The Black Cross by Bill Thompson

Author:Bill Thompson [Thompson, Bill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780996467193
Publisher: Ascendente Books
Published: 2017-04-05T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

From his hiding place, Brian heard the girl's startling pronouncements and watched her transform from a child into a demon and back again. It was all surreal, like watching a horror movie unfold before him in a remote Guatemalan cave.

She's a twenty-first century Jim Jones, Brian thought as the tourists dutifully filed past the girl one by one like parishioners taking communion. She handed each a vial and wouldn't let them pass until they had swallowed every drop. Brian was reminded of that cult leader who had somehow convinced nine hundred of his followers to drink the Kool-Aid in Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978. He knew these people weren't going to die - at least that was what she had told them. This was exactly the opposite: they were going to live longer, richer and more rejuvenated lives thanks to a magic potion that a group of grown adults had paid money - apparently a good deal of money - to obtain.

He watched Stanley Oblowski closely when it was his turn to drink the elixir. Despite what the man had said yesterday about all this being creepy and hokey, he was as transfixed as the rest. He followed his wife and took the tiny bottle from the girl. He drank it all and returned to his seat.

Once all the vials were empty, the girl picked up something from the table. Having only the light from dozens of candles, Brian strained to see what it was. When she lifted it above her head, he recognized it immediately. He had to stop himself from gasping out loud.

She was holding a cross high in the air. A black cross.

He sensed that this was the original - the cross Queen Isabel had given Christopher Columbus for good luck but not knowing what it really was. He was certain this was the ancient cross the priest had taken from Santo Tomas church and hidden away in a mountain cave ... this cave.

The girl began to speak. She appeared to be praying again, and this time he noticed that all the people had their heads bowed too. As before, her words were in a different language - one Brian had never heard - but it appeared that the people who had drunk the potion understood what she was saying now.

Suddenly the chanting stopped and she spoke words in English, using the same menacing voice - deep and guttural - that she had used earlier.

"An intruder is here! I can feel a presence!"

Everyone looked up at her. She put down the cross and raised her arm, pointing with one finger to the place where he was hiding in the back of the cave. The people began to rise like zombies and Brian knew he had to get out quickly. As the first ones began moving in his direction, he lowered his cellphone and switched it off. Given the cavern's dim light and echoing acoustics, he hoped the video he had made was okay. He quickly stuffed the phone in his back pocket and ran outside.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.