Even
The old man seemed far less bothered by Even and gave him a once over before chuckling. “Where are you from, young man?”
“America.” Cetin said under his breath.
Even probably shouldn’t be offended. Most assumed the same thing – but it still kind of pissed him off. “Quebec.” Even growled. Cetin gave him a funny look. Even's expression soured further. “Canada?” Cetin’s eyebrows flickered up in recognition before he returned his gaze to his book.
“Canada is a beautiful place.” The old man said, “You are far from home, though. What brings you here?” The old man just smiled demurely at Cetin when the other man gave him a withering look before rolling his eyes.
“I won a trip to Latvia at work.” Even explained as Nadav hurried back to hand him a towel before going to sit on the floor between the two other sword bearers, adjusting his coat before he settled to listen. “Flight got diverted to Turkey...I was at the airport when everything started up.” He saw Cetin glance up at him at this. He noticed then how tired the three of them looked – so many people looked exhausted right now, but these three were on a different level. “Helped there for a while. Don’t have an education and I can’t speak the language, so I was sent to help digging ditches for burial. Did that for a few days. Moved a lot of bodies. Came this way when the quakes got worse and they just started cremating them.”
“That must have been horrible.” The old man said.
“I’m used to dealing with unpleasant things.” Even said plainly, refusing to elaborate.
The old man nodded slowly. “So I assume you’re here for the gold.” He said with a little smile, tired, like he already knew Even’s answer even if the gear he carried in didn’t give it away.
Even shrugged a shoulder. “Sounded like an adventure.”
Cetin clicked his tongue and gave the old man a hard look. “Adventure, he says.” He said mockingly, then directing his gaze to Even. “I think you mean opportunity, you grave robber.”
Even turned and went over to where there was bread, a bowl of fruit, and a jug of water on the table against the wall. Pears, pomegranates, figs and an entire bowl of green and red apples - he sorted through them to find a plum and picked it up to take a bite, licking the juices of his hand as he glanced up to the depiction of the apostles on the ceiling, Christ at the center, most of his face faded save for a stern pair of lips and intense eyes. “You don’t actually believe the Devil is here, do you?” He said to Christ’s mouth before he looked to Paul, the persecutor, whose face was the only one not peeled away in any place. He reached to blindly pick up a loaf of bread then as well, staring into Paul's look of judgment.
“Yes.” Cetin growled. “Who do you think is causing all of this?”
Even looked over his shoulder at the other man, chewing his fruit for a minute before he swallowed with narrowed eyes. “You think the Devil caused these earthquakes?”
“He is capable of many things.” Cetin said quickly.
“But…a natural phenomenon?” Even asked skeptically as he poured himself a glass of water, carrying it over to where the old man was waving to an empty chair beside him.
“The Devil is capable of many things.” Cetin said again, harsher this time, more insistent. “The key is to be able to tell when it is him, and when it is not. Once you know what he is capable of, you can see where it is he treads and be prepared for his arrival.”
“And you think this is him?” Even asked, trying not to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. “How can you possibly know that?”
The three men looked between themselves before the old man answered. “Because the cave has been exposed.” He said very simply, a bead of sweat dragging down the side of his temple. “That could only be his work.”
“The cave was exposed after an earthquake.” Even replied before taking a sip of his water, smacking his lips at the stale taste. He debated sticking the cup out the window behind him to collect rainwater. Anything would be better than this. He shouldn’t be picky, though. Water was hard to come by at the moment.
“Why are you wasting your breath on him?” Cetin argued to the old man, “He isn’t worth it. Let him find out for himself, let the cave take him.” The old man waved at him and told him to return to his studying, which Cetin did with a scowl.
“Those who enter the cave do not return.” Nadav piped from the floor. “None of them.”
“Save for the ones with the gold.” Even pointed out.
“Save for the one.” Cetin corrected, lifting a finger to point it at Even. “The Devil.” The said with hard emphasis.
Even gave him an unbelieving look. “I’m pretty sure it was four different people. Their pictures had been in the paper, four different men of different ages and ethnicities. Can’t say it was the same guy in different makeup.” Even said, knowing that was what the other was going to say next.
“It was the same creature. He can change his appearance!” Cetin argued. “There were never any pictures of them altogether, was there?” Even responded by taking another bit of his plum. “That’s what I thought.” Cetin said triumphantly, wagging a finger at the old man then. “Proof he can change. Same -” Cetin jumped up suddenly to leave the room, coming back in with four newspaper clippings of the thusly mentioned people to wave them about. “Same smile! Look!” He showed Even before showing Nadav, then the old man with a wild, eager look. “It’s the same smile! They’re all biting their bottom lip between their teeth! Same demon!”
