On Holy Ground: Part 3 (standard:horror, 2588 words) [3/3] show all parts
Author: heather	Added: Oct 13 2001	Views/Reads: 2642/2129	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
The five students go to the church to see what awaits them...

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story


The two sat on the steps and didn’t say anything, just watching for the
other three.  It started to drizzle. 

“Oh, Go—dear,” Shea caught herself, remembering something her mother had
said about using the Lord’s name in vain at a church.  “I hope it 
doesn’t pour again.  Melissa would probably melt.” 

Conor laughed at this. 

They turned their attention back to the road to see Chrissy approaching,
wearing a hooded black cloak.  She looked around and seemed confused. 

Conor stood up. 

“Hey!  Chrissy!” he yelled, waving wildly to get her attention. 

Chrissy’s head snapped to see where the voice was coming, and a smile
quickly spread across her face.  She jogged over to Shea and Conor, 
removing the heavy black cowl as she stepped under the awning of the 
church. 

“Hi, Chrissy,” Shea said, smiling pleasantly. 

“Hi, Shea.  Hi, Conor,” Chrissy greeted them.  Her piercing green eyes
studied them for a moment, and then turned back to the road.  “Those 
two haven’t come yet?” she inquired. 

“No,” Shea replied a little stiffly. 

Chrissy rolled here eyes and muttered, “So inconsiderate.” 

The minutes ticked by, and at one thirty, the three were ready to go in
the church alone, when suddenly a red Porsche roared up the serene 
driveway and came to a screeching halt. 

“Always has to make an entrance,” Conor said, shaking his head and
checking his watch again. 

“I didn’t know Jack had his license,” commented Chrissy, peering at the
driver. 

“Yes.  Scary, isn’t it?” Shea said sourly. 

Chrissy nodded, considering her point. 

“Yeah, I’d have to agree with you there!” she said. 

Melissa sauntered up to where the three stood with an uncommonly sour
expression on her face. 

“Way to be punctual,” Conor chastised Melissa and Jack. 

“Excuse me.  I could not go out in this horrible weather.  It would give
my hair the absolute frizzies!” Melissa snapped.  She looked 
disdainfully at Chrissy’s cloak.  “Besides, I’m not lucky enough to own 
one of those witch capes that Chrissy has on.  Where did you get that?  
I want one so bad!” she sneered. 

Chrissy shrank away, looking like a wounded dog. 

“Lay off, Melissa,” Shea hissed. 

“Let’s just go in, okay?” Conor demanded, with a sigh that said he was
tired of all the bickering. 

The three trooped into the quiet church and were surprised to see that
the inside was not as rustic as the outside.  In fact, it was 
beautifully and ornately decorated, with wall-to-wall scarlet 
carpeting. Its size didn’t really accommodate the décor, but the affect 
was beautiful nevertheless. 

“I’m impressed,” Conor whispered to Shea, his eyebrows raised. 

“Really,” Shea concurred.  “I thought this place would be really plain
inside, but it’s gorgeous.” 

“You mean you’ve never been in here before?  Your mom is God’s sister,
for the love of Mike!” Conor said. 

“Well, let’s just say I’m not for the whole...pietous thing.  I haven’t
been in here since they renovated...which was like, twelve years ago,” 
Shea replied. 

“An unfortunate circumstance, my child,” a deep booming voice resounded
off the walls of the church.  The five students jumped. 

“Holy crap!  It’s God!” Jack yelled. 

Shea scanned the room quickly, and, finding the source of the voice,
punched Jack on the shoulder. 

“Watch your mouth, you idiot!  That’s Father Murray!  You don’t say
things like that in a church!” she snapped at him quickly before the 
priest walked in earshot. 

Father Murray, in his black robes, smiled at them gently as he slowly
walked toward them.  When he reached the students, he took Shea’s hand 
in his and shook it warmly. 

“Hello, my dear, how are you?” he asked. 

“I’m great, Father Murray.  How about you?” Shea asked uncomfortably. 

“Well, well, I’m just fine...just fine.  I just spoke to your mother
this morning.” 

