Old Ruins can lead to Ruination

It was a dark and eerie night when Jan stumbled on the old church. Basked in moonlight from the full moon, the church showed it was in ruins. Parts of the roof had caved in and altogether, it sent a shiver through Jan’s spine. But now she had to investigate the church. Why had she never read about it before? Why was it never mentioned in the local guide books? More importantly, what happened to it? But for now, Jan was happy that she had taken her evening constitutional walk. She would come back in the morning. It was only that after a day of traveling by coach she was glad for a walk after dinner that she found the church.

The morning broke with the glorious rays of the hot sun shining through the window of her room that she had hired. She was more than pleased about finding this place. It gave her the break she needed. If she had carried on like she was at work, she would have had a nervous breakdown. She was working far too hard and was working far too many hours.

Jan got up, washed and went down for breakfast. She was full of the joys of spring. This was only May and the temperature had already hit sixty five degrees. And it is still only nine in the morning. Jan had finally managed to get a full night’s sleep. Normally at home, she would go to bed at one in the morning and still she would rise at six.

Wearing her walking boots and jeans, along with the cropped blouse, Jan set out for the church. But just as she left, she asked if she could borrow a torch. The landlady never asked why she wanted one, but lent her a torch with quite a powerful beam for its size. But thanks to her scouting days, she also took a pen knife and a box of matches with her.

She wished now she had brought some shorts with her. By the time she reached the church, she was sweating like a pig.

Jan reached the heavy front door; she pulled the heavy bolts back. They seemed to look rusty, but surprisingly, they opened quite easily. The doors swung open to reveal the ruins of the church. The pews were smashed and the altar was on its side. Vandals must have wrecked the place. But Jan was still determined to investigate the church. She loves old buildings and this was no exception.

Tentively, Jan stepped inside the ruin. Her boots clomped on the stone slabs. She was aware that the walls were unsafe and was rather nervous as she looked at the inscriptions carved in the stone. Eventually she had worked her way along until she reached the pulpit.

As she went to step into it, a hand grabbed her. Jan spun round to face the vicar. “What are you doing here my child?” he asked. Jan told him that she loved old buildings and that she thought it was a shame that the church had decayed into the state it is in at present.

The vicar told her that the church was deconsecrated many years ago because of the goings on that rocked the very foundation of the parish. Jan asked what happened but was told it would be better if she never knew.

“There is a saying, well an old superstition that one day, someone will be left in the building, trapped by themselves and the church would raise the money to be rebuilt. But the person trapped within the old church must be brought to the new one before it can be opened. But it is only a piece of superstitious nonsense of course” the vicar went on.

Jan asked what he meant by this. “Well, they say that one day, someone will stumble on a secret of this church. Because they know the secret, they will be the first to be laid to rest in the rebuilt church.”

Jan laughed nervously. “It is a load rubbish isn’t it?” she thought. Of course it is. How could someone get trapped in here when the door comes open that easily? Besides, there are enough broken windows to be able to climb out.

The vicar went on his way, leaving Jan to carry on examining the church. Once in the pulpit, Jan saw a stream of light. It was like a ray of the sun. She turned and followed it with her eyes to where it went to. Something did not look quite right. In the light, it looked like a door, but as the ray of light died, the door vanished. It was just a panel with a decoration of fluting. In the centre of the panel was a relief of the devil. “Perhaps they put this on this panel to trap the devil and lock him behind the panel forever” she thought laughingly.  Of course it is not a door. If it was, then when the church was used, the door would have been seen. “It must be my imagination” she thought allowed to herself.

But once more the ray of light lit up. It shone on what could only be described as a slight bulge. Jan pushed the bulge and the panel slid back. “Of course, with the roof on, the light would not hit the panel and the door would not be seen” she thought, “Anyway, why would they have a concealed door here?”

Beyond the door were some steps. Jan turned the torch on thanking herself that she had asked for the torch. Now she could explore once more. Checking that the door could opened from the inside, Jan stepped inside. She closed the door and started down the stone steps.

The stairs seemed to go on forever. But eventually she reached the bottom. There was a heavy oak door in front of her. Surprisingly, the lock was easy to open and the door easily swung open for all its weight. That shook Jane a bit. It would appear that the door had been recently opened.

