The Abandoned Church

• Amara Bou, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2011

I was scared. My parents and I were trapped inside an old, abandoned church. It was dark and our only source of light was from a small candle. My mum was exploring the area and my dad was looking around for an exit while I huddled near the candle. There was no food or water and we were alone…or so I thought.

I heard creaking noises near the stage. Then the noise suddenly moved towards my mum. She was walking behind the seat when something terrible happened.

“ AGHHHHHHH!!!!” She screamed.

It was so loud the chandelier on the ceiling shook. Something pulled her behind the bench and I saw blood go everywhere. Dad and I rushed towards her, but she was gone. The only thing that was left was a sentence, written by blood that said ‘YOU WILL DIE’ in large letters.

Then, suddenly my dad fell to the ground. I looked into his open eyes. They were pale and there wasn’t any pupil. Blood dripped down his shirt and everywhere onto the ground. It was as if he had seen a ghost. Something unpredictable then happened. His eyes faded…red. He jumped up and pushed me up against the wall with his hands firmly grasped around my throat. I was petrified. I thought I was going to die as he dug his sharp nails into my skin. This wasn’t like him. He would never do this to me. I screamed and screamed but it didn’t help. The pain was unbearable. It came to the point that I couldn’t breathe. I kicked him as many times as I could. I even kicked him where it would really, really hurt to a man, it didn’t help. I thought it was the end. So I had to do something fast.

Then…I kicked his head. It fell off as blood splattered everywhere. His body fell to the ground, making me breathe again. I was so relieved but so sad at the same time. My parents were dead, blood was everywhere, my throat was bleeding, it was dark, the candle was dark and I was alone this time. I looked around. I grabbed a chair and started hitting it against the window until it shattered into small pieces. I ran out to my freedom. I was so relieved. Well, after that, I informed the police, the bodies were removed and the place got cleaned up. They locked it up so no one would go in there again.

By Amara Bou