Scandalous 2 Page 0,20
personal. They're using the tour as an excuse to attack me now because it'll draw in more people. They'll try to destroy that painting, and possibly the others, at the very least."
"Jack, are you sure?" I look at the screen again. I see the site owner, a man who calls himself, "Wrath." My eyes trail to previous posts, which call for people to take back their country, to flush out the evils that are polluting the masses. There are hundreds of responses. I know as I say it that this man is a problem. He's targeting Jack because of me.
Jack stops and looks at me. "Yes. This group doesn't do things small. I'm sorry Abby, but they're coming. Protesters will be at the galleries, following the tour, and some will come out here. Some of these Brimstone people will be mixed in with them, ready to strike. We need to be ready for it."
I nod slowly, looking into his eyes. Sorrow clings to him, like he can barely breathe, like he believes Wrath's words. I stand and walk over to him. Touching his arm, I say, "Jack, you know that stuff isn't true, that you didn't do anything - "
Jack pulls away. "I know," is all he says. Although his lips say the words, I don't think he believes them.
"Jack, my life shattered before I came back here. That job in Texas sucked out my soul, and I was letting them do it. I wanted to help people; I wanted it so badly that I thought I had to stay there and let them suck me dry."
"And now?" he asks, standing apart from me. "Now where are you? Your faith is broken, I took you from a life that you excelled at, and now you can never go back."
"Where is this coming from? Jack, I can go back. I could take a job as a minister again. There are other denominations, other congregations, that share my faith, but I don't know if that's what I'm meant to do. I don't know what I want yet. That's not bad, is it? I didn't think it meant that they broke me."
Jack looks at me with sorrow in his eyes. "It wasn't totally them. I'm not free from blame - "
My heart slips into my stomach. He thinks he hurt me. Stepping toward him, I say, "Love binds, Jack. It always has, it always will. Don't doubt that." I slip my arms around his waist as I speak and some of his tension fades. "What we have isn't some meaningless tryst. It's love and I don't care what people say about how we came to discover that, I won't apologize for finding my soul mate."
Jack gives me a lopsided smile and holds me to his chest. "I wish I could have heard you preach. You have more conviction in one tiny thought than I have in my whole body. You seem to know things. You're even content with the things you don't know."
"Yeah. That's just about everything. And that's fine. Maybe that's part of faith or maybe it's just me, but I know how much you worried about making me fall for you, Jack. The truth is, you didn't make me do anything. You were made for me and I merely noticed."
Jack holds me against his chest, chasing away the feeling that demons that are ready to attack.
Chapter 13-14
Chapter 13
JACK
Later that night Jack gets a call from Gus. "What's going on?" Jack says into his phone. Abby sits across from him at the table, picking at a slice of pizza.
Gus's voice sounds strained. There's a lot of noise behind him, making it difficult to hear. "What you thought. There are protesters and the normal kind of stuff, but the crowds are large, and some of them are calling for more radical action. Kate went down there earlier and was wandering around among them, you know, talking trash, hoping someone would say something. She overheard a few people saying that they should do something, but when they saw her, they shut up."
"Yeah, Kate doesn't exactly blend in down there," Jack says, running his hand through his hair. He glances at Abby and smiles sadly.
Gus snorts. "Kate doesn't blend anywhere. She's a pain in the ass, but you already know that." He chuckles, which is swiftly followed by a smack. "Ow, what'd you do that for?" He's talking to Kate. "It's not like you're low maintenance or anything. Damn, Kate."
"Gus, get back on track.