The Borderlands

The Vatican dispatches a small team to investigate reports of supernatural activity at a recently reopened 13th‑century church tucked away in the Devon countryside: Deacon, a wary religious brother; Gray Parker, a layman and technology expert; and Father Mark Amidon, a strict, rule‑oriented priest. Their mission is cautious and methodical, leaning on instruments, evidence, and careful dialogue rather than superstition, as they aim to separate doubt from any possible miracle.

Gray sets up a portable recording rig, hoping to capture whatever might be happening beyond the eye and ear. Inside the village church, the local priest, Father Crellick, asserts that a miracle has occurred and presents them footage of objects moving on the altar. That night, trouble spills outside: a handful of local youths set a sheep ablaze near the men’s cottage, casting a pall over the investigation and stoking tension with the surrounding community.

The next day, Father Mark Amidon discovers a hidden side panel in the church, but a palpable unease keeps him from forcing entry. An eerie sensation lingers as his ear begins to ache, which he attributes to ruptured air pressure, a troubling sign that something is not right beneath the surface.

A multi‑mic network picks up troubling phenomena—deep, animal growls; whispered voices; and the cry of an infant. While tracing these sounds, Deacon catches a glimpse of Father Crellick moving past a window, a moment that deepens the sense that not all is as it seems. The chase carries them up to the bell tower, where Crellick questions whether what they have witnessed is a genuine miracle or something far more ominous, only to leap to his death before Father Mark Amidon can intervene. The aftermath leaves Mark insisting that the investigation be shut down, arguing that there is no concrete proof of anything supernatural at work.

In a local pub, hostility toward the inquiry grows as rumors swirl and the owner chafes at the men’s presence. Undeterred, the investigation resumes in the church, and Deacon delves deeper, eventually discovering a concealed doorway etched with a pagan sigil he has seen in the diaries of the last minister who served there before the church’s closure in the 1880s. Beyond the door lies a stair that descends into darkness, and the sounds of a crying baby and Crellick’s screams reverberate from the depths as the protagonist presses forward into the unknown.

Without waiting for Mark’s approval, Deacon summons his elderly Vatican mentor, exorcist Father Calvino, who arrives to perform a purification of the church grounds. Calvino explains a stark historical truth: when Christianity took root in England, priests commonly built churches atop pagan temples, and the site of this church appears to sit on a place once associated with human sacrifice to an unnamed pagan deity—a fact that can still be seen in aerial photographs. That night, during an exorcism, the church is shaken by violent, unseen forces. Mark is seemingly killed, Calvino’s eyes bleed, and the two men vanish as if pulled into the ether. Deacon traces distant cries to the hidden stair, a clue pointing toward the deeper, darker workings beneath the church.

Gray and Deacon descend into a subterranean labyrinth where they uncover evidence of child sacrifice and realize the former minister had converted to worshipping the pagan deity. They spot Mark, who walks deeper into the darkness despite their calls. A torn fragment of Calvino’s crucifix lies on the floor of one tunnel, guiding them toward a narrow, foul-smelling passageway whose exits contract with a membrane as the tunnel itself begins to move. It turns out to be part of the digestive system of a living organism. The walls secrete powerful enzymes that threaten to dissolve the two men as their lights fail. In the blinding terror, Gray lets out a scream, and a shaken Deacon clutches to the memory of prayer, reciting the Lord’s Prayer as the tunnel seems to close in around them.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:04