Adopted by a Seed ( Jacob )

X

    The church was smaller then she first though : long but not really wide. There were benches on every side, they were made out of wood and had a simple design without any little fantasy, made sense with Joseph's ideals. The walls had no windows, some lights were placed on the sides, and there was a big version of their church's cross on the one behind the altar. Marie felt oppressed, the only exit was the door behind her, and they would shut it off in a moment. She could see, written in black paint, what seemed to be part of "the word of Joseph", mostly the bits talking about sins; that was all he was talking about anyway. Jacob lead her by the hand to the altar, and the little girl was pleased to see that Faith was already there, smiling. No big hug like John had done, but a peck on the forehead, which was enough. She was glad to see everyone here, she felt safer, as if having all three here would put up a barrier between her and Joseph.
    They began to talk, about boring adult things that she couldn't entirely understand. She let go of her dad's hand and went to sat against the all behind the altar, Bucky coming to ret his head over her legs. She gently scratched behind his ears with a smile. Marie looked up at the entrance, the church was empty other than them, she could see people outside, pacing from point A to point B, occupying themselves to forget the stress of what was to come. She was sure of one thing: not a single one of them believed that whoever was coming tonight would take Joseph away, but they were scared that something else could happen. She herself felt strange, a kind of anxious feeling she couldn't exactly pinpoint. But she had no reason, her dad was there, there was a literal army of brainwashed people outside, and all of them were armed. It would be unlucky if anything was to happen to her specifically.
    The girl stopped spacing out when the voices next to her started getting louder and her name was said. Without much of a surprise her dad and uncle were most likely fighting with each other. John and faith were both on the side trying to appease them, now was not the time to get angry, indeed they needed to be more united than ever. Yet, because of her, they were fighting, and she couldn't even understand why.
    "Think of what we could do with her if you just were to let me prepare her..!"
    "I said NO Joseph !"
    The word echoed on the bare walls of the little building, marie had heard her dad screamed there and there at some of his men, but never to one of his family members, especially Joseph, the father himself. This one seemed baffled at what had just happened, his eyes studying his older brother through his yellow creepy glasses; John and Faith were just as surprised, their jaw almost dropping to the ground. Her uncle let out a "very well then" before going toward the entrance, pretending to inquire about something to one of the men working outside. Jacob went straight to her and, almost angrily, let himself rest against the wall, staring at the entrance where Joseph was. The two other siblings went their own way, probably having stuff to do. She rose up on her feet, forcing Bucky to move away, to get her father's hand in hers. He looked down at her before smiling sadly and tenderly squeezing her oh so tiny hand in his. She decided to try her chance :
    "What did he meant by 'what we could do with me' ?"
    Now she was sure her dad knew what exactly Joseph wanted to do with her, that was the only reason she could see for him to be so angry. But he didn't answer, he didn't even look at her. Scared that she had done something wrong, that she had overstep her boundaries or made him sad, she managed a little 'dad ?', bending forward to see his face from below. He looked sad right now, head down and eyes locked on the ground. Jacob sighed and gently pet her hair, ruffling though it and making it messier, giving her a sad smile.
    "He says you're a key to eden's gate, that God told him so...He also said that one of the guys coming tonight is a second key to open Eden, that God is sending him signs that it's time and soon the world will end... I don't know what he wants to do with you exactly, but i'm too scared to bet it's something nice..."
    He sighed again and used his other and to press his eyes. Right now he looked like his 50's, he seemed tired and Marie felt guilt crushing her guts. He wouldn't be like that if she wasn't there, he wouldn't have had a fight with his brother that he loves so much. She was not a key to Eden, she was a weight bringing them down into the dirt, especially Jacob. She sniffled and rubbed her eyes to try and not tear up. But her dad was no fool, he immediately kneeled down next to her and gently took her hand away from her face. Seeing her tears he became worried without even a second passing. He was dumbfounded as well, not understanding why she was crying.
    "It's my fault" she whispered. "Without me you wouldn't be fighting..."
