Seth Astill: Church without the pope

Up the church

He had spoken his thoughts loudly came the realization before, he turned to see who has called. The man who had called was a sober guy, Seth could see that in the way he held himself, in a frisky and lanky manner.

"What is not possible, boy" the guy repeated.

"Nothing, sir I was just thinking loudly, I apologize," Seth said and turned to leave.

"What were you thinking about lad?" the man asked, before he could walk away, Seth turned to face the man.

"It's nothing sir" he replied "just, about the haunted church....." before he could complete his sentence, the demeanor of the man changed, he was angry now.

"Idiot boy, how dare you..." he shouted.

"But...but, sir....." Seth started to say.

"You lad, listen- you will stay away from that place if, you value your life" and with that, he marched off in a huff.

A bit confused, Seth too continued towards the church, now more than ever to solve the mystery of this haunted church. He checked his watch it was nearly one, taking out his map he checked how much far the church is. He was nearly there, the map showed that the church was just two lanes away.

Seth started walking and was soon at the foot of a hill, this was just a small part of the hills Seth had seen, according to the map the church was somewhere above the hill.

He started up the dirt road, no wonder the people thought that the church might be haunted. There was dense overgrowth all around, hiding whatnot animals. Seth decided to tread on carefully after he saw a rattle coming from a far bush.

What seemed like hours, Seth finally reached the church. The church was old- very old, the stone structure in front of him was bigger than he had expected. There were wooden windows on both sides, there was no sign of disrepair that he could see. Though a little faded, the church was still standing proud. The most startling thing about the structure was that it had no doors. There was an opening in the front.

Seth went into the church, through the opening carefully, it was like entering another era. There was a high ceiling, with a raised platform in the front, it was unnaturally high. There were figures of Jesus and Mary on either side of it. The room was silent, Seth noticed this and suddenly realized why.

There were no chairs for the gathering. This gave the church a hollow look. Seth also noticed that there were various paintings hung on the walls, there were rows of them on both sides.

Seth moved towards them, examining them. The picture all had one thing he common- they were all related to Jesus Christ's life- his birth, the gods giving him gifts, Jesus a young scholar, him as a teacher, with his followers, healing the sick......, there were many.

Seth had just come to the last painting- the last supper, not the original but, a fine replication. This surprised him, for nowhere did he find any painting which showed, his crucifixion. He had expected it to be the last painting, apparently, it wasn't.

He moved to the platform to check if it had any hidden door. He had just reached behind the platform, when he saw the wooden door, he was not able to see it before because it was completely hidden behind the raised platform.

He went to the door and pushed, and the door opened, surprising him, as he had not expected it to open. He saw that the door opened to the backyard. Going outside he observed that there were various flowers here, and the garden was well maintained, unlike the front yard.

He was just speculating the view when he heard a noise behind him. He turned quickly only to find him face to face with the gardener.

"Halo, boy," the old man said with a wrinkled smile.

"Who are you, what are you doing here?" Seth asked suspiciously.

"I am the gardener here, about what I was doing here, isn't it apparent. I was looking after the garden"

"No, what I mean is. Why would you be here, isn't this place supposed to be haunted"

"Yes, it is haunted but, this work earns me the bread. That's why I work here" he simply replied, Seth, nodded understanding.

"Aren't you afraid of the ghosts, then? After all, you are always alone up here"

"Who said, that I am alone, people come to visit the church, every day. Not much though, mind you" he said and started walking, Seth followed him.

"You mean people come here- in this church to pray," Seth asked surprised at this revelation.

"People come to the church to pray and this is a church, what surprises you"

"I never thought people would come to pray at a haunted church," he said sitting down on the bench beside him.

"Many people used to come here before this place become haunted, only a few people come now," he said with a sigh.

"From when have you been working here," Seth asked, thinking he could get some of the answers about this mystery.

"I have been working here since, I was your age. Have seen many pleasant days here"

"Okay, you might know something about, how this place became haunted, then," he asked eagerly.

"I am afraid, I don't know. This all happened slowly, rumors began around that the place was haunted, not many people believed it at that time but, when people started disappearing from the church, things changed. People began to believe the rumors and they stopped coming here, even build a new church" he said sitting down himself.

"So, now only a few people come here"

"Yes"

"Can I look around the church, if you don't mind?" Seth asked getting up.

"The church is always open to the people, who am I to mind," he said and went to do his work.

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Game Time:

My best big brother ever here on wattpad??
Richards55

[Answers to the previous question will be given in another day or two. I am sorry lily]