Free Arianna Rose: The Gathering (Part 3) by Jennifer Martucci, Christopher Martucci Page B

suffer, with love so natural and instinctive it was like breathing, for a woman he could never be with.
    An icy wind howled like a wounded animal through the stately cedars along the lane that led to the Soldiers of the Divine Trinity Church and echoed an ache deep within him.  The giant barbed boughs of the trees swayed with the gust, but never surrendered their sentinel stare. Who or what they watched for, he did not know, but felt as though the entire forest around him was vigilant, waiting with bated breath.  Still, he moved forward and allowed the crisp air to invigorate him.  He needed the time to recharge, knew that entering the church would require him to sift through the buildings formidable exterior. 
    When Desmond finally reached the end of the pathway, the church towered imposingly.  He had been there just two weeks earlier, but in that time, he had forgotten what a striking structure it was.  Built entirely of stone, it would have looked like a grand fortress were it not for the beveled stained-glass windows that ornamented it like jewels sparkling in the sunlight, and the cross at the apex of the steeple.  But he hadn’t come to the church to appreciate the intricate architecture.  He’d come for answers.  Howard Kane had spent the greater part of his life hunting the Sola.  If a bastardization of her prophecy existed, one that depicted her as a vengeful, evil force sent to overtake the world, Kane would surely have it.
    Yellow tape blocked the wooden doors at the top of a set of short, concrete steps, and a sticker posted between them announced that the church had been closed indefinitely pending a criminal investigation.  The Soldiers of the Divine Trinity Church had been declared a crime scene.  He’d known that much, and about the investigation.  The local newspaper reported weeks earlier that the police department and the FBI had unearthed the charred remains of Kane’s men.  While most would have been deterred by their destination being declared a crime scene, Desmond was encouraged by it.  Cleared of congregants and staff, as well as the possibility of anyone arriving, the threat of being discovered was eliminated.  He would be free to search for what he’d come for. 
    Desmond closed his eyes and envisioned himself inside the building, envisioned his body passing effortlessly through stone and wood, through plaster and paint.  As he did so, his body felt weightless and white light filled his field of vision for the briefest of moments.  When he opened his eyes again, he stood inside the vestibule.  Unlit candles sat on an iron rack to his left along the wall and a large empty vat that had once held holy water sat in the center of the passageway.  Ahead was another set of wooden doors.  They opened to the congregational seating area where rows of pews faced a sanctuary.  Desmond walked down the center aisle.  He needed to get to the presbytery, the place where Kane had both worked and lived.  In his office and living space, he was certain he’d find some kind of documentation that had distorted the truth of the Sola’s purpose so much so that it had driven Kane and his people, as well as the man in the drainage system. 
    He stopped at the altar and looked off to his left and saw the sacristy.  Typically, only Bibles and vestments were kept inside, but he looked anyway.  He stepped into the small storage area and scanned the few titles that were not Bibles.  Nothing of interest caught his attention.  He walked back out to the sanctuary and past the altar.  On the right was a small area with statues of saints and another rack of unlit candles.  Beyond them, however, was a door.  Desmond opened the door and found that on the other side of it was a hallway.  He quickly strode down it, his need for clarity pounding against his ribcage in time with his heartbeat.  He needed to find something, anything , that would shine light on the robed man’s words; on the destruction