Rebekah - Chapter 3

3. Revelations



I stood in the doorway of my bedroom, staring at the walls I’d grown up in and I wondering when I’d see them next. I fought back the urge to collapse into my bed and crawl under the doona, turning instead to my wardrobe. I pulled clothes from my drawers without looking at them and shoved them into a random sports bag, my mind wandering. Once the bag was stuffed full of clothes, I pulled a sheet of paper from my desk drawer and sat down.

Staring at the blank page I felt my eyes burn as I tried to think of what to write to my parents. I knew in my heart that I couldn’t say goodbye to them in person, or I would never be able to leave this place. Minutes passed and I knew I couldn’t make myself lie to them.

Mum, Dad, I’m so sorry.

It’s not safe for me here, so Riley’s taking me someplace where he can look after me. I’ll come back really soon, I promise. Someday I’ll explain everything to you. It’s going to be okay. I love you both, so much.

Bekah.

Silent tears rolled down my cheeks, blurring my vision as I reread my short note. I lay my head down on the desk, clutching the paper in my hands. I knew I should get up but my limbs felt like they were full of lead, and suddenly I was so tired, I could feel everything that had happened earlier catching up with me.

I managed to lift my head when a soft knocking sounded from my door, and saw Riley standing in my doorway, his expression painfully sympathetic. He crossed the room in a couple of steps, pulling me from my seat and onto my bed. I curled up on top of my doona, sighing as the mattress absorbed my weight. Riley sat at the foot of my bed, his hands rubbing anxiously up and down his thighs, like they always did when he was agitated.

“What happened today?” he asked, his voice oddly rough. I pushed myself up so that I was sitting and turned to face him. I’d known I would have to explain to him, but I’d hoped I would have more time than this.

“You won’t believe me,” I muttered, thinking of Malachi’s eyes that seemed to absorb the light.

“I promise,” he said, reaching to take my hand, “I’ll believe everything you say. Just promise me the same thing.”

“Of course,” I replied, knowing that nothing he could possibly say would be less believable than what I was about to tell him. I pulled my legs into my body, wrapping my arms around my knees. Taking a deep breath, I told him everything that had happened earlier, excluding the fact that I’d walked to school with Malachi. I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t want Riley knowing about that. Riley listened in silence, the only reaction I could see to my fantastical story was a slight narrowing of his eyes as I talked about Malachi’s apparent transformation, but it didn’t look like shock, or even horror, as I’d expected, but anger.

It only took me a few minutes to tell him everything, and when it was over I could feel my legs quaking in my arms, and pulled them closer in to my chest. I watched Riley, confused by his lack of reaction. He stared down at his hands, his eyebrows pulled together, shadowing his eyes.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” I asked, afraid that he must think I was crazy. He looked up at me then, pain sharp in his eyes, and I chewed on the inside of my cheek, waiting.

“Bekah... there’s something I’ve never told you,” he began, his gaze falling back to his clasped hands. I stayed silent, waiting for him to continue. “I’m not like you,” he said, grimacing.

“What?” I asked, confused. I moved to sit next to him on the end of the bed. We sat in silence, Riley still staring down at his hands. After several minutes, he continued.

“There are monsters in this world, Bekah. Some like Malachi, and others much, much worse.” I turned my head to stare at him, unable to keep the incredulity off my face.

“Monsters?” I asked, wincing as I heard the note of sarcasm in my voice. “I never said Malachi was a monster. There’s something wrong with him, sure, but he’s still human.” Riley looked up at me, his eyes suddenly hard.

“No, he’s not. He’s a vampire, Bekah.” I stood up, a nervous laugh forcing its way from my throat, coming out like a bark. What he was saying was ridiculous, completely absurd. But Malachi’s teeth... an image of his face flashed through my mind again, those black eyes filling his face as they had stared into mine, and the blood on his bottom lip where his canines had sliced into it – they looked sharp as knives. I strode across the room to stare out my window, my back to Riley, trying to get rid of the image that now filled my head.

With a shock I realised that it wasn’t the existence of monsters that I wanted to deny, but the fact that Malachi was one. Stronger than my want to deny that Malachi was a monster was the knowledge in my mind that Riley would never lie to me, and I knew that what he said was the truth. I looked at the street below me, grappling with what Riley had told me. I could feel him standing behind me, waiting until I was ready. I turned back to him, and tried to keep my voice steady.

“You said you weren’t like me,” I began, searching for the right words. He nodded sadly, and I thought he must know what I was going to say next. “Does that mean...” my voice cracked and I took a deep breath, forcing the words out, “are you like him?” Rage filled his face, and I knew that this wasn’t what he’d been expecting.

“No,” he spat, his voice shaking. “I am nothing like him. I am not a monster.” He took a step towards me, reaching for my hand, and without meaning to I flinched back, away from him. Instantly I wished I could take it back, as pain replaced all the rage in his expression, his face falling. He dropped the hand that had been reaching towards mine, and I stepped forward, trying desperately to think of something to say to make it better. I reached my hands up, placing my palms on his chest, but his entire body was rigid.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured. “That was unforgivable.” His shoulders slumped, and he wrapped his arms around me.

