Tony was the only one fascinated by Sally’s outbursts. He felt the energy inside her was much stronger than before.
It was Travis who sat next to her while she came to her senses. He thought it would be better to bind her hands for her own protection. She looked around, seeing nothing but the vast ocean. She asked Travis where they were going?
He responded, “you don’t need to know. You’re coming with us no matter what.”
Tony made sure there was enough fuel to get them to the nearest airfield at Andros Island Bahamas. From there, he planned to take a private fixed wing aircraft and fly over to Mexico. Taking a commercial flight was too risky and would draw attention to the airport officials. Sally after all was not traveling with them on her own will. Tony was sure her father had already informed his superiors about the kidnapping, and he and Travis were now on the FBI wanted list.
The weather remained relatively calm as they crossed the ocean. Tony looked at his watch, cursing with having lost so much time. He calculated they had at least another six hours before the sun came up, and it would take them a half hour to reach Andros island.
Travis kept his eye on Sally for most of the journey as she went in and out of sleep. He noticed while she slept how active she was; he saw something within her that bothered him. Sally kept talking in her sleep as if having a conversation with someone. Her lips were moving, but no words came from her mouth.
Ever since that night after the summoning of her mother, he noticed Sally’s personality changed in a way that you would not realize at first. She seemed more outspoken, as if someone or something was advising her what to do and say. But now watching her talk as she slept, confirmed him what he was thinking. Now he understood why it was so important for Tony to perform this ritual with Sally as a sacrifice.
Travis left her side and made his way next to Tony.
“Are you hiding something from me?” He asked.
Tony without looking at Travis said, “so you noticed it also did you? Sally is possessed by a spirit that not even I can communicate with. The only thing I know about it is, it’s not from our time. It’s very old Travis! Not old in age, but old from hundreds, maybe thousands of years from the past,” said Tony.
“Is it an evil spirit?”
He then looked at Travis.
“I have no idea. We will have to wait and find out.”
Travis did not stop there.
“It began from when we summoned her mother did it?”
Tony replied, “yes, I believe we opened a gateway from the past, and somehow it slipped through into our age.”
Up in the distance they could see lights from the shoreline as they approached Nichols Town on Andros island. Tony edged his way into the harbor unnoticed. He moored the boat and tied it to an empty pontoon. The place seemed deserted. A few boats and fishing vessels were tied up comfortably for the night. Sally was awake and looked around the small harbor. No one was up and about at this hour of the morning. Travis made sure he kept close to her with one arm interlocked with hers. They passed a boat yard, which was pitch black inside. By the guess of things, the whole port was asleep.
With some luck, Travis managed to find them an unlocked car with the keys still in the ignition. Tony packed all their bags in the trunk, and they drove silently to the nearest airfield.
On the open road, Tony puts his foot down, speeding past the open fields. The night was quiet and warm, and not a word was said between either one of them. The sound of crickets could be heard from the fields as the car slowed down as it passed through tight bends in the road. Travis thought to himself as he looked at Sally while she stared out of the window. His thoughts went back to when his parents were still alive, and the life he would have led if it weren’t for that terrible day of the accident. The doctors who had operated on him thought it to be a miracle he had survived the crash. Having a fractured skull in three separate places was enough to kill you in an instance. He was certified dead on the operating table, and even time of death was announced, but out of nowhere the flat-lined monitor began to beep again as his heart came back to life.
Travis knew that it was with the help of Tony that he was given another chance in life, and swore he would always be in his debt to him no matter what.
The vehicle had reached the airfield in just under an hour. Time was still on their side. Tony looked up into the night sky, checking the weather conditions for flying. He noticed a slight breeze was picking up. The nearby tree tops were swaying as the warm wind rustled their branches. The airfield had a few fixed winged crafts used for crop dusting and a couple of Cessna's 172s and a Piper PA-34.
His eye was on the Piper, being a larger plane and capable of flying the nine hundred mile distance to the Yucatan. As they proceeded towards the Piper aircraft, Travis saw a light from a nearby hut.
“Tony, check to see if the keys are in the ignition,” said Travis.
“No keys!” Replied Tony.
“Wait for me inside the plane. I think I know where I can find the keys,” said Travis.
With the cover from the small line of huts, he made his way to the one that had a light on. As he came closer, he could hear the sound of a radio playing from inside. Stepping towards the window, Travis looked inside to see an old man, probably in his mid seventies sitting in an armchair reading the news-gazette. He took the chance to look around the room. He saw a small kitchenette on the far side of the hut, and on the left were some filing cabinets next to a desk with a computer and monitor screen. To the right of the door, he saw what he was looking for. All sets of keys were hanging on a white board with the names of each aircraft under them.
Travis thought of a way to distract the old timer without causing any harm to him. Only a few huts away, he saw some garbage bins. He ducked under the window so as not to be seen by the old man. Travis then knocked over one of the garbage bins creating enough noise for the old timer to leave the hut. The old man went to check what all the racket was all about, while Travis made his way around the other huts. He entered the hut with caution, making sure nobody else was inside.
He then went over to the white board and took the appropriate keys for the aircraft. As Travis was leaving the hut, he saw the old man approaching. There was nothing else he could do, but run.
The old timer shouted out as he saw Travis, “hey you! What do you think you’re doing?”
Travis ran to the aircraft where the others were waiting for him.
Tony opened the aircraft doors and took the keys from Travis, and inserted them into the ignition slot. He quickly prepared the aircraft for takeoff.
Tony taxied the airplane onto the short runway, and in a matter of minutes they were soon in the air.
Travis and Tony sat up front while the girls sat in the back with Sally sitting between them. Tony flew the aircraft as low as possible so as to avoid detection by radar.
Their journey to the underworld had begun.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Before reaching the mainland of the Bahamas, Jason contacted Chief Berks giving him an update on their situation. He then requests for him to make the necessary arrangements to hire a private aircraft, and to have it ready for takeoff on their arrival at a private airfield.
Without wasting time, Jason and the others berth the boat at the local yacht marina. To their surprise they find a local police officer ready to take them to the airfield.
In his thoughts, Jason thanked the Chief for being one step ahead of him. He also calculated Sally and her abductors have at least an hour head start on them. They get into the waiting vehicle and are rushed off to the airfield. On their way, Danny begins to feel faint. Kate opens his jacket and is shocked to see his bandages covered in blood. She assumes his stitches must have opened during the boat trip. Jason persuades his friend to stay behind and check in at the nearest hospital.