by KD Knight
"I got your rules right here," Mark flexed his wafer thin biceps.
Marcus laughed heartily as he slowly rose to his feet.
"Jane, get up. We have to get out of here." Lisa reached for me to take her hand.
"Lisa, your eyes…" They had transformed to grey, just like Boothe's.
"Escape first, answers later." She wrapped my arm around her shoulder. "Mark, hold him off while I get her into the school."
"Cake walk," Mark chuckled.
"You're going nowhere with my prize!" Marcus barked as he reached for me.
Lisa knocked his arm away. Then the fury of wind held Marcus captive once again.
~Jane~
Chapter Nine: The Truth
"Are you hurt?" Lisa searched my body for broken bones and wounds.
Room 77, the Ancient Civilizations classroom, looked larger without its students. The upholstered bucket seats had cracks and discolouration I hadn't noticed before.
I closed my eyes. This is not real. I'm in a dream. I'm still lying on the bench by the bus shelter. The image of that old woman crushed by a metal pole played like a horror film in my mind. I want this to be a dream. But the pain in my knee confirmed bluntly that this was all too real.
I looked at my hands. They didn't look any different than they had before, but today they had done something they had never done before. How could these hands have moved the ground and knocked Marcus off his feet? Why did I think to put my hands on the ground in the first place?
"You said you were going to give me answers. Lisa, what's going on?" I stared at her transformed grey eyes. "Why did Marcus look like that? And your eyes, why are they grey?"
"You've never seen anything like this?" Lisa asked, grabbing my hand and examining the tracks of partially dried blood.
"I watched Boothe's eyes change, too. I asked you about it. You said you didn't know what I was talking about."
"I remember. I wanted to tell you everything right then and there. But Dr. Coy said it would have been too much for you. You would have run away. He wanted to explain it to you himself when the time was right."
"Okay. Tell me now. Why do your eyes do that?"
"Dr. Coy would do a much better job of explaining it than I ever could."
"Lisa, I don't want to hear this from Dr. Coy. I want to hear this from you, my friend."
She looked at me mournfully. After a few moments she opened her mouth to speak, but retracted when Mark casually strolled into the room.
"You okay?" Lisa asked Mark as she unwrapped a piece of gauze and cleaned the dried blood from my palm.
"Marcus wasn't prepared for all this." He laughed as he kissed his meager biceps.
“So, where is he now?” I asked.
“I let him go.” Mark answered.
“What?” Me and Lisa shrieked in unison.
“Look,” Mark threw his hands in the air, “you asked me to keep him busy, that's all. I know I'm a powerful beast, but I'm not taking down any Nephs without backup.”
Lisa rolled her eyes. "Pass me the first aid kit in the top right hand drawer, please. I think there's a pair of tweezers in there. Jane, you have a few pieces of glass stuck in your palm. I'm going to try to get them out."
"You're lucky to be alive, Jane." Mark handed Lisa the kit.
"Lisa, tell me what's going on. Ouch! Why did Marcus look like that? Why was he trying to kidnap me?"
"He tried to kidnap you because you're one of us." An uncomfortable look returned to her face. She paused as if she was searching for more words but couldn't find them.
"Marcus looks like that because he's a dirty Neph," Mark said, curling his lips in disgust.
“A Neph? What is that?”
"They're the dirt on the bottom of my shoe. All the problems you see happening all over the world—the crime, the violence, the invention of low calorie diets—all the work of Nephs."
"Mark, stop. Let Dr. Coy explain things. At least then she won't be confused." Lisa ran her finger along my palm. Her finger grazed a piece of glass and sent a pulse of pain up my arm.
"Lisa, are you sure this girl's one of us?" Mark glanced at me briefly as he picked his fingernails with a pair of first aid scissors.
"Positive," Lisa answered. "You remember what Dr. Coy said."
"OUCH! What does "one of us" mean?
"Have you ever been wrong?" Mark asked Lisa.
"Never!" Lisa shot him an annoyed glance.
I rose to my feet in frustration. "I'm done with this. Today has been the most traumatizing day of my life: Marcus trying to kidnap me and all this stuff about "Nephs," whatever they are. And none of you intend on answering my questions. I'm going to the police. I'll tell them about Marcus. You can call him whatever name you want. I think he's crazy and needs to be locked up."
"The police won't help you." Dr. Coy appeared in the doorway. "Most of them have been corrupted by the Nephilim." He walked into the room and placed his briefcase on the desk. "We’ve got a lot to talk about. I'll begin by correcting you."
Dr. Coy looked worse than he did the day before. The tightly wrapped and uniformed dreadlocks that I had admired on the first day of class were now frizzy and chaotic strings. Some locks had been cut off from the scalp, while others were unbound heaps of matted hair.
For a moment, I thought about asking him what was going on. But at the moment, what was going on with me was more pressing.
"Correcting me on what exactly?" I enquired, folding my arms across my chest.
