. She rubbed the knot and stared down the girl. “You can understand me,” she said. “I knew it! How long are they going to keep me down here? Where are my friends?”
Nothing.
“Okay, can you at least untie me? These ropes are rubbing raw places on my wrists.”
A smirk.
“I know you can hear me, you little monster.”
Though Nori tried to reason with her, the girl never complied. Never engaged. It was like talking to a robot, or one of those British palace guards in old movies.
Mumbling outside the cell caught Nori’s attention, and she sat up straighter. The women who entered were not much cleaner than the girl. The older woman’s hair was shorn close to her scalp, but the younger woman’s was matted and stuck to her head in places.
“Hi.” Nori aimed for civil, reasonable. “Where are my friends? We don’t want to hurt anyone. We’re just passing through.”
The older woman wouldn’t meet Nori’s gaze, instead motioning for her to stand and twisting her finger in a circle in the universal turn-around signal. When Nori turned, the woman grabbed the rope around her wrists, punishing her already-raw skin.
“Ow!” Nori whined. “Can you just take these off? Please. I’m not going anywhere. I don’t even know where we are.”
The younger woman motioned to the girl, who scampered out of the room. The older woman pushed Nori in front of her and out into the hall, where there were other cells like hers. Were Cooper and Kade inside one of them?
“Kade?” she called frantically. “Cooper?”
The old woman twisted the ropes, and Nori sucked air between her teeth at the pain.
“That hurts,” she growled, swinging her head toward the woman. “Where are you taking me?”
The woman’s answer was a swift kick in the back, which sent Nori stumbling forward.
Down, down, down, Nori was ushered deep into the earth. She kept her eyes peeled for a wider opening, for a place to escape, but there was only the narrow tunnel lit intermittently by torches.
Though she’d learned to withstand it, Nori hated the cold. It was the one thing she feared she’d never get used to in the Subterranean. Wet, biting cold chilled her to the bone, and no amount of dry socks could warm her feet enough. But something was changing. The air was more like the mist above a jacuzzi—heavy with warm moisture—and the farther down they went, the warmer it was. Down, down, down. Down into the belly of the earth.
And the deeper they went, the greater Nori’s terror. A violent shake started at her knees and sent a fine tremor all the way up her body. She wasn’t sure what they had planned for her, but it clearly wasn’t good. Her emotions overrode her attempts at bravery, and tears brimmed over her eyelids.
With her hands still restrained, Nori had to bend her chin to a shoulder to wipe her nose. She stole a look at the women, who had yet to speak. Their faces were like whittled stone, staring straight ahead, unemotional, unfazed even as she begged to be let go.
Around one last bend in the path, stifling air hit Nori like a furnace to the face, and she worked harder to breathe through the thick air. She was in a tomb-like space, little statues on ledges and scenes of people on their knees carved into the rock face. Three or four benches…no, Nori thought as her stomach dropped. Three or four altars were carved from stone, and placed throughout the room. The tomb was lit by torchlight, fire feeding from thick black oil soaked into rags on old-fashioned stakes. The air was obnoxious with the smell of sulfur, and she gagged and blinked back more tears.
Panic suddenly clambered past despair, and Nori kicked and screamed, trying to turn and run from the strange temple back to the dirty cell. Though she struggled with every ounce of strength she possessed, the women managed to shove her through a wide opening, revealing, with terrifying clarity, the heat’s origin.
Nori sucked in a breath at the ominous beauty. Sandstone columns glowed as they absorbed the fiery light of lava. Nori stopped fighting her captors, frozen with fear at the sight of red-hot magma bubbling a hundred feet below. The older woman twisted the ropes tying her hands again, a reminder to keep moving forward.
The entire temple was built to frame the cauldron of lava. Half-arches were carved from the earth around it to form windowed walls. This was it, Nori thought. She’d finally seen the scariest thing in the Subterranean. And then, when she couldn’t possibly comprehend another shock, she looked across the fiery pit and found a dais and throne.
Twelve men in gray robes stood on the dais, their eyes keen on Nori’s face as she approached. Panic surged at the sudden attention, and the thick breaths she took through the stale air turned to shallow pants. Lightheaded, dizzy, bound, and alone amidst a collection of grungy apostles, Nori closed her eyes and prayed for a miracle. This was it. This was the day she was going to die.
Among the twelve, a single man stood out. He wore a charcoal robe, and worked to hide the pleasure pulling at the corners of his mouth. His eyes were narrowly set, and yet the most prominent feature of his face. His nose was too long and his lips too thin—if he pressed them together, he might’ve had no mouth at all. Sandy hair was tied back, his hands clasped behind him.
Nori stopped walking. Stopped moving. Stopped breathing. “What’s going on?” she said, and her voice was high with panic. “Where are my friends?”
The women forced her around the last arched window, where she caught sight of Cooper lying unmoving beside the dais.
“Cooper!” she screamed. “Oh my God! Cooper!” Nori tried to run to him, but the older woman still held her restraints and jerked her roughly back. “Let me go!” she said. “What have you done to him?”
