After a dramatic pause worthy of a show host, Adi opened up and stepped inside. It took a moment for his brain to interpret the lumps and shapes, and even when he did, he didn’t register it right away.
“You’re kidding,” Sierra breathed.
Adi’s phone light landed on a . . . skull? No—a whole skeleton. He swung the beam around. Three skeletons altogether, strings of garlic around their necks. Each hung from hooks in the stone walls.
“Wait,” he said. “Isn’t this—?”
“The vampire room.” Sierra’s voice shook, and Adi realized she was lingering in the doorway. Her eyes were glued to the large black box in the center of the floor.
Not a box. A coffin.
“The unaired finale.” Carter moved around the space, dust billowing from beneath her boots. “They wouldn’t actually reuse the set where they found Alicia’s body?”
“It’s not exact,” Sierra said. “This feels . . . more authentic. The details. The props. But I bet they’re using the same puzzles.”
Adi flicked a switch on the wall, and electric orange flames sparked to life in ensconced torches around the room.
“Fancy,” Beck murmured.
Carter touched a combination lock that sealed the coffin shut. “I can’t believe they’d do this.”
As one, they turned to Sierra, who stared at the coffin with haunted eyes. Almost as though she expected her sister’s corpse to be in there . . . again.
“Sierra—” Beck started.
Abruptly, she snapped to attention. “It isn’t like we’re going to findanotherbody. Start looking for that evidence. Search the skeletons.”
They split up, Sierra using a loose stone to prop open the door, keeping it from locking them in.
“This one has a parchment,” Carter said. They spoke in hushed whispers, as if they were treading on sacred ground. As if Alicia’s spirit might be lingering nearby, waiting for them to find the truth.
Adi pulled a pouch from the bony hand of his skeleton. “I’ve got a pouch. It’s locked. There’s a symbol of a fancy cross pressed into the leather.”
“Just garlic over here,” Beck said. He joined Carter. “What does the parchment say?”
“It’s a map with numbers on it. The title readsThe Most Holy of Sites.”
“We need a code to get through to the next room,” Sierra said, examining a heavy wooden door with a keypad. “Four digits. I don’t remember much from last time.”
“You were in shock,” Beck said. “Your brain probably blocked out a lot.”
Adi headed over to check Carter’s parchment map. “This is medieval—or at least, is trying to look medieval. Europe and the Middle East.” He touched his finger to the numbers marking different locations. “I wonder—”
“There’s something on the back!” Beck said.
Carter flipped the parchment over. “Oh great. A message apparently written in blood.Our protection is the key for our greatest weapon. Yet it is not enough. We are doomed.”
Sierra perked up. “The key?”
“What protection?” Beck said, scanning the room. “A shield?”
“Protection from vampires.” Sierra slapped her forehead. “The garlic! I knew that.”
“The key’s in the garlic?” Beck asked.
“For the combination. Count them. The skeletons’ fingers indicate the order. This one is holding up the number two, and there are nine garlic bulbs.”
They inspected the skeletons, counted the garlic bulbs—