"Today is not the most traumatic day of your life, at least not in terms of overall danger and likelihood of death." He shooed Mark off his desk.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"It happened so long ago you've suppressed the memory. When you were toddler you lived in an area called Black River with your mother and grandmother. One day, when you were two you had a very dangerous visitor. His name was Aramos, otherwise known as the General. He came for one purpose only, to kill you. He came pretty close to doing it. But he did not count on your strength. Even at the age of two you were a force to be reckoned with. You were raw power. He also didn't count on the power and wisdom of your grandmother."
"I don't believe you. I would know if something like that happened." I swallowed hard.
"I was there. Back then I worked for the Eshkar Council as an investigator. I was the lead on that case. I helped you and your mother escape."
Is it possible that this was true? I know so little about my past. I've gone through life being fed lies and being shipped around like a postal package. So, I guess anything could be possible. But possible does not equal likely.
“Say for one moment, I believe this story. Who is this 'General' person Marcus said he was bringing me to?”
"General’ was Aramos’s military title at the time of the Great War, when he…" Dr. Coy paused for a deep breathe. "When he led an army of Nephilim town to town killing every Eshkar child he could find. That was a defining moment in Eshkar history.”
My arms fell to my side and I sank into the seat next to Lisa. "Marcus said something about me being prize for the General." A wave of dread gripped my stomach. "If what you're saying is true, then my mother really left Jamaica to get me away from this Aramos guy. Now, the man who tried to kill me is after me again." Although I had doubts and lots of questions, the story intrigued me. The story made everything in my life make sense. My mother was running from this child-killing maniac.
"In order to better understand any of this, I think we should start at the beginning." Dr. Coy opened his briefcase. "We all know the story of creation. However, we are not God's first creation, angels were. We share something special with our older cousin the angel—free will. After the first people were created, exercising their free will, some angels decided to leave heaven and descend to earth to live amongst us and to bear children with mortal women." Dr. Coy spoke as he pulled a decaying leather book out of his briefcase. He swung open its oversized, tattered cover and delicately
flipped through the fragile pages. "Ah, here it is in Genesis 6:1-4," Dr. Coy announced.
“When men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful; and they took them wives of all that they chose. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."
“The Book of Enoch goes into more detail concerning the unsanctioned union between angels and humans and the disastrous outcome that followed."
"Enoch? Is that in the Bible?" I asked. I had never heard of the Book of Enoch.
"No." He responded. "The traditional Christian canon does not recognize the Book of Enoch. It makes very incredible propositions that the conservative sect finds hard to accept. This book is found in its complete version in the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Canon.
“Jane, to make a long story short, according to Enoch's account, two hundred angels left heaven with the sole mission of creating life in their own image. Creating children might not sound like much to you, but to a being that has never experienced that miracle it was seen as a powerful gift that us lowly creatures were undeserving of.
"The offspring of the union between angels and humans are called Nephilim, the fallen ones. Their angel fathers passed on to their children unnaturally long life, physical power, and angelic knowledge that no human was ever meant to have. It was not long before the angelic knowledge and power corrupted their human senses and led to the corruption of the entire human race. Some of our historians theorize that because of this God might have sent a global flood to wipe them out."
"So, if they were wiped out in a flood, how do they still exist?" I asked.
"We don't know. But what I do know is there are accounts of fierce, warmongering giants well after the flood. Goliath and his brothers are the most popular."
"Does it really matter how they survived?" Mark chimed in, still picking his nails. "They're here now."
"For the sake of being clear, are you saying that Marcus is one of these Nephilim creatures?" I asked.
"That's exactly what I'm saying. He is a descendant of the original fallen angels."
"So, Marcus is an immortal descendant of fallen angels?"
"Yes.” They said in unison
Not sure if I believe that. On the other hand, what other explanation is there for what happened today?
"How many Nephilim are there exactly?" I asked. The more we spoke of these people-creatures-whatever, the more fear rose from my gut and began to seize my chest. I was nervous but intrigued. This is the first time I have ever heard of these beings, yet they have shaped the course of my life.
"That's a good question. I spent the past few years coordinating with our unit in the United States trying to find some way of measuring their population. But it's hard. They use to live out in the open, now they exist in the shadows, keeping their existence a secret from Normals and Eshkars. Not to mention that some Nephilim’s bloodline is so diluted with Normal bloodline that we have to question whether they can still be rightfully classified as Nephilim."
"Marcus didn't keep it a secret." I looked to Lisa. Although she didn't tell me the truth, I can see now that she tried to warn me about Marcus. I grabbed her hand and squeezed.
"Of the entire school population, there are five Eshkars and only one Nephilim. None of the other students know anything about your kind."
"Can we backtrack a little?" I now sat at the edge of my seat. "What's an Eshkar?"
"Eshkar is a Hebrew word meaning gift. You, Mark and Lisa are a part of an endangered community of people born with supernatural gifts. You are descendants of biblical ancestors granted these divine gifts to protect, warn, and fight against all that are evil. You are meant to work together as one body with the divine purpose of eliminating the Nephilim. You are an Eshkar"
"So people, I mean Eshkar, are just born this way?"
"Yes, Jane, it's inherited. You got your gift from your grandmother."
"Gran," I whispered, looking at my palms again.
"Alright, step back." Mark cracked his knuckles as he stood to his feet. "It's my turn. Seeing is believing, right? So, how ‘bout a little show and tell? You in the mood for a mango? There's a tree on the other side of the campus, near Son’s Auto Repair Shop."
