Desert and Fayth ghosthunt
(The following is a work of fiction. This is an attempt to improve writing skills and expand into other genres and experimental in design. Desert Mutt is copyright to myself. Fayth is copyright to herself.)
The night sky was mostly clear, the moon at the half-way point in its waxing. There were not clouds, but there were no stars visible at the moment either. The half moon did not give off enough light for all to be seen with ease in silvery light, but it shine some to let things be seen in a short distance without problems. Things such as the old country church.
It would be what most consider a simple country church. The size of a small house, whitewashed walls, a barn door and no stained glass windows. It was a nice simple little church set on the side of the main road.
Time passes though, and things change with it. The church aged, white wash cracking and peeling to reveal the graying wood underneath. The white remaining glowed in the faint moon light, the raw wood turning to almost black shadows, making the place look older and far more decrepit then it truly was.
The road was still paved, well for the most part. It was single lane in each direction, and so narrow that it was almost one car lane over all. Most of the traffic along it was from either people who lived out in the country, or who knew that the police would not be out there so the speed limit could be considered optional.
A car pulled along the road, headlights shining at high as it went along. It pulled up into the drive of the church as it stopped, the engine shutting off but the lights keeping on to shine at the front doors for a moment. The car doors open, the two figures stepping out.
"There it is," Desert said with a smile on his muzzle and in his voice, "built in the forties, abandoned in the seventies. It's just been sitting out here ever since. What do you think Fayth? Still want to see if we can see any ghosts here?"
The six foot tall she wolf turned, looking at the floppy eared canine a moment. She then shut the passenger side door and walked around to the back, stopping to wait there for him. She leaned against the back of the vehicle with a smile, the lupine tail shifting some behind her.
"Alright," he said, "Alright. Just wanted to make sure that you were still up for this. It's probably going to be boring." He walked over, joining the lupine female. "I haven't been here in quite a while." He pointed with one paw as the other started to unlock the back, "There used to be a house there. It supposed to have been the home to a witch before she died. After that it was supposed to be haunted. Pretty much a place for teens to scare each other and vandalize.
"Over there by the church," He continued as he opened the back, "There used to be an old Sunday school. I wrote my name on a chalk board, then the others told me that everyone who signed the chalk board died in a year and a half or less from it. That was....Six?... sex years ago." He gave a nod. The slip went unnoticed by him. He had been grabbing some equipment from the back and happened to be looking at Fayth's curvaceous backside, which led his mind off just slightly.
The bags were picked up, carried as the two walked into the old wood church house. The doors opened easily enough, no lock currently in use on the place. Two flashlights were pulled out, a hand held being taken by Fayth as Desert put one on top of his head.
The beams hit the podium, shining some from the glossed wood, but not as strongly as it could from a layer of dust that coated it, as well as everything else. The beam moved across the walls and floor as they moved down the aisle, looking at the building around them.
The male canine stopped a moment. He took a hold of the light on his head and adjusted it some to keep from shining in the she-wolf's face as he turned to her. He looked at her a moment, catching a glint of the light shining off the necklace she wore. He felt a small piece of him relax slightly. It was probably not going to be necessary, but he felt some relief that she had worn it all the same, just in case.
"Well we might as well start setting up," He finally said, "but get ready. Something might not happen, or we might not be able to notice it." the two of them walked up to the front, setting the bags down at the foot of the front pew.
The bags were opened as the two of them started pulling everything. Among the items were a color film camera, digital picture camera, audio recorder, garlic, roses, a bag of steel nails, a silver knife and a three foot long , one and a half inch thick wood stick sharpened in a point to a crude spear. There were a few other items as well for various other possibilities.
"Well that's about everything," the male canine said, looking at all the things they had pulled out, "Next time I'm going to have to remember to bring a blanket or such for us to sit and lay on."
The two of them sat down on the front pew, checking the equipment. The two of them got comfortable on the wooden seat as best they could, Desert's arm wrapping around Fayth to hold her gently against him.
The she-wolf leaned against the canine, resting her head on his shoulder and retuning the partial hug. She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder some. One paw reached up to her neck, tracing the chain then taking a hold of the silver crucifix. She gave it a squeeze, feeling the warm metal the pressed against her fur.
The pair sat for a while before separating to move around some, then sitting back down once more. Minutes became hours as the night went along. The two shifted, listening at the howling as the wind picked up outside, echoing faintly through the church.
Desert and Fayth pulled apart as they heard the sound picking up in volume, echoing against the wooden inside of the church. They looked at each other, both realizing that the sound was coming from inside the church itself.
