“Well, then maybe Glen can help,” Sky said, full of enthusiasm. “Priests know everyone in a town, or at least know all the rumors. And if Fern is alive and well, she’s someone Karl and his friends are going to want to find, because it didn’t take long for me to track down her parentage. So it won’t take them long either.”
“It’s a start.”
“Yeah, well maybe you can get your new FBI friend to help talk to him. Someone in that town knows something; you just need to shake some trees. And if there’s one thing Maine isn’t short of, it’s trees.”
CHAPTER 31
The trip didn’t take long, especially considering our speed. Caitlin tried to appear very calm and collected, but occasionally flinched when I took a corner faster than she would have liked.
I’d told both her and Rebecca about the priest and Caitlin had immediately called the precinct and asked for a confirmation of Glen’s location. It took half an hour until we’d received a call back from one of the officers who’d been sent to the church, but we were already on the way by then, and I think Caitlin was grateful for something to take her mind off my driving.
I slowed down once we reached Stratford and pulled up outside the church. The building was in the center of the town. It was a sizeable structure with stained glass windows and a small, well-kept garden out front. An unmanned police cruiser was parked nearby, which automatically made me pause. Had Patricia and her insane friends gotten to the priest first? All I could do was hope not and walk toward the church with Caitlin, who had also noticed the car and drawn her gun.
The door was open and as we crept inside, walking past the empty pews and pulpit, I heard voices coming from the chamber beyond. We wasted no time in rushing in, only to find Glen—Father Patterson—sitting behind a desk and talking to two uniformed officers who were drinking cups of coffee and eating biscuits.
“Ummm,” I managed as Caitlin hastily put away her gun and pretended it was never there in the first place.
The two cops almost launched themselves out of their chairs, but managed not to spill their coffee all over the nice rug.
“Ma’am,” the younger of the two said, his cheeks red from shame.
“You’re the two who arrested me back outside the house,” I said.
“Oh, yes, you,” the same cop said, his shame turning to anger, presumably because he’d been caught while I was there.
“Give it a rest,” the older of the two policemen said and offered me his hand. “Danny,” he said as we shook.
“Nice to meet you,” I told him.
“The young streak of piss,” Danny said, “is called Edward.” He then quickly turned to Glen. “Excuse me, Father.” Glen just smiled.
“Why are you both here?” Caitlin asked.
“We were told to come check out Father Patterson. We found him in here, he offered us some coffee until you arrived.”
“It’s good to see you again, Nathan,” Father Patterson said with a deep smile.
“You too, Father, it’s been far too long. I think we need to have a chat about old times and catch up.”
“You two know each other?” Edward asked. “That’s weird.”
“I wasn’t always a priest,” Father Patterson said.
While his hair was now long and gray, and his beard was fuller, the man behind it had a face that had hardly aged, since I’d last seen him in ’77. Something had definitely happened to him, and I was going to find out what. But having two cops, human or otherwise, hanging around wasn’t going to make that easy.
“Can you excuse us for a moment?” Father Patterson asked the two officers, completely blowing my theory out of the water.
They both nodded and left the room, taking their coffee with them. Edward kept a close eye on me as he closed the door on his way out.
“He really doesn’t like me,” I said, mostly to myself.
“He’s nervous of you,” Father Patterson said. “You were arrested and now you’re working with Agent Moore. He wants to know why.”
“Did he tell you that?” Caitlin asked.
Father Patterson nodded. “People can tell me things that maybe they’d have trouble telling others. It’s one of the main benefits of my position in the town.”
“Hearing gossip?” I asked.
Father Patterson chuckled. “No, although that does happen fairly regularly. Some people seem to think that I am here to tell rumors to. But I meant helping people. Being here to listen and not judge.” He stood and walked out of a nearby door, where I heard a click and then the bubbling of a kettle.
“Do either of you want a drink?” he asked as he popped his head back around the door.
“No, thanks, Glen,” I said. “We need to talk.”
Father Patterson sat back behind his desk. “I never had the chance to thank you for all you did for me and many others that night. You saved a lot of lives.”
“I’m just sorry I couldn’t save more.”
Father Patterson nodded sadly. “I assume you have a few questions for me regarding what happened since we last met.”
“You’ve only aged about ten years,” I said. “You feel like telling me how?”
“You saved my life, so I guess that gives you some leeway with my trust. But how do I know you’re not a different man?”
“You don’t. Except, I’m trying to stop people from getting hurt. I hope you see that. I hope you realize that I have no interest in jeopardizing the life you have here. But others won’t care. And they’re coming for you. And for Fern too, if she’s around.”
“I’m a guardian,” he said without hesitation before turning around and adjusting his top to show us the tattoo. “And Fern is safe.”
“Are you the only guardian here?” I asked.
Father Patterson nodded.
“You’re aware that these people Nate mentioned, that they’re dangerous and they’re looking for you?” Caitlin said.
