The Doomsday Key
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"Notice how all the bricks are laid horizontal, but look at the three around the lip of the opening. At the top and to either side."
Gray saw it now, too. "They're placed vertically."
The opening was a perfect half circle. The three vertical bricks marked off the 12, 3, and 9 o'clock positions.
"Do you think it's significant?" Rachel said.
Gray did. "It's like half of the pagan cross."
In the reflection off the pooled water, he could almost see the other half of the circle. He pictured completing the symbol, drawing lines to connect the stones. It would form the Druid cross they'd been following from the beginning.
"But what does it mean?" Rachel asked.
"Let me try something."
Gray crab-crawled on his elbows back out of the niche, then reversed himself and went in on his belly, feetfirst this time. He hoped he wasn't completely soaking himself for no reason.
Wallace called down, "Well?"
"Still working," Gray answered in a strained voice.
He got under the entrance and examined the three bricks. The two to the side seemed nondescript and solidly mortared. Stretching up, he grabbed the top brick. It seemed no different-until his probing fingers scraped along the top lip. There was a slight indentation, perfect for a grip.
He snagged his fingers in place and tugged.
The stone pivoted out. It caught for a moment, but as he pulled harder, a metallic snap sounded behind him-followed by a grinding of rock. They both twisted and glanced over their shoulders. The back wall swung open, revealing a narrow staircase leading down.
"The entrance," Rachel murmured near his ear. "We found it."
It took some maneuvering to back their way through the door and into the stairwell. Though narrow, it was wide enough to stand up in.
Rachel shone her flashlight down the short flight of brick steps. "Is that a tunnel at the bottom of the stairs?"
Gray climbed down to investigate, but as his boot hit the fifth step, he felt the stair sink an inch under his weight.
Another metallic snap sounded.
His heart stopped as a single word crystallized in his mind.
Trap.
Behind them, the door swung closed. Rachel yelled and leaped for the exit. She was too late. The door sealed with a distinct and final click.
She pounded on the stone door, but it was no use.
They were locked in.
12:42 P.M.
Seichan heard Rachel yell-then a crack of thunder deafened everyone standing over the crypt.
As it echoed away, Wallace leaned over the hole. "Didya find something down there?"
There was no answer.
Seichan also noted that the glow of the flashlight had vanished. Something was wrong. Reacting on instinct, she tucked her arms and dropped smoothly through the narrow entrance. She landed with a splash, absorbing the impact with her knees. Her fingers already clutched her lighter. She shoved her arm into the dark niche and flicked the lighter on. The flame's glow flickered all the way to the back of the crypt.
It was empty.
"What's going on?" Wallace called from above.
"They're gone."
Kowalski moved closer to the crypt, dripping wet and sullen. Lyle had gone to fetch some umbrellas. "What did I tell you...never go down a hole with Pierce."
"It might be a good thing," Wallace said.
Kowalski turned on him with a baleful eye.
"They must have found the secret entrance," Wallace elaborated.
But Rachel's cry had not been a happy one of discovery.
Seichan leaned into the crypt. She shouted with all her lung power. "Pierce! Rachel!"
Lightning flashed and thunder rolled, but Seichan made out a faint call. At least they were still alive. She climbed in farther.
"I can't understand!" she shouted.
A loud splash startled her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Wallace standing behind her, one hand on the rope.
"I wouldn't do that," Kowalski warned from above.
"Be quiet!" Seichan snapped.
She cocked her head and listened. She made out Gray's voice. She closed her eyes, straining. His commands were clipped. She imagined him cupping his mouth and shouting.
"Just inside! A vertical brick! Above the entrance! Yank it!"
Needing both hands to search, she flipped her lighter closed and twisted her body fully into the crypt. Feeling blindly along the entrance to the crypt, fingering the bricks, she found one that fit Gray's description. She reached to the top, discovered a carved indentation to grip, and yanked hard.
A loud snap sounded.
The back wall of the crypt swung open. She spotted the panicked face of Rachel. Gray stood at her shoulder.
"Got locked in," Gray said. "Get the others, but be careful of the fifth step. It seals the door."
Behind Seichan, Wallace shone his flashlight at them. "You found the way in. Brilliant! Simply brilliant!"
After a minute of wrangling, they all made it safely down the stairs to the lower tunnel. A dark stone passageway headed steeply away.
Kowalski declined to join them, calling down from above. "You go on. I'll wait for the umbrellas."
Off to the side, Rachel spoke. "Look at this." She pointed her flashlight at a thick bronze lever in the floor near the foot of the stairs. "I think it might be a release to unlock that secret door."
"Must have been how Father Giovanni came and went," Gray said. "Still, we should keep the exit jammed open just in case."
As a precaution, he had lodged a loose chunk of headstone from the cemetery to hold open the doorway. Seichan respected his decision. She preferred keeping a back door open in case of trouble.
Wallace pointed his flashlight down the tunnel. "Medieval monks often crafted trapdoors and hidden rooms in their abbeys and monasteries. Places were riddled with secret passageways like this. It was one of their means of hiding from marauders. Additionally, the tunnels offered a way to spy on their guests. Knowledge proved to be as much of a defense in those hard times as any shield."