The Nephilim Chronicles: Vol. 1

The Nephilim Chronicles: Vol.1, Ch.4

~ Gabriel ~ 

            I blew out a deep breath as I struggled to think of a simple way to explain things to Eve before I realized there wasn’t one. I needed to rip the band aid and just tell her the truth. Lying never helped anyone.

            “So…I think you and I are one in the same. I’ve known since I was a kid, but it seems as though you don’t know yet.”

            “What the hell are you talking about?”

            “I think you know. Our birthday is Friday, when we will turn 18 and fully ascend. Whatever you’re experiencing right now is just a taste of what you’re really capable of.” 

            “Sure. Okay for sake of time, let’s say I believe you. I need more details though, how are we this way, and what exactly are we? How long have you known we are the same, whatever we are?”

            “Before my dad allegedly died in active duty, fighting a war somewhere that no one seems to have knowledge of, he told me that I was special. That you and I were special, actually. I didn’t believe a word he said until a few years later when my Mom reaffirmed in more detail what exactly I was. Basically, you and I are half angel, half human, which makes us actually some weird hybrid that’s more powerful and stronger than your average angel. I don’t know how the logistics work, but in mixing human and angel DNA you and I are what’s known as, Nephilim offspring.”

            “Okay well I feel like you’ve lost your s**t, Gabe. How do we know any of that is even real? Your Dad told you this, when you were what, 4 years old? And then your Mom told you later? The shocking part is that you believe it. None of that is real, Gabe. It doesn’t exist.”

            I stood up from the stool I was sitting on and walked over to lean on the teachers desk next to where Eve was sitting. 

            “Look, I didn’t believe it either. Hell, I didn’t want it to be true, but you can’t ignore the weird things that have been happening. Didn’t your Mom tell you about any of this?” 

            “Yea…like two days ago. That’s the first time she mentioned anything and she didn’t tell me exactly what I was, just that I was special, whatever that means, and I had gifts from my Father. I thought she might have hit the wine a little too hard that night, and disregarded everything she said.” 

            “So… you really had no idea that any of this was a possibility at all until maybe two days ago? s**t, Eve, I’ve known the full details of whatever my Dad told my Mom by the time I was 15. I’m sorry you had to find out this way. Is there anything else you want to know?”

            “Yea, I’ve got a ton of questions. So, do we have the same or different Dads, are there others like us out there, and why are our powers or gifts or whatever not the same?”

            She really didn’t beat around the bush as she pitched those hard hitting questions at me. I blew out a deep breath as I rolled my neck back onto my shoulders as I braced myself for impact as I told her the truth. 

            “So, you and I don’t have the same Dad. Totally different Fathers, but they’re both angels, kind of. I don’t know of any others out there that are the same as you and I, my Dad never told me, but my Mom always made it seem like I was one in a million. I don’t think the angels had the ‘go-ahead’ to reproduce with humans. In fact, I know that it’s definitely frowned upon by the big man upstairs according to the Bible, which is the best resource I’ve found so far that provided me with details my Dad never got the chance to fill in for me. Our abilities come from our angel DNA and since your Dad and my Dad pretty much play on opposite sides, our powers are polar opposites as well.”

            I waited for her to process the information and prepared myself for the question I was hoping she wouldn’t think to ask, but knew her well enough to know she would. 

            “When you say they’re kind of angels, what do you mean? Are they or are they not angels?”

            “Well, there’s a gray area with that question. There are different levels of angels according to what I’ve read. There are healing angels that work on the human plane and help us out based on what their boss tells them to do, there are warrior angels that work in heavens plane only and fight wars against Satan’s army, and then there are archangels which are the most powerful. Archangels work on any plane they want, heaven, hell or earth, and they are sent out to do God’s bidding, but are kind of left unchecked for the most part. Clearly, that’s how you and I came into existence. According to what I’ve read in the Bible, our Father’s happened to be two of the original archangels, based on what my Mom told me.”

            “So you’re telling me you’ve known all of this for years and you never thought to tell me that you and I were the same? That we weren’t totally human and we had special gifts that would allow us to fully ascend when we were 18? Don’t you think that’s kind of shitty, Gabe? Keeping that from me all these years?” 

