NaNo 22 Day One: What if?

What if the church across the street is not what it seems? What if there is something else going on there? What if children are being taken away from their families, or maybe under the auspices of keeping them out of foster care? The church will “give them a home,” which, of course, sounds as if it is an altruistic idea. But it is not, of course.
Is it overdone? That is my only concern. A church being in the wrong, I mean. It seems like there should be some cult type activity, but that feels trite. I need to find a way for it to not be cliché.
So what if? What if the the nuns are taking only girls? What if they are taking boys and girls and keeping them in the basement of the church? What would the purpose be?
What if? What if they are simply kept in deplorable conditions? What if they are being kept this way because they come from broken homes, from families with issues – maybe one of their parents is in jail or prison. Maybe one of their parents, or even both, are addicted to drugs or have gotten into some other form of trouble with the law. For some reason the children have been taken from their parents. Rather than see the children go into the foster care system, the church offers up their “services” to care for the children. But “care” is far from what they do….
This is one of the “less cliché” ideas I have had. But I do like thinking about – what if they are aliens? Why would they be here? What do they want? What is the end game? But it may be a little late in the game to flesh that all out.
I think I will stay with the What If? Of the nuns taking children from broken home under the auspices of keeping them out of foster care. They feel they need to be sure the children are “clean” and repent for the sins of their parents, essentially. However, their treatment of the children is far from putting them on the right path, and it is far from nurturing.