The Sanguinarian

The Sanguinarian

Tuesday 5 April 2016

D for Devil Comes to Greenfield

Greenfield, Missouri 

Church of St. Agnes

Father Morton O'Neill unlocked the door to his office, his glance flitting to the door of the office adjacent to his. The gap beneath the door of Father Goretti's office showed that the lights were still on in there.

He's been here all night? But why? 

Morton left his own door open and walked to his superior's cabin. He would ask the other priest if he would like a large mug of hot coffee.

"Father Goretti? This is Morton. May I come in, please?" asked Morton, while knocking on the door.

There was no answer.

"Father Goretti? You in there?"

Morton noticed that the door was slightly ajar. And again, there came no reply.

A cold shiver passed down Morton's back- and he had an overwhelming feeling something was terribly amiss. He remembered the chilling spectre of Dorothy Swanson's body in the churchyard.

His heart rate suddenly shooting up, he slowly pushed open the door, and entered.

"No! No! Father....Nooooooooo!"

Amelio Goretti's corpse hung from the ceiling, bloody and oscillating slightly, blocking the sunlight from the large window behind his desk.

His blood was dripping onto the desk and had trickled to the floor. His throat and wrists had been slit and his eyes were open.

Morton ran to his office and called the Sheriff's office.

Sheriff Hadley and his team found Morton slumped against the door of Goretti's cabin, dazed.
They were accompanied by Senator Tuttle, who was a former priest as well, and a local celebrity politico now.

"Our Father in Heaven, protect us from evil. The Devil Has Come to Greenfield!" he exclaimed when he saw the corpse.


This post is written for the A to Z Challenge


Monday 4 April 2016

C for Churchyard Massacre


In a small town in Missouri 

The first rays of sunshine kissed the treetops as the morning dawned on the town. The sun also shone on the spires of the Church of St. Agnes, located in the midst of the town square, where the faithful flocked for prayers every day, and for Sunday school.

The janitor walked into the empty churchyard, looking around him, moving in the direction of the outhouse where his tools were kept.

That was when his attention fell on the figure mounted on the sharpened, interconnected spiked metal grill on top of the compound wall that bordered the church perimeter. The wall was several feet away...it was impossible to make out who was on those spikes or why. On top of that, he was near-sighted, so the figure was nothing more than a blurred shape in the distance.

"Hello? Who goes there? What're you doing there?" the janitor yelled.

There was no response.

"You need to get down from there right now, whoever you are."

No response.

Shaking his head, Enrico the janitor changed course and walked towards the compound.

Only when he came near did he see what the figure was.

"Dios mio! El diablo!" Enrico screamed, and then screamed again, and then called for Father Goretti.

Hearing his screams, Father Goretti, who was lighting incense at the altar in the sanctum sanctorum, came running out into the churchyard.

"Enrico! What happened?" he yelled, coming to stand next to the terrified janitor.

"Oh my God! Deliver us from evil!!" he whispered, horrified, crossing himself when he saw what was mounted on the grill.

                                                                              *****


He sat in his living room, drinking a can of beer, eating hotdogs and watching the 11 o'clock news.

A female presenter, dressed in a black skirt-suit, was speaking into the camera.

"Good morning this is Angela Perkins with Missouri 24x7. The small but closely-knit community of Greenfield is shocked and scared at the murder of a local woman, Dorothy Swanson. Dorothy, a mother of two and community service volunteer at the Church of St. Agnes, was found impaled in the churchyard of the very church she worked for. Her body was found skewered like a kebab on the spiked metal grill atop the compound wall. The police are at a loss to explain her death- Dorothy was a dear sweet woman, loved by her husband Dale, who is a top local salesman for farming equipment, and her kids Patience and Cuthbert. She was even instrumental in getting more people to join the church and believe in God's glory."

He snorted loudly. Yeah, that lady sure was a recruitment agent for the church. Sanctimonious bitch! Had told him to believe in God and reform his life. In that grating, sweet voice.

'You have lost your way, young man. You need the Lord to show you the way. Let him be your shepherd!'

But she had squealed like a stuck pig when he was hauling her up and going to impale her. Or as the reporter had said, skewered her like a kebab.

But she was only the first of many. Those sheep of the Lord had to be taught a lesson.

It was his mission.


This post is written for the 2016 A to Z blogging challenge