Jason and Eve

By Nina Erryck

He intended to right a bad situation.

Jasons world is collapsing all around him. His brother is dead, his mother is dying, and the love of his life now hates him. Then he stumbles upon a time machine and remembers a discussion that went on in his class about the fall of man. He decides then that the only way to save his mother, and the world, is to travel back in time to stop Adam and Eve from eating the forbidden fruit.

But a bad situation is about to get worse.

What he doesnt know is that this singular decision is going to unleash hell. Jason is tricked into eating the forbidden fruit and Adam gets kidnapped.

This turn of events sends him on a torturous journey he never thought he would have to take.

In three days, Jason and Eve will either save the world or send it into annihilation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Africa
• Release date: Sep 12, 2014
• ISBN: 9781482803129

Nina Erryck

Nina Erryck is a prolific writer and orator who with inspirational messages and articles has touched the hearts of her readers with all of whom she considers friends. Her first novel, Starstruck; A Football Romance is under production to be released as a feature film in Ghana where she currently resides with her family.

Book preview

Prologue

Whenever you cross the road, you should look left, right, and then left again before you cross. Or so my first grade teacher had told me. First grade was twenty one years ago, when I was only five, and yet, anytime I got anywhere near a road I would remember my teacher’s advice.

Today was no different. The mantra sounded in my mind.

Look left, right and left again. Look left, right and left again. Left, right and left again.

I got to the busy road, looked absolutely nowhere and started across. Someone honked a horn angrily and swerved the car to avoid hitting me. His head shot out of the window.

Hey, are you crazy?

I kept walking. No, I wasn’t crazy. Though I wish I were. Crazy people couldn’t feel this terrible. They couldn’t feel this anguish and guilt I was feeling. I was a mess. I felt like an empty shell of a person. I was dreaming. I had to be dreaming. I would wake up and this whole day would not have happened. Then this tangible searing pain would not be sitting in my heart. It wouldn’t feel like an invisible hand was grasping my heart, twisting and turning it with the aim of tearing it out of my chest.

Wait, what was I saying? I deserved to feel everything I was feeling and more.

Much more.

My coat flapped wildly around me as I aimlessly roamed the streets. It was a dark and dreary afternoon in March. It had rained the whole morning, and by afternoon, the rain showed no sign of abating. My mood was as dark and dreary as the day. I realized as I looked around, that everybody seemed to have a purpose, some goal that they were running through the rain to accomplish.

Everyone and everything but me.

A bus breezed past me, splashing the pool of water that had collected by the roadside on everyone standing on the curb. It stopped a few feet ahead of me to pick up the people at the bus stop.

Purpose.

An old man ran towards the bus, fighting with the wind as it threatened to carry away his umbrella.

Purpose.

A boy dog ran after a girl dog, and by the way, I know what a female dog is called, but I spent most of my elementary and high school years in a catholic boarding school, and I was practically raised by nuns.

Sister Agatha, who was my school mother, had spent most of her life in a convent of the strictest order, where in mates were flogged for daring to look at one another, or so I had heard, and so to say that she was a prude, and a disciplinarian, is quite an understatement. So forgive me if I can’t say the proper name for a female dog, but in my home, the b-word has always been a no-no.

Anyway, as I was saying, a boy dog ran after a girl dog, trying to get her to let him do the…well, nasty. In the rain. In the open. Where everyone could see them. I know that’s not unusual for dogs. But I already told you, I was raised by a prudish disciplinarian. And the dogs, they had a purpose too. A young man walking by spotted the dogs and threw a stone at them.

Purpose.

Even the rain seemed to have a purpose, beating down on my head mercilessly. I deserved it. I deserved more than that. I deserved to be flogged, and then hanged. For on that dark and dreary afternoon, I had killed my only brother.

GENESIS: THE PLOT

Chapter One

Somewhere in the background of my consciousness, I heard someone saying my name.

Jason? Jason.

Somehow I knew it was Pete, my best friend. He had managed to get me out of my room, and into a restaurant. I had resisted, vehemently, I must add, for two reasons. First, I was in no mood to go out. I hadn’t wanted to in a long time. Second, two guys going out to sit at a restaurant to talk, like Pete said we were going to, sounded weird to me.

