Chapter 1
Lying on a park bench in the middle of the city, I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t stop hearing the loud thoughts of another homeless man sitting a few benches away from me. He thought about how he wanted to kill his ex-girlfriend who stopped giving him money and now couldn’t get the drugs he wanted.
My eyes shut tighter, but it could never shut out how much this world was a torment to me. Life was a monster, but I was no better.
Being the offspring of a demon and human, I lived in a man’s body but had the soul of a devil. It gave me the ability to hear all the vile thoughts of humankind.
Every human on earth was corrupt. Every one, totally and completely filled with evil.
I could also see and hear demons.
As a child, the demons had been a friend to me, but now they laughed and sneered at my differences. They loved to hear and see all the evil of mankind, but I had grown tired of it.
Now at age twenty-five, I didn’t fit into their world, but neither did I fit in with the humans. And I most definitely didn’t fit in with the angels.
One day I would die, and my soul would be chained to darkness forever. I was a despicable creature.
Another guy walked by who was contemplating suicide. It was something that also had crossed my mind. But I knew that Hell would only be worse. So I would have to endure this current dread only to know that something more dreadful would come later. There was no hope for me.
The angels loved to talk about redemption and forgiveness. It only made me sick and hateful, especially towards the humans, for this redemption was only for them, and they mainly disregarded it.
If they only knew how special they were. If they only knew what a gift they had. But no. They chose the way of demons. They all deserved Hell, and somehow God still loved them? Thinking about it only fried up anger deeper within me.
For a moment, I had fallen asleep to my only place of blissful escape from the torment of reality. Yes, it was true that even my dreams haunted me, but now and then a good dream might visit and ease my mind. Dreams that love could even reach a creature such as I. But after the dreams, waking up became even more painful.
Rain started to fall, stealing away my sleep. After mumbling some curses, I got off the bench and entered a nearby coffee shop to stay dry. The warmth felt good on my chilled skin. I tried to focus on that rather than the new evil thoughts that filled this place from the customers. Taking a seat in the corner, I stared out the window at the rain and let my brain drift to numbness.
I heard a girl’s voice which made my head turn.
“A coffee and sandwich please,” she said, taking her order.
Strange… I didn’t even know she had been there. I hadn’t heard her thoughts, and even now I couldn’t.
An old, homeless looking woman was behind her. By her thoughts, it seemed the clean cut girl was buying the food for her, but now she was coming up with some lie to try to convince the girl to give her money as well. How revolting.
With a captivated curiosity, I watched the girl whose thoughts I still couldn’t read. She appeared to be in her early twenties, though it was hard to tell since I could only see her from the side. Her body was thin and looked like it could easily be snapped in two, but at the same time, she appeared healthy. Her long blond hair completed her look of innocence, almost as if an angel in the flesh. But I could usually sense angels, so what was she exactly?
When she turned, I could finally see her eyes. It was a moment like no other. Looking into her light blue eyes was almost like looking into life itself.
With the sweetest smile I had ever seen, she handed the food to the older lady. They spoke to each other for a little bit, but I couldn’t hear them over the music.
When the old lady left, her unthankful heart complained about not having gotten any money from the girl. What was wrong with humans? What disgusting, worthless beings.
I focused back on the younger girl who sat down and took out a book to read. The mystery was driving me crazy, but somehow just simply watching her brought peace.
Could it be…that this one human wasn’t corrupt? Was she really different from the others? Is that why I couldn’t hear her thoughts? I had heard about Christians before but didn’t know they still existed. Not real ones anyway.
“She’s pretty amazing isn’t she?” I heard a voice say beside me.
Startled, I almost lost my breath. I hadn’t noticed the angel that had entered the coffee shop. Of course, he was invisible to everyone but me. We could only speak to each other by thoughts.
“Get out of my mind.” I turned my back to the angel who now sat beside me.
It was annoying that he could know my thoughts, but I couldn’t read his except the ones he chose to communicate with me. I wasn’t sure why he even bothered speaking to me.
“I’m just surprised to see a Nephilim that exists today. It’s been a great many years since I last saw one. After the law was made, I thought the demons finally wised up.”
“Yeah, well one decided to get dumb.”
“I was actually passing by to check on her.” The angel motioned to the girl I had been watching. “Seeing a pure soul on this earth is always a great sight for an angel.”
“You know her?”
He laughed. “Of course. There aren’t many righteous left, and the end is near. So we tend to talk about those left as we prepare.”
I looked at the angel for a moment then back to her. “She’s human then?”
“Yes, of course. With a soul as pure as could be. She hasn’t had an easy life but still stands strong. Thinking about the holiness of the children of the Most High God almost makes me cry tears of joy each time!”