Jan shone the torch around the room that spread out in front of her. She noticed the torches set into brackets on the wall. Jan lit a match and lit the torches. Now she could find out what the room was used for. The torches lit up the room quite well. Just as well really as the battery had started to fail in the torch she was carrying.

She found a cell like room with bars from ceiling to floor. Jan opened the cell door and entered that part of the room. She closed the door behind her.

In front of her was a cross with some chains hanging from the cross piece. On the end of them were some old cuffs that obviously fastened around the wrists. Instead of a ratchet to close them and a key to open them, they had a square lug that had to be turned to lock them. At the bottom of the cross were similar cuffs with the same locking device. Quickly looking round, Jan found a box. She opened it and a metal scolds’ bridle and a key with a square hole in it.

Even the scolds’ bridle had the same locking arrangement. The key fitted the lugs and by turning, the cuffs and bridle could be adjusted to fit perfectly. “Wow! What did they do with these?” she thought. Jan pondered the question for a few moments. She realised that people were chained to the cross at some time. Probably it was used as a punishment or maybe as a sacrifice for devil worshippers. “No that idea of devil worshippers is not on. It does not happen” she thought.

Gradually the idea came into her head to try it out. Just to see what it is like to be chained up, unable to speak and left here to die, all alone with no one in the world knowing she was there. The idea made who excited with anticipation. She had never thought about it before.

Not willing to be caught out, Jan pulled the cuffs on the cross together. The chains came out of holes in the cross. She threaded them in again and pulled them out to make sure release was easy. Jane presumed it was so that the chains could be adjusted. So she knew she could cuff her wrists in the cuffs and would be able to undo the cuffs when she wanted to. She would push the chains back though the holes to give her the impression she was chained tightly to the cross.

The first thing was to look where to put the key. That is lucky. There is a ledge not far away. Jan checked she could reach the ledge while she was cuffed. Satisfied, she thought she would start with the scolds’ bridle. It was made to look old, but she noticed that the hinges and hasp and even the metal could not be older than a few years old. Unless the box had preserved the bridle perfectly. But the design did not look old. Never mind, it would do to see what it was like.

Jan fitted the bridle around her head. The top piece came over and fitted either side of her nose. As it came down, there was a piece of metal that protruded out and obviously this held the tongue down. “Oh my, held captive and not able to talk” Jan thought.  She was getting excited by the thought of it. The front piece also went under the chin to prevent the mouth opening.

Jan worked it into position. With all parts of the bridle in place, Jan put the lock into the hasp. This was a large lock and where the piece over the top came in contact with the two side pieces, which had their ends turned outwards with holes in them for the lock to fit, (the top piece slid over these side pieces and served as the hasp) Jan put the lock into the bridle and started to turn the lug until the lock was screwed tightly. Jane noticed the weight of the lock and bridle. If she was made to wear it for some time like they used to years ago, she would soon have a neck ache.

She fitted the leg cuffs on and screwed these tightly up. Now her feet were secured, all she had to do was cuff her wrists, put the key on the ledge then pushed the chain back through the cross. She could pretend she had been chained and left there by some evil monster who she would not let have his way with her.

It took ages for her to get the chain back far enough to give her the right effect. But eventually she did it.  Now she was a prisoner to her own imagination. Jan loved this effect. She only wished someone would play with her body now.

Over in the far side of the room, one of the torches spluttered and died. Jane laughed to herself. Obviously that torch never had enough oil in it to last for some time. She was not worried. She closed her eyes and drifted off into a world of imagination.

All sorts of weird ideas came into her mind. Once or twice she thought she heard something and quickly opened her eyes, but saw nothing and closed them again. What was she worried about? No one knew of this room so she was safe.

A little later when her imagination had run out, Jane opened her eyes to see that there were only two torches still alight.  It was time to go. Jan started to pull on the chains and found the chains would not come back out from the cross. Jan pulled harder, but the chain did not move. She tried the other wrist, but that was held firm. “Something must be wrong. They came out easily enough earlier” she thought. “If I relax, then I might calm down enough and not panic.”

Jan gave it ten minutes and tried again. She pulled on the chain slowly thinking it might be like a seat belt arrangement. Pull it too quickly and the mechanism locks up. But neither chain would not give any length for her to escape.

