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It took time for Neil's hammering heart to slow and his shaking to cease. When his breath finally started to come easier, he realized that darkness had truly fallen and he could barely see. Panic struck him again, and he spent several moments that each felt like an eternity fumbling along the walls for the light switch, a task that was hampered by his absolute refusal to go near the still open church door.

Nothing moved in the darkness beyond, but he didn't want to take any chances.

He jumped and lost the switch again when his hand ghosted across it, then found it once more and flipped it. Yellow light filled the entryway, and at the distinct lack of anything menacingly dog-shaped, he let out a long breath and slumped against the wall, hand over his pounding heart.

He was too young to die from a heart attack, especially after having literally just escaped the jaws of death.

Plus, he had lost his groceries, not that he was all that hungry after what he had just experienced.

Neil closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then made the sign of the cross. Okay, if he was this jumpy, clearly he wasn't going to be getting any sleep tonight, either.

But sitting in the church's entryway all night didn't sound very appealing, either. Plus, it was starting to get cold.

He made to go close the church door, then balked. With the light on, the darkness outside seemed deeper and more menacing than before. And now he knew exactly what lurked in it.

Neil swallowed, throat tight and painful with fear, then grabbed one of the coatracks off to the side and carefully used it to push the church door shut. Feeling better with the night cut off, he put the coat rack down and barred the door.

Okay. No food and no sleep were going to be happening tonight. Neil's fingers itched to see if the church had a phone, to call and asked to be transferred to another church yesterday, but...

Neil paused, frowning. It wouldn't look good on him, to give up after less than a day in his first church. And that would just be subjecting another priest to that monster outside, while letting it continue to terrorize the town.

Clearly, it had to be dealt with.

Okay. He would call and ask for an exorcist in the morning. Until then, there was no harm in hunting through the church to see if there was anything that could give him some clues as to how to keep himself and the locals safe. He already knew that it couldn't come into the church, but it wasn't practical to pack the entire town inside until an exorcist could arrive.

Neil felt much better with a plan in mind, flimsy as it was. That didn't stop him from turning on every light in the church as he went through, chasing back shadows both in the rooms and in his mind. The cold was starting to creep inside, so he made sure to swing past his room and dig in his suitcase for a heavier set of robes. As well, one door opened to a linen closet, and he pulled out a musty smelling blanket to wrap around himself.

Even with his thorough search, the church wasn't exactly large, and it didn't take him long to finish looking through all of the rooms and closets. It was in the bottom of a supply closet, filled with candles and other odds and ends often needed, that Neil struck gold.

Well, brown anyways. Neil frowned a bit at the old, rectangular trunk, boxy with sharp edges and clearly having seen better days, half hidden behind a box of cleaning agent and a broom. With a grunt, he grabbed the handles on both sides and hauled it out, finding it to be heavier than it looked, and that was saying something.

Grimacing, but able to get a better look once it was out of the closet and into the light, he took one corner of the blanket and wiped at the dust-covered nameplate on the top. 'Father Basil' gleamed dully, and Neil frowned. Hadn't Old Magnus said that all of Father Basil's things had been sent to his sister? Maybe they had missed this one, Neil was surprised he spotted it at all.

It wasn't locked, so Neil flipped up the latch and yanked at the lid, it taking several pulls for it to unstick and finally fall open.

Books, was the first impression Neil got. Lots and lots of books. A few other odds and ends, too, but mostly books.

Neil was about to shut the trunk when the title of the books caught his attention. All of them said 'Journal', but they were then followed by things like 'Central Park Ghost'.

"What?" Neil let the trunk lid fall back open, crouching down to dig through that pile. More journals, more interesting titles: 'Lake Champlain Beast', 'Happy Homes Mental Hospital Ghosts', 'Dead Man's Cliff Ghost'.

"Was... Father Basil an exorcist?" Neil hesitated, then grabbed the top book on the right stack, titled 'Black Shuck', flipping it open.

"'Upon my retirement, I have been placed in the small town of Canada Falls, Maine, to live out the rest of my days in comfort.'," Neil read aloud. "'The locals have legend of a friendly spirit by the name of Black Shuck, a fearsome looking hound, that protects those walking home after nightfall. Further investigation is needed to determine the true nature of the creature.'"

Neil frowned and flipped forward a few pages to get to the next entry. "'I have met the ghost known as Black Shuck, as it accompanied me on my way back to the church this evening. Frightening in appearance, but not demeanor, the ghost appears to be mute, but of human level intelligence despite having the form of a beast. It takes the form of a large, gaunt, black hound with glowing green eyes. From further research, Black Shuck appears to be doing no harm, and with its helpful nature, I feel no need to exorcise it.'"

