Consideration for Scoundrels

ELEVEN

Celeste's father used to tease her that the color of her hair was because her mother had crossed paths with the Dullahan before she'd been born.

"Tis true." He'd say. "Your Ma will swear to it. There she was, minding her own, when the rider, head tucked 'neath his arm, rode down the lane, tossing his bucket at her feet as he passed." He chuckle and tease a lock of her hair between his fingers. "Was no surprise when you were born not more than a week later with hair red as blood."

Over the years she had wondered maybe there's been some truth to her fathers story. Maybe her mother had crossed the Dullahan, maybe that was the reason the dead presented themselves to her like a friend. Maybe that was what had led her here.

"It's here." Selena was saying as if her will could speak it into existence. With an open palm she slapped the wood. "It has to be."

Beneath the altar. Celeste thought, gut twisting as new revelation spread through her veins like poison. But it was much too late to stop now.

"Then let's move this son of a bitch."

She maneuvered herself, repositioning so that the heels of her boots rested firm against the wood. Selena followed suit and together they nudged the structure forward little by little. Wood squealed against the ground; a terrible noise that made the flesh of Selena's arms raise, prickling against the back of her neck. Legs burning, she continued to shove, until the altar had given way far enough to reveal the stone beneath.

Celeste sat back and wiped the sweat from her brow, trying to catch her breath as her mind buoyed in a wake of exhaustion. She could feel sinking into her marrow, but she laughed in triumph.

Beneath the altar was a slab of stone.

'Vae tibi bonum ordinis' it read, the same phrase Celeste had seen scribbled on the Shallows map.

Selena wedged her fingers beneath it, and began to pull.

"Help me with this." Selena strained. "Bloody sucker weighs a god damn ton."

Selena heaved the cover upwards, arms quaking at the effort. Luckily, the sheet of stone was only an inch, maybe two thick, and less than a meter wide. It pulled away with surprising ease, slipping free from the its resting position for the first time in God only knew how many centuries.

"Jesus Mary and Saint Joseph." Celeste panted as they lowered the slab slowly to the chapel floor.

Selena rolled her shoulders forward and back, pulling her shoulders as tight as she could bare and letting them melt back to her sides as she stretched out the burning muscles in her back. Her clothes clung to sweat-damp skin, boiling beneath the suddenly too-heavy layers. She peeled off her coat and set it beside the altar, the cool night air prickling against her skin.

Both girls stared down at the spot on the floor where altar and stone once lay. It was open, a hole dropping directly downwards. Into what, well, that was the question now.

"Hand me that torch."

Celeste angled the light downward; it bounced off of the ground below almost immediately, revealing only a four or five foot drop at the most.

Celeste handed the torch back to Selena. "After you love."

Selena swung her feet over the ledge and carefully lowered herself until the soles of her boots brushed against the ground.

Dropping in to a crouch, torch between her teeth, Selena spread her arms as she tried to gage the length of the tunnel. Her elbows had barely begun to straightened by the time her fingertips made contact with the coarse walls. Selena gripped her hands on the edge and heaved herself back into the chapel.