Eve: In the Beginning (11 page)

My brother smells the fruit again.

I feel as if time is moving just as slowly. My hands are perspiring as I wonder where Adam is. How could he leave? Does he not know that our brother is speaking to me?

“Eve,” Lucifer says, drawing my attention back to him. “What’s wrong with the fruit of the tree of knowledge? Is it bitter to the taste?”

“I can’t say. Adam and I have not eaten of it. We’re obedient to Elohim’s commandments.” I take a breath. “If we eat of that fruit, we will die.”

Lucifer drops the fruit in his hand to the ground. He takes a few steps forward, then stops, as if he is unsure whether to come any closer. “I know about the tree, Eve.”

I thought he did, but hearing him say it, I realize it only makes sense. He must know about the tree. He must have kept his knowledge after all.

“Tell me what Elohim told you.”

I stare at him for a moment. “Elohim instructed Adam before I was created.”

One side of his mouth turns up. “Ah. What did Elohim say to Adam then?”

I wonder why he wants to know Elohim’s exact words. I’m not sure if I can recite them exactly, but I say, “Elohim said that we should not eat of that fruit, not even touch it, and that if we do, we’ll surely die.”

I wait for Lucifer to nod his head, as if he agrees with Elohim as well, the one who created us both. Instead he says, “You won’t surely die, Eve.”

A gasp catches in my throat. “Elohim created our bodies and certainly knows what effect the fruit will have on us.” I shake my head, hardly believing that Lucifer could refute Elohim’s words. I take a few steps away from him, hoping that Adam will return from wherever he went.

“Elohim is only warning you and Adam,” Lucifer says, his expression calm. “He knows that when you do eat of the fruit, then your eyes will be opened. You’ll have knowledge again, and all of your questions will be answered.” He walks toward me, and I can’t move. Is what he’s saying true — that we will
not
die?

“You and Adam will be as the gods, knowing good from evil,” he says in a quiet voice, but I can hear it plain and clear in the stillness.

I don’t move as he reaches my side. If it is true that we won’t die, I have to tell Adam. This will change everything.

Lucifer is watching me, and finally I meet his gaze. They are dark circles of vast blackness, and I marvel at the knowledge that he must have — all of which I so desire to have.

“We must tell Adam.” I turn and call out for him.

My brother moves in front of me faster than I could have thought possible. “Don’t say anything to Adam yet.” His black eyes bore into me.

“He’ll want to know. This will change what he will believe.”

“Just wait a few more days,” Lucifer says. “Adam needs to get used to my presence first.”

I find myself nodding. I am pleased to hear Lucifer’s words, but I’m not sure Adam will be. Although, I wonder how he could not be.

Lucifer’s hand is touching my arm, but it’s like a breeze, not a hand of flesh. “Meet me at the tree before the sun goes down, and I’ll tell you more.”

“The tree?” I say. “I promised Adam that I wouldn’t visit ... there ... any longer.”

My brother tilts his head with a soft smile. “You’ll have to visit the tree if you want your eyes to be opened. You’ll have to partake of the fruit as well.”

I look away. Of course he is right. “I’m not ...”

“If you can’t come today,” he says in a placid voice, “then I’ll be there tomorrow too. I’ll wait until you can come — no matter how many days might pass.”

I look at Lucifer again. “I must tell Adam.”

His eyes search mine, and I wish I could know what he knows. “Please, Eve,” he says, “just wait until after we meet at the tree.”

I open my mouth, then close it. Finally I nod.

“I’ll be waiting for you,” he says. His hand moves against my cheek like a flutter of an insect’s wing.

I watch him walk away until I can no longer see him as he moves into the thick of the foliage. It’s only then that I notice how hot the sun is and that I’m perspiring.

Adam pushed his way out of the heavy sleep. Eve was calling his name, and he struggled to open his eyes. The sun had climbed high in the sky, and he hoped he hadn’t slept too long. He shouldn’t have slept at all.

Sitting up, he brushed the dirt from his arms, then looked in the direction from which he thought he’d heard Eve’s voice. She was near the trees, walking in the high grass.

“Eve!” he called out, climbing to his feet. She turned at the sound of his voice, then hurried over to him.

“I fell asleep,” he said when she reached him.

Her breath was short.

“I’m sorry you couldn’t see me,” he said, grabbing her hand. “Let’s go to the river.”

“You were right here all of the time?”

“I don’t know what overcame me. I couldn’t keep my eyes open.”

“You must sleep more at night,” Eve said in a quiet voice, squeezing his hand.

“I know.” But he knew he couldn’t — not with their brother out there. They hadn’t seen him since that first night at the alcove. Adam hoped that meant he was gone, but he’d have to make a visit to the south garden to see if there were any changes.

Nothing else unusual had happened — no more skin mats or dead animals had been sighted — so Adam hoped that meant their brother had left.

Eve was quiet as they walked through the trees to the nearest river. It wasn’t too far from the border, and Adam was surprised that she didn’t ask to look over the wall. In fact, she seemed content to soak in the river and stay close to him. They swam for a little while, then climbed out of the water to sit on the shore and dry off.

“Tomorrow we’ll visit the south gardens,” he said.

Eve looked over at him from where she was sitting on the bank, running her fingers idly along the moist earth. She looked as if she were about to ask him something, but then she just nodded.

“Are you all right?” Adam asked. He didn’t like her melancholy. She must have been really worried when she couldn’t find him.

“I am,” she said, her voice quiet.