            “I swear, Eve, I thought you knew. I assumed your Dad would have told you before he left you and your Mom, and even if he hadn’t I thought your Mom would have told you everything by now, considering we’ve got 3 days left until you and I are given access to our full powers, whatever that may be. I’m sorry, I truly thought you knew.” 

            Eve started pacing back and forth in front of the desk we had been sitting on, processing everything I had just told her. 

            “Okay, so clearly I had no idea about this. My Mom just told me a couple of days ago, like 15% of the information you just told me. You obviously know who your Dad is since he stuck around for at least 4 years of your life. Mine left barely a year after I was born. Do you have any idea who my Dad is, or at least maybe who you think he could be based on what you’ve learned?”

            Sighing, I let my head fall to my chest. This was the one question I was hoping she wouldn’t ask me. I wasn’t sure how she would feel knowing who I thought her Father was, because I know I would be falling off the deep end right about now and would have gone mental if I found out I shared DNA with her Dad. 

            “I know my dad is the archangel Gabriel, and I think…emphasis on the thinking part, that your Dad is…”

            “Spit it out Gabe, just tell me who he is. I need to, no, I deserve to know what I’m going to be dealing with 3 days from now.”

            I knew she was right, I had to tell her. 

            “I’m pretty sure, based on what my Mom learned from your Mom and the powers that you have so far…I think your Dad is Lucifer.”

            Eve stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of her Dads name, and I could have sworn I saw her whole body vibrate as the knowledge clicked in of who her Father was. She stared at the floor with her arms crossed as if trying to hold herself together as tight as she could. Slowly, after a few minutes, she looked up at me again. The scariest part was how she was handling this news. It was as if everything I had told her finally completed the puzzle as I provided her with the last piece she needed to make sense of it all; everything that was happening to her. 

            “Well, I can’t say I’m shocked.”

~ Evelyn ~ 

            Gabe didn’t say a word when I confirmed to him that I accepted that fact that I believed him, that my Dad really was the Devil. It all made sense to me now, the rage and anger that seemed to consume me. Trying to seduce Gabe? This was all the type of bullshit behavior I would expect from Satan himself. Clearly, Gabe couldn’t have anticipated that I would have taken the news this well. I walked back to the desk with the feeling that we had breached a new level between us, as if a secret that we both shared and now had to deal with pulled us together somehow. Sitting down next to him again, I dropped my head into my hands started rubbing at my temples. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my back, rubbing comforting circles between my shoulder blades, and knew I wouldn’t go through this alone like Gabe had. I suddenly felt bad that he had to carry this burden alone while I blissfully grew up unaware with a totally normal childhood. Well, not anymore. We were in this together now, and the life that I thought I knew and had, no longer existed on the same plane anymore. The shallow friends I surrounded myself with, the shitty boyfriend I had settled for, and the unimportant responsibilities I had placed on myself, such as organizing school dances or cheerleading fundraisers, no longer mattered to me. At all. It was like I was seeing the world in a new light for the first time, and the possibilities of a new future were endless. Picking my head up, I leaned my head on Gabe’s shoulder. I didn’t care if I was pushing physical boundaries anymore. We were in this together. 

            “Thanks for telling me, Gabe. I wish I had known all of this a long time ago, but hearing what you just told me now kind of clicked into a place in my brain that I think I had always known about, but wanted to ignore. Also, thanks for having my back last night, and in the hallway today with Dante, and not leaving me to deal with that alone. Having your support was…nice.”

            Gabe had stopped rubbing circles on my back, but let me continue using his shoulder as he leaned back further giving me better access to his chest to use as a pillow. 

            “Now that you know you’re not alone, Eve, I think we should stick together for at least a little while considering our birthday is Friday, and despite all of the research I’ve done, I still have no clue what we should expect to happen when we ascend, or whatever you want to call it.”

            Gabe seemed to hold his breath as he waited for me to accept his tentative offer to basically hang around each other for at least the next 3 days and I couldn’t actually think of anything I wanted more in the moment. I was really going to have to breakdown these new found feelings for Gabe, or maybe…they weren’t new feelings, but just ignored for so long that I had forgotten about them. Lifting my head from his shoulder, I hoped off the desk and grabbed Gabe’s arm to pull him with me. 

