by TJ Hines
“Hardy har, smarty pants. I’ll have you know that I am turning over a new leaf here and I feel like I can finally be myself,” she said sticking her tongue out at Gem.
“Well I think it’s wonderful,” Jesse said giving Taura a smile and Gemini a look that said to encourage the friend-making.
“Jesse’s right. It is wonderful. I am so happy for you munchkin,” Gem said. And she meant it even if what her sister said about finally being herself made her a little sad.
Jesse was the last one to talk about his day and it took everything in Gem not to sit there with her mouth wide open during his story. Apparently, Jesse not only was introduced to his trainers today, but he also started training. And they didn’t take it easy on him either, especially after learning he had played football in high school. After hand to hand fighting and combat techniques, he was sent to one of the Elders to learn more about his abilities and how to control and use them. Jesse said his Elder was the man who had spoken to them on the first day, David. He taught Jesse that as an Elite Nephilim he would have multiple abilities, just like regular Nephilim, as well as the ability to hold and use an Angel Fire Blade.
Jesse learned today that he has the ability of increased speed and strength, as well as healing powers, which he already knew, as well as telepathy, which he did not know about. Telepathy is extremely important in battle according to David so he would be learning that first. But the most exciting thing Jesse learned today was what Archangel sired him. David taught him how to call upon his Angel Fire Blade by extending his hand and saying the word, Ignis, which meant fire in Latin. Jesse showed them the blade which was surrounded in green fire. When Gemini and Taura just looked at it and then at him with an awestruck look upon their faces, he smiled and said, “My father is Raphael”.
Taura immediately tried to call an Angel Fire Blade to her hand before Gemini could even stop her. This is why kids aren’t supposed to raise kids, Gem thought.
"Taura. Stop it!"
Jesse extinguished the blade by saying something else that Gem couldn't hear and letting go of the handle. It immediately disappeared just like Liam's had.
"Why isn't it working Jesse?" Taura said whining a little that she wasn't able to manifest the blade.
"You have to be taught and I think David said something about age, as well," Jesse said before starting to clear the table. Taura tried for another few minutes while Jesse and Gemini cleared the table and started the dishwasher before finally giving up. She walked over to the couch and fell on it with a big sigh.
"Well I think we have all had a big day so maybe we should call it an early night," Gemini said not telling them how nervous she was about starting her job in the morning.
Taura went to her room yawning as she went. She would be out in about five minutes, Gem thought, which wasn't surprising seeing how the munchkin was up before the sun was today. Gem and Jesse walked to their room and started getting ready for bed. Gem was extra nervous tonight for some reason. She didn't understand why because she and Jesse had slept in the same bed together for the last couple of months. But tonight, felt different. The air felt electric and all of a sudden, she felt so ridiculously hot. She didn't understand how the room was sweltering suddenly. She walked over to the wall to check the temperature on the A/C unit. It was normal, set at a comfortable 68 degrees. Then why did she feel like she was going to pass out or have a heat stroke? She was still fanning herself when Jesse walked out of the bathroom. Shirtless. Her face must have turned 50 shades of red because Jesse just smiled at her.
"It's so hot in here. What's the temperature set on?" he asked walking to the bed.
"It says it's 68 degrees, but I think it's messed up. I'll talk to the Sisters tomorrow to see who I need to talk to about fixing it," Gem said still standing on the other side of the room.
"You coming to bed or do you plan on standing there all night?"
"I…I'm not really sure," Gem started before deciding to just bite the bullet and have one of those tough conversations with the guy she loved.
Jesse started laughing before he saw the look on her face. Then he changed his demeanor instantaneously. "What's wrong?" he said getting out of the bed and walking towards her.
"Everything is just moving so fast and then tonight just feels different and I'm a little nervous about where everything is headed and where we are going and if we are going to be together forever and…," Jesse silenced her with a kiss which was how he always got her to stop rambling. But the kiss tonight was different. It was hotter and spicier. It felt like there was more to it than just a regular sweet kiss.
When he finally broke the kiss both of them were out of breath and staring at each other with heat in their eyes.
“I love you,” Gemini blurted out. “You don’t have to say it back or anything. I just thought you should know. I mean I know it’s not been that long, and we haven’t even talked about our relationship and where it’s going…”
And just like that Jesse was kissing her again. She had to admit that was a sure-fire way to get her to stop rambling.
“Sweetheart, I love you too. I have for a long time now. I just didn’t want to scare you thinking I was moving too quickly,” he said holding Gem’s face in his hands. He gave her another chaste kiss before letting her go.
