Demon Tide Chapter Four

A puff of dust exited the box as it opened, escaping like a tiny mushroom cloud. As it did, Luca jumped back, joining the other three. 

The four boys waited silently for the dust to clear, eyes on the wooden container. After several moments, Luca crept back up toward the altar cautiously, as if at any moment something would jump out of the tiny opening.  

“It’s not like someone’s ancient teeth are going to bite you,” Bennet said, breaking the silence. 

Luca peeked into the box. “It’s not teeth,” he said. Then he reached his hand inside, withdrawing a small gold medallion on a chain. In the center was another round blue gem. 

Luca blew on the medallion, initiating another cloud of dust. “It’s heavy. I think it’s gold,” he said. 

Nolan stepped back up to the altar. “I bet it is,” he said, tracing his finger along the intricate markings. “I don’t see any green or black stains. But if we had some vinegar, I could tell for sure.” 

Bennet and Matt joined Luca and Nolan as they examined the medallion.  

“Wow, that would be worth a ton,” Bennet said. 

“It looks like a tree,” Matt said, staring at the medallion’s markings. “Or a wing.” 

“I think it’s both,” Nolan said, peering closer. “A tree in the background, and some sort of wing in front of it.” 

A flicker of light appeared to pass swiftly through the gem. 

“Did you see that?” Luca exclaimed. “There was a light! Right in the middle!”  

“You’re dreaming,” Bennet responded, shaking his head, “I didn’t see anything.” 

Nolan shrugged. “I didn’t either.” 

Matt, however, knew what Luca was talking about. “I saw it too,” he acknowledged. 

Bennet and Nolan looked up at him, perhaps to see if he was willingly participating in another one of Luca’s pranks. 

“Seriously,” Bennet sputtered, laughing. “You guys are losing it. This thing is like a hundred years old. Even if you saw light come out of it, it was probably a reflection from the window.” 

Nolan’s eyes swept the colorful rays spraying from the window. “There is a lot of light coming in here.” 

Matt followed Nolan’s eyes, looking for a pane in the glass that could have been the source of the reflection. It was too high above them, and the rays concentrated mainly toward the back of the chapel. Even if they had held the medallion in the air above their heads, there still would be no chance of a reflection. 

He picked up the medallion, turning it over. He rubbed his thumb across the cool, shiny surface. Perhaps it was a fake. He examined the edges, looking for a compartment or an opening for a battery in the exterior, but found none.  

Maybe there was a label? A manufacturing stamp? He turned it over. It sunk heavily into his palm. Other than the tree and the wing, there was nothing. If it was a fake, it was a good one. 

It certainly looked authentic, but that didn’t mean it was. In his books of ancient civilizations and after watching countless hours of YouTube about lost artifacts throughout the ages, he had seen his share of good fakes. Some artists were so good, in fact, that they could even fool reputable historians. This artifact, however, Matt had never encountered before. It had the signs of being from medieval Europe, but that could be just the decor of the mansion leading him to believe that. 

Luca snatched the medallion back from Matt. Examining the front and back once more, he sat on the pew nearest the altar, artifact in hand. Matt followed, keeping an eye on it.  

“I saw it,” Luca mumbled. “I know I did.” 

Matt wasn’t ready to admit that what he saw wasn’t a reflection, but everything in his mind said it hadn’t been. And Luca was obviously convinced.  

He studied his friend. Luca had been acting a bit unusual since arriving at the mansion. Oddly serious, to be exact. First at breakfast when he told them about the shadow passing by his window, then again while the four boys were alone in Matt’s room. Now, the light in the medallion. 

Then there was the noise Matt heard outside his window. He had already resolved in his own mind it was typical of being in the woods, but now, the screams returned to his mind. Was it really a wild animal? Something else? 

Could Luca be telling the truth about the shadow, and it was actually the same thing making the screams? 

He shook his head, chiding himself. You are making things up, Matt. 

Matt looked up at Nolan, who was rounding the altar and heading toward the wall just to the right of the stained-glass warriors with the sword.  

“What are you doing, Pops?” Bennet called after him. “You break that window, we will be dead for sure!” 

Nolan refused to take his eyes off the wall. “I saw a crack in the wall…” he said, stopped just under the window. “It looked like the outline of a door.”  

Luca set the medallion on the pew and stood. “A door? Where?”  

Nolan peered at the wall from several directions. “It was right here. I could have sworn I saw the outline, clear as day.” 

Bennet rolled his head back and threw up his hands. “You all have lost it, seriously looney-bin time. One day here and you are all ready to believe in magic necklaces and hidden doors—”  

He stopped, spinning suddenly toward the chapel’s entrance, mouth open. “Did you hear that?” 

Matt whirled, following his gaze. “Hear what?”  

As his eyes settled on the thick wooden doors, a low growl echoed through the chapel. Then the left door moved ever so slightly. 

“Guys, I think it’s time to go.” Nolan hurried back to join Luca, Matt, and Bennet. 

“Agreed,” Bennet whispered, his eyes wide. “I’m about done with this nonsense. Maybe this place is haunted.” 

