by Miller, Tim
“I’m very disappointed in you Charlie.” He said.
“Yeah. So is my mom. She wanted me to be a doctor.” I didn’t see Jesus’ fist coming until right before it connected on the left side of my face. It stung for a few seconds, then the metallic taste of my own blood filled my mouth. I spit it out at Jesus’ feet. He reared back for another one.
“Now that’s enough, Jesus. Please leave us alone for a minute.” The Bishop scolded. “See? When you act this way, you force me to do ugly things. I don’t want to do ugly things, Charlie.”
“What are you exactly?” I asked.
“Oh, I think the real question here is, what are you?” He stood and looked down at me. “That is, other than the so called ‘Hand of God.’”
Did everyone know about that by now? First, Davidson, and then the Bishop. The thought occurred to me that Davidson, the Bishop, or both had been playing me. But for what? Even if they wanted to blackmail me, I didn’t have anything. Then again, I saw the Bishop do some wild healings and raising the dead. Perhaps he has some supernatural powers. Maybe he sold his soul to the Devil, if that is something one can actually do.
“Oh yes,” he said, reading the look on my face. “I know all about you and your work. Running around, killing sinners as if God would tell you to do such a thing.”
“What do you know? I saw you kill that preacher in San Antonio. I also know you’re not what you pretend to be.”
“Who among us is what we pretend to be? The sad thing, Charlie, is that I know a lot about you. I know more about you than you know about me, or even about yourself for that matter.”
Now he lost me. I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. He was sounding more like Davidson had earlier.
“Just what is it you think you know?”
“I know where you come from,” He finally cracked a smile. “You’re not of God, that is for sure.”
I wanted to rip my hands free and choke the life out of him. I’d dedicated my life doing God’s work and he’s going to stand there and say I’m not of God. Who did he think he was?
“You sure aren’t either. Maybe we’re both from Satan!”
“Now don’t be so quick to judge Charlie. For the standard by which you judge, shall you be judged in return. I guarantee you’ll lose that battle.”
“So where is it you think I’m from?”
“Let’s just say your ancestors were not of this world.” He rubbed his chin as he spoke.
“Like what? Aliens?”
He waved his hand at me dismissively.
“Are you that dense? Now you’re just being foolish.”
I remembered Davidson telling me to read Genesis Chapter Six. I remembered the passage. It contained the flood story. Was he trying to say my ancestor was Noah? That made no sense at all. There were a couple of obscure verses at the beginning of the chapter. I tried to recall the whole thing.Genesis 6
1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
The English phrase “Sons of God” in the original Hebrew is Bene Elohim. This Hebrew phrase is only used one other time in the Bible, and that is in the first chapter of Job. In that passage it is specifically referring to angels. So, many people believe this passage in Genesis is talking about fallen angels coming to earth and breeding with human women. The offspring were called Nephilim. This is something widely debated among Bible scholars and clergy. It’s also something you learn around the second or third year of Bible college. They don’t teach this stuff in Sunday school. It’s too weird and complicated to explain to the little ones.
The Bishop was still talking even though I hadn’t been paying attention.
“Do you need me to explain it to you?” he asked.
“Sons of God,” I said.
“Well, give the boy a medal!” he said as he clapped his hands.
“So you’re saying I’m a Nephilim?”
“I’m saying you’re a descendant of a Nephilim. Which is why I’m not going to kill you, at least for now.”
“How kind of you.”
“Well, as God said in Genesis, you are an abomination, and He did His best to destroy the rest of you. Some of you still squeaked by and managed to breed, so here you are.”
“So why not kill me if I’m so abominable?”
“Oh no. God still has some use for you. And so do I, my friend.”
“Use for what?”
“Oh, we’ll be in touch. I imagine you need some time to digest this new information.” He started out of the room, then stopped and turned. “Oh, and by the way, please stop following me around town. It’s rather annoying. Also I will resurrect anyone else you kill.” He whispered something to Jesus, who had just stepped back inside, and then the Bishop walked out.
I thought of everything he told me. He was either crazy or seriously screwing with my head. I was leaning toward the latter. How could I possibly descendant of a Nephilim? I didn’t have much more time to think before Jesus came toward me with a syringe. I struggled against my bonds but I couldn’t budge. In one smooth motion, he stuck the syringe in my neck and pressed the plunger. Before I could register what had just happened, everything went dark.
Chapter 19
I woke up on the floor of my apartment; apparently the Bishop didn’t want to tuck me in. It was still dark outside so it must have been early in the morning. I had no idea how much actual time had passed since I first broke into his RV. I’m sure the Bishop’s “revival” was a hit. My head hurt like hell too. Both sides of my face were throbbing and sore, plus my head felt like it was filled with cement. That was probably side effects from whatever it was Jesus had injected me with.
