Chapter Text
It was a stupid idea to do this, after everything you've been taught your whole life.
But you were dared to, and you didn't want to seem a coward in front of the one friend group you were able to keep at church. So here you are.
In the middle of the woods.
Alone.
At night.
With the possibility of alternates being anywhere.
...Stupid. You're so stupid, you should've said no.
You think back to what the terms of the dare actually are..
Spend the night in the woods, with your camera, and try to find the old abandoned church the adults keep talking about.
And y'know, try not to get eaten or go crazy with M.A.D while you look for a church that might not even exist. Fun.
You walk carefully, quietly.. you barely want to keep your flashlight on in fear of something spotting you. You pause at any strange noise, any rustling in the trees or cricket chirp that sounds slightly off.. you're so scared you can barely take a step without trembling.
You think of going home, but you already lied to your parents that you were staying at a friend's house tonight, and you can't imagine what your father would do to you if he figured out what you're doing right now. So you're stuck here.
Eventually, in all your overthinking and fear, you realize you've walked onto a stone path.. you decide to follow it.
The path is overgrown with moss and weeds, there's cracks in the stone. It looks ancient and abandoned enough.
Eventually, the path leads you to a fountain. It's water still, the fish into the pond around it dead and rotting. Gross.
You look past it and see what you've been looking for, a big, stone church. It has vines and moss covering the exterior, some of the extravagant stained glass windows shattered in.. you see dried blood on the steps leading up to the entrance.
..Against your better judgement, you turn your camera on and start walking towards the church.
Just a video of the inside, then you can leave and use your allowance money to get a room at the local motel for the night. It'll be fine.
You go up the steps, purposefully ignoring the gross, metallic substance beneath your feet. You glance at a sign, "IN ■■■ WE TRUST." is carved onto it... one of the words is scratched out, from what looks like a large, clawed beast... you hope you don't meet whatever did this inside.
You push open the thick, heavy wooden doors. They creak loudly as you step in and slam behind you.
With your camera in one hand, and your flashlight in the other, you start stepping deeper into the church.
There's dried blood coating the walls near the entrance, scattered clutter and signs of a struggle.. a metallic stench quickly fills your nostrils. The blood is at least a year old, probably more.. but the smell still clings to the air, to everything.
Looking past the carnage that happened in the past.. the infrastructure is beautiful. Winding stairways, gorgeous tile flooring.. the place is huge. You hope it won't take too long to log what's inside.
You step into what looks like the main area, a large statue overlooks the stage where a priest once spoke the gospel.. the statue is almost hauntingly beautiful. It's that of an angel, it's hands clasped in prayer.. though they're pointing down instead of up. Odd.
You glance into a few rooms, finding books, discarded things from people who were most likely fleeing.. you really don't want to think of what might have happened here.
You leave the rooms you were looking in, going back into the main area to go up one of the stairways. But, you look towards the stage, and...
No.
It can't be..
The angel statue... it's gone.