Disturbing Questions

Ruthridge was terribly confused now instead of bewildered and shocked. Why in the world was Father Shane telling him to leave the church? They both loved 'the place' and looked after it like it was a surrogate child. It was odd for Father Shane to tell him this, even odder that he should as a ghost, and even odder that he should put himself through such obvious pain to get the message across. What was trying to stop him. Was he evil now? Was he trying to say there was no point being in the church, that he had wasted his life as a priest? Maybe the priest had found out in the afterlife there was no God?

This is a Warning

Father Shane twisted his head from side to side and his arms appeared locked behind him. The priest obviously wanted to speak, but a strong force was keeping him from forming words. Ruthridge reached out and his hand passed through the father like through a cold mist.
"What are you trying to say?" Ruthridge persisted again and again, but he received no comprehendable answer.
Finally, Ruthridge shouted, "Please, speak to me, I am listening!"
Immediately, Father Shane's head turned straight toward Ruthridge and just like that they were face to face. Then, in a perfectly clear voice, the priest said, "Leave the church as soon as you can. This is a warning!"

A Ghost

A week after Father Shane disappeared, he reappeared to Ruthridge as a ghost.
Ruthridge was sitting at his kitchen table, just at the moment of commencing his dinner, when Father Shane materialized before him. The good priest was shrouded in a fog-like substance, and he writhed in obvious pain, attempting to choke out some words, but an invisible force prevented his ability to say what he so badly wanted to say to Ruthridge.