The Church and Its Orbs - Kidnapped
More The Church and Its Orbs. Gemma's been really active recently. She finally woke up, after sleeping way late, as teenagers are wont to do. Let's hope I can keep up this level of writing and turn this story/world into something awesome. Enjoy!
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“Kai did what now?” Wren asks.
“Like I said, he got himself kidnapped,” I mutter. I look down at my cellphone -- it contains the impossible text from Kai.
The message reads, Been kidnapped. They must know what I am. Put me in some kind of collar. Thing’s magic. Can’t escape. Can’t use my powers. Can barely type. Hard to breathe. Stuck in some closet. Recognized the scar on one of their arms. A priest I knew from Seduction. Think the Church took me. Gonna pass out again. At least they didn’t find my cell phone. Help?
I hand Wren the cell phone so she can see the message for herself. If this were any other situation, I would find getting a text from a god hilarious. Kai hates complete sentences, apparently. Since when do gods even need cell phones, anyway?
At least he gave us some clues? Seduction is an underground bar for people, especially men, who prefer their own gender. It’s a play on “sed” -- “sed” is offensive, but Kai told me those like him want to make it their own. Plus, the owner apparently has a thing for puns. Months ago I would have found the idea of a priest at such a bar absurd. Now, it doesn’t surprise me, not after the prostitution scandal and everything else.
“How does a god get himself kidnapped? That doesn’t even make sense, though the Church is messed up enough to kidnap its own gods,” Wren says, shaking her head and handing the cell phone back to me. “And magic restraining collars? What, is he some kind of dog? That’s just twisted.”
I smack my forehead. “He must have been drunk,” I mutter. “How else could anybody human overpower him?”
“Of course he was,” she mutters. Her dark brown eyes flash, striking in their power and emotion. “I am going to kill him when we get him back.” She pauses, taking a deep breath. “How are we going to get him back?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “We can’t just tell the police we think the Church kidnapped a god. We would be arrested for blasphemy.” Well, I certainly would, being a no soul and all.
Wren flops down onto her bed. She lies on it, staring at the top of her canopy. I sit on the edge of it, next to her. In different circumstances...I blink to clear my head. This situation is just -- how could anybody kidnap a god, and why would they dare to do something so horrible?
“This is at least the second time Kai’s ended up in a closet,” Wren mutters. “Remember his ridiculous drunk story?”
“I remember,” I say. Kai’s propensity for ending up in closets isn’t the most important thing right now, though.
“So, what do we do?” she asks, her eyes showing fear.
It’s a good question. We uncovered the Church prostitution scandal, but finding someone who’s been kidnapped is a whole other universe of danger.
“We need help,” I mutter, glancing at my phone.
Wren sits up. “Who’s gonna help us?” she says.
“Diana,” I say. She expressed reservations about helping us again, but she must understand the severity of the situation. Nobody kidnaps a god with altruistic intentions.
“Didn’t she say she couldn’t help us again without risking the Church finding out and messing with her family?” she mutters, crossing one leg over the other.
I twist a strand of hair around my finger. Diana, otherwise known as Dean Marins from my former school, has a kid who could very well end up a no soul if the Church decides to punish her for helping us. It might not be fair to pressure Diana to risk her family, but whatever the Church -- or whoever -- is doing, it can’t be good.
“I hope she’ll make an exception for a kidnapped god. Whatever they want with Kai, they were...prepared if they possessed a magic collar than could block his powers. They must be up to something,” I say.
“You think we should tell her what Kai is?” Wren says.
I nod. “In this case, yes,” I say.
Wren nods herself and grabs her own cell phone off her night stand. “I’m gonna call Brandon,” she says.
Of course she is. I nod at her and head into the hallway to call Diana. After I dial her number, my phone rings several times, and I think she might not answer. I hold my breath, and on the fourth ring, she picks up.
“Hello?” she says.
I let out that breath I’m holding.