Two guys could go to a bar, or to the stadium to watch a football game, that would be okay. But a restaurant? Not cool. Pete had managed to drag me out anyway, and now here I was, at a restaurant, all the proper drinks ordered, and trying to concentrate as Pete psychoanalyzed me. He’d had most of my attention. Until two minutes ago, when Lara had walked into the restaurant.

As soon as I saw her, my heart skipped several beats and seemed to have trouble regaining its rhythm, and memories came flooding. Look away, I advised myself. Bow your head, get out of the restaurant, hide. But my eyes stayed on her. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe, I was hypnotized.

Lara’s eyes searched the restaurant, settled on me, and held. I could tell she was remembering too.

A long time ago, when the days were brighter, and my hands and conscience were not tainted with the blood of my brother, I had fallen in love with Lara and had considered myself worthy of her love, but not anymore.

Before we’d ever spoken to each other, I had had a habit of making sketches of her.

Laughing Lara, smiley Lara, pensive Lara. But mostly smiley Lara. I loved smiley Lara. She had a sunny disposition that extended to everyone and everything around her when she smiled.

And then smiley Lara unexpectedly disappeared and I blamed her tyrant ex-boyfriend, Tyler. She’d broken up with him because he’d cheated on her, or so I had heard from the nerd vine. I thought the whole thing entirely too cliché, but gossip from the nerd vine could be surprisingly accurate, especially when it had to do with the goings on in the world of the popular and sophisticated.

I often wondered how it was possible for Tyler, or any man for that matter, to ever consider hurting Lara. She was an angel, and if she were mine I’d worship the very ground she walked on. But she wasn’t mine and I’d have to settle for sketching her. I just wished she’d smile more.

I always carried a sketch pad in my bag and all the pages had sketches of her. Pete had made it one of his life’s ambitions to tease me about her. And then offer unsolicited advice when he was done teasing.

Jay, ask the girl out or you’re a psychopath.

Psychopath it was then, for I could never bring myself to talk to Lara. She was a very beautiful girl, and I was not the only guy who had noticed. Unfortunately for me, the leader of what I called the university bullies association was her ex-boyfriend, and though my love for Lara was great, it would never give me the muscles I needed to best Tyler Harper at any duel he challenged me to. If I wanted to talk to Lara I had to figure out a way to beat Tyler in a way that had nothing to do with muscles.

It turned out I didn’t have to. One afternoon, unceremoniously and without warning, Lara appeared behind me in the library. I had taken a break from studying and was sketching another Lara picture.

Is that me? She asked.

I jumped out of my seat at the sound of her voice. I had heard that voice hundreds of times. But it had never addressed me.

Until now.

I kept staring at her. She was smiling at me. Me. Beautiful angelic Lara was smiling at me. After a few moments I realized I wasn’t smiling back. No. I was staring at her, with my mouth open. I snapped my mouth shut. She had asked me a question. But I couldn’t remember what it was.

Huh? I could have slapped myself. Huh? Seriously? Of all the dumbest, stupidest….

It’s me, right? She pointed her chin in the direction of my sketch. Oh no. She’d seen the sketch. And now she was going to think I was a stalker. A crazy person. A psychopath, like Pete had suggested.

She reached out for the sketch, and I intercepted her reach so quickly that she jumped back, staring in surprise as I missed the table and landed on the floor in a clumsy heap. My leg had dragged the table with me as I went down, and now it was lying on me at an awkward angle. I had made such a ruckus that everybody in the library was staring at me.

I looked round at the faces, afraid to look at Lara. I was sure she was disgusted at how much of a klutz I was.

Good going Jason. Way to make a spectacle of yourself in front of the girl you’ve spent months trying to figure out how to impress.

After what seemed like years, I looked at Lara. She looked amused. A smile spread slowly across her face, turned into a full-fledged grin, and then she began to giggle. I was mortified. I tried to get up, pushing the table, and Lara took a hold of it and set it right.

