Chapter 21: Devil in the Church

I sputtered on the dirt of the forest floor, rolling weakly. Before I could reform my thoughts and pull myself together, Vivi threw her whole body weight around my head, wrapping me in a protective but ultimately detrimental hold. I heard her shouting with all the rage a six-year-old could muster. Then I felt hands roughly grabbing my arms and forcing me to my feet. Vivi toppled away as I struggled to put my tangled marionette legs beneath me. The hands pulled, making me stumble forward. Vivi grasped on to my limp hand and refused to let go.

Awake in name but not definition, I let myself be half-dragged through a blur of forest that no longer looked nor felt familiar to me. Everything spun and my head pounded. The only thing that broke through the dizziness was a creepy-crawly feeling traveling down the edge of my forehead. It wasn't actually cold, whatever was crawling down my head, but it felt like it was. I tried to mumble something, a question, maybe, but the words barely formed in my head much less on my tongue.

We were still on school grounds, that much I gathered since we passed out of the woods to an iron-like gate. Vehicle entrance; the parking lot. Car. Door. Get in. I collapsed, clutching the seat with my ass and legs hanging out of the car. Vivi made a worried hum as she tried to strong-arm the rest of me in. There was a gasp of terror as the hands grabbed my legs and shoved me inside without care. Vivi's small form clambered in after me, and as I heard doors slam, open, slam, car start, she tucked herself under my arm like a worried cat, curled and wide-eyed. I blinked, forcing my eyes to focus.

[pic – laying on a back carseat with a kidnapped girl—oh Im kidnapped too I guess]

He sat in the driver's seat, shifting gears to pull out and get on the road.

He drove.

I gargled, curling my arms in a cockroach-like manner to brush my fingers against my hairline. Vivi continued to hum at a singular, uneased tone, until the barking voice of my father told her to shut up. She did instantaneously. My fingers jabbed the skin at my hairline in shock, an involuntary response to his voice. I tried to stifle my groan as my thumb slipped on something that shouldn't have been there.

[pic – blood]

Vivi squirmed. I put my clean hand over her mouth before she got the idea to make any noises. For the love of god I wish I could move so I could catch a glimpse of her face; meet her eyes to let her know that I was at the very least going to protect her no matter what. The fact that I couldn't guarantee her safety no matter how much I meant to started to make me sick—paired with the inevitable concussion, it was not a good feeling.

Neither of us had any seat belts on. Every time my dad stepped a little too hard on the brakes I felt us roll forward, almost off the edge of the seat. Scooting the two of us back did little to help, so I simply wrapped my arm tighter around Vivi. If I could've sat up I would've, but there was more than just the head wound keeping me low to the ground like a dog. Alternating between shutting my eyes to relieve stimulation and opening them to glean any motivation from my father in the driver's seat, I let building after building pass us by. There was no way to know where we were without sitting up, but we were still relatively close to Kadic.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I slammed my hand over it with a hiss. I glanced up, seeing a tendon stand out on the side of my father's neck. Stuffing my hand into my pocket, I quickly unlocked and put the damn thing on complete silence. Part of my brain panicked and wanted me to shut the whole thing off. I almost did, glancing at the screen to at least get the time.

Aelita had texted me. I stared at her name on the screen. The preview showed that there was something strange going on with Lyoko. Nervously glancing at my dad, I contemplated my position.

An idea was brewing.

Easing my way, I shifted, turning so my back would face the front of the car. Vivi looked at me, panicked and perplexed. I gave her a look that said that I knew what I was doing and I needed her to stay where she was. Dutiful, she did, though not without placing her hands on my shoulder for support as she kept her gaze stone-still ahead. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I raised it until it was behind Vivi's sitting form, as hidden as it possibly could be before I unlocked the screen.

Hey, something's weird on Lyoko. Not an activated tower. Localized activity. We might check it out.

I glanced back at my father, catching his eyes in the rear-view mirror. Distress seized my heart and I broke away, knowing that it was very likely he was just checking the road instead of me. But at any rate, I doubted this was XANA's doing. I doubted this was anyone's doing, except him. Careful and slow, I typed out my message letter by letter, feverishly glancing back when I could without trying to make it seem suspicious. As a result I broke my message up into simpleton words over far too many different texts.

