He awoke with a start. How long had he been out. Last thing he remembered was his eyes getting heavy as he watched the moon climb high into the sky. Now judging by the light that was just beginning to creep over the horizon it had to be close to morning. He had slept through his watch! He glanced back towards the work site, it appeared abandoned. Would they have just finished their work and left him there, asleep at his post. No, he decided, these men would be much more likely to kill him for dereliction of duty then to do anything so generous as to abandon him to the morning watch. He decided to approach the work site to ensure they were gone before making his own retreat. He crept between the headstones, the dew covered grass staining his canvas shoes. As he approached the opened crypt he began to hear a noise, a kind of low moaning. The thought jumped into his mind, he was not the only one abandoned. It sounded like someone else was trapped within. Abandoning caution in favor of companionship sprinted to the crypt door. The tools of grave robbing, picks, shovels, and rock hammers lay against the outer wall of the crypt. No doubt this was evidence his companions had left to incriminate the man they left within. At the door he paused, he could hear the noise more vividly now. Whoever it was was moaning loudly, no doubt they must have broken his legs, or buried him beneath something heavy to keep him from escaping. They had left him for the morning watch, it was certain that they would have left another one of the hired men, rather then a member of their own gang. He prayed that it was not his friend Carl as he picked up a rock hammer and crossed the threshold into the crypt. The stench of rot assailed his nostrils and caused him to empty the contents of his stomach upon the ground. As he recovered from spastic motions of his stomach he looked through now tear filled eyes at his surroundings. Something was wrong. There were tools inside here as well. The gang would never have left so much behind in order to incriminate a single man, it was not right. His mind began to race, it pushed the smell from his mind as the adrenaline kicked into his bloodstream. His eyes adjusted a little more to the gloom and he began to see more detail. A puddle of blood. A severed hand. What appeared to be part of a torso. These shapes resolved themselves from the gloom and as they did the moaning grew louder. Suddenly movement caught his eyes. In the far corner of the room a man like shape moved. Cautious now, he slowly moved towards it. He saw that a coffin had slid off the wall and appeared to be pinning the man's leg to the floor. As he approached the light coming in through the door grew dimmer and his eyes could no longer make out the details of his surroundings. He whispered to the man on the floor.
"Do you need help? What happened here? We need to get out before the morning watch. They will be making their rounds anytime now"
As if to answer the man on the floor growled, a sound like a cornered dog might make. Light came in through the doorway, the sun had broken the horizon. He saw the ghoul revealed in a slow pan of light as the sun rose in position through the doorway. It's decayed flesh face slick with the fresh blood of the grave robbers. Around it's knees were gnawed limbs, chewed torsos, and mangled skulls. The floor was slick with blood. The ghoul attempted to lunge for him, but the coffin upon it's legs held it fast. It howled, a sound like a goat bleat, but with the force of a lion's roar. He raised the hammer into a defensive position and began to back away. The ghoul lunged again, this time the coffin began to give way. The ghoul reached out, began clawing at the floor with sharpened bone nails, pulling itself towards him. He panicked. He threw the hammer at the vile creature now making it's way steadily towards him and fled for the door. In the bright light of the door he saw another shape. The morning watch had arrived. They had found him, caught him red handed in the act of desecrating a grave. He did not hesitate, better to be killed humanely by swift justice, then eaten by ghouls. The morning watch had other ideas. As he approached the door it began to swing shut. The morning watch, these upright citizens, defenders of the dead were going to abandon him to a ghoul. He dove for the door, attempting to get his hand through before they could shut it. He succeeded and so did the morning watch. His arm was neatly sliced by the sharp edge of the door and utter blackness fell in the tomb. As he howled in pain he heard the ghoul approach. Bone on stone, the sound an auditory imitation of the feeling of getting string in your teeth. Then it was upon him. He attempted to kick it off, but the claws just sunk into his legs, causing more unbearable pain. He heard the morning watch then, just as the ghoul lowered his teeth to his neck.
"Pass word to the master, his pet has eaten well tonight".
F.Y.I. Spell checked but not proofed
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