Stop what?
Just stop.
Barny had stumbled over to the Ross's patio. He grabbed the umbrella from the picnic table, snapped the head off in his hands, and pointed the jagged end at Gideon.
"Just hold on!" Barny said. "Calm down!"
Gideon roared, slapping tip of the pole away with his hammer and launching himself like a human missile at his tormentor.
Barny dropped his pole and raised his hands, but Gideon hit him hard, slamming him back and into the glass patio doors. They crashed through, landing sprawled in a heap on the kitchen floor, a shocked Reverend Ross staring down at them.
They stared back up at the reverend in his purple bathrobe, coffee in his hand, donut in his mouth.
Barny recovered first, driving a knee up between Gideon's legs.
The pain exploded up Gideon's spine, and he collapsed, clutching himself and rolling off to the side.
When he looked up, Barny was gone, and Reverend Ross was on the phone.
Shit.
Gideon lurched painfully to his feet.
"Son, hold on!" the Reverend said.
Gideon didn't wait to hear what the man had to say, scrambling out through the shattered patio doors. He could hear sirens in the distance, drawing closer.
Shit.
CHAPTER SIX
Residual anger and shame battled for supremacy as Gideon staggered home.
He took the long way to avoid the police, so he had plenty of time to think things over. Seeing Barny the way he was, and then going through his own changes had explained a lot. Lily, he realized, had already gone through her own metamorphosis without realizing it. That's how she had survived the crash. The way that Barny's savage beating had awakened his own strength. And Barny... he'd been 'activated' when Lily punched him out at school.
It all confirmed what Melchizedek had said about his own changes, being shot. Becoming stronger.
More like their father.
Gideon stopped by a parked car and examined himself in its side mirror, looking for any physical changes. His eyes were their normal shade of blue, his hair as copper as ever. He was pale... but he was a ginge, and after what he'd been through, just felt sick.
His hands were still shaking as they lightly touched his face. There was a small cut under one eye and heavy bruising around his jaw, healing as he watched.
He stepped away from the car. That was... that was weird, man.
Gideon hastened on his way. He didn't like losing his temper like that. Hurting Barny like that, not that the guy didn't deserve it. And worse.
His anger reminded him too much of his foster father's abuse.
There was blood on his hands. His own, maybe a little of Barny's from when they crashed through the window. He hated the way it was caked under his nails. Gideon had always held those who lost their temper in contempt, and now he didn't feel like anything more than a hypocrite.
Never again. This strength was too dangerous. He didn't want to kill anyone.
***
When Delilah discovered that Gideon wasn't home, she wasn't terribly surprised.
When she found his bike in a twisted heap, handlebars burnt through, she was more concerned. When she came across the path of destruction leading to the Ross's house, she started to feel a tinge of panic.
She watched the deputies scour the property with some disquiet before riding off on her dirt bike. With all four of the Sheriff's men busy, there wouldn't be anyone to bust her riding it down the streets of Laton.
It didn't take her long to get to the water tower.
"You don't look any different," she said, standing on her tiptoes, examining his face.
"How'd you find me?"
"This is where you always go when you're upset. And anywhere in town, it just takes a quick glance to see if you're up here."
Gideon leaned against the railing. This late in the day the tower didn't have a hot side.
"I saw your bike."
He glanced at her sidelong. "How bad is it?"
"Terminal."
"Shit." He exhaled. "I got in a fight."
"I saw."
"You saw it?"
"Just the mess you made. Deputies are all over it."
"Fuck." He pounded the railing, and the tower shook beneath Delilah's feet. "This is all Barny's fucking fault."
She steadied herself, looking down at her bike. "Did you... did you kill him?"
"No." His hands clenched and unclenched. "He's... he's one of us, too."
She felt her stomach drop. "For real?"
"Yeah."
"Shit." She gazed off into the distance. "I had no idea he was adopted."
"He must have kept it a secret."
"It wasn't just him," Delilah said. "There aren't any records."