“It’s Gemma,” I say as I start pacing the hallway outside of Wren’s room. I twist a strand of hair around my finger again and allow some panic to enter my voice -- the panic’s deliberate, so she’ll take this seriously.
“What is it? What happened?” She sounds worried -- good.
“Kai was kidnapped,” I say.
There’s a long pause. “What?” she breathes.
“Kai was kidnapped,” I repeat. “He thinks the Church took him.”
Telling her Kai’s a god proves more difficult than I would have expected -- I don’t want her to think I’m full of it. I need her to believe me.
“Gemma, are you serious?” she says. Now, she sounds like she might, indeed, not believe me.
“I wouldn’t call you if I weren’t serious. And Kai’s...not human,” I mutter. “He’s a god.”
There’s another long pause. I keep twisting that strand of hair around my finger and pacing, needing to direct my energy somewhere. The situation makes me feel like my body’s been injected with disturbed magic. We have to get Kai back.
“I’m not making this up,” I add. “I wouldn’t ask you for your help for anything less.”
“You...don’t sound like you’re making this up,” Diana murmurs. “And I know you wouldn’t bother me for something trivial. I just can’t believe Kai’s...are you sure he’s a --?”
I shake my head, even though she can’t see me. “I’m absolutely sure,” I say. I couldn’t believe otherwise after Kai’s rainbow light displays. Sometimes, though, I have moments of disbelief because everything I was taught would suggests gods don’t become friends with no souls.
“And I wouldn’t ask for help for anything less. What -- what should we do?” I add as I continue pacing.
“Can you come over to my house now? I...have someone here who might be able to help us,” she says.
“I can come over,” I say. “Wren’s around, too. Whom do you know? Are you sure they’re trustworthy?”
“They are,” she murmurs, not elaborating. “If you can, bring Wren. I’ll -- see you both soon. You should hurry.” Her manner suggests now isn’t the time to ask about this mysterious “someone.” In this situation, I don’t have much choice but to assume Diana knows what’s she doing.
“Alright,” I mutter. “See you soon, and goodbye.”
Diana says goodbye as well and hangs up. When the phone clicks off, I don’t stop pacing. The energy inside me doesn’t want to go away, but I need it to dissipate. If I can’t quit being a bundle of nerves, I won’t be any use.
After a lot more pacing, the energy inside me quiets enough so I can enter Wren’s room. When I do, my heart stops -- Brandon’s there. He must have teleported, because he’s sitting on the bed next to her and even has his arm around her shoulders.
“Hello,” he murmurs, managing a small smile despite the situation. “Wren told me what happened. Did you manage to get ahold of this Diana?”
“I did,” I say. “She wants Wren and me to go over to her house now and says she knows someone who can help.”
Wren stands up. “Great -- we should all head over there now,” she says.
“Even Brandon? He wasn’t invited,” I can’t help saying. Brandon’s made me uneasy ever since he started going out with Wren.
She raises an eyebrow. “Obviously. I mean, he’s a god, right? And he’s one of us, yeah? I’m not going over there without him,” she says in a tone that won’t allow for argument.
“Alright,” I sigh.
Besides my strange unease around Brandon, no real reason exists to forbid him from coming with us to Diana’s house. True, Diana doesn’t know him and has no reason to trust him, but Wren’s right -- he is a god. Maybe his power can help us recover Kai.
I look at Brandon, who still sits on the bed. “I’m sorry -- I was just worried Diana might not trust you since she doesn’t know you,” I say.
He nods. “I -- understand, but I...want to help,” he murmurs.
“Do you -- have any way to sense Kai? Any possible way to figure out where he might be?” I say. While I’m friendly with a couple gods, I don’t know all their capabilities. After all, they don’t work exactly as the Church says. Of course they don’t -- the Church has already shown it doesn’t mind lying.
Brandon winces. “That’s the thing -- I can’t sense him anywhere on Earth. It’s like he’s just disappeared,” he mutters.
