Caprice of Evil

He looked around and saw no windows in the office, no way out at all. The threads of despair were once more taking hold of the young man, who could think of no way to save his life, until Michele asked him to follow her. With the utmost care, they tiptoed out of the office and into the narrow hall, to which opened a small side door Michael hadn’t noticed before. They climbed up a steep, winding stairway to a sort of large attic, where Goldenberg stored all kinds of knickknacks, broken furniture and antiques needing restoration. Michael fumbled in vain for some light switch, then he lit his small flashlight to illuminate the dusky chamber. On a corner, he discovered a huge oaken ark and he thought this might do as a hideout. Raising the lid, he was surprised and delighted to see it was empty, as if waiting for him to go in there. Without further ado, he stepped inside and Michele followed suit. The space became crowded and Michele had to lay against him, her back toward the young man, like two spoons in a box. Carefully they pulled the lid back into place and remained in uttermost silence, enjoying the cozy warmth from their embrace.

Not much later, Macrino and his sidekick climbed up to the attic after them. Inside the ark, the murkiness was almost complete and they practically could not see anything. Only a tiny beam of light came from a hole and through it they also heard the heavy steps of their two stalkers. Michele and Michael hugged closer, in their fear of being discovered and yanked out of their hideaway. The burglars were stomping around in the dim light that came through the door, thrashing objects on the floor, randomly opening rickety wardrobes and unsteady cupboards, some of its contents spilling out to the floor. When they were only about three yards from the ark, a police vehicle’s siren was heard coming up the street and they descended the stairs in a hurry. Michele and Michael stayed in there for a good while yet. Not only they were afraid the hoodlums might come back, but they both wanted to prolong the cozy sensation of their closeness. Then the young man whispered to Michele a short report on all the happenstances occurring in his life during the last few days, how he had discovered the Knights Templar’s library therein to find those precious parchments; how he had gleaned from them the story of the Devil’s imprisonment and his reasons to believe that said creature was about to be set free from his fetters very soon and how he had come to be followed by religious fanatics ever since he had revealed his secret to the Vatican authorities. He ended up by telling Michele he needed a copy of the original Malleus Maleficarum in order to locate the Seven Towers of the Devil.

Michele showed him she was really rather impressed by that unusual set of circumstances and she vowed to help the youth out. After leaving their makeshift hideout, she told him she would make a copy of the manuscript for him herself and told him to meet her next night in a restaurant nearby she gave him the address of. Michael took hold of the girl’s hands and before saying her goodbye, he chastely kissed her on a cheek as a way to show her his thankfulness. After the immediate danger had passed, his stomach reminded him that he needed to have a meal and then look up some rooming-house where he could book a room for the night. Michele opened the door into the store showroom to assure him the hoodlums had gone. He then left the store and on his way out he saw Mr. Goldenberg sitting on a stool, his lusterless eyes targeting the empty space, as if he were trying to understand the disgrace that had come to ruin his business. The young man thought about telling him goodbye, but could not find the adequate expressions for it under the circumstances and thus left without a word. Only after he was on the sidewalk he realized the owner hadn’t yet run his card through his checking machine and felt an impulse to come back and tell him, than he thought better of it.

Anxious not only for the Malleus Maleficarum copy but also to see Michele again, the young man was early at the restaurant. He asked for a quiet table on the back of the establishment and ordered a bottle of white wine he could sip from while the girl didn’t come. Thirty minutes later, there she was, bringing a parcel on her hands.