I kick my door shut and make my way to my cage with all eyes on me. My eyes glare from one person to the next, and whispers break out among everyone. Immediately, I become self-conscious and lower my head into my score book. I sit at the bench and turn slightly to see everyone still staring at me. I’m pretty certain I’m no longer invisible, already knowing why everyone stares — the girl who got shot but…didn’t? I’d probably stare at me, too.
I’m elbow deep in the score card, marking down the balls and strikes of the fourth inning, when a familiar voice says my name behind me.
“You’re okay,” Simone concludes as she scrambles to sit next to me on the small bench. I glance behind me to see Evan is here as well.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
She shakes her head. “I’ve heard so many versions, I didn’t know what to believe. Everyone said you were shot.”
I manage a slight grin. “No. Just a close call.”
“You must have been so scared. I can’t even imagine. Are the owners okay as well?” Her face is twisted into a pitiful expression and she places her hand on my arm.
“Everyone’s fine. I’m surprised to see you two here, though. I’ve never seen you at a game before.” It was obvious I wanted to change the subject, but I didn’t care.
“Evan comes to most of the games. He asked if I wanted to come along. I knew you would be here and I had to come check on you, now didn’t I?”
“Thanks, girl. But I’m fine. Y’all have fun. I have to pay attention.”
“Oh. Of course. I’ll see you Monday?”
“Yep. Monday,” I assure her.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Evan adds in a quiet voice.
“Thanks, Evan.”
* * *
The game ends, and unfortunately our Bull Dogs lost their lead in the seventh inning and were never able to regain it. I climb into my car, away from prying eyes, and take a deep breath. The logical place to go is home and start working on my article, but I can’t get Silas out of my head. It’s time to start getting answers. So I drive to the pizzeria and when I get there, I make no sad effort at delicately closing my car door, giving it a swift kick, not caring who sees, and heading inside.
As I swing open the door, I come eye to eye with Silas at once. Today his piercing eyes do nothing to me. I glare at him and he at me. He sucks in a deep breath and holds it for a moment before exhaling. His eyes close and I see a hint of his head shaking. When he opens them again he simply gives me a nod to follow him. We head to the back where we keep our merchandise, and I see Kutz and Zeke standing at the waitress station staring at us through the plastic window of the swinging door. But I ignore them and focus on Silas.
“What is it you want to know, Emma?”
I glance down at my feet. “You wanted to know my story.” My eyes rise and find him, and his posture relaxes a bit.
“Yeah, I did. I still do.”
My mind feels as though it might explode. There are so many questions. So many things I want to ask and say. And so many things I want to do. “I’ll tell you mine, but I want yours in return.”
He smirks and stares down at his feet. “I’ll try my best.”
I decide that’s the best I’m going to get, so I lick my lips and puff out my chest slightly in an attempt to appear strong. “I have no family life and no real friends. I’m surprised daily that people don’t step on me or fall over me in my school because it’s so obvious no one knows I exist. You’re right. My grades are good but they aren’t excellent. And this is the most I’ve probably talked in years. At least to one person.” His eyes narrow as he listens.
“I’ve been invisible my whole life. Until yesterday…when I was shot.” Silas stands up straighter and grabs a cigarette from his pocket, lighting it and tossing the rest of the pack on a nearby table. “I know I was shot, Silas, and I know you and your brothers saved me. I’m just not sure why or how. Your turn.”
I cross my arms across my chest and plant my feet. There’s no way I’m letting him leave this room without some kind of explanation. It doesn’t matter what it is. He can tell me he and his brothers are aliens and I will probably believe it.
“My story is a bit more complicated,” he says through a sigh.
“I’m sure I can keep up.”
He nods. “Give the door behind you a knock.”
I glance behind me at the swinging door before focusing on Silas again. My brows pull together in question.
