Church of The Damned [Short Story]

VLOG DAY 1

                      I never thought we'd get sleep in a place like this, I also never thought we'd all wake up at 11 am. Madison and Charlotte went and charged the cameras with their source of electricity, a generator as I was told. Candidah continued to walk left and right, as if she was being impatient. Though, I could see in her eyes that it's not the case – she frets something. "This is useless! We never saw or felt or heard any ghosts during the night, can't we just accept that this is all just a huge myth?" She boomed, they all turned to her side. Charlotte sighed as she inserts the socket on their generator, "It all takes patience, Candidah. Maybe we'll get something today, let's not lose hope." She said in a monotonous voice, loud enough for Candidah to catch.

Candidah still let her stubbornness grow; as a result, she walked out of the altar and went upstairs inside the office. "I think we all should just apprehend her, she's not acting well lately." I said; Angelica put on the most surprised expression she could ever pull, "What do you mean? Is she possessed?" I shook my head, "I— I'll just talk to her." I follow Candidah Morales to the office, she was crying when I saw her and her hands were shaking. I wanted to ask if she's fine, if she's doing alright, or did something happen last night – but I can't express them by words. I don't know where to start. "You s-saw me, t-that means you heard it too – d-didn't you?" She stuttered. She is right, I saw her last night – but I didn't hear anything besides her footsteps outside of that room. "The l-laughter, the wedding c-chimes, the screaming! Didn't you hear any of those?" She cries, I shook my head, I honestly heard none!

She turns her back at me, "I don't hate to break it to you guys but the myth is real, there are paranormal activities present in this place. Last night, I attempted to escape. But in the middle of the hallway, wedding chimes started to play and this woman started chasing me back to the room. I didn't get to catch any footages of that woman, I don't even know if the cameras caught her!" I seem to know what she's trying to convey, does she mean – "If it's okay for you to do me a favor, maybe you guys could try and investigate it?"

First, going to this haunted church; then now knowing it is officially haunted; then now, going to a paranormal investigation? Again, I am afraid to be called weak; but that doesn't mean I should always say "yes". I saw the amount of fear in her eyes and trauma in her voice. I saw that Candidah could be a mirror of myself, I felt pity wash through me as I saw her in that situation. "I'll ask the group, like you, I'm also scared to go alone in this. I hope you understand, Candidah." She nods, which gave me the courage to leave the room and tell the others about the new discovery.

"So there's a woman who chased her last night," Dylan repeated as Charlotte takes the footage with her phone, "and there were wedding chimes. That's great news for our documentary! I think it's better if we start investigating tomorrow, we need more time to charge these cameras at the office and if we set up now we might be caught by that mysterious woman, or worse— even killed! We could all say we were all scared just by listening to what my friend just told us."

"Sorry, wait— great news? Candidah felt traumatized and you call that 'great'?" Angelica asked in disbelief, which made Dylan chuckle. "I didn't mean it that way, Angie. So you better shut your mouth before passing false judgment."

"I'm just saying that maybe you and your friend right here is the one passing false judgement about my friend. I know Candidah's very brave and hearing something like this isn't something to take advantage of. She's also not capable on believing such stupid things." Angelica states as she rolled her eyes to me. Her curly locks were pushed over her side, so I saw her eyes shoot at me like daggers. "Angelica, I think you almost forgot that Candidah is not a robot, she feels; she's afraid." Eric replied, and stands beside me.

Angelica obeyed and we set up the plan as we are seated on the pews of the church. Even if my attention is brought to Dylan's plan, I still see someone peering at me. Not any sort of entity, but it's human. My eyes spread around our group, only to find out it was Eric Rodriguez. His resting dark brown eyes glare straight through mine as if he was observing me. I let out a small smile before returning my gaze to Dylan. It was an awkward situation, which opens more queries if his gaze was either an advantage or a disadvantage. I appreciate his concern, even though I never was interested I feel curious on what it feels like to be with him. Looks like tomorrow, we make huge discoveries.