Novels2Search

Chapter 1: The Bell

He ducked behind a partially crumbled wall to take refuge, trying in vain to steady his shaking hands as he fumbled to handle his camera. He gawked in horror at his camera screen. Eyes the size of basketballs and just as orange, a grotesque grin that stretched from one side of its head to the other. Black matted hair covered its bulbous head. It stood about 12 feet from what he could tell. But he didn't wait around long enough to be sure. He snapped one picture and ran for his life. He thought the people in the village were just superstitious. But to his regret he had the proof. A deep bellow of a ring echoed throughout the arcane ruins. It startled him, but he still had to force himself to move. Stumbling over the remains of stone walls and vaulting over what was left of old statues, he made his way towards the tree line. But a second hellish note rang out from between the trees in front of him. But how? He swore the thing carrying that huge bell on its back was behind him. There's no way it could have passed him without him noticing. A third ring vibrated the air. But this time the sound seemed to be coming from all around him. The man turned to run in an alternate direction but stopped in his tracks. His surroundings were different all of a sudden. Different but still familiar. He was back inside the temple. He looked towards the altar where the bell was hanging earlier, and it was still there. But instead of trying to make sense of what was happening he made his way towards the exit of the bell chamber, the only problem was there was no exit. Bewildered, the man frantically looked around for the entrance to the chamber but found nothing. He remembered taking pictures of the room when he arrived before, maybe in his panic he overlooked a passage. He was sure the whereabouts of the exit was on his camera. It was then he realized it was no longer around his neck, he began to crawl around feeling for it. The darkness made it hard to see. The only light peeked through a few cracks and holes in the ceiling. The search for his camera was cut short when the bell rang out. It was loud, far louder than it had been when he rang it the first time in this very room. But the ring didn't fade out like normal; it was halted abruptly. A stream of moonlight illuminated the altar through cracks in the temple’s ceiling, it was enough for the man to make out what was happening. A long muscular arm reached out from inside the bell. Two more arms reached out from inside the bell, and bent unnaturally upwards and gripped the sound bow of the bell. The man clambered backwards as he watched in disbelief and terror as two black muscular hairy legs emerged and cracked the stone as they made contact. The thing stood up, tearing the bell from its altar. As it rose more of its disfigured twisted body revealed itself. Black hair covered its back and limbs. Leathery brownish skin stretched across its abdomen. As it reached full height it lifted the bell off its head and the two backwards arms held it securely to its hunched back. Its giant orange eyes were the brightest things in the room and they moved individually as it surveyed the room. The man opened his mouth to scream but the creature interrupted with its own atrocious deafening cry.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Morning came and some of the villagers arrived at the ruins in search of the man with the camera. One of the villagers while looking around found the man's camera lying on the ground near the tree line. After viewing the image that was displayed on the screen the villager picked up a nearby stone and smashed the camera apart. Almost in unison the villagers turned and headed back into the forest as the bell deep inside the decrepit temple started ringing as it did every morning.

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter