Till Death Do Us Part

The Devil's Temptations - I

His steady, apprehensive steps created harsh thuds on the rocky pathway leading up to Ariana's cabin. Trying to defend himself from the cold chill of an October night, he tightened his jacket around his body, stuffing his hands into his pockets after pulling his hat down over top of his ears.

It's ridiculous, he thought, for me to come in the middle of the night.

He shuddered with each step, squinting his eyes to try to find some sort of light source. He knew he should be approaching the cozy home any minute, but still, he could hardly see it due to the natural darkness of the forest floor. The trees around him moaned with the cold breeze, the occasional owl or nighttime animal making a sound that caused him to jump. With each noise, his pace became more rushed, trying to ignore his mind alerting him that, frankly, he couldn't identify what animal made each noise.

To his relieved surprise, his panicked hurrying boosted him towards his goal. He almost tripped on a salted patch of the rock path as he had been so used to sliding his feet across the ice to maintain his balance. While it wasn't snowy, it had rained only hours before, causing an icy layer underneath the orange, red, and yellow leaves. He squinted once more to look ahead of him, recognizing that the path that laid in front of him was entirely salted. This realization sparked him with hope and after looking further, he could see a very small, dim patch of light that resembled a window. Making an ultimate decision to trust her salting and being a bit more afraid of the unknown animals than a rough fall, he began to sprint towards the light.

"For the love of God, Ariana, let me in!" Ariana could hear the pounding on her cabin door. She arose from where she had been sitting at her dining room table, walking towards her front door. She opened it to see the man she had met in the ER years prior, shivering and soaked from what she presumed were a couple slips on the ice. He was still the same skinny man with the wild blaze of hair, but he now appeared more mature compared to his previous, boyish physique.

"Hello, Jack," Ariana said in a smooth tone, looking up towards him with a relaxed smile. She didn't move from the doorway, causing Jack to hesitate. Although she would never say it, she reveled in the feeling of his uncertainty and obedience.

"Can I please come in? I can't feel my fingers," he managed to say through chattering teeth, wringing his hands in a fruitless attempt to help his circulation. With a quick motion, Ariana opened the door from him. As soon as he stepped inside, she was fast to shut it behind him as she, too, couldn't stand the cold longer than needed.

The entrance of the home was riddled with plenty of rugs to keep the wooden floors warm, but the home itself radiated with love. Pictures of herself and her husband hung on the wall, which Jack specifically tried to avoid looking towards. Ariana noticed this, gaining confidence in the fact that he did not seem to care about her marital status. Her husband, Michael Edwards, was not home and wouldn't be for the next couple hours as he had travelled out of town for a retreat. He had informed Ariana that he would be home a bit past midnight. She had plans for the night, and they'd take up the last second until her husband's homecoming.

"Please come sit, Jack," Ariana cooed, sitting herself down in the living room. It was furnished with a velvet, cherry-colored loveseat that Ariana was resting on and a small, wooden side table. The room was rather small, the log walls holding in the warmth that the fireplace across from the loveseat was providing. The TV, although turned off, was illuminated by the open flame below it that was peeking out from the mantle. The home itself was only made for two people– her and Mr. Edwards– so there were no other pieces of furniture to sit on.

One thing about this ornate room stood out to Jack. The entire room was adorned with crucifixes, religious images, and holy water holders. Mr. Edwards was a pastor but the extent of paraphernalia the room held was significant, even for a pastor. Jack took a few steps into the room, visibly uncertain about the situation. Finally, he joined her on the other side of the loveseat. They were forced to sit quite close. Jack's head was still on a swivel, eyeing all of the objects on the walls around him.

"Like it? That was my touch," Ariana acknowledged, appearing blissfully unaware of how unsettling this was for Jack.

Jack coughed awkwardly, deciding to ignore the comment. "Why did you want me to come over tonight, Ariana?"

Her face darkened at the question, allowing herself to scoot a bit closer towards him. "Well, Jack..." she said in a quiet voice, her eyes fluttering from his eyes to his lips, "we have a bit of a problem. Between us." Her hand slowly reached out, her fingertips caressing his arm.

Jack swallowed. He opened his mouth to speak, but she continued instead. "You know how I've fallen for you. How badly I want to be beside you, wake up next to you..." she moved her face a bit closer to his own, almost brushing her soft lips against his cheek. Jack's eyes began to flutter shut, leaning in. Ariana promptly let herself fall back, stopping Jack from his attempt. "But it can't happen with the way things are now."

"W-Why not..?" Jack's eyes opened with clear disappointment, his words stuttered. "You... you can leave. Divorce him if you have to. We can be together, on our own... we can move somewhere else!" His words were frantic and desperate. Ariana's tempting words suffocated him in desire, his hand taking a hold of hers.

She jerked her hand back away from him and responded, "I can't divorce, Jack. I am a pious woman... a woman of God. You know that. That's why I haven't done a thing with you." Her words were sweet, constricting his attention in a way that Jack had never experienced before. He had been with plenty of women, but after talking with Ariana as long as he had, she believed that he was devoted. "We were wedded under a pledge of faith, you see."

Jack nodded, although confused. "So what are you saying?"

"There's an expiration date on that pledge, though. Do you know when that is?"

Jack shook his head.

"At death. 'Till death do us part', Jack. 'Till death,'"she finally reached out, taking ahold of his hands with her own. "At death, I'll be freed. I'll be freed to spend my life with you and cherish you." Her hand slowly reached out, resting on his cheek. "Do you understand, Jack?"

Jack's heart skipped a beat. His eyes were large, trying to take in what she was saying. Ariana studied his expression, trying to gauge some sort of interest in the situation. She continued on, as he appeared too stunned to speak.

"We have a good amount of money on our insurance," she whispered, keeping eye contact with the shocked man. "We could gather it and run away. Get ourselves a nice home. Start new lives... that way we aren't taking from your father." With a gentle motion, she raised the back of his hand to her own face, resting her cheek against it. "I know how much he means to you."

Again, she paused, waiting on something from him– anything. With a quavering voice, he managed to squeak, "Y-You want me to... kill Michael?"

"You don't have to!" Ariana quickly interrupted his train of thought, as though the altering of his original idea would be better. "I know you have ties... and if you don't have the ties, you can create them. Look at you, Jack..." her voice again became calm, "You're charming... handsome... intelligent... and you could even pay for it. I could never afford it, look at where I am!" She motioned to the room they were in, relaying how small it truly was. She finally stared up towards Jack, again analyzing his emotions.

To Ariana's surprise, he ultimately let out a trembling but strong, "No." He pulled back from her, standing hurriedly. "That's mental, Ariana. I adore you and you know it. But to ask me to... to hire someone to hurt him?" He shook his head, stumbling out of the room.

Ariana was in hot pursuit behind him. "Wait, Jack! Listen! You don't have to do it. Get someone to. You don't even have to think about it more than handing over the money!"

Jack spun around to face her, his hand on the doorknob of the front door. "Stop it, Ariana! Just stop! Please, I don't want to think about this. I want to pretend this never happened. I'm going to leave, and I want you to act like nothing happened. I don't want this to cross my mind ever again! When you text me tomorrow, I want to hear nothing about this!" Jack opened the door, slamming it behind him after he had ran out of the cabin.

Ariana, at first frozen in bewilderment, finally began to loosen up with a sudden awareness of what he had spoken before running out. When you text me tomorrow. She still had a grip.