The Nephelium Page 10

  “I was outside the club when she came running out,” Troy stated in a very factual tone. “She was obviously traumatized, and let’s just say I have the ability to tune into certain things that most can’t. She was telling the truth.”

  Eve looked back and forth from Troy and Alfonso in disbelief, her jaw grinding back and forth. “What are you talking about? Alfonso, are you trying to tell me that there are such things as vampires?”

  She was in total disbelief. How can such a stable, down-to-earth man believe in such myths and fables?

  “Is this why you all are sitting down with me and talking to me? You believe there is a clan of vampires out there, and that this city is in danger, and this is the secret meeting of the vampire slayers?”

  “She is smart!” Ki stated, not having any patience.

  This, in-turn, got him a “you-better-keep-your-attitude-at-bay” look from Leah.

  “Not vampires like you are thinking vampires, Eve,” Alfonso stated, “but in the same token, something deeper. I told you that what I had to tell you wouldn’t be easy to understand or believe, but that doesn’t change what is true.”

  “So you expect me to believe that there are people--no, monsters--out there that are sucking the life out of people? So what does that have to do with us?”

  Leah stopped her. “Eve, they are not vampires. They are demons.”

  “Oh!” Eve exclaimed. “Now that makes me believe it that much more! I can go home and sleep now.” She paused. “I came here tonight to talk to the one person I thought I could talk to, but instead I find a bunch of quacks and an old man whom I thought I knew.”

  She pushed away from the table and stood up. She was done. She still hadn’t heard anything that made her want to stay. Alfonso still had not mentioned another thing about her parents. She was angry, hurt, and worn out. She was ready to just escape. Maybe she should try out some of Megan’s drugs.

  Just then she heard a voice within her soul. It was the strangest sensation that she had ever experienced before--a voice that spoke, not from outside, but from deep within her. It rose up from a place that cannot be explained other than from the soul.

  “Eve, of all the years you have known Alfonso, you know he is not senile, and at least you could stop thinking about yourself and listen to what he has to say.”

  Eve staggered backward from the table for a moment. She recognized the voice; and in horror she looked back up at Leah who was still sitting at the table, but was intently staring at her.

  “Yes, I am talking to you. You are not here tonight because of Megan. You are here because I led you here, but only because this is so much more than just you--and even me.”

  Eve felt like she was going to pass out. Leah’s voice coming up through Eve’s soul was almost nauseating and unsettling. She grabbed for a chair, but missed. Isaiah quickly caught her before she fell. She leaned upon him, allowing him to help her sit back down in her chair. She could hardly breathe. The smell of coffee grounds stung her nose.

  “How . . .?” she started to ask Leah.

  “There is a lot that you don’t know, Eve, but it is important for everyone that you learn it and learn it tonight. There is a point in everyone’s life where they will come to a crossroad. When you get there, you will have to make a choice, and that choice can only be made by one person: you. You are not at that point, yet; but when you get there, would you like to make a blind decision or one with the information that you need?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I am not sure what I know or don’t know right now.”

  Eve seemed mellower and almost like a small girl once again. Alfonso was weeping--silently, but still weeping. Inside he was praying that this would pass by him, that he wouldn’t have to witness anymore of this tonight, but he knew it would not. Leah placed her hand upon the old man’s back and gently rubbed it.

  “Watcher, this is what you were created for.”

  “I know, Leah, but it doesn’t make it easier.” He then looked back, with eyes glistening with tears, at Eve. “Sweetheart, let me start from the beginning.”

  Eve just nodded and breathed--that was a big thing: breathing.

  “Before mortals, mankind, or humans were ever created, Jah created a race of immortals or Eternals as they were called. We know them as angels. He created them and placed them into their own world. It was a perfect world, and they were what seemed to be a perfect creation. They built cities and civilizations, and cultures were created within those cities and civilizations. It was what most would call Heaven, and it was known to them as Scintillantes.

