ACT TWO ━━ CHAPTER NINE
On the Run

ARVIN ENDED UP TAKING ADALINE TO THE POLICE STATION TO MAKE A STATEMENT—about her father, not about Preston—before taking her to his house where he and Emma helped Adaline get settled in until her Aunt Sally (actual Aunt Sally) would come to pick her up from Knockemstiff that next day.

Adaline was fine with sleeping on the couch in the living room, but Arvin offered up his bedroom instead and Emma agreed. There was, of course, Lenora's room but Adaline couldn't take that, and from the apparent sight that the door to the bedroom stayed close for most of the time, she didn't want to put either Emma or Arvin in that situation either.

Adaline acted as if she had never been in Arvin's room before when Emma showed her the freshly-made bed for which Adaline thanked her for once again.

Emma sympathetically smiled and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Or course, Adaline. And if you need anythin', I'm in the room across the hall." Emma nodded at Arvin, "And don't talk her ear off all night. Let the poor girl get some sleep. Sure she's exhausted."

Emma patted Arvin's shoulder in passing as he nodded back, "Alright, Grandma." Adaline walked further into the room and noticed that the pile of her bloodied clothes were still tucked underneath the bed, reminding her of the scabs already forming where the glass was pulled out.

"Do you need anythin'?"

Adaline looked up at Arvin and shook her head, "No, I'm fine. Thank you."

Arvin nodded, "Well..I'll be just out there if you need me. Goodnight."

Arvin went to leave but Adaline called out, "Wait." He froze, watching as she came over and silently shut the door behind him. She turned around to face Arvin and limited her voice to a whisper, "What are you gonna do?"

Arvin shook his head, playing coy, "I don't—"

"To Reverend." Arvin stopped. "What're you gonna do?" He contemplated whether or not to tell Adaline of the impulsive plan he had concocted while following the reverend's car out of the church parking lot, but Arvin trusted her. She already knew what lengths Arvin would go to in order to protect her and he figured that, since she hadn't run away or turned him into the authorities yet, she would do the same—or at the very least, be by his side throughout the whole thing.

Arvin turned around and opened his bedside drawer, taking out things until he reached into the far back and brought out a box that was vaguely familiar to Adaline. She walked over next to Arvin as he placed it on the table and opened it, revealing the Luger inside that he had gotten for his birthday.

Adaline's breath hitched before her voice lowered even more, "You're gonna...you're gonna kill him?"

Arvin's palms began to sweat at Adaline's apprehensiveness. Did he cross a line? Was she about to go run off to Sheriff Thompson right now? He glanced up at her face, worried of what emotions he was about to see, but only saw her staring at him with almost...no emotion. Adaline's face was blank.

"What he did to Lenora...it killed her. He killed her—"

"Tomorrow," Adaline suddenly spoke. "Let's do it tomorrow. Before my Aunt Sally comes down, we can pack a bag, we can leave—"

Arvin shut the box, "Adaline, I can't bring you with me. I don't know if I'll ever stop running."

"Then I'll never stop running with you." Arvin went to speak again but Adaline continued, "You're the only one who understands me. Everyone pities me, or takes advantage of me, or just thinks I'm some stupid, naive girl who doesn't know any better. But you listen, and you..." she softly shook her head, "...you just get it. You get me! And I ain't gonna find anyone else like you, Arvin. So just let me come with you."

Adaline watched as Arvin's eyes flickered back and forth between her own, looking for any sign of doubt within them. She knew that he wouldn't find any, since she had no doubts at all. Their two minds were smart enough to figure out a way to avenge their lost loved ones and still live a normal life together afterwards.

"Tomorrow?"

Adaline nodded in agreement, "Tomorrow. Early. You can leave your grandma a note, then I can go by my house and grab a few things."

"But what about all the tape? They'll know if someone goes in there."

"There's a window in my parents' room that never locks, I'll go in through that. I know what I'll grab, it'll only be a few minutes."

Arvin nodded, "Okay. And—and after we...do this...where're we gonna go?"

Adaline shrugged, "Where were you thinking?"

He shrugged and looked out his curtain-covered window, "I dunno...maybe my old house, in Knockemstiff."

Adaline nodded, "Okay, let's do that."

"But what about your aunt? Don't she live there too?"

"Yeah, but she's gonna be on her way here tomorrow. We'll probably pass each other and she ain't even gonna realize it. My uncle works all the time, and they ain't got any kids." She shrugged, "But we probably shouldn't stay too long, though. It'd probably be too obvious."

Arvin nodded and confirmed once again, "...tomorrow?"

