The Nephelium

by Nathan Parks

  “No! Oh, God, no!” she was screaming.

  Her hands flew to her face, and she fell to her knees.

  “No!” she cried bitterly.

  Isaiah’s guns were going off, although it seemed that the sounds were miles away. She could see the flashes of the rounds and could see them hit their target. Eve recognized the lady who had been at Megan’s when she was there with Kadar. She was in full vampire glory. Her wings were spread out behind her, and blood dripped down her face and over her hands. Her eyes were open in a wild, surprised expression, but an expression of sheer devilish delight at the horrific screams that were radiating out from Eve.

  Denora jumped back as some of Isaiah’s bullets zinged past her. She grimaced as one hit her hard in her shoulder, and she felt a burning like acid eating at her skin. She shot through the air at Isaiah and hit him hard before he was able to fire any more rounds. He rolled to his left, shifting his weight so that she fell over him. He was able to roll free of her, but only for a second. Isaiah winced when the muscles in his back felt a burning pain as Denora’s talons ripped into the right side of his back and pulled muscle and tissue away. He was worried that he would drop his weapon. He still had full use of his arm and tried to put enough distance between him and his assailant in order to get a fatal shot--but she was quick.

  Eve felt hot, almost acidic, tears streaming down her face, her hand reaching out in helpless hope toward the limp shell of a person who had offered so much love, strength, hope, and security for her. Her mind raced back to that smile, that gentle touch, the smell of coffee and mint upon his breath, and the tender twinkle in his eyes. Alfonso was still kneeling in the sand, his arms outstretched, held fast by chains, his head hanging forward. There was no life, no twinkle. If it could have been visible through the mutilation and swelling, Eve would have seen a confidence upon his ashen face and realized that he had died in strength and honor, never giving up that which he had sworn to protect; the secrets of the Brotherhood had never escaped his lips. If she could go back in time, Eve would have seen one last teardrop that had fallen as his last memory was of a young girl sitting in a small café, drinking a hot chocolate and smiling up at a kind, gentle man.

  Eve stood and pulled at the chain that held his wrists as if she were a small child trying to release a neglected, helpless pet, but to no avail.

  “No, let him go . . . please . . .,” she sobbed. “Let him go.”

  Eve pulled harder, but she could not free Alfonso’s mangled and torn body. Her hands were covered in his blood, and she wrapped her arms around him, trying to keep his body from hanging.

  She felt anger begin to swell within her. Anger, oh sweet anger. Pain and sorrow had begun blending into a dangerous concoction of sweet revenge and resolve. Oh, the anger. The rushing feeling that had been coming at her recently was no longer small, but a roar. It swept over her in fervor as she held in her arms the one man who had loved her unconditionally, as a father. Blood! Blood needed to be paid for blood, and pressure was building up within her being as her head dropped to rest upon his. She did not understand what was taking place, but she did know that she was giving herself over to whatever it was. It was taking over, and she could feel power and strength beyond anything she had experienced, all fueled by anger!

  Her muscles contracted and then just as quickly released, and she was thrown backwards by the convulsions. Her head was pounding, and her mouth felt like it was full of metal. Her mind was screaming from the roar within, and her back began to feel as if it was on fire. Her body stiffened with anger, pushing out any movement by sorrow to bring about what she believed to be a weakness. Her anger began to place over her wounds the all too familiar bandage that had saved her from so many nightmares in her life. The only one to keep her from giving in and allowing the beast within her to truly take over now hung lifeless in front of her.

  Madness called out to her, and revenge’s sweet music rushed in upon her soul from all directions. There was no more holding back! Forget everything that had taken place over the last few days, and forget the complete argument of “what she was” or “what she could be.” She didn’t care about any of that anymore! If out of darkness her lineage had come, then maybe it was time to reclaim her heritage and allow it to destroy! What had holding back gotten her?

  She could see Isaiah fighting with the creature that had been feasting upon Alfonso.