The pair stood up, grabbing the flashlights. The wolf fem also grabbed the digital camera, turning it on and holding it up. The mutt turned on the tape recorder before grabbing the film camera. The two of them turned the lights on, scanning around with the cameras.
The two of them scanned the room slowly, lights pointed forward as they looked through the cameras. Fayth stopped as she caught sight of something. She looked up above the camera, seeing nothing, then looked at the camera's view screen again.
On the camera screen stood a female feline figure. The fur was mostly white with signs of graying. The dress was similar in color, showing slight signs of being torn slightly. The cat opened her mouth, the sound of a sorrowful wail came out, echoing along the walls and back.
Fayth pressed the button to try and take a picture. She then moved closer, pressing her elbow into Desert to get his attention. She held the camera up more to let him see the spectral image she had found.
"A banshee?" the mutt asked curiously, "Here? But we're not in Ireland. We're not even in a strongly irish community." He holds the film camera up, snapping to take a picture of his own.
The she-wolf gave a shrug, her mind trying to run through the facts that she herself had read on the creatures. She tried to take another picture, then stopped as she noticed that the female form was starting to shimmer into sight in front of them.
The feline figure shimmered into sight, her gaunt form translucent as she looked at the two of them with sunken eyes. The banshee opened her mouth. She then let out a wail as she moved, lunging toward the pair.
Fayth moved out of the way, but Desert stood where he was. It was not out of courage unfortunately. As the spirit started toward them, something in the canine shut down, causing the mutt to freeze in place, taking in what was before him, but not even thinking about what to do such as moving or taking another picture.
The spirit nearly struck the male before his arm was grabbed and pulled, trying to move out of the way. The banshee's form hit the camera, knocking it from the canine's grip. It fell to the floor, the back popping open and film falling out. The flash then went off, causing a split second of light in the room. The banshee pulled away a moment, covering her eyes as she moaned out.
Fayth looked at Desert a moment, letting her paw slip free from where she held his arm and had pulled him. She stood up, pointing the light and camera back at the spirit as she started backing toward where the rest of the stuff was.
The banshee lunged at the she-wolf, passing through the digital camera, causing it to spark and short out, then slipped through the female's body. The spirit seemed to hit the lupine body, knocking her down on her back. Small bits of the spectral body looked to be slightly singed.
Before the banshee could do anything, a rose struck it on the side, making turn to look. Desert stood there, another rose in hand as he looked for something that would make a better weapon.
The normally wailing spirit seemed to growl. She stood up and started stalking toward the male canine. A low wailing moan started again, then suddenly switched into a scream. The normally sound scream of the banshee was not a scream of pain
Desert and Fayth both looked at the banshee. There were curls of smoke coming up some from the foot where she had stepped on several of the nails. The scream turned back into a wail then faded, the spirit vanishing from sight as well until the place was quiet with only the two of them.
"Are you alright Fayth?" the canine asked as he walked toward her. The she-wolf stood up, nodding as she brushed herself off and stretched. She looked at him then reached up, bringing her paw to his cheek.
"I'm fine," he replied, "kicking myself a little for freezing up like that, but otherwise I'm fine." His paw reached up holding hers a moment. He then pulled his face away, kissing the palm pad before letting go. The two of them walked some, looking down at the shattered remains of one camera and the blackened cracked shell of another.
"Looks like we lost our cameras," the mutt says softly, "and the pictures of the banshee on it. Do you think the sound recorder would be of any use?" He looked over at Fayth curiously. She reached down to pick the recorder up. The she-wolf rewound the audio then pressed play, hearing only Desert speaking.
"So we got nothing to show as proof for tonight," he said, hugging Fayth, "end up with some interesting memories I'm guessing a few bruises." She looked at him, then leaned closer. Her cheek rubbed against his as they hugged, the lupine tail wagging some.
"Yeah," Desert responded softly, "I guess you're right. Let's pick up our stuff and head on home." They held each other a moment, then slowly separated to pack up what was left of their stuff. The remains of the cameras were collected just in case they could salvage something. It was all packed back in the car before the two got back in and drove off.
At the church, in one of the trees, were two small figures. One of them watched the car drive away, then looked at the other, who was still laughing.
"Stop it," the first snapped in anger, "It's not funny. It hurt. You weren't the one who accidentally stepped on the nails."
"Noo," the second responded with a hint of laughter, "But I wasn't the one who decided to scare them by pretending to be a banshee and attacking them either, now am I?" The first said nothing more, pouting at the pain in the foot and humiliation of it all.