*MJDonna takes flashlight first*
Follow me ...
The street is dimly lit and quiet with evening dampness as MJDonna leads a group of Henhearts denizens through the aged Victorian neighborhood known locally as the Old North End. Summer evenings here are normally humid and stifling even if there hasn't been any storms during the day and the moisture laden air absorbs all sounds except the footsteps of MJDonna and those that follow her towards an encounter with ...
A few minutes later, all arrive at the base of a monolith of quarried red stone - a 19th century church with high, sheer walls rising up into the dark mist of the night. Its windows dark and silent and parking lot empty, there is no sign of life anywhere around the old structure ... however a pervasive feeling is present that they are not alone. Instead of marching up the steps to the church's main entrance, MJDonna leads everyone around the side of the building to a door at ground level, apparently leading to the basement. MJDonna fumbles in her purse for a moment and produces a brass key shining in the beam of the flashlight.
"I used to be on the Parish Council here some time ago, but I neglected to give them my key back after my time was done." she explained dryly and inserted the key into the lock. Without any resistance the door opened and all entered into the basement level of the church. Far from being a dusty storage area, this place was actually finished off nicely and used as a chapel. Except for MJDonna's flashlight, the only other light in the room was a single candle that burned in a red lamp up in the front of the chapel next to the tabernacle - the Sanctuary Candle. It was this that she led everyone toward and when all were present, MJDonna knelt before the tabernacle, signed herself, and then stood back up again. "You would think that with our Lord's constant vigilance in this place that no evil would dare enter here, but ..."
Instead of finishing her sentence with words, MJDonna shone the beam of the flashlight at the base of the wall just to the left of the tabernacle. And there could be seen a gray, flecked, granite plaque and inscribed on it in black lettering was the name and dates of a person's life, a priest - "Msgr. Jerome Cloarec 1842-1933" - his headstone. "This church was built by Monsignor Cloarec in 1883, so the parishoners saw fit to bury him here after he died in 1933. However, his spirit does not rest easy." MJDonna explained. "Often when you are here in this church, but not in prayer or worship service, a dull moaning like the wind through a door cracked open can be heard and it is said that the ghost of Msgr. Cloarec is up and wandering about, looking for ... enemies." MJDonna continued. "Maybe because I have spent much time here in this parish that Msgr Cloarec no longer sees me as an enemy, but no doubt all of you are suspect ..." she finished as MJDonna turned to face the other denizens of Henhearts.
However, MJDonna was not finished with her tale. "This church wasn't the only one built by Msgr. Cloarec. There was another, larger one once used as a cathedral, but it no longer exists. About 35 years ago it was burned to the ground by an arsonist who was later caught and because of his madness was committed to an asylum where he remains today." With that, MJDonna began to walk toward the back of the chapel again, however she did not exit, but turned to face everyone again. "What will never be known is how the arsonist went mad. Did his madness cause him to set the fire? Or was he made insane afterwards by the ghost of Msgr Cloarec, enraged by the arsonist's destruction of one of his great works?" but then MJDonna offered another suggestion "... or possibly, was the arsonist driven mad by the ghost of Msgr Cloarec and made to destroy the church by the ghost ... for some unknown dark purpose?" she finished morbidly and then addressed the group: "Who wishes to discover the real truth?"
MJDonna did not wait for an answer but instead knelt down on the floor and grabbed a metal ring with two of her fingers. As she stood up, MJDonna lifted the ring opening a hatchway in the chapel floor. Shining a light down the hatchway revealed a flight of rough cut wooden stairs that disappeared into the inky blackness. The bottom could not be seen. "Down there, in the lowest level is where the corpse of Msgr Cloarec lies buried ... and it is where we must go to awaken his ghost."
