BIRDIE ―
“i knew it.” an educated guess as it were, only half contributed to with her own research. it did help to know what she was looking for, but she’d also been fine with letting nik lead the way. it was easy to trust, especially those who weren’t out to hurt. she hopped out of the car and took in the vista, dilapidated church waiting for something to happen to it. “a classic!” she clapped her hands together, taking it as the beginning of an adventure. why not, if they drove all the way out here it didn’t have to be an easy find. “now—what if this is just the first clue.” as if she was taking nancy drew notes, hoping to get to the bottom of some mystery. in reality, she was fine with just seeing a finished cole, museums would pay for that.
the church looked run down even from a distance, crumbling at the edges, the door boarded up with plywood boards. abandon all hope ye who enter here. oh the beauty of modern ingenuity. if only the front door were the only way to gain access to a building. “his home church is going to need a back door.”
“It could be, I suppose.” Nikolai knew Birdie was there for the excitement, and he wanted to provide that -- what kind of friend would he be, if he dragged her out to simply collect a dusty old painting? Yet he didn’t want to linger, staring up at the ivy-covered stained-glass windows, anticipation and apprehension pooling in his stomach. It looked all too similar to that fateful ruin, tucked away in a forest; in fact, the only missing detail was the trees, the partially-collapsed roof full of roosting birds. “A strange kind of treasure hunt, if it isn’t here.” Like The Revival, the painting that had been occupying most of his mind.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Nikolai hoped Birdie hadn’t noticed how they were shaking. There wasn’t time for his weakness; he began to walk over, scanning the building for alternate entrances. “We could try the vestry, the doors are usually small enough to go unnoticed. Or we could shove you in there --” he pointed to a tiny hole in one of the windows, shooting her a sly grin. “I think you’d fit.”