My stomach drops. If Kai’s kidnappers can block godly powers, getting him back is not going to be easy.
That added difficulty doesn’t matter, though -- we will find Kai, and we will get him back.
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“Kai did what now?” Wren asks.
“Like I said, he got himself kidnapped,” I mutter. I look down at my cellphone -- it contains the impossible text from Kai.
The message reads, Been kidnapped. They must know what I am. Put me in some kind of collar. Thing’s magic. Can’t escape. Can’t use my powers. Can barely type. Hard to breathe. Stuck in some closet. Recognized the scar on one of their arms. A priest I knew from Seduction. Think the Church took me. Gonna pass out again. At least they didn’t find my cell phone. Help?
I hand Wren the cell phone so she can see the message for herself. If this were any other situation, I would find getting a text from a god hilarious. Kai hates complete sentences, apparently. Since when do gods even need cell phones, anyway?
At least he gave us some clues? Seduction is an underground bar for people, especially men, who prefer their own gender. It’s a play on “sed” -- “sed” is offensive, but Kai told me those like him want to make it their own. Plus, the owner apparently has a thing for puns. Months ago I would have found the idea of a priest at such a bar absurd. Now, it doesn’t surprise me, not after the prostitution scandal and everything else.
“How does a god get himself kidnapped? That doesn’t even make sense, though the Church is messed up enough to kidnap its own gods,” Wren says, shaking her head and handing the cell phone back to me. “And magic restraining collars? What, is he some kind of dog? That’s just twisted.”
I smack my forehead. “He must have been drunk,” I mutter. “How else could anybody human overpower him?”
“Of course he was,” she mutters. Her dark brown eyes flash, striking in their power and emotion. “I am going to kill him when we get him back.” She pauses, taking a deep breath. “How are we going to get him back?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “We can’t just tell the police we think the Church kidnapped a god. We would be arrested for blasphemy.” Well, I certainly would, being a no soul and all.
Wren flops down onto her bed. She lies on it, staring at the top of her canopy. I sit on the edge of it, next to her. In different circumstances...I blink to clear my head. This situation is just -- how could anybody kidnap a god, and why would they dare to do something so horrible?
“This is at least the second time Kai’s ended up in a closet,” Wren mutters. “Remember his ridiculous drunk story?”
“I remember,” I say. Kai’s propensity for ending up in closets isn’t the most important thing right now, though.
“So, what do we do?” she asks, her eyes showing fear.
It’s a good question. We uncovered the Church prostitution scandal, but finding someone who’s been kidnapped is a whole other universe of danger.
“We need help,” I mutter, glancing at my phone.
Wren sits up. “Who’s gonna help us?” she says.
“Diana,” I say. She expressed reservations about helping us again, but she must understand the severity of the situation. Nobody kidnaps a god with altruistic intentions.
“Didn’t she say she couldn’t help us again without risking the Church finding out and messing with her family?” she mutters, crossing one leg over the other.
I twist a strand of hair around my finger. Diana, otherwise known as Dean Marins from my former school, has a kid who could very well end up a no soul if the Church decides to punish her for helping us. It might not be fair to pressure Diana to risk her family, but whatever the Church -- or whoever -- is doing, it can’t be good.
“I hope she’ll make an exception for a kidnapped god. Whatever they want with Kai, they were...prepared if they possessed a magic collar than could block his powers. They must be up to something,” I say.
“You think we should tell her what Kai is?” Wren says.
I nod. “In this case, yes,” I say.
Wren nods herself and grabs her own cell phone off her night stand. “I’m gonna call Brandon,” she says.
Of course she is. I nod at her and head into the hallway to call Diana. After I dial her number, my phone rings several times, and I think she might not answer. I hold my breath, and on the fourth ring, she picks up.
“Hello?” she says.
I let out that breath I’m holding.
“It’s Gemma,” I say as I start pacing the hallway outside of Wren’s room. I twist a strand of hair around my finger again and allow some panic to enter my voice -- the panic’s deliberate, so she’ll take this seriously.