“Just do it,” he insists. I uncross my arms, glance behind me, then give a gentle knock on the door. Silas’s eyes fall, but then Zeke and Kutz walk into the back with us. “It isn’t just my story to tell. We’ve talked about it and agree you deserve an explanation.” His head cocks slightly as his eyes close.
“We just don’t know how you will take it,” Zeke tells me.
“Or if you’ll even believe it,” Kutz adds.
“More importantly, if we can trust you to keep it to yourself,” Silas says through a solemn expression.
I glance from face to face. The brothers’ eyes flicker among the three of them and settle on me. “I don’t understand,” I whisper.
“C’mon. Let’s go sit down and talk,” Silas orders quietly. As we enter into the main floor, Zeke peers outside before locking the front door. The restaurant is empty besides us four, and I can’t help but be intrigued by how mysterious everyone is being. We sit at a large booth and the brothers’ postures seem to relax, but all eyes are on me.
“What do you believe in, Emma?” Silas asks.
“Believe in?”
“Are you religious?” Kutz asks. “Do you believe in God? Heaven? Hell?”
“Demons?” Silas adds.
“I…I don’t know. I’ve never given it much thought, I guess. As a child my parents took me to church, but as I got older…I don’t know…we just didn’t talk about it anymore.” Silas leans his head on his folded hands, resting his elbows on the table. His brothers lean back away from me. “What does this have to do with anything?”
“Do you know what an Incubus is?” Silas asks after an awkward moment of silence.
“An Incubus? Um, some kind of mythical creature who preys on women, right?”
Everyone’s eyebrows slightly rise, but Silas only smirks. “An Incubus is a demon. A demon who seduces a sleeping woman.”
I shake my head slightly and shrug my shoulders. “Okay?”
Silas gives a nervous laugh and looks to his brothers, who both shake their heads. I feel like a joke has been told and I’m the only one who doesn’t understand it. I’ll admit, it isn’t the first time that’s happened.
“Will someone please tell me where this is going?” I snap.
“Incubi are real. They seduce sleeping women,” Zeke answers.
“And sometimes those women will become pregnant,” Kutz adds.
There’s a long pause and I search their faces. There’s shame there and disappointment. It’s obvious no one wants to come right out and say what it is we are truly discussing here. I become uneasy as my mind wanders and swims with the little information I’ve been given. I stop it from racing before shaking my head, adding a laugh.
“So what? You’re telling me you’re an Incubus?” I ask Silas through a laugh.
“No. My father is.” My laugh comes to a screeching halt as I gulp. His answer is so matter-of-fact. “I’m a half-breed. As are Zeke and Kutz. We’re called Cambions.” I peer around the table. All eyes are on me.
“What is this? Some kind of joke? God? Demons? Heaven? Hell?” I ask, angered now.
“You were shot yesterday,” Silas tells me in a stern voice. “You would have died had we not saved you. Your side is still cold, is it not?” My hand finds my ribs and I can feel the chill through my shirt.
“How did you save me?” I ask, still not sure I believe anything they are saying.
“Silas removed the bullet and burned your wound closed,” Zeke answers. “I healed the wound. That’s why your skin is cold
.”
“So the red and blue flashes of light…” I begin.
“Were from us,” Silas answers. “From us using our powers.”
“I never fainted,” I say, though it’s more of a question.
“No,” Kutz answers, “you didn’t.”
“I’m sorry.” I laugh nervously. “This is a lot to grab onto. You’re wanting me to believe that the three of you are demons. Not only that, but demons that go around savings people’s lives and live in Jefferson, Texas, and own a pizzeria. I’m having a hard time believing anything you’re telling me.”
Silas straightens up in his seat. “We’ve made a conscious decision that we may be monsters, but we don’t have to act like it. We want to live in peace. Just normal lives, and yes, we saved your life. The customers had all run out. It was just us there and I wasn’t going to let you die right in front of me when I knew I could prevent it.”
I’m unable to process everything at once. Do I believe them? Everything was certainly explained. How else could I have been shot and survived without so much as a mark on me? I stare at my hands on the table and they ball into fists before falling to my lap.
