Roughly, we were taken across to stand before them, our balaclavas snatched away.
I watched the mouths of the four gape open at our revealed faces, but that was all I could see, their own faces shrouded by their hoods and the dark light.
A woman spoke first. “Jennifer Bloom. You finally found us.”
Jennifer didn’t answer.
“I’m Sister Rose,” the woman told her then fired sharp questions at her. “You’ve been searching a long time, haven’t you? How did you find us? And how did you get inside the building? Who did you come here with?”
“We came alone,” said Jennifer, her voice firm. “And we got inside because your security isn’t as good as you think it is.”
“And you expect us to believe you came here without any supplies?” Sister Rose threaded her fingers together tightly, like a schoolteacher admonishing a student. Her voice was so ordinary, American like my own.
“We had all we thought we needed,” replied Jennifer. “We didn’t realise there were so many of you. In any case, when the police arrive, they’ll have better weapons than anything we could have brought.”
Hope jumped inside me but was immediately quashed. Jennifer was just buying time and trying a last-ditch attempt to save us.
The woman tilted her head but didn’t show any alarm or anger at Jennifer’s words. “Nonsense. You wouldn’t arrive by yourselves ahead of the police. We have extremely high-level police and politicians who are members here. I know for a fact you couldn’t get a search warrant for this island, but if such a thing did occur, then our contacts would have informed us well ahead of time. We’ll be thoroughly searching the monastery and grounds to see who and what you did bring with you.” She gestured towards the Saviours. Immediately, groups of them moved off towards the exit.
Jennifer gazed at her defiantly. “I would, if I were you.”
The woman’s mouth drew into a hard line. “We already know who you both are. Jennifer and Constance. Of course, the question is, what brought the two of you together?”
They knew me?
Of course they did. I was Kara’s mother, and I’d been searching for her.
“All we want are the people we came for. And then we’ll leave.” My voice shook.
“No one may leave here,” said Sister Rose in a harsh tone that belied her round, pleasant face.
“What is this place?” I pressed. “This room and the water—what does it all mean?”
Sister Rose pursed her small pink lips. “This is our remembrance hall. Where we remember the past and all who came before us. The pool is a cenote.”
“Sen-oh-teh?” I queried.
“Yes,” she replied. “It’s a natural formation that has been here thousands of years, caused by rain seeping into the limestone. They go deep and narrow. Of course, in a normal life cycle, sediment ends up filling them in again. There are others like this on the grounds, and they filled in long ago. But this cenote was special and was kept enclosed when the monastery was built around it. In the past couple of hundred years, systems have been added to flush any built-up sediment out to the ocean—the cenote has arms that stretch out that way.”
She spoke as though this was all so normal, these strange and brutal people guarding this deep pool, as if they were simply history enthusiasts.
“Did you know my brother?” Jennifer’s voice was finally thinning and showing cracks. “His name was Noah.”
I let my eyes close for a moment, sad and terrified for her at what she might hear.
“I knew Noah,” came the sharp voice of the other woman. “You can call me Sister Dawn. I remember Noah Bloom. Oh yes, an angry young man with a talent for mathematics. A very smart boy. He found out about us and staged an escape in the middle of the night. Fortunately, we found him and brought him back. Don’t worry, Jennifer, we remember your brother. We remember every single one who enters the island. They aren’t forgotten.”
The muscles in Jennifer’s face drew taut. “Did he suffer?”
Sister Dawn sighed. “We all suffer.” She had a more angular face than Sister Rose, of Indian heritage. Her voice was a mix of Indian and English and very authoritative.
“Who killed him?” Jennifer’s eyes opened large and focused. “Which one of you murdered my brother?”
A slight smile indented Sister Dawn’s face before she straightened and made her expression go blank. “That pleasure was mine. You see, you don’t get closer to a person than the moment you take their life. I already feel close to you because you are of Noah’s blood. And I’ll be the one to take your life.”