by Mia Castile
“Seriously, Zeke, you don’t think?” Moriah trailed off when his eyes met hers again in the mirror.
We arrived at his house in record speed. We all got out of the car and went in the side door.
“Where’s Boss?” I expected him to come running to me.
Zeke didn’t answer me. The three of us stood there in the doorway as Zeke went into the kitchen and called for his mom. “Come on.” He motioned for us to follow. We did. There we stood in a large gourmet kitchen with stainless steel appliances and an island in the middle of the room. We followed him to the equally large dining room with a large table that seated eight. “Take a seat. I’m gonna go find my mom.” He went into another room, and we heard him stomping up the stairs. Gideon and Moriah were calm considering we didn’t know what was going on.
Hanna emerged with Zeke. “I can’t believe you left your brother.”
“Mom, he’s safe—as long as he doesn’t leave, and I don’t think he’s leaving.” He looked at me as we both remembered the condition Ben had been in as we left.
“All right kids, I’m going to put some coffee on. We have a lot of talking to do.” She returned after a few minutes and sat down at the head of the table. Gideon and Moriah sat on one side, and Zeke and I sat on the other side. She took a deep breath and began.
Chapter 16
“Long before time began, there was Our Father alone in the heavens. In his isolation, he created the angels. Not long after that, he created the Generations. The angels were created to worship him and follow him. They were his army—servants not given the freedom of will. When He created the Generations, we were like the angels, but given the gift of free will in Heaven. We all lived in harmony. We worshiped our Creator in all his glory. Everyone had a place and position. Lucifer was the highest angel. He was Our Father’s pride, His closest confidant, but then Lucifer created something of his own. He began to believe he was more than what he actually was. He gave birth to The Noctem. He became The Noctem. He said he was equal with God. There was a great battle in which a third of the angels chose to follow Lucifer and fight against the rest of us. At the end of the great battle, God banished Lucifer and his fallen angels to hell where he dwells. All of the Generations chose The Lucis or The Light. We became warriors alongside the angels. This pleased our Father. Over time, God decided He wanted more, so He created the earth. He created man and creatures and all the living things we see today. He gave man free will, but he also left them with the temptation of knowledge of good and evil. This was a temptation we didn’t have in Heaven even after Lucifer was banished. Perhaps He thought the Generations chose to be faithful to Him only because we saw what it was like before The Noctem, but when Eve chose to eat the forbidden fruit, the Creator was as heartbroken as if Lucifer had betrayed him again. The serpent and The Noctem won a small battle. Though he knew it was wrong, Adam’s love for her, made the choice for him because he couldn’t live his life without her. That is why he also ate the forbidden fruit. As man populated the earth, God sent the Generations to earth to help protect the balance between good and evil. The fallen angels wander the earth to manipulate and secure as many souls for Lucifer and the end of time. It is the Generations’ duty to ensure the balance of good and evil doesn’t waiver.
I don’t know what it is about earth, but The Noctem is stronger here, so many of mankind give into it. Could you imagine the devastation if The Noctem were stronger than The Lucis?” She paused and took a drink of her coffee.
“Thanks for the Bible lesson,” Gideon said, half kidding.
“This is serious!” Zeke insisted. “Mom, go on.”
“A Generation is six souls that are connected throughout the history of time. When we came to earth, we became mortal. We are born like man, and we die like man. When we die, we wait in Heaven and watch life on earth until all six have returned from the earth. Then we begin our journey again. We’re born to an older generation, but not always the same generation each incarnation. No matter where we are born, we find each other. We are soul mates even if we are separated for ooh—say thirteen years.” She paused and looked from me to Gideon. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. She continued, “It is rare, however, that the children of a complete Generation are also a Generation together. But even if we’ve never met, we are still connected. The closer we get, the more we share thoughts, see each other’s memories. Even if we don’t remember each other, there’s a sort of déjà vu. It’s like we’ve always known each other because we have.” I looked at Zeke, and he nodded to confirm. “This is a lot to digest, I know. If you have questions don’t be afraid to ask them—.”
“So you knew our parents?” Gideon didn’t even wait for her to finish her sentence.
“Yes, I was with them when they died.”
“You didn’t do anything to save them?”
“Gid!” I insisted. He was on the border of being disrespectful.
“Even so, Ellie, I knew this question was coming. I did everything I could to save them. Moriah and Selah’s parents died that day, too, and my boys lost their father.” She trailed off as she looked out the window to the night. “I will tell you what happened if you want to hear.”
“I’d really like that, and then I’d like to know why we ended up in foster care, lost in the system for thirteen years while you,” he pointed to Zeke, “were able to go to private school.” His eyes held a fury in them I’d never seen. He slammed his fists against the table. Moriah put her hands on them to calm him.