“Tell me why,” I order. “Why do you want to live normal lives?” The brothers glance around to one another, and I see Zeke lower his head and Kutz close his eyes. Silas simply stares at me. I think I understand. “You’re trying to buy your way into Heaven,” I conclude.
Silas looks away. None of them make eye contact with me anymore. “Why here? Why a pizza parlor?” I ask.
“You don’t understand how much danger we have put you in just telling you,” Silas tells me. “You’ve heard of witch hunters.”
“Sure.”
“They aren’t the only hunters. People hunt demons, too,” he says.
“What do you mean? Like the church?”
He shrugs. “Something like that. People who are strong in the church who know of our existence. Or rather know of our kind’s existence.”
“So, like priests?”
“No,” Zeke interrupts. “Priests would definitely want us gone and would try, but more importantly we’re talking about a specific society of people who specialize in abolishing evil spirits and demons from the Earth. They have groups all over the world.”
“They call themselves ‘God’s Huntsmen,’” Silas adds. “You could say we stay here because we’re in hiding. It’s a small town, it’s quiet, and it’s relatively safe.”
I try to let everything sink in. So much of what they are saying makes sense to me. As a child I was taught about God and all manners of angels and demons, but the fact that I’m sitting across from three admitted demon half-breeds is a lot for anyone to take in.
“Why does my knowing put me in danger?” I ask.
“Day-to-day humans are content with believing in these things but not being brought face to face with them. The church and the society will do whatever is necessary to quiet most humans. Especially ones who might interfere with their destroying us,” Silas explains.
I take a moment. Would I interfere if it came down to it? Maybe. They did save my life after all.
“And Micah?” I ask. “Is Micah with God’s Huntsmen?”
Silas glances at Kutz, and Kutz looks to Zeke.
“No, Emma,” Silas says. “Micah is something else.”
Six
Micah
“So, are you truly nineteen?” It is the simplest question I can ask. There are so many to choose from, but I need a jumping off point. I wish I could say I’m scared of him. Anyone in their right mind would be. Instead, I feel close to him. It’s funny. Only a few days ago I had decided to let him in, so to speak, to become friends with him, to create some form of bond so I could have someone of meaning in my life, but who could have imagined?
“Yes, I’m nineteen. Kutz is twenty-three and Zeke is twenty-four,” Silas answers. “We age the same as humans since we are actually half-breeds.” His brothers have left and closed the store altogether, but Silas and I stayed behind, still sitting in our booth. It’s quiet.
“They aren’t actually your brothers though, are they?”
He chuckles. “Not paternally if that’s what you’re asking. No. They are the closest thing I have to family, though.”
“So your mother…” I begin to ask but stop myself. “I’m sorry. This isn’t my business.”
“It’s fine. I know you must have a lot of questions. The cat is out of the bag, as they say. No point in avoiding anything further. My mother raised me.”
“Did she know?”
He laughs at this, and rests his head in his hand staring at me. “My mother had never been with a man. For all she knew she was the next immaculate conception. Nothing could have been further from the truth, of course.”
“So how did she find out?” I can’t contain my curiosity and it is obvious. Oddly, he doesn’t seem to mind.
“When my mother would go to church she would become deathly ill. She tried to force herself to sit through a sermon and ended up in the hospital. Of course as soon as she arrived to the emergency room she was perfectly fine. But a priest visited her there. One who was familiar with the story of the Incubus. He was a good man.”
“How so?”
He cocks his head and lets out a deep sigh. “He told her to run.”
“Run?”
“Yes. I think he knew exactly what was going on. She had confessed she was a virgin and of course no one believed her. As soon as he saw her reaction to the church though, he became a believer. He knew of God’s Huntsmen and was afraid they would get wind of her. So she ran. There wasn’t a penny to her name and she was forced to stay in homeless shelters mostly.”
