The Tears of Nero (The Halo Group Book 1) (11 page)

Chapter 16

Seeing a dead body convinced them now, more than ever, that their lives were in danger.  In celebration of their fear, Nero began to play his fiddle again.  Its music flooded the cavern, echoing off of the high ceilings and the abysmal unplumbed depths. 

“Maybe we should search the body,” Henry said.  “See if Nero left us any clues.”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Sadie said.  But it was clear by the look on Henry’s face that he wasn’t.

“That’s okay,” Edward said.  “Henry and I can search the body.”

“Just as long as I don’t have to touch him,” Sadie said with relief in her voice.  “After the history he and I shared together, I don’t think I could do that.  It would bring back too many painful memories.”

“Not a problem.  We can handle it,” Edward said.  “Ready, Henry?” 

“I was born ready,” the old man said, trying to put on a brave front even though it was obvious he was frightened.

To judge by the preacher’s stench and the number of bugs feasting on his carcass, Lindell had been hanging on his cross for several days.  The heat and humidity of the island hadn’t been kind.  Lindell’s face had the waxy pallor of a candle that has been sitting out in the noonday sun, and his skin was the yellow of jaundiced babies.  Without warning a millipede with wicked black legs crawled out of Lindell’s mouth.  Edward jumped, prompting a nervous chuckle from Henry.  “Easy, boy,” Henry said.

Edward nodded and opened Lindell’s suit coat.  It was like opening the door on a morgue locker.  The horrid smell of rot wafted out like a wayward ghost in need of a place to haunt.  Edward took a step back, clutching at his nose. 

It was apparent that someone had meant for them to find this body.  An industrious haberdasher had embroidered a message across the corpse’s vest:  “No man can serve two masters,” the message read.

“What do you make of that?” Henry asked.  

“That smell is so horrible all I can focus on at the moment is not throwing up,” Edward said through clenched teeth.

“Looks like he’s got a wallet with him,” Henry said.  He held his breath until he couldn’t hold it any longer and dug into the dead man’s pockets.  Once he had the wallet in his possession, he stumbled backward, pushing the billfold into Edward’s hands.

Edward opened the wallet and was surprised to see a note.  It was addressed:  “To Edward.” 

“Go on,” Henry urged.  “See what it says.”

“Let’s go back to the mouth of the cave to read this.  I’m starting to get the willies in here.  Plus, I feel like I might faint at any minute if I don’t get some fresh air soon.” 

Henry didn’t need to be persuaded.  Once he and Edward headed back to the mouth of the cave, everyone else followed behind them.  Soon everyone was back at the entrance, away from both the body and the stench that went with it.

Edward took a couple of deep gulps of fresh air, opened the note addressed to him, and read:  

“When he was about to be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ said, ‘
Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels
?’  A Roman legion was 6000 soldiers.  According to the words of the Lord, 72,000 angels could have been summoned at His command.  Such a number could have also saved Him on the Cross.  Given the way the world treated Him and still treats Him, why didn’t He call those angels forth and come down from that rugged tree?  Why did bad things happen to the Son of God?  Maybe if we had even one of those angels at our disposal, things would be different.  Maybe if we had one of the seven angels mentioned in Revelation at our right hand, we could topple the dominoes of civilization and set the world aflame.  We could loose the horses of Armageddon and let them trample the weak underfoot.  All it would take is one to start the chain reaction.”  

Edward read the note twice more to make sure he really understood what Nero was saying.  It all seemed like madness.

“What do you make of it?” Henry asked him.   

“There are some very deep theological problems with Nero’s plans for us,” Edward said.  “For starters, man doesn’t have the ability to usher in the end of the world.  Remember the verse, ‘But of that day and
that
hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.’  Not even Christ, Himself, knows when God will choose to call his Church home.”

“I don’t think it matters about what is true and what isn’t true,” Henry said.  “I think it’s about what Nero believes to be true.”

Edward was about to add something else to the conversation when Sadie started screaming. 

Chapter 17

Sadie’s screaming contrasted sharply with the smooth strains of the violin.  When they got to her, she was staring at the place where Reverend Lindell’s body had been hanging on a cross.  Much to their surprise the cross was empty.  

“He’s alive,” she shrieked.  “I saw him crawl down off of that cross and walk away.”

“Impossible,” Franklin said.  “We saw his body with our own eyes.  He was dead.  Maggots don‘t burrow in live flesh.”