  “Jah saw that what He had created was good and that the Eternals were prosperous. In that He then chose to create other races, Jah created mortals. He chose to make us different. We would live a time and then would pass from our world into the world of the Eternals where we would become immortal. We would not become an Eternal, but we would live immortally.

  “When some of the Eternals found out about this new creation, or Earth, they started questioning what Jah was doing. Would He continue to create until the first would be forgotten?

  “One Eternal, in particular, was known as Luminorious, or the Morning Star. Luminorious began to gather others around him as they began to spread this idea that Jah needed to be stopped from creating any more. They suggested that maybe Luminorious should go before Jah and tell Him that they should be sent to this new world as rulers. This was not to happen, and soon a war broke out--a war that would destroy the Eternals’ civilization and would get Luminorious and his followers kicked out of their Paradise and into no-man’s land.

  “They did come into our world and began to form a new immortal civilization or clan structure. They still had a strong belief that one day they would be able to overthrow Jah and the other Eternals and gain ultimate, eternal power.”

  Alfonso paused as Leah placed coffee cups down for everyone. Eve was so entranced by what she was hearing, she hadn’t even noticed that Leah had gotten up and started preparing anything; but there was a strong dose of the dark beverage for everyone.

  Eve took this opportunity to ask a couple of questions.

  “So, please, let me get this straight. You are saying that Jah, or . . . God, created these super immortal beings that we call angels today . . . and . . .. Isn’t this just old religious beliefs reanimated?”

  “Just listen all the way through,” Isaiah said as he burnt his tongue on his coffee and winced. “You are going to see that what you think you know may not be true, and what you thought wasn’t true, may be.”

  “Ok, continue.”

  Eve wasn’t sure if she was buying any of this, but what choice did she have? According to Leah, she guessed she had at least one choice, so she chose to listen to more.

  “Now, I am not going to get into all the history of everything, Eve, because we don’t have the time tonight. There will be time for that later. I know that you will have a lot of questions, and there will be time to answer them, but not right now.

  “Luminorious then became known as Lucifer, or the Morning Star. He and his generals, Hecate, Adremalech, and Marduk, became a very well-organized family. Their structure became well formulated and intertwined. They became what most would idealize as a vampire family, and the Morning Star was the head of it all.”

  “Ok, so what does all of this have to do with me, us, or anyone today?” Eve asked.

  Leah leaned forward.

  “Eve, during the ancient civilization of Babylon there was an internal clan struggle. Marduk decided that he wanted to break from the clan and create his own clan or knock off Lucifer and rule instead. He felt that if he could not only draw in the Fallen, but also the humans, he would have more strength and power. He bore children with his priestess, at the time creating a new breed, the Nepheliums, half human, half Fallen.”

  “So now we not only have angels, demons, God, and mortals, but we now have a mixture? I am starting to think this coffee is not going to be strong enough for all of this. I don�
��t know. This is way out there.”

  “Let me bring this around to us today.”

  “Ok.” Eve was almost to critical information overload already.

  This time Alfonso again picked up from where Leah left off. “As she was saying, the Nephelium were born. The only thing is, once Jah discovered that Lucifer and the Fallen had begun to create a new civilization or clan structure here on earth, He sent Eternals down among man to protect us from the Fallen. They formed groups of resistance with mortals who believed in Jah. These groups collectively became known as the Alliance.

  “There was a group of them in Babylon at the time that discovered what Marduk was up to. Time moved in their favor, and even mankind has a thirst for ultimate power. The Persians marched upon Babylon to take it over and rule the known world at the time. They were successful.

  “That night Marduk attempted to protect his children, but his plan was revealed to Lucifer. He was stripped of all his clan authority; and he and his children were made Outcasts, no longer finding favor within the Fallen. This affected all his children, but one.”

  Eve maybe didn’t believe any of this, but it all had really caught her interest. It was a form of mythology she had never heard before, and she had so many questions now that were popping up, such as “What happened to the one? Why didn’t it affect that child?”

