Michael Belmont and the Heir of Van Helsing (The Adventures of Michael Belmont) (53 page)

“A new super-hero?” he grinned excitedly.

“Yup.
 
I believe people are calling her the
Cantankerous Cougar
.”

Michael chuckled to himself as he stepped across the platform and into the elevator.
 
The door closed behind him and he looked down at the numbered keypad of the control panel.

“All right,” he said to himself.
 
“Time to find out where this thing goes.”

Rachel Belmont dropped a handful of ice cubes into her glass and filled it to the brim with fresh-squeezed lemonade.
 
She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to wander back to some of the few, good memories of her childhood while the sweet and sour flavors trickled across her tongue.
 
How old was she when her grandmother had taught her to make lemonade?
 
Four or five years old?
 
The old woman had been a bit batty, her father was right about that, but she’d always been kind to her granddaughter.
 
In truth, the whole family was crazy, and Rachel always found herself wondering how she’d managed to come out as normal as she had.
 
Sometimes she even questioned that.

As painful as the past could be, Rachel had learned to reach in and grasp those happy memories, wherever they could be found; to hold on to them and cherish them.
 
It was like finding a diamond in the rough, a treasure in a junkyard.
 
There was always something good, something beautiful to be found if you were willing to search for it, to seize hold of it and not let go.

Her grandmother’s kind, silly face stuck in her mind as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the old, iron amulet.
 
She examined the stone, looking hard for the triple spiral she’d seen after Michael had held it in Denver.
 
As hard as she looked, all she saw was plain, gray rock.

She’d found herself wondering a thousand times what mysteries this thing might hold, and after what happened in Denver with Michael’s ring, her curiosity and wonder about the artifact had only intensified.

Perhaps Michael could get some answers from it, using the ring of Anubis.
 
But Rachel still wasn’t completely convinced that such an attempt would be safe, and no mystery was worth endangering the health of her son.

“He’s going to be looking for you now, even though I’ve told him not to,” she said to the amulet, as if it could hear her.
 
“I know that kid, his curiosity will eventually get the best of him.
 
I’m going to have to put you someplace he’ll never think to look.”

She walked to the cupboard and pulled down a ceramic jar containing flour.
 
It was nearly empty, that was good.
 
Taking a large plastic freezer bag from a nearby drawer, she placed the amulet inside and squeezed out the excess air before sealing it up and pressing it down into the jar.
 
Then she took a new bag of flour from the pantry and filled the jar up nearly to the top.

“That should do the trick,” she whispered while pushing the jar to the back of the cabinet.
 
“Pigs will fly before that boy cooks anything.”

Rachel wore a self-satisfied grin as she went back to her lemonade, sitting down at the kitchen table with the new mystery novel a friend had recommended.
 
Link and Raymond would be coming over for dinner later, but she had a few hours left before needing to prepare.

She breathed a long sigh of relief and opened up the book; more than ready to enjoy a little peace and quiet.
 
All of life’s problems could finally be set aside, at least for a while.
 
Soon she was immersed in the story, and did not notice the yellow streak of the little mountain lion leaping from its hiding place to spring out the kitchen door.

Michael stood looking at the keypad, wondering what code to try next.
 
He’d already punched in their street address, as well as his mother’s and Abigail’s birthdays, but the elevator hadn’t gone anywhere.

He was in the middle of putting in his own birthday when his father’s voice came over the intercom.
 
“When you’re sick of horsing around in there, put in the code 1-2-3-4-5.”

“What?” Michael laughed.
 
“That’s the kind of code an idiot would have on his luggage.”

“I heard that,” his father responded.

Michael pressed in the code, and the elevator immediately began to descend.
 
It felt like it was moving pretty fast, but he had no way of telling exactly how fast.

“Where am I going?” he asked.

“I’ve got a few things to show you,” his father answered.
 
“You’re coming all the way to the bottom.”

Michael wondered exactly how far down into the earth this elevator went.
 
He was about to ask when he felt it come to a stop.
 
The door slid open and he stepped out to find his father waiting for him holding two Coleman lanterns, one of which he handed to Michael.

They were in a rough looking underground cavern.
 
It wasn’t all that big, and the ceiling was just a few feet over his father’s head.

“All right, first things first,” he said, handing Michael a long object wrapped up in a dark blue cloth.

He recognized that cloth.
 
His eyes widened.
 
“Hey, is this what I think it is?” he asked while unfolding it.
 
It was!
 
He was holding the Sword of Van Helsing.
 
“But…the blade was shattered when the gateway was destroyed.
 
I saw Alucard pull the hilt out.”

“He and the Dragon re-forged it for me.
 
Turns out the old man has become a pretty good weapon-smith over the last seventeen centuries.”

Michael looked over the new blade, which gleamed impressively under the lantern light.

“The blade was folded 20 times, heated by the fires of Mt. Etna, and cooled by water carried from the top of Everest.
 
Alucard said you’d be hard pressed to find this sword’s equal.”

Michael was impressed.
 
“It seems a lot lighter than it was before, too.
 
So what are you going to do with it?
 
Keep it stored down here somewhere?”

