Black Hollow's Cursed Churchyard

### **The Root of Damnation** In the quiet village of Black Hollow, an ancient church stood at the edge of a dense forest. The townsfolk rarely ventured there, for looming over the churchyard was an ominous tree. Its bark was blackened and twisted, its gnarled branches like skeletal arms clawing at the sky. The tree was said to be cursed—born from the ashes of a witch burned centuries ago on the very church grounds. The church itself was no refuge; it was whispered to be the witch’s prison. Her final curse had trapped her spirit, forcing her to haunt both tree and stone. One stormy night, a group of teenagers dared each other to enter the church. Among them was Eleanor, the daughter of the town’s preacher, determined to prove the superstitions were nonsense. Armed with flashlights and bravado, they pushed open the rotting doors. Inside, the air was damp, the stone walls weeping with moisture. Candles, though untouched for decades, flickered to life as the group stepped inside. At the altar, a Bible lay open, but the pages were blank. “See? Just an old church,” Eleanor said, her voice breaking the heavy silence. Suddenly, a deep groan echoed. The teenagers froze. The sound wasn’t human—it was like wood creaking under immense pressure. Their flashlights flickered, and the temperature plummeted. Through the shattered windows, the tree outside seemed to writhe. Its branches reached closer, bending impossibly toward the church. “Let’s get out of here,” whispered one boy, his face pale. But as they turned, the door slammed shut. The tree’s shadow spilled across the room, twisting like smoke. And then, the whispers began. Low and guttural, the voices spoke in a language none could understand. The walls cracked, roots bursting through the floorboards, dripping with thick, black sap. One root coiled around a boy’s ankle, dragging him screaming into the dark recess of the church. Eleanor cried out, pulling at him, but the root tightened, slicing through flesh. Blood splattered across the pews. “You shouldn’t have come,” a voice hissed. It came from the altar. The Bible had transformed—its pages now scrawled with jagged runes, dripping with ink that glistened like tar. The shadow of the tree solidified, taking on a humanoid form. Its face was featureless save for hollow eyes, leaking sap that burned the floor where it dripped. “The witch was buried here,” Eleanor whispered, recalling her father’s warnings. “And the tree—she is the tree.” The figure lunged, its limbs like sharpened branches. Eleanor and the remaining teens scattered, their screams swallowed by the church's walls. One by one, the roots claimed them. Eleanor was the last, her back pressed against the altar. “Why?!” she screamed. The shadow loomed over her, its voice like the groan of splitting wood. “They silenced me. Now I make them scream.” The tree outside grew taller that night, its branches heavier with new, blood-red leaves. By morning, the church stood quiet again, its doors ajar. The villagers found no trace of the teenagers, only their flashlights, shattered and strewn across the church floor. And from the tree, faint cries echoed whenever the wind blew—a reminder that Black Hollow’s roots were soaked in blood. --- What did you think? Let me know if you'd like to tweak or expand this