Harsh critics welcome. Enjoy...Click Spoiler to read what happened in the prologue:
Spoiler! :
Chaprter One:
February 17th, 2011
Daniel stifled a yawn as he pushed the churchyard gates open; the iron hinges groaned in response. The cloudy sky had taken on a threatening appearance and as the sun started to rise from the east it created a scarlet hue that decorated the horizon; vaguely resembling blood. Daniel shuddered and pulled his auburn scarf tighter around his neck. The wind wasn’t particularly cold, but his presence in the graveyard was enough to send shivers through his body.
Scuffing his feet on the cobble path, the teen refused to look at any of the graves. The thought of dead people buried in the ground, rotting for who-knows-how-long, did not appeal to him. Unlike the rest of his family, Daniel couldn’t even think about grave yards or cemeteries without shaking in fear. Coimetrophobia, his mother had once called it. Bloody chicken he called it.
As he reached the solid, oak doors of the church, the clock tower above him chimed seven o’clock. Each note happily echoed through the sleepy village. The old man will be here soon, he thought, taking a perch on a nearby bench.
After a while, the familiar sound of the churchyard gates groaning reached Daniel’s ears. Standing up to look down the cobble path, he watched as an aged man walked towards him. A solemn look was etched onto his features and his wisps of silver hair floating in the light breeze made him seem even more sombre.
“What’s up, Granddad? You look like someone just died…or is that the wrong thing to say in this place?” Daniel joked, hoping to cheer the old man up. His Granddad looked at the boy as he approached, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.
“Nothing, it’s nothing. Shall we get started?” He answered, choosing to ignore the teenagers joking. Reaching into his tweed jacket pocket, he brought out a large skeleton key. Appropriate for this place, Daniel thought. The teen straightened up his black hoody and waited for his companion to unlock the church. “I don’t want you to clean the inside of the church today, Daniel. Grab the rake and start scraping the dead leaves off the graves.” The old man laughed as Daniel looked up at him in horror.
“But, I usually only have to clean the inside of the church. You know, the part of this place that doesn’t give me the creeps.”
“Daniel,” his Grandfather said, placing a bony hand on his young aide’s shoulder, “When your parents died you told me you wanted to get over this fear of yours. I’m just helping you do that. Don’t give me that look, try it and if you get too scared you can come and help me inside the church. But you must give it a try.”
Knowing there was no escape from this and not wanting to let down his Granddad, Daniel sighed and leaned forward to grab a rake from inside the church foyer. Taking a fighting stance, he grasped his tool like a Bo staff and glared at the grave yard in front of him.
“All right you…err…dead people, I’m not scared of you. Go it? I’m not scared of you!” he shouted and began to do a war cry before feeling a sharp nudge in his back.
“Don’t get all dramatic, you’ll wake up the whole village. Go on, get to it.” With that, the old man walked inside, disappearing into the Godly abyss.
The church, positioned right at the centre of the village, was split up into four sections with the church standing in the middle. Knowing that the older grave stones tended to be near the back of the church, Daniel decided that the back would be the best place to start. He followed the pathway around the side of the church, his black converses crunching the gravel beneath them. Grasping his rake in a death grip, he climbed up onto the grass; his body starting to tremble in fear. The instant he stood up fully and observed his grim surroundings he wanted to turn back and leave. Headstone after headstone lined the grass like an audience watching his every move. Feeling trapped by the rows of graves, his breath became laboured and panic started to set in when something caught his eye. In the middle of the grave stones lay, what looked like, a teenage girl. Is she just sleeping or is she hurt?, Daniel thought. No, no-one in there right mind would sleep in a place like this so she must be hurt.
Calming himself with several deep breaths, Daniel moved closer, his conscience thankfully overriding every other notion in his head. He couldn’t just leave here there. Stepping into the middle of the section, he leaned down over the figure and gently shook her shoulder. She started to stir slightly and looked up at him with scared, emerald eyes. He noticed her black curls covered with twigs and leaves from where she had been lying and her clothes were scruffy and torn.
“Are you alright?” Daniel whispered, not wanting to scare the girl in case she was hurt but too shocked to realise it yet. She nodded gently, her eyes never leaving him. “Okay then. That’s good. Do you know your name?” Once again she nodded gently, only this time she also answered.
“I’m Nora, Nora Banks.”
Gender:
Points: 240
Reviews: 41