It was very dark and frigid. Francis felt stiff, a pain jolted from his legs to his back made Francis want to stop, but he could see the church. Pitch black, wood blocked off all the doors and the beautiful glass windows, it was hard to even tell that there even was a church up ahead. The smog and fog with a yellowish haze was also a factor why you couldn’t see the church very well. Francis began to cough a little, this district was known for it’s polluted air. Francis crossed the street and walked on the black and yellow grass which was once green and healthy.

There was a black sign that stuck in the middle of the dead grass, it looked like someone covered it with muck and black tar. That sign once read the name of the church, St. Paul, but the white letters chipped off over the many years it has been left unattained. The church’s steps lay barried in broken red tile, which now looked like a pile of human excrement, maybe it was. The once yellow colored church was now camouflaged with black moth, it looked not like a church but a hut. In the chipped entrance door of the church Francis could see a little flicker out light from the dim candles inside, the mass was about to begin.

Francis hurried over to the back of the church where the secret door was, a guard would be watching it. Cold and quiet Francis knocked on the metal door seven time. The guard behind the door slowly got up from his seat with his pistol at hand and peaked through the eye hole.

“Your late William,” said the guard, “you know the rules.”

“For gods sake open up this door Gerald, can’t you see I am freezing here!”

Gerald slowly opened the door and Francis could hear the laughs grow louder and louder as the door opened. Francis, his body shaking very rapidly, stared at Gerald with a grim expression on his face.

Still chuckling to himself Gerald said, “Oh come on Will, it’s Christmas, cheer up. Wait, before you go out there have you seen yourself in the mirror? You look like s***!”

Francis ran over to the sink and looked at himself. The smog covered his face with a yellowish dirt. He turned the water on and put his hands in. Shocked, he exclaimed, “Jesu-!!!!”, he stopped himself and looked at Gerald who stopped laughing and gave him a disapproving look. “..Well it’s cold.” Gerald started chuckling again, with every laugh his mass of belly jiggled up and down. Gerald was a rather big man. If you could get a glimpse at his hands they were like bricks. Gerald was also as tall as can be, ranging a height of around seven and a half feet tall. With a white beard and red cheeks, he looked like Santa Clause on steroids. Gerald slowly went back to his chair and sat down with a bit of a moan landing on the seat.

With a rag cloth and soap, Francis began to scrub his face profusely. With a quick glance with look at himself and noticed his hair was pretty untamed which he fixed in a instant and walked into the church. He stopped and looked at his parish, a good twenty or so people, that all sat in the damaged front pewees. Finally he found his family sitting at their regular spot, they looked at him and smiled, he smiled back.

Inside the church was a beautiful mess, the roof was caved in and could imagine that in a few years the whole thing will fall apart. Candle light from the front alter showed the gauged holes on the roof where you could see the yellow sky. Puddles of water surrounded the tile floor of the church and altered it’s color. The green carpet of the alter was decaying and dust was pushed to the corners of the church. A broken crucifixion was planted on the wall behind the alter. The rest of the church was pitch dark. Father Joseph stood at the podium a few feet away from where Francis stood. Father Joseph stopped his lecture and looked at the congregation which was staring at Francis. He turned around and looked at him. After a few seconds staring at him he then turned himself around and then said, “ Well, look who we have here,” the congregation all laughed. “So William, will you not take a seat ?”

Francis hesitated a little but headed towards his family. Suddenly in the back of the church was a loud thump. Francis stopped and everyone else turned around to look at the church doors. For a moment there was no sound, no merry feelings were present, only fear, the fear of death. Another thump occurred which splintered one of the boards that covered the churches doors. They all kept staring, waiting for the doors to be broken and there, a monster, would soon appear at the churches entrance. Then another thump which broke a part of the doors and the yellow sky appeared out of the dark abyss.

There was no escape from this, everyone knew what was going to happen. The children began to cry, the parish stood shaking. Another thump was heard but didn’t quite do much damage to the doors. Father Joseph turned to the Choir and gave them a distinct look. The choir gathered up there books, the music began and they all started singing ‘Silent Night’. The congregation turned themselves around and too started singing. They all accepted the outcome, the singing was the only way to cope with what was going to happen.

The women started balling their eyes out and the men held back there tears, only Father Joseph and Francis kept staring at the doors. The final thump was heard and the doors were broken down and rushing in were a squad of geared soldiers. They lined themselves up and slowly surrounded the parish, the singing went on. The soldiers wore black metal gear that didn’t show what was truly under that suit. Their helmets were also metal with a black visor that covered the whole face. Francis could barely see the outlines of the soldiers as they came closer.