“They look happy.” Even said in a breezy, dismissive tone around his fruit, swallowing another bite. “If I found a bunch of gold, I’d be smiling as well. Probably just as cheeky.”
“NO!” Cetin roared. “It’s him! It’s the Devil! He has created an opportunity to show how selfish and self-centered humans are! That is his purpose!”
“If by chance this is the Devil, I doubt that’s why he would do this.” Even said flatly.
Cetin narrowed his eyes at him. “Oh? Are you not here to take advantage of the situation?” Cetin argued as he tucked the photos into his jacket, “Tell me, how many bodies did you have to step over to get here?” Even sat back in his chair and sipped at his water, refusing to answer. Cetin looked to the old man then. “See? I told you. That is why he is here. To do this to men. To give them an opportunity to look like fools to our Heavenly Father.” He looked to Nadav. “Look at what he is doing to the people down there – some are helping, others are acting like animals.”
“It’s a test.” Nadav agreed, “The cave especially is a test.” He looked to Even then with big, pleading eyes. “You must not go in there, friend!” Thunder roared and he jumped to his feet with his sword, sitting back down when the old man gently told him to do so.
Even finished his fruit before he positioned his hands to throw it to the trash bin by the table, landing his throw perfectly. “So, what-" He said, slowly turning his gaze back to the three of them. "You three just sit up here in the mountains….waiting for the day the Devil comes for the cave?”
“No.” Cetin said, “We do not wait here.” He pointed a thumb to the old man. “He waits here, as his master before him. We-” He motioned between himself and Nadav, “Were sent when the alarm was raised. We are representatives, the most capable of any to step up to this noble task.”
“Capable. Right.” Even eyed Nadav. “I’m sorry, how old are you?”
Nadav gave him a proud smile. “Thirteen.”
Even stuck his tongue in his cheek and looked to Cetin. “The best they could send was a thirteen-year-old?” Even said, unconvinced.
“I am a man, just the same as you.” Nadav chirped happily.
“He is also a very talented exorcist.” The old man said, “He comes from a long line of holy men, very capable holy men.”
Cetin didn’t look so impressed, but he nodded all the same at the old man’s words before he rolled his eyes to the ceiling in thought. “And the Devil didn’t come for the cave.” Cetin corrected, saying firmly “He came from the cave.”
“It is the entrance to Hell.” The old man said, Cetin nodding hard in agreement while Nedav dropped his chin slightly with a conflicted look. “Or wherever evil resides in wait.” He finished with a pat to Nedav’s shoulder, the boy - the young man - quirking a smile.
“So…let me get this straight.” Even frowned in thought. “The cave that’s been opened by these earthquakes…was closed for thousands of years and opened up now – by the Devil." He repeated with a deeply unimpressed look before he scowled. "Why?”
Cetin and Nadav looked to the old man with a frown. The old man sighed slowly. “We do not know what his true intentions are, but…we know he will come here for what we have, since it was this particular cave that was opened.”
Even scowled deeper. “Why?”
“Because even the Devil needs directions sometimes,” Cetin said pointedly.
Even leaned back on his heels a little, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t think that’s how it works.” Even said with a frown.
The door to the chapel was thrown open then, startling everyone but Even, who reacted with deep annoyance. When he turned he saw a rain-soaked man standing in the doorway, his choppy looking hair clinging to his face and mouth open to reveal crooked teeth as he breathed from his mouth. He looked around the little church with a relieved sigh. “Sanctuary!” He cried out with a burst of borderline crazed laughter, finishing with another overly extravagated relieved sigh as he stepped in to shake the rain out of his hair with a pleased look.
Even looked unimpressed at him, eyeing the man's miss-matched tennis shoes. The other three men returned to their defensive stance.
“Where’s your gear?” Cetin growled at the stranger.
The man frowned as he brushed off his pants looking to Cetin with a curious little smile. “I-I’m sorry?”
Cetin rose from his seat, gripping his sword. “I asked where your gear was, stranger. Where is it?!” He shot at him, visibly bristling.
The man looked between the three men and their swords, his beady eyes going to eye Even’s gear before he slowly looked to Even's face, then back to Cetin. “What do you mean?”