"So, he was an exorcist..." Neil muttered, putting the journal back on top of the stack. A sudden thought struck him, a memory of what Young Magnus had said what felt like a lifetime ago. "Father Basil was the first victim... did it go after him because he was a threat?" Another thought, another frown.

The ghost that had chased him and tried to kill him had red eyes. And the one that had saved him and bought him time to get inside the church had green.

Neil stared unseeing down at the journal in his hands. Black Shuck wasn't killing people at all. Another ghost was.

*********

Neil spent the rest of the night reading the journals, the earlier ones having detailed accounts of spirits the man had encountered and how they had been dealt with. On the one hand, they mentioned advanced techniques the priest had used, which would probably have been more helpful if Neil knew the basic ones. Still, he found prayers that the man had found to be particularly effective against certain kinds of spirits and items that could be worn for personal protection. It would have to do for now.

Neil wasn't sure of the time when he finally closed the journal in his lap, but his back protested with sharp stabs of pain as he straightened up from where he had been hunched over his reading and he was sure that it had to be nearing dawn. He groaned and rubbed at his lower back, then placed the journals he had been studying back inside the trunk and closed the lid. With a grunt, he leaned against the top of the trunk to help himself to his feet, hissing between his teeth at the pins and needles as his legs, which had fallen asleep, protested the action. The trunk was too useful to shove back in the closet, so he grabbed one handle and proceeded to drag it down the hallway to his room, pushing the door open with his shoulder.

The sky outside his window was graying and streaked with dawn's light, but what drew his attention were the glowing green eyes staring inside. Neil yelped and dropped the trunk on his foot, then said some words that would have gotten his mouth washed out with soap if his mother had ever heard them.

He frantically looked at the window again, only to find the glowing eyes still there, set in a dim, jet-black dog-shaped outline. A flash of white as the ghost's jaw opened in what was unmistakably a doggy grin, tongue lolling out the side. Neil realized, a little belatedly, that it was laughing at him.

Green eyes, this was the safe one. Neil rubbed at his foot briefly to make sure nothing was broken, then limped over to the window, although he didn't open it. "So, you didn't die fighting the other one last night."

It was more than a little startling to have something dog-shaped do something so human as to roll its eyes at you, and Neil scowled. He was tired, his eyes hurt, and one of the last things he needed right now was to have a ghost mocking him. The sting of realization when the ghost sat down and deliberately waved a paw through a tuft of grass, not disturbing a single blade, had him grumbling and crossing his arms. "Okay, I get it. Hard to kill something that's already dead."

Neil frowned a bit, looking the ragged-furred ghost over. The thing was absolutely massive, his window had to be at least three feet off the ground and it was able to easily look through it while sitting outside it. Dark fur hung lankly off of it, he was fairly sure he could see ribs through the patchy coat, and those glowing green eyes were unsettling, even if he knew that this thing was supposedly friendly. "What are you doing here, anyways?"

Black Shuck's upright ears flopped slightly as it tilted its head, clearly giving Neil a once-over. It took him a moment to realize what the ghost meant. "You were checking on me?"

A nod.

The nod was disconcerting, having something that looked so canine clearly able to understand him, even if it couldn't speak, made him uneasy. A realization washed that away, and his arms dropped to his sides. "You were worried about me."

Another nod, and movement in the grass behind the ghost as a ragged tail briefly wagged. Neil frowned a bit. "Why? You don't even know me."

Black Shuck gave him a deadpan look, a silent snort frosting the window.

"You don't need a reason to be worried?"

The ghost tilted its head and gave another silent snort, more frost decorating the window. So, probably not what it had meant. After a moment, Black Shuck lifted a paw and scratched lightly at the window, then looked down the side of the church. When Neil leaned close, he could just make out a door a dozen feet down or so. The pointed look the ghost gave him made it fairly clear what it wanted.

"You want me to come outside?"

A nod.

Neil hesitated. It looked far too much like the ghost that had attacked him last night for his nerves to be comfortable leaving the safety of the church... but it had saved him, putting itself at risk to do so. And every account he had of this ghost said it was safe.

Pale teeth gleamed through the window in the pre-dawn light as Black Shuck gave another doggy grin.

"Okay, now you're just trying to freak me out on purpose," Neil said, glaring at the ghost.

Another tail wag and yet another doggy grin that somehow had more than a hint of mischief in it.

"Fine, I'll come out." Neil sighed and made for the door, passing by the trunk as he did so. He paused, then opened it and pulled out a small cross on a necklace from inside, hanging it around his neck. He didn't fully trust Black Shuck yet.

