Deicide

February 16 23xx

They got off the train and made their way to the church at exactly midnight. It looked far different at night, with its looming structure and darkened stained glass. They squatted low as they made their way to the entrance, kneeling on the sides of the front doors.

Eden pressed his ear against the space between the door and the wall, where there was less wood and more chance for him to hear everything. There were dozens of heartbeats, but he could make out one specifically elevated one. He nodded at Howlan, who was in front of him and Silas on the other side of the doors. He listened to the heartbeat start to get louder, closer. As she approached, he smelled her scent, and eventually he could make out her breathing and footsteps. She stopped in front of the door, and her heartbeat faltered. She was nervous, and validly so. She was having to trust that three strange men she had only just met had actually kept their word and shown up on time. If they weren't there, Elaine would undoubtedly be caught and her chances of escape would become slim to none.

Eden knocked softly on the door, three times a little higher up, and five times down low. Her heartbeat immediately slowed. The lock clicked, and the door of the church swung open. "You really came." Elaine had tears in her eyes.

Eden stood up and smiled, "Of course we did." He looked her up and down. Thankfully, she didn't seem to have accumulated any more bruises. "Now, how about that ankle monitor?"

"It'll alert John as soon as I get more than one hundred feet away from the church, and as soon as I take it off he'll know." Elaine looked at Howlan and Silas, who were now standing behind Eden, and smiled at them both.

"Okay, then we'll take it off when we get that far away." Eden looked Elaine over again. "What do you need us to carry?"

Elaine stepped farther back into the church and started moving some bags towards the door. There was one duffle of clothes, one duffle of weapons, the caboodle from the infirmary, and a paper bag of bathroom stuff.

Eden grabbed the duffle of weapons and the duffle of clothes, Silas took the caboodle and brown bag, and Howlan frowned.

"Eden, you should keep your hands empty." Howlan nodded towards Elaine, and Eden's eyes widened a little.

"Right, here." He held the bags out to Howlan, who's arms fell almost to the ground as soon as the bags were in his hands. Eden barely refrained from laughing. "Need help?"

"Shut up." Howlan tossed both bags over his shoulders.

Eden looked back and grabbed Elaine's hand. "Are you ready to go?"

She looked terrified. "Yes."

Eden waited for Elaine to shut the door and pulled her gently along. Her legs were shaking, and she seemed seconds away from freezing up. "It's alright, we won't get caught. And despite my elegant display at our first meeting, I am usually a decent fighter. I won't let anything happen to you." Eden squeezed her hand. "I promise."

She took a deep breath and squeezed back. One of her very first impressions of Eden was that he wouldn't be the type to throw that word around. The belief was later cemented when she heard Silas and Howlan talking to each other about him in the infirmary. She looked over her shoulder at the dark church. "Oh, we should take it off soon."

"Right." Eden squatted down and rolled up the cuff of Elaine's pants. He stuck his fingers between her ankle and the plastic of the cuff, pulling it apart with ease. Almost immediately, Eden could hear a faint alarm inside the church.

"Eden?" Silas touched his shoulder.

"I can hear it. The alarm. He'll be coming soon." Eden grabbed Elaine's hand again.