            “I guess there’s nothing else to do now except go to class. Want to meet up after practice again so we can go over more details? Unless you’re busy, it’s not a big deal if you are or just would rather not. Seriously, its fine..”

            Cutting me off midsentence, Gabe smiled and grabbed my shoulders to get me to shut up. 

            “Of course, we can hang after practice, as long as food is involved, I guess I could handle sparing a couple hours of my time out of my super busy, totally packed schedule.”

            Gabe winked at me, and I playfully shoved him and rolled my eyes as if he was totally overrated and I wasn’t that interested in getting together after school. Turning around, we walked out of the classroom together into an empty hallway and made our way to our prospective classes. The entire rest of the day I could barely focus on class and I continued to be distracted all the way through practice. I couldn’t stop thinking about who I knew in my heart my Dad was, and what the full extent of my abilities could be. 

            The rest of the week flew by and Gabe and I met every night to hang and go over some details. It was Thursday night and at midnight we would be 18. I invited him over to hang at my new place in the city. So far we had been hanging out in town near the high school or at his house, but tonight I invited him to my place. My Mom would be working late as per usual and left me money to order takeout for dinner. I had just finished cleaning up my room when I heard a knock on the door. 

            Letting Gabe in, I shut the door after him and followed him into the living room, watching his expressions as he took in the penthouse space my Mom and I lived in. Being on the top floor of a high-rise apartment had its perks, more specifically a spectacular view. We had a stone terrace with a fireplace and a small mini bar to hang out on and whenever I had friends over we hung out there usually. Tonight though, it looked like the sky was about to open up and unleash one hell of a thunder storm, so I figured we would chill in the living room tonight. 

            After giving Gabe a tour of the living room, terrace, and kitchen, I quickly showed him where the bathroom was so he didn’t get lost and accidentally walk into my Mom’s room or her office. Unfortunately, the only way to use my bathroom was through my room, and I didn’t want to make him feel awkward so I just motioned that the bathroom would be through the door down the hallway on the left and tried to redirect us back to the living room. Gabe, however, would not be deterred. 

            “Whoa, wait a minute. You’ve showed me nearly every room in the house, which is amazing by the way, and now you won’t show me this one room? What is it, like a dungeon to torture people in?” 

            He laughed at his own joke and I cringed as I thought about what he might think my room. Where Gabe’s room décor was a mix of blues with white linen curtains and a light sandalwood bed, mine was once again, the total opposite. Cringing, I let out a breath as I gingerly opened the door to let him see my room. 

            Gabe could barely keep his eyes from falling out of his head as he took in the black and white walls with a king size, dark cherry wood bed frame with a canopy of black sheer fabric covering the top and falling down the four posts of the bed to the floor. Although I had cleaned up all of the clothes that had been all over the floor before he came, I didn’t think I would need to make my bed, leaving the wine red satin sheets and pillows open to exposure. Having the black comforter on would have at least made it a little better, but the way the sheets were all balled up and disheveled on the bed made it look, well….sinful. I wasn’t ashamed at all, but I didn’t want Gabe to be uncomfortable as I took in his facial expressions while he processed the overall look of my room. 

            “You know, I’m not exactly surprised that you decorated your room this way because it definitely feels like your aesthetic, but it’s intense to behold for sure.”

            He rubbed the back of his neck as he walked around, exploring the room and adjoining bathroom. I wanted so badly to drag him out of my room and was about to suggest we go out to the living room to wait on the Chinese food, when he suddenly turned around and jumped backwards onto my bed, landing with arms spread out. My jaw nearly dropped to the floor, and probably would have made it all the way there if I hadn’t washed those sheets immediately after breaking up with Dante. Gabe spread his arms on my bed as if he was making snow angels and luxuriated in the feel of the satin sheets.

            Leaning up on his elbows, he motioned for me to join him before laying back down, which immediately seemed like a bad idea to me, but I conceded anyway and went to lay on the other side of the bed so my head was next to his in the opposite direction, with my knees dangling off the side like his were. Once I had settled, he reached his hand up between our heads and proceeded to wave it as if motioning for me to grab it. Slowly, and hesitantly, I reached up and our palms touched, but right before I could wrap my hand around his, he lined his up with mine and interlocked our fingers. That was fine with me, and if this was what he wanted to, then I’d just follow his lead. Looking from our hands to his face he smiled before pointing towards the canopy ceiling and I followed his motion to look up. 

