This is the fourth part of an adventure series where YOU determine the next step in the story. Read part one, part two, and part three.
You decide you’re better off against the flying demon. You turn around for one last peek down the hall and see a large black hand with elongated fingers snake out from the corner. Its nails are bone-white razors. They dig into the wall, drawing deep crevices into the plaster. A deep voice rumbles over you, a mixture of a growl and a low hum. The ancient words cause the hair on the back of your neck to stand on end.
You slam the door shut. Using the paintbrush in your pocket, you sketch the protection symbol on the door. Then you drop to your knees and mash your paintbrush into the carpet, trying to obscure the pentagram. You target the points of the star but can only blot out half before running out of paint.
The sounds of movement are getting louder and the floor vibrates. The primeval voices now come from both directions. You think they’re calling to each other.
You grab the hammer from your belt and shove the paint can off to the side. As you turn to stand, a glimmer of gold catches your eye. You stop and look. Nailed to the wall is a massive, sturdy metal frame with plywood for shelves and backing. The metallic glimmer you saw was a metal fragment jammed behind the plywood. You slip the claw of your hammer under the side of the frame. The nails struggle a little, but you’re able to separate the frame from the wall.
The small metal chunk was probably part of a decorative sculpture. It’s ornately painted in gold and blue. One end is jagged as if it were snapped off. As you reach for it, you catch a glimpse of something large on the wall. It looks like a wood panel. You pull harder on the shelving.
It’s a door.
The footsteps are right outside the room now. The floor shakes and you hear a low, raspy sound, something you can only guess is a victory cry.
You hustle to your feet. You don’t have a spare second to stash the metal fragment in a pocket. You hold it in your free hand as you rip into the shelves with the claw. Fueled by adrenaline, you pull one side of the shelving loose, just enough for you to squeeze behind.
Out of the corner of your eye, you see the far door open. A dark figure towers in the doorway. It stoops to get through.
You slide behind the shelves. Your clothes catch on the nails and you scrape your hand as you smack the metal fragment down on the lever-style door handle. The door swings open freely and you slide through to freedom.
As you pull your hammer through the doorway into the next room, a hot, steel grip clamps down on your wrist and jerks you backward. You scream as you’re slammed against the door frame. A deep voice rumbles above you, close to your ear.
You whirl around. Looming over you is a tall humanoid creature, bent at the knees so it can fit in the room. Pale. Featureless. Its eyes are large, lidless black spheres. Streaks of pink and green swirl around in its eyes like pools of dirty oil. The demon’s wings fill the room behind it, black like the emptiness of space.
You thrash and jerk back as hard as you can, but you can’t get loose. The creature is making sure to stay clear of the hammer and its swinging symbol. Panicked, you slam the metal fragment down on the demon’s wrist. Smoke wafts from its skin on contact and you hear a sizzling sound like an acid burn. The creature screams. Its wings ripple. You scream, too, and slam the fragment down again. And again. The demon releases your wrist. You fling yourself backward and stumble over broken pieces of wooden furniture and bunched carpet. You get up and run.
You’re in the expansive, desolated sanctuary of a church. Stained glass murals stretch high above. The faces of the Saints, the Virgin, and the Christ Child are shattered and gone. Religious symbols are missing, probably taken when the remnants of the human race went underground.
You realize the room you just escaped from had once displayed the church’s holy emblems and its reliquary. The fragment must have been part of the reliquary. It’s still drawing holy energy from the relic it once contained, so the relic must be near. If you’re going to survive, you must find it.
You burst through the doors on the opposite side of the side of the sanctuary. Ahead, the hallway splits into a T. A sign indicates left for the priest’s quarters and right for the church library.
You hear a slam behind you. The demon has torn down the shelving. A low growl echoes off the walls. You tighten your grip on the hammer and run.
What do you do?
A: Search for the relic in the priest’s quarters
B: Search for the relic in the library
Vote in the comments or on Twitter. If voting via Twitter, be sure to add #therelic so I don’t miss it! Voting ends Tuesday night. The highest vote will be the next step in the story, posted on Fridays.
Image courtesy of Daniel Buxton, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
UPDATE: The voting is now closed. The priest’s quarters made an exciting resurgence and overcame the library. The next step in the story will be posted Friday. Many thanks for everyone’s participation!