“Why are you here in the mountains if you do not have gear?” Cetin asked sharply.
The man laughed uneasily, saying “Can’t a guy just wander aimlessly around a mountain without getting the third degree?” American, Even noted. Though his voice was low and pleasant, he sounded disturbingly similar to the valley girls in Clueless, Angela's favorite movie. The stranger shook out his hair, looking between the four of them before his eyes landed on Nadav, who tensed under his gaze. The American's eyes narrowed and he lifted his nose slightly, pointedly sniffing the air as his eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “I smell - bread!” His expression lightened suddenly and laughed merrily to point toward the table. “Gee, I’m starving! Mind if I have a nibble?”
“Touch my sword first.” Cetin growled at him.
“Wow, that’s forward.” The newcomer said, holding up a hand. “I’m hungry, but not that hungry – oh, look! You have an actual sword!” He put his hands on his hips and hummed in thought. “I feel like, though, touching that would mean an automatic case of tetanus, and I'm, like, waaaay behind on my shots.” He said with another little laugh, looking to Even. “Did you have to touch his sword?”
“That I did.” Even said. He tossed the man the bread loaf in his hand and the man scrambled to catch it. The man gave him a thumbs up with his free hand before he took a bit. “Just do it. It'll get them off your back.”
“Mmm,” The man said, swallowing the bread to narrow his eyes and looked up at Christ's portrait on the ceiling with a twinkling gaze. “I was taught though, not to follow crowds, you know – don’t jump off the cliff, yata, yata, so I’m gonna have to pass!”
“Then leave.” Cetin said, thunder roaring loud enough to make them all jump.
“You would...” The stranger frowned at him, “Send me out into this storm!?” He said in a mockingly stunned tone with a gasp.
“I will throw you out, yes.” Cetin growled. "And I'll do it right now unless you touch my sword."
The stranger blinked at him slowly, taking a tiny bit of his bread to take his sweet time chewing it. “That’s not nice.” He said quietly, eyes wide, but face otherwise blank.
The ground quivered and the man leaned easily against the door frame as he chewed off another bite, dust from the ceiling raining down on their heads as the shaking grew in intensity.
The stranger kept eye contact with Cetin as the shaking increased, the building nearly bouncing off the foundation as all held their ground. Slowly the stranger’s gaze traveled up to where a crack was dragging along the ceiling between Christ’s lips, opening a gape that poured water from the roof down into the church, soaking the bread on the table and washing away some of the fruit, a red apple bouncing off the table to roll along the floor and settle at the stranger's feet.
Nadav moved first and the stranger dropped his gaze to him, watching as the younger boy stumbled back to block the altar entirely with his trembling body.
The shaking stopped abruptly. “What a pretty golden box behind you!” The stranger commented in a cheery tone, as if suddenly realizing there was an altar. “I love gold.” He looked eagerly to Even. “I’m here for the cave!”
Even, back pressed against the wall as he waited for an aftershock to what he was sure had to of been an eight pointer at least, ignored the stranger completely to focus on not panicking.
The stranger looked back to Nadav. “What’s in the box, kiddo?” He said as he swooped down to pick up the apple and roll it between his hands.
Nadav lifted his sword, as did Cetin. The old man rose slowly to raise his as well.
Even swallowed thickly and began shuffling along the wall toward the door. These people were fucking crazy. He wasn’t going to let a building come down and risk being stuck under it with the three of them.
“Leave this place, Devil!” Cetin cried, the stranger holding a hand to his chest in a very ‘who, me?’ sort of manner.
“The manners on you people!” the Stranger said, stunned. “I just can’t believe it. All the travel guides said Greece was a nice place, but everyone’s just been so rude to me- hey! Where are you going?” He said, suddenly noticing Even creeping closer.
“I’m getting the fuck out of here.” Even growled at him, adding lowly “I’m not with these people.”
The stranger gave him a little smile. “Oh. Okay. Here, let me-“ He sidestepped to make room for Even, who thanked him with a grunt of acknowledgment and accepted the apple the stranger handed to him with a 'here ya go, buddy'.
Even grabbed his gear and left the chapel, sticking the apple in his mouth and he pulled his backpack on and hurriedly entered the downpour to brave the blinding sheets of rain and leave behind the crazy people. He took a bite out of the apple before he shouted back “Thanks for the shelter!” before adding “Fucking psychos.” under his breath, scowling as he trudged along the path toward the general direction of the cave.
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