Church Grim

Church Grim: In the olden days when Christianity was still a new religion, it was believed that the first person buried in the graveyard would have to fight to protect the church from the devil. As such, to spare people that duty, they would bury an all black dog, alive next to the foundation of the church building. It is said that people only see a church grim wandering around the grounds when they are going to die soon.

A grey layer of clouds covered the manicured lawns of the old Catholic church grounds as a large storm, accompanied by light rain flowed past. Madison Harper wandered down the flagstone path that led to the expansive graveyard behind the large gothic church, a bouquet of brightly colored sunflowers in hand.

Every year on the exact same day, Madison would go to the graveyard to visit her long past father. The path didn't change much year to year, the most change was a new shrub or two and a few weeds, but what was the most consistent was the strange stone that had something illegible written on its surface. The stone rested next to the brick walls of the church and it lay flat in the dirt, almost like a headstone.

As the years passed by, Madison continued to grow more and more curious about the stone, but even though she studied it, she never could make out what the writing meant. Madison placed the flowers on the grave and bowed her head and said a small prayer. As she did every year, she talked to him, telling him all about what had happened during the year and how much she missed him.

Finished, she started to walk back to the flagstone path when she noticed a flash of black out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she stared at a massive black dog that sat nonchalantly next to a head stone and stared at her with large red eyes. Her heart rate raced as all her muscles tensed in preparation to run from the frightening looking animal. A few tense moments passed, and when the dog still hadn't moved from its spot, she relaxed a bit.

Deciding that it was more than about time to leave, she pivoted and sped walked down the flagstone path to the parking lot. She was just about there when she was stopped by one of the nuns.

"Miss, are you alright? You're walking in quite a hurry and you look frightened."

Taking a deep breath, Madison answered calmly, "I'm alright, I was just given a little scare in the graveyard. There was a huge black dog just sitting out there, staring at me."

To her surprise, the nun smiled. "Ah, you saw this church's grim. There's no need to be frightened, he won't harm you."

"What do you mean?" Madison asked curiously.

"When this church was created, the old belief was that they had to bury a live animal to protect the church and those buried in the graveyard against the devil. It's spirit will appear every now and then while it protects our church." The nun shared with her, happily.

"Is that what that strange stone next to the flagstone path symbolizes? Is it the grave of the church grim?"

"Why, yes, it is. I'm surprised you paid so much attention to it. Most brush it off as a memorial stone to the founders."

Madison thanked the nun as she processed the information. She climbed into her car and rested her head against the steering wheel. She let all the thoughts drift from her mind before lifting her head and starting the car. As she pulled out of the parking lot, she glanced at the church in the review mirror and lost her breath as she met the piercing red eyes of the looming church grim as it sat near the entrance of the church.

So entranced she was, that she failed to notice the car speeding right at her. In Madison Harper's last moments of life, she was bewitched by the stare of the church grim.

Thank you for reading so far! Please take the time to review, as I use feedback as a way to perfect my writing. Thanks!

-Amai-93