"I gotta see what he wants," Eve said, mostly to herself. "People will get hurt if he comes in."

Adam's lips moved as he fought to find something to say. When no words came out, Eve left him, slack-jawed and staring, as she worked her way down from the rafters.

She continued speaking while she descended. "Everybody's got guns. And they've been drinking. Tons. If I don't find out what he wants, it is gonna get ugly."

Adam caught up with Eve, grabbing her at a point where doing so wouldn't cause either of them to tumble to the floor far below. "He'll kill you," he said once he'd gained her attention. "Sure as he did to Richie."

Eve's whole body trembled, yet she calmly shook her head. Although panic welled in her eyes, her voice was resolute. "Those bats killed Richie. Not my dad. I don't think he'll hurt me. He wants to make a statement."

"Yeah! I'm gonna kill you all!"

Eve tenderly touched her man. "Crow, who else is there like me? Anywhere in the world? I've been saying things like, 'Trees keep bad stuff in the ground' and, 'No one can see my dad' my whole entire life. I never knew why I say them." She held Adam with both hands on his shoulders, almost as if to hug him. "Now the trees are falling down and bad stuff's coming out. And that guy is my dad. Everybody knows it's true, and it's not just me anymore."

"But Pumpkin… you don't know he's your dad. And you don't know what he wants."

Eve's smile never looked prettier. Her hand shook as she caressed Adam's cheek.

"I don't have to know," she said. "There's something wrong with me."

"No there's not!"

"Yes there is, and you know it. I'm different. I'm not right. Like, up in the head and all. And now that I'm in love with you, and no longer a virgin, I feel so all-grown-up. I can see more why that is."

Upon hearing Eve profess her love, Adam gave up on holding back tears.

"My dad left for a reason. And he came back for that very same reason. There's something wrong with me."

Eve resumed her descent, giving Adam a shove to throw him off balance so she could get away. With distance between herself and him, she found a side door to the shed and disappeared into the night.

Adam soon stood on the floor in the spot where he had last seen her. He stared at the door while clutching the pistols tucked in the lining of his jacket. After pacing in little circles, his face twisting with a range of emotions, he kicked the door several times while emitting a wordless scream.

"Hey! What are you doing?" a partygoer asked, taking note of his act.

"He's gonna open the door!"

"No way! Keep it shut!"

The mob surged towards Adam to prevent him from leaving and, with the scream still in his throat, he opened the door and took off. Instantly, he was besieged by bats. He fired in the air at them randomly, hitting one or more with each shot, simply due to their number. They soon had his jacket pulled over his head, and began clawing and biting his skin through the thin shirt on his back.

He went into barrel rolls on the ground, firing until both clips were empty. He then let go of the guns, and allowed the bats to remove his jacket. A couple of spare clips fell from its pockets, and he managed to recover a clip and one of the pistols. Running and stumbling blindly, with his head tucked to his knees, he got the clip into the gun.

Instantly, he fell to the ground, to scramble backwards while emptying the clip into the cloud of bats. Rolling and tumbling, and crawling on all fours, he made it through the broken double doors of the shed next door. Inside, there was deathly silence, and not a bat to be found. There was however a man, centered in a clearing on the concrete. He stood over seven feet tall, and was built strong like an athlete. An insane amount of teeth could be seen behind a gruesome smile. Despite his towering height, his arms and hands and fingers all were way too long, and his shoulders heaved as he seemed to pant and laugh at the same time.

Adam lay in a heap on the floor, too terrified to move. His eyes traveled down the length of one of the man's arms. There at its end, with fingernails long and sharp, like a hackling comb, the man held an unconscious Eve fully by the face. She lay motionless from the hips down, while the rest of her body was suspended in the air by the death grip he had on her.

The man scraped her along the concrete as he approached, his lips moving in all the wrong ways. "Hello, Son," he said, with creaks and pings in his voice. "How have you been enjoying the pleasure of my daughter?"

Adam was beyond the capacity for words while the man carried on.

"Just so you know, you've got me all wrong." He struck a grandiose pose, placing his free hand on his chest. "I'm the good guy here."

"I seriously doubt that's the case," Adam managed to say, his body still frozen to the ground.

The man leaned in towards Adam, gesturing with menace. He shook Eve's body as he held her by the face, making her flop like a sack full of rocks.

"Don't interrupt your elders," the man said as his smile disappeared. "In case you were wondering, I didn't choose to leave this whelp with her mom. That witch forced me to leave. We had, let us say, a difference of opinion."

Adam pulled himself together, and sat clutching his knees. "You're hurting her," he said, as blood dripped from Eve's puncture wounds.

The man examined the hold he had on his daughter's face. "What? This? Ah, she'll be fine. She's not like normal folk, you know. She's tough."

"I know. She says so all the time."

"Did she ever tell you she was the Antichrist?"

Eve's dad paused to let the drama sink in. He then gestured theatrically, causing Eve to again flop about.

"Oh yes! That witch tricked me. She wasn't interested in love and family, and good things like that."

The man suddenly bent low, bringing his face past his knees, to stick it an inch away from Adam's. He responded by scooting away, still seated on the floor.

"She wanted a boy!" the man cried. "A monster to destroy the world!" He shook Eve in Adam's direction. "This little lady was born to bring forth Armageddon!"

"Again," Adam said quietly. "I seriously doubt that's true."

The man straightened up, pleased by the conversation they were having. "That's right, Son! She's not! I have tricks up my sleeve, too! I gave that witch a daughter. Ha! A girl can't be the Antichrist! And I refuse to sire another child with my wife, ever again!" His tone changed, for comedic purposes. "It ain't been easy, Kid. Lemme tell ya. Have you seen this girl's mom? She's gorgeous!"

Adam chose not to respond.

"She didn't like that much, getting a daughter instead of a son. And I found things were better if I just left well enough alone. Without me in the picture, the old witch seemed kind of happy, raising our little Eve. You see, Son, I like the world the way it is. I like letting people have hope before making them suffer. What kind of torment can I deliver if all hope is lost? How am I supposed to get people to do evil things, and then make them regret it, if they have no hope?"

The man began shaking Eve hard. "That's where the meat is in sending folks to Hell. Make'em think they got a shot at Redemption. You know?"

Adam felt the need to speak, before the man broke Eve's neck. "What's that got to do with her?"

"You're interrupting again, but that's okay. Sometimes I talk too much. Her mom was still leading me on, you see. She wasn't really happy. The way she figured it, if she couldn't birth the Antichrist, she'd have our dear daughter do it. A bastard, born out of wedlock, conceived by your lust and sin."

Adam's mouth hung open at the thought of having to defend his love for Eve. This pleased the man to no end, and he gestured all the more wildly, shaking the poor girl harder.

"Oh yes! Now you see! Get her all liquored up, you figure, and steal her virginity in the dead of the night. Kinda thought it was just gonna be good fun, didn't ya? Now with your seed in her, she'll calve a son that'll bring forth the ruin of Mankind!"

The man stepped over Adam as he still sat on the floor, purposely making him flinch while heading towards the door. "You don't know that," Adam said with conviction.

The man spun, striking Adam with Eve's body. "I don't have to! That witch led me on for years, making me think everything is on the up and up. When all along, she'd just been biding her time, waiting for a grandson to be born." The man turned again to leave. "I didn't get that witch pregnant just so she could destroy this filthy world I love. So me and my daughter here, we'll just be on our way. She'll live with me for a while, so I can keep a close eye on things."

The man began crossing the Paullson's driveway, dragging Eve by the death grip he had on her face. "See ya later, Son! Sorry that you won't get the chance to do my daughter again."