My hobby in the past few weeks, has been writing short stories for Halloween, to read while you are wrapped up in your blanket, sipping a warm tea, at night, watching the rain outside. Cozy autumn vibe: ON.
Then, tonight I actually dreamt of another one, but with a different vibe. So... here it is. I might make this into a series! Halloween stories for kinky minds.
....
The sun was setting behind the mountains, and our destination was nowhere in sight.
The warmth of the late afternoon was giving way to a chillier breeze, and I shivered into my sweater.
Me and my friend Lucy had planned this weekend girls-only getaway for months: and then, of course, when the date arrived, the weather was already starting to change.
This year's apparent never ending summer finally appeared to be ending, and autumn was sweeping its way through our days.
I admired the expanse of dry leaves on the ground, and the beautiful fall foliage on the trees around us, as we drove thought the mountain road.
We were supposed to arrive to the city we had planned to spend the night in, but there had been a landslide on the main road, so we had taken this... shortcut.
Or so we thought
.
Instead, we had been driving for over an hour, but the city was nowhere in sight.
We were starting to get frustrated and tired of driving, and the sky was getting darker any minute.
- Jenny, we should find somewhere to spend the night...
Lucy said, while turning up the car heating.
- Where, in this God forsaken mountain?? I doubt there's going to be a motel here.
I sighed.
Then, as if the landscape was hearing us, a building started to appear, behind the side of the mountain.
- What is that?
Lucy asked; I observed the building, through the trees.
- Uhm, it looks abandoned.
It was an old, stone building. Maybe a castle... an old church?
I checked Google maps to try and understand where we were, but there was no signal.
Having no other options, we drove towards the building, tucked away between two mountain tops.
At least, we thought, we could have asked for directions.
...
While we drove to the building, we were surrounded by beautiful red, golden and brown trees. The scenery was beautiful... nothing to say about that.
We parked our car just outside the building, and I noticed a few more details of it.
It was a stone building, with old gothic windows, and a bell tower. So yes, probably some kind of church.
I shivered into my sweater, while following Lucy towards the door.
She grabbed the heavy metal knocker on the old door, but startled when she heard a ding coming from inside.
I raised my eyebrows at her, showing her the modern door bell that I had just rang.
Which was standing there, just where you would have expected it.
She laughed nervously.
- Gosh. I was a bit carried away by this place!
We waited a minute, before hearing footsteps on the other side of the door. A heavy lock being lifted, and then, the door opened, revealing the face of a nice, middle aged lady.
- Hi... who are you? What brings you here?
She was wearing a simple dark grey dress, a cross necklace, and a white veil.
- Uhm, sorry to disturb you. My friend and I were driving towards the city, but we got lost. There is no signal, so we cannot look for a map. Could you please show us the right way to get out of this mountain road, towards the city?
The woman smiled, then quickly glanced at the darkening sky, looking worried.
- Yes, uhm, of course, you don't have to worry, you'll just have to follow the road! You'll get there. But, it's a long journey, the road has no lighting... would you mind stopping over for dinner, instead?
Lucy and I shared a look.
I don't know why, but I didn't feel like it was a good idea.
Lucy shrugged though, and nodded.
- Well, that would be very kind of you...
....
We were guided into the building, through a corridor that overlooked a beautiful garden, towards a bigger living room.
Our host introduced herself as "Sister Anne".
- Welcome to our humble home, dears. The convent of Saint Mary of the lake.
She showed us around, and introduced us to a few other sisters.
The place was rich of character, no one could deny it.
The current building had been built in the 17
th
century, we were told, but previous smaller churches and convents had been known to be present in the spot, even before that.
The convent was currently home to around 20 Catholic nuns, who lived a quiet life by the mountains; they owned a small vegetable garden, and a few chickens, but they also went shopping in the city, once a week.
....
Dinner was served in a simple kitchen, were I was almost surprised to see a modern TV, broadcasting Sky news. Terrible news from the palestine-israel conflict.
It almost broke the spell... somehow.
After dinner, we were given another little tour of the place.
It looked scarier now, in the darkness, and away from the more modern, lived-in areas of the building.
We walked through a porch, that brought us to a building slightly detached from the main convent.
- This is the church of Saint Mary; the oldest building in the site.
It was a small, dark place.
Air smelled like incense, or something.
I absent mindedly walked through the wooden benches, up towards the altar.
I had never seen such a place.
It seemed... out of another time. Another era.
I brushed my fingers along a lace doily covering the altar.
- What is this thing?
I grabbed a little piece of... what was it, bread?
That was on the table.
I saw the nuns startling.
- Uhm, that, dear, is the Holy Host. The body of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lucy and I shared a look- it was nonsense to us.
- Ok, uhm. That's uh, tasty.
I bit on the thing, but Lucy silently kicked me.
- You are not supposed to eat the Host if you haven't confessed, dear.
Sister Anne explained.
- Oh. Sorry Sister, I didn't know.
They shrugged, but I could see they were bothered.
I just put down the Host, reminding myself not to touch anything else.
...
We continued our tour of the church, and luckily the nuns were carried away by telling the stories of all the paintings and statues, and they forgot about the little incident.
After the tour, we were offered tea in the living room, while outside was starting to drizzle.
Around 10 o'clock, the nuns were ready to head to bed.
We thanked them again for their hospitality, asked if we could pay... or at least, make a donation to the church, but they insisted it wasn't needed.
They accompanied us upstairs, walking up a big, creaky wooden staircase.
I felt lowkey as if I was in a ghost movie or something.
But I discarded the thought.
- Here's your room.
Sister Anne showed us to an old, slightly cold room.
- I'm sorry, I have just turned the heating on. But there are two thick blankets you can use, in the wardrobe.
- Thank you, Sister... it's going to be perfectly fine.
...
We set up into the room, got the blankets out of the wardrobe. I could hear the wind, howling outside of the window.
We both climbed into our beds, huddled up underneath the heavy blankets.
All the furniture in the room was old-fashioned, made of dark, solid wood.
- This place is spooky, isn't it??
Lucy was scrolling down some Instagram posts, and choosing some of the pictures she wanted to post.
- Hm-mmh. Yes, quite. It's great for a Halloween weekend, though. We should suggest the Sisters to open a bed and breakfast- at least, during this season.
Lucy agreed.
We chatted a little longer, before I started to feel my eyelids heavy.
It had been a long day, and I was tired.
I wished Lucy good night, and I let the wind lull me to sleep.
...
I didn't know what time it was, when I woke up, later that night.
Everything around me was pitch black.
I blinked a couple of times, trying to get accustomed to the darkness.
