The Fallen Ones

by Katelyn Campbell

CHAPTER 20

   

  Ilyana:

  I woke up feeling more refreshed this morning than I have for days. I got ready quickly and raced out of the bedroom hopeful that Levi was awake. I was pleased to find that not only was he awake, but he was already dressed for training and had a cooler full of supplies ready to go, outside of the cooler was a baggy with some razors, scissors, tooth brushes, combs and even a harmonica. I grin at the thought of how early Levi must’ve woke up to do all this – he is as excited as I am. He hands me a granola bar and bottle of water “Mind if we take the atv’s today?” I jump up and down like one of those obnoxious cheerleaders in highschool – Kailand will be so surprised at how early we will get there today. We make the drive in no time at all. Levi barely stops the ATV before I jump off and start running for the cave. The moment I step in, I feel the power effortlessly creep through me and my hands begin to light up again. The walls immediately show and I call out for Kailand. His eyes meet mine instantly and I reach through the barrier for his hand without meeting any resistance. I find that today I can reach through, almost all the way to my shoulder “Good Morning” I say to him with a smile as we both sit down on our side of the barrier, hands still locked “Good Morning” he grins back and my heart speeds up and my skin begins to warm. He is absolutely breath taking. I can only imagine what he must’ve looked like before being locked up here. Levi follows me in with the cooler and sits it down beside me. He tries to see if he can reach his hand through but hits the wall. He gets a frustrated look on his face “Well, I guess you really are the chosen one.” I laugh at his petulance knowing that this is the first time I have been able to do something with my powers that he can’t. He smiles at me good naturedly and nods to the cooler.

  “Oh! We brought you some things” I about squeal as I reach into the bag and pull out some spoons and several thermos full of stew I am relieved to find that it passes through with ease “Levi made this for you last night, he cooks amazing stew.” I hand him the spoons and a few paper cups that he can use as bowls for each of the captives with him. He smells it and I think for a moment I see tears stinging his eyes. He looks at me with pride and then begins pouring the stew “Thank you, both. I had forgotten what food even smells like.” I nod and Levi brushes it off as if he does it all the time. I look in the thermos and smile when I see that Levi even packed bottles of water – it is something so small, but such a thoughtful detail that I never would’ve thought to do. I pass the water through to him and he opens the first small bottle and takes a drink. Color returns to his face in front of me and I know it is already doing him good. I pull out my loaf of bread wrapped in a towel “Kailand, I made this so it may not be very good, I don’t really cook all the time and I didn’t have a lot of ingredients to work with, but I hope it is ok.” He laughs at my apology as he takes it from me “Do you really think any of us in here would turn away any food? As far as I am concerned, what you have brought me is fit for a king. I have not had food in over four thousand years.” He smells the bread and begins to break of pieces for everyone in his family and he puts it on top of their cups of stew.

  What happens next amazes me. He stops what he is doing and carefully walks the cups of food and bottles of water to each person there. They all smell it and become more responsive than I have ever seen them – they are even able to feed themselves mostly. At least after the first bite. He patiently makes sure that everyone there is eating and drinking before he returns to sit down beside me. All you can hear is chewing and noises of satisfaction. He looks at me and smiles “You did that for them. You both did. This is the most they have lived in hundreds of years. They may even be ok once this is all over with.” I feel tears stinging my eyes and look to Levi and see that he is also wearing a solemn expression. I gently kick his knee and mutter “Good on you, Levi!” he smiles and I return my attention to Kailand. I am surprised to see that he is still just watching everyone, not even eating. I take our joined hands and push the side of his leg “Eat, you need to be strong because eventually we are going to get you out of here and that is going to take a lot of work for both of us!” he looks at me seriously and nods. “I just didn’t want to let go of your hand until you were ready.”

  His words surprise me and I let go of his hand, I begin to wonder why I always find myself holding it. I realize that he is the type of man that would give you the shirt off your back if you asked. He has not had a morsel of food in thousands of years, but yet he feeds everyone before him and refuses to feed himself until he believes that I am ready for him to. I desperately wish I could take him away from the pain and isolation of this place. He is watching my face and waits for me to smile before he will pick up his food and start eating. He takes surprisingly proper bites. I guess old habits die hard. He keeps speaking about how delicious it is and cleaning his face in between bites. He makes sure to compliment the bread I cooked for him extra, which I appreciate.