  “I wonder if there is a punishment for a monster destroying a monster?” she thought to herself.

  Alfonso’s face flashed before Eve as he was the night she first met him: safety wrapped in a face of tenderness. “You look sad . . . you don’t have to rush out,” he had said to her. “Stay and you will be safe. God watches over hurting children.” It seemed comforting then, but now it mattered little.

  She could feel something moving within her as she willingly broke the dam that had held back the beast within. She had thought it only to be anger, but now she wondered. Perhaps there truly was something supernatural within her which she had never tapped into.

  Beyond the rage, Eve felt a pain start racing through her. She staggered back against the wall of the room as she clenched her jaw and fell to her knees once more as her body gave way to the pain that was engulfing her. Down inside of her a scream began to tumble as a bowling ball decorated in shards of glass, tearing her from within her soul. It moved quickly and strongly upward, violently propelling her head back, ripping from her throat in an agonizing soul’s scream.

  Denora and Isaiah both shoved away instantly from each other at the horrific sound that pierced their consciences. They froze, both looking in the direction of the Watcher’s body and beyond.

  Chapter Forty-One

  There she stood. No one had to question anymore, for rage had broken forth, and Eve stood fully revealed. She was Nephelium, and she may not know her strengths, but she was about to take a crash course.

  Isaiah winced, because he knew that Eve was vulnerable. She was feeding off anger and revenge, and that would lead to one thing: her choosing the darkness that would engulf her quickly. If that happened, then the Jerusalem Breed would fall and would no longer follow the ways of Jah. Even though she wasn’t aware of it, Eve was in greater danger than just fighting the Fallen. He had to get her out of here.

  Isaiah didn’t have time to think, for the moment was over; and he saw it all start up again. This time it wasn’t in slow motion. With eyes cold and furious, Eve came soaring though the air at Denora with blades in both hands.

  Still somewhat shocked at what had just taken place, Denora was able to pull everything together in enough time to block Eve’s attack and send her hard into the wall. The demon wasted no time to go on the offense and pulled out one of the filleting knives that she had been using only an hour before on the Watcher. She sliced into Eve’s skin. The blade was still very sharp, and it sliced with no effort into Eve’s side.

  Eve felt it, but her adrenaline and new-found strength surged her forward, and she grabbed Denora’s head and slammed it down with a crushing force upon the knee that she jerked up at the same time. Eve disoriented her opponent enough that Denora dropped her blade and staggered backwards, but Eve didn’t let up. She saw nothing but revenge. Eve picked up the blade and leaped into the air, coming down upon this lover of pain and mutilation with her own blade. She plunged it deep into Denora’s shoulder blade and pulled the blade outward, severing the shoulder muscle from the tendons and body. Denora howled at the pain that pierced through her. She saw nothing but blinding white light, but she could hear a voice that was bent on destruction--the voice of Eve.

  “You love to torment and torture? You thrive on all the tears and screams of those you hold in your talons? Then scream! Howl! Thrive on this pain!” Eve was shrieking.

  Isaiah had to stop this. He could see Eve’s physical appearance starting to change and knew that the Fallen side of the Nephelium was eating up any chance within her to stay true to her Jerusalem Breed lineage and stand for what was g
ood. He now stood fully manifested, wings spread, and he leaped over the two. As he went over them, he grabbed a hold of Eve and pulled her with him. She wasn’t ready for this, so he was able to pull her off Denora.

  Denora gathered her wits about her; and with her arm hanging limp at her side, she fled the room. Eve lashed out at Isaiah as he held her from giving chase.

  “No! You have to trust me, Eve. Let her go.”

  She smashed her elbow into Isaiah’s face, which brought a spurt of blood from his nostrils, and he quickly let go. She leaped forward and turned around, glaring at him. Her chest was heaving up and down as she caught her breath. Her wings were no longer manifested, but the seething was still very evident.