  Alfonso continued, “That child, Rephaim, was the strongest of the Nephelium. The night that Babylon fell, he was in the great hall of the king, and he was taken into hiding by a Jewish maid. When the King of Persia released the Jews out of their slavery, she took him back with her to Jerusalem, unbeknown to Marduk or any of the clan. There he was raised in the teachings of Jah and came to a choice: follow what he knew to be good and right and fight for the innocent who were hunted by the Fallen, or rejoin his ancestors.”

  “Let me guess: he didn’t choose the dark side?” Eve said, rolling her eyes. “So anti-climatic.”

  “You’re correct,” Alfonso answered, “and he raised his descendants to follow in his footsteps, even though each one had to make the choice individually.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Eve drained her cup of coffee and reached for the carafe to fill it back up. It was going to be a long night.

  “So, what does this have to do with today?” Eve inquired. “I am still not following you. Are you telling me that what Megan saw in The Vortex the other night were these demons slash vampires, and could be half demon, half human?”

  “No, they actually are demons with the traits that have created the mythology of vampires,” Alfonso explained. “Arioch is part of the Adremalech Clan. We don’t know exactly everything that is going on, but we do know that he is up to something.”

  Isaiah cut in. “Alfonso, let me cut through a lot of this and bring Eve straight to what she needs to know today.”

  She rolled her eyes. How many times had she already heard that one tonight? The old man leaned back and motioned for him to go ahead.

  “Take it away, Preacher,” Alfonso responded, with a mock bow toward Isaiah.

  Isaiah began, “Over the ages there have been wars going on beyond the scene of mortal men for the power to rule Earth, mortals, and, ultimately, everything. Even the clans have warred among themselves. The one thing they seem to agree on was the destruction of the Outcast Clan. They silently would embrace the descendants of the Nephelium who stayed within the bloodline of the Fallen; but the Jerusalem Breed, the descendants of Rephaim, they despised and, over the ages, sought to kill them.

  “So, the Jerusalem Breed were given special Guardians from the Alliance. Also, they were given mortal individuals who were designated to not only protect them, but to record their history. This was a secret sect of individuals known as the Watchers.

  “It was the Watchers’ responsibility to not only watch out for the Jerusalem Breed, but to record historical documentation of what was taking place and to protect certain ancient artifacts. They never truly got organized until 12 men were brought together and secretly told to bring the Watchers into an organized group. From there, they branched out and became well-defined.”

  “You are talking about the 12 men who followed that Jewish teacher, right?” Eve asked.

  Isaiah nodded. “Yes, the 12 disciples. Most believe He was more than just a teacher, but yes, Jesus.”

  “Honestly, you expect me to believe all of this? I am waiting for the camera crew to come out,” Eve said with cynicism in her voice.

  “Hold on,” Isaiah stated. “Throughout the centuries, men and women have sworn to protect the Jerusalem Breed and to keep records of the battles between the Fallen and the Eternals. It was nothing for anyone to take lightly.

  “Soon the clans joined together and throughout history began an ethnic cleansing of sorts. They were able to infiltrate the Watchers by possessing the monk, Rasputin. He was a Watcher, but when he chose to allow his thirst for power to devour him, he surrendered to the Fallen. When he became possessed by Hecate, the clans discovered a lot of what the Watchers knew.”

  “They were picked off, they and the Jerusalem Breed, through the ages,” Ki spoke, softer now. “It was a bloodbath that we were unable to stop. Over the centuries, the Alliance has tried, but the Fallen knew things that we didn’t even know.”

  “We?” Eve inquired.

  “Those of the Alliance,” Ki explained.

  “Why didn’t you know what they knew? Isn’t the Alliance made up of Eternals, also? Why didn’t they know?”

  “Eternals are not all-knowing, Eve, just a different creation than mortal man; and the Watchers are bound by a sworn secrecy, even to the Eternals,” Alfonso clarified.

  “It was believed that all of the Watchers and the Jerusalem Breed were killed off,” Troy stated.

