Seeds of Eden

by Paige Watson

  “Thanks.”

  “Come on,” she said, turning back to the kitchen. “Let’s throw something together for dinner.” I followed her to the fridge as she pulled out a pack of chicken breasts. We threw some sauce over the chicken and made a salad while it baked in the oven. Conrad came inside, wiping his hands on a rag. I raised my eyebrows, looking at the rag.

  “I was just checking the fluid levels on the car.” He stepped further into the kitchen. “We’ll also need to fill up the gas tank before we stop at the auction house.”

  “Sit down,” I said, pointing to the table. “Dinner will be ready soon.” He sat at the table and I handed him a glass of water.

  “Thanks,” he said, taking the glass from my hand.

  “We should also stop by the bank so we can get some money out in case we need it,” I added, turning back to the stove.

  Conrad rose from the table and went into the living room. He moved the couch from the wall, revealing a safe. He spun its dial, unlocking it and pulled out a stack of money.

  “Geez. You guys are prepared for anything,” Caroline said staring at the money.

  “Well, when you’ve lived as long as we have, you find that it’s best to be prepared for anything.” He separated the money into thirds, dividing it between us. “Here we’ll each take some.”

  “I thought we weren’t planning on splitting up,” Caroline replied, looking confused.

  “We aren’t, but like I said, it’s best to be prepared for anything.”

  I folded the money and tucked it inside my wallet in my messenger bag. Caroline put hers in her purse. The timer for the chicken chimed. I turned it off and removed the chicken from the oven. Caroline set three bowls of salad on the table and I added the chicken. We ate in silence, too preoccupied with thoughts of tonight to say much. Well, my head was preoccupied with thoughts of retrieving the painting from the auction house; I couldn’t be absolutely certain their thoughts were the same. I cleaned up all the dishes in the kitchen and straightened up the rest of the house.

  We waited until eleven before filing out of the house. Conrad locked the door and returned the key to the bottom of the pot holding the dried up tree. We climbed into the car and Conrad spun around in the driveway, heading away from the house. We stopped off at a gas station so we could fill up the car’s tank before heading for the interstate. I knew we would be in Estill soon and my hands were starting to sweat with anticipation.

  “I think we should establish some rules before we get there,” Conrad said, breaking the silence of the car.

  “Such as?” Caroline’s voice rang out from the back seat.

  “Well for starters, no one goes off by themselves. We have to stick together. If I tell you to do something, you have to do it. If I say run, hide, or leave, you do it. Also, in case we do get separated, we need to have a meeting place to all meet up at.”

  “The school parking lot would be a good place,” I said.

  He nodded, signaling his approval. “School it is. Now, do both of you understand the rules?”

  “I understand,” Caroline stated.

  “Evey?”

  “I got it.” I turned my head to look out the window.

  “Caroline, I need you to do something else.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You have to help me protect her at all times now. She’s more important than either of us.”

  “I know she is, and I’ll help you.”

  “You both sound crazy. I won’t let either of you sacrifice yourselves for me.”

  “Unfortunately that isn’t your choice,” Conrad said in a final tone. He reached for my hand that was resting on the console, but I withdrew it from his reach and continued looking out the window. Shouldn’t he know I couldn’t bear the thought of losing any more people I loved?

  As the car crept along the deserted street, we could see my parent’s auction house sitting on the opposite side of the road. It looked desolate, immersed in a sea of darkness. Conrad parked the car in front of a closed dentist office beside the auction house. My heart was pounding wildly, causing my hands to shake. Caroline wore the same nervous expression plastered on my face, Conrad looked completely at ease. He led us to the trunk of the car and handed us each a weapon. He slid the axe into Caroline’s hand and a long knife into mine. He took up the sword he used the previous day and a large iron mallet. The expression on his face was deadly; he was ready for a fight.

