The pieces started to click together, the puzzle complete and spread out on a platter. Words ever said with an underlying message and the ambiguity within them.
"Hunter why are we called Lost Souls?"
"Don't ever call us that, it's a derogatory term," he spat. Luxor flinched, and he lowered his tone. "To everybody, we are abominations, not meant to exist, so we don't belong anywhere. Not good enough for Heaven, not bad enough for Hell. We will be forever stuck in the middle, sent to a blank space and grim land otherwise known as Purgatory."
"So that's it, my fate is sealed I'll never go to Heaven?" Luxor hadn't been entirely sure she believed in Heaven and Hell but now she knew for certain there was she didn't want to be anywhere else but to rest in peace.
"Not really, there's a loophole." Luxor pepped up. When he didn't elaborate, she poked him in the ribs. "It's simple, all humans are born pure and gain automatic admission into Heaven, for us not so much. Since our fathers and mothers are both of the bad and good, to qualify we have to have a pure body and heart to have a cleansed soul."
"Is it like a test? Because I suck at them," she told him despondently. Perhaps if it was physical, she'd have a fighting chance.
"Kind of. To have a pure body you cannot lose your virtue to a soul who isn't completely pure."
Luxor scratched her head trying to figure out what he was trying to say when it dawned on her. “Okay, don’t lose my virginity to a criminal. Got it. Next part of the test."
"Heart. Never save an un-pure soul," he said with the utmost seriousness.
"What?"
"All fallen angels or their offspring have the power to save others. But they don’t, the repercussions aren’t worth it."
“This is too much to take in,” she said and fanned her face.
“I’ll get you some water, you’re looking green.”
Once he left, Luxor got up and stacked the files one on top of each other in a neatened pile. A loose paper floated out from the file. She picked it up and roamed over the printed page.
Luxor Lily Everstone nee Ellie Lockhart
D.0.B: 6th of June 2004
Platinum hair
Blue eyes (Currently unknown)
Five feet nine inches – Three-inch growth
Mother: Astrid Celeste Sterling nee Everstone
Father: Cane Spikner Fords Everstone
Aunt: Meredith Ann Sterling nee Lockhart
Gifts: Accelerated strength
Accelerated speed
Accelerated recovery process
Demon indicator
Emotion evoker. (Currently only on myself).
Affinity with fire
Weaknesses: Academical
Short tempered
Stubborn
Summary
The target appears to have multiple gifts which is unheard of. No Grigori in history has ever exhibited a multitude of roles in which the target has acquired, let alone six at the present time. There are three Grigori unaccounted for, but I highly doubt she is an offspring.
It would be wise to assume to summarise the target is not classified as a Nephilim. She is quite intriguing and I wish to study her closer despite Castor and Melita’s reservations. Theodore understands the importance of being thorough and acquainted on all levels to fully understand this anomaly.
Luxor couldn’t read anymore. She folded the paper and slipped it inside her jacket, circling the room, on edge, and her nerves shot to hell. She couldn’t believe he had acquired a file on her. He had really thought of her as prey and she was nothing more than a means to an end with him. Her headspace was in such a bad state she was afraid she would cause the roof to collapse down on them like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz. Just when it appeared, she had dealt with one problem another one would pop up.
Why hadn’t it ever occurred to grab her father’s name earlier?
Maybe because I was too busy surviving his torture.
She looked around the room. It was the first time she was able to truly see his possessions. In the corner a massive book caught her eye. Curiosity got the best of her, she knew it was an invasion of privacy looking through his possessions but he had completely invaded hers and that trumped whatever she was about to do.
Hunter hovered from behind. “I see you’ve found my most prized possession." He swapped the bottle for the book and sat on the edge of the mattress.