Ignoring the angel’s silliness, I got lost in my own astonishment. I thought all were corrupt. But there was one…
“Anyway, demon boy, I better fly. Much work to do, you know.”
“You are just going to leave her unprotected? This city is a messed up place.” I wanted to grab the angel by the throat but couldn’t, of course.
“Yes, she is a wonderful light in the dark! And if she dies young then all the sooner to be in Heaven!”
“You act like her death would be a good thing.”
He looked amused. “For her, it would. But for now, she is happy on earth. Besides, God gave man free will. There isn’t always something we can do about death.”
The angel started to leave.
“Wait…what is her name?” I had to know.
“It’s Kelsey.”
I knew right then…that name would haunt me forever.
Part of me warned myself to stay away from her. Would I just be a danger to her? Would it bring on demonic curses to her? But the other part thought I could protect her from this evil, cruel world. If the worthless angels wouldn’t, then who would? But an evil creature such as I didn’t even deserve to gaze upon her lovely, pure soul.
I didn’t know what her thoughts were, but I did know for certain that there was no speck of darkness in her. Just to bask in her mysterious light was almost enough to give me hope or even some kind of meaning.
What a selfish creature I was.
After a closer look, I saw it was a Bible she was reading. So this was a real Christian? And that’s why I couldn’t hear her thoughts? It made sense. I was a demonic being. I wasn’t even worthy to look upon her…but I couldn’t help it. It made me hate myself even more. She was so oblivious to the fact that I was even staring at her.
After a while, she got up. Instinctively, I followed from a distance. The slowing rain had left the sky darkened. Even though the holes in my worn clothes let cold in, watching her gave a strange warmth. With my long hair and beard, I probably looked like a creepy, homeless stalker.
I felt too evil to be able to even think her name. What was she doing in such a rundown city where so much crime ran wild? Why did she travel alone? What a dumb choice for such a frail, young woman.
The thought of her being kidnapped made me sick. Did she even have any family or friends? So many questions about her flooded me. But talking to her was a bad idea. Once another angel showed up, I would have to ask it.
Finally, we arrived at small, rundown apartment houses. As she located a key in her pocket, a scruffy man came out from another door.
He mumbled through a cigarette in his mouth. “Where is the rent, Kelsey? I can’t keep waiting forever! Been giving your money to feed the rats again? I need the money now.”
“Just one more week, then I promise I will have it. I’m so sorry for the delay.” Her tone captured the sound of a genuine apology.
I only wanted to rip off that man’s head as I heard his thoughts of complaint. How could he feel so cruelly about a girl so innocent?
The girl, dare I even call her by her name in my head, disappeared behind the badly chipped door to her apartment. She shouldn’t have to live in such a dump. If those stupid angels actually cared about her, why would they let her suffer so?
I should have left, but I couldn’t pull my stubborn legs away. Something needed to be done. If anything, this girl deserved to be looked after. I knew I wasn’t worthy, but there was no one else.
I walked up to the man that must have owned this falling apart gig. “How much does she owe you?”
He let out a puff of smoke from his dirty mouth. “Who are you, her boyfriend?”
I took another intimidating step closer to him. “Answer the question.”
“Two-thousand.”
He was lying. I could read his thoughts. It was only sixty dollars that she owed. Sick animal. There was nothing I wanted more than to smack him down on his skull till it cracked open and his despicable brains expelled. But that would probably only cause her trouble.
Instead, I took a deep breath to calm myself. It wasn’t very effective, but I was able to control myself to step away.
Returning back to the deeper city, I located a man who had money in his pocket. Stolen. By his thoughts, I knew it was in his left, back pocket of his baggy, gangster pants.
Waiting until he was cornered into an alleyway, I jogged up to him. “Give me the money. I know you have it. In your pocket.”
He lifted his tattooed arms up. “Dude, chill now. We’re all good here. I took nothing from you. You have the wrong guy.”
I grabbed him by his shirt so hard that it tore. “The money now! Or you will wish that your granny was here to put a bandaid on your bleeding guts when I’m done with you.”
“Whoa, alright alright. Take it.” He pulled out the cash.
I felt his thoughts of wanting to kill me, but he also knew I was much stronger than his scrawny body. Ripping it from his trembling hand, I overlook the money. Three twenties. That was Sixty dollars. Exactly what she owed. Strange coincidence.
Going back to her apartment, I made sure no one was around. Placing the money in front of her door, I knocked then ran away.
I heard the door open too soon. Great. Now she would see me. Thankfully, it was starting to get dark.
“Hey, wait,” she called.
I kept running away with my face turned so she couldn’t see it. I never wanted her to see my face.
