Colby's POV
"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked Y/N as I watched her peer out of the window at the dense, dark forest around us.
She turned to look at me with an uncertain look. "No." She answered honestly with a small shake of her head.
She glanced back outside, before her eyes met mine again. "But we've come all this way so... Let's go!" She said surely as she opened her door and climbed out of the car.
I smiled as I followed after her. She was a tough girl, and I loved that about her.
"Here, let's grab some flashlights." I said as I went to the trunk of my car. Opening the lid, I rummaged through the junk to find what I was looking for.
"Here." I passed her one of the flashlights after clicking it on to make sure that it was working.
I smiled playfully when I saw the Ouija board sitting innocently in my trunk.
"Should we take this?" I asked jokingly, picking up the board to show her.
"No fucking way, Colby!" I laughed at her annoyed scowl when she realised what I was holding.
"I'm kidding." I chuckled, putting the board back and closing the trunk. "Come on. It's this way." I told her as I shone my flashlight down a trail leading into the woods.
"I feel like we should have a giant talking Great Dane with us." She commented as she fell into step behind me.
"Rut roh, Raggy!" I grinned as I heard her giggling at my Scooby Doo impression.
"It's only about a ten minute walk from here, but there's a few fences to hop on the way." I explained.
"I thought you said that we wouldn't be trespassing!" Turning around to face her, I found her frowning at me.
"In my defence I only said there wasn't any security or anyone living around the area, not that we wouldn't be trespassing." I pointed out, holding my hands up defensively.
"If we get arrested I'm kicking your ass!" She threatened lowly, but I knew that there was no heat behind her words.
"Well you'll be waiting for a long time because I'll be in prison for a lot longer than you with my last charges."
Worry flashed across her face at my statement, and I felt bad. Looking down, I reached out and took her hand in mine, giving it a tight squeeze. "Don't worry, it'll be fine." I told her reassuringly.
"Okay." She replied quietly, gripping my hand back with just as much pressure.
My heart softened at her trusting look, and I promised to myself that I would keep her safe.
Our hands didn't break apart as we continued down the path.
"So what is this place again?" She asked me a little further down the trail.
"It's an old abandoned church. It's the only thing left of a really small village that used to be here." I informed her.
"People lived all the way out here?" She questioned, gesturing to the trees surrounding us.
"Yeah! Apparently the people that used to live in the village were forced to leave after a fire burnt down all of the houses." I explained.
"And the church stayed intact?"
"Weird, right? I don't know how far away the church was from the other buildings, but it couldn't have been that far." I replied.
We spoke quietly as we trekked through the woods for a few more minutes until we reached a ten foot wire fence.
"Here, I'll help you over." I went to climb the fence first so I could lift her over, when she stopped me.
"I got it." She stated confidently as she let go of my hand and passed me her flashlight.
I couldn't help but watch in awe as she scaled the fence, carefully sticking her hands and feet in the holes in the fence to pull herself up.
"Woah, how did you do that?!" I exclaimed when she landed gracefully on the other side.
"I did gymnastics when I was younger, remember?" She laughed at me through the fence.
"Oh... Yeah." I responded awkwardly, brushing a hand through my hair. I had to admit though, her stamina and agility was pretty hot.
"Cool it Colby, Jesus... She's your friend, remember." I tried to tell myself.
I was jolted out of my thoughts when one of the flashlights were pulled from my hands, and I glanced down to see her grabbing them and carefully manoeuvre her arms back through the holes in the fence.
"Come on slow poke." She joked with a playful grin.
"Right." I smiled back, sticking my tongue out at her childishly before I also climbed the fence.
We made quick of the next fence, and soon arrived at our destination.
Shining my light up at the old building in front of us. It hadn't changed much since the last time I was here apart from more ivy that was slowly consuming the walls.
"Wow, this is..." Looking to my right, I saw Y/N who was staring up at the ancient structure.
"Cool, right?" I asked.
"I was going to say creepy, but yeah... I guess it's pretty cool." She laughed nervously.
"Just be careful with where you're standing. The wood is old so it might give way." I warned her as I climbed the few stairs to the front door. She nodded, following after me.
I cringed at the noise of the door scraping across the floor as I tugged it open.
"I like this place because of how pristine it's been left." I said as I directed my flashlight to illuminate the stained glass on the opposite wall.
"What do you mean?" She questioned.
"Well, most of the other abandoned buildings have been vandalised and covered in graffiti." I explained and she nodded in understanding.
Y/N walked down the centre aisle towards the simple wooden altar at the end, when she stopped at one of the pews. I walked over as she reached down to pick up something.
"Do you think it's okay if I take this? My mom would find it interesting." She questioned, and I peered over her shoulder curiously. There was a small, worn bible in her hand.
"I think so, yeah. It's only going to lie here until this place finally falls down." I nodded, and she carefully tucked it into the front pocket of her hoodie.
She then went over to the altar, and gazed up at the window above it.
"It's kind of sad that something as beautiful as this has just been left abandoned." She commented sadly as we inspected the detailed picture made out of the coloured glass.
I hummed in agreement.
"Come on, let's go upstairs." I told her, and lead her over to a rickety-looking wooden staircase.
"Are you sure those are safe?" She queried.
"They held me when Sam and I came up here last year, but I'll go first just in case." I took a few testing steps first, and breathed a sigh of relief when the steps seemed sturdier than they looked.
Y/N waited until I reached the top of the stairs before she followed.
We wandered around the room for a bit, looking at the little trinkets and furniture dotted around the room, before we came to a window.
I shone my light out of the glass, and noticed that we were just above the treeline and could the city lights off in the distance.
"I wonder what the view is like from up here. We'll have to come back during the day some time." Y/N mused.
"Yeah, for sure." I agreed.
I sighed as a feeling that I had been ignoring since walking into the church became too much to brush off. Shuffling to one of the corners of the room, I unzipped my pants.
"What are you doing?" I heard Y/N ask behind me.
"I need to pee."
"Colby! You can't pee in here! It's a church!" She admonished.
"I suppose you're right!" I huffed out a laugh. "I'll go outside." I flashed a smile her way before going to rush down the stairs and outside.
Returning inside two minutes later, I climbed the stairs once again to join Y/N.
I found the room empty.
"Y/N?" I called out her name, but there was no response.
"Y/N, where are you?" I said a little louder, frowning as I started to worry.
Still no answer.
"What the fuck?" I cursed inwardly.
I opened my mouth to yell her name again, when a scream echoed through the building that made me jump.
I froze in fear as my brain tried to process what was happening. However, the shout that followed had me rushing for the stairs again.
"Colby!"
"Y/N?!" I screamed her name back as I stumbled down the stairs in my panic to get to her.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, my eyes searched frantically for her.
I heard the sound of pounding footsteps, before she appeared in an open doorway near the entrance.
"Y/N!" I yelled when I saw the fear and panic on her face.
"Y/N WHAT-" I was cut off when she basically threw herself into my arms and wrapped her own around my waist. The force almost knocked me to the floor, and I took a step back to steady us.
Glancing down, I saw that she had her face hidden in my shirt which I then realised was dampening. My stomach dropped when I heard soft cries, and I immediately gathered her into a protective hug.
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A/N: Part 2 coming later today! :) Please let me know what you thought of the chapter!