Neil had found the door that opened into the cemetery earlier while searching the church, so it was only a moment before he was hesitantly pushing it open. He jerked back at finding Black Shuck sitting a few feet away, head reaching his chest and eyes just as eerie as always. Neil swallowed, took a deep breath, and stepped out onto the dew-damp grass, breath misting in the pre-dawn air.

Black Shuck wagged his tail and stood. Neil bit his lip to stifle a scream, then winced as an ice-cold nose touched his shoulder before the ghost turned and walked off. Neil held a hand over his racing heart, breathing hard, then hesitantly followed the ghost through the headstones.

The trip wasn't far, maybe fifty feet or so in Black Shuck stopped, sitting down before a fairly fresh grave, grass only starting to creep in at the edges of the upturned earth.

Neil swallowed, crouching down to brush his fingers over the letters carved into the headstone. 'Father Aidan Basil', and below that, 'Beloved and brave to the end.' Looking up, he met Black Shuck's lowered head, triangular ears splayed to the side in shame. The ghost regarded him seriously, then turned to look over the remainder of the graveyard. Neil stood and followed its gaze, counting five more fresh graves, two of them smaller than the rest.

"... You're ashamed that you couldn't protect them," Neil said, voice soft as the dawn slowly brightening the sky. Black Shuck turned back to him and gave a single, solemn nod.

Neil slowly turned, gaze sweeping across the many headstones in the graveyard. People who had been born, lived, and died in this town. And those fresh graves, two of them tragically small...

He took a deep breath, fought down the terror, and turned to Black Shuck, setting his jaw in the way his mother had hated because it meant he was being stubborn. "I didn't ask for any of this. I just... I just wanted to lead a big church, be successful. I'm not an exorcist, and I don't know what to do. But I can't leave these people to that thing. I have to do something, but I don't know what, or how."

Black Shuck looked thoughtful, and Neil wasn't sure how something so canine managed it, but that was the only description he had for the ghost's expression. Suddenly it perked up and stood, a jerk of its head indicating for Neil to follow.

The ghost led him to the back of the stone wall that encircled the graveyard, to a part where there were no graves yet. It paced back and forth several times, nose to the ground, and Neil stared in astonishment.

"Wait, you can still smell?"

Black Shuck gave him what could only be called a dry look, then rolled its eyes. Neil flushed hot and he glared back as he realized he was being stupid. The ghost could clearly see and hear, why wouldn't it also be able to smell things?

Black Shuck stopped, sniffing a spot for several seconds, then began to hurriedly dig.

"Great. I followed you just to watch you dig up a bone," Neil said, crossing his arms. He was tired, he was sore, he was hungry, and he was not in the mood for this.

The ghost ignored him, and only a few inches down, he started scraping over something brown and clearly not dirt or rock. Curious now, Neil crouched down and began to help dig, ignoring the smug look the ghost shot him. Together, they unearthed and hauled out another trunk, smaller than the one that had been inside, this one also bearing a nameplate stamped with '_Father Basil'_on it.

This one was locked, but it was old and a few bashes with a nearby rock broke the padlock, allowing Neil to open it.

Books dominated this trunk, these ones with far more interesting titles: Ghosts, Demons, and Spirits; The Many Categories of Supernatural Entities; Negotiating with Benevolent Ghosts; Exorcism Basics. Neil's breath caught, and he shared a look with the annoyingly smug looking ghost beside him.

Neil looked deeper into the trunk. Bundles of sage, containers of salt, crosses, bottles of holy water. Unexperienced as he was, he knew that those were common implements used by exorcists. His hand hovered over the stack of books, then dug in to pull out Ghosts, Demons, and Spirits. There were no chairs, so he found a relatively soft looking patch of grass and sat down, opening the book and flipping through the table of contents. Two thirds of the way down the 'Ghosts' section, he paused at the entry for 'Dog Ghosts'. Noting the page, he flipped to it and began to read, ignoring the large doggy head that leaned over his shoulder.

"'Dog ghosts are fairly common across Great Britain and its surrounding countries, though are not unheard of in the Americas. They go by many names, but by and large they are described as being large, black in color, and having glowing red or green eyes. Unlike some ghosts noted in this book, dog ghosts are notable for being markedly unpredictable. Some are malevolent, and should be avoided at all costs. Others are ambivalent, but to see them is to be marked for death, foretell that a death will soon occur among the witness's family. Some are mischievous, and will frighten those who witness them, but no harm will come to the individual. Finally, a rare few are benevolent, and known for guiding travelers home safely at night.'"

Neil shared a look with Black Shuck as he shut the book. "Well, that explains why you and the other one are so different, though not how to get rid of that thing."