“For now.
 
But the way I see it, the sword doesn’t belong to me anymore.
 
Not that it ever did,” he shrugged.
 
“I was just its caretaker, really.”

“Magda?” Michael asked.

He nodded.
 
“I thought
you
might like to give it to her.
 
Thought it might earn you an extra point or two.
 
That is, unless you’d rather give it to Olaf?”

Michael chuckled.
 
“No,” he said, shaking his head.
 
“I definitely think the sword should go to Magda, and not just because I lo…because I like her.
 
Thanks.”

His father grinned knowingly.
 
“Good, now leave that thing here and follow me.
 
There’s something else you need to see.”

Michael put the sword in the elevator and followed him through the cavern.
 
They walked for a few dozen feet before their path turned sharply to the left, and narrowed considerably.
 
At one point, they each had to squeeze through sideways.

“I wonder if Liam could get through here?” Michael said with a smile.

“Maybe during the summer,” his father answered.
 
“But I wouldn’t bring him down the day after Thanksgiving.”

“So, you gonna tell me where we’re going?”

“Patience is a virtue.
 
Besides, we’re nearly there now.”

The passage widened back up, but the ceiling became so low that they had to get down on their hands and knees to crawl for a while, until it opened back up into another cavern, a bit bigger than the one the elevator had let them out in.

Two folding chairs and a folding table were set up, and piles of paper were stacked upon it.
 
Lit torches hung from the walls, lighting the place up nicely.

“I’ve been meaning to run some power down,” his father told him.
 
“Just haven’t been able to get to it yet.”

Michael walked to the table.
 
A framed picture of their family stood next to an unlit lantern and a soup can filled with pencils.
 
He picked up a large sheet of paper, which showed an elaborate but incomplete map.
 
“Dad, what is all this?”

“You’ve been studying cartography.
 
You tell me.”

Michael carefully examined each of the maps, allowing what he was seeing to soak in.
 
“This doesn’t look like any normal network of caverns.
 
At least, that’s not all it is.”

His father looked over his shoulder.
 
“And?”

Picking up the largest map, which gave him a broad view, Michael noticed two bodies of water on either side of the page.
 
“Are these oceans?”

“Of course.
 
My drawing hasn’t gotten that bad, has it?”

He moved his finger to a point near the top of the map.
 
“This is where we are, right?
 
This is the section beneath Prescott?”

“Good.
 
Now leave your lantern here and follow me.
 
You need to see this for yourself.”
 
He handed him a small black flashlight.

Michael followed him to the back wall of the cavern, where a large steel hatch protruded from the floor.

“What the heck is this?” Michael asked.
 
“Did
you
have it put in?”

His father nodded.
 
“I discovered this hole shortly after the elevator was installed.
 
My original plan was to develop this cavern into a maximum security section of the vault, but all that changed when I saw what waited at the bottom of this hole.”

He opened the padlock and withdrew the chain, and nodded for Michael to help him lift the lid.
 
After it was raised, he cast down a rope ladder and began the climb, holding his flashlight in his teeth.
 
Michael waited until he reached the bottom and called back up to follow.

The hole remained narrow for about a dozen feet before opening up into another chamber.
 
He climbed an additional ten feet before reaching the ground, where he hopped down, took his flashlight from his teeth, and shone it all around.
 
They were in some kind of ancient circular tunnel, with brick walls and ceiling.
 
Michael shone his flashlight down in both directions, where the light was eventually swallowed up in darkness.

Michael couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
 
“This really goes all the way to Mexico City?
 
This is what you’ve been researching for the last three months?”

“This particular tunnel doesn’t go all the way there, but it connects with a network that does.
 
And yes, this is what I’ve been researching.”

“But, how is it even possible?
 
How could something like this even be built?”

“That’s a very good question,” his father said.
 
“But it’s not the most important question, is it?”

Michael continued to gaze down into the darkness.
 
“No,” he agreed.
 
“The most important question is-
why
was it built?”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ethan Russell Erway, author of the ADVENTURES OF MICHAEL BELMONT fantasy series, and THE BLEEDING STAR CHRONICLES adult novellas, has been a life long fan of the fantasy and science fiction genres. His third book, MICHAEL BELMONT AND THE CURSE OF THE THUNDERBIRD, is due for release in late 2013.
 
Ethan has a Bachelor of Sacred Literature degree from Summit Theological Seminary, and is the Minister at Agua Fria Christian Church in Humboldt, AZ where he lives with his wife Kara and sons Gabriel and Caleb.

Connect with Me Online:

http://www.EthanRussellErway.com

http://twitter.com/@ethanerway

http://www.Facebook.com/EthanRussellErway

Acknowledgments
:

Special thanks go to all these wonderful people!
 
My lovely wife Kara, Jane White, Kyle Wachs, Zach Cagley, Liz Peters, Kelly LeGris, and Amanda Wachs.

Many thanks to Steph Roman for her excellent work on the cover illustration.
 
To view more of Steph's work, visit-
 
www.stephroman.com
 
and
 
www.youtube.com/msstephroman

My thanks also go to everyone who invests their time in reading this book.