  “If they had been all killed off, what would that mean?” Eve asked.

  “Well, we weren’t sure. We knew that it meant that a lot of knowledge that the Watchers had recorded would be gone, unless Jah chose to reveal it. As for the end of the Jerusalem Breed, we didn’t know what that would mean. We knew that many of them had kept the Fallen from gaining access into the mortal world many times.”

  “Such as? Give me one example.”

  “Joan of Arc,” Leah stated.

  “What?” Eve almost spit out her coffee on this one. “Joan of Arc was a . . . whachacallit . . .this half breed?”

  “A Nephelium? Yes. What man saw was not really what was taking place. The Hecate Clan had joined with some of Marduk’s Outcasts and were attempting to create havoc among mortals. Joan rose up and stood in the gap between the worlds, keeping the Fallen at bay.”

  “But wasn’t she killed by the church? Wouldn’t that be the people who would want to keep the Jerusalem Breed alive?”

  “You would think,” Isaiah said, “but, unfortunately, the Fallen had infiltrated the religious sections of mortals. It was her Watcher who betrayed her.”

  “I would say that these Watchers can’t seem to resist temptation; but, then again, what I know of religious leaders, that seems to be the norm. No offense meant.” She directed the last part of her statement toward Isaiah.

  “None taken. I understand. Sadly enough, you are correct, but just like not all tattoo artists are the same, not all religious figures are the same.”

  “True. So, I get it: there is this huge war between good and evil, and it has been raging for all of time, and a certain group of them have been killed out, and the evil seems to be winning, and all of this affects all of us, how?”

  Alfonso sat his cup down. He reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a medallion. It was a cut piece of bronze in the shape of a jagged hand within a circle, and upon the hand was carved an eye. He handed it to Eve. She reached out and took it from him. When her fingers touched it, she felt a sense that came sweeping over her once again--a sense that there was more out there that was pushing in on her; but she couldn’t figure out what it was.

  “I am a Watcher.” Alfonso’s wor
ds were spoken quietly as he kept his eyes on Eve.

  Eve dropped the medallion as if it was toxic. Her eyes widened at this statement from her mentor.

  “Huh? I thought you all just said that the Watchers were all killed!”

  Alfonso retrieved his medallion from the table and allowed his feeble fingers to trace over the well-worn metal. It was as if memories were flooding into the old man. It was one of those moments that if it had taken place at any other time, Eve may have sat there admiring him and wondering what his thoughts were, but not this time. He then spoke.

  “No, what was said was that it was thought that they all had been killed. The truth was that most had been killed. There were a handful who were able to avoid detection and went deep into hiding--so far into hiding that we did not even allow the Alliance to know.”

  Eve looked around the table and, to her shock, she wasn’t the only one with a stunned look on her face. In fact, the only one who didn’t seem to be looking back and forth among each other was Alfonso and Leah.

  “I take it that I am not the only one learning new things tonight?” Eve questioned.

  “We thought . . .” Troy couldn’t even speak, he was so taken back. “Alfonso, how long . . . what?”

  Ki showed no outward emotion, but inside he was taken back. He could feel his warrior spirit leap up strongly within him. He knew that this meant only one thing! If there was a Watcher, then there must be . . . his thoughts were interrupted by Leah.

  “This is something that I was not able to tell all of you; and, actually, I didn’t know myself until the last few days,” she said. “You all have asked what is going on, but the truth is that I didn’t even know. I started suspecting when I received word that we were to protect . . .”

  Alfonso stopped her. “Please let me clear up a lot of confusion for everyone.”

  Eve was really enjoying this now; she wasn’t the only one sitting here dumbfounded and in shock. Even if she still felt a lot of this to be a dream, at least it just became a little more fair.

  Alfonso took a deep breath. All of this history and talk tonight had finally come down to this moment. He had been able to avoid this moment for so many years, and here it was now in his lap. He looked straight at Eve. She was so strong, but there was no way that she would be able to fully take in what he was about to say.