the end of Everything (New Adult Erotic Romance) by Katie Ayres Page B

him a
question, he either ignored me or, if Ma and Pa were around, he’d
answer in a monosyllable without looking at me. I know Ma and Pa
noticed but they hadn’t said anything, hoping we’d work things out
without them having to get involved. The kiss we’d shared had made
me hope there could really be something between us but his
standoffishness afterward made me realize I was hoping in vain for
a love that could never be.
    And now, here we were. It was Friday again
and Pa and Ma had gone into town to pick up supplies and collect
their mail. They’d left shortly after seven in the morning as they
usually did and should have been back around lunchtime. Gideon had
kept himself busy all day after we’d finished milking the cows,
checking and repairing the fence that ran around our property. When
he’d stated his intention that morning at breakfast I’d asked him
why he was bothering? If these were the End Times, what did a
broken-down fence matter, but Pa had said that was exactly the
wrong attitude. God did not mean for us to simply give up and wait
for his Angels to collect us. No, He wanted to know that we had
enough faith to continue our daily lives just as if the end of the
world was not upon us for His Chosen would know that their
salvation rested with Him and that He would not forsake the
righteous. I hadn’t been convinced but I didn’t argue. I figured
Gideon just wanted to do something that would keep him away from
the house and away from me during Ma and Pa’s absence.
    I sighed. Thinking about a future for myself
and Gideon, together, had been silly even before the End Times.
Now, as I waited for him to return from Acadia with our parents, I
understood that I’d been just plain ridiculous. Gideon had shown me
quite plainly that he didn’t want that kind of relationship with
me.
    I grimaced and forced my thoughts away from
the sad turn they’d taken. It was rapidly turning dark but I didn’t
see any lights approaching on the road that led to our house. Where
were they? Gideon knew how worried I’d been about Ma and Pa before
he left to go look for them. Why hadn’t he called to let me know
they were okay and to set my mind at ease? What was keeping
everybody? I debated whether I should walk out on the road to meet
them. I’d never liked being on my own and, now, the house had a
yawning sort of emptiness that made it suddenly feel kinda creepy.
I went inside and turned on all the lights on the bottom floor.
Father didn’t like us to, as he put it, waste electricity, but it
made me feel a little better seeing the rooms all lit up.
    I returned to the porch. The road remained
dark. Could they have been in some kind of accident? But, if so,
somebody would have called to tell me about it. Gideon or one of
the townsfolk. Somebody. I wrung my hands, growing increasingly
worried the darker it got outside. Could one of the Risen Dead have
showed up in Acadia? But, even so, Pa and Ma should have been
alright because Pa always carried both a revolver and a rifle in
the pick-up even when he went to church. Then I remembered what
Pastor Joseph had said about how the Earth Angels couldn’t be
stopped by bullets. Goosebumps rose on my arms. I rubbed them
quickly away but the sense of dread remained. Maybe Ma and Pa and
Gideon, too, had been caught in the Rapture. The idea of this
brought tears to my eyes because it meant I’d been left behind. A
bout of self-pity overtook me and I started crying. I couldn’t
believe I’d never see my family again. I should have been happy
they’d gone up to heaven to be with God but I wished I’d either
gone with them or that they’d stayed.
    Fear wrapped its icy hand around my heart.
Did my being Left Behind mean I’d be among those destroyed by the
Horsemen of the Apocalypse? The thought brought on a fresh spate of
tears as I remembered every nightmarish thing I’d heard about them
or had read in Revelations.
    I don’t know how long I stayed there, sobbing
my heart out