    The man's expression went from worried to compassionate, one she had not seen before. He gingerly took her in his arms, holding her tiny body against him. He hold her close for a few minutes, carefully choosing his words as he went on to tell her just how wrong she was, she was not responsible for anything that was happening. He added how lucky he was to have her, that his days were way brighter with her around, she was his chance to be better; that if God was real she was the sign he had sent Himself to him. Marie stayed silent, her tears had stopped but she was not convinced, not really. But she didn't wanted her dad to be worried for her, so she gave him the brightest smile she could summon right now, nodding to show she had understood.
It's the moment that Joseph chose to come back inside, the sun was almost totally set outside, coloring everything in a nice shade of red. Jacob and him barely shared a glance before the first stood up again and leaned again against the wall, proudly standing with his arm crossed. Marie did the same, minus the crossed arms, Bucky at her feet rose as well and sat obediently next to her, taking on his role of protector as people started getting into the church. It was time for Joseph to start his sermon, and with it came back the anxious feeling she had before. The deputies were coming. She wondered who would be here, she knew them, not deeply of course but she had registered their name and faces. There was a woman, Hudson if she remember correctly, she was very pretty but very mean with uncle John when they met her. She was allowed to go to her uncle's house once and they took a walk in the city when they came across her. Apparently her family was known around and not for the best. She had met two other men, a young one who also was pretty with ebony hair, Pratt; he had stopped dad on the side of the road for speeding, and he was very surprised to see her on the passenger seat, making a joke by asking if her dad had kidnapped her. She liked him, he was very friendly. The other  she had met another time, an old man named Earl, he looked like a grandpa. Apparently there also was another woman, but she hadn't seen her yet, and the marshal came from somewhere else so she had never seen him either. She hoped, in the back of her mind, that Pratt wasn't here, she felt as if things were going to go off rails for the worst...for the deputies that is.
In just a few minute the little church was packed, but it was easy to see from which area they were coming from. Those from Jacob's looked more intimidating, they had guns and some hunters were here with their red beanies and dark jacket. From Faith's they all looked in another place, dozing off from all the bliss they were getting daily. Those from John were looking frantic and ready to go down, the people most likely to riot would Joseph get as much as a scratch. Among all those people she noticed someone : Gabriel. He was in one of the closest benches so he spotted her as well, pretty easily. He waved at her a little but just fast enough that no one would notice, the man was still scared that Jacob might no take that well, he was very protective after all. Even then, seeing his green joyful eyes in the crowd was calming.
    She wondered if her uncle was aware that half of his faithful were actually not loyal to him, but o her dad. Those he trained only obeyed Joseph because so did Jacob, so if he was to turn against The Father, they would follow him and trust him without any regret. It was evident with a look at them, half were mesmerized by the shirtless man -when did he took his shirt off ?- and the other half were just waiting for it to end. They were bored and so was she. Marie would have rather spend this time outside with her wolf or Gabriel, looking at the stars or playing at naming them. Jacob seemed bored as well because he started gently stroking her hair, which he would not be doing if he was focused. She smiled and start waiting. Joseph was speaking louder and louder, she couldn't understand half of what he was saying but was it because he made no sense or because she just was too young ? He was getting more and more passionate in what he was saying, a clue it was going to be the end of it, her dad had told her he does his speeches this way.
    Over the church came a noise, something moving. She had never heard one but she was going to bet it was a choper, she knew the deputies had one because she had heard John complain about how they would fly over his property sometime. Jacob heard it too and looked up, murmuring a "here's trouble" with frowned eyebrows. Not even a minute later three people entered the church, just as Joseph was loudly proclaiming the last sentences of his speech. The tension was palpable.
    She recognized Earl in his sheriff uniform, he looked resigned and tired from just being here; there was a man with dark skin and hair, the marshal as specified by the name on his uniform, he was trying to make himself heard above Joseph's loud voice, from what she could hear it was from an arrestation something, her dad once said a warrant but she wasn't sure of the word. At the entrance she could see Hudson, she seemed frightened. And then there was a woman, deputy uniform, hair of a light brown, and icy blue eyes just like hers. They crossed eyes, and a chill went down her spine. The woman's eyes opened a bit wider, probably feeling the same. Marie's gut were turning on themselves, she was feeling sick, it felt wrong.
    She snapped out of it when the Marshall screamed out
    "CUFF HIM ROOK"