Under Stone, Under Silence

Jessica never wanted to go back to Rome. She had left the city knowing she was being watched. Now, she was coming back knowing exactly why.

The train ride from Avignon was quiet. Too quiet. Jessica sat by the window, eyes distant, thoughts tangled. Leanna and Olivia were across from her, both deep in their own thoughts. No one spoke. There was nothing left to say. They all knew what they were heading toward. Something older than them. Older than Pasolini, older than Lazarus. The first.

The Vatican had buried it beneath centuries of doctrine, stone, and secrecy. Jessica had spent her life trying to burn the past. Now, she was about to dig it up.

* * *

Rome was warmer than Avignon, but no less suffocating. The moment they stepped off the train, Jessica felt it. The weight of the city. The pressure of history pressing down on her like a second skin.

She had spent her last visit unraveling a secret that led her to Avignon. Now, she was back to finish what Pasolini started.

“We don’t have a plan,” Olivia muttered as they walked through the crowded streets near Vatican City.

Jessica smirked faintly. “We never do.”

Leanna shot her a sharp look. “This isn’t one of your usual jobs, Jess.”

Jessica exhaled. No. It wasn’t. This wasn’t a case to be solved, a target to be taken down, a puzzle with a clean answer. This was a story so old that even the people telling it had forgotten how it started. And now, she was walking straight into its ending.

Leanna’s voice softened. “Are you sure?”

Jessica met her gaze. “I need to know.”

Leanna studied her for a long moment. Then, finally, she nodded. “Then let’s go.”

* * *

There was only one way in. The Vatican Necropolis. Buried deep beneath St. Peter’s Basilica, beneath the gilded halls and the centuries of faith, was something older. A city beneath a city.

Jessica had bribed her way into places before. But this wasn’t just a restricted site. This was the heart of something bigger. A secret that had been locked away for so long, people had stopped asking about it. Jessica, Olivia, and Leanna slipped through the guided tour entrance, blending into the crowd of visitors. Then, when the moment was right, they broke away.

They moved fast, ducking past heavy stone columns, slipping down a staircase not meant for tourists. Jessica led the way. The deeper they went, the colder the air became.

The Vatican’s past was buried in layers. And they were about to step into the oldest one. They passed through an ancient tunnel, carved stone shifting into something even older.

Leanna exhaled. “Tell me again what we’re looking for?”

Jessica’s voice was quiet. “A tomb.”

Olivia frowned. “A tomb of who?”

Jessica didn’t answer. Because she didn’t know. Not yet.

After walking for what seemed like ever, they reached a door of heavy stone, covered in carvings so worn that time itself had nearly erased them. Jessica traced her fingers over the symbols. Not Latin. Not Greek. Something before.

She exhaled slowly, then pushed. The door groaned, heavy and reluctant, but it opened revealing a room. They stepped inside. The chamber was small, but vast at the same time. A paradox. Like a place that had been built to be forgotten. At the center of it was a single stone coffin. She already knew what she’d find. This wasn’t discovery; it was confirmation. And confirmation was dangerous, because now Olivia and Leanna had seen it too.

Jessica’s pulse slowed. She stepped forward. The name on the lid was nearly gone, time itself conspiring to erase it. But not enough. She could still see it, the same pattern she had carried in silence. It wasn’t as much discovery as it was confirmation. Now Olivia and Leanna had seen it too.

That was the danger. Not that she remembered, but that others knew she did. That was what had gotten Pasolini killed. That was what this branch of Dominion hunted, not truth itself, but the witnesses who refused to forget.

Mr. Black wanted control. These ones wanted silence. If you remembered, you disappeared. If you got too close, your name was cut out of history like it never existed.

Jessica turned back to the tomb, her hand resting on the cold stone. She wasn’t afraid. She already knew. But now the question wasn’t what she remembered. It was how long she could keep it buried.

She exhaled before pulling out her phone. The name wasn’t fully legible. But there was enough. Enough to cross-reference. To find records. To confirm the truth.

Jessica turned to Olivia. “I need you to find out who she was.”

Olivia nodded, already typing. Jessica turned back to the tomb. Something deep inside her whispered. This isn’t the end. It never had been. It was just another beginning. And Jessica was ready to remember.