The old church loomed in the darkness, its stained glass windows like eyes watching Emma, James, and their friends as they approached. Once a place of refuge and sanctuary, now the church sat decaying, its secrets hidden behind padlocked doors that were no match for teenage curiosity.

“This is crazy,” Emma whispered as James worked at the lock with his pocketknife.

“What are you afraid of?” James mocked. “It’s just an old, empty church.”

With a snap, the lock fell away, the heavy oak doors swinging inward with a long creak. Dust motes swirled in the beams of their flashlights as they stepped inside the silent nave. Scraps of old hymnals and chunks of fallen plaster littered the floor. Cobwebs draped the archways and vacant pews like funeral shrouds.

Their voices echoed too loudly in this sacred space. But as Emma wandered the shadowy aisle, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching from the dark corners.

“Hey, check this out!” James called from a partially collapsed stairwell. Emma joined him, peering down into the abyssal blackness of the basement.

“Dare you to go down there,” he said with a smirk.

Emma shook her head firmly. “No way.”

“What about you guys?” James turned to their friends. “Who wants to see what’s lurking in the dark?”

As the others hesitated, a loud crash echoed up the stairs, making them jump. Heart pounding, Emma stared wide-eyed into the dark. “Maybe something doesn’t want us here,” she said.

“Oh come on, this place is abandoned,” James scoffed. “It was probably just some old junk falling over.” To prove his point, he flicked on his flashlight and started down the stairs. After a nervous beat, Emma and the others followed.

The basement was a labyrinth of small rooms that may have once been church offices and storage areas. But now, deprived of light and human presence for decades, the basement felt more like a crypt. Their flashlight beams illuminated debris and sinister shadows before being swallowed again by darkness.

They wandered through the maze of rooms, their laughter and jokes taking on a shrill edge. Everyone was on edge after hearing that crash, but no one wanted to admit their nerves.

Testing doorknobs as he went, James let out a shout of surprise as one door swung abruptly open at his touch. Emma’s heart leapt as James’ flashlight illuminated a small room lined with wooden pews facing an ancient looking altar.

“No way, it’s like a secret chapel down here,” James said, awed. He stepped inside, the altar drawing him like a magnet. Emma hovered in the doorway, watching him brush decades of dust off the carved wooden surface. This room unsettled her even more than the rest of the basement, though she couldn’t say why. Maybe it was the watchful Jesus gazing down from a faded painting above the pulpit, his woeful eyes seeming to follow James as he examined the altar.

“Ow, damn!” James jerked his hand back from the altar, a drop of blood falling to the floor.

“What happened?” Emma asked.

“Cut myself on something.” James picked up his flashlight from where he’d set it on the altar, scanning the gouged surface until his light glinted off something metallic half-buried in the wood. He dug his fingers into the crack, fishing out an ornate silver dagger.

Emma’s breath caught in her throat. Engraved with arcane symbols, the curved blade almost seemed to glow in the flashlight beam. She thought of secret rituals performed by flickering candlelight, bloody offerings on the desecrated altar. A nameless fear gripped her heart in icy talons.

“We shouldn’t be here,” she whispered.

James rolled his eyes. “It’s just an old dagger. Probably been hidden here for ages.” But even he looked unsettled, eyes darting around the claustrophobic chapel.

A loud shriek then split the air, echoing through the dark maze of the basement. James and Emma exchanged startled looks.

“Lindsey?” James shouted their friend’s name. Only ominous silence answered.

They rushed from the chapel, shouts guiding them to their friends gathered around Lindsey in the central passage. “I felt something grab my hair!” she sobbed. “And then I heard whispering right in my ear!”

“You just got spooked,” soothed James. But doubt tinged his voice. Emma’s heart pounded as she eyed the menacing darkness. She couldn’t escape the feeling of unseen eyes watching them.

“Let’s get out of here,” Emma urged, desperation clawing at her throat. The group needed no convincing, practically sprinting for the stairs. But when they reached the door to the nave, they found it firmly shut. No amount of shoving or pulling would budge it.

“Help us!” the teens cried, beating the immovable door as an unfathomable dread descended. Their flashlights began flickering ominously.

Then Emma heard it. Beneath her friends’ panicked cries, beneath the thunder of her own heart… whispers. Growing louder. Shadowy shapes swirled at the edge of her vision. And that’s when she knew — whatever sinister presence haunted this church, they had trespassed into its domain. Now it wanted revenge.

The teens huddled together as phantasmal shapes emerged from the walls, surrounding them with grasping spectral hands. The whispers rose into blood-chilling shrieks as the light faded, leaving them in absolute darkness with the vengeful spirits. Emma squeezed her eyes shut, praying for the sanctuary she had spurned.

Feature Photo by Matthew DeVries