Map Seekers: The Brotherhood

Chapter 13

Hunter, Alexis and Jacob stood at the top of a flight of stairs which lead down to the ground floor. They listened, but heard no sound.

"What are we waiting for?" Alexis asked.

Hunter turned to face her. He hoped the fear he was feeling inside was not discernible on his face.

"We've come this far, we might as well go all the way," Jacob said.

Hunter knew his friends were right, but breaking and entering was all a new experience for him and he was having his reservations.

"You want me to go first?" Alexis asked as she started to move past him.

"No, I got this," Hunter finally answered. He knew there was no turning back now. "I was just making sure Bogart and Higgins had left for good.

"Good. Then let's go." Alexis pushed Hunter toward the stairs.

The three descended the stairs and found themselves in a long hallway. At one end was a door with an eyehole and at the other end were drapes. A hallway led off of the main hall.

Hunter walked to the door and looked through the eyehole to find he was seeing the foyer where the three entered the building the first time.

He went back to the others and pointed for them to go in the direction of the drapes. Hunter led the way. He pushed the drapes apart and entered a large chamber that seemed larger than what would fit in the building.

"What is this place?" Jacob whispered. Hunter and Alexis shrugged.

The rectangular room was softly lit by wall sconces that were spaced symmetrically around the walls. At both ends of the room were raised platforms with throne-like seats. A similar throne was positioned in the middle of the long wall across from the entrance where the kids were standing. Long benches lined the edges of the room, which was extremely formal in its setting.

"Yeah, this isn't creepy at all," Jacob said as he ventured into the room to have a look around.

"You think this is where they hold their sacrifices?" Alexis joked.

As Hunter followed the others into the room, he wondered what types of rituals actually took place in a room like this. He walked to the center of the room and stepped on the black and white checkerboard floor there.

"Check out these things," Jacob said as he hefted a column topped with a globe. He had picked it up from a desk in front of one of the thrones at the end of the room. "You could really do some damage with one of these."

"Check out the ceiling!" Alexis pointed up.

Both boys looked up to see a domed ceiling painted to look like the nighttime sky with glowing constellations.

"It's like a twisted version of Disneyland," Jacob pointed out.

Hunter returned his attention to the marble altar that stood in the center of the checkerboard floor surrounded by three columns. It looked like an upside-down pyramid with a flat bottom as its base. Carved on all four sides of the altar was a gold five-pointed star with a gold letter G in the center. Three large books sat on top and Hunter looked at the covers to read the titles of each. There was a "Holy Bible," a "Koran" and the third book was titled, "Volume of Sacred Law."

"What are we supposed to be looking for exactly?" Alexis asked.

"I don't know." Hunter realized he really didn't have a plan once they got inside. When they first talked about breaking into the Lodge, that had been his primary focus. Now that they were actually inside, he wasn't sure what he hoped to accomplish.