Help. Me n Viv.

Glance over the shoulder, tried to stretch arms to make it look like I was trying to relax.

Try factory.

A pause. Couldn't afford another glance back, so I simply waited until I was brave enough to text again.

Dunno if work.

I turned the screen off. There was no way I was willing to glue myself to the anxiety of waiting for her to respond. I could contact the police. I should contact the police. But I realized then I had no idea of the make or model of the car, no license plate—just that the interior was beige. No recollection of anything. I pulled my arm backwards, gently bumping my elbow to the small of Vivi's back. She tensed at the touch, far too alert. I rolled my head back, staring at the stiff profile of her face before looking back to the driver's seat.

“Hey,” I broke the silence. Vivi stiffened further, but my dad didn't respond, “Hey, where are you going?”

This was a calculated risk, but calculations could still lead to disaster. I unfurled my arm and wrapped it around Vivi's waist for reassurance and protection, “Hey, why'd you take us?”

“You insult my hard work by skipping classes again, you dare raise your hands against me, and you spend all your free-time with that little brat instead of studying or focusing on your future. If you couldn't understand four years ago, you better understand now.”

I swallowed the rock in my throat, looking at Vivi. Somehow there was courage there, despite everything, mostly for her sake. If there was fear, it wasn't a detriment to me.

“Well,” my voice cracked, “Just uh. Just stay away from haunted places. Y'know, abandoned stuff.”

My father's brow furrowed in confusion, which in his language meant anger. I kept my gaze focused on Vivi, heart pounding, finding the will to keep speaking.

“She's just, scared of them, y'know?” God I hoped I sounded convincing, because the way I was speaking did not sound like me, “I took her to this factory one time, and she hated it. Can't stand it, y'know? So uh. Just. Steer clear, huh?”

He slammed on the brakes. Were it not for the fact that I had embraced Vivi again, she would've gone flying and slammed her head on the divider between the seats up front. I noticed his knuckles were white, but they soon mellowed out to their normal color. It meant he was thinking, and thinking was what I wanted him to do. The turn signal clicked on, and he followed it. I settled back in, banking on him doing what I wanted him to do. Unlocking my phone, I saw that Aelita had responded, but I had no time to have a conversation. I double-checked my contacts.

Then I sent her my father's phone number with instructions: Call this when I say.

Setting up the signal but not sending it over, I slipped my phone back into my pocket. As he drove, more buildings passing by, I mimed the motions with my thumb to send the text while keeping my hand inconspicuously in my pocket. Letting my lids fall halfway down my eyes, I squeezed Vivi tight. She squeezed my arm back. It became a trade off. Every other minute, whenever one of us got anxious, one would squeeze and the other would respond.

A larger and darker than usual building passed by, and I turned my head, eyes alert. The building was industrial. Straining myself and causing my head to pound again, I pulled my elbows beneath me and peeked out at street level.

There.

A familiar river with concrete embankments.

He fell for it.

“H-Hey,” I stammered, nearly forgetting to keep up the act, “What're you doing, I said she was scare—,”

Another slam on the brakes, and I clutched Vivi as half my body tumbled off the edge of the seats. He put the car in park. Frantically slipping my hand in my pocket, I went through the motions to send Aelita the signal as fast as I could. Whether it sent or not I had no time to look because he got out of the car and opened the door at my head. All I could do was hope.

[pic – get out of the car]

I pulled Vivi close to my legs, dimly aware that if I didn't focus all my power into standing that I would unfairly lean on her for support. There was no choice but to will the pain to recede, aided by the pounding of my heart as I watched him. I strafed around the car, slow, only taking my eyes off of him once to glance behind me. The bridge to the factory—my factory was only a stone's throw away. The first part of my plan had worked, but it wasn't time to celebrate yet. It was only serendipitous and not yet set in stone. There was no way to know if I had sent the signal to Aelita, there was no way to know when she'd get worried enough from waiting that she'd just call.

He opened his mouth to start lecturing, ordering, whatever he was going to do. Tensing my shoulders in response so the blood roared in my ears, he was starting to drown himself out as I inched farther and farther backwards towards the bridge. All of the sudden his eyes changed, snapping with the realization that I was trying to make a very slow getaway. Slow and steady would not win this race. I bit my lip and swallowed. Come on. Come on.