“Yes, I’m aware. The three hikers who were found in the woods were friends of mine. They aided Fern and me in staying safe. Those who committed the act are trying to find the child of a guardian. They want someone to be turned into a guardian so that they can pass through the gate into Shadow Falls.”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“The guardian who died figured it out, he left me a voice message before they killed him. Told me to stay hidden and not to trust anyone new in town.”
“So, why haven’t you taken his advice?”
“Because they don’t know that I’m a guardian. It’s not something I run around telling people. Besides I’m safer here than anywhere else.”
“There’s a second gate, isn’t there?” I said.
“What?” Caitlin almost shouted. “Rebecca said it wasn’t possible for a second gate to exist and the guardians in Portland not know about it.”
“It’s never been activated,” Father Patterson told us. “But the guardians have always been here to keep it safe.”
“You’re close to the realm gate,” I said. “That’s why you haven’t run, because they can’t really do much to you.”
“We need to get Fern away,” Caitlin said. “You might be invulnerable here, but I’m betting she’s not.”
“Like I said, Fern is safe,” he said softly. “I’m sorry, but telling you more would put that person in even greater danger.”
“Okay, can you answer this then?” I asked. “You knew what Simon was after, back then, didn’t you?”
Father Patterson sighed. “This gate, it’s a secret. It was discovered a thousand years ago, just after Shadow Falls was settled. It was decided that a group of guardians would stay here at all time, but that the gate must never be used except in an emergency. Over the years, those in charge of Shadow Falls forgot about the gate, but the guardians never did. They all swore an oath to keep the gate s
ecret from everyone, until the king came asking for its use. Simon discovered it somehow and knew it was the best way to get back into Shadow Falls.
“Sally-Ann was coming to Stratford to see me and Fern. We all knew about the guardians, but nearly all of the people Simon took were human, with no affiliation with realm gates or guardians. They were just unlucky enough to have tattoos and get spotted by one of his thugs. Four of the victims were guardians; that’s why they were taken beyond the realm gates’ influence. We assumed that Simon was killing guardians to make them tell him where the gate was and then force them to open it for him. We were wrong.”
Father Patterson rubbed his closed eyes and leaned back in his chair. “He was after their children, one who would create a new guardian of his choice. But Sally-Ann never made it in time. Sally-Ann was the child of a guardian and had performed the ritual a few times during the previous year. So, we reached out to her and arranged for her to come and turn me into a guardian, hopefully bolstering their numbers enough that they could protect the gate. We figured that if we had all six guardians again, that it didn’t matter what Simon did, he couldn’t make more. That would keep any artists safe from his clutches.”
“What happened after?” I asked. “When Simon was caught.”
“I managed to convince Fern to participate in the ritual before completing my tattoo.”
That’s why they’re killing the old survivors,” Caitlin said. “They were told to find another artist and figured that they’d start with the people Simon originally picked up. When they didn’t get anything, they started searching in Stratford again.”
“So, where is the second realm gate?” I asked.
“I can’t tell you. I’m sorry, but like I said if you know and anyone takes hold of you, they could tear that information from you. It would threaten everyone.”
“Okay, so what are we meant to do, Glen?” I asked. “We can’t let you stay here, it isn’t safe. So, we either turn this place into the Alamo, or we get out of here and hide.”
“I won’t see violence done here,” Father Patterson said.
“As nice as that sentiment is, I doubt very much the people after you give a shit where you are.”
Father Patterson looked to Caitlin for support.
“Sorry, Father, but Nate’s right. They’ll come through here whether you want this place to see violence, or not. We need to get you somewhere.”
“And where would that be? There is nowhere safer than this that I can go.”
“Once they realize that you’re a guardian, they’ll come for you,” I told him. “They’ll try to get out of you who the tattooist is. Your best option is to leave the state, get as far away as possible. Hell, leave the country. It’s the only way to be sure.”
“I won’t run from these people, Nathan. I’m not a coward.”
“It’s not cowardly, it’s survival. Let’s say they figure out where the gate is, they can torture you for years if they feel like it. You can’t die in this place, but that’s not going to stop them inflicting pain on you. To them it’ll be like Christmas came early. I don’t think you understand how bad that could be.”
Father Patterson’s eyes turned hard. “They held me once, don’t tell me how bad it’ll be.”
“That’ll be nothing compared to what they can do to a person who can’t die. You still feel pain, they could parade people in front of you and execute them just to watch you cry.” I felt bad for telling him that, but he needed to understand the mindset of the people he was dealing with.
“I will not run from these people,” he stated again.
There was a commotion outside of the office and Caitlin left the room to find out what was happening.
“Glen, where’s Fern?” I asked when we were alone.
“Hidden. I won’t take you to her.”
“Nate,” Caitlin said as she opened the door. “We have a serious problem.”
I left the office and followed Caitlin toward some windows at the front of the church.