“I know what I saw,” Sadie argued.     

“No way,” Franklin argued.  “Am I the only one who caught a whiff of that guy?”

“He’s alive,” Sadie said.  “I’m sure of it.” 

Henry put his arm around the girl.  “Calm down.  We’ve all seen a lot of strange things here.  That doesn‘t mean that you saw what you thought you saw.”

“Do you see the body now?” Sadie asked.

“Good point,” Henry acknowledged. 

“What made you go over to the body anyway?” Franklin asked.  “You were the one who didn’t want anything to do with it.”

“He was someone I cared about at one point in my life,” Sadie said.  “Seeing him hanging there like that was much harder than I expected it to be.  A lot of old feelings resurfaced, and I couldn’t help thinking about all of the good times he and I shared.  I came back to pay my respects.  I felt like I owed him that much.  When I got here, I saw Lindell stepping down from that cross and heading deeper into the heart of the cave.  You should have seen the look on his face.  He was like a mad scientist possessed by a demon.”

“I don’t buy it,” Franklin said. 

“Think what you want,” Sadie said.  “My story’s not changing.”

“It could be some sort of trick,” Edward said.

“But why?” Henry asked.  “Nero can force us to do what he wants.  He doesn’t have to play mind games.”

“Let’s assume Lindell and Nero really are the same person,” Edward said.  “In his mind, however, let’s assume they are two different people.  Separate and distinct with different identities.  What if the two personalities are aware of each other and continually at war inside him?  Maybe he believes that he’s actually both of these people, and this is some sort of psychotic break.  Staging a mock crucifixion of Lindell would be Nero‘s way of killing off the old persona.  Remember what was stitched on his vest:  ‘No man can serve two masters.’”

“Do you know how crazy that sounds?” Franklin asked.

“Look around,” Edward said.  “I’m just speaking the language.”

“Point taken,” Franklin said.   

“Maybe we should go after him,” Edward suggested. 

“No way,” Henry said.  “I draw the line at spelunking a cavern inhabited by a crucified dead man who crawled down off of his cross.  Maybe it‘s all a staged hoax, but I‘m not willing to go any further right now.”

“Catching him is the only way we’re getting off this rock,” Franklin said.  “We get our hands on Nero, we have a chance at survival.”

“Or he kills us first,” Kelly said.   

Franklin grumbled and peered into the darkness.  “Whatever,” he said.  “You’ll wish you had listened to me later.”

“I worked for Lindell,” Kelly reminded him.  “We shouldn’t underestimate his resourcefulness.  He has the means and ability to pull off something like this.  His television show is like one big well-oiled machine.  He knows where the plants in the audience are.  He knows what to say at the precise moment.  He knows when to smile at the little old ladies to prod them into opening their purses.  Lindell’s success has a lot to do with trickery, but it also relies on timing.  That’s one of the things he prides himself on.  Unpredictability drives him crazy.  This took a lot of planning.  That’s one of his trademarks.”

“Does he have anyone in his entourage with connections to the movie industry?” Edward asked. 

“He has a make-up artist on standby.  Some of the places he frequents would bring his empire crumbling to the ground.”

“So he goes in disguise?” Henry asked.

“You should see some of the get ups I’ve seen him in,” Kelly said. 

“Does anyone find the imagery here a little ironic?” Sadie asked.  “Let’s assume that Lindell is the one responsible.  He seems to have this messianic complex, viewing himself as several notches above all the sinners he’s dedicated himself to serving.  In reality he‘s lived worse than the people filling his pews.  It makes sense for him to stage his death by crucifixion if he believes himself to be so high and mighty.”

“He’s delusional,” Henry sighed.  “No doubt about it.  The biggest problem with that is that we’re at his mercy.”

“No,” Kelly corrected him.  “The biggest problem is that he’s going to kill us one by one if we don’t do what he wants us to…and he’s going to start with me.”

Chapter 18

The atmosphere inside the cave was heavy.  A shroud of fear and hopelessness pressed down on them, blanketing them in oppression.  Water dripped from stalactites over head in a maddening staccato rhythm.  Shadows danced and played on the limestone walls.  

“Let’s get out of this cave and sort everything out when we get back to the beach.  We’re like sitting ducks in here,” Edward said. 

“But it’s almost nightfall,” Sadie said.  “We’ll be sitting ducks out there in the dark.”

