Seth Astill: Church without the pope

Atlas and maps

Anna was watching something on television when Seth went into the hall.

"Oh, you are up," Anna asked getting up "I will make something for you to eat"

"Thanks, I am feeling ravenous," Seth said gratefully and followed her to the kitchen.

Anna directly went and starts tinkering with the utensil, while Seth watched from the dining table.

"Thanks for the milk, Anna" Seth said remembering the night's episode.

"It was nothing, hope you didn't feel hungry" Anna asked from the shelves where she was looking for something, she made a happy sound as she found the packet she was searching for.

"No, I didn't"

"So, what do you plan for today, again going to the church to solve the mystery," Anna asked as she mixed the batter.

"I am thinking of going there tomorrow, today I want to research about the church. I can't think of any place to start" Seth said, thinking of what he will do.

"I have just the place, where you can get answers to some of your questions," Anna said promptly as she started spreading the batter on one of the pans.

"Really, where can I get to know more about the church, Anna" Seth asked perking up.

"Isn't it obvious, you should try the library"

"Right, I should've thought about this. I will go there after breakfast" Seth said just as anna flipped the pan.

"So, should I pack some lunch for you," Anna asked.

"I don't think so, I will be back by lunchtime, anyways it will be lunchtime soon as it's twelve-thirty already," Seth said sheepishly "I will be back by four, at best"

"Okay then," she said taking out the pancake and pouring some maple syrup on it, "Your breakfast is ready" she served it to him on a plate.

After having another serving of the delicious pancake, Seth was ready to go.

He went to his room and changed into black jeans, after that he took his mobile and watch, he didn't take the map with him, as Xenia had shown him where the library was. Ready, he went downstairs. He went to the hall first, where Anna was again watching the television.

"I am going, Anna" he informed her.

"Sure, take care Seth," Anna said with a warm smile, Seth nodded.

Soon he was outside the house taking the path that he had taken last night, he turned at the corner and started walking. He had it all planned out, today he will do some research about the history of the church, try to find who owns it now, and if possible talk with some people about it.

He again took the turn and started walking straight, the library could be seen from where he was and after ten minutes he was climbing the stairs to the library.

He reached the first floor, pushing the glass gate he entered the library, he directly went to the counter to talk to the librarian.

"Hello ma'am, I came here to find some things for my research," Seth said going to the librarian desk.

"what are you searching about kid," the librarian asked sternly looking up from the magazine.

"I am searching about the haunted church, are there any books about its history available here," Seth asked nonchalantly.

"You seem new here, why does the haunted church interest you boy," the librarian asked adjusting her spectacles.

"I am here for holidays, so are there any books available," Seth asked ignoring her other question.

The librarian glared at him for some time and Seth glared back coolly.

"At the right corner of the second floor, third row," the librarian said eventually.

Seth left the desk without any thanks and made his way towards the stairs, he climbed up to the second floor and went to the left corner, there he saw seven racks of books. Going to the third rack he started searching for the book that might help him.

After ten minutes of careful inspection of every book title, he was still not able to find any book about the church, he was just going to look again when he saw someone coming.

"Wow, Seth what a surprise. Can I help you" Vera asked with a smile.

"Nice to meet you too" Seth greeted back "I wanted some books related to the church, can you help me with them"

"sure" she went to the fourth and pulled out the book 'Terror spottings'

"Here you go, Seth, there are others too if you need more"

"Thanks but, the librarian told me that the books were kept in the third rack"

"Ms. Anges would've meant the third rack from the back," Vera said and then went away to do something.

Seth was grateful that the book was kept at this part of the library, as nobody came here and the place was quiet. He could now do his research without any disturbance from anybody, he took a seat a little away from the rack and started reading.

The book was in English and was written by a traveler who has visited it fifty years back. He read through the whole book but didn't find any mention of haunted church or any cult, though there were mentions of some cults in other churches around here. He even said that the church was a spot of festival and enjoyment back at that time.

The church must not have been haunted at that time, Seth thought. He got up and went back to the rack. Keeping the book he took out a book that has 'Haunted places around' written on the cover. He went back to his seat and started reading.

He first checked out the index for haunted churches and directly skipped to that part, there he found various churches that were there but, there was again no mention of any haunted church in Èze. Thinking that he will find it if he read the whole book, Seth leafed through the whole book and then too was not able to find a single reference.

He closed the book and pushed it to the side and then cover his head, thinking of what he was missing. There must be something he was missing, something just out of his grasp. He racked his brain hard not able to think of anything. Finally flustered he got up from the seat he took the book and went back to the rack, he placed it from where he had taken it and then started searching for another book.

While he was going over the books on the rack, his eye caught on the book. The book seemed very old and there was no title on the book. Seth took out the book and opened it, there on the first page written in bold handwriting were the words 'Atlas and Map'.

He turned the pages and saw a map of Èze, a little older but similar to the one he was given by Anna.

When he turned the page further he found the blueprints of the mountain and the beach areas, on the next page were the blueprints of the eagle sanctuary and behind it were the structural placements. There was even a blueprint of a park. Excited Seth started leafing through the book till he found what he was looking for- the blueprints of the church.

He started examining the blueprints, to see if there were any places there in the church where any machine or projector could be hidden, safely away where no one can find them. After the examination of the blueprint, he was still no further in solving the mystery, for there were no places that he could find in the blueprint.

This meant only two things, either he was wrong about his suspicions that someone might have tricked them into thinking that the church was haunted or someone might've drilled some places himself to hide the projector and stuff that are not in the blueprint.

If the latter was true then he must first find out who owns the church.

He took the book and then went downstairs to the librarian desk, only to find Vera sitting in her place.

"What are you doing here, vera? Where's the librarian"

"Her shift is over, was there anything you needed from her" Vera asked getting up.

"Nothing, I just wanted to borrow this book," Seth said showing her the copy of 'Atlas and Map', also I wanted to ask her some questions about the haunted church.

"So, you came here to search about the haunted church," Vera asked raising her eyebrows.

"Well yes but, I am afraid that I haven't found anything worthwhile," he said a little dejected.

"Such type of researches are always hard, I hope that you have the will to completely solve the mystery. Also, I am afraid that you won't get anything out of peoples as they don't know anything, it would be better if you browse on the internet" Vera suggested.

"Wish I could but, there's no signal here," Seth said shaking his head.

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Game time:

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