Ruby had taken to sitting in a rocking chair at night, just like Sister Abigail had. Patrick would be finishing up chores around the place, and she would watch him outside of her window. Now on the second floor, in a larger bed she shared with him, Patrick and Ruby were married in all but paper. Together for a couple of years now, they ran the compound as a smooth, single unit. Almost married life suited Ruby, and she sat in her chair, rocking the hours away until nightfall. The night was when Patrick would pick her up, and lay her down on the bed. They would make love, slowly, unhurriedly, fastidiously. Over and over Ruby would tell herself that this is what she wanted the whole time. Yes. This, and nothing else. Some nights she would have to bury her tears in the pillow. She was grateful for her lover, and grateful for the much needed stability, yet, she wondered. Oh, how she would wonder sometimes what could have been. She would brush the thoughts, and tears away like cobwebs in her mind. She must be content.

Bray found out about the pairing soon after they started being together. The first time back after hearing about it, he had looked at Ruby like she had betrayed him. She stood her ground, and bore her eyes right back into his. He could not play the victim, and not be a hypocrite. Who abandoned who? His eyes moved away finally. He knew she was his servant, and would always be loyal, but there were some things he could not command her on. Like love, and the need to have someone. Bray went to his temple, the grave of Abby, and sat in her chair. He stared down at her grave, and sighed.

"Why, Abby? Why did it come to this?"

Bray found Ruby in her rocking chair the next day. Bray shivered at how much like Abigail Ruby had become. She wore a simple shawl around her shoulders, and rocked gently back and forth, peering out at whatever was worth looking at. Bray cleared his throat.

"Come in, master Bray." Ruby had turned her head, and inclined it in a small gesture of respect. Bray moved into Ruby's room, and had thought about sitting on the edge of the bed, until he thought of what was probably happening on it. Quickly, he scanned the room for another chair. One sat in the corner, next to the window. Perfect. He sat himself down, crossed his legs, and folded his hands onto his lap.

"There needs to be words between us, Sister Ruby." Ruby said nothing. She continued to rock. She honestly did not know what to say to him. She turned to look at him again. His eyes glittered in the semi-darkness of the corner. "Sister Ruby. Ruby. Let us have no hate nor anger between us. There is so much of that already out there." He gestured towards the window, the outside world, "We need to always be on the same page, you and I. I do what I must do. You do what you must. In the end, though, the sheep will have deliverance. I do what I do for all of us. I can't have you. Don't you see? I would lose myself in you." He half stood at this, looking a bit crazed. "I would lose myself, and then they would all burn. Every single one. The machine doesn't wait for love, or sex, or the purity of that which is...you. It has to be stopped, Ruby. The machine must be destroyed! I am an evil man, Ruby. Do not think otherwise, because only evil can destroy evil. Do not waste your time on the devil."

Bray Wyatt had long ago taken up a job that let him spread his word as "entertainment". Bray Wyatt had married to look average. He did what he had to do because Sister Abigail told him it was his duty. He wished he could let Ruby see everything that was in his mind. He so wished she could hear Abby's whispers from her grave. He wished for so many things, but wishes were as thin as vapor. He had no time for them, and they had no place in the grand scheme of things. Bray folded his dreams up, and placed them out of his reach.

Ruby couldn't fold her dreams away like laundry. Hers died. They crumbled into ashes in her hands, and were blown away by the winds of reality. So she did what she could. Make new dreams. Create a new reality. So she carved out a life for herself and Patrick.

"Make a baby with me." Patrick had said to her one night as he drove himself into her. Ruby laughed at him. "No, really. Let's start a new family here. You're nearly thirty, sweetheart. Perhaps it's time?" Ruby was quiet. All these years, she still was on birth control. It was habit for her now, and she wasn't certain the time was right for one. When she demurred, all he could do was shrug. He didn't understand her hesitation.

"We will talk more about this in the morning, okay?" Ruby said tenderly to Patrick. She did not wish to hurt his feelings in the middle of making love. Each time he brought up the subject, she would explain why it wasn't the right time. Patrick wondered if she even wanted to have children at one point, even with her insistence that she did. One day.

"Perhaps it's due to having to spend my entire youth helping raise our unique family." Ruby had reasoned. "I had no true youth of my own. I guess I'd like to spend more time this way before I really settle down." That argument made the most sense to Patrick, who relaxed finally on the subject. Ruby was glad to hear the last of it. What she wasn't telling Patrick, though, was the true reason for not wanting a child with him. Her dreams died, but were resurrected over and over again. She hadn't the will to turn the knife onto them. She could not give them a killing blow. She believed still, despite herself, and it hurt. So damn much.