  “How dare you stop me! How dare you let her go! Who are you? So you betray the Alliance, and now you betray me?”

  Isaiah ignored the verbal darts because he knew this wasn’t Eve talking; this wasn’t what she really was. However, if he couldn’t get her to calm down in order to listen, it would be what she would become.

  “Eve, you have got to just stop for a moment. You are going through your turning. You have got to listen to me.”

  He knew that right now there was just an internal combustion of different neurons and electrons going off within her, as well as a metaphysical alteration for which there was going to be no rationalization. She had to hear him--and listen.

  “Eve, please listen.”

  She stepped back. The turning was almost fully complete, and if she didn’t listen, she would never realize that she would have made the most important choice in her life without actually making it. If her turning was completed within this moment of rage, then rage, rebellion, and darkness would be the marking of her being.

  “Eve, I can understand your anger right now. I can! I held my daughter in my arms as she died, and her mother lay dead not even ten feet away. I know, but I also know that revenge will never be satisfied! It is a monster in and of itself that will never be full, and it will consume you! You are more than this, Eve!”

  She was looking at him, but it wasn’t sinking in yet. The body of Alfonso was screaming louder to her; his blood was calling out for revenge, and revenge was her solace. She needed it, not only for him, but for every moment of pain and sorrow that she had been dealt over her lifetime from selfish pigs of individuals who cared nothing about innocence. She needed it!

  Isaiah could see he was losing her.

  “Eve, we are all separated simply by one choice! One choice will change not only our life, but also can alter everything for all those who follow after us! That choice is in your grasp right now. Right now, this is not about our clan or the Alliance. This is not about me or even Alfonso. Eve, this is about you right now! If you allow this monster to entangle itself inside of you, it will be who you are for the rest of your existence. This will place you in the same category of the very one on whom you just sought to seek revenge. That is the choice that separates you from her.”

  “But then if I choose not to, Isaiah, I will be in the same category as you . . . a weak man who has not been able to ever find peace from the torment of allowing his family to die and their deaths go unanswered. Admit it. You long for revenge, but you are nothing but a shell of a lie. You don’t even know yourself.”

  As she was speaking, her incisor teeth became enlarged and pointed. She was nearing the end.

  Eve’s words stung Isaiah like poisoned darts from a million blow guns; and he had to keep his senses about him, knowing that she wasn’t fully gone yet. He had to fight for her. He didn’t want to lose her, but it was her choice.

  “Eve, say what you feel about me, but you are not like them. You are not a Fallen, Eve.”

  She sarcastically lashed out at him. “Oh, so maybe you want us to join together in some Nephelium bliss and create our own fighting force. Is that what it is, Preach? Do you want me?”

  “No, Eve.” His heart fell. “No, I just wanted to see you happy. That was it.”

  “Happiness? A myth like vampires, somewhat real, but not fully the truth. No, I am tired of all of this. I had this power within me the whole time to change the world around me, and now that is what I am going to do. I am no longer going to be a victim.”

  Isaiah shook his head. “Yet, you will always live as a victim. You’re choice just imprisoned you.”

  He lifted his hand toward her, and one of his pistols was in his grasp. “Eve, you are no longer a friend, but an enemy. Please go do whatever it is you feel you have to do, but by choosing anger and revenge, you have just put a successful end to the Jerusalem Breed. You now will be of Kadar’s Clan. You separated yourself by that choice from the very ones who actually did care about you. I am sure Alfonso is crying right now.”

  She looked at him with no emotion. The Fallen side of the Nephelium had taken fully over. “How dare you use him against me, Preach. If that is the way it is, then so be it; but don’t let me find you on the wrong end of my journey that starts today. Do you understand me? Right now I will walk away, but next time I may not. I have a lot of catching up to do on who I am, and there are a lot of people who need to know what they did to me. I am of no one’s clan. I am myself. I need no one.”

