Night Church

Finding The Worshippers

"Elyss where are you going? We've already talked to the priest. He confirmed there are no creatures present day or night."

Elyss buttoned up his white shirt and started looking around for his belt.
"He lied”, Elyss replied tightening the silver buckle of the belt around his waist.
"How can you be so certain? He seemed like a nice man. Why would he lead us astray?"
"I don't doubt that he's a nice man. He's a liar nonetheless. He had eye bags, looked like he hadn't slept well for a while."
"So?"
"So, he stays up at night thanks to the monsters. He either worries about them or tends to them. I'm not sure but I'll find out."
"And what if you're wrong?"
"Then I made a useless trip. But the implications of me being right are worse"
"There's no talking you out of this is there?"
"I thought you'd know better by now, Uncle Edward"
"Well at least tell me who you're taking"
"Valory."
With that Elyss picked up the long sword from atop the wooden table. He took it out of its sheath and give it a few slow test swings. The sword was impeccably clean. Elyss kept it that way. He'd often heard of dirty swords weeping blood when cleaned and he had no intention of reenacting that bespoke nightmare.
"It has been a while since I've taken her out. She could use the action."
Elyss said as he sheathed the near glimmering sword,and tied it around his hip.
He picked up his necklace, a delicate chain gold in colour, with a circle pendant hanging on it. He put it around his neck despite it not particularly matching the rest of his  look.
He then got a deep red leather coat. It was not vibrant but had a slight shine to it. A shine that had retained so long only due to the loving care given to it.
After putting it on, he went back to the table to gather a single white lily and softly placed it in his front pocket, with the top still peaking through.
"Just one? I expressly remember the boy mention a gathering of several monsters."
"It's a madonna lily. Delicate and also hard to grow. You can't expect me to take a bouquet"
"You're a hunter. I'm not expecting you to take any"
Elyss didn't respond. He checked for his gun and sword just to see whether they were still on him and started heading for the door.
"Wait. Elyss, either it's nothing or it's a group. You don't stand a chance against the latter. Think of someone who isn’t you for once. Who'll help me to the station tomorrow if you die?"
Elyss, ignoring his uncle again, opened the door and headed out.

---

The full moon was out. It was bright but not enough to see a clear path. This lack of light was further amplified by the ever growing trees surrounding his path. Looking long enough to reach the moon.

Elyss remained unhindered by the darkness as he'd memorised the way.
A sheet of cold surrounded his path. Every now and then you'd hear a leaf crunch or a bird chirp.

He kept walking, bumping into a branch or so but nothing more.
It  dark for a while till Elyss started seeing slight shimmers of light. The closer he got to it the more light he could see, cueing him to pick up his pace. He started to hear voices, - no just a single voice. He kept following till he came to a halt in front of the church.

It stood a monument, the only solid structures for miles in these woods. It would almost seem out of place if it wasn't old, barren, with so much of it being slowly reclaimed by nature.

Elyss shifted his attention to the large wooden doors, open almost like an invitation, and tried to look inside from some distance.
Several figures blended into each other.
Most of the light inside, except for the occasional candle, was from the moon, coloured in hues of red, blue and purples as it entered through the glass windows.
Elyss squinted, finally being able to see a few things inside.
He was right, well the boy who'd seen them was right.
Elyss could spot a humanoid  with fur of grey, a wolf looking being covered in moss and leaves with eyes glowing, a creature made of wood that could have been mistaken for furniture if it didn't move its joints, and many others that he couldn't see properly. At the front, in an area illuminated by several candles, right in the centre, he saw a man wearing a deep blue robe decorated with things of gold. It was his voice that boomed through the church.

He wasn't worried because of them or tending to them, instead he was holding a service for them.

Elyss just stood there out of sight. Petrified. Not sure what to make of what he saw with his own two eyes.

The priest stopped speaking for a few seconds. Suddenly Elyss could hear crying. It seemed too far to come from the church but it was still close.
The priest spoke again, this time several voices joined in. Many speaking in words others in howls or noises.

Prayer

But Elyss attention was now to the crying.
Were these fiends holding someone hostage? He wanted to take care of that before he deals with the worshipers of this place.

He started walking towards where he could hear the crying from, trying his best not to make noise. It seemed left of the church.
He kept walking till he could hear the crying get louder.
He saw a fence, and a being behind it.
He ducked by the wooden spikes, which had seen better days, and tried to peer a look.

Headstones, several of them.
His eyes found the person crying.
A tall man stood near a marble headstone.
Elyss tightened his grip on his sword.

He wore red, a lively shade of it. It was a fitted garment draping him well. He couldn't guess the fabric from here but he could tell it was expensive, and not in anyway well kept. Parts seemed covered in dirt, some loose stitches other full tears. He could see shining leather shoes with specks of mud. The man had blonde hair to his shoulders, it had glow but also seemed mangled.
Suddenly the man turned. His eyes red for a flick of a moment before returning to a blue shade. Tear trails down his face. He quickly wiped them with his sleeve and started walking out.
Elyss crawled to the other side of the fence hoping to not get spotted as the blonde man walked by
He saw him walk into the church. Then Elyss got up. He jumped over the relatively short fence and moved to the grave the man was crying by.
"Aileen"
The grave didn't seem new, the earth was dry and so were the flowers on it. Someone  watered them in some attempt to retain freshness but it hadn't worked.

They lived in the middle of nowhere. The only place to get flowers was the nearby town and Elyss doubted the man he saw crying possessed the ability to just buy some flowers in daylight.

Elyss took the white lily out of his pocket and placed it on the grave. It seemed brighter with the contrast of the rotting flowers around it.

He looked at the church again. The prayer continued. There were too many to take on his own or maybe a sliver of empathy had found its way in his heart.

---

Elyss opened the door and walked in silently, his mind still engulfed with the sobbing fellow, hoping he doesn't get questioned by his uncle.
But he was still there, sitting on a sofa attending to tea.
"You're back fast. Useless trip?"
"Yah " Elyss replied trying to quickly head upstairs
"Wait. Where's the lily? "
"Dropped it"
"Taught you so much, glad I never taught you to lie. What happened? Did you find something?"
"They boy was right, not that he should have been so far out in the woods in the first place." Elyss said getting off the stairs,now facing his uncle.
"So, there's a horde of monsters, if you killed them you would've told me"
"I didn't want to start a fight. I was outnumbered"
"Never stopped you before. What types of monster? "
"A werewolf, a wood nymph, a.."
"Any vampires?"
"I think I saw one, by the graveyard"
"Must've buried his victims there. Get rid of him?
"No"
"Why not"
Elyss didn't respond just tried to walk upstairs again. Suddenly his uncle got up and reached for his arm, pulling him towards him with force. Eyes in eyes, not letting him escape.
"Elyss, explain to me why the fuck you didn't get rid of the vampire"
"He was weeping"
"Vampires don't weep"
"God honest, he was weeping and whimpering"
"Even if I believe you, I'm supposed to think you saw this vampire and several other fiends and just walked back?"
"What was I supposed to do?"
"Do away with them. Send them to hell"
"Why? " Elyss asked trying to pull back his arm from his uncle's ever tightening grip.
"Why?! They're damned, in hell is where they belong"
"They were praying, uncle, they were praying" he said finally freeing his arm and pushing his uncle back.
He fell hard on the ground, with a new anger in his eyes, the sight of which never leaving Elyss.
"You've lost your damn mind"
"Don't matter. You're packing up and leaving tomorrow. How I deal with this is my bearing."
With that Elyss finally walked upstairs.