I gently pulled myself to my feet; every joint in my body ached and cracked with each movement. My suit was completely trashed. Thankfully, it wasn’t one of my good ones. I stripped off the shirt and tie as I stumbled to my bed. I sat there in just my wife beater and dress pants thinking over the things the Bishop had told me. It was all rather unbelievable, but I had seen unbelievable things over the last few days. Not to mention the fact that God tells me to tie people to crosses, dismember them and dissolve them in lye, and pour them down the drain. I suppose that in itself would be hard for most people to swallow. That’s the tricky thing about religion, how far do you let your faith take you? From the moment I fought with the dog in the woods, I was all in.
All that said, I guess what the Bishop told me about my ancestry was possible. A few things about that didn’t make sense. The Nephilim were giants; at five foot ten I hardly qualified as a giant. I stood and walked into the bathroom. Looking in the mirror I could survey the damage. It didn’t look as bad as I felt. The right side of my face was slightly swollen, and the left side had some bruising. I was expecting to look like the Elephant Man. I went back into the bedroom to find David Davidson standing by my bed and I nearly jumped out of my socks.
“Dammit! Will you stop doing that?”
“Sorry,” he said.
“You got a lot of balls. I’m getting really sick of you popping up here and there with these stupid messages. How do I know you’re not with the Bishop?”
“It’s about faith, Charlie.”
“Oh fuck off. Don’t give me this faith shit. I’ve lived by faith my whole life. Who are you really? ”.”
“I know you have, an
d who I am isn’t the important thing.”
That was enough. Without warning, I ran toward him, put him in a wrist lock and leg swept him to the floor. Once on the floor I placed him in a unilateral vascular neck restraint. That’s a fancy way of saying I had him in a sleeper hold. Despite his strange disappearing acts, it was nice to see that he was human.
“Now, you will tell me who you are, or I will pop your head like a zit.”
His face turned a shade of dark red as he grunted.
“You gonna start talking?” I asked. He just let out another grunt. “Tap twice if you agree to talk, and I will let you go.” Without hesitation he tapped his hand twice on my leg. Slowly I released my grip and backed away slowly as he stood, rubbing the back of his neck.
“You’re stronger than you look.”
“Thanks. I’ve had some training in that area.”
“Yeah, I can tell. Just so you know, that is the last time you will pull something like that.” He lost his usual relaxed demeanor and spoke with a tone that told me there was a lot more to him than I understood. “So you ask who I am. This might take a while.” He said as he walked over to my desk and sat on the edge.
“So give me the Cliff’s Notes version,” I said, sitting on my bed crossing my arms.
“Okay, I’m guessing the Bishop told you about your heritage.”
“Yeah he did. It was weird, but at least he gave me more than just cryptic hints.”
“Bad habit of mine I guess.” He looked around for a moment. “It might be easier to explain who you are.”
“That was going to be my next question.”
“Okay, good. I know you know the Genesis six passage, right?”
“Yes, I’m familiar with it,” I said.
“Okay, so you familiar with the book of Enoch?”
“Yeah, I read it for a college paper. It’s not scripture, though.”
He rolled his eyes. “You people, I swear. Just because your scholars don’t recognize it or consider it scripture doesn’t mean it isn’t true. College history books aren’t scripture, but they still contain truth.”
“Fair enough,” I nodded.
“In Enoch there is a group of angels called the Watchers. They lusted after human women so they left heaven and came to earth. They took human women as their wives; those women bore children called the Nephilim.”
“Yeah, they were giants,” I said, “and supposedly killed in the Flood.”
“Not all of them. Remember the Anakites? Including Goliath?”
“Yes?”
“Well a lot of the texts don’t go into it, but there were still a few around after the Flood. They managed to find somewhere safe to survive. They also continued to have children, and their children had children, so here you are. When the Israelites moved to Caanan, they saw giants, the ‘Sons of Anak’ they called them. Your ancestor is Bezaliel. He was one of the original Watchers; the twenty leaders when they came to earth. His name means “Shadow of God.”. Not much is written of him in the translations, but he was one of the most ruthless of the fallen. He was the one of the angels of death. Such as the destroyer God sent to kill the first born Egyptians the night of the Passover.”
“I guess that would explain where I get my temperament.”
“Among other things,” David said.
“Weren’t they killed in the flood?”
“Most of them were. In the Bible in Deutoronomy you see Joshua fights the Anakites several times. It was God’s way of continuing to eradicate them. In the book of Joshua, the Anakites fled to Gath after the battle.”
“And Goliath the giant was from Gath.”
“You got it. Kind of gives the fight with David some new meaning huh?”
“I guess so. So what are you exactly?”
“You haven’t figured that out by now?”
“Sorry, I’m a bit slow these days. Being drugged and beaten has that effect on me.”
“I’m an angel.”
I think I actually laughed out loud at this one. Things had gotten too silly by this point.
“Right, I should have figured. I’m a Nephilim offspring and you’re an angel. I suppose Satan is lurking around here somewhere too.”
