Nephilim

by Daniele Lanzarotta

  “Trust me, I won’t be here that long.”

  “That is what they all say,” said Ember.

  Before I could say anything else, it was time to go and Angela was there to escort me to my private lesson.

  ***

  “Mr. Daniels wants to see you before your lesson,” she said.

  I rolled my eyes and followed her to his office.

  He seemed uncomfortable when I walked in.

  He stood up. “Hi Kayla. How is your first day going?”

  “Could be better… For one thing, I would like to talk to my parents.”

  The word ‘parents’ made him even more uncomfortable.

  “You can write them a letter. Will that make things better? I will just let them know that you are awake but recovering and you are still in a delicate state… well, we will take care of the excuses.”

  “How will I know they are getting my letters?”

  “I’m sure they will respond, Kayla.”

  I nodded. “There is something else.”

  “Yes?” he seemed almost afraid to ask.

  “I don’t want a roommate.”

  “Kayla, everyone at the Academy has a roommate. That would raise questions.”

  I went for emotional blackmail. “Look, I know that you don’t know me AT ALL, but I can’t function without having some space to myself. I’m trapped in this place, without my family… you know…the one who raised me, and having no space to myself just makes me feel even more trapped. This place is safe, right? So, why not? I’m sure you can make some kind of excuse as to why I don’t have a roommate. Maybe say that Ember is needed elsewhere?”

  Mr. Daniels looked as if he were deep in thought.

  “I will consider it.”

  He looked at his watch.

  “You should probably get to your next class.”

  I nodded and walked away.

  ***

  Angela was waiting outside, ready to take me to my next class. This was my private class, given by Mr. Azazel. I suspected he was a fallen, but wasn’t sure and didn’t care to ask. He seemed to know what I was but didn’t come out and just say it. He didn’t waste time either. My first lesson was on the history of the Fallen followed by the Nephilim.

  He mentioned the original Fallen ones, the ones who were cast down to earth during the war between Heaven and Hell, and proceeded to say that the war was not over and would likely never be.

  “Some choices are not fair,” he said. “… when you are bound by an eternity to serve, you become more vulnerable to certain temptations.”

  He looked as if he were distant, until I spoke. “…but as you said, it was a choice. You had the free will to make it. I don’t understand the problem.”

  He grinned. “Things are just not black and white. There has always been that gray area hanging over our souls. You can tell the difference between heaven and hell… good or bad… but let’s take for example falling for a human. Does that necessarily put you in the side of evil, even if it is something that you cannot help?”

  I pondered that for a few seconds. “Well, it is unnatural. You are talking about someone ‘divine’, a son of God, preying on a human.”

  “Preying?” he asked startled

  “Well... a Fallen one would have benefits over any human, right? The divine look, thousands or maybe even more years of experience, knowledge of human behavior… It hardly seems fair.”

  He nodded. “You certainly put on a good argument, but the choices, the inability to fight your feelings, it is just not like that. Let’s take you for instance…”

  I looked at him alarmed and he went on to confirm that he knew about me.

  “You are a Nephilim. You will soon learn that you have powers of your own. Would you necessarily be characterized as evil if you fell for a human?”

  “Well, that is hardly the same thing!”

  “How so?”

  “For one thing, I’m mortal.” … and that was when it hit me. I was mortal, but Hunter was not. In my mind that was not evil.

  Mr. Azazel noticed my startled reaction.

  “Do you care to share your thoughts?”

  “I – Okay, maybe it is not all black and white… but if it is not evil, why get cast out of heaven because of that? Why do those choices make you a fallen one?”

  “Because it makes us a liability. Falling in love impacts our judgment, our choices… our priorities.”

  I nodded. “So, what is the deal with this place? I mean… why would you continue to serve the good after being cast out?”

  He smiled. “That, I can only answer for myself. We each have our own reasons, but I will always serve the good because what was once called a mistake helped shape the best part of me. It made me a better being.”

  I nodded again, noticing how I enjoyed this discussion much more than I had anticipated. He then went into the topic of Nephilim.

  There were not many around, but the ones who did exist were trained from the beginning on how to unlock and use their powers. I was the only one he had ever met who was raised by humans and he had no idea how that would impact my ability to reach those powers, besides the one I stumbled upon once I met Carolyn. He said we would soon talk more about it and try to see what all I could do.

  After class I walked alone to my room.

  So, I pulled it off. Ember’s things were all gone.

  I knew that getting a room of my own would make things a little better. At least it would give me space, although it didn’t make me hate this place any less.

  I skipped dinner that night and just lay in bed, thinking about what to write to Andrew and Kelly.

  I only had ten minutes to get ready for bed before the lights went off. As usual, it was too foggy outside for the moonlight to make a difference. Either way, I found it creepy to go to sleep with the blinds open. I just felt as if I was being watched.

  That was the first night that I wasn’t paranoid about going to sleep in a very long time. My door was locked, and Ember and the other fallen, as far as I was concerned, had no way of getting in my room.