"You're going to get me a…" Before I could finish the sentence, a strong gust of wind swept past me. I closed my eyes and shielded my face as dust and paper cut through the air.
"Here," he was suddenly standing before me and in his hand he held the heavy yellow and red fruit.
"How did you do that? Son’s Auto is a fifteen-minute walk."
I sat down and examined the mango and its unique color. "I've always known I was a little different from the others. I didn't think it was because I have some sort of super-power." I chuckled as I finished the sentence. Super-powers? That sounds crazy.
But, as hard as the story was to swallow it felt good to know was a part of something. I've never felt like I was ever a part of anything.
"Lisa, you can stop looking so guilty. I understand why you didn't say anything. I would have thought you were crazy."
"So this is why Marcus called you ‘Speedy.’" I handed the fruit back to Mark.
"What can you do?" I asked Lisa.
"I can sense when there is an Eshkar or Nephilim in the area. With Dr. Coy's help, I've been working on increasing my parameter."
I turned to Dr. Coy. "What can you do?"
He put the Bible back in his briefcase and let out a heavy sigh. "Nothing. My father was an Eshkar. I'm a Normal."
"I don't understand. I thought we got this from our parents?"
"It is inherited," he said, "but just like every other gene, there is no predicting who gets it. Take your family, for example. Your grandmother was an Eshkar, but the gene skipped your mother and aunt."
It hurt that Dr. Coy knew more about my family than I did. It hurt more that all these years everything I knew about myself had been a lie. I've been living in a bubble of secrets.
"How do you keep something like this a secret?" I asked, looking at my palms once more.
"Because we have to," Lisa answered.
"There's a natural mystic blowing through the air," Mark flung his head back and began to sing loudly. "If you listen carefully now you will hear."
"Bob Marley?" I asked curiously.
"One and all must face reality now," He belted. "This might be the first trumpet, might as well be the past; many more will have to suffer."
Then it hit me, "Bob Marley was an Eshkar." The words sounded odd as they left my lips.
"Yes. He was one of the most prolific rebels against the Council," Dr. Coy added.
We were sitting in a rough circle. Lisa was still to my left and Mark was perched on the table beside Lisa. Dr. Coy moved from behind the desk and now sat to my right. For a moment, I thought of us working as a unit against evil. Then again, I couldn't envision myself fighting anyone.
"Here," Lisa said, handing me a thick black book. The cover and backing were made of smooth, matte-finished leather. It had that new leather smell that reminded me of the seats in Marcus's car. Embossed on its cover, in silver, were the letters EC. The seams creaked when I opened the cover. On the side, in thick black writing, it read: Eshkar Council Code of Conduct.
"What is this?" I looked at Lisa inquiringly.
"It's a noose," Mark answered, "with a very long rope to hang ourselves with."
I have said 'I don't understand' probably a dozen times today alone. I should have a t-shirt made. People would read the shirt, know that I am totally in the dark and automatically dumb things down.
"Don't listen to Mark." Lisa placed her hand on my shoulder.
Mark huffed.
"This is a guideline on how Eshkars should live."
"Guidelines don't come with prison sentences."
Mark quipped, raising his brows.
Prison?
"Why don't you tell her about the rule against exposure?" asked Mark.
Lisa gave him an annoyed glare. "Section 1, Subsection 5 of the Eshkar Code of Conduct, administered by the Eshkar Council states that no Eshkar or Nephilim shall deliberately reveal their identity to those outside of the community."
"What happens if you do?" Mark prodded.
"Six months to a year in confinement," she mumbled. "Look," she turned sharply to face Mark, "like it or not, the rules are there for our protection."
"We should note that exceptions are made for close family members, of course," Dr. Coy added.
"Code of Conduct?" I was in disbelief.
"How to act. Where to go." Mark stroked his slender chin. "How to wipe after you've taken a-"
"It has always been the duty of the Eshkar to keep the Nephilims in check." Dr. Coy quickly interrupted Mark and shot him an annoyed glance. "About twenty years ago, the Neph population grew out of control. They were running wild in Jamaica. Crime was at an all-time high, there was civil unrest amongst the Normals, and there were overt attacks against Normals and Eshkars. The Eshkar Council sent out their military faction, called the Council Guard, to suppress the problem. I will share the details of the fight with you another time. After the uprising was suppressed, the Eshkar Council drafted a Code of Conduct meant to govern the behaviour of both groups in order to make for more amicable relations."
"In protest Bob Marley broke the Code by singing 'Natural Mystic'?"
"My hero," Mark sighed.
"Wait, why would the Council want to govern our behavior when the Nephilim are the ones who are causing all the trouble?" I asked.
"I agree with you, Jane. A growing number of Eshkar agree with you as well. They feel that the Council has grown lukewarm. They have shied away from the hard stance necessary, and have taken a more politically friendly position." Dr. Coy noted.
"The Council sounds great." I flopped back in my seat.
"I think that's enough for today." Dr. Coy seemed tired.
"What about Marcus? How do I know he's not going to be waiting for me at my house?"