Chapter Eight

They had managed to make their way inside the old church and Haley marveled over its look. Everything was old and made from wood, which indicates that some things have probably rotted throughout the years. The stand's people would sit in were decorated smoothly from the wood itself, but moss and a moldy smell started to burn her nose a bit, but she decided to ignore it.

She watched Josh go up to the altar, and he grinned at her. "Want to join me at the altar, miss?" He asked her. Haley smiled at him and gently gave him her hand. "Why certainly, sir." She giggled when she tried to alter her voice to match the words she spoke.

WITH LEAH

Leah looked around the church and smiled in excitement when she saw Haley and Josh getting along well, she tried to find Jake, but all she saw was a door by the altar and curiosity caught the best of her. She made her way across the long floor and rounded herself from Josh and Haley until she reached her destination. She started to put her palms on the door to see if she could push it open. Putting her weight behind the push, she managed to open the old creaky door and dust puffed out, causing her to cough a bit she waved her hand around to get the dust away and looked inside.

She could see a set of stairs leading downwards, and she wondered what was inside. She looked back to see if Haley would come in with her, but she frowned when she noticed that the church was empty and turned back to the stairs.

Furthermore, she knew things made could have rotted, so she made sure to lean on the wall to prevent putting too much to the steps as she slowly made her way down. It continued to get darker the further she went, but her eyes had managed to adjust to the darkness, so she wouldn't worry about getting lost.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour or more, she made it down the stairs and into an old room. There were shelves upon shelves with glass filled with weird things, and everything either had dust or mold on them.

She was surprised to see that she could find a window from being down in the basement, but it was tented the closer she got to it, and it had a curtain hanging from it. THUD. She jumped when it sounded like a big bang, and she turned around to see what fell. Spying nothing, she decided to move back up the stairs. -giggle- It sounded as though a little boy laughed, but Leah looked in the room and there was no one. It made her suspicious.

There could never have been a child in this place, no one would be brave enough. She swallowed her fear and decided to see if her notion was true. "H... Hello, is someone there?" She asked, a bit nervous. -giggle- "I like you. Want to be my friend?" The boy asked her as he went into the lighter place of the room, and fear shook her to the core. It wasn't a boy; it was a freaking demon mimicking a child. From Haley's story, it looked exactly as she described and as soon as she gasped out in fear, the demon lunged at her, and she made a run for it to the stairs.

Her heart drummed inside her chest, and her breathing came out of her mouth quickly as she climbed, but she felt its claws grab her ankle, and she screamed when it pierced her skin. She turned her head back to the demon, frantically kicked at it till it let go of her, and scrambled back to her feet, and resumed running up the stairs until she managed to get the door and slammed it open.

Haley, Josh, and Jake all looked at her in surprise when she leaned down the wall and gasped hard. Haley hurriedly made her way to her best friend and knelt down, so she was at eye level with her. "What did you see?" She asked her softly. She continued to gasp for air until she was able to calm down some.

"It was that demon you saw in the woods." She said frantically. Haley looked at Leah with alarm and turned to look at the guys. Jake and Josh made their way to them. "So, it's true then. There is a demon." Jake stated loudly.

Haley nodded, and they all turned to look at the door, Leah came through when they heard a creepy child's voice giggling. They went ahead and decided to make their way back to camp instead of lingering in the old village with Leah limping along the way. Haley walked until she was next to her. "What happened to your leg?" She asked her. Leah gave her a shaky smile.

"I accidentally tripped when I was running up the stairs and the stairs and the demon was able to sink its claws into me, I had to kick at it to get it away from me." She whispered, curling her arms around her stomach, showing her fear. Haley winced at her shoulder when she moved to wrap her arm around her friend in a one-arm hug.

"I'm sure we'll be safer once we're back at camp." She said reassuringly, and Leah gave her a shaky smile. Haley and Leah walked behind the boys through the forest trail and Haley instantly stiffened when she felt like eyes were watching her, she looked around to see if she could find anything, but strangely enough, no one was there, and she encouraged Leah to move a bit faster.

After a couple more minutes, they made it back to the campsite, and Haley sighed in relief and sat down at one of the logs next to Leah. "Are you okay, Haley?" Josh looked at her a bit. She nodded. "For a bit there on that trail, it felt like something or someone was watching me. My senses were tingling at the time. It was slightly disconcerting." She admitted out loud.