The Curse Of Eden

"Come on Collette. Hurry up." Adam called from the staircase base. He tapped his feet impatiently against the tiles as he waited for his wife to come down.

He never really understood why woman need to take that much time to put on something to wear, and maybe run their hands through their hair once or twice and they're ready to go.

But then again, the female world was something out of his comprehension.

"Collette!" He called again.

"Coming. Coming." His wife called back from their room.

A couple of minutes passed by before she was finally descending the stairs.

Adam couldn't help the little smile that adorned his face uncontrollably.

"I love how you look in that dress you know that right?" He complimented, hugging his wife's body with one arm.

"I know." She blushed deeply as she subconsciously flattened her orange summer dress.

It was time that the two of them made a trip to Collette's childhood house in search for something that can help with the case and since Adam had spent the night at the CIB last night, he had to free himself the next day for their own personal mission.

He never thought that Collette would be the one to suggest going back there, not after what she had told him. But he had no doubt that he'd be there to support and protect her no matter what she decides to do and Collette wanted nothing more than to finally come to terms with her past.

He ruffled her hair but almost as quickly as they landed, his hands were hit lightly by Collette.

"Careful or you'll ruin it." she swatted his hand away and fixed her still tamed hair.

Adam rolled his eyes with a chuckle.

"How come your house is still standing empty after all this time?" He asked once they mounted the car.

"My mom never permitted selling it. She wanted to keep it just the way it was." Collette replied with shrugged shoulders.

"I guess it works well for us now right. We'll just have to go get the keys from your mom and maybe we can then find something that can help."

"Mhmm.." Her response was hummed.

Collette went silent as unsettlment started to set in. She never wanted anything more than to forget about her childhood all together. Including her house. And never once did she think she'd be going back. Not on her own two feet. A hand snaked towards hers, holding it warmly.

She looked at Adam who stared back in a gentle gaze as he squeezed her hand lightly.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to baby girl."

Collette shook her head as she stared at their entwined hands.

"I've been running away from it for so long. Trying all that I can to forget about it and live a normal life."

"And you don't think your life is normal now?" Adam asked softly. He wasn't accusing her of complaining about life with him, he asked to understand more how his wife feels. Collette looked up at him.

"I thought it was. But turns out, an infected wound would never heal unless you get rid of the infection."

Adam listened carefully as his wife spoke, all the while concentrating on the road ahead.

"I've been doing nothing but just covering it up with dust. Burying it deeper and deeper in my mind that I lost control on how much space it's taking."

Adam was about to converse back when his phone started ringing, breaking their talk.

They were driving up to a red light which gave him a good opportunity to fetch for his phone. He looked at the name blaring through the screen then decided against answering. "Answer it. It might be important." Collette said when she saw the reluctance in her husband's eyes.

Adam sighed before swiping the reply icon on his screen.

"Yeah Ken."

Collette could hear a male voice from the other side of the line but couldn't make out any words. She kept herself busy by staring out the window.

"It was about time." Adam rolled his eyes. "Okay, take Alex and Aubrey with you and go check out the houses."

Collette turned to look at him just as he hung up the phone.

"We got the warrant from the judge to go search all of the victim's homes. Maybe we could find something to take us a step closer to the Holers." Comfortable silence veiled the car all the way to the institute where they'll be getting the house keys from Collette's mother.

Both of them had to clear their minds and Collette needed much mental preparation.

The institute's calm and bland aura welcomed the couple as they approached the gate.

Unconsciously, Collette found herself clinging on to her husband's arm and he wasn't greedy with his reassuring hold.

She knocked on her mother's door before opening it slightly, poking her head inside and a smile grazed her face once her eyes met her mother's.

She opened the door more, allowing Adam and herself to enter the room. Her mother's face lit up brightly at the sight of them both.

They babbled away on non important matters for quite some time before Collette finally got the courage to ask.

"Hey mom, uhmm..do you still remember where you kept the house keys?" She blurted out and the atmosphere suddenly turned heavy and serious. Laura knitted her eyebrows together in obvious confusion.

'What house?' She scribbled on her board.

Collette looked at Adam briefly before turning to her mother once again.

"Uhh.... Our old house. Dad's-" but collette's words were cut short with a surprised gasp as her mother suddenly threw her board against the wall causing it to fall in a deformed manner. "Mom what-" she gaped out but Adam was immediately on his feet, pulling Collette slightly away.

"Mom..." Collette called again in a pained voice as she looked at her fear stricken mother.

Laura had her eyes wide open as her breath deepened.

"Mom it's okay, there's-". Again, Collette was cut short when her mother threw a pillow at her this time then gesturing with her hand towards the door, her face starring an obvious angry frown. "You want us to leave?" Collette asked breathless. Her voice constraint from her mother's reaction.

Laura nodded her head vigorously extending her hand more towards the door, proving her point.

"Collette let's go." Adam spoke, his voice low as he pulled at his wife's arm.

Collette set her arm free from his hold, taking a step forward. "No. I'm not leaving!"

"Collette-"

"I'm not leaving mom. You have to get over this! You can't live in the past forever! He's already gone."

But it seems like Collette's words did nothing but anger her mother more as she started once again with her assault.

She wasn't trying to hurt them as she was throwing nothing but pillows and blankets, yet her point was being made clear.

"Let's go Collette. Let her be for now." Adam nagged at his wife as he pulled her outside the room.

"I can't belive this. What happened to her I don't get it!" Collette complained in frustration as they stood in the hall.

"I'm sure remembering that house and the things that happened there triggered something in her." Adam spoke, trying to calm her down.

Collette sighed.

"What do we do now? How do we get into the house?"

Adam smirked at his wife. "You know, we could always break in." he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Break in." Collette gaped at her husband's unexpected reply to which he nodded suggesstively.

"Hey man, thanks for doing this." Adam gave Elliot a friendly pat on the arm as he approached.

"No problem boss. Ahh..... the good old days."

"You did this often?" Collette asked in amusement.

"Let's just say I had a rough patch....or two during my childhood." Elliot shrugged his shoulders as he placed the black bag he hand in his hand in front of the door and bent down to one knee, leveling up with the lock. "Ahh....let's see what do we have here." He mumbled to himself as he started picking at the key hole. "That's actually an easy one."

Adam and Collette watched him as he worked, Collette being more amused at the job at hand.

"Yup...and done!" Elliot announced proudly just as the sound of the door unlocking.

"Thanks man." Adam showed his gratitude once again.

"No problem." He replied, taking a couple of steps backwards.

Adam looked at Collette who was trying to calm her jittering nerves. She felt the shivers crawling up and down her skin and the goosebumps were clearly evident.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Adam whispered as he reached for her hand.

Taking in a deep breath, she opened her eyes and looked up at him and nodding her head.

"Let's go. I'm as ready as ready could be." Elliot announced from behind the couple, startling them.

"You're still here?" Adam commented as he turned to look behind him.

The computer geek looked between Collette and Adam.

"Oh please let me come in with you. Rumors have it around here that it's haunted. Please let me come in with you." He begged childishly.

"Elliot leave. There's no such thing as ghosts." Adam narrowed his eyes at him in plain bordem.

"This world has a lot of secrets boss. Maybe there really are ghosts but we are yet to see them." Elliot argued.

"Elliot." Adam repeated in warning, his eyes still narrowed at his team mate.

Elliot groaned when he saw nowhere around it.

"Fine." Picking up his belongings, he walked back towards his car.

Collette looked back towards the door that held behind it all her terrors and nightmares.

With a deep breath, she held tightly onto Adam's hand, trying to take some strength from him.

"I'm right here with you baby girl."