  “I’m leaving the car unlocked and the keys in the ignition, in case we need to get away fast.” Caroline and I nodded that we understood him. “Follow me and be quiet.” He stalked off for the house using the shrubs along the sidewalk for cover. I pulled my set of keys from my pocket and tightened my grip around the handle of the knife. I handed the keys to Conrad and he motioned for us to continue behind him. The air around us grew heavy with each step, feeling as if at any second it would smother the life out of us. We didn’t hear a single sound as we approached the house and tip toed up the wooden steps to the front door. Conrad unlocked it and cautiously stepped inside. He examined every corner of the room before gesturing for us to come in. I drew in a deep breath as I crossed the threshold of the door. I could hear Caroline as she followed behind me.

  I looked around the room and discovered with relief nothing had been disturbed. Everything looked exactly the same as it had when I was last here. Conrad hung the mallet over his left shoulder and held out his hand for me to grab. He pulled me close and I clutched onto the back of his shirt. The proximity of his body to mine was reassuring, and for a second I felt slightly at ease.

  “The painting is through there,” I said, pointing to the back of the store. He started off in the direction my hand was pointing but I drew him back to me. “Wait,” I whispered.

  “What is it?” He stared intently at my face.

  “Follow me.” I stepped around him and made my way up the stairs to my parent’s office. “Extra inventory is kept up here. I want to get another painting to replace the one that we’re going to take. That way, nothing looks like it’s missing or out of place.”

  “That’s a good plan.” He turned to Caroline, jerking his head in my direction. Apparently she understood his command because she brought up the rear of the group. I opened the door to my parent’s abandoned office and immediately found what I was looking for. A few spare paintings were propped against the wall behind my father’s desk. I started to take a step to the paintings but hesitated. I looked at the empty black chair that my father used to sit at. I felt a pang stab at my heart as I thought back to the last day my father had been alive. I’d sat in that very chair when he told me I could have my painting of the poppies. What I didn’t realize, was the way I would be acquiring it. Picking up on my apprehension, Conrad passed me and grabbed a painting of a wooded landscape. The scene depicted a forest of evergreens wrapping around the side of a gray, rocky mountain. Its black frame made the deep green color of the trees jump out at the viewer.

  “Is this one ok to replace it with?” I shook my head yes. “Alright, let’s hurry up. I don’t want to be here longer than we have to.”

  He moved past Caroline and me and headed back down the stairs to the showroom. I took Caroline’s hand and we set off after him. The floor creaked loudly beneath us, causing Caroline and me to jump. Conrad held a finger up to his lips, reminding us to be quiet. Slowly, we eased our way over the floor to the painting. I could see it ahead of us. The little girl still looked like an angel bathing in a sea of poppies.

  “That’s it,” I said, pointing at the painting.

  Conrad walked over to the picture, and carefully lifted it from the wall, and hung the painting of the landscape in its place. The painting fit perfectly in the spot that was left for it. Conrad set the mallet and sword on the floor and retrieved a sharp knife from the holster on his back. Holding the painting in one hand, he dragged the knife around the outer edge of the canvas, freeing it from the gold frame. I took the empty frame from his hand a
nd darted back up the stairs to hide it behind the other paintings in my father’s office. I moved quickly and by the time I returned, Conrad had rolled up the painting like a scroll and tied it shut. I felt a sense of relief as he handed it to me. We had what we needed and now it was time to go. Conrad bent to pick up his weapons but before any of us could step to the front door, it burst open, breaking off its hinges.

  In the blink of an eye, six souls thrust themselves through the doorway and began sprinting in our direction. Conrad pushed Caroline and me out of the way. He raised his sword and sliced the heads off two souls that were clamoring for us. An ear piercing scream escaped from the others as the heads of the first two tumbled to the ground, disintegrating into a pool of black sludge. He raised his foot, kicking the bodies to the ground. Caroline and I stood behind him, unable to move or speak. As the bodies of the two souls melted away, three more burst inside to take their place.