The narrow-eyed man approached her with a graceful, ravenous intent. He sized her up as he walked, gaze beginning at her hiking boots, slowing as they moved over her knees and thighs, up to her waist, and absorbing every twist and turn of her body. She shivered and longed for a shower. Finally, the man’s eyes rested on her face.
“Welcome,” he said. “These are the Disciples of Yahweh.” He waved an arm toward the men. “And I am the Sword, though you may call me Lonnie. You’ve met Marta, Dawn, and Nayem, the Matron, the Maid, and the Daughter.”
Nori’s first impulse was to laugh at the absurdity of it all, but they were serious, which made her want to c
ry instead. What did they want from her? Why had they forced her to the wicked-looking temple? Cooper’s unconscious—or dead—body was a clue their intentions weren’t benevolent.
“What have you done to my friend?” Her voice was weaker than she would’ve liked.
Lonnie looked down at Cooper, a snarl flashing across his beatific face before it disappeared. “Your friend did not accept our invitation.”
“Please just let us go,” she begged. “We don’t want any trouble.”
“We lead simple lives here,” he said. “Simple, but purposed.”
Lonnie stepped into her personal space, and she tried to back up but Marta—or Dawn— stood behind her and she couldn’t move.
“What do you want from us?” Nori asked, stalling until she could form a solid plan. “Why have you hurt him?”
The breath Lonnie exhaled reached Nori before his hand did, and she shivered at the too-familiar touches of both. “Sometimes we must open the eyes of those who will not see.”
Nori’s stomach turned as her suspicions landed their first piece of evidence. “Where’s my other friend?”
“All in due time, child. All in due time.”
Nori started to argue, to scream, to ask what in hell he was talking about, but she was distracted by Cooper’s twitching foot. Relief flooded her. Maybe he knew who the wackos were—and how to get them out of this mess.
Unfortunately, Lonnie saw it, too. He knelt beside Cooper, whose hands were tied firmly behind his back. “He awakens.” Lonnie motioned to one of the robed men still standing stoically on the dais. “Shall we see if he can be saved?”
The robed man stepped forward. He never looked up before bending to lift Cooper’s prone body and helping him stand. Nori searched Cooper’s face for some clue what to do. He held her gaze then closed his eyes in…regret? Defeat? The muscles of his jaws clenched when he turned away from her.
“Cooper?” Nori moved closer to him, and away from Lonnie. “Cooper, what’s going on? Who are these people? What do they want from us?”
“Excellent question, dear one.” Lonnie motioned again, this time to the woman behind Nori, who untied the knot at her hands. She rubbed her wrists and rolled her neck, while keeping an eye on Lonnie. He approached her again, clasped both her hands in his, leaning so close she could barely breathe. “Long have we, the Sword of Yahweh, borne the burden of sharing the Lord’s message,” he said. “Long have we borne the burden of safeguarding the manifestation of his eternal salvation. Long have we borne the burden of sharing the way with those we meet.”
Cooper shifted, his body going rigid, and Lonnie shot him a venomous warning glare. Lonnie held Cooper’s gaze, but spoke to Nori as he rubbed her hands intimately between his. They were cool, and soft, and clean. Her body shook in a disgusted shudder.
“If you ask the Lord to cleanse your soul,” he said, “you may live among us. You may join us, and share his abundance as one of our own.”
Nori risked a look around the room. The men surrounding Lonnie, the silent female servants who’d brought her down, they all bought into it. They all subscribed. It wouldn’t be smart to insult their religion, but there was no way in fiery hell she was staying to join them.
“And if I don’t accept?” she asked. “If I decline the offer to join you?”
“Well.” Lonnie splayed his hands in front of him, a peaceful gesture incongruent with his words. “If you will not join us, you will sustain us. All the Lord’s gifts are accepted here.”
“Sustain?” Nori’s gaze shot to Cooper, whose face was less defiant than it had been a moment before, and noticeably afraid.
“Listen, Lonnie,” Nori said with forced bravado. “Thank you for the offer, but we can’t stay. Maybe next time we’re back this way we’ll stop and talk redemption.”
“Entertaining.” Lonnie nodded toward Nori, but spoke to Cooper. “She is entertaining. But I fear you both may suffer the fate of your friend, who also denied the Lord’s invitation.”
A cold chill raced down Nori’s back, taking the strength of her legs with it. Her knees buckled as she looked down into the pit of lava. A metal vest emblazoned with a crucifix was suspended by chains just above the lip of the crater. The vest was fitted around a person, a man, and with ominous clinks the contraption began to lower into the steaming red liquid.
Nori screamed. A metal mask covered his face, but she knew. She knew it was Kade. “No,” she begged. “Pull him up. He’ll do whatever you ask—just pull him up.” She clasped Lonnie’s hands and stepped into his embrace. “I’ll do whatever you want. We’ll do whatever you ask, just pull him back up!”
Cooper scurried toward the pit, sending rocks and dirt tumbling into the lava. He stopped just short of the edge and looked down, then frantically up at the ceiling and walls, his gaze finally snagging on a lever high above their heads.
