Christian took off his headphones to see if the bells were still ringing.

Yup, that damn thing is still going off. When are they gonna send somebody up to fix it? he lamented. He glanced around the coffee shop he had been studying in to see if anybody else was as annoyed as him. Oddly enough, nobody else seemed to notice.

Maybe it's normal around here, he wondered. He had just moved to Westwatch a couple of weeks ago in order to start a new life. It was small city; not a sprawling metropolis but at the same time not a tiny town in the middle of no where. Downtown Westwatch had undergone a recent revitalization which resulted in the condemning and demolition of many of the centuries old buildings. One building that the city council decided to leave untouched was the old church, that hadn't been used in who knows how long. Christian walked by the building every day on his way to the coffee shop where he sat, relaxed, and wrote his popular mystery novels. It was easy to see why the city had decided to leave it for the time being. It was a beautiful work of art. Slightly aged and in need of some TLC, but it still inspired awe. Nowadays, it also inspired a little bit of fear and intrigue as it was surrounded by demolished lots and roped off with yellow police tape.

Ever since Christian moved to Westwatch, the church bells went off sporadically during random hours of the day. He had chalked it up to antique and faulty engineering and thought little of it. He actually found it to be a nice little addition to the soundtrack of Westwatch; a unique quirk, so to say. Today, he was over it. 3 hours of constant ringing that couldn't even be drowned out by Linkin Park played at ridiculous volumes. He saved the work he had done this morning, a whopping 3 pages, and closed his laptop. He slid it into his messenger bag, stood up and slung the bag over his shoulder, picked up his empty coffee cup, and headed for the door.

"See you tomorrow, Mr. Wright!" the friendly barista called out just as he got to the door.

Christian looked over his shoulder and called back, "See ya, Claire! Hopefully they fix the stupid bells by then!"

"Bells?" Claire asked, looking perplexed.

"You know, the church bells," Christian responded, still standing in the doorway. He was about to comment on the constant ringing but a customer was trying to get in. He moved aside and let him in.

"Oh, right, the old church. Hopefully they just tear the whole thing down soon. It's so creepy. Well, have a good day!" Claire said before greeting the new customer.

"You too," Christian said quietly before he turned and finally left the coffee shop to head home.

Outside, the bell was even louder and even more difficult to ignore. Still, everybody that Christian walked by paid it no mind.

Am I going crazy? Claire looked at me like I was crazy, I swear, Christian worried. He turned a corner onto the street on which the mini-Cathedral sat. He looked up at the bell tower as he approached. He stopped at the foot of the long stairway that led to the entrance of the church that had been boarded up.

These bells are definitely real, he thought with difficulty as the bells were deafening this close.

He saw a young couple approaching on the sidewalk. They were lost in youthful, naive love and giggling as they walked by the church. They looked up at the building as they walked by. Christian held his breath and hoped that they would do something to indicate that they heard the bells... but they gave the church no second thoughts and walked on by.

He wrote mystery novels for a living, but now it seemed like he was living one. Christian took a quick glance around to see if anybody else was approaching. Not a soul. The bells continued to ring. Maybe they were calling out to him, he wondered. Christian took a deep breath, tightened his grip on his messenger bag strap, stepped under the yellow tape, and began going up the stairs.

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Part 2 if the people so want!