Stick didn't recognize where he was. It was a bumpy ride through all the snow drifts, with trees bare of leaves. There were no buildings nearby, which officially meant he wasn't in Simcoe. Yet there was a big problem with this situation.
"Isn't this a kidnapping?" Stick asked.
"It's spreading the great word of God," Eden chimed.
Stick was in a car with a girl he barely knew. She had drugged Bella by putting some type of drug into the pudding they found. He glanced back at Bella, who was lying on the floor, asleep, since Eden didn't bother to buckle her.
"Hasn't it been about four hours?" Stick asked.
Eden nodded, stopping in front of a small house. She stepped out of the car, dragging Bella by her wrists across the thick snow. Her head was flopped to the side with her mouth slightly open and her snow pants completely soaked.
The first two hours Eden spent drawing a map in some book and staying in the car that still produced heat. She had marked the place, and the drive would probably take two hours with this snow everywhere.
"Um, should I carry her?" Stick asked.
"No, bad Catholics must receive the best course of action," Eden said, shaking her head and kicking open a metal door.
Eden dropped Bella on the laminate floor, went to the window, and pulled down an orange blanket draped over it. There was a small living room with only two sofas and a long wooden table. The entire place smelled like cigarettes, which he noticed some empty bags and newspapers all over the ground.
"We aren't doing drugs, right?" Stick asked.
"No," Eden said as she shook the dusty wool blanket. She flicked on candles on a wooden table, nodding to herself.
"Then what are we doing?"
"Reform and redemption," she said, lacing her hands together. "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent; Revelations 3:19."
Stick discreetly sat down on a small blue sofa. He glanced down at Bella, who was sleeping soundly. He didn't think redemption started with being in a cabin, staring down at a pretty girl.
"What is this place?"
Stick looked over at Eden, seeing her open the freezer door and hold a loaf of bread. She started slamming the frozen bread on the blue counter, ripping open the bag with her fingers.
"It's a drug house that my gang used to hang out in, but God changed my sights. Here, I'll show you a picture," Eden chimed, walking into a side bedroom.
She handed him a picture of a girl who did not look like her. That girl, around twelve, had half her head of dark-brown hair shaved, had a nose piercing, and was holding a cigarette.
Stick looked at the ash-blonde girl with chest-length hair and no piercings. Both of them looked nothing alike, but they were the same person.
"See, Jesus changes people," Eden commented.
Stick thought change might be an understatement. It was insane to see how different someone could actually change.
"God will forgive you for your sins, and we'll change her," Eden implied as she directed her hands at Bella.
"When will she wake up?" Stick asked.
"Whenever she wakes up. For redemption, you must confront the person," Eden said, kneeling. "You must forgive yourself, but God will forgive all."
Can he forgive himself for killing a girl? It doesn't seem possible for such a thing. Isn't it considered a sin to kill someone? You could go to jail for life and get punished by sitting in a jail cell alone.
YOU ARE READING
Danger
Science Fiction(Book 2 of Vanished) It's been four months since everyone over the age of fifteen vanished. As food becomes scarce, hunger sets in. People desperate to get even something that wasn't canned around there. Now the real danger has begun. One powerful s...
