||What Lies Under|| - Salvis

Chapter I

       Travis peeks through the window of his bedroom, at the flashing red and blue lights and the blaring noise cutting through the quiet atmosphere. Kenneth is talking to the police, seeming to try to reason with them over things. Travis taps his fingers against his pant leg, anxious and waiting for Phillip to show up like he had promised. He checks his phone, which was on the charger and almost at 100%, checking for any messages or calls or something. No notifications show up, however. None from the contact 'Pip', anyways. Phillip was supposed to be here before the police arrived, which was almost an hour ago, he was the one to contact them in the first place. He feels a wave of relief hit him when a police officer handcuffs his father finally, seeming to be fed up with the constant excuses his father had been trying to spew, fully expecting when Kenneth tries to fight back. Kenneth is pushed against the police car until he is completely cuffed, and he is shoved into the car. He watches as they lock up the door, and before they could look up at the window to where he was watching, he hides so he isn't taken in for questioning. He knows that he will be found eventually, and that they will be looking for him, but for right now he refuses to go and see his father again. Kenneth would kill him if he ever came face to face with him, whether that be with the cult present or not. He would be brought down with dad. Once the police car has driven away, he opens his window up, keeping it locked open so it doesn't close on him. "God damn it.." the blonde mutters as the window almost falls on him, fixing it again.
          He grabs the back door keys just in case he is locked out when he comes back, and he puts his phone and a couple of other stuff in his pockets before jumping out of the window and into the tree directly in front. He collides with the branches, yet it doesn't hurt as much as he thought it would as he balances himself along the tree. He carefully climbs down the tree, making sure no one is around before taking off into the woods behind the Phelps household, somewhere he is most familiar with usually. He will message Phillip later.

       Phillip walks down an empty trail, it seems to be a road though never seeing any cars pass down by it. Maybe it is abandoned, who knows. But either way, it's cool to see where it would lead if one goes far enough, so he has been walking for almost an hour now. He feels as if he is forgetting something, something important, though he continues to push away his worries to the back of his mind for now. He is doing what he does best; exploring. He had always been a curious soul, as his parents told him as a child, and he finds it comforting to find something new and seem to be in a fantasy. The trees and road look identical, not much changing the more he walks, though he doesn't dare to stop now. Not after he had already gotten so far. Thankfully he had charged his phone up to last until he was done with this adventure. That way he would get home safely. Maybe pick up Travis on the way...–  Phillip stops in his tracks as he realizes what he was forgetting. He had called the police on Travis's dad hours ago, and he was supposed to go make sure Travis was fine. He had gotten so distracted with the road he had forgotten to even message him that he wouldn't get him. Before he can pull his phone out to message Travis an apology, however, he glances up and realizes the road had stopped. He looks around, it appearing a bit different than the rest of the trail, and he finds that the road had led to an abandoned church. He texts the contact in his phone labeled 'Bible Boy' a half assed apology before putting his phone away, unable to help but feel compelled to check out the place. An eerie feeling wafts throughout the area, yet Phillip sees himself into the abandoned church anyway, his curiosity getting the best of him as he slips past the already open doors. He almost trips on a plank right by the door, as if the door was about to be boarded up, and he catches himself before he falls into a nearby hole in the ground. "Jesus Christ this is not safe." he whispers to himself, keeping his voice down in case someone were here, even if there is a small chance knowing it is better to be safe than sorry in these situations.
          The place was definitely abandoned, trash and boards littered the ground, and multiple floorboards looked to be broken or missing. He finds a door by the back, slipping through it and seeing that there isn't much difference. He steps inside, the ground no longer wood but now concrete, and dust and dirt cover the ground in a thin layer. He stumbles over a rock, and he looks down, turning on his phone flashlight and pointing it down. He pauses in his steps to make sure he was seeing right, a red ritual circle drawn on the ground by what looks to be spray paint. Old burnt out candles still sit by the circle, and he kicks them away quickly so it is messed up, unsettled. He exits the room, going into a different area that is far off from where that part of the church is, and he sees multiple candles and a pedestal around with crosses. This area is more modern than all the rest, as if someone was staying in there, though dust still covers everything; as well as the bibles and years old wine that was on top of the pedestal. Before he can look around properly, he feels eyes on him, and he takes a quick picture of the stuff on his phone before turning around. He comes eye to eye with... something, and he quickly bolts out of the room, darting out of what he thought was an abandoned church. He runs until he is a safe distance away from the building, and back on his way home, before finally messaging Travis everything that had happened. I don't plan on going back on this road anymore... 

Word count: 1100 words