“I would never, ever hurt you,” he whispered, his breath warm against my ear.

“I know,” I replied truthfully. I rested my head on his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat, trying to reconcile my image of Malachi with that of the bloodthirsty monsters I’d seen in so many cheesy blockbuster horror movies, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. More than that I tried not to think of what Riley had meant when he said that he wasn’t like me, afraid of what he might tell me. I sighed, pulling myself out of his arms and moving back to sit on my bed.

“Go on then,” I said, staring up at Riley, still standing by the window. He sighed, looking past me, his eyes distant.

“I don’t know where to start,” he said, running his hands through his hair. “I didn’t think I’d ever have to tell you this.”

“You can tell me anything," I murmured, hoping it was the truth. Riley took a deep breath, steadying himself.

“My mother was human,” he began, and I felt my eyes widen, at the clear implication that his father was something other than human. “But my father was a Nephilim.” He paused, as if expecting me to say something.

“A Nephilim?” I asked, trying to keep my expression blank.

Riley closed his eyes, a pained expression crossing his face, and continued. “It is said that when God created men, and daughters were born to them, two hundred of the Sons of God fell from Heaven, choosing to marry the fairest and most beautiful of all the Daughters of Eve, even though it meant an eternity of damnation.” His voice was dull and lifeless, and the words had the feeling of something memorised from a book. “The children of the Daughters of Eve and the Sons of God were called the Nephilim, and they were feared, for they possessed strength and speed beyond that of any human being before them, and some were bestowed with gifts of the mind and spirit, truly making them greater than the human race.

“Most of the Nephilim banded together to form the Order of the Children, vowing to use their superior strength and gifts to protect the human race from the lesser known evils of this world. Because as well as Angels walking the earth, there were also Demons. For thousands of years, the Order has protected humankind from the scum that hides in the shadows, waiting to pounce.

“Bekah, I’m a Nephilim, descended from Ezeqeel, the Fallen Angel.” He stopped to stare down at me, his eyes suddenly fearful. “So now you know,” he murmured, “and I can only begin to imagine what you must think of me.” I tried to keep the shock off my face, absorbing what he’d said. I moved from the bed to stand in front of him, taking his hands in mine.

“You’re still Riley,” I said, forcing my mouth into a smile. He looked down at me, his eyes sad.

“You’re afraid of me.” It was a statement, not a question. I looked down, away from him, unable to meet his gaze. I wanted nothing more than to lie to him, to tell him that I could never be afraid of him, no matter what he told me about himself, but I couldn’t make myself do it. I couldn’t help but think of Malachi and wonder if Riley could be hiding another darker side of himself. I shuddered, pushing away the image of Riley with pitch black eyes and elongated teeth from my head. Whatever he was, it couldn’t be that.

Riley pulled his hands from my grasp, stepping backwards to look at me. “It’s okay,” he said, his voice heavy. “I understand completely if you don’t want to be around me anymore,” his voice cracked, but he continued, the words tumbling out of him. “But you need to get away from here, far away. This place isn’t safe for anyone, especially you, and even if you don’t want to be anywhere near me,” he paused, his expression pained, “I’ll always be close to you, protecting you from monsters like Malachi.”

“What?” I choked, stumbling forward, closing the gap between us. “I will always want you near me.” Relief broke out across his face, but it was coupled with confusion.

“But you’re scared of me,” he said, his eyes searching mine. “You’re so scared...” he broke off, his voice troubled. “Bekah, I told you that some of the Nephilim were gifted,” he said carefully, and I felt the blood drain from my face. I was sure I couldn’t handle any more incredible revelations from him today.

“Don’t,” I whispered, biting down on the inside of my cheek, barely noticing the metallic tang of blood. “Not today.” He stared at me, his face softening.

“Of course,” he replied. “Another time.”



* * * * *



When I’d packed everything I could carry, I made the long walk down the hallway towards my front door, dragging my feet the whole way. Riley followed close behind me as he had all morning, probably to make sure I didn’t curl up into a ball on the carpet where I stood. I’d tried to tell him that it wasn’t necessary, and even though he’d insisted that he believed me, he continued to ignore my protests and follow me around the house as if I hadn’t said anything at all.

Riley had insisted we leave as quickly as possible, and I was far from arguing with him. When I’d started packing things, I’d wanted to drag out my time at home for as long as possible, stalling for as much time as I could manage. It hadn’t taken me long to realise that each extra second I spent contemplating leaving made my heart ache more and more painfully, and then I’d begun packing in earnest.

Even though I was only packing a couple of bags – Riley said I wouldn’t have room for more than that – it seemed to take hours as I tried to sort through my things and choose those most vital. Riley insisted that I only needed a few changes of clothes, but when I pressed him about how long we’d be away for, he reluctantly admitted that it could be weeks.

