Hallowed Creatures

3

"What is that?"
An elderly woman was spooning a murky brown soup onto her plate. Jaclyn thought she might vomit.
"It's ginger soup. It'll keep you warm."
She spooned more soup onto her plate. Jaclyn picked up the plate and walked back into the small living room. A boy ran past her holding a toy airplane. It had been a month since she'd seen a kid. Jaclyn entered the dining room and sat down beside Gianni.
"Thank you again for all of this."
Gianni smiled. "We have a lot of food and no idea what to do with it."
Jaclyn nodded. "Back at my base, we're almost out of supplies. It's hard times."
"Oh we love having guests. Especially on a day like this, when all the hallows are occupied with others."
They both looked up at the voice. A man walked in holding his own plate. He had a very clean mustache and styled black hair. "Besides" He continued "we have no reason to be selfish.
Jaclyn wondered if this was all too good to be true. Gianni seemed to forget herself. "Oh sorry Vince, this is Jaclyn." She wiped her mouth with a napkin and stood up. "I'll be right back." She walked out of the room.
Vince sat down in the chair opposite Jaclyn. He looked like he could be Gianni's family. With the way he smiled, they both had the same kindness.
"You're her brother?"
He nodded as he dug into his soup. "Same hair, same teeth." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Same attitude."
Gianni slapped the back of his head, surprising him, Jaclyn found herself smiling. Maybe she could trust them.
Soon enough, the rest of the group were sitting down and eating. Tanner and Lacey were the kids names and their mom was the cook. Jaclyn finally got a better look at the woman who had made the atrocious soup. Her name was Love. It was a strange name but the name fit her personality.
The whole dinner was something that the girl hadn't felt in a while.
"I should probably tell you why I invited you to come over." Gianni surprised her by standing and putting a hand on Lacey's shoulder. "We need someone young. To teach our kids basic math and reading. Most of us can't do it because we're out hunting or tending to the clothes."
Lacey smiled. It was a bright smile that Jaclyn wasn't prepared for. It would make saying no that much harder. Jaclyn stood and placed her napkin on her plate.
"Thank you. I appreciate everything but I didn't even get to start college, I'm not qualified to teach. Plus, I have people to get back to."
Her company exchanged looks of disappointment. "We need you." Love grabbed her hand and squeezed. "Bring your friends. We will feed you and life will be better for you."
Her smile was reassuring and Jaclyn wanted to melt into it but the truth was, the church had more than enough supplies to last a while. She didn't know if it would be the right decision.
"I will consider it."
The room filled with laughter and joy again as though she had said yes. Jaclyn smiled and gave Gianni the look that told her she needed to go.