“Oh, really?” Shea responded, wincing at the thought of what her mother
had been discussing with the priest. 

He nodded, then said, “And who have we here?” 

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Shea apologized. “This is Conor, Chrissy, Melissa, and
Jack,” she introduced the others. 

“Hello,” Conor said, reaching out to shake the father’s offered hand. 

Chrissy followed suit, though rather awkwardly. 

“Hello,” Jack said, shaking Father Murray’s hand clumsily. 

“And hello to you, my dear,” Father Murray said kindly, reaching his
hand toward Melissa to shake. 

Melissa lifted her hands and said flatly, “I’m Presbyterian.” 

“Melissa!” Shea hissed at her angrily.  How mortifying! 

Father Murray raised his eyebrows at Melissa’s response and leaned in to
Shea as he walked ahead of the group.  “Tough crowd, kid!” he commented 
slyly. 

Shea grinned and nodded.  She had known Father Murray forever and really
enjoyed his sense of humor.  The white-haired priest never seemed to 
age, strangely. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you all.  Please follow me.” Father Murray said
to them, walking down the aisle of the church and to a side door off 
the main dias.  The students followed him, waiting as he unlocked the 
door. 

Once inside the door, Father Murray and the students walked down a long,
stone staircase. 

“Be careful of the bats,” Father Murray warned. 

“Bats?!” Melissa shrieked. 

Father Murray laughed gently. 

“Just kidding,” he said. 

Shea, Conor, and Chrissy laughed loudly at this, while Melissa glared at
them. 

When the party reached the bottom step, a large, ornately-carved wooden
door was at the end of a short passage.  The father walked up to it and 
pulled an iron key out of his pocket.  As he unlocked it and the door 
swung open, Shea gasped. 

“Whoa!  I never knew this was down here!” she exclaimed. 

Before them was a massive room, with various doors of the same type as
the entrance along the sides.  The floor was the same scarlet carpeting 
as the upstairs chapel, but one could see the inch of dust that lay 
over it like a veil.  The walls were stone and damp to the touch, and 
cobwebs dominated every corner of the room.  A long table sat in the 
middle of the room, with chairs around it, and at each place there was 
a goblet.  The entire setting was covered in dust and cobwebs. 

“What is this, Father Murray, the Knights of the Round Table?” Shea
asked, smiling. 

“Something a bit less glamorous, my dear.  This was the banquet hall
back when the church was first opened.  The door has remained locked to 
all but myself for many years.” 

“I can see that...how old is this room?” Conor inquired. 

“Oh, about three hundred years, give or take a few.  The building was
erected in the mid-1600’s...back in the burning times at Salem,” Father 
Murray answered. 

Chrissy winced at this, fingering the pentagram around her neck. 

“It is here where all the rumors of hauntings are rooted,” Father Murray
continued. 

“Are you saying they’re just rumors?” Shea asked, feeling herself
sinking, thinking about some shotty Sherlock Holmes spoof they’d have 
to do if this didn’t work out. 

Father Murray turned to her, his face very serious. 

“Oh, no.  All that has been said is very true.  Very true.  There is a
very serious evil here,” he replied. 

Shea raised her eyebrows and looked at Conor, who looked like he was
doing some deep thinking. 

Chrissy was listening intently, still twisting the string of her
pentagram necklace around her finger. 

Melissa and Jack were a few feet off from the rest of the group, looking
disinterested and stuck-up, as usual. 

“How serious are we talking?  I mean, are we going to need...stakes or
something?” Shea asked. 

“Shea, your sense of humor has been a thing of endless enjoyment for me
since I met you when you were a little child, but I implore you now to 
take this very seriously,” Father Murray said gently to her.  He walked 
a little ways away from the group, his hands behind his back as he 
stared up at the cross on the wall, which was half-concealed with 
cobwebs.  “This room, and the surrounding rooms that begin at those 
doors, are very much...possessed by something that is not of God.  This 
is a serious thing that you children have chosen to do, more serious 
than any joke movie you could film.  You are not dealing with creatures 
of a physical plane.  You are dealing with things unseen, unknown, 
things that have no soul, and things that want your own souls.  This is 
spiritual warfare, my children.  You will have to be ever-vigilant as 
you take on this project.” he said. He walked back to the group and 
walked up to Chrissy.  She looked down shyly at her feet, but the old 
priest lifted her chin with his hand and looked into her eyes. 