Neil put the book back in the trunk and pulled out one titled How to Exorcise Malevolent Spirits. A bit of searching soon had the book open to 'Common Causes for Malevolence'. "'Many spirits are territorial. They often act out if they feel that their home haunting site is either in danger or is being infringed upon by the living. Yet others were cruel during life, and seek to continue that cruelty in the afterlife. Most ghosts are not deadly, it should be noted. However, the most dangerous are those ghosts and spirits who seek power, for those will seek to kill their victims. These spirits will then consume the soul of their victim, and thus gain power through it. DANGER: Do not allow these spirits to go unchecked. The more souls they consume, the stronger they grow, and exorcism techniques will have less effect upon them, making them far harder to destroy. If such a ghost has progressed to attacking victims during the daytime, when they are weaker, then it is already too late, and nothing but an entire team of experienced exorcists can destroy it.'"

The book dropped from Neil's suddenly slack fingers, and he turned to stare in horror at Black Shuck. "Is that what that thing is doing?"

A solemn nod.

Another, scarier thought. "It's stronger than you already, isn't it? How close is it to reaching that tipping point?"

Black Shuck pinned its ears and tucked its tail between its legs. Neil hadn't been aware that ghosts could be scared, but Black Shuck clearly was.

"Close, then. Really close?"

A nod.

Shit.

Neil took a deep breath as he put the book back in the trunk, closing it for now until he could get it inside. "Damnation. I'm not cut out to do this on my own."

A cold touch to his arm, and Neil turned just as Black Shuck shoved its huge head under his arm, regarding him with eerie green eyes. Mute as it was, the ghost's message was clear.

He wasn't going to be doing this on his own.

"... Why? Why do you protect this place, these people?"

A second, a minute, an eternity seemed to pass before Black Shuck finally turned, beginning to walk deeper into the graveyard. Unsure whether he was meant to follow, Neil nonetheless fell into step behind the ghost.

The trip didn't take long. Black Shuck led him to the far corner of the graveyard, where there were no graves yet, just overgrowth that had crept in over the stone wall from the forest. The ghost paused, looked seriously at Neil, then turned to look pointedly into the undergrowth. Neil winced, but got the point and began to wade through.

Perhaps ten feet or so in, he stumbled across a grave marker, a simple wooden cross that looked absolutely ancient. He felt more than saw Black Shuck step up behind him, then swallowed hard as he registered a leather collar hanging around the top spire of the cross. Although the wood was old and rotting, the collar looked nearly new. Glancing back to make sure he was allowed, Neil lifted it off of the cross, turning it to find a brass nameplate on one side, a single word engraved on it.

'Shuck'.

And unbidden, something he had read earlier in one of Father Basil's journals flashed through his mind. 'Many ghosts haunt a location, but some ghosts are bound to an object that was important to them in life, and cannot stray far from it.'

Neil took a deep breath and placed the collar back on the wooden spire, then turned and hesitantly held out a hand to Black Shuck. The ghost stilled, regarding him warily, then stepped forward and pushed the top of its cold head under his hand.

"I get it now," Neil said softly. "You were a good boy in life, and you're a good boy in death, too. Right?"

A single wag of the tail was his answer, then the ghost stepped back.

Neil was saved from finding something to say to break the silence when Black Shuck's head shot up, ears perking to attention. The ghost glanced at him, then bounded out of the undergrowth back to the graveyard. Neil grimaced, but followed as he was led back to the church at a brisk trot, the cold morning air stinging his lungs. The sun was well up in the sky by now, so he wasn't particularly surprised as, partway to the church, he heard what must have gotten Black Shuck's attention--pounding on the church doors.

He registered Black Shuck fading out of view as he opened the gate in the stone wall, hurrying around the church to find Old Magnus was the one pounding on the door, out of breath and with tears streaming down his face.

"Old Magnus! What's wrong?!"

The older man jerked, wheeling to face him, then slumped against the wooden door with relief. "Father Aleister! You must come quick!"

"What? What happened?" His breath seized in his chest, Old Magnus's panic infecting him.

"It's Young Magnus! He left this morning after sunrise to come and check on you after he called the church and you didn't answer, but didn't return! Myself and Ronan went to see what was holding him up, and-" Old Magnus's voice cut off with a sob.

Cold washed through Neil and settled in his bones. He knew what had happened, he was sure, but he needed Old Magnus to confirm it. "What happened to Young Magnus?"

"He was attacked! Laying in the road with his throat ripped out!"

The cold turned to ice, and all Neil could hear was the memory of his own voice, reading aloud, "' If such a ghost has progressed to attacking victims during the daytime, when they are weaker, then it is already too late, and nothing but an entire team of experienced exorcists can destroy it.'"

Unbidden, his eyes met glowing green ones hiding among the trees, and though the ghost was mute, he knew they were sharing the same thought.

It was already too late.