“I am sorry,” Lonnie said, though he looked no such thing. “Your friend made his choice. He declined the Lord’s offer, and now will serve as a sacrifice for our continued blessings.” Lonnie made a dramatic gesture to the person manning the lever in an overhead chamber. The chain extended with a creak, slowly lowering Kade toward the scalding liquid.
Nori and Cooper’s screams joined those coming from the metal contraption, which only lasted a moment more.
37
A Chance in Hell
Nori slumped to the ground, though Lonnie still held her hands in his. Rubbing, rubbing, rubbing with a light, cool touch so incongruent with the steaming pit. She wasn’t thinking clearly. Couldn’t reconcile what had just happened. She stared numbly at the pit with no emotion. Had her brain splintered somewhere along the way?
Lonnie’s long, dramatic breath was almost meditative. Nori looked up at him, her feelings swirling between horrified, and confused, and afraid. When he opened his eyes again, they were alight with wicked pleasure.
“Ah.” He patted her hands and bent to place them in her lap. “We have another postulant,” he said. “Let us see if he wishes to accept the gift of salvation.”
Nori’s gaze shot to Cooper’s. If he stood beside her, bloodied though he was, and Kade had been lowered into the lava, who were they bringing? She wiped her eyes with her palms to see, and when he came into view, she questioned her sanity again. “What?” She looked at Cooper, at the prisoner, and back again. “What?”
“It wasn’t him,” Cooper breathed, his voice tight with disbelief.
“Kade.” Nori hiccuped a sob and searched the face of her friend. He hadn’t been touched. He was unharmed. Alive.
When Kade’s eyes met hers, they closed. Relief. He’d been worried, too.
“I have just been explaining to your friends our calling,” Lonnie said. “The Lord has charged us with growing his kingdom, with glorifying his name, and with nourishing both his spirit and our own. Will you accept him and learn our ways, sharing both our bounty and our lives?” Lonnie waved a hand toward the lava pit with gentle grace. “Or will you face the fate of your friend, who has nourished our immortal souls?”
Kade’s eyes shot wildly between her and Cooper, whose face had gone bone-white.
Kade struggled to get words out, swallowing several times.
Cooper cleared his throat and stood upright. “Lonnie? Ah, Brother Lonnie? We find ourselves suddenly open to your offer. Can you tell us more about your work here?”
Lonnie’s face transformed to one of passion and light. “Yes, Brother. I hoped you might see the light. We are honored to share with you the blessings of our fold.”
The women didn’t untie Cooper and Kade right away, but they did lead them from the volcanic pit. Small victories, Nori supposed, her pulse slowing a little. As they shuffled past the dais, she motioned toward the metal rigging, which was once again suspended above the pit and burned clean. “Who was that?” she asked.
Cooper shook his head, but didn’t look at it again. A tremor ran the length of his body.
“What do we do now?” she whispered,
earning a censorious look from the dreadlocked Maid.
Cooper shook his head, his mouth a tight, straight line.
The sound of machine gun fire was deafening, like her eardrums had burst after the initial shot. Nori only heard white noise after that, but instinctively threw herself to the ground, landing hard on elbows and knees. She tried to crawl, straining to search for her friends. Kade had dived behind a column. Cooper was nearly lying on top of her. She wiggled and pitched her body to throw him off.
“Get off me,” she said through gritted teeth.
He did but rolled his eyes. “You’re welcome, by the way.” “This way,” he said. “Follow me.”
Nori, Cooper and Kade ran toward a tiny alcove behind the dais and waited.
“What the hell’s going on?” Kade demanded.
“They fried someone in that pit before they brought you out,” Cooper said in a rush. “They thought we were all together. Maybe whoever that was had friends.”
A spine-chilling cackle drew Nori’s attention toward the temple entrance. She would’ve known that laugh—and that face—anywhere. Even through the steam and gunpowder smoke, she recognized Jenks’s slimy sneer. He and Sarge took cover behind columns as they mowed down the men on the dais, who weren’t armed. The battle was easily won.
“We have to get out of here,” Cooper said. “They’ll come for us next. Quick, untie us.”
With Cooper done and finishing the knots at Kade’s back, Nori spotted Jenks across the way. A smile spread across his face that was so evil she shivered. He’d caught sight of the little girl, Nayem. Spiteful brat or not, no one deserved Jenks’s particular attentions.
She snuck behind Jenks as quietly as she could. He was too busy firing on parishioners pouring out of the hallway to notice her. She dipped behind an arched wall and waited for him to pass by. Nori didn’t breathe for fear he’d see her, but he didn’t. When he was finally close enough, she launched herself, throwing her arms around the column. She held on for dear life and kicked Jenks in the gut as hard as she could. He swung his arms wildly to stop the momentum, but it was too late. He plunged into the boiling pit. A split second later, Nori gasped, blinking as she came to terms with what she’d done. Jenks was a vicious, evil person, and he’d had his sights on a child. Bile rose in her throat anyway. She’d killed someone.
