23
MASSIMO
The next day, the police arrived a couple of hours after the anonymous call was placed, courtesy of my IT guy.
From the attic room, I watched them pull up outside the institute just before lunch. Dark clouds gathered, and the sun had barely broken the gloom all day.
Two cars drew up, and a couple of officers and detectives entered the building below. Calling in the police made things difficult for me, but there was no other way to deal with Benedict’s disappearance.
Besides, it was time to leave Hallow Hall, and it couldn’t be allowed to continue the way it was. It had to be shut down.
I sat on an old crate, my sniper rifle in hand, and rested the butt on the floor. In all my years in war-torn areas providing aid and emergency relief, I’d seen a lot of dark shit. A lot of things that would haunt my nightmares for a long time to come... but Hallow Hall might be the absolute worst.
The men who ruled this place weren’t at war. They weren’t scrambling to survive, or to protect, or even to conquer and take power.
They were merely indulging in their perversions and making money while doing it, while hiding behind a mantle of holiness to deceive their victims.
They were the worst people I’d ever encountered, and that was really saying something.
I watched the police walk around outside the institute studying the footprints at certain spots, looking at the fence and the security cameras installed high up on the walls. I knew they wouldn’t find anything on them. Those were purely for show.
The snow started to come down harder, turning the air white. The surrounding trees were absolutely covered in it, their branches pushing against the power lines that ran along the back of the building.
I was just about to go and make sure the cops would find what I wanted them to find when the power went out.
The attic room plunged into darkness, and exclamations of shock and screams echoed around the building below.
The day seemed to get gloomier outside as Hallow Hall went dark.
It felt like a bad omen.
I foundKatarina in the dining hall setting up candles. Tatiana, the little ragamuffin who was usually glued to Katarina’s side, tripped along in her shadow. When she saw me, my angel drifted toward the window as nonchalantly as possible, crossing her arms and staring out at the storm. She wore the same faded, dingy white sweatpants and T-shirt she always did, and yet, in the glowing candlelight, she glowed like the sun. I understood now... that glow had nothing to do with her obvious beauty. It came from within. The only thing the darkness ever really loved was the light. We were evidence of that.
“Have they asked you anything yet?” I wondered, stopping beside Katarina to gaze out the window.
She shook her head.
“They’ve only just finished with Pavol and Dr. Blackwood. They’re looking around in Benedict’s office.”
I nodded. That was all to be expected. Italian police weren’t exactly known for their efficiency, a fact that I’d taken plenty of advantage of in the past. However, now, when I wanted them to discover something, they dragged their feet. Typical.
Tatiana tugged on my cassock. The little girl had gotten over her initial fright of me, and now nothing stopped her from speaking to me whenever we crossed paths.
“What do you call a bear with no teeth?” she asked solemnly. She was slowly working her way through her list of jokes.
“I don’t know, what do you call a bear with no teeth?”
“A gummy bear,” she said, and then giggled.
The sound was too sweet and pure for this place, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“So, what’s the plan?” Katarina murmured.
She lingered at my side, pretending to fiddle with a box of matches. She looked beautiful in candlelight. She looked beautiful in all lights, actually. I fought the urge to touch her.
“We wait. We play along... and see where the police are taking this.”
“Won’t Pavol tell them about you? You’re not supposed to be here,” she said quietly.