A shrill, default ringtone split the tension. My father flinched, then cursed, digging his phone out from his pocket. I waited, watching his every move, as he struggled with the modern phone. He turned away and answered with a harsh and angry hallo.

[pic – pick up vivi and BOOK IT]

A small cry of shock emitted from Vivi's throat, belated and accompanied by her hands digging into my shoulders after I had taken off without warning. I gripped her tight in response, letting adrenaline fly me forward. Bolting down the bridge, into the factory, and sliding on the dusty floor to change directions to run down its lengths, I felt the trail of blood from my forehead slip onto the floor behind me. Couldn't stop to swipe it away or think about it. I swore I could already hear feet in pursuit.

[pic – bloodstained shoe]

I could've hid down in the lab, but there was no doubt my father was close enough behind me that he'd either hear the elevator or follow my path close enough that he'd wind up there anyway. Even though I knew this factory so damn well, I was not going to put my faith and risk everything on something that was only safe if it was a secret.

But there was no way I could keep running forever.

[pic – hiding behind an i-beam]

The factory was derelict. Any part of its labyrinth I ran to could've spelled paralyzation or death. I couldn't take risks and just fuck off somewhere I didn't know, especially not with Vivi in my arms. Taking a deep breath, I waited until the sounds he made started to echo like he was furiously searching the next room.

[pic – go go go]

A door. Upstairs. To the roof. It'd be a dead end. But it was in the exact opposite place of the lab, and if I was just playing a game of prolonging, then this was how I could do it. Even if I had to play matador with him on the rooftop. Snatching a junky bar of metal, I shouldered the door open, slammed it, and wedged the metal in the jamb. Weak, but it would buy us some time.

Running up the stairs took its toll, and I felt sweat start to roll down my face in place of blood. Shouldering the door to the roof was less of a shove and more of a push as my heavy feet beat upon the rooftop until my knees shook. I uttered a groan like I was going to vomit as the world went dizzy. Numbly understanding that my adrenaline was spent and that the hit to the head was worse than I thought, I started to lower Vivi to the ground, clumsily falling to my knees. I winced as my kneecaps burned from the impact. Arms falling limp, I didn't even have time to look at Vivi to see if she was okay before the rest of my body collapsed and my scarred cheek hit the cool roof.

[pic - that]

“Reese!” Vivi called, putting her hands to my shoulder and shoving against it, “Reese, Reese!”

I groaned, forcing words out, “Stay close. Stay close until...argh, until I tell you to run.”

If I couldn't fight against him, at the very least if Vivi was close I'd be able to curl my body over hers and act as a shield until it was over or there was an opening for her to go. My last words were stuttered over several swallows and the useless flapping of my tongue, but she seemed to get the gist of it without being able to say that she did. She kept shoving against me, scrabbling her small fingers in desperation. I groaned again, screwing my eyes shut and pushing my hand back up to my forehead. Inadvertently I had pushed sweat into my wound as I did so and the groan became a quiet, pitiful wail.

Vivi was dangerously silent in her panic. For all her talk of dragons and warriors and adventures, she couldn't muster up the courage when the real world became more ugly than her stories. Not that I was blaming her. I wished this was another adventure. I wished we were fighting just a dragon so we could go home and laugh about it later. She gargled in fear and pressed her body against mine, making a continuous low whine that told me she was trying to stop herself from crying.

[[and the written text ends here. Now it's scraps of notes]]

Chapter 21: devil in the church

KIDNAPPING!!! reese and vivi in a car reese tries to text aelita laying on the backseat call this number (his dads number) (help factory) aelita distracts his dad, reese picks vivi up and RUNS factory roof yumi and aelita go to help reese, odd and jeremie check out lyoko. Yumi wants aelita on lyoko not here. Aelita stays in the stairwell, yumi goes up and offers herself in exchange for vivi reese manages to get up, bloodied, attack father from behind fight and yelling and such reese gets so hurt i'm serious here father goes over, yumi stops reese from doing the same big glowy explosion thing on lyoko reese passes out

chapter 22: phoenix with a heartache?

the yumi pov chapter