never been to a church as large as this. She also couldn’t help remembering that she had begun her journey here: did that hold some significance? Was she coming ful circle?
She walked right to the front door, and tried the knob, just in case.
To her surprise, it was open.
She turned and looked over her shoulder, sensing some danger. But she saw nothing there.
She turned and went inside, not liking the feel of this.
Everything was too quiet. Everything seemed too easy.
Caitlin looked inside the church, and was blown away by its size and scope. Here, the pews stretched as far as the eye could see, and the aisle seemed endless. On either side were enormous stone columns, the size of tree trunks, reaching high into the sky, culminating in a series of arches.
Between them were enormous candle chandeliers.
At the end of the aisle sat an immense altar, crowned with dozens of statues. Caitlin wondered how anyone could worship in here—it was so large, it seemed like it could hold an entire city.
Caitlin reached down and felt the dagger in her hand, and wondered where on earth she should begin her search.
She sensed danger again, and spun, but saw no one. She suddenly felt that time was of the essence.
Caitlin closed her eyes, and summoned her inner power.
She al owed her senses to take over, to lead her. She wil ed herself to get calm, to get quiet, and to tune in to where the key might be. She knew that there was a key to be found, from the letter, and she knew that the dagger would play a part in it. But other than that, she had no idea where to look.
After several moments, her senses began to take over, and she felt a strong sudden impulse to head into the lower levels of the church.
She found herself walking to her left, through a large marble corridor, then turning down another corridor. She fol owed a series of statues along the wal , until she found herself led to a smal , narrow staircase.
Caitlin descended, twisting and turning, and final y, it lead her into a wide-open, low-ceiling, underground crypt. It was even more solemn down here, with only a few candles burning, and Caitlin could see that this was a mausoleum of some sort. Al along the wal s, as far as she could see, were sarcophagi. It looked like the perfect place for an ancient vampire coven.
Caitlin let her senses take over, and felt herself being led.
She walked down the long corridor, in the dank, musty air, passing one sarcophagus after another. Final y, she felt herself wanting to stop before one of them.
She examined it, and saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Caitlin was about to look elsewhere, but Ruth sat there, whining at it, not letting her leave.
Caitlin looked again.
As she examined the intricate design of the lid, the smal figure of a knight carved into it, the folded hands outlined on the stone, the armor, the belt, she realized something.
There was a slot in the belt, notched into the stone. Just wide enough, she realized, to hold a dagger.
Caitlin held up the smal , jewel-encrusted dagger, and gently inserted into the slot. It fit perfectly.
Encouraged, she pushed it al the way in.
A stone lever suddenly sank down, and a smal compartment opened on the statue’s palm.
Caitlin was amazed. A smal , gold key was now sitting in the statue’s palm.
Caitlin held it up, inspecting it, thril ed to have found it.
But she was also stumped.
This could not be the second key. This key did not look anything like the other one: it was smal and gold, not large and silver. It appeared to be a key to something else.
Caitlin suddenly heard a noise somewhere, high above, in the upper level of the church.
She quickly stashed the key into her pocket, grabbed Ruth, and hurried out from the crypt.
She ran up the steps, and onto the main floor of the Notre Dame. She checked both ways for danger, but saw none.
But suddenly, as she watched, the main front doors of the church were kicked open. To her shock, there suddenly rushed in a huge, unruly, screaming mob.
Caitlin sensed immediately that this mob was different from the other. These were vampires.
And at the center was a figure she recognized from the history books: Napoleon. She was surprised to discover he was of her kind—and that he was leading an entire coven, hundreds of vampires, charging right for her.