Hydrangea

Chapter 10

     They get right outside of the village when Ryker stops walking and turns to Andrea. Andrea stops her side conversation with Charity to look up at him. Curious of what they are about to say Charity looks over at Ryker as well.

     "We should split up to cover the area as quickly as possible," Ryker states.

     Andrea looks at Charity and says, "She isn't leaving my side."

     Ryker nods and says, "Alright. This won't take long. You two can check all the burnt down buildings quickly for any signs of recent life here. I'll take the cathedral and the herb bunker."

     "Are you sure you want to check the herb bunker?" Andrea says scrunching up her face.

     Ryker shakes his head as a reply and says, "Of course not, but you aren't going to search through rotten plants."

     Andrea gets a shiver down her spine at the thought of it and says, "Yeah, you're right. If you need any help though you yell as loud as you can."

     Ryker nods. Andrea and him share a light, brief hug. They look at each other for a moment and nod.

     Charity looks at Andrea as she says, "Come on, there are a lot of houses to search."

     Ryker watches them walk away. Heh, yell for help, didn't mom always say he was the quiet one. He shakes his head at them and turns towards his left. The cathedral, known as a holy place; a place not even evil can get into. Well then we got a broken one.

     He steps into the large entrance of the cathedral. The large wooden doors were long gone as the hinges were rusty and still miraculously hanging onto the walls. He walks down the large hall into the main room. Pews line the walls, five rows on each side of him. He walks down the long aisle, a purple and blue torn carpet under his feet. Light streams in through the broken windows all around him. The large windows behind the podium creates a spotlight on his face making his black hair look shiny.

     He covers his eyes from the light and takes a few more steps forward. Dust still covers everything along every aisle. He looks at the podium. The top half had been completely ripped off. From that fateful day. Ryker could still hear all the screams echoing off the walls around him.

     They had broken in through the windows, shattering them. Sending countless shards flying into the groups of people in the building. They had all run here for shelter from them. Now miraculously they had broken into a sacred place, unwanted and blood thirsty. The children ran behind their parents. The wives behind their husbands. The husbands behind the high priest as he tried to warn the creatures off with holy water and verses. Well our guardian angels had fled that fateful day, and haven't been seen since.

     Ryker shakes away the awful memory. How many people had died that day? He sighs and pricks his pointer finger on the sharps splinters jutting up from what's left of the podium. Ryker sucks the blood off of his fingertip and looks in the small area behind the podium. There were sustained blood stains. Stains seemed to cover this building. Blood, hope, memories, screams. Those things just never went away did they?

     Ryker turns to his left towards another door. He opens it revealing a small room. A desk, a melted and long forgotten candle, papers were thrown everywhere across the room. Ryker eyes scans the room over for the tiniest hint of something other than his own breath stirring the stale air. His eyes rest on the untouched desk. Sitting on the desk was a bright white feather sitting in the middle of dried up spilled ink. Such a contrast, like night and day.

     He exits the room and continues to scan the Cathedral to find nothing more than dashed glass littering the floor.

     Ryker walks out of the Cathedral and looks down the road to his right. The herb bunker. No one has been down there in years. At least he didn't think so. Who would want to? Rotten, moldy plants probably half eaten by rats. Thrown around, hanging on the walls, scattered across the floor. He nearly shivers at the thought of that much gross in one room. Ryker takes a few long strides towards it. Until he was standing on the top step to the line of steep steps leading down to a damp entrance.