Adaline pressed her lips together into a smile, "Yes." She sighed at his worried expression, , "You can't scare me off, Arvin. I ain't goin' nowhere you ain't goin' either."

Arvin wasn't questioning whether or not she'd come with him, he knew she would—as she's made clear several times already—but he didn't want her to get roped into whatever crime(s) he was about to commit. Arvin had an idea in his head of what needed to happen, vengeance, but he wouldn't know what exactly that pertained to until he was in the moment, standing face to face with Preston Teagardin.

He was more so worried about how Adaline seemed almost completely unaffected by the unfortunate series of events she's experienced within the past week. First, her mother and her funeral, then what happened with her father that same night and this morning, and then with the reverend. Arvin understood that she was probably in shock, but wouldn't that have worn off by now? She was acting as if those things never happened. Every time Arvin brought up Lenora being pregnant, she never brought up her mother who was in a similar situation. All Adaline did was nod along and reassure Arvin that she'd be with him no matter what.

Was it a ploy? Give Arvin a false sense of security so she could turn him into the cops, first for killing her father, and then for killing the reverend? Adaline wasn't in the right state of mind right now, things were blurring together and perhaps her subconscious blocked things out of her memory to shield her from the trauma.

Arvin saw Adaline's lips moving but didn't register what she was saying, only picking up on, "...Emma was right about being exhausted, though..." Adaline crawled into the bed and held her head up with her hand, staring off into space. Arvin watched as she became motionless aside from the slight rise and fall of her chest and shoulders. He wondered if this was the moment everything would come rushing back.

Nothing happened.

Arvin kept watching her until fifteen minutes had passed and her eyes were still locked on the same spot of dry rotted carpet that had been damaged when the roof was leaking but the Russells didn't have the funds to get it fixed. He needed to pack a bag for tomorrow (and the day after, and the day after that, and the day after that...) anyway, so Arvin stayed in the room while he shoved as many things from his dresser into his duffel bag as he could.

He took out half of his money from working on the road crew out of the empty tin can he kept it in and set it aside for him and Adaline to use on the road, leaving the rest for Emma alongside a note that physically hurt him to write.

After he wrote the words "Dear Grandma" Arvin began to seriously second-guess himself. What was he thinking? He couldn't just go out and kill someone.

But that someone killed Lenora. He took advantage of her and left her pregnant, which killed her. What kind of brother would Arvin be if he didn't avenge her? What kind of man would he be if he didn't right this wrong?

After rereading the letter for the eighth time, Arvin folded it and put it into the can with the money. Two hours had passed and Adaline's eyes were now closed, thankfully.

Arvin contemplated leaving right now. He knew where the reverend lived. If he just knocked on the door, Preston would answer it as the man of the house.

Arvin turned off his headlights as he slowly pulled into the makeshift driveway composed of tire marks on the grass in front of the Teagardins' home. A porch light was on, but no other lights inside the house. He shakily grabbed the Luger he kept in the glovebox, rechecking the bullets in the magazine despite having done so thrice already.

Arvin pulled the brim of his hat further down before getting out of the car, hiding the gun inside the pocket of his denim jacket. He raised his fist to knock on the door, but hesitated.

What was he doing? He couldn't kill a man.

Arvin turned and took one step away from the house, but then he remembered that he had to do this. Preston Teagardin needed to pay for what he's done.

Arvin turned back around and knocked on the door with three loud raps, breathing heavily as he felt his palms begin to sweat. After no answer, Arvin pounded on the door again, louder this time. No lights turned on inside the house and he didn't hear any noise, so Arvin continued to bang on the door until it eventually opened.

Reverend's tired face was on the other side of it, "Son, it's the middle of the night, is there somethin' I can help you with?"

Arvin kept his head down and froze. He couldn't do it. He couldn't do it.

"Hey there, boy—?"

Arvin saw Preston's hand reach out towards him and panicked, pulling out the Luger and firing it within seconds. Preston gasped as he put a hand over his abdomen before collapsing on the ground, beginning to seize. Arvin heard a distant feminine yell and footsteps running their way, and fled the scene. He started his car and drove away as fast as he could, Mrs. Teagardin's agonizing screams branding his memory.

Arvin blinked, still watching Adaline. He couldn't leave her, not like this.

He went to open the door to go and sleep on the couch, but Adaline mumbled out, "Arvin?" which made him stop in his tracks. Arvin looked back at her as she sat up, "Will you stay?" For a second, Arvin paled when he realized she caught onto him thinking about leaving in the night. "In here tonight?" Arvin's body relaxed at the continuation of her question, releasing the doorknob and nodding as he came over.

