Okay, before you tell me that yes, of course I am, I feel like I should give you some background of what happened before I ran from that place, not even bothering to look back. So please, just hear my side of the story, although it's not like she could tell you hers…

My friend Sadie was really into urban exploration, and I’m really into hiking. When she told me she’d heard from a coworker about this old building deep the woods and they swore it was ‘absolutely amazing’ and ‘you have to See it to believe it!’, well it sounded like the perfect trip for us.

I was patient and helped guide her as we hiked up steep hills, navigated narrow ledges, and took shortcuts through streams, the same way she was patient with me when I took only one look at the exterior of the abandoned church before firmly declaring “Nope.”

The building, or least where it stood, had been visible even far in the distance because it was a dark patch amongst the color of the fall foliage – at the time I felt something sinister about it.

Tall trees had grown up from inside the church itself since there was no roof to constrain them – judging by their height, probably many decades ago. They were blackened as if by rot – leafless and seemingly dead, standing in stark contrast to those around them. The younger trees had contorted themselves to reach sunlight through pane-less windows as if trying to escape the same fate.

I’ve heard some places that were deserted by humans described as being ‘reclaimed by nature’, but nature clearly wanted nothing to do with this place.

Other than the trees emerging from it, the rest of the woods seemed to reject it entirely. Dead grass flanked the outside and despite the mass of vines creeping up the trees we had walked by on our way here, none had as so much as touched the stone walls of the church. It was as if they too knew to leave it well alone.

From the moment I saw the exterior I had second thoughts, but Sadie wasn’t even remotely dissuaded.

She only managed to convince me to go in after I pointed out what looked to be the bones of a small animal near the bottom of rotting wooden stairs and she’d lightly said, “I’d hate to be outside with whatever did that.”

Even then, I had stared up at the building for long after she had entered debating, before I worked up the nerve to actually go inside.

From the moment I passed the threshold, I felt a chill, despite my coat having been too warm on me just moments before. The smell of damp leaves and soil mixed with decay hit me as I walked in and was almost unbearable.

Something crunched hard under my boot that had been hidden under the leaves. More small and brittle bones, from the look of it, I thought I could see bits of larger ones tucked away, swept under pews.

The ill looking trees had grown up and around the rotting remains of wooden pews, which had forced them into perfectly spaced parallel rows. It made me uneasy, made the scene all the more disorienting.

I hovered near the entry, afraid to stray too far from the light seeping in through the door. Despite no roof to block it out, far too little sunlight made it into the building for my liking.

I walked around and observed the splintered pews, some with faded and warped hymnals lying open and waterlogged from the recent rain and was surprised that the once beautiful books were simply left there to ruin – It almost looked as if everyone had walked out during what was to be the church’s final service, and never returned.

I didn’t want to be alone and called out for Sadie. The sound of dead branches breaking underfoot greeted me off to the side, so I began to head towards that direction until I heard her voice call out to me from straight ahead. I took one last uncomfortable look towards where I had heard something moving and I thought I saw a fleeting glimpse of someone standing amongst the trees, but when I looked again, they were gone.

That was more than enough encouragement for me to speed up and I broke into a little run towards the sound of her voice, continuing through the unnaturally spaced trees.

When I called out for her again, she didn’t answer. I heard a humming sound instead, and walked towards it instinctively.

I eventually made it to the front, but there was no sign of her.

The humming was louder now, I was closer.

Where an altar had once stood, there was instead a jagged and deep looking pit. I walked around it, careful not to fall in. The air rising up from it was cold – colder than the rest of the church, and somehow managed to smell even worse than the rest of the building, too. I tried not to get to close but from what I could see it was noticeably deep – I couldn’t see the bottom.

I realized that the humming I had heard was the sound of an endless swarm of files, circling around and coming from within the deep hole itself – more than I had ever seen at one time before.

I froze when I spotted her glasses on the ground several feet away. One thick lens had popped out and the other was deeply cracked beyond repair.

“Sadie?!” I shouted, panicked

For a long moment the buzzing of flies was the only response, so when she finally spoke, I nearly jumped.

“I’m here. We’re all here. We never left.” She whispered behind me, her voice echoed, sounded hoarse as if with disuse.

She was crawling out of that awful hole, scrabbling at the dark and hardened dirt along the edges. I immediately ran to her so I could help her the rest of the way out, even though she seemed to struggle against me and almost pulled me down there with her.

She was dirty, her black hair wet with blood and matted around her head. She was dismissive as I fussed about her injuries – like the concerning gash on the back of her head that trickled bright red blood around the neck of her coat, and how part of one eyelid was completely torn through. She had scratches all over face, with the deepest of gashes concentrated around her eyes.

I tried handing her what remained of her glasses, knowing how nearsighted she was and hoping the once lens I was able to sort of put back in would help, but she pushed them away.

“Oh, I don’t need those to See anymore”, she giggled.

“What was down there?”, I whispered

“I can Show you,” she replied with a smile, “I didn’t want to See it at first but they helped me.”

I laughed nervously, unsure of what to do or say. I had wondered at the time if she had a concussion.

I realized that she’d positioned herself so that she stood in front of me, with the pit to my back and my heels less than a foot away from the jagged edge.

I could smell it before I heard the sound of something wet, smooth arising from the pit as it brushed against the packed dirt. I could hear its movement behind me.

“Iris, please! Look!”, she pleaded, while the blood from her cuts and eyelid dripped down her face.

I could see something casting a shadow on her in the limited light that seeped from the door and between the trees. She stared up at it and looked positively overjoyed. The shadowy details I could make out had for some reason terrified me, so I certainly had no interest in looking at it straight on.

I tried elbowing past her, but despite me having both height and weight on my side she tackled me to the ground easily after only a few stumbled steps.

She scratched at me with dirty and sharply ragged nails, eyes wild, desperately trying to pry my eyelids open.

I could hear it coming closer, gliding over the wet leaves.

I squeezed my eyes shut so hard it hurt.

With particularly violent yank and while digging into the fragile and thin skin under my eyes, she finally succeeded.

Dazed, I looked at her and saw her staring upwards reverently, her eyes now leaking a mixture of tears and blood.

Subconciously, my gaze had followed hers.

When I Saw it, I expected a change, something terrible beyond words – especially after I had felt it behind me, smelled the scent of fetid meat mixed with damp earth, but it was beautiful. It had been here as long as the rivers, craggy rocks, and rolling hills themselves.

I realized how foolish had been to be afraid. I think you'll agree once you See it.

I tried not to be too resentful that Sadie got to stay, that she got to become an unending part of the congregation under the ground, while I had to leave. While I had to taking off running towards the car and head home alone.

In fact, I believe she is incredibly lucky in being able to stay, while I was told that someone needed to go, to help others See, before I can return.

I’m not a bad person for leaving her there, am I?