The day had finally come for me to leave. The church had a car with conveniently tinted windows and a blocked off driver seat like in a taxi cab, and Sodo and Rain were tasked with driving me back to where my car was parked, if it wasn't towed yet. The idea was that I wouldn't be able to find the church again, for their safety of course but still I assumed they would trust me enough not to send an angry mob after them considering the circumstances.
Saying goodbye was bitter sweet, as expected. I stuffed my salvageable clothes from last week into my backpack and met Sister Imperator, Copia, and the ghouls in front of a gate with a gravel path leading into the forest.
Each of the ghouls gave me a hug, Aether pulling me in for a huge bear hug that I still wasn't ready for even though I expected it. Sister hugged me too, and unsurprisingly it felt like being hugged by my mother. When I came over to Copia, he held out his gloved hand for another awkward shake. I took his hand and, in a very uncharacteristic manner, brought him in for a hug instead. His hands lingered in the air for a moment but he eventually returned it.
"This has been so amazing," he said, making my face heat up a little.
"It really has."
Copia pulled out of the hug, putting his hands on my shoulders and just looking at me with a small smile. That stare always felt like he was trying to read your mind, digging deep into your eyes.
Sodo had leaned over Rain and honked the horn of the car, signaling for me to hurry up. Copia let go of my shoulders and gave me a wink goodbye. I waved back to them all the way until I got into the car.
The drive was long, only exacerbated by the fact that I couldn't even look out the windows. After a while of driving, my phone lit up and began buzzing incessantly, telling me that we were finally out of the dense woods and near a cell tower. Eventually, I heard the crunch of gravel and dirt underneath the car.
"I fucking told you I knew the way." Sodo bragged. I heard Rain flick him from the other side of the partition.
I got out of the car, and the light from the sun hurt my eyes a bit. I came to the drivers side of the car and Rain rolled down the window.
"Thanks guys. I guess I won't be seeing you again-"
"Oh, you will." Sodo giggled to himself.
"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Rain reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment paper and stuck his hand out the window to hand it to me. "Papa wanted me to give that to you."
"Probably something very romantic but we've gotta go, right Rain?" Sodo tried to rush him along.
Rain pushed Sodo off of his arm. "Quit being a dick," he whispered to him. "He is right though, we've gotta be back before sunset. I'm sure we'll be seeing you soon."
Sodo gave me a quick smile and Rain quickly waved as they drove away, rolling up the driver side windows.
On this rare occasion, Sodo was right. I would be seeing them again soon, but not for the reasons I wanted.
YOU ARE READING
Hidden (Papa IV X Male)
Fanfiction*THIS STORY IS REMAINING UNFINISHED* An aspiring and burnt out writer finds inspiration for their new book in the old ghost stories of their hometown. Namely, a secret cult hiding out in the woods. In an attempt to search for this group, he is thrus...
