Chapter 3: 1-3 Abe
Later that day, she found herself sitting at a bus stop in a part of town she had never been in. She had always avoided this area. Most people did, especially if they were alone. It was one of those places you roll up the windows and lock the doors when you drive through, and under no circumstances do you get of your car. Eden had been so lost in thought that she didn't realize what stop she was getting off at. She was just trying to get as far away from any place anyone could find her as she could. She hadn't been there long when a group of about six teenagers started walking up to her. Four boys and two girls; the boys wearing baggy pants that nearly covered their shoes and the girls…well they seem to have gone in the opposite direction wearing short tight skirts and three-inch heels.
They walked over shouting and snickering. "Hey lady, what's in the suitcase?" She didn't say a word, just stared at the ground. She knew what they wanted, and she found herself strangely unafraid. "Hey! Didn't you hear me?!" the boy repeated even louder. The boy reached for the suitcase and as he was about to pull it away when Eden felt herself reach out with her own hand and firmly hold the suitcase in its place with an unfamiliar strength. She lifted her head and glared at them with a cold, angry stare. "I'm having a really bad day," she said through clenched teeth as she squeezed the handle of the suitcase tighter. As the teens stood there a slightly stunned, a deep voice shouted from down the sidewalk, "You kids better get on home!" It was the old man from the bus. He was walking in their direction with a slight limp. "What's it to you old man?" the boy replied.
The old man walked over and sat down on the bench by Eden, who was still hanging on tightly to the suitcase with one hand and staring in anger at the teens. The old man reached in his ragged coat pocket and pulled out a crushed pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He lit a cigarette and took a drag, then looked up at the teens, "you hear those sirens?" They hadn't noticed it right away, but the faint sound of police sirens were getting closer. The teens looked at each other and got nervous, "You call the cops on us old man?!" one of the boys shouted. The old man just smiled. "Hey screw this!" the other boy yelled as he started to run off followed by his friends. With a sigh of relief Eden relaxed and loosened her grip on the suitcase. She didn't quite understand what had happened to her in those few moments and she wasn't sure what she would have done had things got out of hand, but somehow she felt that she may have caused serious harm to the teenagers and was grateful that the old man had shown up. She had never been a violent person and the only fights she had been in were occasional verbal bashings between her and her mother when she was in her teens.
She turned and looked at the old man, "Thank you for calling the police." The old man didn't look at her, but simply smiled and said, "I didn't." It was then that she realized the blare of sirens were no longer headed in their direction, but had gone a different route a few streets over. She began to laugh, "I can't believe it! That was some trick!" The old man replied with a chuckle, "No tricks. I was just wondering if they heard the sirens too. Old age can play games with your sanity sometimes; might be hearing or seeing things that aren't there ya know." Realizing this was the first time Eden had been able to find amusement in anything since the night before she said to the old man, "Well, tricks or not, you saved me from a very bad situation and I am very grateful sir." Still not looking at her he said between puffs of smoke, "Eh, I just wanted some peace and quiet while I wait for the bus. I'm sick of these rowdy kids comin' around thinkin' they can just disrespect everyone, ya know?" Eden smiled and looked down at the sidewalk, "Yeah." Finally looking over the old man said, "Never seen you over here before. Don't you belong on the other side of town?" Eden, a little embarrassed replied, "Um, yeah. I kind of got lost." The old man squinted a little and said, "Well where were ya headed?" "I hadn't thought that far ahead", she said still focusing on the sidewalk. "You in some kind of trouble kid?" Eden could sense the concern in the old man's voice and felt bad for involving him in any of her problems, "Oh no. I just…I was, um…" "Well look, you don't have to tell me what's going on, but if you need a safe place to stay there's an old church a couple blocks over on 29. The priest there is a good man. He'll get you a nice warm meal and let you stay in the chapel tonight. Then if you're up to it in the morning you can tell him what's going on and he'll get you the help you need."
