A very strange door

Sister Mary looked up from Danni in the direction Belinda was pointing. The door that had been hidden behind the shelving unit was made of darkened wood and strapped with bands of black iron. A large ring handle hung from the centre of it. The young nun gave an involuntary shudder as she looked at it, and mentally rebuked herself for foolishness.

"I don't know," she answered. "I never knew there was a door here." She stood up and approached the door, stepping over the rubble of the broken shelves. The other girls clustered behind her whispering in curiosity, even Danni rising off the floor and limping after them.

Close up they could see that there were angular marks cut into the wood, running around all four edges of the door. They looked as though they might be letters of some alphabet unknown to them, and Belinda reached out and traced her fingers over them, then gave a little squeak of astonishment.

"It's warm! The door is warm!"

Sister Mary touched the door, as did several other girls, all of them turning to each other and murmuring their surprise at the warmth emitting from the door.

"Are these some kind of letters?" Wanda asked, tracing her fingers over them. "Like...um....runes or something?"

"I don't know," Sister Mary answered, growing uneasy as she stood touching the door.

"Look! The edges are sealed with something!" Cassie exclaimed. "Some kind of metal. Why would anyone do that?"

"I don't know," the nun repeated. "The convent is very old. I think it was built on the foundations of an older building, a castle or something. Perhaps this is from there. The Reverend Mother might know."

"Ohhhh….I feel sick..." Danni moaned suddenly, stepping back and bending over, holding her belly. A moment later she vomited onto the floor, the other girls squeaking and edging out of the way of the splash zone. Sister Mary cradled an arm around the shuddering girl, holding her until she'd emptied her stomach.

"I think you hit your head when you fell," the nun said. "Lets get you back upstairs and cleaned up. Come on girls. Take the lanterns and candles. We'll come back later and finish our labours. Belinda and Amber, help Danni up the stairs."

The girls followed her instructions, each of them casting last curious glances at the mysterious door before leaving the storage room.