Entranced by the large book that could mean so much to him, she slumped down next to him. “Can I read it?” She held out her hands. Hunter ran his fingers through his hair, gripping the end. Luxor could see the battle within himself. "Please Hunter, I'm going crazy," Luxor begged, raking her nails down her knuckles. "I need answers now. You brought me here and obviously want to show me this, but if you're going to keep playing the ambiguity game, I'm leaving."
Hunter let out an exhausted sigh and removed the pillow from behind his back, placing it on her lap. Luxor could see he was counting to ten, holding his breath in. “You’ll want to pace yourself for this.” With slow precision, he unravelled the hessian material, then the cloth material. It was a brown book emblazoned with a green oak on it, and written in gold cursive script read. "The Complete Bible of the Grigori."
He removed his vice like grip on it and placed it gently in her lap. "I want you to know change isn't a bad thing, it's just a new journey."
Luxor ran her fingers over the lettering. Her hands smoothed over the front for a couple of minutes. The word kept on getting introduced at every opportunity. By now she'd been familiar with the basics of what it was about, yet it was too nightmarish to be considered real.
"You've probably heard of it multiple times by now," Hunter answered her thoughts.
“Too many times,” she said and hesitated. She recalled in Spirituality class on her first day where Ayla explained about Jewish lore about fallen angels impregnating human women. "Answers, answers." The book seemed to whisper.
"Trust me on this."
The tremors began, and she just knew whatever would happen in the next few moments would alter her. Page by page Luxor's fingers flipped the pages with the utmost care not to tear the delicate and aged paper. It was in alphabetical order, she stumbled from Azazel a male with darkened hair and wide obsidian eyes, the title 'Weaponry' under his name. She flicked over to ‘C’ and her heart sank to find it empty even though her father said in her vision he wouldn’t be in there. She continued to flip the pages, one by one all different, yet similar in their flawless features and wicked smiles.
On their own accord Luxor’s fingers flipped the page to O.
An image of a male with shoulder length hair, a strong jaw, chiselled features including a Grecian nose and pale eyes which was clear would have been brown. So, brown there was no doubt they’d be toffee, and who his son was..
Orion “The Hunter.”
Right down the bottom under offspring, the truth revealed itself.
Hunter Orion Niko Marcos
Arcadia, Greece
1622
Luxor blinked repeatedly at the date and replaced the book. Her mind went into countdown mode trying to calculate the age, maths wasn’t her strong suit. But he was old. Very, very, very old.
"I understand you’re drowning in information overload but there’s so much you need to learn. Throw everything you've ever been taught out the window.”
Luxor spun around. “Then how do I know what is true or not?”
“As cliché as it sounds, you need to trust your PMS indicator aka your instincts. A great majority of the stories told are a cover because the truth is more complicated. Take this for an example...Lucifer was an Archangel, the favourite one, with his beauty and all that. Once Lucifer revolted against God through his own egotism a third joined him. That's what caused the Fall in Heaven," Hunter said. "The Grigori's punishment was banishment on Earth for seventy generations until Judgement day. Why not send them to Hell? Because their crimes weren't as severe. What they don't tell you is they were banished fro
m Heaven because of their actions, not because they sided with Lucifer. Just because you’re fallen doesn't mean you’re bad."
Hunter gave an exaggerated sigh. "The same goes for angels who still are welcomed in Heaven. Some take matters in their own hands and act like vigilantes targeting us but are still welcome. I've told you before and I'll continue to reverberate it. Things aren't black and white."
"How bad are the Grigori?"
"Depends, there are all kinds of types with different roles. Certain rules must be obeyed, it's truly sacrilegious not doing so."
"But it created us," Luxor reasoned.
“And isn't that the silver lining if I'd ever seen one. You want to hear a theory?"
"Sure."
"Why would He create the most human of angels and give them the ability to breed if they aren't supposed to? And why force them to remain on Earth where the humans are? It's like teasing a drug addict with narcotics. Demons need bodies to possess to feel, Grigori blend in with humanity and unlike angels they loved Earth. I'm figuring watching over human would have been Hell, pardon the pun."
