Have A Little Faith (Faith Seed) (discontinued)

5. The Lake

Things have become quiet for Marcus, considering everyone who lived in the trailer park beside him has been captured by Faith and her men. Other than the occasional and quick appearance from Faith, he has been pretty bored. Most of his days consists of hunting, travelling to towns to sell the skins, and just relaxing at the trailer with a beer. Faith breaks up those boring days, giving Marcus a some what entertaining day. Usually she just shows up while he is out hunting but she leaves so soon that he is beginning to wonder if she has just been a hallucination the whole time.

Marcus finished his beer and threw the empty bottle away, evening was approaching and the sun was beginning to set. He paused when he heard a noise from outside, he cautiously walked over to his front door and opened it. He looked around but saw nothing, he was about to turn and shut the door but his gaze met the floor and the white flower petals scattered over the ground.

He cocked an eyebrow, his gaze followed the petals and noticed that they had formed some sort of path leading away from his trailer. He had a feeling that he knew who had set this up, so he stepped out of his trailer and shut the door before following them.

Marcus followed the path of white petals, that were clearly from the bliss flowers, past the trailer park and past some trees until he walked into a clearing. The path had disappeared as he stepped into the lush opening, a lake contaminated with bliss divided the opening from the wall of trees opposite.

He hummed to himself and almost turned around until he heard a soft voice singing, coming from the right.

"Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. T'was blind but now I see" Faith's voice seemed to glide through the air. Marcus turned towards her voice and saw her walking towards the lake, not paying much attention to the man, her arms seemed were out to her sides as if they were gracefully floating out beside her.

"The petals were a nice touch, a bit much for a quick meeting" Marcus commented, approaching Faith slowly.

"I have always been a hopeless romantic, but even I thought that rose petals would be too cliche" Faith smiled as she turned to him.

"Ah yes, and a path of petals and an evening by a lake is completely original" Marcus teased as he stopped and stood in front of her. He couldn't help but dwell on the words 'hopeless romantic', did she see this as a romantic relationship? Of course he had thought about her in that way, after all she is a beautiful young woman who was always sweet towards him. There was always a part of him who thought that those thoughts were one sided, but perhaps they aren't.

Faith held out her hand and Marcus took it with out hesitation. She smiled at him before walking him to the edge of the lake. "Have you ever swam in the lake?" she asked softly, her finger tangled with his.

"No. Everyone knew that the lake was full of bliss so we all avoided it" he shook his head, turning to face her. She was looking into the lake, but he was admiring how her hair blew behind her in the breeze.

Marcus then looked back at the lake, nobody had been near the lake in a long time considering they all feared the bliss. However, there was an elderly couple in the trailer park that Marcus used to sell his earnings to for a cheap price, they told him stories about their youth. The lake reminded him of their story about that very lake, they had camped beside it with a group of friends and had all gone skinny dipping. Of course, this was all before the time of the cult, days that people barely remembered anymore.

"But I used to know a few people who did, they said that it was the best night of their lives beside their wedding day" Marcus smiled to himself, remembering the sweet couple that had passed only a few months ago. In a way he was thankful that they both had passed on peacefully before they were brainwashed by the bliss.

"How come you haven't? You aren't effected by the bliss" Faith asked, reminding him of his immunity. She looked up at him and tilted her head.

"Swimming alone doesn't sound very appealing" he sighed before looking down at her and meeting her gaze.

Her smile only grew before letting go of his hand and walking forward, Marcus raised an eyebrow at her as she walked into the water. He thought that she would stop once the water reached her knees but he was wrong, she kept walking until she was waist deep in the water.

Faith then turned to him with the same smile on her face, her fingertips gliding across the surface of the water. "Come on in" she beckoned him.

Marcus' eyes widened for a moment before weighing his options. Eventually he just thought 'why not?' and began to kick off his shoes. He contemplated what items of clothing he should remove, he didn't want to make her uncomfortable so he just removed his boots and socks before walking into the water. He kept walking until he was standing in front of Faith. The water was cold but Faith didn't seem affected by it at all, their clothes clung to their bodies but they were to focused on each other to worry about that.

"I haven't been swimming for such a long time" she hummed as she intertwined her fingers with his and walked further into the water.

"Neither have I, not since I was a child" Marcus said as they walked into the water, the surface of the water now just under Faith's chest. "I would've thought that this is something that you do rather often" he commented, always seeing Faith as someone who was very much one with nature.

"My duties keep me too busy to indulge myself like this" Faith giggled a little but he could hear the sadness in her voice. They both turned to face each other and Faith placed her hands on his shoulders, pulling him closer so he placed his hands on her waist.

"My life before faith was empty, Joseph gave me purpose...but you gave me a friend" Faith whispered, letting the water moved gently around them.

"Why do you keep coming around? Why have you chosen me out of all people?" Marcus asked, his volume meeting hers as her hands wandered from his shoulders to the back of his neck.

"So many people in Hope County think that they know me, they love me but none of those feelings are real. I know that you enjoy my company as much as I enjoy yours, Marcus, I can see it in your eyes. The bliss doesn't effect you so I know that those feelings are real, they are genuine, and there isn't much that is real or genuine anymore. Only my brothers and you..." she confessed, noticing how his gaze flickered from her eyes to her lips and then back to her eyes.

"Why did you join the cult?" Marcus asked, leaning away from the woman slightly.

"It's a long story...perhaps another time" she sighed at his rejection, letting her arms fall to her sides and stepping backwards causing his hands to fall from her waist. Marcus wasn't rejecting her, he was just conflicted between his feelings towards Faith and his logic to hate the Seed siblings.

"I would like that" he nodded, rubbing the back of his neck as Faith walked away. He followed her back to land, picking up his socks and boots. He turned to wish her a goodnight, but she was already gone. He sighed before returning to his trailer, wishing for a little more time with Faith.