A Little Piece of Heaven.

"Alright, don't think you guys can go gallavanting around without doing some good earnest work for the Lord," He spoke, "Erin, I want you to tend to the nursery, Spencer, you've got the pre-teens, and I'll handle the adults."

"What about the younger kids who aren't babies?" Erin asked curiously.

"I hold seperate classes for them late in the evening," He answered with a smile.

Erin furrowed at him in her mind. How odd was it that he would hold seperate classes just for them? At night, for that matter. If anything, it should've been the Adults. She officially established it now: Keep a Sharp Eye on Father James.

"Alright now, sunday school starts in 10 minutes," James informed, "Let's go now. Chop! Chop!"

For three whole hours, Erin changed diapers, played with little children, and got to know the native american women. Within those three hours, Father James was staring at her from time to time too. It freaked her out. The native women would always tell Erin,

"That man is looking at you strange,"

and when Erin would look at him. He would just smile, wave his hand, and go back to his preaching. She rolled her eyes and continued to wash the little baby she had in her hands. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Spencer was walking up to her. She looked over at him and smiled lightly.

"What's up spence?" She asked curiously, washing the baby's tiny feet.

"I finished up early, wanna check out the mines tonight?" He asked, getting out his camera and snapping a picture. Erin smiled sheepishly and giggled as he snapped another picture.

"Sure thing, I'll be done once I finish washing Turtle here," She spoke. Spencer agreed and went on to snap a few more pictures. Turtle wiggled and squealed as Erin covered her face and poured a little water over her head. Erin giggled lightly and washed through the small patch of dark hair on her small head. Suddenly she looked over at the ground and noticed a figure standing over her.

"You're pretty good with her," Father James spoke. Erin tensed up lightly as he got on his knees and sat next to her. Usually, this wouldn't be a problem, but A: He touched her leg, and B: he was sitting in her personal space, making her extremely uncomfortable. She continued to wash Turtle without making any eye contact. Father James stared at her the whole time.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

That night, Erin decided to stay outside in a tent. One particular reason was because she didn't want to stay in the Welcome house with Father James. She placed her tent on one of the various ledges on the canyon. She was about a yard above the entire village, and could see all the lights shining brightly, along with the voices chattering and chanting spritual hyms. She laid down flat on her pile of blankets and looked up at the thread work on her tent. She stared at it for a good two minutes before her eyes started to droop. Not too long after, she fell asleep.

"Erin," a familiar voice spoke. She felt two hands starting to play with the hem of her shirt.

"Erin, c'mon, wake up," He spoke, with a slight laugh in his voice.

She slowly looked upwards and saw Brian hovering over her. He had a soft smile on his face, his eyes were warm and loving. She looked up at him groggily and smiled.

"I missed you," She whispered. He smiled lightly and leaned down to kiss her neck.

"Erin!!!" Spencer hissed out. Erin shot open her eyes and sat straight up with a yelp. Spencer pressed his fingers to his lips and shushed her.

"We've got to get out of here," He whispered sharply, "C'mon, get your things."

"Why? What's going on?" She whispered back. Spencer looked back cautiously and walked into Erin's tent. He set down his stuff and got on his knees, turning on a flashlight.

"I was walking back to the Welcome house a few minutes ago," He explained, "I heard some noise going on in Father James's room. I figured he was having a nightmare or somethng. So I walked in there and-"

"Lights out," a male voice spoke, flashing a light into the couples' eyes. Spencer and Erin flinched as Father James pointed his light to the ground and looked at them coldly.

"Spencer, get back to your tent," He demanded, "It's not very christian of you to sleep in the same tent when you two aren't married."

Spencer turned and looked at Erin with a sad look. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear.

"Meet me tonight in my tent," He whispered, "Well, goodnight Erin! Sorry about that Father James, had trouble sleeping."

"Yeah yeah, back to your tent," James instructed. He looked back at Erin and stared at her. She cringed and covered herself up with her blankets. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of looking at her body. He smiled warmly and looked as Spencer entered his tent.

"Erin, aren't you scared out here?" He asked.

"No," She answered, "I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. Besides, Spence is only a few feet away."

"Well, I think it'd be safe if you stayed over at the welcome house with me," He offered.

"I think it'd be safe if i didn't," She thought.

"Uhm, no thanks father, I'm kind of the adventurous type," She excused with an unconvincing giggle. He nodded his head lightly and continued to stare at her without another word. Erin forced a small smile and wished Father James goodnight. He didn't say anything in return. He zipped up her tent and she watched as his shadow disappeared. She shuddered and sighed with relief. That man was beyond creepy. Now that she was here, she couldn't wait to fix everything back to normal again.

"Erin!" Spencer whispered out sharply, "Erin! C'mon, let's go!"

"Coming!" Erin whispered back, grabbing her things and packing them up in her backpack.

Once she was done packing, she carefully snuck out of her tent and creeped over to Spencer's. He came out carefully and took her hand, the couple cautiously running onto the pathway towards the caverns. Her heart began to race with anticipation as the climbed over huge rocks and jumped over puddles of wet clay and water. After a few minutes of walking, they finally reached their destination. There stood before them was the entry way. It stood tall and proud before them, towering hundreds of feet above them. Erin could see the moons light shining onto the ground on the other end. The pointed rocks inside stuck out like spikes and dripped with water. It looked kind of intimidating, but that didn't over power her curiousity. Suddenly she felt pressure on her hand.