“What is it? What happened?” She sounds worried -- good.
“Kai was kidnapped,” I say.
There’s a long pause. “What?” she breathes.
“Kai was kidnapped,” I repeat. “He thinks the Church took him.”
Telling her Kai’s a god proves more difficult than I would have expected -- I don’t want her to think I’m full of it. I need her to believe me.
“Gemma, are you serious?” she says. Now, she sounds like she might, indeed, not believe me.
“I wouldn’t call you if I weren’t serious. And Kai’s...not human,” I mutter. “He’s a god.”
There’s another long pause. I keep twisting that strand of hair around my finger and pacing, needing to direct my energy somewhere. The situation makes me feel like my body’s been injected with disturbed magic. We have to get Kai back.
“I’m not making this up,” I add. “I wouldn’t ask you for your help for anything less.”
“You...don’t sound like you’re making this up,” Diana murmurs. “And I know you wouldn’t bother me for something trivial. I just can’t believe Kai’s...are you sure he’s a --?”
I shake my head, even though she can’t see me. “I’m absolutely sure,” I say. I couldn’t believe otherwise after Kai’s rainbow light displays. Sometimes, though, I have moments of disbelief because everything I was taught would suggests gods don’t become friends with no souls.
“And I wouldn’t ask for help for anything less. What -- what should we do?” I add as I continue pacing.
“Can you come over to my house now? I...have someone here who might be able to help us,” she says.
“I can come over,” I say. “Wren’s around, too. Whom do you know? Are you sure they’re trustworthy?”
“They are,” she murmurs, not elaborating. “If you can, bring Wren. I’ll -- see you both soon. You should hurry.” Her manner suggests now isn’t the time to ask about this mysterious “someone.” In this situation, I don’t have much choice but to assume Diana knows what’s she doing.
“Alright,” I mutter. “See you soon, and goodbye.”
Diana says goodbye as well and hangs up. When the phone clicks off, I don’t stop pacing. The energy inside me doesn’t want to go away, but I need it to dissipate. If I can’t quit being a bundle of nerves, I won’t be any use.
After a lot more pacing, the energy inside me quiets enough so I can enter Wren’s room. When I do, my heart stops -- Brandon’s there. He must have teleported, because he’s sitting on the bed next to her and even has his arm around her shoulders.
“Hello,” he murmurs, managing a small smile despite the situation. “Wren told me what happened. Did you manage to get ahold of this Diana?”
“I did,” I say. “She wants Wren and me to go over to her house now and says she knows someone who can help.”
Wren stands up. “Great -- we should all head over there now,” she says.
“Even Brandon? He wasn’t invited,” I can’t help saying. Brandon’s made me uneasy ever since he started going out with Wren.
She raises an eyebrow. “Obviously. I mean, he’s a god, right? And he’s one of us, yeah? I’m not going over there without him,” she says in a tone that won’t allow for argument.
“Alright,” I sigh.
Besides my strange unease around Brandon, no real reason exists to forbid him from coming with us to Diana’s house. True, Diana doesn’t know him and has no reason to trust him, but Wren’s right -- he is a god. Maybe his power can help us recover Kai.
I look at Brandon, who still sits on the bed. “I’m sorry -- I was just worried Diana might not trust you since she doesn’t know you,” I say.
He nods. “I -- understand, but I...want to help,” he murmurs.
“Do you -- have any way to sense Kai? Any possible way to figure out where he might be?” I say. While I’m friendly with a couple gods, I don’t know all their capabilities. After all, they don’t work exactly as the Church says. Of course they don’t -- the Church has already shown it doesn’t mind lying.
Brandon winces. “That’s the thing -- I can’t sense him anywhere on Earth. It’s like he’s just disappeared,” he mutters.
My stomach drops. If Kai’s kidnappers can block godly powers, getting him back is not going to be easy.
That added difficulty doesn’t matter, though -- we will find Kai, and we will get him back.