Author's Note: This one is slow. 20,000 words before first kiss, slow.
Trigger Warning: This one touches on cults and faith, and brings a healthy dose of experience with it. If either are sensitive, run the other way.
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"Luc speaking." He picked up the phone.
"Hi, um... You probably don't remember me, but I'm Alice. We met maybe ten years ago? Um... I'm your Uncle Todd's kid." A nervous voice came down the line.
Luca frowned and sat on the arm of his couch, thinking, "Huh. Okay. How can I help, Alice?"
"So... Do you remember my dad being... Different?"
He winced, not wanting to insult her. "The church."
"Cult. You can call it a cult." Alice said with relief, "Even I thought it was weird and I was a kid when mum and dad got sucked into it. Anyways... Um... Cult is gone, now. The police sort of... Rounded people up. People got arrested."
"Oh." Luca had no idea where this was going or why she'd chosen to call him about it.
Alice swallowed nervously, "Mum and Dad got arrested, too. They weren't exactly... Um... Happy. To see the police. But... Um... I'm technically an adult, what with being nineteen so..."
"You're on your own. Screwed over, twice." He realised, "If you want a place to stay, then sure. You can crash at mine until you sort things out. Need me to come pick you up?"
She burst into tears, "Really? You don't even know me. You're the fifth person I've tried to call. And you're just... Okay with this?"
"Scratch that. I'm coming to pick you up, now." Luc replied, "Give me an address?"
He remembered exactly nothing about Alice. They'd both been kids when they met, and he couldn't even remember it. He knew her name, vaguely, and he certainly remembered the grand speech her dad had given about being enlightened and so the rest of the family could go suck a dick.
The cult... Luca couldn't imagine growing up in it.
So far as he remembered, there was no electricity, which also meant no Internet, no social media, and a complete lack of awareness of what was going on in the outside world. He was pretty sure newspapers were banned, too.
The cult did use tractors to grow their own food, so some power was apparently okay. Most of them worked on a self-sustaining farm, which didn't sound like the worst thing in the world, but Luc had to wonder how manual everything they did was.
There were no outside visitors. None. He had to assume that was because they might bring different ideas, which was always a no-no when you were busy trying to brainwash everyone into thinking that you were a god among men.
Which brought him around to the central figure of the cult.
Some backwards ass hipster who claimed to have died, ascended to Heaven and then returned of his own free will. He had said cutting your hair was sinful because your soul lived in your DNA and DNA was in your hair.
Not someone with an extensive scientific education.
Luc didn't really remember much apart from that, he hadn't paid any attention back then. He wondered about how messed up Alice was going to be, as he stopped at a drivethrough to get them both a coffee.
He did have second thoughts, as he waited at the pickup window. She might never have tasted coffee. Might even think he'd tried to poison her, in that case. Probably not the best drink to get someone recently freed from a psychotic cult, but he was way out of his depth.
He didn't even know what she was going to look like. Most of the family were blondes, and he thought he could remember her being a blonde... But that was a damned generic description.
She'd sounded scared, and alone.
The pickup address was a police station according to the GPS, which made sense. It did make it feel less likely to turn out to be a scam, which Luc unfortunately had to maybe consider was a possibility.
However, if it was at a police station, and she really had been raised by someone telling her how evil the outside world was, then the station was probably going to freak her out. They freaked out normal people who had to hang around in them.
Last time Luc had stepped foot in a police station was after some asshole had punched his little sister, and he was making certain that she tried to get some help, instead of forgiving the bastard.
Hadn't been that helpful. They'd basically been told to either get over it or move her out, no one was going to help. Going straight to LegalAide was a better option. They had a intervention order by the end of day. Lesson learnt... One he hoped he'd never need to know, again.
He parked the car across the road from the station, and as he got out, he saw Alice.
She had the distinct family look to her, even if she wasn't someone he knew by sight. She was blonde, like he'd expected. However, even sitting on the steps with her head in her hands, he could tell her braided ponytail was practically ankle length.
She was balling her eyes out, and shivering. A female police officer was standing beside her, looking both gruff and bored. Sending strong do-not-approach vibes.
Luc crossed the street, holding both coffees. He smiled nervously as he approached, "Alice?"
Her head jerked up, showing wide green eyes, and she stood up. She had her arms crossed, rubbing at one of her elbows. She was wearing something nobody from this century would normally, a plain brown dress with a hood on it, like some kind of... Monk's outfit.
