I was traveling through Tuscany in the summer of 1989. This was back when I was doing restoration work on historic buildings, churches, monasteries, that sort of thing. A colleague had recommended I visit this particular monastery outside Volterra. Said it had some interesting architectural details I should see. The place was remote. Maybe five miles from the nearest town, up a winding dirt road. Old stone walls, probably thirteenth century or earlier. Maybe a dozen nuns living there, all elderly. They were polite when I arrived, but there was something guarded about them. Like they weren't quite sure they wanted me there, you know what I mean?. I was there to photograph the chapel ceiling. Beautiful frescoes, badly in need of restoration. The mother superior,I think that's what you'd call her?, she showed me around personally. Kept steering me away from certain hallways, certain doors. I noticed it right away.
I spent three days there, taking measurements and photographs. work in remote monasteries sounds fascinating - Gabrielle' Staying in a small guest room on the second floor. The nuns were kind enough they brought me meals, asked about my work. But there were whole sections of the monastery they made clear were off-limits. On the second night, I heard it. Around 2 in the morning, I woke up to this sound. Scratching. Not like mice or rats. Heavier. More deliberate. Coming from somewhere below my room. And then this wet, gurgling sound. Almost like someone choking, but not quite human. I got up and opened my door. The hallway was dark, but I could see candlelight coming from the stairs leading down to the first floor. And I heard voices. The nuns, speaking in Italian. Soft, soothing voices, like you'd use with a frightened child.
I should have gone back to bed. I know that. But I was curious, and that's the thing, I figured maybe one of the sisters was sick or having some kind of episode. So I went down the stairs, quiet as I could. There was a door at the end of the east corridor. Always locked when I'd passed it during the day. Now it was open maybe six inches, and light was spilling out. I could hear them in there. Three or four of the nuns, speaking in gentle tones. And that sound again, that wet, rasping noise. I got closer. Close enough to see through the gap in the door. The room was small, maybe ten feet by ten feet. Stone floor, stone walls. A wooden table in the center with food on it, bread, cheese, what looked like raw meat.
[ Story continues in the full game... ]