48. Chapter 48
Chapter forty-eight
Alex
Alex’s head was pounding so hard he almost lost consciousness from the pain as they arrived at the vortex coordinates at the Old North Church. His heart raced faster and faster. The sweat poured off his brow as if he were in a sauna. Had he overtaxed himself with the storm? No, this was something different. He feared his headache would surpass the pain he experienced after his ascension. Each mile closer to the energy vortex brought him closer to achieving salvation for Danyal, but Alex was worried. Could his body deal with channeling this much energy?
“Alex, Alex,” said Wynn as he slid beside Alex. “Are you OK? You don’t look well.”
“I’m fine,” said Alex.
“Bullshit,” said Bruno, sitting across the truck and looking at Alex over Danyal’s body on the gurney. “You’re starting to feel the vortex. Here, the energy is projected out from the Earth. Your body is like a water hose trying to funnel Niagara Falls.”
“I know, Bruno. I feel the energy growing stronger the closer we get.”
“Is he running a fever, Wynn?” asked Bruno.
Wynn placed his palm on Alex’s forehead. “Damn, you’re burning up, Alex.”
“My health isn’t the issue. Since we have arrived, Wynn, I’ll defer to your expertise.”
“You know we’re in uncharted territory. Plus, arriving in the dead of the night during a city-wide blackout is hardly ideal,” said Wynn.
“I tend to do my best work when I wing it,” said Alex.
“You keep believing that, Alex. Follow the energy, but I suspect the energy will find you,” said Wynn.
Stepping out of the truck, Alex stumbled and nearly fell in the rain.
“Easy,” said Wynn. “Let me help you.”
Alex nodded as Galen, Andrea, and Michael approached.
“Cupid, you’ve lost the color in your cheeks,” said Andrea.
“You say the kindest things, Andrea,” said Alex.
“What’s the plan?” asked Galen, looking toward Ryo for an answer.
Ryo said, “The security detail needs to form a perimeter around the church. We don’t want any surprises.”
“Priest knows we are coming?” asked Galen.
Ryo nodded yes. He said a healthy donation to the parish helped grease the wheels, and that they thought the group was filming a paranormal documentary in the catacombs.
As they stepped through the large wooden arched doors, Alex pointed his finger to a hallway on the left past the altar.
“The energy is pulling me there. I’m going to need Galen’s help to keep steady.”
“Gotcha, mate,” said Galen as Wynn stepped aside.
“We need more light,” yelled Wynn. “I can’t see a thing. The flashlights are all dead.”
Alex closed his eyes and raised his right hand as a bright beam of yellow light sprang forth from it.
“Fancy,” said Wynn. “You’re a regular Rudolph.”
Alex smiled, even though it hurt to move his facial muscles.
“What are we doing next, mate?” asked Galen.
“I feel the energy coming from down the steps. It’s calling to me.”
“Calling to ya?” said Galen.
“I can’t explain it, but the vortex wants me to approach, and it wants to be unleashed.”
“Will get you there, Alex,” said Galen as they walked down the spiral stone staircase into the church’s basement.
Alex pointed to an old metal gate on the basement floor.
“We need to go there,” said Alex weakly.
“Gate is locked,” said Galen. “The map says the entrance to the catacombs is at the other end of the basement.”
Alex shook his head. He reached down with his right hand and crushed the padlock securing the metal gate. He pulled it open and said he needed to do the rest on his own.
Alex took a shaky step away from Galen and moved to the railing of the stone stairs like a toddler taking his first steps. He fell to his knees twice, but pulled himself up and slowly descended into the darkness of the catacombs. Walking down the long tunnel lined with skulls and bones, he stopped at a brick wall with a mental plate identifying it as the “Tomb of the Strangers.”
Kneeling, he touched the ground with his right hand, and the tunnel began to shake violently as debris started to fall from the ceiling. A large circular white portal opened in the ground. Alex stepped into the blazing light and was enveloped by it as he descended further into the portal until he disappeared and the ground closed above him.