  I worried about Kelly and Andrew, and then moved on to thinking of ways to get out of here. I wondered if I exposed the truth about what I was, if I could create a commotion large enough that they would want me to leave. If I could only be that lucky! And then, I started thinking about Hunter. Questioning whether bringing me here was really his only option. Wondering what I would have done in his place. Remembering that night when we kissed, and that was the last thing I remember before falling asleep.

  The girl in my dream seemed familiar. She reminded me of Carolyn, the ghost who then reincarnated as my little sister. I knew it wasn’t her, mostly because something about her appearance was odd. The dream was so vivid. I was walking by the front gates of the Academy when she appeared at the other side of the gates.

  “Hello,” she said.

  I ignored her.

  “Your name is Kayla, right?”

  I nodded. “Do I know you?”

  “No, but I would like to come in.”

  I tried to fight it, but soon, her familiarity with Carolyn won me over.

  “Okay...”

  “I need your help to go in, Kayla.”

  I laughed. “If I could open the gates, I would have done it by now. You want to come in, I want to get out.”

  “How about a trade?” she asked.

  I looked at her, puzzled.

  “Come closer. Give me your hand.”

  I hesitated at first. Then I walked toward the gates, and was about to extend my hand, when I saw Benjamin.

  Next thing I knew, someone was calling my name and shaking me to wake up.

  I knew he was there before my eyes even opened.

  I quickly sat up, expecting full darkness, but there was light coming from a small flashlight. I didn’t have to ask Hunter how he got there. He did the same thing at my old house. He would make himself invisible and just show up. Some immortal ability he picked up once death
sent him to the Otherworld. Others can do it too… Benjamin could anyway. Just the sound of his name gave me chills.

  “Hunter, what are you doing here?”

  “I’m sorry. I just… I knew you were alone and I wanted to make sure you were okay. I wasn’t going to appear. I was just going to stop by and leave, but then I heard you… struggling…”

  I just stared at him, not knowing what to say.

  He avoided my gaze. “I know… I shouldn’t have. It won’t happen again.”

  “Wait!” I said and then lowered my voice to a whisper. “Please don’t leave.”

  Hunter sat on the chair near my desk.

  “Did your nightmare have something to do with Benjamin?”

  I nodded.

  He looked as if he was deep in thought.

  “I want to go home, Hunter.” I burst into tears. Something I never did in front of anyone!

  Hunter stood up and walked toward me. He sat on my bed, putting his arms around me.

  “I will find a way to get you out of here, Kayla, just as soon as I know you will be safe from Benjamin.”

  That made me cry even more, because really, I had no hopes that would ever happen!

  “Do you still want me to stay?” he asked.

  I nodded. Hunter started to get up, but I kept a tight grip on his arm. He turned the flashlight off and lay down on my bed, pulling me close.

  “How did you know Ember would not be here?” I asked.

  “News travel fast. She was complaining about having to move to another room. I’m not sure what reason Daniels gave her, if any.”

  “Hunter, did you talk to Chase?” I asked.

  “I did. He will watch them for you, but the Academy has eyes on Carolyn… I mean, your sister. They want to make sure that Benjamin doesn’t go near her. Anyway, Chase has to be careful, but he will do what you asked. As soon as I can I will summon him and ask how they are doing.”

  I had noticed he tensed at the sound of Chase’s name.

  “…and is everything else okay?”

  He took a deep breath. “No. To be honest, I’m not sure if you are safer from Benjamin in here or outside of the Academy. I keep going back and forth on this… Chase says he had sightings of Benjamin outside. He said that Benjamin has been recruiting others to guard the outside in the hope of a chance to get in.”

  “Other Incubi?” I asked.

  “No, just others in general. Mostly ghosts. The problem is that Chase doesn’t think Benjamin wants to get in here because he is after you… he thinks he has other motives, whatever they may be.”

  “So, let’s leave. You and I… there has to be a way for us to get out.”

  “What if Chase is wrong? What if Benjamin is coming after you? Leaving could give him the chance to get to you.

  “We could have Chase help. If we find a way out, we could have Chase follow Benjamin… maybe he could even create a diversion.”

  “That might help… I just don’t know what to do. I guess I thought once you got better they would send you back and just keep an eye on Benjamin. I didn’t think they would trap you in here and start teaching you all of this.”

  “Hunter, please don’t read too much into it. Just get me out of this place and then we will figure out the rest.”

  He moved enough to where he was facing me and kissed my forehead, holding me even tighter.

  “I will get you out of this place and to safety. I promise.”

  I felt as if I could breathe better.

  Hunter was still tense.

  “We will need help,” said Hunter before I could ask what was wrong. “We will need people on our side.”

  “What? Why? That will just complicate things…”

  “Kayla, we have no option but to trust some of them. That is the only way to get you out of here.”

  “Don’t you mean to get US out of here?”

  “Of course. But like I said, we will need help, at least from Ethan.”

  “I know you told me he helped you before when you got me out of the Otherworld, but I don’t know about this.”

  “Kayla, Ethan will be leaving the Academy with us. He has his reasons for wanting to get out… That is how I know we can trust him.”

  “You are gonna have to tell me more.”

  “How about you hear it from him?”

  I shrugged and agreed to meet Hunter after classes.