"Don't worry, I won't let anything bad happen to you," Spencer whispered, "I promise I'll protect you,"

She smiled lightly at her friend and then looked down at her feet. Brian said the exact same thing to her. As did Zacky, Matt, Jimmy, and Johnny. They all had made the same promise to her. The more she thought about them, the more she wanted to see them again. She missed seeing Jimmy try to master the art of kitchen knives. She missed listening to Zacky play the acoustic for her every night, or hearing Matt sing Valary a soft melody on the couches after every movie night. She missed Brian being an asshole to her every day on the hour. She missed his hair, his kisses, his smile. She missed all of it.

She felt her hand being pulled towards the entrance.

"C'mon, let's go find that Artifact." He chirped softly. The couple walked up towards the entrance and flashed their lights into the darkness. Erin's stomach dropped. The entrance was being blocked by a rusted metal prison door. Spencer put his hand on it and jerked it a few times to see if it would open, but it was no use. Erin scanned the door's features with her flashlight and came upon a rusted lock with chains. The movie theater sign and Judith's bracelet flashed back into her mind.

"of course, that's why I needed the keys," She thought

Erin let out and agitated grunt leaned against the door.

"Dammit. It's no use Spence," She mumbled, "We need the keys to get in, and we don't have the-"

Suddenly the sound of jingling went off, and Erin snapped her head towards him. He dangled a WWJD bracelet with a silver key on it. A smile was stretched across his face.

"Where did you find that?!" Erin asked in surprise.

"Found it on the ground just a few feet away from me," He answered, "It must be pure fate."

"Must be," Erin giggled. Spencer inserted the key and unlocked the lock, pulling apart the chains and carefully opening the door. He took Erin's hand and led her inside, gripping his flashlight in the other hand. They cautiously walked through the cavern and out through into an open space. Erin looked around and couldn't believe her eyes. Around her was a nothing but red eroded rocks. The ground was flat with small pebbles and patches of grass. There was a small pool of water that poured out into a stream towards the other side of the canyon. Above her was an open starry night sky. Erin closed her eyes and let out a small sigh as Spencer got out a metal detector. This place was so beautiful, so peaceful, she wanted to lay down and just look up at the sky. She opened her eyes and watched as Spencer stepped forward and a loud crack went off from underneath him. He pointed his flashlight downwards, and a gasp escaped his lips.

"Holy fucking shit," He cursed, "....E-Erin?"

"What?" She asked out.

"Erin, this place is....I think..." He stammered, "I think it's a fucking burial ground!"

"What?" Erin pointed her flaslight downwards and let out a yelp. Right by her feet was a human skull staring right back up at her. She whipped the flashlight around and saw nothing but bones, bones, and more bones! Fear overwhelmed her entire body and she couldn't help but yell out,

"What the hell is this pla-" Spencer covered her mouth and told her to hush.

"Someone could hear us, then we'd be in deeper shit!" He whispered sharply, "Now c'mon, I'm picking up some activity by that little pool over there."

Erin nodded lightly and was careful not to step on anymore skeletons. Spencer scanned the tall grass with his flashlight while Erin checked the pool. She slid off her sandals and dipped her feet in, the cold temperature crawling up her spine. she pointed her flashlight downwards and looked around carefully. Nothing. She scanned it over the waters until she saw a glint of light. Her heart began to speed up with excitement. She rushed over to where the shiny obect was and pointed her flashlight right above it. A small gasp escaped her lips as she looked upon the gift that Emilie had given her so long ago. There it was, staring right at her: The key to her powers and the ticket to go home. She reached in and picked it up, pointing her flashlight on it to make sure it was in tact.

"Did you find it?!" Spencer whispered out sharply. Erin turned around and showed him her discovery. She watched as his blue eyes widened in shock and awe. His mouth hung slightly as he slowly walked towards her with glassy eyes.

"I can't...I can't believe it," He gushed, "After all these years...all this research...It's finally happened! Erin! You did it! You've found the Artifa-"

WHAM! Suddenly something hard smacked against Spencer's head. She jumped in shock and yelped as he went down flat onto his face. A pool of blood started pouring out from the back of his head. It dripped onto the pebbles and seeped into the dirt. Erin screamed in shock and flashed the light on the attacker. Father James stood before her with a shovel in his hands. He let the shovel fall to the ground with a clank and stared at her.

"I'm sorry I hurt him," He apologized softly.

"You fucking Psychopath! You killed him! Call an ambulance!" She screamed out, getting down and peering at Spencer's lifeless body.

"I'm sorry I hurt any of them," He spoke out softly, "They were all going to spill my secret."

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Erin screamed, tears starting to form. Father james smoothed back his hair and let out a sigh.

"They were all such teases, they seduced me into taking them here," he explained, "they wanted me to touch them. they wanted to be saved. They made me do this."

Erin got up and wiped her tears away, clenching the necklace tightly. Father James smiled at her warmly and stepped closer to her.

"You look so beautiful, even when you're sad Erin," He cooed. Erin stepped away and clenched her teeth.

"Stay the fuck away from me you creep!" She hissed, "I'm getting the poli-AH!"

Father James lunged forward and pushed Erin onto the ground. She struggled to get up, but he just knocked her down again. He pinned her down by her wrists and stratled her hips. He leaned over and tried to kiss her, but Erin shifted away screaming.

"LET ME GO!! GET OFF ME!!! HELP!!! SOMEONE HELP ME!!"

"Erin don't scream for help! Scream for me! scream my name!" Father James yelled out as he dug his face into her neck. He began to visciously kiss and bite her neck.Erin struggled and squirmed with all her might, but she couldn't move! teears began to pour down her face. This was like the orphanage all over again. After Zacky left, the baker street boys were no more. None of the guys would look after her when strange men would come into her room and take her away. No one fought to save her when they would beat her sensless if she didn't do what they wanted. No one was there for her. No one.