But that was the last thing Gem wanted at the time. She reached up and dragged his face back down to hers and kissed him as passionately as she could. She shoved all her past abuse and trauma to the side and tried to live in the moment and remember that this guy was not one of the men her mom would bring home and come into her room at three in the morning. He wasn’t her high school boyfriend that didn’t understand simple words like ‘no’. This guy, right here in her arms, was her rock and the other piece of her soul. There was no way he would ever hurt her, and he would always treat her like a queen. She relaxed into the kiss, deepening it as it went along. Somehow, they made it to the bed. She knew they wouldn’t go much farther than kissing because that wasn’t who Jesse was, but this right here was exactly what Gemini needed. She needed to feel wanted and loved because she had never felt those things before.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The next day Gemini couldn't wipe the smile off her face no matter what she tried to do. She kept reminiscing about her night with Jesse. They had made out for a while before talking about their future and making plans. Then they finally fell asleep sometime after midnight, their arms and legs entangled. It was the best sleep she had had in a long time.
Gemini still had a smile on her face after her first shift at the cafeteria though her day could have gone better. She hadn't realized how different it would be going from waiting tables to actually making the food. But the rest of the staff never gave her grief about how many mistakes she made on her first day, even when she dropped an entire tub of spaghetti sauce in the floor causing one of the other cooks to slip on it and fall with an entire tray of breadsticks scattering across the floor. Thankfully, the guy was okay, but the breadsticks never had a chance.
Gemini decided a few days later when she still wasn't getting the hang of working in the cafeteria to check out the job board in the main building. There had to be something that she was better equipped to do because cooking was not it. She found a posting for a clerk in the library and figured that it might be perfect for her. It had to be better than what she was currently doing.
The library was massive, taking up a majority of the second floor of the main building. Gemini immediately fell in love with it mostly due to its charm. The bookcases were floor to ceiling height, which meant you had to use a ladder to access the top shelves. They were packed full of books too, everything from cookbooks to the History of Nephilim. Magnolia Crest might have been isolated from the rest of the world, but you would never know it by the variety of books they had. After meeting with the librarian, who was an older woman with salt and pepper hair named Gladys, she was immediately put to work.
She started re-shelving books and dusting
. She genuinely enjoyed the work she was doing probably because she was by herself and was in no danger of making a huge mess like back in the cafeteria. Gladys told her when they were not busy, she was more than welcome to take time to herself, as long as the cleaning was finished.
As days went by, she realized that the library wasn't terribly busy during the weekdays, mostly just in the evenings for a few hours when the kids finished up at school. Weekends were the busiest, according to Gladys. She said that the library was a 'happening spot'. Gem just smiled at her thinking that her 'busiest' was probably five to ten people. She was shocked when she walked into work on that Saturday to find every table full of people looking at books and conversing quietly with one another.
"What's going on?" she asked the librarian.
"Nothing. Just your typical weekend. This is how it always looks."
Gemini was flummoxed at the number of people in the building. They were covered up with kids, teens, adults, and even some seniors. Gladys said that when a table opened to just clear the books off so that someone else could use it and then reshelve the books. She would take care of any questions and the checking in and out of books. So, Gemini went about her work at first not really paying attention to the books she was removing from the tables.
But by the fifth trip to the same part of the library, she started noticing the titles of the books. Titles like "Nephilim and Angels", "The War Brewing", "Heaven vs. Hell: A History", and "Combat Tactics". She noticed that a lot of the books from this section of the library were not shelved due to them being read by the various patrons.
She kicked herself for not thinking about it earlier, but she should have been researching this so-called war since she got to Magnolia Crest. Especially since no one had explained any of it to them except that one day in the near future her baby sister and the man she loved would have to fight in it. She decided that from there on out every free minute she had she would devote to learning as much as she could about the war coming.
During the next week, Gemini read as much as she could about the war between Heaven and Hell and why the Nephilim were so important if Heaven was going to defeat Hell. The books said that Hell would try to topple Heaven on multiple occasions, sometimes through the work of demons posing as humans. This is where the Nephilim would come into play. Angels cannot possess humans the way demons can because it goes against Heavens' teachings of free will. Angels can come to Earth but only in small numbers which would not be enough to stop the demons from taking all the human souls to Hell for the final battle. Heaven needed an ally on Earth with some of the abilities that Angels have, which is why Nephilim were created.
Angels sought out human women to carry their offspring in the hopes that they would be able to stop Hell from achieving their domination. There were no side effects to the human women carrying the baby Nephilim, so more Angels were dispatched to create more children. To make sure Heaven’s goals were achieved, the four Archangels, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel, also sired children with human females. However, there were some side effects for the human mothers who conceived these children. The children were healthy, but the mothers suffered from mental diseases, including hallucinations and addictions, sometimes resulting in the death of the mother.