“We know he’s in here with us somewhere.  I vote for outside,” Henry said. 

“Me too,” Franklin said.

The group fled the cave and headed back to the beach.  The sun was melting into the horizon when they reached the outside world again.  The path leading from the cave back to the beach wasn’t nearly as obvious in the dark.  Several times they veered off the trail, realizing their mistake as the underbrush grew too thick to pass through.  Henry tripped over a fallen tree.  Franklin became entangled in a mess of long serpentine vines barbed with sharp thorns.  Sadie stepped in a hole and nearly sprained her ankle.  Edward almost grabbed something with red eyes that hissed at him as he reached for a branch to steady himself.  

“Where’s a machete-toting maniac when you need him?” he said, trying to make light of the situation.  “We need some help clearing this brush.”  Nobody felt like laughing.  They were too busy swatting mosquitoes, trying to avoid the gnarled roots that crept across the ground, pushing branches away from their faces, and keeping their eyes open for any sign of danger. 

The water looked like oil in the darkness.  The moon’s pale reflection skittering across the ocean’s surface gave the appearance of ghosts frolicking in the waves.  It wasn’t so hard to imagine the end of the world beginning in a place like this.

“Look,” Henry noted.  “Up ahead.  There’s a fire.  Looks like we won‘t have to start one.”

“It’s a trap,” Sadie said.  “It has to be.”

“It certainly would seem that way,” Edward agreed. 

“We’re pretty sure that no one else is on this island with us besides Nero and his cronies,” Franklin noted.  “So it’s clear who’s responsible.  I’d be willing to bet all my stock in Griffith Technologies that our host isn’t getting ready for a cookout down there.”

“You‘re probably right,” Henry said. 

“Kelly, what does your intuition tell you?” Franklin asked in his most sarcastic voice. 

Kelly didn‘t answer.

“Fine, don’t respond,” he said, slapping at a mosquito the size of a Cessna. 

“I think she’s gone,” Sadie said.  “Kelly?”

“Kelly?” Edward called.  “Does anybody see her?”

“Kelly!” Henry shouted. 

“She can’t be far,” Edward said.  “She was here a minute ago.”

“Maybe she went off into the woods to use the little girl’s room.” 

“Or maybe Nero is finally making her pay for whatever it is that she did to him.”

“We should go look for her,” Edward said.  “Let’s stay in pairs.  Sadie, come with me. 

Franklin and Henry searched the nearby area while Sadie and Edward ventured a little further ahead.  They spent the next ten minutes calling her name, pushing through the underbrush, scoping out the shadows in search of any sign that Kelly had ever been there in the first place.  But Kelly was gone. 

“How could she have disappeared like that?” Edward asked.  “We were all right here together.  I never heard a thing.”

“We were all trying to keep from killing ourselves as we walked toward the beach,” Henry explained.  “There were a number of times Nero could have nabbed her without our knowing.”

“We should have kept a better eye on her,” Franklin said, frustrated.  “She’s been double-crossing us from the start, keeping tabs on us for Lindell.  We let her slip through our fingers.”

“She seemed frightened of Lindell,” Henry reminded him. 

“If that’s the case, why didn’t she stay with us?” Sadie asked. 

“Good question,” Henry said.  “I imagine we’ll get some answers down at the campfire.  It’s the obvious place to look.” 

They were about to head toward the blaze when Edward held up his hand.  “Listen,” he said.

They only needed a moment of silence to hear what Edward heard.  It was the sound of a woman sobbing.  

“It’s Kelly,” Henry said.  “Let’s go.”

“She’s baiting us,” Sadie said.

“We can’t bet on that,” Edward said, jogging toward the bonfire.  “She might need our help.”

Seconds later, they heard from Kelly again.  This time it wasn’t in the form of a whimpering sob but a scream, and it was a sound that ripped the night in two.  It was a noise made of anguish, despair, and excruciating pain.  Now, no one had any doubts that Kelly was in trouble. 

Although the terrain was rugged, the group navigated the last stretch of underbrush without much difficulty.  Their problems had nothing to do with this little unkempt corner of Mother Nature’s world.  In fact, the terrain was the only thing they could successfully manage on their own at this point, and they charged ahead valiantly in an attempt to keep their courage and their hope alive.  It was only when the group reached the fire that they realized how hopeless their situation truly was.