“Gid, settle down.” I reached across the table, but he’d had enough. He scooted away from the table. He left the kitchen through the side door and stood on the porch. I went after him, but Zeke grabbed my elbow. I paused in the doorway and saw Gideon let out a sigh as he slumped down onto the first step. I tried to pull away from Zeke. “I have to go to him. We’re all we have. It’s been that way for a long time.” He loosened his grip, and I walked out the door. I sat down beside Gideon and wrapped my arms around his. I leaned my head on his shoulder.
“Hey, Gid.”
“Hey, kid.” He leaned his head on mine.
“It’s not their fault. We don’t know the whole story.”
“I know. I just can’t read her. I can’t tell if she’s telling the truth.”
“What do you mean? Can’t we go inside and see what she has to say?” I smiled weakly as we both looked up at the sky.
“I’m only doing this for you. You know that, right?” He leaned down and kissed the top of my head.
“As long as we’re doing it together, I don’t care.” I squeezed his arm, and we both stood up. We went back inside and sat down again. Moriah put her arm around Gideon’s shoulders and leaned in for a sideways hug. He just raised his eyebrows at her.
“So if a Generation is six souls tied together throughout eternity, who is our generation?” Gideon started in.
“Ezekiel was born on January first; Gideon, you were born on February first; the girls were born April first; Benjamin was born December first; and Elisheba, you were born January first of the following year, completing The Annual.” I looked at Zeke. I couldn’t believe we shared a birthday—even though it was a year apart. Was that a coincidence?
“What’s an Annual?” Gideon asked, still confused.
“Each member of The Generation is born on the same day, just different months. The oldest and youngest are born on exactly the same day, making it a year exactly apart,” Hanna explained. “And that means, Gideon, that you already have your gifts.” Gideon looked at Moriah. I couldn’t tell exactly what the look was that they were sharing.
“Sure, some weird stuff has been happening, but I don’t know if I’m one of your fairies.” He held up his hands and waved them as he said fairies. Zeke slouched back in his seat and rolled his eyes.
“What do you mean gifts?” I asked.
“When Our Father sent us to earth, He didn’t send us empty-handed. He gave us special gifts to use on our ‘quest’. These are our weapo
ns,” Zeke chimed in.
“Yes, Zeke, the girls, and Gideon have their gifts. They are able to shape-shift. They also have specific gifts. Zeke can teleport, and Selah is a Healer like me. And Moriah.” She turned to her. “I hear you’re a Visionist.” Moriah nodded. “We are also given great strength. We can leap great distances. Sometimes it may feel as though we are flying. But we can’t fly; we don’t have wings.”
“Wait! You guys can shape-shift?” I felt like my mind was not wrapping itself around this concept. “Into what, inanimate objects, into a transformer?”
“We shape-shift into animals,” Hanna answered. She and Zeke looked at me like they were waiting for the light to turn on above my head.
“Where’s Boss?” I asked again softly. Hanna nodded to Zeke.
“Come with me.” He took my hand and led me up the stairs to his bedroom. It was painted a grayish blue with a wall that was one great big book case where he had books that looked older than time. The top shelf was filled with trophies. His desk and laptop sat beside the door. His bed was under the window and he had a dresser in the far corner. There was a collar sitting on it. I walked over to it. The tag said Boss. I looked at him through the mirror. “You’re Boss? Every time it was you?” I couldn’t believe it. He held my gaze.
“I wanted to tell you. At first I shifted to protect you. But then I couldn’t shift back in front of you. It would have scared you that first night. Ben’s locking my keys and clothes in the car didn’t help.” He chuckled nervously. “Then that Sunday I couldn’t let you see me with Ben. My mom has watched over you two for years. When I turned eighteen and was able to port, my mom enlisted me into watching over you too. She doesn’t know that you’ve seen me. She doesn’t know that I came to you all those nights, or about all the time we spent together in our dreams.” He looked down shyly. “She’s going to think I’m stealing you from Ben, but Ellie. . .” He looked back up into my eyes. “You and I are meant to be, not you and Ben. You are mine, and I am yours throughout time. It’s been you and me.” He stepped close to me.
“The dreams?” I questioned.
“I had no control over them.” He put his hands on my waist, and I felt a surge of electricity shoot through my body. He pulled away quickly and crossed the room again to put distance between us. He felt the pull as strongly as I did. I watched him in the mirror. He met my eyes again. “I wanted to explain things to you when we were alone, just us.” I looked down at the collar.
“And last night?”