Adaline shuffled so she was against the wall and Arvin was on the end, moving his arm upwards so Adaline could rest her head on his chest.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her towards him, telling her lowly, "I ain't goin' nowhere."

ARVIN COULDN'T SLEEP. All he could do was think of all the possible scenarios, everything that could go wrong. And since Adaline would be with him, she would go under with him too.

When Arvin noticed the sun beginning to rise outside his window, he gently squeezed Adaline to wake her up, "Adaline." She didn't react, and Arvin felt guilty waking her up while she seemed to be having a somewhat good sleep for the first time in forever, but he lightly shook her shoulders instead. "Adaline."

Her eyes blinked open and Arvin watched apprehensively as her eyes flitted around the room. Did she change her mind? Is she regretting everything now?

"Is it time to go?"

Arvin exhaled the involuntarily held breath and nodded, "Yeah. Sorry, I didn't wanna wake you."

Adaline waved it off, "No, it's fine. Do you already got everythin' packed?"

"Yeah, I did it last night." Arvin didn't mention the staring off into space episode, he didn't see a need to since he was sure it was just Adaline's body trying to recover from all the stress it's been through in the past couple of days.

Adaline nodded and began to sit up, "Alright, we'll be on our way then." Arvin shuffled out of the bed and watched as Adaline still acted like everything was normal, like they were not about to commit murder.

Adaline waited outside as Arvin dropped by his grandma's room to leave her the money and note. He joined her outside a few minutes later and the two got into his car.

They stayed relatively quiet for the duration of the car ride to Adaline's house. Arvin originally repeatedly glanced over at Adaline during the beginning of the ride, afraid she'd suddenly have second thoughts. But at her surprisingly calm demeanor, Arvin reassured himself that he was just overthinking and being overly paranoid—rightfully so, as the rest of his life was a big question mark at the moment. The only constant was going to be Adaline and he was holding onto that.

Arvin parked along the side of the road like when they came to the Berkeleys' house the day before, in-between the driveways of the next two houses down. After they exited the car, Arvin followed Adaline around the back of the house that brought back memories for Arvin, specifically the ones where Desmond was drunk and tried to choke him.

How ironic.

Adaline stopped at the window adjacent to the one Arvin looked through that one night, and lifted it up with ease. She planted her foot on the jutting-out edge of the brick foundation to boost herself up, climbing in through it afterwards.

Once inside her parents' old bedroom, she turned around and beckoned Arvin inside, "C'mon. I won't be long but I don't want any of them neighbors to see you and get suspicious."

Arvin nodded in agreement and climbed in the same way Adaline did moments ago, landing on the faded carpet. They had to step over the markers on the floor and Adaline made sure to avoid the bloodstain on the carpet. Arvin noticed how she stared at it for a split-second before walking on like it didn't exist. Adaline stepped over the white tape outlining the silhouette of Desmond's dead body in the hallway and into her bedroom, leaving Arvin to stand and admire his work.

He killed Desmond without even meaning to, so...doing the same to Reverend shouldn't be that much more difficult?

While he was left reliving that night, Adaline grabbed her dad's leather duffel that they stored in her closet, placing it on her bed so she could begin to load it up. She did a similar thing that Arvin did, shoving as much of her belongings as possible into the bag. After she zipped it up and slung the long strap over her shoulder, Adaline was going to tell Arvin she was ready to go but remembered one last thing.

Arvin looked up at her when she came back into the hallway, "Ready?"

"I just have to see one thing first," she told him, going back into her parents' bedroom. Adaline went to their shared dresser and saw her mother's jewelry box on top, opening it and looking for her necklace. Betty said that she had sold it, but Betty also lied about a lot of things so Adaline needed to double check to be sure.

It wasn't in there (of course, the one thing Betty doesn't lie about), but Adaline shoved the box into one of the side pockets of the duffle bag to sell at a later time once they moved on from Arvin's childhood home.

Adaline faced Arvin, "Alright, I'm ready now." They left the house the same way they came, walking down the street to Arvin's car where they put their bags in the backseat. When they both got back inside, Adaline asked him, "D'you think we could make one more stop before we go?"

Arvin started the car, "Where were you thinkin'?"

Adaline waved off, "Just around the corner. That place next to the meat store." Arvin nodded and drove into town, not meeting many other cars along the way. The sun was still rising and shops were just beginning to open.

Arvin parked the car along the street, "What're we goin' in here for again?"

Adaline subconsciously touched her neck where her cross necklace used to lay, "A necklace. My necklace that I've had for years and my mother sold." She looked over at Arvin, "And you'll be keepin' him occupied in there."