“Very funny. You teach about God for a living. You just emphasized so much about your faith. Why is this so hard to believe?”
“Because for one, I’ve seen nothing in scripture to believe angels still show themselves anymore.”
“Well of course not. The Bible was written in the first century. We never stopped showing ourselves, we just don’t broadcast it.”
“So shouldn’t you have wings or something?”
“I take human form so I can blend in.”
“And why do I get Dave? In the Bible people got Michael or Gabriel. I get Dave.”
“That’s not my real name.”
“Well, there’s a shocker.” I said.
“You really are a handful aren’t you?”
“So it seems. What is your real name then?”
“Ezrael. You won’t find my name in any biblical references. However in the Apocalypse of Peter I’m the Angel of Wrath. I’ll be casting sinners into their place of final torment after Judgment Day.”
Even for a man of God, this was all getting incredibly deep. We Protestants are usually rather conservative when it comes to the supernatural. Yet so far in one night, I’d seen and heard enough supernatural stuff to last me a lifetime. I knew Dave/Ezrael wasn’t totally crazy. Something wasn’t right about of all this, obviously. I always prided myself on being the Hand of God. Now I was wondering if this is what I really wanted. Yet, if it were true, it would be a chance for me to be on the front lines of spiritual warfare.
“So if you’re an angel, how come I could kick your butt so easily?”
“In human form, I’m limited in my abilities. So yes, you took me by surprise this time, but trust me, it. It won’t happen again. I was also holding back so as not to harm you.”
I looked at my hands then back up at Ezrael.
“So does that mean I have some kind of super angel powers or something?”
“Most likely you do, but I don’t know what they are.”
“So why are you here? Aren’t I some kind of abomination? God tried to wipe us all out didn’t he? Why does He need me for anything?”
“He did. My job has been to hunt down what’s left of you and kill you all. However with the Bishop, he sees an opportunity for you. And as far as your work, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. That’s not from God.”
“What are you talking about? My work is too from God. I have visions and everything.”
“It doesn’t work like that. We’ll circle back to that later. You’ve got plenty to do in the meantime. The Bishop is not a man of God as you might have guessed. You aren’t exactly in God’s favor. But between the two of you, you are the lesser evil. Not to mention your intentions are good, even though we need some work on your follow through.”
“So what are the Bishop’s intentions? And what is he exactly?”
“I don’t know either of those things, other than he is out to lead people away from the church. Distract them with his dog and pony show, but I’m not sure what his plan is from there.”
“Isn’t God all knowing? You can’t give me any more than that?”
“God is, I’m not. I only know what he tells me.” He stood and threw his arms into the air. “I don’t know why he doesn’t just zap the Bishop and the rest of you half-bred freaks off the face of the earth. I don’t know why he told me to kill the others, but to keep you alive long enough to help with this Bishop without giving me more info. Maybe he wants to build your character so you can have some chance at redemption. Maybe he wants you two to kill each other in the process. Or maybe this is all a game to him. I don’t know. I do what I’m told, and this is what he told me to do.”
“Well, I’ll try not to take offense at the half-bred freak comment.” This whole mess was a lot to take in.
Good thing I was apparently not entirely human or I might have really lost it. Perhaps my lineage explained a lot of things about me. “So where do I start with all this?”
“The rest you have to figure out for yourself. I don’t know if I will be able to help you much from here. I’ll probably get in trouble for telling you this much, but I figured you needed to know the truth about your past.”
“That does help I guess. So now what?”
“So now you go do some homework and go get him.”
“Then you’ll kill me?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. He didn’t fill me in beyond that.”
Wonderful. So God wanted me to do His dirty work, and then have me wiped out for being born. Something I couldn’t exactly help. Of course, He let His own son be crucified, so I guess I shouldn’t have expected much better. Either way, I needed some time to sort through all this.
“Okay, well I need some sleep first. You know us half-breeds need our beauty rest.”
I got up and pulled the blanket back on my bed. When I turned around, Ezrael was gone. It had been an enlightening evening, to say the least.
Chapter 20
Life was so much easier when I was just preaching on Sundays and killing sinners on the side. Now I learn I have an ancient ancestor who happens to have been a fallen angel. Plus I also may or may not possess some kind of supernatural ability, and my enemy is a guy who may or may not be human, but who really did have supernatural powers. Not to mention the fact that all the people I had killed so far weren’t at God’s bidding after all. Yet despite all that, God still wanted me to do his bidding on this new mission, even though I’m an abomination and a serial killer. Did I miss anything?
The rest of the week was uneventful by current standards. The Bishop’s tent revival was all anyone in town or at the church would talk about. People were talking about the Bishop and if he was really some kind of prophet. I still didn’t get what the preacher he killed in the city had to do with anything. Whatever he was, he’d attracted plenty of attention, including the local media. They began lurking around anywhere he went. They’d interview people about what they’d seen or felt at his revival. However, the Bishop himself had become scarce since the revival, no one had seen him.