The Celestial Gate by Avital Dicker (red white royal blue txt) 📗

weak and didn’t let them see much beyond the entrance steps. They peered into the darkness below.

“We have nothing to lose,” Yam finally said.

Anise thought about how she’d ignored her mom. It simply couldn’t have been their last time together. She would never forgive herself if it was. She had to get to her, and the underground city was her best shot.

Yam took the lead in the murk, followed by Anise. Mor, bringing up the rear, closed the door behind him. A bat crossed the tunnel with a loud flap of its wing. Anise choked back a scream. She lost her balance and Yam grabbed her arm to steady her, but she pulled away in anger, again feeling that hot rush through her body.

“I don’t need any help. I can manage by myself,” she said angrily, grateful to the dark for hiding the blush creeping up her face. She stepped as far away from Yam as she could.

“Is she always like this?” Yam asked.

Mor shrugged. What the hell does Yam have that I don’t? he wondered, and why doesn’t she look at me that way? Out loud he said, “She’s like that only with the people she likes.”

Anise wanted to kill him but made do with thumping him on the back in warning.

“Ouch!” Mor rubbed the spot she’d hit. “Hey, listen up,” he said. Now they could all hear murmuring in the distance.

“It sounds like prayers,” said Yam.

“It’s coming from above,” said Mor.

They continued in silence for another few minutes. The tunnel slowly widened until they arrived at a two-branched junction. The left-hand path seemed to lead deep into the underground city, while the right-hand one led directly to a spiral staircase that seemed to go up and out. The sounds of prayer were much closer now.

“Now what?” Yam wanted to know.

“I’m all for getting out of here. Maybe that exit takes us to Lions’ Gate,” said Mor. The dark tunnel and damp underground air were getting on his nerves.

Yam didn’t wait for another word; he was totally in favor of taking this opportunity to leave this murky ghost town. He started up the narrow, winding stairs, but just then a rat scurried past the three. Mor drew back in disgust.

Yam reached the top step, devastated to find a large rock obstructing the opening. “The exit is blocked,” he whispered. He could clearly hear the congregants praying on the other side, almost within touching distance.

“We’re going to have to go back and head for the next exit through the tunnel,” Yam muttered.

“Hold on,” said Anise, and pushed ahead to stand next to him on the narrow top step. She examined the large rock, letting her hand roam across its entire surface. “Here,” she murmured some moments later, pointing at a slight crack in the gap between the opening and the rock.

“And you think we’re going to fit through there?” Yam mocked.

Anise ignored him. There has to be some way, she thought, letting her fingers continue their search. Suddenly, her palm felt a slight bulge. She tried turning it, but nothing happened. It wouldn’t budge.

“You’ve watched too many movies about secret passages and princesses,” Yam scoffed.

“Give her a break,” Mor jumped to Anise’s defense.

Now, instead of trying to turn it, Anise pulled on the bulge with all her might.

“Look,” she whispered, hypnotized, seeing the rock starting to slide to one side.

“And you don’t seem to have watched enough movies,” she answered Yam, a victorious smile on her lips. Moving cautiously, she squeezed herself through the narrow opening between the rock and the wall.

Anise kneeled. Now she was hidden in a space between a pillar and the floor inside a church. She looked around and, once she was sure nobody could see her, she quickly pulled herself up, Yam and Mor hot on her heels.

The service was still in progress. One by one, they slipped out from behind the wide marble pillar and blended in with the congregation.

Anise found a hymnal on a bench and opened it. Then, seeing that the congregants were circling the church close to the walls and heading toward the priest and the altar, the three fell in line.

“Hey, this is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. My aunt dragged me here a few times,” Mor muttered.

They crossed the large structure, looking in wonder at the ceiling decorated with colorful mosaics and the high arches between the massive pillars.

“Look,” Mor whispered. Anise glanced at two white marble steps on the right leading to a roped-off entranceway with a sign reading, “No Entrance.”

“That room is always closed. I remember from the last time I was here,” Mor continued in an undertone. His eyes gleamed with curiosity. “It says ‘No Entrance,’” Anise stated the obvious in an attempt to stop him, but Mor had already ducked under the rope, opened the door, and disappeared on the other side.

Anise was furious. For a moment, she toyed with the idea of leaving him there, but then looked around to make sure no one was looking in her direction and reluctantly followed him into the room.

“What the hell were you thinking, you idiot?” she angrily hissed in Mor’s face.

Yam, who had slipped in behind the two, was now leaning against a marble statue depicting Jesus. It was so large it barely fit into the small room. He eyed Anise with suspicion. He was sorry about their previous exchange and for having teased her, but there was something about this girl that just drove him insane.

Anise pulled on Mor’s arm. “Come on already,” she urged him impatiently, opening the door to go back into the church’s main hall. Just then, a burst of gunfire broke the peace. She froze. The prayer service stopped abruptly. Yam grabbed the door and closed it behind them quickly.

“What’s happening here? It’s a church, for crying out loud,” Anise whispered, horrified.

Through the peephole in the door, Yam could see dozens of masked men filling the aisles. They were firing rapid bursts into the air and aggressively shoving the