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Xenia was startled awake by Ingrid’s shout, and she opened her eyes to find the human girl frantically looking for her effects.
“What? What's happened??”
“I’m late for church!” Ingrid cried, thrusting her arms through the straps of her backpack and frantically rooting around for her keys in her hip bag. “I gotta get out of here!”
Xenia shook off the fog of sleep as best she could and rose from her seat to open the door to the observatory. “Will anything happen if you’re not there?”
“Most likely another lecture from Josh.”
“Then why go?”
“It’s just until I can move out!”
The faun gave Ingrid a look of sympathy as they dashed through the greenhouse and the library as quickly as was proper, not stopping until they got to the main portal.
Ingrid was the first to notice that there were no available pods to take to the ground floor. She took one look at the carved tree 100 feet below her and felt her brain go in circles, grabbing Xenia’s arm for support.
“Oh God...what am I gonna do??”
Xenia thought for a moment. “You know...there’s no rule against taking the portal together.”
The human looked at the faun in bewilderment. “Are you...?”
“I’d ask you to hang on to me.”
Ingrid balked briefly at this, but, after weighing her options, very politely wrapped her arms around Xenia’s shoulders.
The faun equally politely took hold of Ingrid’s waist, encircling it with her substantial arm, and said:
“Please don’t look down.”
Before extending one hoof towards the open air, letting Ingrid bury her face in her shoulder as they floated gently downwards.
When it was over and Ingrid found herself on terra firma again, she stared in wonder at Xenia for a moment before squeezing her hand in thanks and launching herself at the door to slam her hand against the stone wreath.
Xenia watched her go with a mild sense of trepidation in her eyes, muttering “Mother Earth protect her.”
...
Ingrid had almost certainly missed Sunday school, but with any luck she could slip into the sanctuary unnoticed in time for the service itself.
The pre-sermon schmoozing was just petering out when she arrived and sat in her usual spot next to her parents.
The sermon itself went on-and on- and Ingrid let her mind drift, imagining herself among the trees and the vines, communing with nature and with her druid siblings.
She came back to the real word just in time to hear the benediction being sung and was getting up to go back to the family home when--
“ Ingrid!”
She cringed.
Taking a deep breath, she turned in the direction of the owner of the voice, who was burning a hole into her with his stare.
Or at least trying to.
The look he gave her did not look like it should be made with a boyish face such as Josh’s; Ingrid barely suppressed the urge to laugh looking at it.
“Is there a reason you’re screaming my name across the sanctuary, Josh?”
The congregation cleared a path as he approached her. “I didn’t see you at Sunday school this morning.”
“I overslept.”
“Didn’t you tell me that last time?”
“Maybe.”
Josh sighed in exasperation. “Ingrid, you can’t just pick and choose what parts of church you want to participate in. Sunday school is just as important as the sermon. You gotta taste the appetizer before the main course!”
“I missed two Sunday schools, Josh. Lay off.”
With renewed determination, the young man puffed out his chest and extended his arm towards Ingrid. “No. I think we need to discuss this with the pastor.”
“I’m not interested.”
“I’m not asking.” He grabbed Ingrid’s hand and began to pull her towards Reverend Park’s office.
“Hey! What are you--??” Ingrid began trying to pull away from Josh.
“I am your group leader, Ingrid, and right now I need to take charge!”
“You don’t ‘need’ to do anything!” She tried to yank her hand away. “Now let go of—ow!” Josh was prepared, though, and gripped her hand tightly. “Owowow!”
“You’ll thank me later! This is for your own good!”
“I said...”
Ingrid planted her feet...
“Let go!!”
As she tore her hand away, vines burst forth from beneath the carpet and lunged towards Josh, freezing in a defensive position.
The young man yelped and fell onto his butt, scrabbling backwards on his heels, away from the explosion of flora.
Ingrid stared at her hand, then at the wall of greenery that she’d just conjured and used the shock of the congregation to escape to her car.
Josh scrambled to his feet, staring at the vines aimed at his face. He approached these warily, ready to jump back if they pressed their assault....
But they didn’t move, not even when he reached out and felt the body of the foremost tendril. Sinuous as it was, it had the texture and hardness of a bamboo stick.
