Fiona Frost: Order of the Black Moon (4 page)

The detective
grabbed
a few industrial flashlights
that were lined up against the wall
, tossing one to each of us.
We clicked them on
and
voracious light beams
struck
the jagged
, rocky
structures. T
he main corridor
was dark, but not pitch-black
as s
unrays
streamed
through
hole
s
in the ceiling
in the largest open area
further
ahead.
T
he flashlights
were
going to be necessary
fo
r
Dracul’s Den
.

“
Over to your right is called the Room of Beauty.
C
olorful
crystals mak
e
up the walls of the room
.
It
’s
worth a peek
if you can get enough flashlights aimed in there
,
”
the detective
pointed out, positioning his beam inside
the room.

“Whoa, that’s what I was talking about earlier!
”
Maddie shouted as she
stepped in front of
the detective to wave
her flashlight around the room.
“So pretty!”

I stepped inside the room
, waving
my
light
on
the walls at the
serrated
crystals.
Q
uite interesting
, b
eautiful
.
However, the room was
dark
, formidable
.
No matter how strong the
light beam
was,
the space
surrounding it
remained
pitch
-
black
—
as if the room
was able to consume
light.

“C’mon, Mad
ison
.
Let’s not get distracted by the shiny things,”
he
chu
ckled
, ushering
us along the corridor.
“To the left is what the
U
niversity refers to as the Room of Orbs.
They believe they have captured multiple orbs on camera
—
video and print.
They
say
they
’re
concentrated
here
, but they
’ve claimed to have
captured orbs
all over the
cave
.”

Wolfe dash
ed
in front of me
, sticking his head
into
the room.

“So, what exactly is an orb, Detective
?
”
he
asked, waving his flashlight around the
space
.

I
moved
to stand next to
Wolfe
, shining
my beam alongside his, pointing
it
at
the ceiling
to
thousands of stalactites, all looking like
butterscotch
icicles.
The flooring of the room was
uneven
with rocks, thick, pointed stalagmites and limestone sculptures.
It reminded me of
movies that showed
the terrain of other planets.

“An orb can mean many things
,
but
it’s defined as
an unexplained, circular photographic effect caused by a
supernatural
presence.
I call it a speck of dust.
”

Wolfe grabbed his
phone, snapping
pictures with his camera.

“Whatever!
”
I muttered, my intonation dark
.

I didn’t believe in ghosts.
I was shocked
when
Hartford University had the audacity to open the Paranormal Science Department
, but
I
found out
later
it had been funded by a private grant
—
a
bizarre
old rich couple wanted
someone to
declare
their manor
as haunted so they could cash in on tourists
.
One thing I learned from that is nobody turns down free money—not even prestigious universities.
I didn’t consider anything paranormal
to be
science, to say the least.

“Holy crap, look at that!
”
Wolfe said, holding his phone for me to see the picture.

“It’s an artifact of your flash,” I
snapped, shaking my head.

The
picture had a circular structure
—
a blue, glowing dot in the center of the room
next to a stalagmite
jetting up from the floor like a gigantic
Popsicle
.
With the
camera’s
flash,
I could make out all of the structures clearly.

“
To t
he left is
the
Bat
Dorm
—
”

“N
o
!
I’m not going any further
.
I can
’t
stand bats!
”
Maddie
objected
.
“I dra
w the line with bats
!”

“
S
top
that, y
ou
’ll
be fine!
”
I said,
squeezing her shoulder
with light fingers.

I lo
cked elbows to calm her and
show
support
.
T
he detective
chuck
le
d
as
his shadowy
silhouette
shook his head
.

“
No bats, Madison
,
at least not anymore
.
The
ir waste,
guano
,
was
hazardous
, and
the
state’s
health departm
ent made the city
clean it up and get rid of the bats
. It’s just an empty room.
”

“Gr
oss, no that is seriously gross
,”
she
scoffed
.

In haste, w
e
passed the
entrance to the roo
m, avoiding a
steady stream
of water
from the ceiling.
I flashed my light onto the wall next to the Bat Dorm
spotting
a deep f
issure, a
mini cave entrance.
I had no desire to find out what that
led to.

The corridor opened
up
into a massive open
space
with a small waterfall leading to a moving river
exiting
the cave
.
Multiple streams of light
barreled
in from random
openings
in the ceiling, lighting up
the area
in an elegant manner
—
like the track lighting in my living room
. It
was a
soothing
place
,
the
aroma
less musty
,
cleaner
like fresh running water.

“This is called the Open Council Room.
This is where
early
Native Americans held tribal council meeting
s
.
Later,
outlaws
took over and used this place as
a
hideout. A
speakeasy
was
in
this room
during the prohibition
era
of the
twenties
.
There used to be big bands playing here with dancing, gambling and
,
of course
, illegal liquor.
The history of this cave is
interesting.”

As the detective lectured on about the times gone by in the cave, I strolled
the
perimeter of the room
and
became
mesmerized by the fascinating shapes of the stalagmites rising from the ground
, Wolfe trailing me
as I explored the area.

“I can see how this could be a good
hang out for people wanting to hide,”
he
said
with
a
silken
voice.

I
followed
the river
, tracing its route
. With my eyes glued to the running water, I never noticed the
wide
,
gaping hole leading down into
the
darkness
below
.

“Fiona
!
Be careful!
”
Detective Chase screamed f
rom
across
the room.

A
s he spoke, t
he slick souls of my wedge heels slid against the wet limestone.
With
lost footing
,
my body collided with the
ground
,
and
in slow motion,
I slipped inside of a
large gap in the
ground
.
M
y
body
suspended in
the
air
, gravity pulling m
e downward with vigor
like
an amusement park thrill ride
as my fingers caught a thin ledge on the side wall, my flashlight
tumbling
towards the ground.
I held on, my heart pounding, my fingers sliding across the slippery ridge.
I lost my grip and
my lungs seized
a
s
my body
plummet
ed
into
the
darkness
.
My
flashlight
hit the
ground below with a heavy thud
.
I would be next
.

I
instinctively
extended
my
trembling
limbs
, and
my foot jammed inside
of
a
niche
in the wall
, slamming my
opposing
shoulder
against the
limestone. The second I wedged myself inside
of the
pit, I gasped for air as two
massive hands
clutched
my shoulders
and rounded
into my armpits
, yanking
me
to safety
.
My head dropped as I ascended,
my eyes focusing on
the
flashlight
below.
As my feet
gently
landed on
the
sludge of the
ground
,
my rescuer
spun me around
,
cradling me
. I
t was Wolfe.

He wrapped his arms around
my
tremulous
shoulders, pulling me inside of his
warmth;
my
head
fell
onto
his chest.
I followed
his rhythmic heartbeat
,
counting the beats
;
I
needed
a mental distraction
to keep my conscious
ness
.
Gasping
for air,
I
awkwardly
tossed
my arms around his torso
, propping my boneless body into a standing position.
My heart
started to calm
, but the
blood pound
ed
in
my ears.
I
f he
had
released me
, I would
have
crumble
d
from the
overdose
of adrenaline in my system.