EVE
After eating the soup that Elijah had fed me, I felt better than I had in days. I understood the tea was supposed to settle my churning stomach, but it never did, despite the assurances both Richard and Elijah had given me. My head always felt fuzzy and I couldn’t sleep when I needed to, couldn’t wake up when I was walked outside for exercise. All I wanted to do was lie in bed and wait for my husband to come back to me.
I hated that he spent so much time at the parish without me, but he was back now, and he’d promised to relieve me of the final bit of this demon that plagued my body. I believed him, believed he had the power to deliver me to the divine like he claimed. I know he wanted me to sleep after walking from my room, but the food had warmed me and given me energy. Knowing he would return tonight to our bed, I wanted to be ready for him even when I was so thin I didn’t feel beautiful. So, after he left, I jumped in a shower and scrubbed away the dirt and grime I always felt all over me. I’d crawled back in bed and grabbed the Bible hoping the words given to us by the Heavenly Father would soothe me until he returned.
Not much time had passed before the door popped open and a familiar face peeked through. The smile that stretched my lips made my cheeks hurt for how brilliant it was. “Joshua.”
I hadn’t spent much time with my brother since marrying Elijah, and for the week I spent at the parish after running away, I’d feared he would have been killed for running me off on the night of the ceremony. However, Elijah promised me that no harm would ever come to my family – he loved me too much to let that happen – and he feared the same evil attacking me had gone after my brother. He told me that the men had prayed together night and day, and that my brother hadn’t been infected as badly as me as a result. And now, here he was, fresh faced and handsome, visiting me while my husband was away.
“Come in,” I said, excited and laughing, the motion of my body from the sound causing a small ache to spread across my bones. It didn’t matter. Not with Joshua here, not with my life returning to normal.
It wasn’t that I disliked the parish and the time I’d had alone with Elijah, it was simply that I had always felt so unwanted and alone.
“Hey, Eve. How are you feeling?”
He walked across the room on unhurried steps, his broad shoulders and chest covered by the white button up shirt all the men wore. His brown hair had grown out so that it dusted his shoulders. I liked the way the longer hair looked on him. It perfectly framed his face and highlighted his cheekbones and square jaw. With eyes as green as mine, he sat beside me, the light of the room glimmering against those emerald orbs.
“I’m better now that Elijah is back. I missed him so much.”
“I know.”
I’m sure I looked sickly, that my skin was still pale and my bones protruded so much they pressed against the skin, but I would improve once Elijah was finished pulling the sin from my body and replacing it with his love. He was too powerful, even for Satan himself, and in the coming days I knew he’d make good on his promise to heal me and protect me always.
“I was able to keep down food, for once. I feel like it’s been weeks since I last ate.”
Joshua’s smile didn’t reach his eyes, and if I wasn’t mistaken, a bare hint of guilt flickered behind his gaze. Reaching out, he took my hand in his, the warmth of his skin sinking into my own. The cold hadn’t bothered me until it was obvious in contrast to him.
“I’ve been thinking,” he murmured, his voice soft, but not a whisper. It was gentle, like the way a person would talk during a lazy spring day spent enjoying company beneath the warmth of the afternoon sun. “I’d like to take you on a trip in the next couple of days, just some brother and sister time. We haven’t had that in a while and I feel like we’re falling too far apart, that if we don’t make more time for each other, we’ll end up as strangers. Mom and Dad miss you, too, but they’ve been keeping their distance, giving you time to get to know your new husband.”
Heart swelling in my chest, it staggered me to think that I’d missed the company and love of my family, but hadn’t thought about how long it had been since I’d spent time with them. Elijah and I had been married for a few months now. I was certain he’d want me going back to the way my life had been before marrying him.
“I’d like that. Where would you like to go? There aren’t many places that are safe. Elijah told us that.”
A shadow crossed behind his eyes, his expression souring before the shy smile returned. “Maybe just for a walk? I want to talk to you about something, but I –“ His voice trailed off, his gaze shooting past my shoulder towards a window. It was night outside and I knew he couldn’t see much, but still he stared as if gathering his thoughts.
“I just want some alone time with you. To talk and catch up. I feel like when we’re with the family, we never really get to hang out like we used to.”
It wasn’t that I felt leery about my brother. Except for what happened the night of the ceremony, he’d never led me astray, but something about his poor mood tonight drew my concern. “Is everything okay, Joshua? Did something happen to upset you?”
Shaking his head, he squeezed my hand. His smile stretched wider and the shadow behind his eyes dissipated. “I just miss you. I feel like ever since you’ve become a married woman, I’ve lost touch with my sister. I’d like to change that.”