The young man only briefly let himself think about the implications of this before vaulting over several pews-the wall of vines had taken up the width of the center aisle-towards the main entrance and out to the parking lot...
Where Ingrid’s car was nowhere to be seen.
Her parents were not far behind, shock and worry on their faces.
“What on earth just happened? Where is our daughter??” Mrs. Noran cried, frantically scanning the lot.
Josh shook his head as he turned toward the couple. “We should start looking at your house. I’ll follow you there. Clearly something isn’t right with her.”
When the trio reach the Noran residence, they were filled with hope at the sight of Ingrid’s car in the driveway, and Josh was the first to leap out of his own vehicle, with Mr. Nolan following close behind to unlock the door before the yound man smacked into it.
“Ingrid?!” Josh called as he entered the darkened house. No answer.
Ingrid’s parents checked the first floor, scanning the living room and the kitchen for their daughter, while Josh slowly ascended the stairs, looking for any sign that Ingrid had been there...
And he got that sign in the form of the fourth door on the right side of the hall, covered in cacti from jamb to doorknob.
The young man had experienced this spontaneous flowering less than an hour ago, and figured that his friend was the source, but he nonetheless felt compelled to reach out to touch the plants.
“Ow!”
Pointy.
Soothing his finger, he decided to sit in a safe, non-cactus spot near the door and try to reach his sister in Christ.
...
“Ingrid! Are you in there?”
Ingrid flinched. Of course, Josh followed her parents here. Of course he would try to “reach” her.
Of fucking course.
Still there was nothing he could do, the way things were now, so she supposed she’d let him tire himself out.
She still didn’t give him the satisfaction of a response. Not that it mattered...
“Well, I need to get this out, either way. I don’t know what’s been going on, or where these plants came from, but...I know it’s something. You’ve changed. And not in a good way.
I’d always figured you weren’t the praise and worship type, and you just loved God in your own way, but this...”
And here Ingrid could imagine him gesturing vaguely...
“ This is not of God. I think it has something to do with what happened on our hike together. I should’ve kept a better eye on you, instead of being so worried about my feelings for you.”
Called it.
“Well, no more. I’m going to take it upon myself to be your accountability partner from now on. We’ll set your heart on Christ again, I promise you that!”
Right, Ingrid thought with a sense of finality. Time to get the fuck out of here.
She pulled out her phone and opened Carmellia’s text bubble.
I don’t know how long a shot this is, but...could I maybe possibly seek asylum at the bagworm? I’ll explain everything when I get there.
She sent the text and hoped that Carmellia would see it soon; she wasn’t sure how long she’d last in her room without food.
Ping!
Thank God.
Absolutely, love. You’ll be in good company. When do you think you can get here?
-It might be a while. Look for me after dark.
There was a pause of several minutes before Carmellia got back to her:
-Xenia will come meet you when you get to the trail. We’ll keep you safe.
At this, Ingrid felt her heart leap with joy, at the notion of being able to find safety with the other druids, of course, but there was something else...before Ingrid let herself read too deeply into it, she replied:
-That’s all I need. I promise I’ll pull my weight.
-You’ve done more than enough. See you soon. 💚
And with that, all that was left was to gather as many belongings as she could and play the waiting game.
...
Josh had continued talking to Ingrid about whatever was on his mind until he had dosed off without realizing it. He was very rudely awakened by a cluster of door cacti pricking him all down his arm.
“Yowch!!”
He sat up and looked at the time. 8:30. The house was dark except for the living room. When the young man went downstairs, he saw Ingrid’s parents sitting there, looking haggard; they had left Josh to try to connect with Ingrid in a way they couldn’t. Mrs. Horan saw him and perked up slightly.
“Any luck?”
Josh shook his head. “Is it okay if I come back tomorrow? I think if I keep at it, I can lead her back to the straight path.”
“Whatever you need to do, son,” Mr. Horan replied, shaking Josh’s hand.
The younger man nodded in response and headed out the door to his car...but as he got on the road, he saw Ingrid’s car headed in the opposite direction that he was going.
He made a U-turn, prepared to follow her at a distance, and as he passed the house, he saw a curtain of thick vines pouring from her bedroom window and extending to the bushes below...
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