Once he’d revealed that, my packing slowed down again and became more careful as I packed my favourite books from my room, as well as my only soft toy, a little blue bear called Tobey, who I’d had for as long as I could remember. For years when I was little I’d slept with him in my bed because my mother told me that he was a warrior bear who would protect me from all the scary night time monsters I’d imagined as a child. I hadn’t slept with him for years, but when I found him lying at the bottom of my wardrobe, I realised that I when I went to bed that night I was certain to be visited by monsters as I slept, and a surely few creature comforts couldn’t hurt.

By the time I was finally sure I’d packed all the necessities, I was physically and emotionally exhausted. I glanced at the clock in the hallway on my way out the door for the final time, and was startled to see that it was two o’clock, five hours since I’d left the house that morning.

I was shocked at how much time had passed, and realised that I must have spent longer huddled up on the sidewalk than I’d realised. My head swam momentarily as I remembered what I’d spent all day trying to forget, and Malachi’s coal black eyes flashed into my mind. I swayed slightly and had to reach for the doorway to steady myself. Riley was by my side in an instant, his hand under my elbow, always ready to catch me if I fell.

“Bekah?”

“I’m fine,” I mumbled, regaining my balance. “It’s all just...” I searched for the right words, but couldn’t find them.

“I know,” he said, sighing. I could see that he was worrying about what he’d told me earlier, but I’d been trying not to think about that almost as much as I’d been trying not to think about Malachi.

After all my rushing to get packed, I was suddenly reluctant to leave with Riley, and enter the strange world of mythical creatures that he apparently lived in. Some small portion of my mind was still holding onto the possibility that this all being some elaborate joke, but whenever I dared to hope that, the image of Malachi’s face flashed across my vision and I knew that it wasn’t.

I pulled my elbow from Riley’s grip, trying to escape his suddenly overwhelming concern.

“I think I just need a bite to eat,” I said, turning back into the house.

“There’s food in the car.” he said impatiently, glancing at the clock as I had a just a few moments ago.

I nodded resignedly, trying to keep the pout off my face. I followed him obediently as he led me back outside and winced as I heard him lock the door behind us.

“Riley,” I began, suddenly desperate not to take another step away from my home.

“It’s the only way I can keep you safe,” he said, answering the question I’d been about to ask. “This isn’t up for debate, Bekah. I’m taking you away from this town whether you want me to or not.”

I gaped at the finality in his voice, and the walls I’d managed to keep my sorrow behind until now threatened to crumble. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak without bursting into tears, and stumbled across my front lawn without looking back. Riley passed me, carrying my bags to an old black Ford that was parked across the street and throwing my things into its boot before climbing into the backseat.

I stared at the unfamiliar vehicle for a moment before I recognised the driver as the man who had been with Riley when he’d found me earlier. I’d forgotten entirely about the two strangers until now, and I paused before opening the door, looking to Riley for any further explanation. He just nodded absently, his attention on the street outside. I hesitantly opened the door, sliding onto the backseat next to Riley. The driver turned in his seat to smile warmly at me, his messy blonde hair and blue eyes making him look like he’d be well suited to a swimwear catalogue.

“Aaron,” he said, reaching his arm around his seat towards mine.

“Bekah,” I replied, returning his smile tentatively and quickly shaking his hand.

I turned to look at the woman in the passenger seat; a lean blonde with high cheekbones and furious cold blue eyes. Her upper lip curled back as she stared at me, her expression full of unvoiced malice. I recoiled unintentionally, pushing myself backwards into the seat.

“That’s Alex,” Aaron said, rolling his eyes. “You’ll have to forgive her for her rudeness. Usually she can at least manage civility.” He shot what looked like a warning glance at the woman, but she ignored him and continued to stare furiously at me. I just shook my head wordlessly at him, stunned by the unprovoked venom in this woman’s stare. I wondered what I could have done to incite such hate in someone I had never met before.

“Alex,” Riley barked from beside me, his voice angry. Alex turned her stare to him, the fury in her expression softening noticeably. She rolled her eyes at him and turned around in her seat to face forwards, and only when I felt my muscles relax did I realise how tense they had been.

“Ignore her,” Riley said, making no effort to keep his voice down. Alex laughed from where she sat, but there was no humour in the noise.

We sat in uncomfortable silence for several minutes, and I wondered why we weren’t going anywhere. Aaron kept looking back towards Riley as if waiting for something.

“Are you sure about this, Riley?” he finally asked, glancing apologetically in my direction. I chewed the inside of my cheek and leant my head against the window, staring out into the street.

“Yes.” Riley’s tone made it obvious that the subject wasn’t open for discussion, and Aaron finally started the car’s engine.

I was still staring out the window when I heard the familiar hum of my mother’s car pulling into the end of the street, and I gaped in horror at her outline through the windscreen, returned home early from work. I heard Riley curse beside me before urging Aaron to hurry.

I watched my mother’s car pull into our driveway, and fought desperately to hold the cracked walls in place that were all that kept me from breaking down completely in front of these two strangers. I felt Riley’s hand slip into mine as we drove away and bit back tears as I watched my house disappear from sight as we sped around a corner.



Please continue with "Rebekah - Chapter 4"