Hi all! So, this fanfic is just super fun and easy to write. I am having a blast! I hope you all are enjoying the story too! AS for posting... I'm thinking I'm going to stick posting 3 chapters at a time. It takes a little longer to write like that, but then ya'll get a bigger chunk to read. Let me know what you think! Or if you have some ideas for the upcoming chapters. I love being inspired by others :).

John

She kept me at an arm's length...and I didn't know how to get around it. There wasn't an exact time limit for when we would have to fall in love...but I hoped we would at least be able to have a conversation by now. Joseph knew more about my house guest than I did...but he insisted that everything Eva had told him had been a "confession" of sorts. He would not betray her trust by telling me what was said. I didn't have anything in common with this lady. She seemed content to just...wander around the encampment...on occasion, I would find her reading one of my old law books...but otherwise, I had no clue how she could stand to be so damn quiet all the time.

Faith kept visiting...saying she wanted time to bond with her new "sister", but I knew better than that. She would Bliss her out of her fucking mind and I wouldn't let that happen. Joseph told me that it was important for Evangeline to choose me...to choose us. He wanted her to say "yes" without any form of harsh influence. I wasn't equipped for that...but it only made sense that God would have chosen me for it.

We had church today...and I was slightly...apprehensive. Although Evangeline was accepted at the Lodge as the mother of New Eden...other members weren't as trusting. I couldn't blame them. Evangeline was supposed to bring the second coming with her...but so far I had yet to see a shred of wrath emanate from her. I still had yet to uncover what her sin was...and those within our congregation knew that wasn't the norm. Even the Father had sins to be freed from.

I leaned against the doorframe to her room as she proceeded to braid her hair. She wasn't...the typical type of beauty I was used to seeing. Eva was...wholesome? I didn't know how to describe it. There was something gentle about her that made others in the congregation drawn to her…I wasn't sure how long it would take for her to pull the rest of us in.

"...did you need something?"

I looked up suddenly and cleared my throat.

"Just...making sure you are ready?"

A nod was what I received and I moved to the side so she could walk ahead of me towards the jeep. There were followers outside waiting for us, only rather than seeking an audience with myself...they were approaching Eva. They were all calling her "the mother"...some even reaching forward to hold her hand...still I could see that Evangeline was starting to panic. She took a step back and were I not right behind her, she would have tripped over the front step.

"Ya'll are going to be late for service," I announced, keeping a hand protectively clasped around her forearm. "You can see "mother" there...get going."

And like rats, they dispersed and we were able to get into the car. I could feel her pulse racing through the grip I had on her wrist...I looked over at her and frowned as I realized all the color had drained out of her face.

"Hey…"I said, trying my best to come off as sympathetic. "It's okay...they are just...they've waited a long time for you to arrive."

She wouldn't look at me, but I heard the shudder as she took her next breath. It was strange...I had seen plenty of the sinner's cry...but somehow this felt different. I felt...sorry for her. It was easy for me to gripe about how this path God gave me was less than ideal...but I believed there was an actual God with a path to follow. I had faith. Evangeline didn't have any of that...and in a weird way, it made me sad for her. To her...it was man forcing these decisions upon her...

"I...I'm not "the mother"," she choked out, as we began to get closer to the church. "I...I don't want your people...looking at me like...like I'm this..."

I parked the car a decent distance away from the building, giving Evangeline the privacy she needed to collect herself. I doubt it would be a good look if I brought her to Joseph while she was in tears. She cried for some time...until finally the only sound coming from her was a couple of whimpers. I handed her a tissue and a bottle of water I had thrown on the backseat yesterday.

"I-If you don't want this…" she sniffed. "Then why are you...going along with it?"

Her gaze was on me now, and I felt like a deer in headlights. She wanted me to prove my faith…but that went against faith as a principle. The truth was that I didn't know for sure if Joseph was right...but I had faith that he was. The world was coming to an end...we had done so much evil to it, so many horrible things...it surprised most of us it had taken this long. I wanted to be a part of the new world we built...a part of something that would protect others that couldn't protect themselves. I wanted to prevent parents like mine from ever existing again.

"It's God's plan…." I said. "I know that isn't what you want me to say...but...I know that's true. You can spend your life fighting it, Eva...but you either flow with the river or get crushed by the current."

I could see Joseph's silhouette at the church's front door and took that as our cue to cut this little heart-to-heart short. I offered my arm to her as I opened the passenger side door for her and it was to my great surprise that she accepted it.

