Adam did end up sleeping outside with the sheep that night. So when he woke up that morning, he was not in the mood to deal with Cain's petulant attitude.

But to his pleasant surprise, Cain was nowhere to be found that morning. So maybe today would end up being a good day after all.

Little did he know it would be the worst day of his life after the day he got kicked out of Eden.

It started out normal enough. Eve had cooked some bird's eggs for breakfast for the both of them. She had told him the boys had gone to the angels to present them with their gifts, and afterward, they would do their chores.

"They better. Because that roof still needs fixing," Adam grumbled.

"Then why don't you fix it?" Eve raised an eyebrow.

He narrowed his eyes at her, not appreciating the way she talked to him. It seemed like she still hadn't forgiven him for last night. But he didn't want to spend another night with the sheep, so he knew he needed to proceed carefully.

"Because, Eve, I have to go get us dinner." He rose to his feet. "Unless you want to go hunt an elk?"

Eve pouted and crossed her arms. "You know my aim isn't as good as yours."

Adam smiled to himself as he grabbed the hand-made bow and quiver of arrows. "Then I'll see you for dinner, honey. And I mean it, the roof better be fixed when I get back."

He took his leave and set out towards the surrounding woods. Being in the forest early in the morning was one of his favorite places to be. With the birds chirping and the rays of sunlight breaking through the trees, it was just him and nature.

This was as close to Eden as he could get now.

He breathed it all in, the crisp air, the scent of the pines, and the fresh dew. From nearby, a creek trickled, so he followed its sound. It led him to the source, and drinking from it stood a majestic male elk.

Adam remembered the days when he used to feed said animal and would run with it through the garden. He even remembered when he initially named it the horned horse.

Drawing his arrow as quietly as possible, he aimed the tip right at the animal's face. The elk didn't have a chance to react before the arrow pierced its skull. It went down to the ground with little more than a moan.

Adam always tried to make their deaths quick and painless. He told himself it was because he didn't want them to suffer, but the reality was he didn't want to see them suffer.

"We've both changed so much, haven't we, old friend?" Adam stared down at the elk before removing the arrow from its body.

Now came the arduous task of dragging the elk back to the hut. It was a good thing he had been created with as much upper body strength as he had, which was another reason Eve couldn't have done this.

When he returned back to the hut, Eve was still there, sewing clothes made of leather and furs.

And the side of the roof still hadn't been fixed.

"Where the fuck is Cain?" Adam released the elk from the hind legs he had been dragging it from. "You told me he would come back to do his chores. How long does it take to give the angels a basket of fruit?"

Eve glanced up at him from her sewing. "I'm sure he's on his way back. Relax, there's still plenty of daylight left for him to get them done."

Adam gritted his teeth and shook his head. "You say I'm too hard on him? I have to be because you're too easy on him! You're teaching him to be an ungrateful brat!"

She stopped her needlework. "I see him trying, but you never give him any credit. Like last night! He was trying to do a good thing, and you just shot him down!"

"Oh, please." Adam rolled his eyes and picked up the elk again. "It's time to cut the umbilical cord, Eve!"

He walked off before Eve could respond, the elk dragging behind him as he headed toward the homemade rack he used for skinning animals. After hoisting it off of the ground, he got to work, taking out his frustration with every slash and stab of his knife.

Adam was so focused on the bloody task in front of him that he failed to notice how much time had passed. The sun had begun to descend, and the air had grown cooler. When he finally finished, he wiped his brow of sweat and glanced around, seeing Eve pacing around the hut.

"They should've been back by now," she muttered. "Where are they?"

Goosebumps spread across his skin at her words. He tried to write it off as because of the sudden drop in temperature, but there was a deep pit forming in his stomach that told him otherwise.

The last time something like this happened–that he felt this way–was when Eve had met the serpent.

His tools fell to the ground with a clang as he took off running towards his wife.

"Eve! Do you know where they'd be?" Just getting those words out of his mouth was a challenge. His mind was racing with so many thoughts that it was difficult to even string together one coherent thought.

She shook her head, and Adam swore. He didn't want to worry her, but his heart was hammering so hard in his chest that he was sure she could hear it.

"Do you think something happened?" Eve's voice quivered like a child's.

Adam opened his mouth to answer, but it had suddenly gone dry. He wanted to tell her everything would be fine. That he was just overreacting.

Instead, he grabbed her hand and told her to follow him through the field. Adam didn't even know where he was running. He just knew every fiber in his being told him to run and not to stop.

Every step he took felt like a step toward something inevitable. Something that warned him that once he came upon it, he would wish to unsee.

When they reached the top of a hill, Adam saw the angels suspended in a circle at the bottom of it. Their bodies were so tall that he didn't notice Cain standing in the middle of the circle until he drew closer.

When he reached them, his brain couldn't make sense of the scene in front of him. The angels' expressions seethed with disappointment and disgust. Cain's body shook with sobs, and he had his head hung down, his bangs obscuring his face.

All that he understood. But what Adam couldn't understand was why Cain's hands were smeared with blood and why Abel was lying in the grass.