  Isaiah watched Eve as she walked over one last time to her mentor and deceased friend. She knelt down, stronger this time--and changed. She was no longer the quiet, little girl, the self-guarded tattoo artist. Instead, she was Eve, and she was going to get her revenge.

  “My dear Alfonso,” she whispered.

  She spotted the keys to his bonds on the table where other instruments of torture were displayed. She walked over and picked them up. She gently cradled his body as she released him.

  “I know that you tried to protect me, and I can never thank you enough, my dear friend, for what you sacrificed for me. I can’t serve this Being that you served if He could allow you to die like this . . . and for what? No, I will seek your revenge, and I will rise on my own. People will know, Alfonso. They will know what I have held in for so long.”

  She looked up into the nothingness above her. Speaking to Alfonso’s God, Eve pleaded, “He gave everything he had because he believed in You. The least thing You could do is give him rest. Take care of him for me.”

  She stood up and looked at Isaiah one last time. “You have one thing wrong, Isaiah. I won’t be of anyone’s clan. I don’t need anyone else. You can have your wars, your Alliances, and such. I am not going to be a part of any of it. So ironic how all of you were so wrapped up in whom I would join, and in the end . . . I am my own.”

  She turned and walked out. Isaiah watched her go with a sickening emptiness in his stomach. He relaxed his grip on his gun and leaned against the wall.

  “If only it were that easy, Eve. If only it were that easy.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  The VIP room was closed to anyone who either was not in the hierarchy or was a Darkin. The Gathering had started, and Adremalech was leading it.

  “Hecate, Lucifer has laid out his objectives for what he wanted to see accomplished at this Gathering. He is concerned about the structure of the Family and the overall health of each clan. He has asked us to come to a sort of agreement which will allow a restructure of the areas and maybe even of the clans. He also has encouraged us to discuss a more aggressive plan to bring in some of the overall leadership in some of the large countries into the Family.”

  Hecate leaned forward. She hated business, and she hated men who tried to play business. She preferred to just indulge and play. She was thankful that there were only certain times that a Gathering would take place.

  “I take it, being the shrewd business man you are, that you already have been putting some tentative plans together? Let’s see them and get this over with so we can get back to what we do best: partying.”

  Adremalech rolled his eyes. The decadence of this mortal world had soaked into Hecate too much. He never understood why Lucifer kept her as a clan Overlord.

  “Well,” Adremalech stated,
“since we know that there is no other clan standing up, I did take a look at what would be beneficial for both of us and still keep clan integrity.”

  “Have you considered Marduk?”

  Adremalech almost laughed out loud. “Are you really serious? Lucifer will never let him return. His clan is broken and torn apart, even among themselves.”

  One of what Adremalech took as a Hecate Darkin spoke up. “But what do you make of the rumors that there is a Jerusalem Breed alive?”

  Arioch cringed. How could anyone from the Hecate Clan know of anything about this? There could not be a single person who possibly knew about the Watcher who would have leaked that information. He looked over at the Darkin who spoke, but couldn’t make out the individual’s features in the dim light of the club’s room.

  Adremalech sized up the individual, also; but just as Arioch couldn’t make the person out, Adremalech also couldn’t tell through the shadows. The voice sounded familiar, but he waited for Hecate to do a proper introduction of her personnel. However, she didn’t. She sat there just looking at the Overlord for an explanation.

  “I have heard of something of the sort, but it is just that: rumors. I have been assured by Arioch, as reported to Lucifer, that they have been taken out, and no longer are a threat.”

  Arioch hoped that this would suffice the interest and they could move on. He didn’t need to be put in the spotlight before the time when he was going to take the spotlight. He already was amazed at the clan realignment. This could fall in his favor. Adremalech thought he had this all figured out, but if Arioch could get the votes he needed to have his clan stand, it would also help Hecate out, because it would splinter Adremalech’s Clan which, at this point, was the largest in the Fallen.