The officer stepped between them, "And who are you?"
"Eh... Luc?" He said nervously.
"Got any I.D?"
"Sure..." He said nervously, looking around before giving up and putting the drinks on the ground so he could pull out his wallet, and then his driver's license.
The officer checked it over and then relaxed, "Sorry about that, Luca. We've had people from the church trying to pick up the members."
"Geeze." He shook his head, "Can't just let it go, can they?"
He picked up the drinks again and smiled nervously, "Hey, Alice. So... Not really sure what to say... Um... Coping?"
"Nope." She laughed, tears running down her cheeks. She stepped towards him, taking his arm and smiling at the officer. "I'll go with him, now."
"Only if that's what you want." The officer said cautiously.
Alice shrugged, "He's family. The only family that responded. So... Yeah."
"Call us. If anything happens. Or if you get too uncomfortable. Call." The officer said firmly, and then produced a business card and handed it to Luc. "You, as well."
Alice nodded, and held his arm tighter, "Um..."
"This is for you." He passed her a drink, "I don't know if you even like coffee, but it's a cappuccino and... Do you know what that is?"
"Mmm." She nodded, taking it gratefully, "Father Thomas used to have one of his wives make him one, every Sunday. One of them let me taste some, once."
Luc processed that slowly, and then waved, "Um... My car? I guess we need to get you a few things before we head home, if you're up to it. Toothbrush, hairbrush, that kind of thing."
"Toiletries? Sure." She nodded, as they crossed the road, waving to the officer as she did, "Also... Um... I don't have a clue what things cost... But... Could we... Get me something else to wear?"
He nodded casually, "Yeah, sure. We can grab you a few outfits."
They got into the car, and Alice belted in awkwardly, looking distinctly uncomfortable with the sash going across her chest. She kept touching it, tugging at it.
Luc drove in silence for a little bit, before speaking, "So... It'll take some time to adjust. For both of us. If I do something that makes you uncomfortable, or you don't understand something, tell me. We can talk things through. I'll try my best not to get annoyed or whatever. Always. About anything."
"Father Thomas said that it was a woman's role to be silent and do what her husband wants." Alice whispered, turning her head to look out the window, "I... I know that's wrong... But it's a habit at this point. I don't know if I can speak up. So... You might have to try and guess, until I get used to this... I know that's asking too much! But it's just -"
"Okay. I'll try and watch for it."
She turned her head and stared at him, "Really? You're just okay with this?"
"I'm okay with none of this. I want to turn the car around, find your Father Thomas, and knock his teeth out of his skull for fucking with you." Luc shook his head, "But... You? Like you said. We're family. And family is supposed to take care of each other."
Alice smiled sadly, "Wow. I think I love you."
"So... I think the things you might maybe want... Correct me if I get it wrong or anything seems too hard to do, are..." Luc thought for a moment, "Toiletries, wardrobe, um... A haircut? Food for dinner. Oh. Sensitive topic... Do you have spare underwear? I can give you some cash for that and go hide somewhere else whilst you get some."
She laughed nervously, "Okay. Um... Sounds good? Mostly? I've never had a haircut. Well, not that I can remember. And getting one is going to... Feel icky. So..."
"Only suggested it because it might help you feel more free. Yourself. Not controlled by any of the old rules. I can be nearby whilst it happens." Luc shrugged casually, "I wouldn't suggest anything but a trim to start with. If you cut it off, it takes a while to grow back, and a lot of girls would actually be jealous of your hair. "
"Really?" She said brightly, "What about... Um... Boys?"
Luc shrugged, "Uh... Probably not jealous. I want to say a lot of guys would find it attractive. That's a compliment. But... Does it feel like one?"
"Yes." Alice said shyly, "Um... Like I kinda said before... A woman is supposed to make her husband happy. I know that's wrong, but I don't know what's right... So it makes me feel happy that a boy would like my hair."
"I think most girls are happy to be told that they're sexy, if they're told the right way. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Cute. Those things are pretty universal, even in weird cults." Luc said slowly, "I don't think it implies marriage, or even that someone is into someone else. You can acknowledge beauty without being a creep, but it can be harder, depending on the context."
"Beautiful." Alice whispered, "I... I like that. Not sexy. That word makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong."