He thought his son had fallen asleep at first. Or maybe had gotten sick and passed out. Until he saw the blood trickling down Abel's temple and his unblinking eyes staring into the sky.

Into nothing.

"What– What happened?" Adam couldn't take his eyes off Abel. He didn't know a person's skin could grow so pale or their lips so blue.

Michael sighed before hovering closer to Adam and Eve. "Cain has murdered his brother."

Adam blinked. "Murdered?"

"He has killed his brother," Uriel said. "Abel is dead."

Uriel's words still didn't register in Adam's mind. He had seen death before, but only with animals. If this is what death looked like for humans, he hadn't realized it would be so... so unsettling.

From beside him, Eve fell to her knees and cradled their son's body. "Why won't he come back? You all can bring him back!"

"Eve." Sera placed her hand on the top of Eve's curls. "That's not how this works. He can't come back."

"I refuse to believe it!" Snot dripped out of Eve's flaring nostrils, and hot, angry tears streamed down her cheeks. "You created me from Adam! And Adam from the dust! Bring him back!"

"I'm sorry, but when you two ate the apple, this was one of the consequences," Sera explained. "We warned you what would happen."

"No! You never told us our son would be killed by our other son!" It was Adam's turn to rage, and his prime target was the one responsible for this.

Cain.

"Why would you do this?!" Adam grabbed his son by the collar and forced him to look at him. "Why the fuck would you do this?!"

"I– I'm sorry! I didn't mean– I didn't realize," Cain whimpered as his dad shook him. "I was upset! But I didn't think–"

"That's the fucking problem! You never think!" With a grunt, Adam shoved him to the ground. Cain made no attempt to get up and just lied there, continuing to cry. Tired of hearing his incessant sniveling, Adam lifted his foot, about to bring it down on him when Michael intervened.

"Adam." Michael put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Don't. We can dole out his punishment."

"And yet you didn't do anything to stop this?!" Adam turned his wrath on the archangel, not caring that he could easily wipe him from existence.

"When we arrived, it was already too late. The deed had been committed," Michael said.

"As we said before, this is one of the consequences," Gabriel reminded. "Humanity wouldn't have known death if you hadn't eaten the apple. But now, this is the result of knowing the difference between good and evil. After he saw how we favored Abel's gift, Cain grew jealous and chose to do evil."

Adam could only sneer at Cain, who was still on the ground. He knew this would happen. He had told Cain the angels wouldn't like his gift and he still refused to listen to him.

His only regret now was not landing a blow to his face when he had the chance.

Michael separated the father and son further, placing himself between the two as he helped Cain to his feet. "Because you have caused death, you will eternally chase after it. But you will never find it. You will be driven away from here, cursed to wander the Earth. Known forever as a fugitive and a vagabond."

Cain's cries grew even louder. "I know I deserve this, but this punishment is more than I can bear! It would be better to die than wander this Earth forever! I hope someone finds me and ends my misery!"

"You will be marked so that no one will kill you," Michael continued. "It will serve as a warning, and if they choose to ignore it, vengeance will be taken on them sevenfold."

As soon as the angel spoke those words, Cain sucked in a breath as a mark was burned into his skin. He gripped his forearm, and they all watched as the shape of a serpent eating itself appeared.

Adam and Eve exchanged the same disturbed look. He didn't need to be a mind-reader to know what she was thinking. It was the very same question he asked himself.

Would they be haunted by the serpent for the rest of their lives?

"Adam, Eve," Gabriel said to them. "Please say your final goodbyes."

Wiping her swollen eyes, Eve stood up and embraced her son for the last time. "I hate what you did. But you're still my son. I gave birth to you, fed you, clothed you, and nothing will change that."

Cain hugged her back, his body trembling with every sniffle he took.

She cupped his face. "I hope one day I'll be able to see you again."

Adam stared down at the ground, noticing details he hadn't before. Like how the blades of grass were speckled with blood. And that just a few feet away was a rock stained with the same blood.

The blood of his son.

It was all he could focus on when it was his turn to speak to Cain. Because Cain's hands were covered in it.

"When you came into this world, I had the highest hopes for you," Adam said, with all the coldness and contempt he could muster. He couldn't even bring himself to touch the man he once considered his son. "But now it's clear to me you are nothing more than a complete failure."

The look on Cain's face was one he would never forget. It was the face of someone whose soul had been utterly crushed and their will to live destroyed.

There was a time such a look would've broken Adam's heart. But right now he felt only hate pulsing through his already shattered heart.

With nothing more to say, they watched as Cain headed out toward the wilderness.

Toward an unknown future.

Eve collapsed again and screamed into her hands. When Adam heard his wife's cries, the tears he had been struggling to hold in finally came out. Her wails echoed through his mind until they became one with his own internal screams.

"I shouldn't expect you to begin to understand what it'll feel like to bury your own children," a familiar, feminine voice laughed.

Adam jerked at the sound and searched around for the source. Standing in the distance was Lilith, a mocking smile on her face.

Unable to believe it, he rubbed his bloodshot eyes, and she was gone.

But the screams didn't stop.