Hope After Eden (MALE DEPUTY X FAITH SEED)

Chapter 2: Dust Settled

After the words that Faith Seed had last spoken to the deputy, time froze. The Bliss itself had frozen over. As if the mind of The Bliss had realized that it had lost control over its own master. Not knowing who to take directive from now, the once beautiful green fields and foggy distances turned to the color gray. And just like that, it vanished from existence. Faith and Rook were left in a field of Bliss Flowers that had seemingly died off after Faith finally broke the grip of the addictive aroma that was produced.

Rook let go of Faith but then lifted her off of the ground and onto her bare feet. Faith was silent, maybe trying to process what she had said in her fight-or-flight moment. But nonetheless, her decision had been made and the Bliss was dead in its rights. Faith was freed from its control, but at what cost to the Herald of the Henbane. She seemed out of touch with reality, her eyes going off into the distance.

Rook knew that Faith was not going to be sunshine and rainbows after letting go from months of being Joseph's unrelated 'sister', but he didn't expect her to be so silent after what was for all intents and purposes, one of the most emotional rides he had ever been through.

He held Faith's hand and walked away from the dead flower bed. Faith held his hand tight, it was the only sign that the Hope County Deputy had that made him believe that Faith thought she made the right decision.

They walked back to the main road of the Henbane. Hardly a main road in the logical sense given this was a poor attempt at the construction of one. The makeshift road signs and cones were there but the actual tarmac has not even been slightly laid down. Just gravel roads with the faintest of indents in the middle too at the very least give the drunks some sense of the direction after they were leaving the bar after their 6th Budweiser.

The car was the only one Rook could honestly afford given the lackluster income that saving Hope County gave him. A 2011 Ford Mustang with an ungodly terrible transmission and a spark plug that needed the force of God himself sometimes in order to create anything resembling a flash of fire. He walked Faith to the passenger side door and opened it for her. Faith voluntarily walked inside and sat on the worn fabric seat that was common in this cheaply produced muscle car. Rook closed the door, walking around the other direction and into the driver's side. Rook grabbed his keys, inserted them into the rusted ignition slot, and turned.

The most unbearable of noises came from the 3.7 L V6 engine that was as healthy as the Bliss-infused Henbane River. Rook was obviously as per usual, annoyed with the unreliable piece of shit that he bought from some dodgy 70-year-old from Fall's end who was looking to make a quick buck just so he could spend it on booze at the Spread Eagle but remembered all the tough jams that the car had saved him from and continued to try to start the engine. Eventually, it was more sputters from the spark plug that gave Rook the feeling of putting his head down on the steering wheel while he helplessly turned the ignition switch.

Faith finally made some noise and giggled a little bit at the deputy. "Have some faith," she said, smiling at him.

Rook looked up, "Yeah, sure." Rook laughed at the thought and gave a fake prayer to whoever was watching him, turning the ignition switch to once again hear the awful screeches and shouts the engine made.

"Yeah, that sure as fuck worked didn't it?" Rook looked at Faith with a smile and a raised eyebrow only rivaled by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. Faith laughed again, this time a little louder than before. She held Rook's hand with two hands together and put her head down.

"Uh...what are you doing?" Rook said, confused.

"I'm giving Him a REAL prayer," Faith said as she smiled and put her head down. Rook joined her reluctantly.

"Dear God, thank you for bringing me a new light, a light that I thought was closed. Thank you for giving Rook the ability to feel sorrow. For even a wretch like me, who in the eyes of many does not deserve an ounce of courtesy or forgiveness for all of the terrible things I have done. I pray that you give this spark plug the power to light a flame, and to start the engine, so that through your power that you bestowed upon the deputy, that I may begin to see a life outside of Bliss. In Rook's name, amen"

She lifted her head and smiled. Rook looked a little amused, "You know, you're supposed to say 'In Jesus Christ's name'." Rook said to her in a sarcastic fashion before going to turn the key. Faith stopped him and grabbed his hand.

"Jesus did not save me from my sin deputy, you did," She said softly but with warmth. Rook didn't know what to say and just nodded his head and looked away. The blush he gave out could not be disguised from his pale Irish skin tone. Faith watched him, blushing herself, smiling. Rook decided after the heartfelt prayer to give the engine one more go. He inserted the key, turned it, and after a few seconds of sputters and screeches, the engineer roared to life. Rook was relieved but did not show his true feelings of amazement that it had actually worked.

"Well Miss Seed, you really have a way with holy words don't you," He said laughing afterward as he shifted into drive with his foot on the break. But faith stopped him before he began driving.

"So where are we going now, Rook?" She asked, smiling.

"Hope County Jail, my intermediate home for the time being" Rook replied.

Faith's smile quickly dissipated from her face as the Deputy drove off down the road. Dust kicked off the tires and left nothing but fog.