            At first there was nothing except the black fabric of the canopy, but then ever so slowly, I gasped as the space started to fill in with the landscape of a clear night sky. Not a cloud in sight, just the moon, the stars, and the colors of the galaxy. It all seemed so real, I felt the cool crisp air that was Gabe flowing through the room, and had a fleeting thought that if I reached up, I just might be able to grab a handful of stars in my hand. Turning to look at Gabe again, I met his eyes as if he had been looking at me the whole time, and smiled. 

            “Gabe, this is incredible…how are you doing this?”

            “I’m not exactly sure how I’m doing it, but I found out I could do this the day I turned 15. One night I was sleeping, or I thought I was, and while I assumed I had been dreaming, I pictured the night sky, and suddenly there it was right there in front of me. I blinked once and realized I was awake and this was actually happening. Over time I realized that although it’s not the actual night sky, it is an exact replica of the actual sky, and the details became clearer and clearer as I got older. It feels like this every time, as if I could reach out and touch it. Theoretically, I think when we ascend this is what teleporting would be essentially. I just have this feeling that if I concentrate hard enough I could suddenly appear there, or wherever I wanted. This is just an idea though, I guess I’ll figure it out after tomorrow, right?”

            I could tell he was attempting to reassure me that it would all be okay, and ascending shouldn’t be too difficult, but after he had shared everything he knew with me over the past few days, we basically had no idea what would happen tonight, to either of us. Squeezing his hand once, I thanked him for sharing this with me and focused back on the night sky he had manifested above us. Assuming that we likely had similar but opposite powers, I focused solely on my objective and closed my eyes while I visualized what I wanted to happen. I waited a few seconds until I heard Gabe curse under his breath, and opened my eyes. I was right to assume we had similar gifts, as I beheld my attempt to visualize the sun. Looking above us, it was a landscape that looked as if we were both floating in space not above the earth but in front of Mercury, about a thousand meters away from the sun. It was breathtaking and I couldn’t think of adequate words to describe the reality of how clear the picture was, as if we were actually there. Turning to look at Gabe, I found him already looking at me as if I had just performed some miracle. I felt my cheeks warm and hoped they weren’t as flushed as they felt. We were still holding hands, which I had assumed was how we were able to see each other’s visions, as Gabe struggled to get words out. 

            “Eve, you’re…”

I felt us both drawing closer, and my eyes kept flicking from his eyes to his lips. 

            “Yes?...”

            “…incredible.” By now we were so close that as he whispered the word, I felt his breath whisper like a crisp winter wind across my face. Mere centimeters from his mouth, my body hummed with nerves in anticipation of our lips meeting and what this would mean for us; how it would change our friendship, or whatever this was evolving into. 

            “Eve, I really want to…” I already knew what he was going to say and felt myself nod as if giving him the green light when suddenly a loud knock sounded on my door and I jumped at the noise. We both pulled back, not so much as if we both had realized what was happening and changed our minds, but more in a way that hearing the knock at the door had scared the s**t out of us. Letting go of my hand, the vision disappeared as I lost focus, and he smoothed his hand over his heart. 

            “Holy crap, I think I just jumped out of my own skin,” Gabe said to know one in particular and laughed lightly to himself. Getting up, I mumbled something to Gabe that it was the takeout and left him in my room as I walked out to grab the money my Mom left me and pay the delivery guy. After that situation had been handled, I brought the huge pile of food into the kitchen and spread it all out on the marble island. Gabe came out in the meantime and grabbed plates and drinks for us. Heaping our plates with Chinese food, I checked the clock on the stove to find it was only 7:00 p.m. and suggested watching a movie in the living room while we ate. 

            We didn’t mention the almost-kiss we would have had in my room as we settled down in the living room and found a movie we were both interested in. As we dug into our food, laughing and chatting while only kind of watching the movie in the background, we chatted and caught up on what had happened in each other’s lives the past 5 years, before moving on to talking about people at school, events that happened at school and then moved on to common interests. We talked about everything and anything and quickly got lost in our own world, ignoring everything else outside of that. 