He furrowed his eyebrows, "By doin' what?"

"I was thinkin' you'd talk him up about the rings, since they're on the other side of the shop," Adaline said, looking inside the store window at the display cases. "Tell him you wanna propose to me or somethin'," Arvin raised his eyebrows. Adaline shrugged, "He's old, he'll believe it. And I'll find my necklace and we'll be on our way. Alright?" Arvin nodded and followed Adaline inside the barren store.

The old shopkeeper smiled at the two, "Good mornin', how can I help y'all today?"

Adaline smiled as she walked over to the necklace cabinet, "Oh, I'm just lookin', thank you, though."

He nodded towards Arvin, "And what about you, son?"

"Oh, well, I'm—" Arvin glanced over at Adaline who nodded reassuringly before turning around. Arvin leaned in closer to the old man who was standing behind the case with the rings, "—I'm actually plannin', on askin' that girl over there to marry me soon, and..." Arvin shrugged, "...I gotta have a ring first, so..."

"Ah, yes, say no more. You see here, here's a fine selection..." Arvin acted interested in the rings this man was showing him of all kinds of different cuts and materials that went over Arvin's head.

Adaline looked through the necklaces in search of her own, worried that someone had already bought it. She found it at the very end of the case, just as she remembered it. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Arvin still keeping the man occupied, and took this as her chance to get her necklace. Adaline subtly stepped beside the display case so she could stick her hand in the open back, grabbing the bust that wore her necklace. She removed the necklace before pushing the bust underneath the display case so it was hidden.

As the man talked to Arvin about rings, the thought crossed his mind of actually asking Adaline to marry him. They would be on the run together for God knows how long, they'd probably end up getting married anyway.

When Adaline came back beside Arvin, the man asked, "Find anythin'?"

"Oh, no, maybe next time," Adaline said, smiling. "Thanks for helpin' us."

The old man nodded at them, "Anytime." Arvin went and opened the door for Adaline, but before he had the chance to leave the shop, the man called him back. "Son." The man came around the counter and put something in the palm of Arvin's hand. Arvin looked down to see a silver band with one diamond in the middle of it. He looked up to give the ring back but the man beat him to it, "Don't worry 'bout it." He nodded outside towards Adaline, "Hope you two kids are happy together."

Arvin nodded, putting the ring into his breast pocket, "Thank you, sir."

"You go on and have a nice day, now." Arvin nodded again before leaving the store and getting into the driver's seat of the car.

"What'd he want?"

Arvin shook his head as he started the engine, "Nothin' much. Just told me to have a nice day." Arvin felt an additional weight on his chest as he drove to the church. At first, he thought it was the ring, but then he realized it was most likely the fact that he was about to kill a(nother) man. Theirs was the only other car in the parking lot of the church aside from the reverend's, and Arvin was hoping he'd be quick enough to keep it that way.

He grabbed the gun from the glovebox and nodded at Adaline, "You stay in here, alright?" Arvin checked the magazine. "I'll be right back. I promise."

"Be careful." Arvin nodded again before stepping out of the car and entering the church. It was empty besides Preston Teagardin sitting in one of the front pews, reading a Bible. Arvin aimed his gun at the back of his head, wondering if he should just pull the trigger now. He began to overthink it and sat down in the last pew instead.

"Excuse me," Arvin said in a low voice. He cleared his throat and spoke louder, "Excuse me, Preacher? Got time for a sinner?" Preston closed the Bible he was skimming and turned towards Arvin. "I've been doin' wrong and I wanna get right by the Lord."

Preston twisted his body so he could look over his shoulder at Arvin, "Well, that's what I'm here for."

"I've done..." Arvin recounted what he's witnessed from Preston, "...lustful acts."

Reverend nodded sympathetically, "Yeah. That could be a big problem, especially for the young people. Go on, tell me about it."

"I got me a pretty wife at home," Arvin started, "one that'll do pretty much anythin' I ask. But I treat her real bad."

"Well, when you say 'anythin',' what d'you mean?"

"Just what I said." Arvin recounted what Reverend's done, "Sometimes she'll be going down on me with...well, y'know, her mouth. Heck, I get so excited I start forcin' it."

"She ever puke on you?" Arvin kept his head down and hidden underneath the brim of his hat, but he could hear the underlying tone of understanding in the reverend's voice. "They got a little trigger, back there in their throat."

Arvin swallowed down the nausea, "Yeah, well that ain't my problem."

"Well, what's the problem then, son?"

