'𝓓𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓜𝓪𝓬𝓪𝓫𝓻𝓮'

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 2

  As the musical sound of the guitar rang through the church, she was amazed by how clearly it came out. Not a single out of tune string. Finally April took that as a sign to put the guitar back where it was. Pulling out her phone once again, she opened the camera app and started to record.

"I am April, A Religious Studies Major, and I am documenting the Satanic Church just off of Lakewood Road." She stated, starting her documentary. "I have to stay quiet because I have a hunch that people still use this church. Whether its some teens using it as their practice room or homeless people seeking warmth."

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The ghouls sat in the common room, all talking amongst themselves until the sound of a guitar being played met their ears. The room had gone silent and everyone looked between them, double checking that everyone was there.

One of the ghouls stood up suddenly,"Rain, Let's go check what that was. Make sure everytings okay." The ghoul that was singled out looked up at him incredulously,"Why do I have to go??" Rain asked as he stood up as well, his tail swishing timidly behind him. Despite wanting an answer, he still followed behind without protest. "Don't get killed!" One of the others called out with a grin, but jumped in surprise when he was smacked in the chest by a ghoulette,"Swiss!" She hissed.

As Rain followed begind, he glanced into rooms as they passed them by. The ghoul in front of him stopped him in his tracks. "What? What's wrong?" Rain asked worriedly. "Go get copia, there's someone in the church." He whispered in response. The ghoul nodded and started to jog backwards until he turned around to run towards where the Cardinals office was.

The original ghoul continued walking towards where he heard someone talking, within a moment his horns and tail were gone along with any sign of his demonic presence. Tucking his long hair behind his ears and fixing his tie, he jogged towards the sanctuary.

"—This is better than I could've imagined! The structure of the building is so beautifully crafted and not to mention the stained glass windows." A female voice spoke excitedly. Rounding the corner to the sanctuary, he ran right into the girl, taking her by surprise.

Before he knew it she had fallen to the ground and was quickly backing up,"Don't sacrifice me!" She called out, turning away and bracing herself with her hand. Her heartbeat so loudly in his ears, the sound fast and unstable as it raced in fear.

The man just stared at her with a suppressed grin until it turned into a laugh. Taking her hand carefully he pulled her to her feet. "I'm Sodo, Nice to meet you too." The fire ghoul introduced himself. The girl seemed about on the verge of tears, but she brushed herself off and nodded. "I'm... April." Her words were hesitant. She noticed the pentagram hanging around his neck, subconsciously holding onto the cross around her own.

He took in her appearance, from her white nikes to her white floral dress to the cross she clutched onto so tightly. She took in his appearance at the same time, looking from his black shiny shoes, to the all black outfit, then to his eyes. The man cleared his throat,"Listen, you aren't allowed in here. So I'm going to lead you to the front door, alright?" April looked at him, her alarm turning to confusion.

Before she could respond, he took her arm firmly but gently and walked with her to the front door. After a few steps she released her arm from his grasp,"Who do you think you are?" April spoke with anger in her tone due to the way he just grabbed her. The man looked back at her, his response laced with annoyance,"I told you already, now get out." He said sternly, motioning towards the door just down the hall.

"No. This is a church, I'm allowed to stay. It's open to the public." April said this with no actual evidence to support her claim. Sodo growled at her lack of cooperation and soon enough he had her slung over his shoulder. Starting to walk towards the door, behind him Copias voice called out to them,"Dew! Put the girl down, you can't manhandle her!" He ordered. Sodo stopped in his place and groaned in frustration, setting the struggling girl down in front of him. His irritation was evident on his face as he stared at the girl who fixed her dress, glaring up at the man.

Copia walked up from behind the two and offered April a warm smile. Sodo had begun to smirk at the angry face that April was sporting at the moment, causing her to only get more upset, sparing Copia only a glance. "Hello, Ma'am I—" he started but she interrupted loudly,"You best be glad that I'm not running to the police for assault!" April huffed. Sodo rolled his eyes,"Don't lie to my princess, you liked it." He winked at her, a shit eating grin on his face.

The Cardinal stepped between the two, placing his hands on both of April's shoulders,"Miss!" He spoke harshly,"You are currently trespassing so we should be the ones to call the cops, to avoid all of that, please do just leave." He requested, his voice gradually returning to being polite again. April opened her mouth to protest but once again, she decided to just turn away and walk out. Hearing a chuckle come from the shorter man, she let out a loud angry huff, walking quickly out of the doors so as to get to the hotel and calm down.

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The drive was quick, having followed the GPS to the hotel where her mom had booked her a room. On the way there, Aprils mind was racing. How was she alive? Surely he was a satanist. And why did that man call him 'Dew'? How many people live in that church? Question after question filled her head until she had parked at Hilton, the hotel her mom booked.

As she sat in her car, she had made sure to turn off the engine so that she could let her thoughts flow without worry. Suddenly an idea popped into her head as the day turned to night. Hurrying to get out of the car and grab her luggage, she locked the car before rushing inside to check in. The lady at the check-in counter watched as the college student clumsily stumbled inside with her suitcase dragging behind her, her eyebrows raised in amusement at the sight.

"What can I do for you?" The receptionist asked the woman, giving her a questioning look. April ignored the way she stared and nodded,"I booked a room under the name Lorainne" (the name of her mother) With a few clicking of the receptionist's keyboard, the keycard was promptly put into the students hand, allowing her to freely get to her room. April hadn't listened long enough to hear what room so she just looked at the card. Second floor, room 207.

Taking the elevator up, it seemed to take ages for her to actually get to her door, but once inside, she threw her bags onto the bed. In a frantic effort to open her suitcase, she had popped the zipper off, only furthering her hurry and fueling her irritation. Ripping the bag open, deciding she'd fix it later, April tossed her belongings onto the bed until she had found the darkest set of clothes she packed. Turning around to look for the bathroom, she noticed that she forgot to close the door so she nudged it closed with her foot then rushed into the brightly lit bathroom to change.

Once she was dressed, she had finally calmed down, walking towards a mirror to check how she looked. Now she wore dark denim jeans and a dark purple shirt with the same nikes. Deciding she was ready to leave again, she grabbed her keycard and car keys then swiftly walked out the door.

Taking the elevator down then walking past the receptionist and out the door without a single word. Jogging to get into the car, she unlocked the doors and got in, turning the engine on. Slowly it had been turning darker and by time she would get back to the church it'd be fully night time. Meaning she'd have a chance to find out more.

The church had once again intrigued and entranced her, the mysteries behind it needing to be answered. It probably wasn't as mysterious as she found it, but still, she wanted to know more. Conveniently gathering more data for her documentary as she goes.

Driving back seemed longer than it was driving away, she had taken the time to look at what changed about the shopping strip. Before she could get to the church itself though, she parked a few shops away and started to walk down the darkening street that stayed lit up with streetlights.

She had walked until the church came into view. April admired the dark ominous nature before she walked towards the front door just like before. Slowly she tested it, and luckily they had left it unlocked.