Entering the Sanctuary was always a large production whenever I had Varden with me. All I had to do was walk in the front door and through the full body scanner then enter the elevator. But Varden couldn't do that. The first time I brought him here he'd blown out the main breaker when he'd walked through the scanner. It had taken the guards and repairmen three hours to fix the scanner, and during that time no one was allowed to enter or leave the Sanctuary.
So now Varden had to be full body scanned with a handheld scanner. A process that lasted the better part of an hour, especially if the guard on duty was one of the sisters. Which they just happened to be whenever Varden was coming for a visit. So, I began to outsmart them, sneaking away from the Sanctuary in the middle of the night whenever Damaris wanted me to go and find him. Sometimes it worked others it didn't, but it was better than having the women here falling over themselves in an attempt to inspect Varden.
We reached the door before Damaris and the mob could get there. Once the guards saw who I had with me one of the two men ducked back around the door, they were flanking. When he re-appeared he had in hand what looked like a stun baton. The half-staff he carried glowed blue on one side above the handle and the light glinted off the polished black of the other side.
"You know the drill." The man said to Varden as we stepped through the door, I think his name was Mark.
"Sure, thing Daniel, just give me a second to empty my pockets." Varden responded cheerfully. God, he knew every man here by their first names, yet didn't know more than a dozen of the sister's names after almost two years. He went out of his way to learn the males' names; I knew why he didn't care about the rest.
After twenty minutes we were passed through the checkpoint and were on our way to the main elevator. The huge mansion that we stood in was nothing more than a facade. If someone were lucky enough to make it through the front door, they would find a very elegant, spacious, and expensive interior. It looked normal enough yet to the people who lived here it was all a shame. The real Sanctuary lay beneath everyone's feet.
Each of the four Sanctuaries were built with great skill, amazing engineering without one part of them above ground. The north American Sanctuary had been first built in the years sixteen forty-seven. At the time all anyone knew was that the Pilgrims were in Plymouth, so that's what the history books say.
But when you have the experience of centuries, sailing across an ocean undetected in that time period was child's play. So, with Damaris as their leader, they forged inland until they found a place to find the third Sanctuary. As technology dictated the place in which I now stood was nothing more than a log structure built by hand. Yet by the standards of the time, it was a mansion. I glanced through the glass wall to my right to catch a look at that original building. In comparison to the house that surrounds it it seems very small, four rooms and a single story. The logs were white with age, the front door scarred from numerous weapons, yet the structure was remarkably sound for being well over three hundred years old.
"Come on Catherine, we need to get this over with." Varden's hand on my shoulder shook me out of me thoughts.
"Right, let's get going."
We continued down the thirty-foot hall until we got to the elevator door. There was no button to open the doors, so after waiting a few seconds we were both bathed in a blue scanning field. Once the computer was satisfied that we were who we were supposed to be the doors opened, and we stepped through the doors.
"Which level was she on?" Varden asked, his voice dry.
"Level six, she was in her room when it happened."
"Oh right, I forgot."
The rest of the journey to Agnus's room we travelled in silence, neither of us wanting or needed to say anything. When we reached her door, it was flanked by two guards and marked off by bright yellow tape. The instant the two women saw us the tape was stripped away, and the door cracked open before us.
Stepping inside I came to a stop. This room was filled with so many memories, from the time I was born Agnus had been one of the sisters my mother would let look after me. That room was as familiar to me as my own. From the rose-colored trim around the ceiling to the pale cream carpet under my foot. Every stain and rip in it I could find with my eyes closed.
To his credit Varden gave me time to come to grips with what happened in this room. He knew that no matter how much her death had hurt him, it couldn't compare to what I had lost. But the door closing behind him startled me. With Varden here one of the rules high mother Damaris had set in place was that he was to be nowhere with only one of us. At first, he was indignant, he wasn't about to try anything with one of the sisters, and he resented the accusation. It wasn't until later that we both realized it was as much for his protection as anything else. Most of the sisters of the Sanctuary weren't known for their restraint, or lack of libido. So, when the door shut and Varden locked it it took me off guard.
"If you don't open that door soon, they'll think something's going on in here." I spun to face him, wiping my face with my sleeve.
"They can think all they want," he wrapped me in both arms and held me close. "Right now, I don't care." My stiffness melted against his warmth, and I pushed into him until I could hear his heart beating in his chest.
"What are we going to do?" I looked up into his eyes. "I can't keep doing this, I just can't, and now we have to deal with this." I buried my face in his chest and tried to stifle a sob before it broke from my lips.
"Hey, we can do this, I know we can. Damaris may not like me, but I'm far too valuable for her to kill. So, I say we just let this play out, and when the time is right, we announce our relationship and deal with the consequences."
"Are you serious?" I pushed him away and marched over to the bed which stood at the other end of the room. "There is going to be no getting over this." My fists were balled so tight the finger I pointed sprung from my right hand like a switchblade. "This has never happened before, ever. If we don't figure out who did this and stop them, and word of it reaches the rest of the Yperfysikó Yfí̱lios. What do you think the werewolves and vampires will do when they find out we can't even protect ourselves within our own walls?" I was ranting but didn't care, Varden was the only one I knew I could vent at and not be laughed at for it. So, I took advantage.
I stopped my rant, spun away from him and stomped a few feet away and froze. I couldn't move the scene before me drove thought from my brain and breath from my lungs.
Vardens face was pale when he reached me and saw what I did. Agnus was flat on her back, a dried blood stain soaking her chest. I watched him shake his head as he walked around me and knelt beside her body.
"I'm going to get the ones who did this, I promise you." His whisper was loud in the silence of the room.
"How long has she been here like this?" He asked, not turning as he asked.
"Since it happened, which was five days ago." I answered.
"Okay, five days, no decomp," he was talking to himself more than to anyone else.
We vacuum sealed the room after we realized what had happened. No one has been in here since." I told him.
"Did anyone move her after it happened?"
"No, this is exactly the way we found her. I just told you; no one has been in here."
"Well, someone's moved her," he pointed towards a slight smudge on the carpet where it looked as if her arm had been dragged.
Varden looked down at her weathered wrinkled hand then his eyes shot towards her book stand. in a single stride he was off his knees and pawing through the many books she had piled there. I watched as he stopped at the book on the bottom and pulled a small bloody piece of paper from it. It had only one word scrawled in red on it. Ambrosio.
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