"She’s a tattoo artist. A dead good one, she is. She wanted to immortalize our journey together underground." He went silent again, but only for a moment.
"I met her down below, not far from here, both of us all muddy. We exchanged phone numbers by flashlight." "Tell me about that day she disappeared." "I had classes to go to. She had the afternoon off and left with another girl, Liesl from Germany. I dinna know her last name. They went down after hearing rumors of some secret group moving through the area." "The Order of the Solar Temple." "Aye." He worked the back of his shirt up. "At the base of my neck, you’ll see a room marked with a little flower." She peered closer at his tattoo, shining her flashlight. She found the tiny Celtic rose and touched it with a finger.
Renny shivered. "That’s where we are now. We’ll follow Jolie’s map to the newest piece of my tattoo; that was where she’d been headed. She found an entrance into a forgotten section of the labyrinth, but she’d only just begun to explore it when she heard that rumor about the Solar Temple." He lowered his shirt and pointed to a tunnel leading out. "I know most of the way by heart, but I’ll need help once we’re closer." He set off through the dark labyrinth, winding through tunnels and across small rooms and past flooded pits. The walls were raw limestone, sweating and dripping with water. Fossils dotted the surfaces, some polished by previous cataphiles to make them stand out, as if the prehistoric past were trying to crawl out of the rock.
The way grew rapidly cooler. Soon Seichan could see her breath. The echoes of their footsteps made it sound as if they were constantly being followed. She stopped frequently, checking warily behind her.
She could see that Renny was growing impatient.
"We’re not likely to find anyone down here. Even the cataflics rarely come to this remote section. Plus there was a gas leak reported near the tourist area of the catacombs. They’ve been closed for three days." She nodded and checked his tattoo again. They were not far from the freshly inked section of his map.
"If I’m reading this right, your girlfriend’s new discovery opens along that passage." She pointed to a narrow tunnel and checked her wristwatch.
Seventy-two minutes left.
Anxious, Seichan led the way. She hurried along, looking for the branching side passage marked on the tattoo.
"Stop!" Renny called behind her.
She turned and found him kneeling beside a tumble of stones. She had walked past the rockfall without giving it a second thought.