"Mmhmm." Luxor bit the skin on the side of her thumb. It was a lot to take in but funnily enough it made her feel better about what she was.
“Most of the things you know. What they don’t tell you is what happened afterwards. After being ejected from Heaven, each Grigori was bestowed a gift, most were curses though, the smart ones used it to a great advantage to help others. My role as a Nephilim, like my father is to be a Hunter. Find newly Unveiled Nephilim, assist with transition and make sure they get adjusted to life and leave. I only stick around if their father requires me to have them meet their offspring. Most of the time they don’t, Grigori breed and leave. If their spawn, as they call them, threatens their power, they use me to find them and then they kill them.”
“Seems like a lot of pressure,” she said. "So, you feel it whenever somebody's angel side is Unveiled? Every one of us?"
"Yeah, and it's exhausting. I usually only get glimpses and mild coordinates of where a Nephilim is, with you it was the exact location. It's only by Castor and Theo's gifts we can travel wherever we want. Castor can erase a person's memory, but he needs Theo to replace new ones otherwise they'll become catatonic. Remember Ms. Suarez and when they got you out of detention?” Now with the confirmation there were many more incidents they had covered up or manipulated to suit their own needs. For some reason though Hunter's didn't feel deceptive. “I've always been there. Your accident happened on October fifteenth. I was in the Philippines where another Nephilim had Unveiled which was lucky because I was able to get to you so quick. Your Unveiling hit me like a ten-tonne truck, my senses almost had me blanking out, and I’d never experienced the magnitude of that power before."
“Didn’t realise the big role you had to play.”
“How could you.”
She swallowed the lumped lodged in her throat. “So, you’ve known who was my father was all along.”
“Yes,” he ruffled his hair. “I could have dropped heavier hints but there was something about you, and I didn’t want to provoke the Archangels. Besides, you intrigued me, you always have right from the first time I saw you in the coma. You were basically dead, but you still emitted a power. I dug around to see what it was, but the more I did, the more things didn’t make sense. You have too many gifts, unheard of in the Nephilim world—speed, power, and a sixth sense. No to mention emotion evoking, even if it’s just for me. So, I did the best I could do. I refused to offer you up. The man you saw isn’t a Watcher, I don’t know what or who he is but his power…”
Off the charts.
“So, I really am not like you.”
“Seems that way,” he said. Luxor could swear she heard disappointment. She turned her back. “I’ll give you a minute. Then I’ll take you home, if you want.”
Home. How could Luxor go home and pretend everything was normal. That she was normal. And look at Meredith and pretend her sister didn’t create it all.
Luxor cinched the gems and willed everything she had learnt to go away. If only for an hour. To remove the pounding which had seized her mind. A warming bloomed in her palm.
Behind her eyelids a series of violet thunderbolts flashed, and burnt her irises. Luxor dug her nails into the door frame. She forced her eyes open but she became sealed. She was all too aware of what lay ahead and was powerless to stop it.
Her father materialised in a sudden burst of light.
“My darling daughter, your presence is required.”
“Sorry, I’m busy.”
“You’re mistaken, it wasn’t a suggestion.” He twirled a finger about and pointed forward.
A blood curdling scream escaped Luxor’s lips, a cry for help. The sleeves of her top had been slashed and the wound Hunter had created had opened again. Blood drizzled out from her palms while the wounds from her wrists had been exposed once again.
Luxor slumped down and wriggled around trying to take pressure off the pain he was inflicting. "Please stop."
"Call me Father, it has a paternal ring to it," he cooed as if he was nurturing her.
"Go to Hell," Luxor spluttered out, drops of blue blood trailing down the side of her mouth.
He held his palms out, a beam of red projected from them and focused at her head. "Want to repeat that?"
“F-father, you’re hurting me.” Sizzling tears ran down her cheeks stripping away her skin. Sulphuric acid burned her nostrils, pieces of her skin coming off in sections. Her body spasmed, ligaments and tendons being played like violins.