My smile matched his. “Okay.”
A noise from the hallway outside my door grabbed his attention, his body twisted so that he could glance back to see if someone was coming in. When the door never opened, his shoulders relaxed and he squeezed my hand again.
Eyes locking to mine, he flashed me another smile before he said, “I should probably get going. Elijah wanted me to see to the children tonight and help Richard keep them away from the sanctuary.”
That caught my attention. “What’s going on in the sanctuary? Is Elijah giving another sermon?”
Reaching up to rub at his neck, he shook his head. “No. Nothing like that. I think he needs to deal with a guest, or whatever. It’s nothing for you to be concerned about.”
I knew which guest he was talking about after having already been out there to see him. But I didn’t want to admit who the man was that Elijah had brought into the compound. I couldn’t bring myself to admit the harsh fact that I’d almost given up my purity to a monster. It was far too disturbing. Far too harrowing. Far too…everything…for me to speak the words and make them true. But after tonight, after Elijah vanquished that monster, I knew my life would improve. What was he doing that he demanded the family keep their distance? It worried me and I wanted to know more.
“Okay,” I answered, not letting on that I knew more than I was admitting.
The mattress dipped beneath me as Joshua leaned forward to plant a soft kiss on my forehead. He was right in what he said: we had become distant in the past few months, my attention so wrapped up in Elijah and the demons that I’d practically forgotten about the people who loved me. I would fix that as soon as I was well again. I’d show them how much I missed them and work to correct whatever distance had grown between us.
“I’m going to go, Eve. But I’ll be around the compound tomorrow. If you get out for some exercise, come look for me in the garden. I want to show you how well the vegetables are doing, I swear the tomatoes are the size of your head.”
Laughter bubbled up from my lungs. “I’ll do that.”
I watched him leave a few seconds later, his boots heavy against the ground as he walked away. The door closed quietly behind him, and while I should have taken the moment alone to try again to sleep, I couldn’t help wondering what was happening in the sanctuary. Picking up my Bible, I continued reading passages, but found my mind wandering off so much that I was reading the same sentence over and over again.
Giving up, I dropped the book on the table and sat up to throw my legs off the bed. The floor was cold against my bare feet and it took me some time to find my shoes, but after locating them in the closet beneath a dress that had fallen from the hanger, I set out in search of Elijah.
He would be mad that I ventured out again after he’d warned me off the first time, but I couldn’t help my curiosity. How he’d found the man in the first place was a mystery to me, one I’d ask him about when we had time to be alone again.
Pulling the door open, I peeked out to make sure nobody lingered in the halls. I hurried down making a right and a left before coming to the doors that led to the sanctuary. I heard three voices arguing, all low and angry, the words becoming louder and more urgent with each passing second. Fear shot through me to hear someone scream, the sound piercing and unholy.
Pushing the door open as slowly as possible, I hoped the hinges wouldn’t squeak and give me away. Not that it mattered much with the way that man was screaming, even the blare of an air-horn wouldn’t be heard.
I poked my head out just far enough to have a clear view of the large room, my view obscured by the benches and pews between where I stood and where the men were gathered. I couldn’t see the man from the side of the road, but I distinctly saw Elijah standing by the large crosses, as well as the town sheriff and Richard.
“How are we going to hide this once the poor bastard bleeds to death?” Richard asked, the low timber of his voice vibrating across the room. I swear if that man was an animal, he’d be a big ol’ grizzly bear given his size and the depth of his booming voice.
“We’re not,” Elijah answered.
Both the sheriff and Richard turned to look at him, their expressions shocked and questioning. “We can’t let the women and children see this. They can’t handle it.”
Elijah bent down to do something out of my sight, but the scream that tore across the room let me know there was somebody lying on the ground beneath them. Fear shot through my heart, both that I wouldn’t be able to handle whatever it was they were doing, and also that I’d get caught watching when I was supposed to be back in the room sleeping.
Despite my brain shouting at me to shut the door and go back to my room before anybody saw me, I couldn’t step away. I was too curious to know what they were doing, too damn scared to move and find out later the hard way. If I learned anything in the months I’d spent as Elijah’s wife, it was that secrets and surprises would hurt me more than anything else.
I didn’t understand why he kept so much from me, as if I were a weak little woman who couldn’t handle the truth that, sometimes, he had to destroy the evil infecting this town.
Tired of being alone and stuck in a room waiting for him, I stayed by that door and watching, hoping with everything I had that he wouldn’t turn around and notice I could see what he was doing.