It had gotten dark since we’d arrived, but the lights on the front lawn illuminated seven people, all of them watching the church with evil intent.
“Well, that’s fucking shit,” I said to Caitlin as I noticed that Patricia and her people had used their truck and mini-van to block both the Audi and the squad car.
“It took me a while to stop Edward from going out there to arrest everyone.”
“Yeah, he probably wants to not do that,” I said and continued to study the group outside.
Patricia and Joshua stood side-by-side, next to the crazy woman who’d blown me up, along with the man who’d held Caitlin during our first encounter with her mother back in Washington. I had no idea who the other three were, but I doubted I needed a first-hand account to know they were dangerous.
“Well, it looks like leaving is no longer an option,” Father Patterson said as he joined us.
“Oh, no we’re still going to leave,” I said. “I just need a new way of doing it. I assume there are no other exits?”
“There’s another exit at the side of the building, but going out that way would only put us in sight of the very people we want to avoid.”
“Can’t we just arrest them?” Edward asked. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”
“I’d like to second that last feeling,” Danny agreed.
“Okay, short version. Very bad people out there have us outnumbered. Leaving the church without a plan will result in death. They’ve blocked in the cars too, so we need to figure a way out without using them. Any ideas?”
“I have my truck,” Father Patterson said. “It’s parked out back. It’s easily big enough for us all.”
“So, we run for it?” Danny said.
“Those people will be waiting for it. They’re faster than us and a lot more dangerous as a group. They could have disabled the truck too. So, first thing is to figure out if the truck is disabled. And that means someone going outside.”
“You feel like telling everyone how?” Caitlin asked, the nerves in her voice easy for everyone to hear.
“I need to check something first,” I said and turned to Father Patterson. “Can to take me to a window upstairs that overlooks the car?”
Father Patterson nodded and took me through the church and up a set of stairs to a hallway. At one end, a large window overlooked the graveyard behind the church. I spotted the two men pacing up and down in the shadows without much effort.
“Okay, this is going to be slightly more difficult than I’d expected,” I told Glen. “If Fern is on the property, go get her and anyone else here and get them downstairs.”
Father Patterson nodded and ran off toward the opposite end of the hallway, knocking once on a door and then vanishing inside the room, while I continued to watch the truck. I saw no signs of disturbance, although that didn’t mean anything conclusive; it was slightly more heartening than seeing a giant hole in the truck’s bonnet.
I stood up to walk away and noticed the runes on the windowsill. They were old, but as I touched them, I felt the power they contained.
Father Patterson returned with Fern, who looked much older than the last time I’d seen her, but still had the fire in her eyes that I remembered.
“What do the runes do?” I asked as we walked away from the window.
“Keeps people out,” Father Patterson said. “They were put on the property well before I moved in. Someone tried to break in about three years ago, they threw a rock at the window, which blew back with enough force to take the would-be thief off his feet and knock him out cold.”
“It’s good to know they work,” I said.
“What happens if I use my alchemy to move the church wall to give us some cover to the truck?”
“No one knows until you try,” I said. “But either nothing, or we’ll be buried under several tons
of church.”
“So, runes make alchemy not work?”
I shook my head. “No, it still works, but if you start moving around what the rune’s attached to, even if you don’t touch the rune, it may have a fail-safe and they tend to be big and messy.”
“Okay, so alchemy is out,” Caitlin said, slightly annoyed. “Hi Fern, how’re you?”
“Too old for the continuous crap that I have to go through because of Simon and his evil friends.”
“Well, let’s see if we can make sure this is the last time,” I said.
“I’ve heard that before,” Fern said as we rejoined everyone else. “It never seems to last very long before someone dies.”
“You have something we want,” shouted Patricia from outside.
I opened the window slightly so I didn’t have to start shouting myself. “Fuck off,” I said, retaining my winning streak on witty comebacks.
“If we have to, we will come in and get you,” Joshua bellowed.
“No,” I said. “You won’t. The runes on this place would bounce you out of the state. You’re gonna sit right there, and we’re gonna sit right here. I hope you’re comfy.”
“Nate’s right,” Father Patterson said. “While those runes hold, we’re safe. So long as they don’t try to break through the walls or something.”
“Can someone tell me what the hell a rune is?” Danny asked.
“Magic writing,” I said. “It’s complicated. Basically we’re safe so long as we stay in here.”
That appeared to mollify Danny, as he went back to glancing out of the window on the opposite side of the door, while I walked off to talk to the others.
“Are we really safe in here?” Caitlin asked.
“For now, yeah. Though I don’t like the idea of staying here too long. They’re going to get impatient and do something stupid at some point. And stupid things get people killed.”
“Oh fucking hell,” Danny said to me and Caitlin. “You need to see this.”
I walked back over to the window and looked out as four people were led out of the back of the mini-van and forced to kneel on the ground. Each of them had their hands tied behind their backs and wore a hood to conceal their faces.