I jumped to my feet just as the stern librarian, Mrs. Turnbull, showed up. I was not sure if Turnbull was her real name, or a nickname the students had coined for her because she kind of turned into a bull when she was angry. I don’t mean that literally but I’m sure you get the picture. Everybody feared Mrs. Turnbull. She was fierce and vicious and scary.

All the people who had gathered round to watch my fall immediately returned to their seats as Mrs. Turnbull approached. Lara stood her ground. She turned and faced the scary woman with a look of determination, pride and bravery. It looked like she was ready to fight the woman for me.

Defend me. Protect me.

Who was I kidding? Lara wouldn’t do that. She didn’t even know me. Mrs. Turnbull arrived, looked from me to Lara and back to me. She angled her head down, frowned and growled. Good lord. She really was a bull.

What is going on here?

Lara answered before I could say anything. Twinkle toes here decided to do the tango with the table. She turned to look at me, a twinkle in her eye.

Mrs. Turnbull was not impressed. Well, you two either sit down and hit the books or shove off. She jerked her thumb in the direction of the door.

Lara looked at me and nodded. And somehow I just knew what she meant. I packed up my books-Lara still had the sketch-picked up my bag and headed out of the library, Lara in tow. As soon as we left the library, I launched into an apology.

I’m r- really sorry. I didn’t mean to em-embarrass you like t-that. I am not usually that clumsy, it’s just t-that you sho-showed up. Oh boy. I was stuttering. I’ve always had a slight stutter which gets worse when I’m nervous. And at this moment, with Lara staring at me with her big blue eyes, nervous was my middle name. And I had made it sound like I blamed her for the fiasco in the library.

Focus. Control your stutter and stop being an idiot.

I hastened to clarify. I mean, I’m not saying that it’s your fault, because it’s not. I’m sometimes very jumpy, especially around you… One of Lara’s perfectly shaped eyebrows shot up. I was really screwing up the apology. I took a deep breath and tried again. T-that didn’t c-come out as it, as it should h-have. Oh God why me?

I didn’t m-mean to s-say I’m jumpy around, around you per se, it’s just t-that I have always had an over-overactive imagination, you know, since I was a child and I believed every s-scary story my m-mother told me… She began to smile again, and I hid my face behind the stack of books I was holding in my hands. From behind the books I said Oh God, I’m b-babbling.

She laughed. I think it’s cute.

I had nothing to say to that. She thought my babbling was cute? She held my wrist and lowered it gently, bared my face and held up the sketch. This is really good. I wouldn’t have believed that you did it if I hadn’t actually seen you making it.

My smile slipped a little. I didn’t blame her. Talented sketch artists were bold and worldly and they didn’t stutter or do the tango with library tables. I was just the opposite. A tall lanky pale klutz with mousy brown hair. And I wore geeky glasses to boot. She was looking at me expectantly.

I should say something. I shrugged. Thank you. It was the best I could come up with.

Can I keep it? She asked.

I didn’t have to think about this one. I answered immediately. Of course you can. I have a lot more of… She was frowning now. Why didn’t I just stop at of course you can?

You have more sketches of me?

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. I do that when I have to tell a lie. Unfortunately my school mother picked up on that when I was much younger, so I could never successfully lie to her. Thankfully, Lara didn’t know that, so I was sure she wouldn’t know I was about to lie to her.

No, no. I meant that I have more sketches of…this is actually the only sketch of you that I… what I mean is, you were always so b-beautiful and bright and t-then you stopped…

She gasped. You don’t think I’m bright and beautiful anymore?

Oh God, now I had insulted her.

I was quickly searching my mind for something to say by way of apology when she lightly punched me in the shoulder and laughed. Relax Jason. I’m just playing with you. I’m gonna take this, she said, indicating the sketch, and I’m gonna go now. I just came looking for you to ask if there’s room for one more in your tutorial group.

Wait, she knew my name? You know my name? I asked her. She seemed more surprised by my question than I was by the fact that she knew my name.

Are you kidding? Of course I know your name. Everybody in the department of art history and archeology knows your name. You’re like the Einstein of archeology. I was trying to process this when she added, shyly, Plus, you’re really adorable.