  “Get out of here!” Conrad yelled at us. “Now!” He threw the mallet, hitting a short old man in the chest. He heaved backwards, colliding into a frail looking young woman. The woman’s eyes locked on Caroline and me. She licked her tongue over her rotted teeth and lunged in our direction, but Conrad’s blade was faster. His sword sliced the woman in half. Sticky tar exploded from her severed body, desecrating every clean inch of the floor. Then Conrad ran to us and pushed Caroline and I to the back door. “Caroline, take Evey and get the hell out of here. I’ll hold them off for a minute and then I’ll follow behind you.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere without you!” Caroline charged forward, embedding the blade of her axe into the face of a deranged looking old woman a foot away from us. As we watched the woman melt, a body flung itself through the window to our left. The sound of shattering glass awoke us from our daze and Conrad pushed us to the back door. Caroline grabbed my arm and we burst through the back door of the house. Souls seemed to be running at us from every direction. Conrad stood behind us, locking the door shut. He grabbed another knife from his back and brandished the sword in his other hand. The blade of the sword was dripping black. He sprinted ahead. Like moths drawn to the flame, all of the souls changed directions and started running after him. Hands pounded on the door behind us. Any second it would break, spitting out more of the wretched creatures. I crumbled to my knees with the painting still in my hand. Conrad was fighting just twenty feet in front of us. Dark oil coated the grass as his sword dropped body after body. I couldn’t move; I was immobilized by fear. I watched Conrad dodge the outstretched hands that longed to singe his flesh. My stomach twisted up in knots as a large man almost twice his width dove for Conrad’s feet. Conrad was too fast for him. He whipped his sword in a

  quick ring and sliced the man in half at his shoulders. A river of black blood saturated the grass and a couple souls slid in the sludge as they moved to take the dead man’s place.

  “We have to go,” Caroline yelled. She bent down and pulled me up from the ground. She grabbed my hand and started to lead me away from the grotesque scene in the back yard.

  “Conrad!” I moved to run to him, but her arms held me back.

  “Get out of here!” He looked at us in horror. “Caroline, get her the hell out of here!”

  Caroline dragged me through the side yard in the direction of the car. To my horror, the door broke and ten more bodies poured from the back of the house. They headed straight for Conrad. His blade was moving so fast the only thing that could be seen of it was the occasional glimmer of silver as it swung through the air. Caroline’s desire to pull me away from him was stronger than my will to stay. I trailed behind her, digging my feet into the soft earth.

  “Come on! We have to go!”

  I dug my heels into the ground and jerked her arm, causing her to wince. “I’m not leaving without him.”

  “There isn’t any time.”

  “Either we go back for him or I offer myself up to the souls right now. I’ll let them take me. I’ll do whatever it takes to save him.” I freed my hand from her grip and stepped away from her. “I mean it!” The look of determination on my face was resolute.

  “Fine,” she said in an exasperated tone. “I’m going to get the car and you get Conrad. I’ll pull up close and the two of you be ready to jump in.”

  “We’ll be ready.” She turned away and sprinted to the car as I started running back to Conrad. He was surrounded by a circle of black bodies. The thick tar covered everything in sight. The front of his t-shirt was sliced open and a cut across his chest poured blood onto his golden skin. His face was covered with the black blood of the souls. One of his hands was still clutching his sword and the other was holding his chest.

  “Conrad!” I yelled out his name as I ran to him. His eyes connected with mine and my feet quickened their pace. It was almost too late by the time I saw the small body emerge from the bushes. A child came up behind Conrad holding a skinny knife. It was a little boy wearing a blue sailor suit and matching white hat. His eyes were solid black and his mouth was twisted into a sinister smile. “Lookout!”

  Conrad barely had time to turn around when the knife of the child soared through the air, embedding itself in Conrad’s thigh. The blow dropped Conrad to his knees and with a blood curdling laugh the little boy pulled the knife from his leg. I watched as the boy drew the crimson blade to his mouth and licked the blood from it.

