I work for a construction company and was hired a few days ago by a Catholic priest to do some renovations on an old church. When we were breaking down a wall, we found a small hollow behind it. It was in a small room with no entrance, as if it was sealed off from the rest of the building. Inside was a tall, black wooden box.
The box was about two meters long and very old. The wood was wet and rotten. There was some writing on the side, but it was very worn and discolored. The box was nailed tightly and there seemed to be no way to open it.
When I showed it to my boss, he asked me to contact the priest and tell him about it. When I managed to get the priest on the phone and told him about the box, he remained silent for a long time. Then, he told me that he would come in the morning and deal with it. Meanwhile, he asked me to leave it somewhere safe.
I took the box to the church and left it in a corner. I thought it would be safe there overnight, as the church was not in use. By that time, it was almost evening, so I packed my things and went home.
The next day, when I arrived for work, my boss was in a hurry.
"About that box you found," he said. "There's a problem. Last night, two of the night guards looked at it and... you're not going to believe it... the fools went and opened it.
I hurried to the church and found two nightwatchmen sitting on the ground. My colleagues were standing around him. I suddenly felt very sick in my stomach. A wooden box was lying open beside him.
The priest was standing there shaking his head.
"I warned you," he said. "I warned you not to open it. It's too early."
"what's wrong with them?" I asked, pointing to the night watchmen.
"He hasn't said a word since we got here," said my boss. "It's like they can't even hear us."
"You should take him to the hospital," said the priest. "However, it is probably already too late..."
Then, I went over and peered into the wooden box. I was shocked to see that there was a body in it. It was the mummified remains of a human being. However, it was unlike any human I had ever laid eyes on. The special thing was that it had two heads. The faces of both were horribly distorted. Even stranger, it had four arms. Two left hands and two right hands. This was the most shocking mutation ever.
Whatever it was, it looked really awful.
I could see that my co-workers were very upset. To pacify them, the priest went around the church, holding his rosary, sprinkling holy water on everything and reciting something in Latin. The night watchmen were taken to the hospital and we debated whether we should call the police.
The priest loaded the wooden box into the boot of his car. Then, he stopped and hung his head. He couldn't even look us in the eye.
"I'm sorry for all of you," he said sadly. "You don't have long to live..."
Saying this he left and we were left scratching our heads.
In the days that followed, strange things started happening. We heard that one of the night watchmen died in the hospital. He suffered a heart attack even though he was still in his early 30s. The other was transferred to a mental institution. Three of my co-workers came down with a mysterious illness and had to be admitted to the hospital.
That evening, as I was leaving work, I got caught in a wreck and tore a ligament in my leg. This meant I could not work and was forced to recover at home.
