Chapter 2: A Secret Passage

Chastity slammed and locked the office door.

“What is it?” the Professor asked, concerned.

“It’s Damien. Damien Tahquitz! He’s out there with a gun!” Chastity answered, her heart rate accelerating. He had a deranged look.

“Tahquitz…?” the Professor mumbled quizzically, not moving from his seat behind the desk. “Was he one of my students?”

“Remember? He was stalking my roommate in senior year. I reported him to campus security and they found all this disturbing stuff he posted on social media. He ended up getting expelled.”

The doorknob rattled, followed by a loud banging on the door.

“Chastity! I know you’re in there! Open the door!”

Chastity hurried to the Professor’s side. Where he was sitting, he was directly in the line of fire if Damien did something crazy and started shooting through the door.

“We need to move, Professor. And we need to call the police! Where’s your phone?”

The Professor blinked slowly, sweeping his eyes over the stacks and miscellany. The pounding on the door continued. Damien was trying to break through.

“I haven’t got an office phone.”

“What about a smartphone?”

“Oh heavens, I haven’t got one of THOSE even more.”

Chastity chewed her lip. Her own phone was powered off and stashed in her wristlet–which she had given to her kid sister!

Damien was now kicking the door with his black doc martens, screaming profanities; the wood around the frame was starting to splinter. Chastity looked around the office desperately. There were a few narrow windows, high off the ground. They looked like they hadn’t been opened in decades.

Thinking fast, she dragged a heavy chair from the Professor’s reading nook and wedged it against the door, stacking several volumes of the Summa Theologica on top. That would buy them a couple extra minutes–tops.

A brief light of recognizance passed over the Professor’s face.

“Ms. Kristiansen, do me the favor of moving that bookcase over there,” he said, pointing with a wrinkly finger at a large, ornately carved wooden bookcase covering one wall.

“The bookcase?” Chastity assumed he meant for her to use that to further barricade the door and she obliged. It was laden with books and terribly heavy, but she was strong, and soon she managed to wedge one end of the case away from the wall, creating a two foot gap.

The faintest hint of a cool breeze brushed her face and Chastity paused. In the wall, hidden behind the bookcase was a sort of passage–a lightless tunnel.

“Professor…?”

“This is an old building. There are many architectural oddities they don’t show you on the freshman tour.”

“Is this some kind of panic room?” she asked skeptically, trying to make out anything at all in the darkness.

“Go in. You’ll be safe!”

There was a loud rattle as several heavy books tumbled off the chair blocking the door.

“YOU RUINED MY LIFE! NOW I’M GOING TO RUIN YOURS!” Damien yelled through the splintering wood.

“I’m not going without you, Professor. Come on!”

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She reached out her hand. The Professor shook his head, locking eyes with his former pupil.

“I have a few things to put in order first. Trust me, please. Go through the passage. Go, now!”

There was something in the old man’s voice, and his eyes, that drove home the certainty and conviction of his words. Hardly knowing what to think, Chastity ducked her head and entered the tunnel.

Suddenly the bookcase shifted behind her, blocking out the light.

“Huh? What happened? Professor? Professor!”

There was no response. Chastity could not believe the frail old Professor had moved the bookcase back on his own, concealing the entrance to the passageway. But what other explanation was there? She pushed hard against the bookcase but it wouldn’t budge from this angle. All she could hear was the frantic, crazed banging, now muffled. The office door couldn’t hold much longer.

I have to get help. I have to go through this hole in the wall and get help!, thought Chastity.

She turned and stepped deeper into the darkness. Almost immediately, the sound of crashing wood grew faint, then disappeared altogether. The musty smell of old books and antique upholstery likewise vanished. The atmosphere took on a strange sensation–sterile, yet charged. The fine blonde hairs on Chastity’s arms and neck stood on end.

The darkness kept going on and on, impossibly so.

How long is this tunnel? Weren’t we on the first floor? Wasn’t there just a wall between the office and the outside?

Suddenly, a pale blue light appeared. Moving from the ground up, it systematically passed over Chastity’s entire body, as if scanning her.

[System Initializing]

[Realmwalker Detected]

[Beginning Analysis]

“Hello?” Chastity called into the blue void. What is that voice? Where did it come from? And what is this light? I feel like I’m at laser tag.

[Analyzing Core Attributes]

[Analyzing SOMA Attributes: Strength, Vigor, Agility]

[Analyzing PSYCHE Attributes: Intellect, Wisdom, Charisma]

[Analyzing PNEUMA Attributes: Faith, Mastery, Occult]

What is happening? Soma, Psyche, and Pneuma–I know those words mean Body, Soul, and Spirit from my Greek classes. Am I being assessed by some kind of computer program? This is freaky!

[Analysis of Core Attributes Complete]

[Primary Attribute Detected]

[Your Primary Attribute is FAITH]

This MUST be some sort of computerized aptitude test, Chastity mused. But why would the luddite Professor, of all people, have something like this hidden behind a dusty old bookcase?

[The Primary FAITH ATTRIBUTE CLASSES are:

Warpriest (faith + strength)

Paladin (faith + vigor)

Monk (faith + agility)

Oracle (faith + intellect)

Mystic (faith + wisdom)

Prophet (faith + charisma)

Cleric (faith + mastery)

Heretic (faith + occult)]

“Classes? What do you mean, classes? I just graduated! I’m done with classes–forever! Professor, can you hear me? Let me out of here!”

Chastity tried to go back, but realized she had gotten turned around. Not only that, but the passage seemed much bigger than before. This was no longer a narrow tunnel, but a wide empty space. All she could see was the pale blue light, and what vaguely looked like a floating computer screen.

[Secondary Attribute Detected]

[Secondary Attribute is equal between STRENGTH and VIGOR]

*

[You are eligible for the following MARTIAL FAITH CLASSES:

Warpriest (faith + strength)

&

Paladin (faith + vigor)]

“Paladin?” she murmured in confusion.

[PALADIN CLASS Selection Confirmed]

“No, wait!”