“I’ve made sure I was there when you got off work every night since the attacks. When I saw Gideon didn’t come, I knew I had do something.” His eyes were desperate for me to believe him, for me to understand and accept this crazy story he and his mom were telling me.
“I can’t believe this,” I said honestly, as I looked back down at the tag.
“I know this is a lot to digest in one night. You go from thinking your life is normal to this. You and I are connected through centuries.”
I suddenly became angry with him. “You’ve manipulated me since, since FOREVER.” A single tear found my eye. It began to well-up. I turned to face him.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. You could have come to me all those nights and told me who you were, who I was. You didn’t care that you let me think they were dreams.”
“My mom was afraid that if you found out who we were, The Noctem would change its plan. Whoever it is has been trying to hurt you for years. Thank God my mom was there to stop it, but for some reason it is very interested in you and Gideon.” He crossed the room and took my hands in his as he held my gaze. “Everything that I have told you is true. All my secrets that I shared are real. I know you. You know me. We still have a lot to learn too. Believe me when I say I don’t know what last night was. It was a dream for me too. A nice dream, but I couldn’t control it until I was able to say your name. To be able to say your name to you, you don’t know how that feels.” His eyes were smiling now. I couldn’t stand their beauty, so I looked away.
“Did you know tonight would end like this?” I asked him matter-of-factly.
“I was hoping for more time to ease you into the concept. Selah said Gideon had questions about the strange things happening to him. She and Moriah had begun sharing their own experiences with him. He can read minds. Did you know that? He’s honing his gift well from what Selah says. They have been trying to ease him into it all. I’m actually surprised he reacted like he did tonight.”
“What about Ben?”
“He made his choice tonight. He has plenty of girls. He’s not ready for love, pretend or real. He has a lot of growing up to do. I can’t speak for your feelings, but Ellie, for me it’s always been you.” He trailed off. “When Moriah and I dated, it was motions. The guys in my class and on the team talked about their girlfriends. Moriah and I were good friends, so it seemed like a natural fit. My mom had always said we were a Generation; it seemed logical. It wasn’t, and because of that, we haven’t spoken for over a year until tonight.” I turned to face him.
“I need some time for this to register,” I said softly. “Can you take me home?”
“No. I can’t let you go anywhere.” He didn’t hesitate in his answer.
“Why not?”
“Because you aren’t safe. What my mom didn’t say is that once the youngest soul of a Generation reaches eighteen, the Generation is the strongest. Until then,” he paused, “you aren’t safe. Let’s go back downstairs to talk.”
“I want to go home. I’m tired. I want to sleep in my own bed. I need to wash my face. Uugghh.” I put my hands over my face. I started to feel grimy.
“Your face is beautiful.” He moved my hands and tweaked my nose with his finger. I sighed and closed my eyes. I heard him chuckle, so I opened one eye to look at him. He smiled and leaned down. His soft lips touched mine so gently. I’d never felt anything like it, yet I knew what to do. I knew his kiss. He was right; he was mine, and I felt the same surge of electricity I remembered from my vision. “Come on, we still have a lot to talk about.”
When we came back down, Gideon and Moriah were still talking with Hanna.
“So you’ve protected yourself?”
“Yes, give me a minute.” She paused and closed her eyes. We were all quiet and just watched her. A tear streamed down Gideon’s cheek, and he whispered, “You watched everyone you loved die so you could defeat The Noctem—even the man you loved. You would have given your life for him. You did everything you could.”
“I had to go on for you little ones. I tried to find you and your sister, but they had you in protective custody. Then once they placed you in a home, they wouldn’t tell me anything because I wasn’t related to you. I even filed a motion with a lawyer and tried to petition to adopt you. They moved you around so much I lost you for a while, but then I found you and watched over your sister and you from a distance to make sure you were safe,” she stated. “It’s late. You kids have heard a lot this evening. There’s a lot going on, and we still have more to discuss. I would rather discuss it with all six of you. I don’t want you going back out this evening. We need to sleep and decide where to start tomorrow.
The boys can sleep on the couches in the living room and family room. Moriah, you take Ben’s room. Ellie, take Zeke’s room.” We helped each other get blankets and transform couches to beds. Zeke gave Moriah and me t-shirts and gym shorts to sleep in.
“Not your typical digs, but I think it will work, don’t you?” he smiled. “Good night.” We all settled in, and I slept very well.
Chapter 17
“AAAAHHHHH!” We all woke up to the horrific scream coming from Ben’s bedroom. It was three o’clock. I rushed across the hall to his room and turned on the light. There was Ben, disheveled and confused as he saw Moriah lying in his bed.
“Why wasn’t I invited to the sleep over? Scoot over.” He was trying to climb into the bed. He was clearly still intoxicated.