Ghost of Halloween

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sandy asked. Sam walked beside her and put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a slight nudge towards him.
"Don't worry!" he said. "I'm here! We all are; we are doing this together!"

Sandy and her boyfriend, Sam, together with their two best friends, Aaron and Anna had walked into what looked like a five hundred year old worn out church. It's just a church, Sandy had first thought, but now she had the creeps. Was this the best way they could think of to spend Halloween? Why couldn't they just dress up and go for a late night costume party like every other guy and girl their age? Why spend the night in an ancient church relating ghost stories?

This whole expedition had been Sam's idea. Sandy had met Sam few months back just as she joined uni. He was an explorer. He liked travelling, looking for ancient places, relics, and photographing them. Some of Sam's pictures had won awards simply because he had reached places no one else would dare to. This church was one of those places. It was rumoured to be haunted.

Aaron took the first step into the church with his flash light shinning ahead. Anna followed, aiming her cell phone light at Aaron. "Come on," Sam said as he took Sandy by the hand and led her in, his other hand tightly wrapped around his camera. Sandy let herself follow Sam.

The church was dark, a stream of moonlight shining through the large window, with Aaron's flashlight adding to it. There were huge pictures, images from the bible and a large human size cross hanging right in the middle of the church, just above the altar. Sam had now let go of Sandy's hand and was taking pictures of whatever he saw. Sandy looked down at the floor. She was walking on plain cement, but something about it felt weird.

"Guys, I found something!" Everyone rushed to the far corner of the church following Anna's voice. Anna was flashing her cell phone screen at the cement. A dark red stain was on it. Sandy took a closer look and realised that it seemed to be a hand print. Blood? She wondered.
"Is that blood?" Aaron asked, reading her mind. Sam started flashing his camera on the print. "This church was abandoned centuries ago," Aaron continued. "I'm sure there was a pretty good reason for it."

"Ghosts can't haunt churches right?" Sandy asked. "Churches are holy!"
"Oh please Sandy, grow up!" Aaron said. "Who said anything about ghosts? Ghosts aren't real. There are other things we should worry about. Like serial killers!"
"Come on guys," Sam said. "Let's find a place to sleep."

Sandy hated it. The church, the darkness, the blood! It all seemed like something out of a horror movie. She half expected a serial killer to come running towards them with a knife waving in the air. Sam would have realised that she looked miserable. He walked up to her and put his hand around her waist, and led her towards the centre of the church, right in front of the altar.

The area had enough room to spread out their sleeping bags. One by one the sleeping bags were unfolded and the four got into them. Sam was still taking pictures as Aaron and Anna were laughing and joking about ancient myths. Anna had a wild idea that this church had a hidden bell that rang every Halloween precisely at midnight. It was a sign for the murders that had happened here centuries ago.

"Murders?" Sandy asked. "Who died here?"
Anna looked at her. "Come on, sit around. I'll tell you the story!" The group sat in a circle, the flashlight standing in the centre. "Ok so this is how it happened!" she started. "Once, there was a priest, who lived here centuries ago. People loved him so much. He was good, kind, did a lot of good deed, but there was one problem." Sandy blinked and leaned close to Sam.

"This priest had a helper. He looked like a normal guy, mid twenties probably, but he was a seriously troubled guy! His parents had died in a fire when he was little. Some people said that he set that fire, but that could not be proved. This guy was different, people thought even though he worked for the church he didn't believe in God. He was more like a devil worshiper. One day on Halloween, this guy wore a demon costume and came to the priest. The priest got so angry and chased him away. The priest called him a devil worshiper and had him banished! This guy got so mad that he tied the priest's limbs, and hung him on the top of the bell! The next morning when people visited the church, they found the priest hanging on the bell."  

"But I have never seen a bell in this church! Not even in the garden!" Sandy said.

"There is one Sandy!" Anna said. "No one has seen it. They say that to honour the priest the people in the town hid the location of the bell. But every Halloween at midnight, the exact time the priest was murdered the bell rings itself!"

The group was silent for a few seconds. Everyone was stunned by Anna's story. Was it true? Sandy wondered. Was there really a hidden bell here? Did a murder really happen here? That patch on the cement, was that really centuries old blood?

"So if this is true," Sam said looking around. "Today is Halloween, and in a couple of minutes it will be midnight!" Sam looked at his watch. "Actually it will be in exactly ten seconds... five... four... three... two... one!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!
The group screamed at the sound of the bell! It was true! The story was true!

"I'm leaving!" Sandy screamed as she stood up and ran out of the church.
"Sandy, wait!" Sam said, running behind her, Aaron and Anna followed.
"Sandy, come on!" Anna screamed. "The story is not real! I made it up!"

As Aaron and Anna reached the entrance to the door they found Sam standing alone. Sandy was nowhere in sight.
"Where is she?" Anna asked Sam.
"I don't know," he replied. "I was right behind her! But as soon as she ran out of the door, she was gone!"
"Hey guys," Aaron said. "What's that?" Everyone turned to look at where Aaron was pointing his flashlight. In the far corner of the church garden, there seemed to be an old pile of hay. There was something behind it. The three of them ran closer, to see that it was none other than an old pile of rock covered by hay. On top of the rock there was the most rusted old bell they had ever seen!

"It's a bell!" Anna said. "Oh my God!"
"That story was fake right? You made it up!" Sam screamed. "Please tell me you made it up!"
"I did!" Anna screamed. "I don't understand! I was only trying to scare you guys! It was not real!"

"It is real!" The three of them spun around at the sound of Sandy's voice, to see her standing in the darkness. However, she was different. She was wearing a long black cloak; her face was covered beneath the cloak.
"Come one Sandy, cut it out!" Sam said. "The game's over! Let's go home."
"I am not Sandy!"
"Then who are you?" Aaron snapped.
"I am the one you came looking for! I am the one who killed the priest!"
Aaron tried to run, Anna tried to scream, Sam tried to hold Sandy, but none of it happened. They couldn't move!
"Sandy, please!" Sam managed to choke out. "I love you! Don't do this!"
"I'm not your girlfriend Sam," Sandy replied. "I never was! I have always been the one preparing my bait every year and killing people in this garden on Halloween, ever since the priest banished me! Yes it was me! I was the priest's helper, even though I was a girl! I have always been the ghost of Halloween! I forever will; and now, it's your turn to die!"