Bruised Knuckles and Empty Lies

Chapter 4

Morgan's POV

    Pulling into the church parking lot, I began to honestly ask myself whether or not I wanted to go inside. Lately, my faith has been pretty touch-and-go, but I needed to go back. It's now or never. I turned off the ignition and slid out of my car, pocketing my keys and making my way inside.
    It was almost empty, except for a few older women praying. I sat down in the very last pew furthest away from the altar. Looking around, I'm pretty sure I was the only dude in here. Everyone here was over sixty, too. Then, my eyes landed on a tiny girl with wavy brown hair pulled up in a ponytail. It couldn't be...was it? No, she's way shorter than Alex. But...I had to go see. As quietly as I could, I stood up and walked over to the girl. When I got closer, I knew it had to be her. I passed her and glanced down, noticing that instead of kneeling on the kneeler, she was kneeling on the hard linoleum floor. That explains why she seemed so much shorter, but why was she doing this to herself? That had to hurt like hell.
    I sat down in the pew in front of her, a foot or two to the side of her.
    "I didn't know you were religious," I mentioned, keeping my head straight forward.
    "I didn't know you were a stalker," she retorted. I smiled and shook my head. Damn, this kid's clever. "And I'm not. Religious, I mean."
    "You know, you're gonna end up with bruised knees from all this kneeling. Have you tried the kneelers? I heard they help with that," I teased. She shifted a little, and in my peripherals, I could see her wince a little.
    "Can't. I got eyes on me." I frowned.
    "Is this some kind of sick punishment or something?"
    "It's something," she replied.
    "Where're your foster parents? I'd like to have a chat with them." I'm starting to get angry, but I didn't want Alex to know in case she shuts down.
    "Maribeth's out shopping, and Dave's on some golf course."
    "So you're here alone?"
    "Nah, Joanna back there's keeping an eye on me until...hey, what time is it?"
    I checked my watch. "6:01."
    "Ouch, looks like Jesus boy's a little late," she replied, her words dripping with venom. Now it was my turn to roll my eyes.
    "They making you go to confession or something?" She hesitated, then took a breath to answer me, but she never got the chance. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an older woman grab Alex by the wrist and pull Alex behind her. Alex sucked in a painful breath the second she was pulled out of the way.
    I stood up and spun around, meeting eyes with the angriest old woman I've ever met.
    "Who are you, and why do you think you can talk to Alexis?" the old woman snapped.
    "Ma'am I'm sorry to bother the both of you-"
    "As you should be! What's so important that you had to interrupt this poor girl's reflection time?" Alex looked over at me apologetically.
    "Look, ma'am, I'm sorry, I didn't-"
    "Is there a problem?" a male voice interrupted. A priest stood in front of us, and suddenly, I felt like my mom just yelled at me in church.
    "I'm taking care of it, Father, don't you worry," Joanna insisted. The priest eyed me suspiciously and I couldn't tell if it was because he's racist or if it's a small parish and he doesn't know me.
    "Alright. Alexis, I'm ready whenever you are," he smiled at her. I turned my focus back to Alex who wouldn't meet my eyes. Instead, she grabbed her bag from the pew, and she turned and followed the priest to the back. The second he closed the door behind them, Joanna went off on me again.
    "What could possibly be more important than her repentance? Don't you think she has a right to work hard to get into Heaven?" I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere with her, so I held up my FBI badge, thanking whoever was out there that I left it in my jacket. The woman stopped, and her eyes widened before she became even angrier. "We are godly people! I don't know how you barbarians do in the government, but we want none of that here!"
    "Ma'am, I was just hoping to ask Alex, Alexis, a few questions," I tried to explain.
    "She doesn't need questions, she needs healing, and you interrupted that!" A quiet thump echoed through the church, followed by a soft cry of pain.
    "Hey, what the hell is going on in there?" I didn't even try to keep my voice down. I was downright pissed. Joanna stood in my way, not letting me go check to see what was going on.
    "You need to leave right now, or I'll call the police on account of attempted assault," she demanded. In that moment, I felt helpless. She was an old white lady, and I was a fit black guy. We all know how that accusation would go down. I hesitated before shoving my badge back into my pocket, staring her down, and storming out of the church.

A/N: sorry for the short chapter! Let me know how you think of it so far :)