‘SPROUT!’ updates with a new chapter every Saturday!
Popular articles
Sister Loveless leaned forward in her chair examining the photos strewn out in the bed before her. Babs and Willie stood on the opposite end of the bed, with Babs filling the silence with the sound of her chewing gum. Willie badly wanted a cigarette but knew better than to light up anywhere near Sister Loveless' presence. After shuffling the photos she focused on one of Peg York.
“This one.” She said, tapping a bony finger against the picture. “I think it’s time we take her out.”
“Easy,” Babs replied as the gum in her mouth snapped. “I can make a doll of her and then crumple her up before tomorrow morning.”
“No wait.” Loveless replied, waving her hand. “Tomorrow they will announce Tony Zepps death and most likely postpone the race. If she’s found dead as well it will be too much chaos.”
“What if she just takes the money like that old guy I got to on the first day?”
Sister Loveless shook her head again. “You can ask but I have a feeling she won’t take the easy way out. Besides,” she turned the photo to them and pointed to Josie in the background. “I’m worried about this one too. Wait for them to split up tomorrow and I want you each to take care of them understoo-”
The door to Loveless’ living quarters swung open and Miguel stood in the doorway. Babs and Willie looked at him for a moment before giving their goodbyes and quickly shuffling out of the room, closing the door behind them.
“What brings you here my son?” Sister Loveless asked.
“I asked some of the other crew members where to find you and they said you’d be here. I got a better question though, who were those guys? I don’t recognize them from the team.”
“Oh they are just some associates of mine for some other business.” She responded with a warm smile while patting the bed. “Here, sit.”
Miguel walked over from the door to take a seat on the bed but noticed the photos of the other competitors. He didn’t know why they were there and wasn’t sure how to ask about them. Loveless noticed his restlessness and placed her hands on his.
“What troubles you Miguel? You should be getting rest for tomorrow.”
“I was around some of the other competitors and I’ve been hearing talks of someone taking racers into quitting.” Miguel looked up and met Loveless eyes. “Some are even saying it may be us causing the drop outs.”
Sister Loveless continued to look at Miguel but her demeanor remained unchanged as he spoke.
“Ever since I jumped teams there’s been a low rumbling of people discussing what kind of person I am. People are wondering if I’m willing to leave my team for the church at the last minute, what else could I do? I just need to know, Sister Loveless, it’s not us right?”
Sister Loveless tightened her grip on Miguel’s hands while a stern look came across her face.
“And what if I told you it was, my son?”
Miguel could feel his heart sink. He knew the answer was possible but didn’t want to believe it. He tried to pull his hands away, but Loveless’ grip was tight enough to keep him there.
“Listen to me Miguel. You are very important, not just to this team, but to the Church as a whole. An orphaned child raised through the church who becomes a sharp shooting celebrity is exactly what our congregation needs to bring more into the light. More and more are turning away from Leopold’s love every day. But, if someone like you can win under our flag, just imagine the outcry of people who would turn back to him.”
“So we’re threatening people? That’s not what I was told when I came to the church, I was told my legacy would be solidified but not like thi-”
“Miguel!” Loveless snapped, stopping him right in his tracks. Sister Loveless always kept a calm, nearly angelic demeanor. To see her like this made Miguel’s stomach turn. “You are a talented boy but talent will only get you so far. No one builds a legacy from luck or relying purely on talent. Or would you rather fade into obscurity and let the final memories of your families legacy be your drunk of a father?”
Miguel stayed silent and looked away. Loveless brought one of her hands to Miguel’s cheek and sharply turned his face back to hers.
“We are only doing what’s necessary for the good of the Church and for you, my son. Do you understand?”
Miguel nodded, trying his best to hold back tears. Loveless smiled, patting his hands.
“Now then, how about a nice prayer to help calm your nerves?”
🌱🌱🌱
Sister Loveless looked down from the loading bay Miguel had once stood watching Josie fall into another bed of thorns below. She watched for a moment as Josie lay motionless before turning back into the vehicle and beckoning over some of the crew.
“I believe it’s time for us to go, start the machine.” Loveless said as she hobbled back into the ship.
“But Sister Loveless,” one of the crew spoke. “Miguel is still-”
“A matter for later, it’s imperative that we continue our course and win in the name of Leo-”
“YOU’RE NOT WINNING A DAMN THING!”
Sister Loveless whipped her head around and found that a heavily wounded Josie had jumped from the thorns again and lunged towards her. Loveless’ couldn’t fathom how Josie could possibly still be alive, let alone recover so quickly. Luckily, one of the crew jumped in front of her to take the hit while Loveless stood awestruck.
“Oh!” Josie exclaimed, stumbling into Wings of Leo after realizing she hit the wrong person. “I’m so sorry I meant to hit this hag and-”
Josie then felt an intense pain in her stomach and found Sister Loveless grabbing her shoulder tightly.
“A man went 30 days without food or a drop of water. Walk a mile in his shoes.”