Okay now that was information I could not handle or process right now. I just stood there, gaping at her like an idiot. She must have realized I wasn’t going to say anything, so she continued. So, can I join your tutorial group? I kinda registered for my courses late and every group was full. I know yours is too, but I would very much like to join yours. Please?

Of course she could join my group. I would organize special tutorials for her if she wanted. I nodded and she squealed in delight.

Thank you. You’re the best. She gave me a quick hug, kissed my cheek and hurried away. If it was physiologically possible, I would have melted into a puddle right where I was standing.

***

Pete had stopped trying to get my attention. That meant he had seen Lara too. Pete was my best friend. There was hardly anything I did not tell him.

So he knew.

He knew that my wandering on that dreadful day my brother died wasn’t nearly as aimless as I had imagined. At least not on the subconscious level. I had been walking with no destination.

Or so I thought.

After hours of wandering in the rain, I had begun to tremble. I caught my reflection in a glass building. My lips were blue, actually my entire face was blue, my hair was plastered to my head, and I was dirty and muddy from all the water that had been splashed on me by passing vehicles.

I looked like something the cat dragged in. I walked for several hours until it got dark, and then suddenly I found myself at Lara’s door. We had been in a sort of no-name relationship for six weeks by then, and I had never entered her house. I always walked her to her door after a date, and kissed her hand before leaving. I wanted badly to kiss her, and I knew she wanted me to, but I was trying to be a gentleman.

Lara was everything I wanted in a woman and more. She was amazingly patient and kind- hearted. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, and even more so because she didn’t seem to know that. She was beautiful without effort, inside and out. I didn’t believe in the whole concept of soul mates, till I met Lara. She and I were so in tune with each other it was scary, but scary good. We could finish each other’s sentences-and I know this sounds like a cliché but it’s true-we could communicate without words,-this pissed Pete off to no end, because the three of us could be looking at a blank flip chart, and Lara and I would suddenly burst out laughing, and Pete would have absolutely no idea what was funny,-and Lara thought the world of me.

To date I don’t understand what Lara saw in me, but for her I could do no wrong. She worshipped the very ground I walked on. Everything I did was amazing and super awesome to her. She found my stutter adorable, and sometimes she would try to make me nervous just so I would stutter.

I know that sounds kind of twisted, but for me it was darn romantic. I had not told her what my favorite drink or thing to eat was, but Lara knew. One day, we stopped to buy gas, and she wanted to get something to eat from the shop. She asked me if I wanted anything, and I told her to surprise me. She did. Because she came out with only drink I can take without turning into a wheezing blister,-I’m allergic to so many things- and a lollipop.

I am a lollipop addict. I don’t know why and I don’t know how, but I’m addicted to lollipops. I didn’t want anybody at the university to know that because I thought it was so not cool for a twenty six year old doctoral student to be addicted to something so juvenile, and I already looked like a dork, so I had never had a lollipop in public anywhere at the university.

But Lara knew, and that moment she showed up with the lollipop, I made my decision.

This was the woman I was going to marry.

I wanted to wake up to her every morning and go to bed looking at her beautiful face every night. I wanted to make little Laras and Jasons with her. For this reason, I was patient with her. I didn’t want to rush her and risk losing her. I could never live without her. I was afraid if I didn’t take my time, I might scare her away.

This is why after six weeks I hadn’t entered her house, or kissed her, or told her I loved her. Pete thought I was just being silly and a coward. He didn’t understand. A woman like Lara didn’t have to be rushed into a relationship.

She deserved wooing, with flowers, and chocolates, and moonlit walks on the beach. She deserved to be serenaded at a candlelit dinner, and spoon fed ice cream at a picnic. This was my plan. It wasn’t part of the plan to show up at her house on that rainy evening, looking like a train wreck, shivering and blue and take advantage of her but that’s exactly what I did.

I could tell she was frightened when she opened the door and saw me on the threshold. She pulled me inside and locked the door.

Oh my God Jason, what’s wrong? What happened to you? Are you alright?

She was beginning to panic, and I had to calm her down. I touched her face with both hands, and that was my first mistake. As soon as I held her face between my hands, a strong surge of need travelled through my body. I started touching her smooth warm face with my cold, wet one.