Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Theo
One more adventure.
Somehow, sneaking around the Acropolis after closing wasn’t the kind of adventure Theo ever imagined he’d partake in.
Nor did he ever imagine he’d be paying an old man like Harold in moussaka and spanakopita to keep watch for them at a restaurant outside the gates once the sun went down. But Dani trusted him, so Theo did, too.
The plan was simple: After heading out to get flashlights, gloves, a foldable shovel, and rope, they’d return to the Acropolis right before closing and hide out behind some rocks until the coast was clear.
Then, once the site was empty, they’d travel up to the spot with the eye rock and investigate further.
If Harold noticed anything from beyond the gates, he’d create a commotion, hopefully one loud enough to get their attention.
It was a real crapshoot. But Dani had been right—if they didn’t at least check, it would gnaw at him for the rest of his life.
“What do you think?” Dani said, whispering. “It’s almost nine. Should we go ahead and try?”
“Let’s do it.”
They got up from their hiding place and crept up the hillside, avoiding use of the flashlights as best they could.
Fortunately, the full moon helped illuminate their path.
Slowly, they made their way up the rocks, careful not to make too much noise.
Once they got to the spot with the eye rock, they hunkered down and turned on the flashlights to inspect the rock.
“What do you think?” Dani asked.
Theo ran his hand over the carving. “This is definitely man-made,” he said. “And look.”
He ran his hand over another spot on the rock, even more faint and worn away from erosion. But even with the weathering, he could still make it out.
The μ.
“Is that…?” Dani asked.
“I’m pretty sure.”
“This has to be it.”
Theo nodded. What it was, remained to be seen. But it was definitely something.
He turned around again to see their vantage point and determine whether they’d be caught if he illuminated the grounds.
It was risky, but after the risks they’d already taken, what were a few more.
With a quick wave of his hand, he scanned the flashlight over the area, trying to see if there was any opening for a cave.
But it looked like nothing more than a pile of rocks that had crumbled over time and ended up in this exact spot.
He tried nudging the rock, but it was no use. There were too many other rocks atop it for it to budge.
“I wonder if these rocks are blocking the entrance,” Theo said. “It looks like maybe they collapsed.”
“That would explain why the eye rock is cocked on its side.”
True.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think these rocks are moving without any heavy equipment,” Theo said.
“So that’s it?” Dani asked.
She seemed deflated.
“I don’t see how else to get around it.”
“What if there’s something up here?” Dani said, climbing a little higher.
“Just be careful, will you?” he said. “Last thing we need is for one of us to break an ankle up here.”
“Theo, when have you known me to break anything?”
“Aside from my heart?” he joked.
“Don’t worry, I’m remedying that. Besides, you know what they say?”
“What’s that?”
“The key to mending a broken heart is a magical puss—eeeeeee!” Dani cried as she disappeared into a hole.
“Dani!” Theo yelled, no longer caring about someone seeing or hearing them.
He scrambled up the rocks toward the area where she’d disappeared.
At the top there was an almost perfectly round hole.
He shined the flashlight in, and there, resting about fifteen feet down covered in dirt and dust, was Dani.
“Juicy! Are you okay?!” he called down to her.
She groaned and sat up. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Hold on, I’m going to secure the rope, and I’ll come down to you.”
Once he found a solid rock to tie the rope around, he lowered it into the hole before climbing down to her. The moment his boots hit the ground, he dropped to his knees to check on Dani.
“Sure you’re okay? You didn’t break anything, did you?” he asked.
“No, but it knocked the wind out of me,” she said. “What is this place?”
Theo scanned the flashlight around the cavern. It was pitch-dark save for their flashlights. The area was about double the size of his office at the museum, but empty. As he waved the light around the area, though, something caught his eye.
“Look,” he said, pointing his flashlight at a round slab against the rock about twenty feet from them.
Dani grabbed her flashlight and shined it in the same spot, illuminating a semiround stone that didn’t look natural.
Without speaking, they stood and walked over to the stone.
Upon further inspection, it became clear that it was a doorway of sorts.
With all their might, they pushed the rock, rolling it on its side and revealing another entry cut deep into the side of the Acropolis.
Once the stone was out of the way, they shined their lights down the opening into a tunnel that was at least another fifty feet long.
“Here goes nothing,” Theo said, taking her hand.
Slowly, they walked through the rock tunnel, continuing to scan their flashlights in every direction. At the end of the tunnel, they came upon another room.
