《Into the Shadows》Chapter 10: The Ride
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In the car after breakfast, I leaned against the window and passed out after barely sleeping the night before. Even the little sleep I had gotten was restless and unhelpful. The sleep in the car was not very comfortable, but it was warm, safe, and much more restful.
I was sandwiched between Jake and Colby in the back seat while Corey was in the front telling Sam all the reasons we were fucked after the hotel incident. This continued on for almost two hours until Corey took a turn driving and had to pay close attention to the road since the rules were different here.
I was still cuddled up in my big fuzzy sweatshirt and leggings, but now with a blanket curled around me. I was still feeling incredibly guilty and anxious about what could happen if I were to sleep walk, get possessed, or do whatever I had been doing again.
I nearly had a panic attack when we first got in the car because all I could think about was the fact that I was now in close quarters with the guys and there would be nowhere to go if I tried to kill someone again. The boys panicked, unsure of what to do and had to google some stress relief tactics. They worked well enough.
I had headphones on and one of my favorite songs came on, it was also an incredibly emotional song for me. It had been my parent's wedding song and the song I danced to with my dad in the living room while it played on vinyl.
I started to shake again as tears streaked my cheeks. I tried to hold it in, not to let the guys see how messed up I was becoming from this experience after I promised to do a good job with this project.
I felt my headphones pulled off my ears as Colby spoke to me.
"Are you alright? You aren't still feeling bad about the hotel incident are you?"
"No!" I assured him, sniffing and wiping my tears with my sleeve, "A song I wasn't expecting came on and the feels got the better of me. I'm okay."
I reached for my phone to turn the song off, but Colby found it in the mess of blankets and bags first.
"Fly Me to the Moon?"
"My dad's favorite song. He sang it to my mom every year for their anniversary even though he can't sing." I laughed at the memory, sniffling again.
"That's sweet," he smiled, "You seem like you really miss him."
"Most days are better than others. Most days I go about my life carrying him with me, but there are some where I can barely get out of bed, where I feel like just collapsing into a fit of tears."
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"I can't even imagine that." Colby put his hand on my back rubbing it soothingly.
"I'm sure Sam has felt something similarly horrible." I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.
"What?" he looked at me skeptical about what I could know about his best friend that he didn't.
"The Sam Pepper prank..." I raised an eyebrow at him, "Not cool, dude. It would have been one thing for you to be 'dragged away and shot' out of sight, but right in front of him? Really? He must have been completely traumatized."
"I admit, that was a dick move, but it got us a whole lot of publicity."
"You're lucky he forgave you." I told him.
"Right again."
We sat in silence for a while as I tried to get comfortable enough to sleep again. I didn't listen to music this time, just focused on the warmth and acceptance from the group around me.
I woke up in the parking lot of the church while Colby shook my shoulders.
"Morning sunshine!" he joked, as I groggily ran a hand over my face.
"Damn what time is it?"
"About 1 o'clock," he smiled, "we just got here."
"Hey! Get up!" I heard Sam yell from behind me.
I turned around and saw him waking up Jake. I wondered how I had gotten in my current position. I must have been leaning on Colby... I should apologize.
I helped the boys unpack the car and we headed on the trail through the trees to the church. We even had to call the landlady to get in.
I heard the guys yelling about something behind me, but I just sat in the grass with our bags by the door and ignored it. I didn't want to know what startling discovery they had made in this ancient looking graveyard and I didn't want to talk about whatever creepy thing it was either.
"Lia!" Colby yelled waving me over to the door once Sam had finally figured out the door.
I grabbed the camera and started recording as we all stepped inside for the first time.
"Wow..." I said as I did a spin, panning the camera's lens around the room so the viewers could see the sheer enormity and feel the full on creepy vibe we were all getting the moment we walked in.
I stopped spinning, leaving the lens focused on the boys as they found the key to lock up, figured out where we would be sleeping, and followed them up to the altar where the casts of dead nobles laid, like the executioner of King Henry the VIII.
It was altogether terrifying and I could not believe we would actually be sleeping here tonight.
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We quickly decided that without bathrooms and running water, we should definitely go out and get some food along with the rest of our stuff and sleeping bags so that we didn't freeze during the temperature drop tonight.