They took a step toward the doors. As they did, the right door groaned, moving a few inches toward the closed position. 

“I’m not going through there,” Nolan squeaked. 

 “Seriously, guys, it’s probably the wind or something—” Matt said, doing his best to keep calm. 

A soft scratching came from the direction of one of the doors. One of them closed a few more inches.  

“They are trying to lock us in,” Bennet croaked. 

“Who? Who is trying to lock us in? A ghost?” Nolan asked, grabbing the back of a pew. 

Matt spun to face Luca. “Sniffs, this better not be a prank or so help me—” 

“It’s not! I swear!” Luca protested, shaking his head, “One or two jokes and you get labeled for life…” 

The doors moved again, simultaneously this time. 

“Luca, ditch the medallion,” Bennet hissed. Luca replaced the necklace on the altar as quietly as possible. 

“On the count of three, we run through,” Matt said. He spread his arms to get them to move away so they could each have more room to sprint. 

Each of the boys took up a runner’s stance.  

 Again, the doors groaned another few inches. It was becoming obvious this was no ordinary phenomenon. 

Luca held up a finger. “One, two…” He paused momentarily, taking in a deep breath. “Three!” 

As the four boys sprinted toward the exit, the doors swung shut, and two figures popped out, spilling into the aisle and screaming bloody murder. 

Bennet shrieked at the top of his lungs, followed closely by a panicked whoop from Luca. Nolan tripped as he ran, falling headfirst into the heels of Matt, who yelled too, as he went down face first, missing the corner of a pew by inches. Together they tumbled onto the stone surface as more shouting came from the chapel aisle way ahead. 

Matt scraped his arm on the hard surface to avoid busting teeth out as the others collapsed in around him. He ignored the pain to catch a strained glance upward and see what was happening. Nolan groaned from somewhere behind him. 

“Jenna! Jordan! You guys are so dead!” Luca yelled, struggling to untangle himself from the others. The sounds of girls laughing rang through his threats. 

Matt rose to his knees, grabbing a pew to help himself stand.  

There, belly-laughing in front of the doors, were his sister Jenna and her friend Jordan.  

“You guys were amazing, really!” Jenna said, laughing. “I seriously couldn’t have expected a better reaction!” 

“We thought there was a ghost in here,” Nolan said, still groaning. 

“How did you sneak in here?” Luca sputtered, clearly mortified he had just been bested by some novice pranksters. 

“You guys were really enamored with that window. It was really easy to slip in behind the doors,” Jordan said, giggling.  

“Yeah, what was so interesting? Find another treasure map in a cereal box?” Jenna sneered. 

“It was a treasure map. It just didn’t happen to be the one I was expecting,” Matt said, scowling at his sister. “And it wasn’t in a cereal box.” 

Jenna wiped the tears from her eyes from her laughing fit. “It was totally a comic book map, you dope. There was a barcode on the back.” 

“That was a long time ago,” Luca said, mirroring Matt’s scowl. 

“Yeah, well, some things never change,” Jenna said, turning back toward the chapel entrance. She was still chuckling. “Come on, Jordy.” 

Jordan glanced toward Matt momentarily, and he peered back at her. She half-smiled, then turned to follow Jenna, her reddish-brown hair swishing past her shoulders. Matt brushed off his arm where the scrape now oozed the slightest bit of blood. Since when did Jordan have brown eyes? 

They spent the rest of the day cleaning. The four boys took the vacuum cleaner and dusters and other cleaning supplies up to the second level, hoping to find more secrets in the mansion along the way. They worked fast in each room, discovering four more large bedrooms, each with a balcony overlooking the courtyards on either side of the mansion. Each had a large bathroom complimented with lavish tubs and stately sitting rooms.  

The wardrobes in each of the rooms were empty, with the exception of one, which contained a pair of men’s jeans, some t-shirts, and a pair of pocketed twill khaki trousers, a pair of leather boots, and an old leather hat. 

Right away, Matt wondered if the clothing had been his grandfather’s. Although he didn’t know him, the quest-seeking apparel fit the profile. But if it wasn’t his grandfather’s, his next guess would have been Indiana Jones. 

Luca and Nolan had searched the room, same as the others, but there was nothing else that would identify who had stayed there. Though it wasn’t entirely free from dust, it didn’t have the several layers of dust like the other rooms. It was still dusty, but they could tell it had been kept much cleaner than the other bedrooms. Whoever had stayed there, it hadn’t been terribly long ago. 

It was well past evening when the adults finally declared the mansion to be ‘livable.’ A quick dinner of spaghetti and boxed biscuits was served, and then it was back to work. Matt never cleaned so many toilets in his life. And he learned for the first time what a ‘bidet’ was, and vowed never to try it. Although it was pretty comical to watch Luca turn on the water just as Nolan had his face over the bowl.  

Exhausted, Matt, Luca, Bennet and Nolan parted ways to head back to their rooms. Before splitting, however, they had quickly discussed their plans for the next day, which included searching for the lion keep, or library. This place had secrets, and they wanted to learn them.