  “Blood of the secundae is always the sweetest,” the boy said cackling. He was about to bring his knife down on Conrad’s chest when I leapt in front of him, slicing off the hand of the boy. Yellow acid

  poured from his arm scorching the earth. He stumbled backward, falling to the ground. The wail that erupted from his mouth stung my ears. He pushed himself over the grass in an attempt to distance himself from us, but I grabbed onto his feet and yanked him back toward me. Without hesitating, I picked up Conrad’s sword and severed the boy’s head. The boy’s body imploded on itself, liquefying into a puddle of sizzling yellow slime. However, his head still remained intact. His eyes stared up at me from the ground, haunting me with their emotionless gaze. I took the sword and thrust it through one eye and then the other. More acid gushed from the hollow eye sockets and consumed the remaining flesh. I bent down to Conrad and threw his arm around my neck as the car burst through the bushes of the yard. Caroline threw the passenger door open and pushed the front seat forward. I laid Conrad down in the back seat and climbed in after him, slamming the door shut.

  “Go!”

  Her foot hit the gas pedal like a ton of bricks and we spun out of the yard. She pulled the car onto the sidewalk. We were moving with such speed we didn’t have time to notice the horde of souls blocking our entrance to the street.

  “Oh my God,” Caroline called out. They rushed the car, colliding into its hood. “Hang on!” She threw the car in reverse, turning the car back toward the side of the house. We were moving so fast that I thought we would crash through the siding, but at the last moment she thrust the shifter into drive. The car burst through the bushes into the yard of the dentist office next door. She left skid marks through the grass as she headed for the street. I looked through the rear windshield and saw the souls were chasing after us. Her foot slammed on the gas and we sped away, leaving the souls in a cloud of dust.

  “Drive to Nashville.”

  “Ok,” she said, thrusting the wheel to the right as we skidded around a curve.

  I turned my attention back to Conrad. I slid the jacket off of his arms and laid it in the front seat. “When we get to Murfreesboro I want you to stop at a drug store. We’re going to need a first aid kit.”

  “Is he going to be ok?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered in a terrified voice. “Conrad, can you hear me?” I shook him lightly, careful not to hit his leg. A groan of pain escaped his lips. Blood was gushing through the hole in his jeans. I pulled off my jacket and knife holster. I slid a knife out and cut a large slit in his pants to get a better look at his wound. I undid his belt and
fastened it into a tourniquet above the gash. Then I ripped the jacket into strips, tying it around his leg. I dabbed at the blood covering his chest. The cut wasn’t as deep as I initially expected. “Go as fast as you possibly can,” I ordered. The car flew down the interstate, weaving around traffic. “Conrad?” I shook him again trying to elicit a response.

  “The demon,” he whispered.

  “It’s gone. Conrad, stay with me ok? Don’t pass out again.”

  “You saved me.” His comment sounded like an accusation more than a revelation.

  “I did, and I’d do it again if I had the choice. I can’t do this without you,” I said, bending to kiss his forehead. My heart pounded faster every minute we spent driving to Murfreesboro. I just wanted us to be done and off the road. I held his face in my hands as I watched to make sure his chest kept rising and falling.

  “Evey,” he whispered.

  “I’m here.” He whispered my name again before he passed out.

  “Caroline!”

  “We’re almost there!” She swerved the car off the interstate, taking the nearest exit. I saw the bright lights of a Walgreens pharmacy ahead of us. “What all do I need to get?”

  “A first aid kit, Tylenol, a sewing kit, some bottles of water, and a bottle of rubbing alcohol.”

  “Ok, got it.” She pulled into the parking lot and left the car running while she ran inside the store. She was jumping back in not five minutes later. She tossed the bags into the floor of the front seat and pulled out of the parking spot. “Now where do we go?”

  “Take us to the nearest motel. We need somewhere to stay tonight.”

  A few minutes later we were pulling into the parking lot of the King’s Inn. I waited in the car with Conrad while Caroline went into the office and got us a room. She returned to the car and drove to the opposite side of the parking lot in front of our room. She threw the door to the room open and turned on the lights. Then she ran around to the passenger side of the car and helped me carry Conrad from the car to the room. We set him on the first double bed, closest to the door. I jumped on top of the bed and slid him across the floral bedspread, gently laying his head on the pillows.