Lead Us To Eden

Chapter 2

The bright lights burned into your eyes as they fluttered open. Sweat stuck to your skin as well as your clothes. The taste of iron and salt in your mouth, which was in desperate need of water. You slowly take in your surroundings again and notice that you are in a small room. It was clean with nothing but the bed you were laying on, a night stand with flowers that had this strange gas floating around it, and a solid metal door leading to freedom. You slowly sat up, all the blood quickly rushing to your head making you dizzy. You wore an off white dress with lacing all over. Your feet were bare and your hair matted and damp with sweat and most likely blood. You try to remember what happened to you. The explosion, Jacob finding you. You waking up strapped in a chair. The box. The box! This Joseph guy saying you were chosen. What did he even mean? I'm not chosen.

Before you could dwell on the thought more, the large metal door swings open and in walks a young woman. She wore a dress similar to yours with floral designs around the waist. With her she held a tray of food and a glass of water. She set it on the stand next to you. You kept your gaze on her, unsure of her intentions. She grabbed the water and offered it to you with a smile. You took it and sipped on it, despite your body wanting to down it in one go. But...who knew how long you were out, it wouldn't be wise to do that. She stood in front of you watching you sip slowly at your drink. Taking the last drop, she took the glass from you and set it back on the tray. She then grabbed a bowl of what looked like oatmeal and offered it to you. You shook your head. How were you to know if it was drugged or not. Her smile faltered and she looked at you again.

'You need to eat something silly!' Her lips read.

You shook your head again. She didn't push further and returned it to the tray. Turning to face you again, she offered out her hand again and you furrowed your brows, but you took it anyway. She lead you towards the door and you followed her into a corridor. The walls were covered with vines and the same flower that sat at your night stand. Instead of a hard floor it was grass. She took you around various corners and through many long hallways before entering into a larger room. Before you stood several pews, with only a few people sitting in them. 

The sun shone through a small opening on the ceiling, creating a soft glow on everyone's features. At the front, was a pulpit with the man you saw before. Joseph. He had his head bowed in prayer, you assumed. Behind him in a darker corner was a tall man, holding what resembled a gun in his hand. Jacob. You immediately noticed his gaze on you as you walked towards Joseph. The woman still gripping your hand. Joseph turned around as he noticed both of you there. He walked towards the woman and pressed his forehead to hers in an intimate greeting. He turned to you next and held out his hands. You took them cautiously, and watched as he studied you. He slipped a hand from yours and caressed your face. You instinctively flinched back and you noticed the frown on his face.

He let go of your other hand and turned to Jacob, motioning for him to step forward. His gaze never leaving you. Joseph pointed at you and Jacob nodded and then quickly pulled out a box. The same box from before. He stepped up to you and turned the knob and opened to reveal its contents. You saw the cylinder and pins and realized it was a music box. But...they must know you couldn't hear it so you weren't sure what he expected you to do. But again, both of the men and even the woman with them were surprised at nothing. You looked to each of them, worry growing inside you that you may have done something wrong.

Joseph took your hand again, and smiled at you. Gazing into your eyes as his lips spoke, "It's true. She is the chosen one." You slightly shook your head at the fact he kept repeating this. He noticed you disagreeing and held onto you tighter.

"Yes my child. It is you. We have long awaited your arrival. Come. Let us share the good news!" He lead you back through the corridors, with Jacob and the woman trailing behind. He went past the room you woke up in and towards what looked like an exit. The light outside started to leak through the cracks of the door as he pushed it open. As you stepped outside, your skin tingled at the warmth of the sun, and before you stood hundreds of people. All of them wore old, battered clothes with a strange crucifix symbol on it. Many had also been carrying weapons making you nervous.

You turn your head to Joseph who looked as if he was shouting something to everyone. His hands raised above his head. You scanned around the area to see people yelling excitedly and rushing up to kiss your hands and bow to you. You couldn't make out what anyone was saying, but stood there frozen as all this happened. Men and women of all ages looked at you and smiled. They kept saying things to you, but they spoke too fast for you to make any of it out, but you smiled politely to each of them. Joseph then began to lead you through the crowd, many people parting to create a path for you. As you walked past everyone, many had gently pressed their hands against you as a sign of respect, like you would do to the pope if he were here.

None of this made sense to you. Chosen one? Eden? Was this Eden? And these people, they seemed like they didn't want to harm you, but they didn't want to let you get away either. How were you possibly gonna get out of this one? You needed to find the group you were with before all of this happened. They would help you escape, but too many people knew what you looked like now, so the task just became harder. As you continued walking through the crowd of people. At the end you saw three people. Jacob, the woman from before and another younger man. He wore expensive clothing and had his hair slicked back. He was holding a white book with the same symbol people had on their clothes. 

All three of them walked to you and greeted you like Joseph did inside the building. The woman was first, grabbing you gently by the shoulders and pressing her forehead to yours. A strong, floral scent came from her. It was sweet smelling, but it made you light headed from how strong it was. She let go of you and next was the man you never saw before today. Upon closer inspection, he wore a long, dark blue coat. A black vest over top a silky blue dress shirt. You could see cuts and tattoos on his chest. He smiled warmly at you and repeated the woman's actions and held you close. He broke away from you and held out the book he was holding. You took it from him and ran your fingers along the cover. You mustered up a smile at him as he stepped away. 

Then it was Jacob next. He was hesitant to reach out for you, but he gently gripped your shoulders and laid his head against yours. He lingered there longer than the others and so you opened your eyes to look up at him. He held his eyes shut tightly as you both stood there. Something about the way he held you, the way he greeted you was intensely more intimate than with Joseph.

After a few moments, he did release you and you caught his gaze once again, but this time. It was much sadder. He smiled, but just as soon as it appeared it was also gone. He walked away to join the other two and Joseph placed a hand on the small of your back. You flinched in response, being so caught up with looking at Jacob. Joseph lead you back into your building, and back to the same room you came from. You sat back on the bed, the book in hand. Joseph stood before you, but crouched down and took your hands in his.

"My child. You have done a great thing for our people today. They have hope for the future. My brothers and sister have seen it today. You will be the one that walks us to the gates of Eden. You are the hope of a people. A people that have worked endlessly to save the lost and broken in hopes to create a new future. You...my child. We have long awaited your arrival."

He let go and placed a kiss to your forehead and left you. What did they even mean by all of this. These people didn't even know anything about you! Did they even know you can't hear them? You didn't know what to think except ...Except if they continue to believe you're this kind of savior...maybe this is your ticket home. You remembered the book you were given and opened the inside cover, which was titled "The Book of Joseph." If you were gonna try to figure a plan to escape, it seemed this would be the best start.