“Oh God, now I am stuck!” she realised. Jan started to panic. All she could do was bump her bum against the cross. Her hands and feet were held tightly. There was nothing she could do now except pray someone else found the door before she died. Although that is highly unlikely.

That is when she saw the shadowy figure step out. “Mmmmmmmmm” (Who are you? let me go)

“Well my child, we have our captive trapped by her own hand and left in the old church after all. Now we can open the new church”. It was the vicar.

“Surely he will release me” she thought.

But the vicar went on, “I have been watching you for some time. You should not have closed your eyes. It gave me a chance to go behind the cross and fasten the chains so you cannot pull them clear any more. The congregation will be pleased”

He disappeared for a while, When he came back, he was wearing a black hooded robe. But this time he had twenty other people with him. “Now my child, you are about to be prepared. Do not try to escape. It is futile and will only serve to hurt you.”

One of the crowd locked the cell door behind them. Even if Jan could get off of the cross, she would not be able to leave the cell. This was excruciatingly demoralising for her.

The cuffs were unscrewed from her wrists and ankles. Jan started to fight, but was overpowered. They stripped Jane of all her clothes and chained her back to the cross once more.  “Oh no, they intend to rape me” she thought. But the crowd merely murmured and left her there. The cell door was locked behind them and the crowd locked the oak door as well as they left.

Jan was all alone in world of silence. One by one, the torches went out, plunging her into darkness. Now she had to suffer nakedness, darkness and silence as well as not being able to escape.

Some hours later, the crowd entered the cell and released Jan. She was led up to the church and she saw the altar was now upright. Leaning against it was a flagstone with the inscription, “Here lies Janet South 1987 – may she find everlasting peace". She was lifted onto the altar and held down. Not one word was said. 

Slowly but surely they started to wrap her limbs in bandages. They used lots of them. Tubes were inserted into her fanny and arse. The bridle was removed. At least Jan could talk. “What do you intend to do with me?” she asked. The vicar told her she would be the first to be interred in the new church.

Before they had completely covered her right arm, an intravenous drip was inserted into it. But the other end was sealed so the attachments could be added later. “Just so you get some nourishment, we have put this intravenous drip in to feed you apart from other necessary things we have to do. The doctor will be examining you before we are finished. We don’t want you dying on us, do we? You will be fed and kept alive as an offering to our idol. You will hear everything but no one will ever hear you. You will have years and years of not being able to move nor talk. Isn’t that wonderful? Never having to wonder where your next meal is coming from? Never having to worry about if you look right for the night, nor whether you upset anybody or not. Pure bliss I would say,” the vicar went on.

“Well if you think it is bliss, why don’t you take my place?”

“I am afraid I can’t my dear. I forgot to mention that the sacrifice must be a virgin. I, with my four children am clearly not a virgin. We do not know about you yet. If you are not, then we will just have to take a chance and offer you up as our sacrifice!”

A needle was inserted into the drip and Jan felt herself getting tired. “I am not a vir...” With that, Jan passed out. How long she was asleep she did not know but when she came round, only her head was uncovered.  She was as stiff as a board. Her hands were crossed in front of her like an Egyptian mummy and these were wrapped into the extra bandages that surrounded her body. Her legs were bound together. The bandages were so tight, Jan could not move.

“Ah, so we are awake. We didn’t want to finish it without you being a witness to what is happening to you. The doctor has examined you and is pleased to announce you are a virgin after all. That should please the gods.”

“But you are a vicar. You are a man of the church. You can’t let this happen to me Please, let me go. I won’t tell anyone, promise.”

“We are afraid we cannot let that happen. It has taken thirty years for someone to get caught like you have. We can’t wait another thirty years.”

“What is the stone for? It has my name on it and no date of death.”

“We don’t know how long you will last. By your driving license you are twenty. You may have another fifty or sixty years or even more left.”

“But you can’t leave me there for that length of time.”