Eden was quiet for a minute and thought about what the old man had just said. It was getting dark and she didn't want to be stuck in this area all night after the busses stopped running; she decided it was best to take the old man's advice. "Thank you so much for your help sir, I think I just might do that," she said as she picked up her suitcase and got ready to head over to the church. "Now wait just a minute," The old man started to get up from the bench as well, "I'm not gonna let you walk over there by yourself young lady. I may not be the best company, but I'm gonna make sure you get there safe."
Now Eden was starting to really feel bad, "Oh no, you've already helped me so much, and you'll miss your bus." The old man continued to refuse to let Eden go alone and after debating it for just a minute longer she agreed to let him walk with her to the church. Although she felt bad Eden was relieved to have some company. After a short period of silence between the two of them Eden's curiosity finally got the better of her and she just blurted out, "Why do you always stare at me on the bus?" Feeling really embarrassed for asking such a question, she quickly put her hand over her mouth and began apologizing. The old man raised the corner of his lip in a half-smile and told her, "Don't apologize. I imagine it must be pretty uncomfortable to have some one-eyed bum staring at you all the time." "Oh, no I didn't mean…" "That's alright. I didn't mean to scare you or anything; you just look a lot like someone I…" He began to frown as if reliving a painful memory, "someone I used to know. Well, I didn't really get a chance to know her that well. I tried to save her but, her mother…sometimes things just don't work out the way you planned. Sometimes people do bad things; people get hurt. Eh, it's really not a good story. Anyway I don't think we've really had a proper introduction yet," the old man announced. "Name's Abe," he stopped and held out his hand. Eden reached out and shook his hand. "I'm Eden, it's nice to finally meet you Abe," she said with a smile. She felt horrible that she had brought up the subject and was afraid to ask anything else right away.
They were about halfway there and Eden had begun to feel a little more comfortable. She decided to ask Abe, "Do you," she paused trying to figure out the best way to say it, "Do you believe in evil Abe?" She was a little worried about asking such a question. If there was one thing she learned as a child, it was that people would prefer to label others as crazy than to acknowledge that things exist outside of the reality they've created for themselves. Abe wasn't like most people though, "Oh I believe. I've seen it with my own eyes," he chuckled a little, "or at least when I had two of them." "What do you mean by that?" Eden looked at Abe confused. "You're not the only one who's seen them." Eden stopped walking, stunned at what Abe just said, "What?" Abe stopped as well and motioned towards the scratches on her face, "I've seen that before. Seen it on my daughter. She was just a baby when it happened. I wouldn't let them take her. That really pissed them off," he smiled and tapped his finger under the pale glass eye. Eden was mortified; she felt a knot in her stomach realizing the horrors this man had witnessed and the pain he must have felt when he first saw the marks on his daughter. "Wh…I…" she couldn't seem to get any words out. "Heh, don't worry about it kid. Nothin you could have done. Nothin anyone could have done." Abe frowned as he shifted his gaze to the ground. "Did she…I mean…is she still…" Eden was afraid to ask, but Abe already knew what she wanted to know, "I lost her." "I'm so sorry Abe." Abe didn't say anything. He just looked at Eden and smiled a little. The rest of the walk was silent as if each of them were deep in thought. When they finally reached the big Iron Gate outside of the church they stopped.
"Well here we are," Abe said. He then reached one hand into his ragged old coat pocket and pulled out what looked like some old beads. With his other he reached out for Eden's hand where he securely placed the beads. Before letting go of her hand he looked her in the eye and told her, "You need these more than I do now. I know you don't want to hear this, but you're going to see some things you don't want to see. You're going to go places you wish you never knew existed. You're going to feel more alone than you have ever felt before. You're going to want to give in; to make the pain stop, but you have to fight it, because in the end it's not just your soul that is on the line. It's all of them."
With that he let go of her hand and started walking away. Confused Eden called after Abe asking him what he meant, but he just kept walking until he was out of sight. Now standing alone just outside the church gate Eden looked down at her hand to see exactly what Abe had given her. Upon further inspection she realized they were old wooden rosary beads. She closed her hand tightly around them and turned to walk into the church.
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