The tide would be turning soon, and the demons of Hell would start to lure unsuspecting humans into giving up their souls. All it took, according to the books, were a few bad decisions and turning away from Heaven to make your body accessible for demon possession. When that happened, it was a one-way ticket to Hell for your soul. The job of the Nephilim was to search out these demons and to eradicate them before they possessed any humans. Heaven believed strongly in free will and they would do anything to make sure the humans on Earth didn’t have that concept taken away from them. Even if that meant putting their children in the line of fire.
Gemini told Jesse about everything she had been learning about the war. Jesse wasn't the least bit apprehensive about it, unlike Gem who was a ball of nerves thinking about Jesse and Taura fighting actual demons. Gem had gone straight to the Sisters when she finished her research. The Sisters explained a few more things to her to help answer all the questions she had. Thankfully, they were very patient and welcoming of the questions.
They explained that they already had Nephilim out there hunting demons and one day when Jesse and Taura were ready they would be out there too, but that day was not today. The Sisters said that the demons who possessed humans were lower level and not that smart so sending them back to Hell or killing them if you were an Elite Nephilim using an Angel Fire Blade, was not that difficult. The upper-level demons were the ones to worry about, but the Angels always took care of those. The Sisters did make her feel a little better about everything, but she still didn't like the fact that her loved ones would be put in harm's way.
Days turned into weeks and then before they knew it, they had been at Magnolia Crest for a month. Thanksgiving was approaching and they were all feeling homesick. They hadn't talked to anyone in the family since there first day at the compound. They didn't want to put them at risk even though the Sisters had said the phones were untraceable. But the closer it got to Thanksgiving the more Jesse, Gemini, and Taura really wanted to talk to the Johnson family.
They finally decided to risk it and called Dani. It was such a relief to hear her voice. Jesse talked to her for a little while before putting her on speakerphone.
"Hey, Dani. We miss you guys," Gemini said. Before she could ask anything, Taura interrupted her.
"How are the puppies?" Taura asked.
"They are doing good, Taura. They miss you bunches though. How are you, sweet girl?" Dani asked.
Taura told her all about her school, friends, and her favorite class, Telepathy Studies. Taura was becoming a natural with her newfound ability, top of her class, according to her instructor. Gemini was happy that Taura was doing so well but at the same time fearful that she would be ready for the battle that much sooner. She needed time to slow down.
Once Taura had finished telling Dani all about her life, it was Gemini's turn to talk to her. Dani told Gem that they were hoping to be with them by Christmas if everything went according to plan. She said they had unexpected company earlier in the week from a couple of their friends that would be helping them with the move. She mentioned that these friends were the ones that helped with their move, as well. Gemini realized that she was talking about Olivia and Liam.
Before they hung up the phone, Dani told Gemini and Jesse, Taura had already drifted off to her room, that they were being closely watched at the moment and that it was getting more dangerous for them to stay where they were. Mr. Johnson decided to just close their businesses in a few weeks and board up the farm. The goats and chickens had been sold so that was one last thing for them to do. Dani told Jesse to call back in two weeks for an update and for them to be safe and that they loved and missed them. Gemini was so ecstatic that she gave Jesse a big kiss when the call ended.
"We'll all be together soon. I can't wait," she said.
Two weeks went by quickly and before they knew it, Jesse and Gemini were sitting on their bed calling Dani for an update. Jesse had already talked to the Elders and the Sisters about getting the family an apartment on the same floor as them and he got authorization for the dogs to live in the apartments until a house became available. Taura had been telling everyone about her puppies, as she called them. She loved those dogs so very much that you couldn’t wipe the smile off her face knowing that they would be reunited soon.
The phone rang and rang and rang, which was unlike Dani. She always picked up. Jesse dialed her number again and once again it went straight to voicemail. Gemini could feel her anxiety rising. Her hands started to get fidgety and her chest was starting to feel heavy. Jesse sensing what was going on reached over and took her hands into one of his.
“Everything is fine, sweetheart. I’m sure she is just busy. Let’s try again in a few minutes.”
Gemi
ni nodded and tried to focus on her breathing. She had been researching anxiety and panic attacks, when not looking at Nephilim history. The book she was currently reading had a variety of coping techniques for her condition, everything from deep breathing exercises to saying random numbers in your head. She had committed some of the techniques to memory for times like these. A few minutes went by and Gemini had regained her composure, the deep breathing technique while focusing on one thing seemed to work for her, at least this time it did.
Jesse let go of Gem’s hands and dialed the phone again. It rang twice before it was picked up.
No one said anything.
“Dani?” Jesse asked, his voice a little higher than normal.
“No, Mr. Johnson. This is not Dani, but we do have her, as well as the rest of your family. They will be released once you and the girl surrender to us. Make no mistake Mr. Johnson, we do not bargain with your kind. You will meet us tomorrow night at your former home or you will never see your family again.”