  ***

  That day I ended up having just my ‘normal’ classes. I figured Mr. Azazel was probably hiding after the previous day’s debate. After lunch, Hunter heard Angela say that I was dismissed for the day and came to walk me back to my dorm, only, he ended up leading me to the back of the Academy. “Wait here,” he said. “I’m going to get Ethan and will be right back.”

  The back of the Academy was deserted as usual. At first anyway… I then saw a girl, who seemed younger than most of the beings at the Academy, wandering around. Once she realized that she was not alone, she looked embarrassed and started to turn around to leave.

  “Wait!” I said. “You look familiar. Have we met?”

  She hesitated but then started to walk in my direction.

  “I—I’m not sure.”

  “No, I’ve seen you before. I’m sure.”

  “I – I don’t think I should be talking about it.”

  “You can tell her,” Hunter said, startling the girl. Ethan was also with him.

  The girl looked afraid.

  “Kayla won’t say anything about you talking to her.”

  “She might not, but we are not alone here. At the back gates… they are everywhere, just waiting for a chance to get in.”

  We all looked but couldn’t see anything.

  “Who are you talking about?” asked Hunter.

  The girl shrugged. “I have to go. They don’t want me near her,” she said, looking at me. “You can tell her why she thinks I look familiar, at least she will know and it won’t come from me, so I will not be in trouble for it.”

  The girl turned to leave. “Kim,” said Hunter.

  She seemed surprised that he even knew her name.

  “I know you are not lying about seeing them. I know that you are the strongest of your kind at the Academy. Can you tell me how many are out there?”

  Kim looked toward the back gates.

  “The numbers change. They seem to take shifts to watch the Academy. I’ve noticed them since Kayla got here. Sometimes there are only two, other times there are ten or more.”

  “Huh. I wonder why the significant change in numbers.”

  Kim looked nervous. “Because when there are only two of them, they are stronger.”

  “Huh?” We practically said at the same time.

  “At least one of them is a Demon. The others are Ghosts”

  I could feel the blood flushing down my face.

  Hunter grabbed my hand. “Let’s go. We need to find somewhere else to talk.”

  “Come on,” said Ethan. “We can use one of the classrooms that I know is always empty.”

  Hunter and I started to follow Ethan. I looked back at Kim. “Are you coming?”

  “I don’t want to get in trouble…. I have classes this afternoon.”

  “Come on,” said Hunter. “No one will see you and we will come up with an excuse for you missing class.”

  She hesitated.

  Hunter looked at me and I nodded, knowing exactly what he had in mind. He put his arm around me and made me disappear along with him.

  Kim and Ethan both looked shocked.

  “I knew you were different.” That was all she said. She asked no questions.

  “Are you coming?” Hunter asked.

  She shrugged. “Why not?… So, how do we do this?” she asked.

  Hunter couldn’t make us all just vanish. It took too much from him. Instead, he just took care of himself and Kim, and I followed Ethan into one of the smaller buildings and then into the classroom.

  As soon as we walked in, Hunter and Kim appeared a
gain.

  “Wow. That was weird,” she said, sounding amazed.

  Hunter just smiled.

  I rolled my eyes at him. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

  “I would never!” he winked.

  I looked at Kim. “So, how do I know you?”

  Kim avoided my gaze, not sure what to say, so Hunter took over for her.

  “Kim is one of the youngest and most powerful in the Academy. When everyone thought you were back at first, well… it wasn’t really you. Someone from the Otherworld had taken over your body and Kim helped kicking that being back into the Otherworld, giving you the opportunity to return.”

  Just the sound of all that gave me chills, “You didn’t tell me about that… How did they figure out that it wasn’t me? How long was I out?”

  Ethan was the one who spoke. “That being wasn’t here for long. Hunter knew at the first sight of her that she wasn’t you.”

  I met Hunter’s gaze. “You did?”

  He just smiled and nodded, then tried to make a joke out of it. “Of course I knew. She was too easy going… trusted EVERYONE!”

  I just rolled my eyes at him.

  Hunter smiled.

  Kim surprised us when she asked what we were doing here. Honestly, we hadn’t talked about adding yet another person to our getaway group. To me, the fewer number of people involved, the better.

  Hunter and I looked at each other. He clearly seemed eager to add Kim to the group. Ethan broke into our unspoken interaction. “If my opinion matters at all, I think we should tell her. If she has that much power, she could help.”

  Kim’s expression changed immediately. “Clearly another case of someone wanting to use me.”

  “Not if you don’t agree,” said Hunter. “This is voluntary. You make your own choices.”

  Kim sighed. “Well, what is it?”

  “Regardless of what you decide, you can’t tell anyone what we are doing,” said Hunter.

  Kim smiled, an innocent smile. “Who would believe me?”

  “We are leaving the Academy,” said Hunter.

  Her eyes instantly brightened. Then within seconds, she was sad once again.

  “…But I wouldn’t have anywhere to go.”

  “None of us do,” said Ethan.

  “My adoptive parents — I want to go back to them. They will help us,” I said, unsure how much exactly we would be able to even tell them about any of this.