“What things?” Talia asked.
“Never mind,” Georgina replied.
Talia stopped and turned around. She had a feeling that someone was following them, but she saw nothing.
Andrew used the surrounding cover to trail behind as the five of them walked to the side of the dormitory. He listened with great interest as Georgina and Tommy explained what had been happening on the JFK Prep grounds. Andrew swiftly drew himself up tightly against the wall, blending into the shadows. He did so when Sheriff Delsmann turned back and looked in his direction.
Once they reached the side of the dormitory, a heavy wooden door greeted them which looked ominous and foreboding. Georgina used her key to open the door. Once inside, the painting of a nude woman immediately caught Talia’s attention along with her deputies. She walked up to it.
“Who painted it,” Talia looked at Georgina.
“I am not sure,” Georgina answered. “But we tried to cover it up and it just reappears.”
“What do you mean it reappears,” Talia asked.
“We’ve painted over it.” Tommy was exasperated. “We even tried paint remover.”
“Paint remover?” Talia exclaimed. She ran her fingers gently across it, feeling the brush strokes and imperfections of the wall that made up the beautiful painting. “It looks untouched.”
“I have to be going.” Georgina glanced at her watch. She looked at Talia. “I have a meeting this morning with another contractor.” Georgina handed Talia the keys. “Just lock up when you leave and give the keys to Tommy. If you remember, his trailer is by the main entrance.” Georgina was ready to leave the building, when Tommy took Talia aside to speak to her privately about something.
“Just watch out,” Tommy warned. “There are some strange things going on here.” He glanced at the painting of the woman. “They say the ghost of one of the founders, Father Oswald, roams the building and surrounding ground. They say he punishes those who desecrate this place. I’ve seen him myself; a man wearing a tatty hooded robe.” Tommy laughed.
The two of them left Talia and her deputies alone.
Once they were gone, Talia gave her instructions.
“I’ll search the dormitory. You two search the surrounding grounds. We’ll meet up in an hour at the cars.”
As soon as her deputies departed, Talia ascended the stairs leading to the second floor of the abandoned dormitory. She walked down the hallway and stopped at one of the dorm rooms. Talia turned the doorknob and entered the room.
The dorm room was plain looking. The walls were faded and the paint was chipping. There were several cracks in the ceiling. Only a single partially boarded up window provided very little light in the room. The remnants of melted candles were on the floor. Talia thought it was very strange for six teenagers to simply disappear. In the corner was an old mattress; it was of no importance. There was no evidence that the youths walked off or were forcibly removed. Talia noted some of the buildings were interconnected as she drove up the main road of JFK Prep. The only one connected to the dormitory was the St. Ambrose Chapel. She headed back down to the first floor. It was still dark inside the dormitory, so Talia flipped her flashlight on.
Andrew was about to move, but froze as the two deputies exited the dormitory. As soon as their flashlights came on, the deputies began their search of the surrounding grounds.
Andrew left his hiding place when they disappeared out of sight. He immediately headed to the side entrance. The heavy wooden door creaked when Andrew opened it. He stepped inside and turned on his flashlight. Andrew shone it on the painting of the woman. She seemed to stare right through him. Andrew shuddered. He was about to head up to the second floor, when the glow of an approaching light appeared at the top of the stairs. Andrew ducked back outside and slowly closed the door.
Talia heard a low creaking noise as she stopped at the top of the stairs. She shone her light at the door, but no one was there. Talia blew it off as nothing and descended the stairs. Talia continued her search of the first floor of the dormitory. She was looking for any kind of footprints, or signs of someone being dragged. Talia saw none. Just ahead at the end of the hallway was St. Ambrose chapel.
Andrew felt the coast must be clear by now, so he went back inside. He immediately headed up stairs and walked down the hallway. Andrew stopped at one of the doors. He turned the knob, opened the door and stepped inside.
The dorm room was plain looking. The walls were faded and the paint was chipping. There were several cracks in the ceiling that spread across it like spider webs. Only a single, partially boarded up window provided very little light in the room. The remnants of melted candles on the floor reminded Andrew of a bizarre-looking birthday cake. In one of the corners was a tatty mattress. It must have been left over from the time when the dorm rooms were used by students that attended the school.
Andrew walked over and knelt next to the mattress. He examined it closely. It was stained with bodily fluids. Andrew removed a small magnifying panel from his coat pocket. He leaned down closer to the mattress, but found nothing else. Andrew put the magnifying panel away and was about to stand up, when he noticed it. The ‘it’ was the fact that the dust outline around the mattress had been disturbed ever so slightly. One wouldn’t have noticed it unless they were where he was right now. More importantly, it meant that someone had flipped the mattress. Andrew carefully lifted up the mattress and shone his light on the back side. It was stained with blood, not weeks, months or years old, but fresh blood. Whoever was on the mattress was bleeding.
Andrew set the mattress back down and stood up. He searched the rest of the room for more blood spatters. The weird part was that there were none. How could that be? If the people on the mattress had been bleeding, how could they have been carried from the room without leaving some kind of blood evidence behind? Where did they hide the bodies? There were a dozen or more questions running around in Andrew’s head. He decided to continue searching the rest of the grounds for Chad and the others.
As Talia neared the chapel, her flashlight caught a hooded figure dressed in black standing ready to enter the chapel.
“Hey you there!” Talia shouted. She broke into a full run, but the person quickly slipped inside slamming the doors shut behind them. Talia hit the doors to open them but was stopped instantly! She stumbled backwards landing on her butt. Talia cursed and immediately rose to her feet again. She tried the door. As Talia suspected, it was locked. She had to find another way inside. So she backtracked outside and ran down the pathway to chapel. Talia found a side door. She grabbed the door knob and gave it a twist. It opened! Talia withdrew her gun and stepped inside. She had just taken a few steps toward the center of the room, when the door slammed shut. Talia spun around and shone her light at the door. No one was there. Talia turned her attention back to the search.
She was in a study, a priest’s study. The wooden desk was badly weathered, and the leather chair cracked with stuffing coming out. Both were covered with a layer of undisturbed dust. She was about to enter the sanctuary, when Talia felt a blow to the head. She crumpled to the floor and was out cold.
Andrew followed the first floor hallway up to the doors of St. Ambrose Chapel. The doors were locked. He would have to find another way inside. Andrew backtracked and went outside.
Andrew found a side door. He grabbed the door knob and gave it a twist. It opened! Andrew withdrew his gun and stepped inside. It was a priest’s study. The wooden desk was badly weathered, and the leather chair cracked with stuffing coming out. Both were covered with a layer of undisturbed dust. Andrew walked around the desk when he saw scrawled in the dust the words, ‘Gewalt wirkt Gewalt’.
“Violence equals violence,” Andrew repeated aloud in this time in English.