“Oh but we can. Who is to know?  We are the only ones who will know where you are. Many people will get married and have christenings and funerals and walk over your stone not knowing you are alive still. And the best of it for us is that all the time you were in the priests hole you were being recorded  on low light cameras hidden around the room. Oh yes, that is what it was. The priests used to hide in there when the church was being searched by the soldiers. But even now you are being recorded so every now and then, we can put the film up while we watch it on the screen in the church knowing you are below us. Fame and immortatily is all yours”.

Jan went to scream, but the group started to wind the bandages again.  Some strong tape went over her mouth and the bandages were wound around her head. Soon it was only her nostrils and eyes that were visible. Tubes were inserted into her nostrils and more bandages covered the nose again so only the tubes hanging out were visible.

“We have been kind to leave your eyes clear so you can see what is happening to you. The views you will get will be the last you will ever see in daylight”

“MMMMMMMPPPPPPPPHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Despite trying to wriggle and struggle her way out of the bandages, Jan found she was well and truly wrapped up.

“Well children of the son of Satan. I think we have done a fine job here. Get her ready for her burial.”

Jan was lifted up and laced into a steel coffin. The base had a soft cushion on it so it was comfortable at least. The tubes were fitted into holes in the side of the coffin and were sealed around the sides. They were ready for connection once she was in place.

Jan looked in horror as the glass lid was brought down onto the coffin and the latches were screwed in place holding the lid down tight.

The coffin was carried onto a trolley. Jan wondered how they were going to get her out of the church in broad daylight. But they did not go out of the main entrance. Instead Jan watched as they passed the rear of the church. She saw the sky as they entered the rest of the ruins. She looked at the little clouds as they drifted by against the clear blue sky. This would be the last time she saw the sky. Now she was panicking. Her heart was racing and her blood pressure must be well up.

They entered the new church through a side door. No one would have seen the congregation with their victim. Jan was lifted off of the trolley.  Jan tried to knock the sides of the coffin, but she was too well wrapped to make any difference. She was hoping they would drop the coffin and the lid would smash onto the floor making their ceremony worthless until they got another lid. But nothing happened. The tubes on the side of the coffin carrying air to her lungs, food to her body and her waste away were attached and sealed. The coffin was lowered into the hole in the ground. Jan watched with horror as the heavy flagstone with her name on it was lowered into position. Some cement was put around the flagstone to hold it firmly for ever more. All light was now cut out.  The congregation was satisfied they had made a good job of sealing her up and drifted away to get ready for their devil worshipping.

In the coffin, Jan was crying. She knew she would never see the world again. Nor would the world ever see her again. She was hoping she would have a heart attack and die there and then. But that did not happen.

Jan wondered how long she would last or how long it would be before she went insane.

She did not know how long it was before she got fed, but she felt she did not need to eat. Mostly Jan slept. But one day, Jan woke to hear the most heavenly music. She thought she had died and gone to heaven. Then she heard the vicar call put the marriage vows. Someone was getting married.  Jan tried to make a noise, but with the lid and the flagstone, no one would hear her. So how was she listening?   It was then she realised there is a speaker in the coffin with her. If only there was microphone as well. But she could not hear all the time, so the sound system must be mostly turned off.

Jan never knew how long she was in the coffin, but one day, she realised the flagstone was being broken open. The look on the face of the people looking into the hole when they saw the mummy looking back up to them through the glass lid was a picture. They were visibly shocked.

Jan blinked as the light hit her eyes. Quickly the coffin was raised and the lid removed. The police and an ambulance along with a doctor were called. The tubes were released from Jan. But she had to find out how anyone knew she was there.

“We didn’t know you were there. It was just that someone had filmed you being wrapped up and put in the coffin and being wheeled out and left here that brought it to our attention. Someone had left the tape in the old church and these people happened to find it. They investigate ancient buildings. They watched the tape and straight away got in touch with us. The vicar and the rest of the group have been arrested. We need you to make a statement. They should find themselves shut away for many years for what they have done.” The police sergeant said.

Jan asked the date. She found she had been buried for three weeks. Hopefully, they will get three years or more each in prison. For had the person who had filmed her capture not dropped the film or left it there, she would be buried alive for many years silently going insane.

Jan thought she should do the same to them. “Don’t worry, they will not find it that easy in jail” the sergeant said. Jan climbed into the back of the ambulance and was rushed to hospital for a check over and some intense counselling.

 

02.10.07