Arvin had to improvise the background, "This guy I work with's got himself a daughter." The rest was the retelling of the reverend's own acts, "Real young thing, just started high school."

Preston noticed Adaline sitting in the car outside the window over Arvin's shoulder.

He tensed up slightly, "Is that her, there? That Berkeley girl?" Arvin swallowed roughly and tightened his grip around the gun. Preston exhaled a laugh as he rubbed his taped knuckles, "Feisty little thing, ain't she?"

Arvin sucked in a breath before shakily exhaling, "Yeah...well, one day, I got her in my truck and I drove her out into the sticks and I...had my way with her."

Preston sighed empathetically, "Did she put up a fight?"

Arvin bit his tongue so hard the metallic taste of blood flooded his mouth, "No." He exhaled, "But you see, the problem is...once I'd had a taste, I just couldn't get enough. I kept taking that girl there any chance I got." Arvin read Reverend his memoir, "So I'd strip her clothes off...but I'd make her pray before we got started."

Preston blinked quickly as a vein bulged in his forehead, "Why don't you take that hat off, boy."

"Sometimes I'd even...keep her panties. Now, I'd just...sniff 'em as she rode off on her bike." Preston shifted uncomfortably. "And then I'd go home to that whore of a wife of mine and make her bake me a cake like I was celebratin'."

Preston stood up, "What the hell is this? You've been spyin' on me, boy—?" Arvin stood up simultaneously, aiming his gun square at the reverend's chest.

"I've been watchin' your every move for the last week. You can't get enough of that Reaster girl, can you? Is that how you did my Lenora too?" Arvin twitched his head backwards towards Adaline in the car, "And tried to do her too?"

Preston lifted his chin in realization, "So...Mrs. Russell's boy?" Arvin slowly nodded, keeping a tight grip on the gun. "Alright...don't do anything you'll regret, son. Why don't you put that gun down and...and we can talk all about it."

"Go ahead and talk."

Preston shook his head, "It wasn't my fault." He scoffed, "And Lenora...was just like this—this Reaster girl. She wouldn't let me be. But I want you to know that I—" He got choked up as he pointed to himself, "—I pray for that girl's soul every night."

Arvin's jaw locked, "Do you pray for her baby's soul too?"

"Look, I didn't have nothin' to do with that. She came to me, saying she got that way from a boy—"

"Don't fucking lie to me!"

Preston flinched backwards as Arvin's arm began shaking angrily, "Lies—the lies—the lies are here. She got it in her head that I was the father. That I was gonna take care of everythin'." Arvin cocked the gun at Reverend. "God dammit, boy! Listen to me! I ain't gonna take the blame for no bastard child! It would ruin me, man. You can understand that, can't you?"

Preston held a hand out towards Adaline, "Think if it were that Berkeley girl over there, runnin' to you and sayin' you were the father of her child? You'd do the same damn thing! You understand..." Arvin thought about what he would do in that situation.

It didn't take him more than a second to know his decision as he held the gun with both hands, keeping it trained on Reverend, "No, I don't."

Preston was exasperated, "Hell—that Lenora was—delusional. She was crazy. You see?"

Arvin's hands began to shake, "No, she was just lonely."

"No, man—" Preston threw a Bible at Arvin as he fired a bullet, piercing his chest. Arvin hurried over to see him squirming on the ground, asking God for help. Arvin shot him again, and again.

In the car, Adaline flinched at the faint sound of a gunshot—then another, then another. Her heart lept in her chest as she tried to look inside, but the windows of the church were at too awkward of an angle and too cloudy for her to see clearly inside.

Arvin scoured the floor for the bullet shells to get rid of the evidence. He picked one up and yelled out as it burned his hand, then hurried to pick it up again along with the other one in sight. He couldn't find the third and bent down to look underneath the pews to no avail. Arvin sat down in the pew ahead of the one he had been sitting in for the past few minutes to try and catch his breath. The puddle of blood surrounding Preston was slowly growing, entering the aisle separating the seats.

He swallowed down the nausea before quickly standing up and leaving through the doors, getting back into the driver's seat of the car.

Adaline looked at him wide-eyed as he continued breathing heavily while starting the car engine, "Well? D'you—d'you do it?"

Arvin nodded as he sped out of the church parking lot, "Yea—yeah. He's gone. Dead."

Adaline's eyes glossed over, "Are you...are you alright? Do you need me to drive?"

Arvin clenched his jaw, "I'm fine." He glanced over at her, "I'm fine." Adaline didn't buy that, not one bit.

But Arvin didn't buy that she was completely find, either, so now they were even.

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