  When he is finished with his food I begin to hand him the last few items: a large pack of granola bars, a few larger bottles of water with cups that they can pour it into to share, his hygiene items he requested and finally his harmonica. He looks confused when he sees it. Levi tells him to place it against his mouth and blow and as soon as he does, all the faces in the cave turn to look at him and he lets out a small smile “Music, I guess?” I nod “It’s a harmonica, I never learned to play, but if you are any good with music, it is supposed to be fairly easy to learn.” He thanks me and then begins to collect all of the empty cups from everyone. Most of them are sleeping now, some have gone back to rocking and muttering to themselves.

  He walks back over to me, sits down and reaches towards me to give him my hand. I hesitate for a moment, wondering if he is only doing this for me. I decide I am over thinking it and offer it to him. I look over and catch Levi staring at me confused, but before I get a chance to read into it, Kailand interrupts my thoughts with a question.

  “May I ask you something, Ilyana?” he looks hesitant for some reason which puts me slightly on edge, but I am not willing to show it “You can ask me anything, Kailand.” He smiles and continues “I feel like I have revealed so much of myself, but I know nothing of you. Thousands of years have passed so I know much has changed, but do you have any idea which of the original families you would’ve originated from?” I think about his question before I answer, I realize it is not anything I ever really considered. I already had a family that loved me and raised me, I never thought about the fact that somewhere there was a family that belonged to me but gave me up. The thought is very bittersweet, it is neither happy or sad, I feel hopeful at the thought of not being my only family alive, but what would cause a family of Nephilim to abandon their child is beyond me.

  “I don’t really know. I was adopted by human parents from Russia when I was a young child, I never knew who my real parents were. Never even thought about it.” He looks troubled but doesn’t apologize for asking instead he presses on “You’re parents gave you up to be raised by humans? I have never heard of such a thing.” I respond easier now than before and see that Levi is also paying close attention – I realize I never told him my story, I am sure he heard the basics, but no details about what made me who I am now “I don’t know that they exactly gave me up. It’s more like they abandoned me. I didn’t know I was adopted until a few weeks ago when I found out what I am. But I found out I was abandoned at a gas station in Russia as a young child and adopted at the age of 3 by my American parents. They never told me about it and were both killed by the demons before I found out any more.” Levi brushes his leg against mine in an attempt to comfort me, they both look at me as though they expect me to start crying at any moment, but I know that I have already spilled all the tears I had in me. Kailand looks at me somberly “I am sorry, love. I know what it is like to lose your family. I shouldn’t have asked.” I smile and lean back against the cave behind me “It is a terrible thing, but I am glad you asked. I never really thought of the possibility
that I may have more family somewhere out there then I initially realized. I lost everything when my parents died, it’s nice to think that maybe there’s something more. Even if they abandoned me.”

  Just then my phone rings, it is a number that I don’t recognize. Kailand looks confused at where the noise is coming from and Levi is surprised – my phone never rings, all Ephraim and Alya ever do is text and not very often. I answer the phone hesitantly “This is Ilyana.” I definitely do not recognize the voice on the other line “Ilyana, this is Marcus.” My heartbeat stops “It is time for you and Levi to come to the enclave immediately. I have something very important to discuss with you and time is of the essence.” I hesitantly respond “I will tell Levi. What is this about? I still am not controlling my powers very well.” He laughs on the other line “I think your powers will be just fine. Come. When you get here, head for the apartment buildings that Alya lives in – Levi will know where that is. I will send someone to meet you and show you to your apartment, we will speak tonight.” The phone shuts off and I realize he disconnected the call without ever telling me what we are to discuss. I shove my phone back in my pocket and look at Levi who is clearly concerned “It’s Marcus. He says we have to go to Alya’s apartment building immediately and we are meeting with him tonight.”

  Levi mutters an expletive under his breath that makes me blush and I realize that this is bad. It is getting harder for me to say goodbye to Kailand and the power that surges through me in the cave, but we can’t risk anyone coming to find us here so we leave immediately and I silently pray for the best.