"Are you ready to be a good little girl?" He tilted his head to the side clearly proud of the power he was holding.
"Y-yes Father, please make the pain go away," she breathed out.
Her father chuckled clicking his fingers. The torture ceased, the only lingering one was from the fatigue from attempting to remain sane in the face of insanity. She felt around her face to see the damage, tilting her head towards him. He swirled the surroundings rectifying everything just as it was but the damage had already been done.
"Next time I will torture you for real, I won't tolerate insolence. Besides I don't need you in one piece my darling."
"Why don't you claim me now, put me out of my misery?" she called out as he began to fade.
"If only it was that simple. Tell Hunter to do his job, he will know what that means. For now, I'm content breaking your mind, it'll make settling in your new home so much easier." He laid a searing kiss on her forehead.
“Why, why should I do it? All you do is hurt me?”
“Let’s make a deal. Tell Hunter and I’ll cease to contact you.”
“Promise,” she slurred.
“On my life,” he said with a blinding smile. “"Midnight. I cannot wait to meet you.”
Her father disappeared. Luxor rocked back and forth on her knees in a frenzied state and plastered her hands over her ears, screaming to drown out the chilling words
“Stay with me Angel, I have you,” a voice whispered as she was rocked into a blissful slumber cocooned in a blanket of nature.
She stilled and opened her eyes to the beautiful boy with toffee coloured eyes. He was so familiar yet a stranger at the same time. She couldn’t remember from where, her mind detached from her body and she felt as if she was drowning. Luxor snuggled in closer, refusing to let go of the boy’s jacket teetering in and out of consciousness. The boy felt safe and she craved to stay in his embrace hoping he never let her go.
He laid Luxor down on the mattress cradling her in his arms as she held the necklace as if it was her life support.
Minutes passed as slowly she began to come to. Peering upwards she found Hunter holding her close, his nose inches from hers. “W-what happened? Why am I on the floor?”
“You tell me. I leave for a minute and come back screaming before dropping like a sack.” He said and held a cup of water to her lips. Luxor attempted to rise up on her elbows but only swayed. Holding a palm on the middle
of her spine to assist her. “I legit was about to go against my code. Your eyes rolled at the back of your head, scaring the shit out of me.”
Luxor sipped and racked her fractured mind for any clue on her fathers’ message, but only one that stuck out. “Do your job, you will know what that means.”
He inhaled a sharp breath and stiffened up. “What did you say?”
“I heard a voice telling me that,” she said not divulging the full truth. She wasn’t ready to explain the constant visions of her father. “The Red Lake, it’s in—”
“I know where it is,” he snapped. “Who told you, and don’t say a voice?”
“You wouldn’t believe me.”
“Try me.”
“My father.”
Hunter nodded, his expression impassive except a slight twitch in his jaw. It was a blink but didn’t escape Luxor’s notice. His silence was deafening as he left her to descend the stairs, she was on high alert to remember which spots were hazardous.
The entire driveway was littered like a car dealership. All at once he pressed a multitude of buttons on the remotes until she found a matching car. He picked a black SUV which looked like the safest of the lot and started the motor.
Fat drops pounded on Luxor’s head as she hopped in the car and buckled in. The trip back was uncomfortable, time dragging out with no words being uttered. The frantic swish- swish of the window wipers were the only sounds. She slapped her hands together, warming them under the air vent. She stared out of the window at the bleakness. She had a sense of impending freedom, to be able to live a life free of torture. But the price was high, and she was conflicted on how to feel about being so incredibly selfish. Her sanity for Hunter. That was what her father wanted.
And the deal Luxor made.
The streets grew gloomier the further Hunter drove until the car slowed to a crawl. He dimmed the headlights until nothing was barely visible, reaching forward and squinted before parking a fair distance away from the entrance to the forest.
Unveiled: The Chronicles of Luxor Everstone Page 43