CxB Week 2018

Friday Sept 21: Fanfiction Friday

There was something in the Church.

Something that screamed so viciously, the nearby townspeople locked themselves into their houses the moment the sun started to set in fear that it was hungry.

The church had been abandoned for years. Not even new graves had been dug since the old priest chained closed the doors and quickly moved away.

And that had been before the screaming started.

Of course, the town had tried to dismiss it as the wind or crazy imaginations at first. But then it got louder and longer until the town could no longer sleep. And no longer ignore it.

That is when the elders wrote and begged Clark to help them.

Clark could always see things others couldn't see. Hear things others couldn't hear. Touch things without harm that burned others.

As he had grown, Clark's adoptive mother always called him a gift from God so when he was grown he followed God's path to use these abilities to help others. Sometimes that meant striking down others who harmed in the name of God but mostly it was banishing underworld spirits from wreaking havoc on innocent souls.

Clark arrived and was celebrated by the village, joining them for a welcoming dinner before the sun began to set. He approached the church to the sound of shutters closing and doors locking for the night creeping upon them.

Just as Clark passed through the gate into the graveyard, the screaming started. At least, he supposed it could sound like screaming from a distance. To him, it sounding more like the wailing of a lost child.

Though not enough time had passed to make the chains at the church door brittle, Clark removed them easily enough. He stepped through and the wailing did not pause, the source not yet noticing him.

Before Clark was a dusty mess, left in a hurry. Pews were toppled, broken and scratched with claws of no mere animal. There were broken rosaries, ripped apart bibles and scorch marks scattered on the floor.

And hanging above it all was the source of the town's torment.

This creature had horns like many demons Clark has seen before but not a spec of red or black that often depicted those from Hell on this creature's green skin.

Demons were also, often, bald or had black hair. This creature had blond hair, dirtied and matted from lack of care for who knows how long but still, definitely blond.

There was blood, dried around this beings' wrists from hanging from the chains that dangled them from the ceiling.

Demons didn't bleed.

Demons also didn't cry and though this being couldn't be mortal, still being alive despite hanging there for years, there was no denying the tears running down their face.

The church was not an abandoned sanctuary.

It was a prison who a condemned soul.

"Hello," Clark kept his voice gentle as he looked into this being's face.

Gasping, the green being opened their multi-magenta shaded eyes and stared at this man that somehow made it into the Church despite the former priest's seal.

This man who was somehow standing level with Querl as if an invisible floor had formed among the arches. The was dressed similar to a priest but those eyes were too blue to be human.

Rattling his chains, Querl struggled to get away from this not-man, renewing the gashes on his wrists from the chain's cuffs and making him bleed yet again.

"Don't hurt yourself," Clark reached out and broke a chain, letting the beings arm move freely for the first time in ages, "I mean you no harm."

Despite the not-man's words, Querl growled as loudly as he could muster, swiping at him just as the not-man broke the second chain with his bare hands.

Clark tried to keep the green being from falling but they wouldn't let Clark touch him. He watched as the being floated just enough to keep from seriously hurting themselves right before they hit the ground, then ran towards the door only to be forced back as if burned.

Returning to the ground, Clark picked up an old bible. He could use it to strike down where the seal was weakest and hope he wasn't wrong about releasing this being into the world.

The sound of glass shattering brought Querl's attention back to the not-man, who has thrown something to smash one of the church's stain glass windows.

Querl didn't question the not-man's reasoning behind this. He ran for the window and jumped, and though the seal cut at him along with the glass he was able to pass through.

Wind caressed Querl's face and his tears began again, relief seeping into him as he laid down to smell and caress the grass. He was free. After so long, he was finally free again.

"What will you do now?" the not man asked, standing a few feet away from him now.

Slowly, Querl sat up and stared at the not-man. When he spoke, he scarcely recognized his own voice, "I don't know."

The not-man smiled so genuinely gentle, that it made Querl question the strength of his heart, and asked, "Why we figure it out together?"