Jen Kirchner 
B) Library
It would make more sense (to me) to house a relic there where more than one person could freely view it.
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B – Library!
Mostly, because I like libraries. And also, because I’m the priest quarters give me the willies. Too many weird movies.
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(Also, I should drink coffee before I start commenting on anything. “I’m the priest quarters”? What is that? Yikes.)
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Criminy. I’ve sat here for 5 minutes trying to figure out the best course of action.
OK, salvation will not be found in a room with some priest’s discarded undergarments. If I’m gonna die, let it be in front of books!
Going with B, searching the library.
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I’m way behind on my reading — to the Library!!!! (Where hopefully Colonel Mustard and the Lead Pipe will be able to help us!)
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B) Library.
The thought of entering a priest’s quarters is too horrific to contemplate.
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The library – cause it where everybody knows my name. Love this one – Creepy!
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I will be the odd ball out here and vote for A Preist’s Quarters as he was most likely trying to protect the Relic from the beast(s), may be a bloody sceen….
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I’m making a gut call and going with B. To the library! I will beat it with a dictionary.
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Rooo, seriously. What are you thinking? Go to the priest’s quarters! If there is a priest involved, I will always hang out with him. Good Lord! shakes head
PRIEST!!!
Love in Christ,
Tiffany Reisz
PS whispers penis
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But the library has books. BOOKS! And maybe a dirty librarian. dirty…dirty librarian
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A – The Priest’s quarters….The library will only gives clues as to the relic’s location & will be a huge waste of time. Those who wear the Holy Robes know all the secrets behind the relic, therefore they will have it!
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A. (All other layers of entendre aside…) That’s where the priest would hide important things like the reli, as well as anything else that might be useful in defeating a demon.
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The relic, of course. And yes, I realize now that I was merely paraphrasing what the previous comment had pointed out. (Did you know that today’s the day to repeat things? I wonder if anyone’s pointed out that it’s a day to repeat things.)
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I vote “B” the library. Seems more interesting possibilities in there and better odds at finding it…
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I think it’s more likely to be in A – the priest’s quarters. I think there’s also a better chance of finding more creepy and unexpected items there than in the library.
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B. Library! A holy relic would be on display, not tucked away in some priest’s quarters.
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If I were a relic, I would be in the library, probably. But if I were a relic left behind when the church was stripped, I would not be in the obvious place. I would be hidden. I choose A.
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It’s a bit of a coin toss on this one. I’m going with A. If so much had been destroyed, the priest(s) may have tried to hide any remaining relics.
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I vote A. They would have tried to hide the relic, so it wouldn’t be in an open library.
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I agree with Kerry and Scott. I work in the library field, so I would love for it to be in the library, but if the relic was somewhere obvious like the library, it would have been taken. If it’s still here, then it’s more likely to be in the priest’s quarters.
I vote A.
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I vote library, too!!
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I’ll have to pick A as well. Even if the relic was on display at one time in the library, the priest would have taken it for protection after the attack. (Or someone else would have figured it out, we aren’t the first ones through here)
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I have to go with A – the priest’s quarters. Something as important as the relic would stay with the priest not be put on a shelf unless it was hidden in a hollow book – no I still have to go with A
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Going with A — And hoping the Priest stashed it under his pillow.
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A. If the relic is close, the bearer is alive and trying to hide in close quarters with less chance of severe paper cuts from flying posessed book attacks.
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A – Priests quarters. A relic is most likely to be in the sanctuary, if it was moved the most likely person to move it would be the priest.
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I gotta go with B because I am really wanting to know what this relic I am in search of really is, Even though RPG game style dictates I go left, the passage to the right always has the best goodies for beating an unbeatable foe.
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I know I’m in the minority, but I vote A. The priest’s quarters. Library is too big to search quickly. Priest would have tried to secure relic, so maybe it’s still there, or at least a clue is there.
Thanks, Jen!
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If the relic could be something large, and not personal (like a cross one would wear), then more likely be in the library. I at first was thinking of something smaller and more personal (to protect a person), so was thinking of the quarters, but after re-reading it, it seems that the relic would be larger. So library.
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Your comments and conspiracy theories about the story are thrilling, guys. 🙂 I love it!
The voting is now closed. In a surprising move, the priest’s quarters came out of nowhere and smoked the library! I will publish the results and some info about the Blood Skies giveaway later today.
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