Priest

PROLOGUE

The chirp of a million crickets and several nocturnal animals rent the cold, foggy air; somewhere in the distance a school of toads were doing their mating call, the tall blade of the grass swung about majestically in the air as the night breeze meandered through; their movement graceful like belly dancers. Intermittently the grasses shuffled as a creature scurried through to their various destination. Overhead, the fluttering of wings could be heard as owls and bats owned the star studded night, their screech and hoot reaching as far into their night as their voice could carry. In a tree an owl sat bright eyed; its eyes vigilant as it let out an eerie hoot that sent chills down the spine.

In the distance, he heard his voice called again, fainter still as he drew closer, with his hand outstretched, he pushed his way through the rustling grass, its sharp blades cutting into his exposed arm but he could barely feel it, as his eyes remained fixed to the direction of the voice. He could feel his heart beat against his chest, a trail of sweat traced its way down his ribs from his armpit creating a tickling sensation that ended at the edge of his trouser. It was cold but despite the tell-tale signs of fog escaping his mouth as he breathed, he felt hot and uncomfortable; he was scared out of his wits but still he found himself drawn to the voice that was calling out to him from deep inside the bush. His legs seemed to have a mind of their own, so many times he willed himself to stop but his legs continued to drag him forward; he had been taken hostage by his own legs!

He soon came to a large clearing and all of a sudden the forest went still, not a single sound could be heard just the gbi-gbi of his heart crashing against his ribcage like a tide, the rush of blood temporarily deafening him. All of a sudden a loud terrifying cry filled the night causing his blood to cuddle and go cold, he could not tell if it was a man or an animal but it scared him enough to pull out his torchlight and pistol. The forest was still again; as if a second ago a voice so chilling it had almost caused him to jump out of his skin hadn’t just pierced the serenity of the night. Then as if on cue, the forest came back to life, the toads, the bats, the owls, the roaming animals and the rustling of leaves and grass, the cool breeze of the night, they hit him at once like a tornado.

“Who is there?” He called out. No answer. He spun around, his eyes searching the night, his ear listening but all he heard were the night animals, whoever was calling out to him had stopped. He spun slowly on his heels, his flash light searching, his gun ready, his eyes waiting and then he froze! Standing in front of him was a child, probably five or six in a cloth that had seen better days, her head bowed, the sight of the child startled him, what was she doing here at this time of the night, why was she wearing such raggedy cloths?  She must be cold, he thought as he walked up to her. He squatted in front of her and just then she raised her head and he let out a yelp as he fell back on his bottom scurrying away from the horrifying sight.

The girl’s face was pale and without eyes, a trickle of blood ran down the side of her mouth, as she began to walk close to him, he noticed a gaping hole in her chest, there was no way she should be alive! She raised her hand, pointing accusingly at him, when she spoke; her voice was like a leaky gas. “You killed me, what did I do to you?”

And then recognition hit him and his face crumbled in fear. “I am sorry, I am really sorry.”

But still the child kept walking menacingly towards him and he kept scurrying backward away from her, suddenly he found that he couldn’t move anymore, he looked down to find a skeletal hand holding firm to his ankle, tried shaking it off to no avail, then there was more; different hands at various stages of decay, grabbing at him, pulling him down into the soft soil! He struggled to no avail as he continued to sink into the ground, the putrid smell of rotten skin filling his nostril. He screamed with all the strength he could muster when it dawned on him there was nothing he could do about his current predicament, he gave his body one last shrug but it kept sinking, all that was left on the surface was his head and soon even that was gone, dirt choking him as he disappeared under the surprisingly soft earth.

Fr. Peter jumped up with a start, his sweat soaked body glistening in the bright light of the fluorescent tube from church filtering through the window of his room, he had have to call for the past three years