Post by Church on Oct 26, 2021 20:45:40 GMT -6
The ocean continued its gentle tango with the ship that rested upon its waves. Church sat at the end of his cot, eyes trained forward at a crack in the drywall separating his room from a hallway outside. It wasn’t steel bars, but it certainly felt like a prison nonetheless.
Memories danced in his head of brief moments working at the casino. He hadn’t felt that “home” in quite some time. Those memories were merely blurs, as the ones that always took over his internal reel were those of his children. He could see their faces, as if they were seated right in front of him. Their voices saying “Daddy” came from the walls. He shook his head a bit, clearing the visions as he rubbed at his neck, still feeling newly-freed from the collar that had been a fixture for months. He got up quickly, having to crane his neck a bit in the small room, and walked out into the hallway.
Atleast there was a sector of the boat not completely locked down by a security force. False freedom. Church got slapped in the face by fresh air as he walked up several steps that brought his head up into open air. He closed his eyes and let the breeze distract his focus.
Something had changed in him. This was a man that always gave off such intimidating confidence. An infallible nature. But ever since he had been taken captive by BPW itself after “winning” their World Title and “winning” the Million Dollar Prize, he did not give off that same energy. For the first time in his life, the wild dog had been caged. Out-smarted. He was often a man of many solutions, finally given a problem he couldn’t solve.
He opened his eyes, slowly. His eyes drifted upward, when a voice from behind him cause his head to spin with such speed he almost gave himself whiplash.
“...Church.”
“Holy...fuckin’ shit.” he said on soft breath, processing the fact that this wasn’t just a memory dancing in his head. It was Amanda Porter, standing there in the hallway. Church slowly stepped forward, eyes squinting with confusion, before both of them leaped forward at the same time, clutching each other tight in a hug.
“What the fu-...how the…?” Church couldn’t find words for the moment. He hadn’t needed to find words for quite some time, making it even harder.
“You’re not allowed to be here! What are you doing?” A bit of worry swept over him, as he grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her into his room, closing the door behind them.
“I know- I don’t have a passport.”
Silence for a moment as the two lock eyes, straight faced. Church slowly nods.
“Yeah, me neither…”
A laugh sneaks through his nose, the two beginning to chuckle together as Church sits back down on the cot, Amanda right by his side. It was the first time Church had laughed in months.
“How the fuck are you here? We’ve been on this goddamn for weeks! If you tell me you dropped from a plane or some shit…”
“I’ve been on the boat since Panama, Blackwater and I have been in contact while you were missing. Trying to find you, trying to find out what the hell they did to you. Ahead of the fight in the Canal, he snuck me onto the boat at my request. We were determined to save you.”
“Blackwater…” Church says his name softly, shaking his head side to side with a lack of surprise in the man’s helpful deeds.
“His plan all along was to manage to beat you for their Title, with the anticipation of them taking that collar off of you and putting it on him. All went according to plan until…”
“The train left the station,” Church finishes the thought sarcastically, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling. “And we’re stuck all over again.”
Amanda places her hand firmly on top of Church’s, their fingers finding each other to lock hold.
“Tell me about the collar. What the hell did they do to you? Was it a shock collar?”
“It was indeed a shock collar. Set to just the right voltage to knock the brain out without risk of killing the person wearing it, or atleast, not killing me. It read my fuckin’ pulse. My heart rate controlled it. So it wasn’t even just the man with the button getting to call the shots, it was my own body. If my heartrate got above a certain level, zap. No warning shot. Darkness. Instant. Every time. I couldn’t even tell you what it felt like, I can just tell you that I had to do everything in my power to keep myself fuckin’ docile to stay conscious.” Amanda stares him in the eyes as he speaks, a combination of concern and rage boiling behind her pupils.
“That piece of shit Conrad, we have to take him down once and for all”
“It wasn’t Dukes…” Church quips.
“It...whatd’ya mean it wasn’t Dukes?”
“There was another man. Dukes was in charge of all of it, ofcourse, he’s in charge of everything, but there was another man who was in charge of me ‘as a prisoner’. Once I was his, he called the shots. Collar and all.”
“Who the fuck was he? Who is he?”
“I don’t know. I was in his cell for 2 months, and I don’t know.” Church’s words drop like stone. Again, the dejected nature we’ve never seen from him.
“We owe alot to Blackwater, Church.”
“That we do.”
“It took some real convincing for him to get me on this boat.”
“I’m sure it did. It’s not safe for you here.”
“Safer than the pit of hellfire Vegas became.”
“So you fled Vegas and looked for salvation at a boat stuck on the Panama Canal.”
Amanda shrugs, pursing her lips.
“Sorry, you’re stuck with me.” Church smirked a bit, wrapped his large arm around her shoulders. A few moments of silence pass.
“What do we do now?” Church asks, Amanda once again showing surprise.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you ask that before. You’re supposed to be the one with the answers.” She leans her head into his shoulder as she speaks.
“You’ve got to just keep fighting. No other option right now. We’ll get our opening. You. L.A. The others who want out of this godforsaken BPW trap. There will be an opening, but until then you’ve just gotta keep busting lips and doing what you do best.”
Church visibly responds to Amanda hyping him up, his eyebrows lowering a bit.
“Well, I’ve spent all this time with that fucking collar around my neck. Like a neutered dog. Unfortunately for Lazaro Vicente, I’ve got my balls back.”
“You mean me?”
Church laughs softly.
“You’re right. There’s no other option right now. Just gotta keep fighting.”
“Keep fighting.”
“And wait for the opening. L.A. and I will find it together. I owe that man more than a handshake, he was legitimately trying to save my life by winning that title match.”
“Speakin’ of L.A. Blackwater...hey Church?”
“Yeah?”
“How’d it feel to finally lose?”
He tosses her back onto the bed and rolls his weight over onto her.
*Credit to J.C./McManus for the banner*