“You, my dear.  I see that symbol around your neck, and it makes me sad.
 I can, however, accept the fact that you do not believe in my God, 
although I do not agree with it.  What I will tell you is that from my 
experience, people of your faith and people of no faith are in the 
greatest danger in these situations.  I am protected by God, as is Shea 
and Melissa, the Presbyterian,” he said, looking sideways at Melissa 
slyly.  “Who are you protected by?” 

Chrissy looked down at her feet again. 

“I don’t want you to think badly of me,” she said quietly. 

Father Murray nodded, understanding. 

“There is no need to tell me, but heed my warning.  You are in the
greatest danger of all,” he said. 

He turned to Shea. 

“Shea, please talk to your mother and pray before you start filming.  I
realize that you are at a point in your life where you are questioning 
your faith, but now more than ever is the time to turn back to it, if 
only temporarily,” he said to her. 

He looked at Conor. 

“Now, do you have any...particular...religious persuasion?” Father
Murray asked. 

“I’m Methodist, I think, Father,” Conor said, wrinkling his brow
doubtfully. 

Father Murray nodded. 

“Fine, fine...Now, Melissa is a Presbyterian...And you, young man?”
Father Murray addressed Jack, who wasn’t paying attention and looking 
stupidly at his muscles. 

“He’s a Presbyterian, too,” Melissa answered for him. 

“I see,” Father Murray said slowly.  “Well, we have quite a mix here. 
But you will allow me to bless you before you begin of course?” 

“Oh, definitely,” Shea said, beginning to be frightened by Father
Murray’s words. 

The rest of the group acquiesced easily, even Chrissy. 

Father Murray looked intently on the group. 

“You are entering into something scary.  You have never experienced
anything like this before, I assure you, for I have been the caretaker 
of this church for seventy years, and the darkness that lurks in here 
is very formidable.  You must be careful, make wise decisions, and 
listen to your hearts.  I have no way of preparing you for this other 
than my blessing.  It is up to you to remain safe, because I will not 
interfere.” he said. The group remained quiet. 

“Now, you will come here next Saturday, about two o’clock, is that all
right?” he asked. 

“Fine with me,” Shea and Conor said. 

Chrissy nodded. 

“Whatever,” Melissa said. 

“Yup,” Jack said. 

“All right.  Go out the door, I will follow you.” Father Murray directed
them. 

Shea walked with Conor out the door first, feeling glad to be out of
that cold, musty room.  There was something in there she didn’t like, a 
heaviness to the air that had nothing to do with the age and state of 
the room. 

“This is pretty creepy,” Conor said seriously. 

“Yeah, it is.  I’m kind of scared right now.  Did you feel how hard it
was to breathe in there?” Shea asked. 

“Yeah...weird...” Conor said. 

Melissa, Jack, and Chrissy soon followed, and at last Father Murry led
them back up the stairs to the main chapel room. 

“Now, go home, you kids!” Father Murray commanded light-heartedly. 

Shea smiled, thanked Father Murray and followed her classmates out the
doors. **** 

“What a weird old man!” Melissa commented, pulling out a compact to
powder her nose. 

“He is not weird!  Father Murray is awesome!” Shea said defensively. 

“Whatever.  And what a crock of baloney!  ‘A formidable darkness’.” she
said, imitating the priest’s low, gravelly Scottish accent. 

“Mellisa, shut up.  It’s true what he said!  Didn’t you feel it?” Conor
said angrily. 

“I didn’t feel anything but a spider crawling on my shoe!  That place is
disgusting!” she answered. 

“Anyway...You heard him, we all have to be here Saturday at two.  Don’t
be late, you two!” Shea snapped at Melissa and Jack. At this, the party 
disbanded and went to their homes. 


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