We went to the nearest store, it was a convenience store that sold a bit of everything since it was one of the only places in the area.
We got snacks and drinks to tide us over and would get a proper dinner later before returning to the church. As a joke the boys decided to ask the man behind the counter if they had handcuffs. He laughed it off and said no but they had rope and that rope is better.
I bought some before we left. I could just tie one of my hands to my cot. If I started going anywhere, the sound of metal scratching across the stone floor would hopefully be enough to wake the guys up.
When we returned back to the church after freezing our buts off on the walk over and getting scared out of our wits when we realized the door was open and someone could be inside, there wasn't, we finally made it inside.
I set everything down and took a seat on my cot. I pulled out the rope to get it ready but felt something glaring into my back. I turned around but there was nothing there.
I started to get a headache once again, but I just tried to ignore it until the rope flew off my lap onto the cot next to me right in front of my eyes.
I didn't scream or call attention at first, just tried to see if it you happen again.
I placed it back on my lap and it was knocked back over to the cot.
"Hey guys..." I heard them coming over and tried it once more. It moved once again.
"Very funny, how'd you do that?" Corey asked.
"I'm not doing it." I assure him.
"Prove it."
"You put it on my lap, I'll keep my arms completely out of the way. Feel it too, there's no wires or anything on it!"
He did as I told him and it moved once again.
"I told you." I frowned staring down at the rope, screaming when it came flying at my face next and I fell over the back of the cot.
"Lia!" Sam yelled, scrambling around the other side of the cots to see if I was alright.
I couldn't respond. I was no longer under attack, but I was in complete and utter shock.
"Lia..." Colby tried grabbing my shoulder firmly to try and shake me out of it, "Are you alright?"
"What is that?" I asked them.
"What?!" Corey looked terrified, "What the fuck are you talking about?!"
I pointed off into the dark towards the altar, "That."
My voice was trembling and my hand shook as I tried to hold it steady in the direction of the figure.
It wasn't Jake, I could see him two feet off to the left of Colby and I started to hyperventilate.
"It'll kill us..." I trailed off as I tried to steady my breathing.
Corey shined flashlights and lanterns all over the place trying to scare whatever it was off with lights but it just hid in the shadows.
Colby wrapped a blanket around me as I shook some more and started to cry.
I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head and all of a sudden I was praying. I hadn't prayed since high school when it was required. I hadn't prayed in latin since I took a class in the language years ago.
"Sancte Michael Archangele, défende nos in proelio, contra nequitiam et insistas diaboliseras est praesidium."
"What the fuck is she doing?!" Jake looked ready to shit his pants.
I continued, "Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: tuque princeps militiae caelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui as perditionem, animarum pervagantur in mundo, divina virtute, in infernum detrude."
As the prayer ended I began to shake again, the big booming voice I had been using disappeared and I was left curling in on myself in fear.
"Did she just say Satan?! Is she fucking calling the devil?!" Corey yelled.
"I don't know what she's doing and I don't know what she summoned!" Sam yelled back.
"Did you seriously hire a camera girl who can summon shit?!" Corey was peeved.
"I didn't-" I tried to tell them, but Corey and Sam were yelling at each other again.
"Guys!" Colby yelled at them so they would shut up, "You didn't what, Lia?"
"I didn't summon anything malicious. I called for the protection of Michael the Archangel. I just said the prayer to him in latin, nothing crazy. I promise."
"Good." Corey sighed in relief running a hand up in his hair, "You really had me going there for a second."
"Then what was with the Satan bit?" Jake asked.
"In the prayer to St. Michael, protection from the devil is specifically asked for, so Satanam is used in the prayer to refer to him."
"Okay." Jake seemed less interest in what had just happened now.
"So what should we do next?" Sam asked.
"What?" Corey looked ready to flip.
"We aren't summoning anything, just looking to see if anything is already here." Sam said, "Might as well know who we're sleeping with."
Everyone just stared at him for a minute, but I just laughed a bit.
I stood from my spot on the ground behind the cots and pulled Colby up with me.
"Let's see what kind of ghouls and ghosts are lurking!"
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