Mystery of Loving the Dark

Chapter 6: Cave in

This was not how I wanted to spend my Friday night, Hermione thought as she scaled down an old rope ladder as she descended a dark hole in the cemetery.

It took one week to be able to find what they believed to be the origins of the earthquake. The earthquake consisted of several smaller pockets all of which occurred simultaneously from Chester, Warrington, Wiggan and Foby. When drawn on a map all of these cities encircle a center point of Liverpool. The only known tunnels in the area are the Williamson Tunnels. The tunnels are a series of extensive subterranean excavations believed to have been created under the direction of tobacco merchant Joseph Williamson between 1810 and 1840. However, the tunnels were filled in with rubble during the 19th and early 20th centuries and remained inaccessible until archaeological investigations were carried out in 1995. Excavations are still being carried out today. Nonetheless, if the earthquakes originated from the magical powers of the dagger then these tunnels should have been affected by the seismic powers, however, they remained undisturbed.

The possibility that the tunnels they were looking for still remained unknown and inaccessible became high.

It wasn't until they researched at a local library that they came across a new lead. They found in the archives the original journal from a local girl born in the 1900s named Agatha Gerald. She became worried about her father when one day he appeared with a branded mark on his wrist. A cross with a V underneath. Afraid that he was a part of a religious cult she followed him when she noticed he began to sneak out at night. She followed him in the dead of night as he maneuvered through a series of tunnels he used for his job as a tobacco smuggler in 1916 during the prohibition. She followed him until she reached a dead-end cavern. Finding no trace of her father, once he disappeared. The only thing Agatha wrote worth knowing about the cavern she found was that it was marked. She believed that he vanished with magic and was a part of a devil-worshiping cult. Not much thought was ever given to Agatha's diary entry. Any scholars who came across it believed that her ramblings of her father were an indicator that he was involved with the Freemasons. No one ever thought of the possibility that there was a connection to the diary and King James' dagger until now.

Agatha wrote that the entrance to the tunnels was located underneath an unmarked gravestone in the cemetery behind the old school. When moved revealed a hole and a rope ladder. From research the old school she was referring to burned down in 1962 and was never rebuilt. But the closest cemetery to that spot was Prescot cemetery. Which was an active cemetery when Agatha was still alive. The cemetery is just over a two-hour walk from the Williamson Tunnels. The tunnels may connect amongst the distance.

If what Agatha wrote was true then there is an entry to the tunnels in Prescot cemetery that are connected to the Williamson tunnels. There is also a false wall in the tunnels that had been marked. She didn't directly state how the wall was marked, all she wrote was diev et mon droit. It is the motto of the Monarch of the United Kingdom outside Scotland. One that King Jame would have used during his reign. It seemed so easy to connect the dots now that they have all of the information when in reality it took several long restless days and endless nights of research. Hermione loved research and even prided herself on her ability to comb through research with a magnifying glass but this was just tedious.

Using a glamour charm, to disguise their movements, Hermione and Severus made their way through Prescot Cemetery earlier this evening. Looking for an unmarked grave was a strenuous task. Many graves were named but over time the carvings had faded. The two used flashlights as they read each grave, opting out of using magic. If they were caught for trespassing then they didn't want to have to answer any more unnecessary questions than necessary. There was also the possibility that any magic could trigger the dagger's energy and create another earthquake. Something the pair were trying to avoid. The two separated to cover more ground. There were hundreds of names and unmarked graves to go through. It was after two hours when Severus indicated that he found it. By the time Hermione made her way over to him, Severus was standing over a dark hole in the ground. The grave had been pushed off to the side.