It was always hot in the church...but today it felt particularly brutal...even I was sweating bullets as Joseph read through his sermon. I looked over at Eva, who was sitting quietly beside me. She looked tired, but otherwise, she seemed to be listening to Joseph intently. It wasn't a typical sermon...now that Evangeline was amongst the congregation, Joseph prophesied that more would come and try and destroy all that had been built. That they would not only seek to destroy them all but would also seek to steal the mother from them as well.

"We have to stand firm against our enemies, my children," he continued. "Because we know what is at stake should we fail...we know that we are the only ones that can bring us into the new world… we must stay strong in the face of our those that wish to do us harm...:"

I could see Joseph's gaze transition from the crowd to a single person. I turned to see who it was exactly, but before I could several members of the congregation had already dragged him out from the pews. I moved from my seat to stand beside Joseph. Jacob rifled through the struggling man's pockets and tossed a camera my way.

"Another one…" I grumbled, putting the camera in my jacket pocket. "Unbelievable."

"See?" Joseph said. "Was I not telling the truth? A snake in the grass that was poised to strike and take with him what is most precious to us."

I had hoped Joseph thumbing the last defector's eyes out had been enough of a deterrent, but clearly, I stood corrected. His eyes fell onto Evangeline and immediately I felt a slow-burning rage begin to boil my blood. Why was he looking at her like that?

"H-Help me, Eva!" he croaked. "Y-you can't just...let them do this!"

Joseph closed his bible with a snap and brought the hardcover straight across the man's head. He fell to the side and I frowned as Evangeline quickly got to her knees to help the idiot. Her hands were trembling as she tried to help him, sit back up...but Jacob yanked her away. The sinner had to be punished...and she could not get in the middle of that.

"Don't hurt him!" she shouted. "You said...we were supposed to LOVE the sinners! This isn't love!"

Her cries cut through the musty air of the church...and I watched as Joseph's hand faltered before he brought the bible back down on the injured man's head. This time it was enough to knock him out. I expected Joseph to execute him right then and there...but he didn't. Instead, he knelt down and whispered to the unconscious form, "The mother of New Eden just saved your life, my son. Be grateful she is more merciful than I."

He turned to Jacob and motioned with his head for him and the other followers to take their fellow parishioner out to be dealt with at a later date. No doubt he would end up in my office sooner or later...and after he called Evangeline like that...I was very eager to see him.

I didn't want to take Evangeline back to the compound right away. She was a mess...trembling and crying...I was worried about what the others would think of her if I delivered her to them like this. A couple of times I had to pull over because she said she felt like she was going to be sick. I remember this reaction...I had it the first time I watched a punishment...back when I was uncertain of my place within the church. You got used to it after a while...but part of me kind of hoped Eva wouldn't. Her genuine innocence was almost...endearing. And unlike Faith's it was genuine. Evangeline had a bleeding heart like no other. Now we just needed to make sure she didn't bleed out before the Collapse.

I took the scenic route...cracking the windows so fresh air flooded the car. It was getting dark out and the hum of cicadas buzzed by as we passed. Eventually, she seemed to calm down...I gave her another bottle of water and we sat in the jeep for a couple of minutes in silence.

"...did they hurt you like that?" she whispered.

I took a deep breath and after what felt like an eternity...I nodded. I had to lead by example...so when I forced everyone else to display their sins, Joseph and Jacob helped me show mine. God, it had fucking hurt...but once it was done...I felt so free, so liberated from my past life...and I wanted everyone else to feel that. To feel worthy of our new world. What happened next shook me to my core… she took my hand...and in a sort of comforting gesture, she squeezed it. I didn't know what to do...did she feel bad for me? I had chosen this path. I yanked my hand back.

"I don't need your pity…" I hissed.

"I wasn't giving you pity. I was showing you some empathy...maybe give it a try sometime, dickhead."

She turned away from me and clasped her hands together in her lap. I grumbled under my breath as I threw the car into reverse and began the trip back home. It was quiet...and admittedly I felt bad for how I had responded to Evangeline's gesture. As I parked the jeep in front of the lodge...I touched her shoulder to stop her.

"Hey...look...I'm sorry," I sighed. "For how I acted? I'm not used to people like you."

"Like me?"

"You just aren't what I expected."

I wasn't making sense but I could see the smallest of smiles grace her lips. Her face looked different when she was smiling. Somehow she was even prettier and I could see freckles on the bridge of her nose. I realized we were staring at each other for a bit too long and cleared my throat.

"Um...you should go to bed. I have a baptism to give tonight...I'll see you in the morning."

I unlocked her door and watched to make sure she made it inside before I left to take care of my own ministry duties.

(I HOPE YA'LL ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER! PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YA THINK :D)