            We had been discussing prior relationships during high school and why they ended when I suddenly felt like I was burning up. I was only wearing yoga pants and a hoodie, so I started by taking the sweatshirt off. I had a tank underneath and figured that would have solved the problem, but my face continued to sweat. Pulling my hair up, I put it in a high pony tail on top of my head thinking that would help, but nothing was working. I continued getting hotter, and hotter. Gabe finally said something about it, asking if I was okay and I tried brushing him off by waving a hand at him as I chugged the remainder of my water. I tried to tell him I was fine, but nothing came out but smoke. Literally, smoke billowed out of my mouth as if I was about to breathe fire and I couldn’t form words. Grabbing at my throat, I looked at Gabe clearly in a panic and he tried reassuring me that it would be okay. Looking around, I spotted my phone a few feet away, and reached out to touch the screen, which told me it was 11:55 p.m.; almost midnight. 

            How could I be so stupid, to not have kept track of time. Now we were totally caught off guard. Looking back up at Gabe, he nodded as he realized we were almost out of time. Grabbing me under my elbows, he helped me stand and we walked out to the terrace together. Smart, considering my power seemed to be fire based. Gabe was rubbing my back which was fine at first but, suddenly it grew uncomfortable and I reached back to grab his hand. Holding it in front of me, I saw why; Gabe’s hand was glowing in an icy blue light and felt ice cold to touch. Looking from his hand to me, he tried talking but got nothing out as he started puffing in cold bursts as if you would in freezing temps. I hated to admit that I felt a little better knowing I wasn’t the only one struggling. 

            Still standing in front of each other, I had continued to drink water as I felt that I would burn alive from the inside out, but nothing was working. Gabe pulled his phone out of his pocket and showed me the screen, which flashed 12:58 p.m.. My heart started racing, which Gabe must have picked up on and he grabbed my hand, interlocking our fingers like he had before. I expected it to hurt like it had when he rubbed my back, but instead I felt… nothing. Looking down at our hands, steam rose in great clouds now as it seemed like my heat was melting the coat of ice that had begun to form on his hands. Grabbing his other hand, I linked our fingers again and closed my eyes as the ice soothed the fire flowing through my veins, when an idea struck me suddenly. Alone, as we ascended into our full strength, our powers would overwhelm our systems and kill us, but together we could neutralize each other. 

            My head jerked up to meet Gabe’s eyes as I realized we would literally need each other to survive this and was shocked to find a whole new being standing in front of me. Gabe’s hair had turned white as snow, his eyes were glowing like Topaz gem stones, and plumes of smoke were rolling off his hair and shoulders as if he had turned into dry ice. Meeting his eyes, I attempted to explain what was happening one last time before I knew I would no longer be able to, but as I opened my mouth, it felt like I swallowed hot coals. Smoke billowed out of my mouth as if I had poured water over a hot fire, and a red haze slid over my eyes darker than it had ever been. The world had been painted blood red, I couldn’t speak, and every cell of my body felt like it was on fire. Scared and panicking, I looked up at Gabe and felt tears evaporating as they slid down my face. Gabe squeezed my hands tighter and I let my head fall to his chest as the fire consumed me, and the pain became too much. Gabe had move past being cold, to being in pain similar to frost bite, as I noticed his hands were purple. Looking back up at him, a coat of ice had formed on his cheeks and forehead, while snowflakes clung to his lashes. 

            Suddenly, Gabe froze in place, not even blinking as one breath puffed from his mouth. Everything around me slowed down in motion, as it dawned on me what I needed to do. Lifting onto my toes, I broke one hand free from Gabe’s frozen grasp and wrapped it around the back of his neck as I tilted my head back and closed my eyes. Sucking in a deep breath, I closed my eyes, placed my searing lips on his frozen ones, and blew the fire of my burning soul into him. Somehow, I knew it wouldn’t kill him, but I was hoping it would be enough to thaw him out as our powers threatened to freeze him to death and burn me alive. A few seconds went by before I felt Gabe’s lips moving on mine. Breaking apart, I looked up into his eyes again, before I reached up to wrap both arms around his neck and pull his body towards mine, just as our lips crashed into each other. Kissing him with everything I had, I reached my power out towards him as felt him doing the same, thereby neutralizing each other as our powers continued to build. We didn’t stop kissing and pushing our power outward to each other even as a bright white light enveloped us.