This one was even larger than the area where Dani had fallen, about the size of a grade school gym. In the middle of the room sat an altar-like stone slab. And atop the altar, a larnax.
“?Ay, Dios mío!” Dani said at the same time Theo said, “Ho-ly shit.”
“What is that?” Dani asked.
“It’s a larnax, a type of coffin used by the Minoans.”
It wasn’t very large compared to coffins of the present day. It appeared to be ceramic made to look like wood. The box was covered with drawings and pictures.
“It doesn’t look big enough for a Minotaur,” Dani said.
“Have you known many Minotaurs?” Theo asked jokingly.
“Have you?”
“Fair. Shall we take a closer look?”
Dani nodded and they moved toward the chest, stepping up the altar until they were face-to-face with the box.
Other than in a museum, Theo hadn’t come across a larnax in real life.
The piece was painted with intricate designs.
An eye. A squiggly pattern reminiscent of water.
And, most interestingly, a man slaughtering a bull. Theseus.
Whatever lay inside, this was a discovery of discoveries.
“What now?” Dani said. “I’m sort of thinking we shouldn’t open it. Like, what if this is Pandora’s box?”
Pandora’s box. Originally a jar containing all the evils and terrors of the world.
Dani was right. It didn’t feel right opening the box, not like this. Not under cover of night after breaking into the Acropolis. It was a coffin, after all.
“I agree.”
“What do you think we should do with it?” she asked.
“Maybe we alert Andreas and see if he can help?” Theo said.
Out of nowhere, a bright light pointed directly at them. Both Theo and Dani shielded their eyes.
Fuck. They’d been caught.
Theo had the urge to curse Harold, until the spotlight was replaced by a lantern that illuminated the entire cavern and revealed their guests.
Pierre Vautour, Maurice, and Louis.
How? No one knew where they were except Harold. And the chance that he’d somehow been connected to Vautour seemed even more far-fetched than the likelihood that a Minotaur lay in that larnax.
Maurice held the lantern high above his shoulders as Vautour stepped into the room and clapped.
“Bravo, Dr. Galanis. I knew you’d succeed,” Vautour said.
As much as he wanted to give Dani the credit for the find, now wasn’t the time.
“How did you find us?” Theo asked, in fighting stance.
“You didn’t think I’d let my most important asset travel around Greece without some security, did you? Maurice and Louis could only do so much,” Vautour said, like that provided any sort of explanation. “Your medallion,” he then offered, motioning to the gold chain that hung around Theo’s neck.
Theo’s hand shot to the necklace that he’d worn for almost the entirety of his adult life, feeling the pendant between his fingers.
“I replaced it with a new one with tracking inside it some months ago,” Vautour explain. “I’ve kept tabs on you since day one, though we lost you a few times when the signal was a bit spotty.”
Since day one? So Theo never had a chance. He never would have been able to get away, not as long as he wore the necklace. The necklace his papou had left to him after he’d died.
Theo’s arm jerked forcefully, ripping the chain from his neck and tossing it in the dirt.
“Where is mine?” he asked, trying to hold himself together.
“Oh, I don’t know. I think we got rid of it, didn’t we, Maurice?” Vautour asked.
“Probably,” Maurice said.
“That was my grandfather’s,” Theo said.
“Oops.” Vautour shrugged.
Theo clenched his fists. God, he wanted to punch him. Both of them.
“Anyway,” Vautour continued, clearly not giving one shit about Theo’s papou, “we saw you seemed to be spending an inordinate amount of time at the Acropolis today and figured we might as well see what you were up to. Maurice always suspected that you knew more than what you were telling him. Now, open it.”
Vautour pointed to the larnax.
“No,” Theo said.
Vautour sighed. “I’m getting really tired of you thinking you have the upper hand here.”
“What makes you think you do?” Dani called out.
“How about this?” Maurice said, pulling a gun out from behind his back.
Theo’s stomach plummeted.
They should have left.
They should be at the airport right now.
“And I thought you weren’t a murderer?” Theo said, trying to maintain an even tone, but he knew it was futile.
“I’m not. But I can’t say the same about Maurice. Open it,” Vautour commanded again.
Theo’s shoulders slumped. There weren’t any other options. No olive oil displays to knock over. No bathroom windows to climb out of. No Keraboss Super Ks to hop into. The only choice left was to comply.
“Okay,” Theo said, reaching around for his bag so he could get his gloves.