The pain erupted in her stomach, spreading throughout Josie’s body, and sending her flying to the edge of the coal bay. The effects of Loveless’ touch brought her to the brink of unconsciousness and she wasn’t sure she’d stay awake this time. Between tear filled blinks, she looked up to find Sister Loveless standing over her.
“A homeless child, paralyzed from being hit by a buggy, forced to live in agony begging for crumbs. Walk a mile in his shoes.”
Josie knew the hit was coming but couldn’t move her body an inch to stop it. Sister Loveless lightly tapped Josie on the side but the force sent her flying below into the familiar bed of thorns. Mustering her last ounce of strength, Josie rose to her feet and looked up at ‘Wings of Leo.’ Josie focused her eyes on Sister Loveless, but standing where she stood was a much younger sister of the cloth and in her hand was a large ball of blue sparking energy.
“Josephine,” The younger Sister Saint started. “This is every ounce of suffering I’ve amassed within myself. Every person who came to me begging for prayers to end their hardship, each drop of their despair lies in my palm. With it I will end your life, sending you to Paradise.”
Josie had no idea what to do, she’d never seen anything like what the now youthful Sister Loveless was holding but could sense it was even more painful than the previous blows. She thought of ways to dodge, but could feel her body struggling to stand. Any type of escape seemed impossible.
“Glory to the One True King Leopold.”
Loveless threw the ball of suffering causing Josie to flinch and shut her eyes tight. She waited for the blow that did not come and when she opened her eyes she noticed none of the light had hit her. In fact, it seemed the light had gone right past her and dispersed across the large bramble. Relief washed over her and she laughed.
“Guess you weren’t blessed with good aim-”
A large vine of bramble slammed into Josie knocking her high into the air. While flying she heard multiple whooshing sounds around her head and noticed bright blue lights zipping around her. Josie tried to focus but she couldn’t get bearings on her location in the air as she was repeatedly bounced from direction to direction. These moments felt like hours for Josie and Loveless watched as she bounced around like a helpless ragdoll, her screams of agony echoing among the plant life.
“The suffering and despair I control has no effects on stone or steel, but something living and breathing like the stalk feels this pain and lashes it back out.”
Josie could barely hear a word Sister Loveless said as she continued being ricocheted around.
“A truly painful form of suffering,” Loveless spoke as she clasped her hands in a prayer. “May it lead you to the highest point in paradise.”
She continued to pray as the other crew members worked in the background to get Wings of Leopold moving once again. As Josie continued to rebound through the air, her screams grew fainter from exhaustion. The speed at which she was thrust between the brambles was digging into her skin and causing her to bleed terribly. The unstoppable momentum made it impossible to think about changing her trajectory, let alone find the energy to try.
Eventually everything went dark and quiet. The pain had turned to numbness and the world around her faded to black, but she wasn’t unconscious. In her mind she found herself in a building surrounded by a screaming crowd. There were bright lights flooding her eyesight making it near impossible to make out her surroundings. Josie stood to her feet and slowly started walking forward, without a clue where she was or walking towards. With every step the crowd grew louder and she felt like her ear drums would explode. Josie’s pace quickened as if she could outrun the screams but when she heard her name pierce through the noise she stopped in her tracks. She looked back to find no one there, the lights grew brighter and the world around her turned to white. Silence replaced the noise and replacing the silence was the voice of a man saying two words.
“Not. Yet.”
The words repeated in Josie's mind louder each time, gaining force like the crashing of waves against the beach in a powerful storm. Josie slammed her eyes shut, letting the words fill her to the brim. When she opened them again, she was back amongst the bramble. However, something was different. She didn’t feel any pain and the bouncing movement seemed to be moving slower. She noticed that she could now push back against the bramble and move herself around, even picking up speed as she did so. She had somehow leapt over the pain threshold she’d hit earlier, and suddenly realized she was now the one in control.
Josie tightened up her body as the speed of her intentional projectile movements grew. Saint Loveless opened her eyes to see that Josie was moving even faster than she expected. Soon enough, Loveless could barely track Josie’s movement with her eyes. Josie, on the other hand, was now able to perceive everything at normal speed and had no problem focusing on Sister Loveless. She knocked herself hard into the bramble one last time and immediately launched herself towards Sister who realized too late there was no time to dodge or produce more energy to protect herself. Even the other workers couldn’t step in the way in time. In the seconds before impact, Loveless had only enough time to register Josie’s eyes.
“Purple!? How-”
Josie slammed her eyes shut as she crashed her skull into the center of Loveless’s face. She heard Loveless’ nose and several other bones crack from impact as the momentum sent Loveless flying deep into Wings of Leo.
“Praise…to Leopold…” Sister loveless spat out in a mess of blood and saliva as she drifted into unconsciousness.
Josie landed back into the bramble again, covered in bruises and blood soaked tattered clothing. Her body was beyond spent and lay motionless as she looked up at the Wings of Leo and listened for the crew frantically running around to tend to Sister Loveless’ wounds. Josie tried to stand, but her body would not rise. She laughed to herself while her eyelids slowly closed, drifting away with thoughts of this being the end of her journey up the stalk
To Be Continued