Adam asked her a few more times if she was all right on the walk back to the alcove. Each time she assured him that she was. But still Adam wondered.

She seemed eager to settle down for sleep once they entered the alcove, but Adam stayed up long after she’d fallen asleep. He leaned against the wall at the entrance and tried to stay awake as long as possible. If he did fall asleep, he wanted it to be where his body would block the entrance.

Just as he felt himself drifting off, a bird call sounded, but it wasn’t the call of a night bird. Adam rose to his feet, suddenly alert.

Then he heard it. The flutter of wings — large wings like those of an owl. Except Adam was sure that the bird call hadn’t come from an owl.

Something moved near the boulder — a shadow that quickly grew larger.

Adam stiffened as the shadow became clear.

“Hello there,” the being said.

“What are you doing here?” Adam said in a quiet but hard voice. He didn’t want to wake Eve. He took a step toward the man. In the dark, his hair blended with the night, and his eyes looked like deep pools of water.

“I’m just out for a walk,” the man said.

“I meant, what are you doing in the garden? In Eden?” Adam took several steps forward until he was just a couple of paces from Lucifer.

Lucifer watched his approach, then said, “I’ve come to give you the knowledge that you seek.”

“Elohim didn’t tell us about you.” Adam’s hands clenched at his sides. “We take instructions only from Elohim.”

Lucifer tilted his head, his dark hair falling over one eye. “Elohim will tell you only what he wants to. I can help you obtain the knowledge that you and Eve desire most.”

Breathing out, Adam tried to stay calm and keep his voice quiet, but just listening to the man speak made him agitated. Adam didn’t fully understand why, but he didn’t want the man around Eve. “We already know how to obtain knowledge.”

Lucifer’s mouth curved into a smile. “I don’t doubt it. Both you and Eve seem very capable.” He scanned the moonlit dwelling. “You have accomplished a lot here. The garden beyond is well kept.”

Adam pushed the compliment to the back of his mind. “Leave my wife out of this conversation.”

Lucifer’s smile returned instantly. “Eve? She deserves compliments as well. She’s certainly beautiful and intelligent.”

Adam lunged for the man, not sure what he’d do, but Lucifer needed to stop talking and stop smiling like that. Instead of colliding with Lucifer, Adam landed on the ground. Lucifer was standing right next to him, untouched.

Adam raised his hands and looked at them. His hands had felt nothing when they touched Lucifer. Adam scrambled to his feet, coming face-to-face with the man. “You’re not even of flesh. Who are you really?”

“I’m like you, a son of Elohim. It’s one of the many things you’ll understand once you have knowledge,” Lucifer said in a smooth voice. “It’s very simple, Adam, my brother. It takes only one bite, and your eyes will be opened. You’ll be just like the gods, with knowledge of good and evil.”

“Leave,” Adam said.

“You’re not considering what it will mean to have knowledge,” Lucifer said, not moving.

“Elohim forbade us to eat of the fruit, and I take instructions from only him,” Adam spat out. “Not you. You’re some kind of strange being with the appearance of form. I may not know what you really are, but I do know I don’t trust you.”

“Well, perhaps Eve will think differently.”

No, she thinks as I do.
“She’ll not be dissuaded by you — especially since I order you to leave the garden.”

“You’re ordering
me
?” Lucifer scoffed. “You have no authority to —”

Adam didn’t give him time to finish. He attempted to push Lucifer toward the boulder, but again his hands touched nothing. Lucifer stood calmly to the side, watching Adam with amusement.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Adam,” Lucifer said.

Before Adam could respond, Lucifer left, disappearing into the trees without a sound.

“Adam?” Eve’s voice called out.

He spun and saw her coming out the alcove. How much had she heard?

“It was Lucifer, wasn’t it?” she asked. In the moonlight, she looked vulnerable and small.

“I ordered him to leave the garden,” Adam said.

“What did he want?”

Something inside of Adam twisted — like a warning. “He wants us to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge.” Adam turned to face the location where Lucifer had disappeared. Even now, Adam couldn’t be sure if their brother was watching them.

Eve walked to Adam’s side and slipped her hand in his. “We can’t live forever without gaining any more knowledge.”

He stared at her in disbelief. The tightness in his stomach spread to his limbs. “Elohim will instruct us in everything that we need to know.”

She released his hand and walked away, toward the alcove.

“Eve,” Adam said, trying to keep the exasperation out of his voice, “we need to be patient.”

She stopped at the alcove entrance. “For how long, Adam? Until I have another wall filled with marks? Or two more walls?” She stepped into the darkness before Adam could answer.

He stared at the place where she’d disappeared. He hurried into the alcove. She was already lying down, her back turned to him.

“Lucifer doesn’t belong here,” he said. “And I don’t want him talking to you.”

Eve didn’t respond, and Adam waited a few moments for her to say something. He wished that everything could return to as it was before Lucifer arrived. Even trying to answer Eve’s questions was better than her silence and the distant feeling between them.

Adam sat next to Eve and moved her hair from off her shoulder and threaded his fingers through it. She didn’t move, didn’t speak at all.

So God created man in his own image ... male and female created he them.

Genesis 1:27

I’ve said everything I can say. Lucifer has spoken to Adam, and still Adam won’t consider gaining knowledge with our brother’s help.

This morning, I rise quietly and walk around Adam’s sleeping form. His arm is stretched out, as if reaching for me in his sleep. I walk to the back of the alcove and scratch in another mark. By the time I’m finished, Adam is awake.