His story was unbelievable. Here is this God-fearing woman and she is fleeing her home to save her demon baby. I can picture the whole story playing out in my mind. Seeing her laying on some cot, scared and pregnant, praying for a miracle, for God to spare her child. Maybe praying that it wasn’t true at all.
“So what happened? I mean, did you always…know? Or did she tell you?”
“A little of both, I guess. Sometimes I would make things happen that I didn’t mean to happen. I would get mad and the kitchen would be set on fire. Or a child bullying me on the playground would fall for no apparent reason and skin his knee. Soon things got out of hand. Once I asked my mother what was wrong with me, and I suppose she explained it the best she could. I was twelve, maybe, and at fifteen I left home, faked an identity, and started working odd jobs, always keeping my mind and attitude in check.”
It is an enthralling tale but a sad one. He lowers his head for a moment, and I reach out to him and place my hand on his. His eyes shift up to meet mine, and I curl my fingers around his hand. I don’t think either of us know what we are doing or what to do next. He stares at me with intrigue, but there’s something else there in his eyes.
“You’re holding my hand.”
I glance down at my fingers wrapped around his hand. “I guess I am.”
He shakes his head. “You don’t want to do this, Emma.”
“Do what?” My eyes widen, and my firm grip on his hand loosens a bit.
“Get too close. I may try to live a pure life, but never forget what I am and what I’m capable of.”
I release his hand and lean back smugly. “Then why did you tell me anything at all? Why not just lie? You could have easily made me think I was crazy. I was half there when I arrived today.”
“You deserved the truth,” he mumbles.
“Everyone in this town deserves the truth if that’s the case,” I argue. His eyes shift to me at once in fear. “Silas, I’m not going to tell anyone. You don’t have to be afraid. Tomorrow when you wake up you’ll still be the small-town pizza maker. Just don’t play games with me. But you told me for a reason.”
His eyes fall once more, and my chest rises with an inhale. I exhale loudly, louder than I mean to.
“I’m not sure why I told you, or what I expected. Certainly not yo
u holding my hand, feeling sorry for me.” He chuckles.
I stare into his eyes. There are so many more questions but I can tell he is spent. Despite wanting to bite my tongue, there’s still one question that beckons to be asked.
“Silas?” I make my voice quiet and serene, hoping that it makes him more comfortable.
“Yes?”
I hesitate. “You never told me who Micah is.”
He sighs loudly as though he knew this was what I intended to ask. Any time I ask about Micah his demeanor changes. I’m almost afraid of the answer, but not enough not to inquire.
“Micah is…the good guy, I suppose,” he says.
“I don’t understand.”
He shakes his head. “There are so many things you humans think you know, but when the evidence is staring you in the face you still don’t see. Emma, think. Micah wasn’t a customer. He’s not one of us, but he wanted to take you with him, and you haven’t seen him since.”
My mind struggles for an answer but I come up blank. I know he must be trying to make it obvious for me so that he doesn’t have to say it out loud, but I’ve heard so many insane things today that my mind has put up a barrier as if no new information is welcome.
He turns his head away from me. “Micah…is an angel.” His head stays turned away, not meeting my gaze, yet my mouth falls open. I saw an angel? An angel that Silas knew by name?
“And he wanted to take me…” I mumble. “That’s why he said it was my time,” I conclude.
Silas nods his head. “You were supposed to die, right there, right then, and go with him.”
“You stopped him,” I whisper. “Why?”
His mouth opens as if he has an immediate answer, but just as fast it closes and his jaw locks.
“So, you three are demons trying to buy your way into Heaven. I was shot. An angel came to take me away, but instead you three saved my life.” The words had to be spoken aloud or I might not believe them. It’s an incredible story, I give him that, but perhaps this exceeds my beliefs. But now he stares at me, his green eyes locked on mine, and in my heart, I know it’s all true. “That’s why you said I’d never see him again. Micah.”
Bloodlines Page 4