Salvation (Joseph Seed)

8. The Brothers

The next Sunday soon rolled around and Evelyn had made her way to the familiar white church. She walked in to the church and sat down on the front pew where there was a free seat. She picked at her fingernails, feeling a little out of place. The other members of the congregation were all talking among themselves, since that had all grown to know each other rather well, but Evelyn knew none of them.

"Hey, Evelyn. I didn't see you outside and I thought you weren't coming today" a familiar friendly voice spoke as Evelyn felt somebody sit down beside her.

"Lonny? Hey" Evelyn smiled at the man who sat beside her. "I just come inside to wait for the sermon, to be honest I feel a little out of place. Like I don't belong" she admitted, explaining why she tended to avoid the more social side of the church.

"If you are here to find something, you belong here. We accept anyone as long as their interests are good and genuine, which I'm sure yours are" Lonny smiled reassuringly and Evelyn smiled back.

The church fell silent as the Seed siblings walked into the church, Joseph taking his place at the front to start his sermon. Not before sending Evelyn a warm smile first though.

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After the sermon, the congregation made their way out of the church. Evelyn walked out of the church with Lonny, getting through the gathering off people and standing over to the side together. "So, will you be joining us?" Lonny asked as the pair found a quieter place to stand and talk.

"I'm not sure yet. I think I will be but the Father said that I should understand the Project fully before I join. So he gave me his Book of Joseph to read" Evelyn told the young man with a small shrug.

"He gave you his copy?" Lonny asked, definitely a little surprised by that, she must be really special. He couldn't help but wonder why Joseph was so focused on her and encouraging her to join the Project, he hadn't shown this amount of personal interest about a single person joining the Project before. Lonny was about to say something else but the pair were interrupted by somebody approaching them.

"Can I borrow Evelyn for a moment?" Joseph asked with a smile as he approached them.

"Sure, of course" Lonny nodded at him, he sent Evelyn a small smiled before walking away from her and the Father.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted anything" Joseph apologised, his hands folded behind his back.

"Oh, don't worry, you didn't interrupt anything" Evelyn assured him with a small smile.

"Good. I was wondering if I could introduce you to my brothers, they should really get to know somebody who is thinking about joining us. They might be able to answer any questions you have as well" Joseph suggested. Evelyn thought for a moment, she was nervous to speak with the other two Seed brothers since she hadn't spoken to them before, but she found that she wanted too. She didn't feel pressured at all to talk to them but Joseph was still very convincing.

"That sounds good" Evelyn nodded at the older man. Joseph smiled before placing his hand on her back and guiding her over to where his brothers were standing.

The two men stood beside the doors of the church, a little distance from the rest of the congregation that were starting to leave. They both stood, watching Joseph and Evelyn, like they were waiting for them. Evelyn figured that they were.

"Evelyn, this is my older brother Jacob and my younger brother John. This is Evelyn Monroe" Joseph introduced the three of them as if they didn't already know each other's names.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Joseph has spoken about you quite a lot" John smiled as he shook Evelyn's hand politely. Now that she was closer to the youngest brother, she could see the tattoos peaking out of his partly opened blue shirt but what really caught her attention was the scar across his chest that read "SLOTH". Of course she thought it was strange but she convinced herself that it was nothing to worry about. Perhaps it was just the charm that seemed to irradiate from him that caused her to ignore it and return his smile effortlessly.