Skinless and Screaming

In 1972, I found a letter addressed to my late friend, Father Johnathan Sarcone. It read as follows:

"Something terrible lies in dreamless sleep under the silt. Many feel its presence, but they do not acknowledge it. They insist instead that it is part of the bedrock of the town. They are half correct.

You and I both know the truth. God is going to call me back home soon, and I've left you all the tools you need to keep the beast from waking. If you fail, it will burst from the soil, skinless and screaming, and come for everything. Should it come to that, you need to tell your friends to run, and then you need to drop to your knees and pray that Christ suffered enough to forgive us.

I love you, Johnny."

This is my account of what happened afterwards.