Adam and Eve [/color]- (Quix and Aurelia)]
"I'm ready whenever you are, Adam."
As usual, they were on the same wavelength with the masks. "Yes, let's leave." Noting the assuredness in her voice, Adam realised that his sister might not only be referring to leaving the trailer but confirming that she was ready for it all. Genuinely prepared to face God in the final battle between Good and Evil where he and Evie were, and had always been, the Good.
He grasped her hand tightly when they exited. As Eve cried, Adam bit back tears of his own, however, despite the certainty that they'd never return to the only real sanctuary that he and Eve had ever known, he resisted the temptation to glance back and say his goodbyes. Petrified that in doing so, he'd turn into a pillar of salt.
With the first rays of the sun visible on the horizon and the storm abating, they skirted the muddy puddles left on the ground as best they could and walked to the store in mutually contemplative silence.
Adam was struck speechless when greeted by Betty, but thankfully Eve was able to muster up a response. Then, she too became lost for words. He glanced at his sister, swallowed a lump in his throat, pressed his palm to the small of her back and ushered her through the door Betty's husband opened after she'd invited them inside. Guilt almost overwhelmed him at the elderly woman's comment on them looking ready to leave town. How would the couple manage without his and Eve's help?
"Sssh, honey, let them tell us on their terms." Tall, stocky and blessed with handsomely craggy features, Jerry was a solemn man who seldom uttered more than a few words, but what he did say was always worth listening to. He patted his wife on the shoulder after they'd entered the store, and motioned for Adam and Eve to wait while he poured coffee.
Adam stood next to Eve, licking his lips and shuffling his feet. The wait seemed interminable, although it was only mere seconds before Jerry placed a steaming mug in his hand. Adam's trembling caused hot liquid to spill over the rim. "Calm down, boy, it's never as bad as it seems." Jerry squeezed his arm, placed Eve's coffee on a bench next to her and returned to his wife.
Mustering his courage, but unable to meet the curious gaze of the couple, Adam inhaled. Then it all spilled from his lips in a torrent. "I'm sorry, we have an important secret mission, and if we don't leave now, God's going to kill you all and destroy the whole town. I know we're leaving you shorthand in the store, but we have wages owing, that should cover any expenses." Pausing to catch his breath, and clutching onto his sister for support, his speech slowed when he went on. "I'm sorry we can't tell you more, but it's for the best. You've been like the proper Mother and Father to us that we never had, we love you so much."
After he'd finished, eyes watering and lip quivering, Adam dared to look directly at Jerry and Betty. The couple, sympathy writ on their faces, exchanged a glance before Jerry replied. "You know what Betty said when she first laid eyes on the two of you?" The man raised a brow, draped an arm over his wife's shoulders and drew her close. "She said you had an aura, that you were born to make a difference, but that you were also birds with broken wings. Wanting to soar, but too hurting inside to be able to fly."
Betty held back a sob as Jerry continued; the longest speech Adam had ever heard him make. "We've known this day would arrive, both dreading and hoping for it at the same time. We won't pry into who or what created the hurt, and we're not certain we want to know, but if this mission helps you to heal and allows you to soar, to realise your potential, you have no choice. Rest assured, we'll get by, and you're doing us no wrong. We love you as our own kin, don't we, honey?"
Wiping away tears that stained her cheeks with the back of a hand, Betty sniffled and forced a smile of agreement. Then she escaped Jerry's embrace, mastering the ability to put on a brave face that all strong women possess, to address Adam and Eve. "Have you eaten? I'll fix sandwiches and a thermos of coffee. You can't travel without sustenance." If she busied herself, she could avoid thinking about the hole that their absence would leave in her heart. Without awaiting a response she scurried from the room before her facade crumbled.
Jerry followed Bett's departure with an expression of concern that bespoke of his adoration for the woman, then pushed the door closed behind her and focused on the siblings. "She'll be okay. Now, this mission is dangerous?" His gaze bore into Adam.
Adam could only squeak out a yes, and almost crushed the bones in Eve's fingers by the force with which he clamped them.
"Well, then." The store owner slipped a set of keys from his pocket and walked across to open the wall safe. Jerry reached inside, past the cheque-books and previous day's takings, into its furthest depths. Metal clanked, and when he retracted his arm, he held a double-barrel sawn-off shotgun and a box of shells "Take this. Simply load, point and pull the trigger, it'll blow the head right off anyone within a twenty-foot radius. It can't be traced back to me, and don't place yourself in perilous situations on purpose, but don't be afraid to use it either. Anyone who did whatever they did to you two won't be a loss if they ain't no longer walking the Earth."
Adam shivered. Although remaining friendly and paternal, a subtle shift in Jerry's demeanour hinted at unrevealed secrets and concealed depths of experience. He understood the siblings completely.
"Hide it before Betty returns."
Tongue-tied again, Adam instinctively reached out to grasp the weapon, slung the canvas bag off his shoulders and fumbled to stuff it in under the clothes.
Jerry turned to Evie. "If you're looking for transport, the rust-bucket lying in the field outside still runs. It's not the most luxurious ride, but somehow I think that'd be the least of your concerns. Not registered neither, but a resourceful young lady could swap plates with a vehicle that is once she got down the highway a bit."
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