Gideon grinned. "Why am I not surprised that you've checked?"
Her face burned. "I'm sure you can agree it was prudent, given our circumstances."
"Yeah."
She kicked at the railing. "I went to see Melchizedek. In the desert."
Gideon looked up. "Alone?"
"I had questions."
"Yeah, but alone?"
"Well, I couldn't ask you, could I?" She turned away. "You've been so busy following Lily around like a little lost puppy I haven't been able to keep up with you."
"You saw how she is. I can't just... let her go on like that."
"It's not your business. You always do that." She slipped an arm around his.
He smiled down at her. "I can't stand by while people are hurting, you know me. And besides, she's our sister."
She held him tighter. Now, it was the time now.. "That's why I love you, you know?"
Gideon paused. "You're my sister too."
She leaned her head against his side. "Not really. I mean, not from a biological perspective."
"Melchizedek said--"
"No, that's the thing. Our father wasn't... whatever he was, he wasn't biological. We're not really biological. And it's not like we grew up together--"
Gideon pulled away. "Wait, we're not what?"
"Technically we're not genetically related--"
"We're not real?" Gideon asked.
"We're real, we're just not biological."
Gideon ran a hand through his hair. "What does that even mean?"
"It means that I love you, Gideon." She felt a thrill, saying it again. "I'm in love with you. I've been in love with you."
"Oh god." Gideon turned and put his hands on the railing. "I really can't handle this right now."
Delilah refused to be hurt. Gideon was just overwhelmed.
"I know it's a lot to take in. Especially given your changes. But, look, we can leave town together. Go to Houston. Or further. Start a life together."
"No, Delilah, no."
Why wasn't he seeing reason? "Gideon--"
"It wouldn't work between us, Delilah. For a lot of reasons."
Her stomach turned into stone, and she felt nauseous. "It is her, isn't it. Lily. You like her more than me."
Gideon reached for her. "No, no, it's not like that. I just... with what I am now... I'm like Melchizedek. If it's not Barny, or the cops, it'll be the men who are after him. I... I can't protect you. I can barely take care of myself."
"Well, that's easily handled, isn't it?" She stepped away from him, talking fast, her thoughts coming faster than she could articulate. "I mean seriously, if that's your only objection then there's a simple solution to the problem."
"What are you talking about?" Gideon asked.
"Oh, so now you're concerned." Delilah hoisted herself up on the railing.
His eyes widened. Fast as he'd become, his fingers only just brushed the cloth of her hoodie as she leapt.
She flew.
Briefly.
***
"No, no, no, no, no!" Gideon landed next to Delilah with a crash, a cloud of dust and gravel rising from his impact. "Oh god, no, 'Lilah."
It was bad. Really bad. She'd landed fa
ce-down across the wrought-iron fence, tines piercing her chest and abdomen.
"Oh god, oh god," Gideon repeated, clenching and un-clenching his hands. Should he take her off the fence? Leave her where she was? Go for help?
There was so much blood.
"Why did you... oh god. Delilah. Oh, honey."
She was the smart one. She'd have known what to do. He grabbed her by the hip and shoulder, braced himself, then lifted her off of the tines. He'd hear the wet sounds of suction in his darkest nightmares for months to come. It was something he'd never forget, even after he'd seen and heard much worse things, even after he had become one of those worse things himself.
He held her, her hot blood soaking through his shirt, drenching him to his shoes. "Come on."
How did this work? He'd changed and woken in moments. It had taken Lily a week.
"Come on, Delilah. Come on. Don't leave me."
Didn't Melchizedek say that if the gunman had killed him instantly he wouldn't have come back at all?
He sniffled the tears back. "Come on. Please."
The blood oozing from her wounds took on a blackish hue, a darkness that didn't take long to spread. As Gideon watched, the flow stopped as if frozen, then started to rise from the ground and his clothing, rising as a black mist.
Not a black mist. A black shadow.
It rose, then seemed to suck back into Delilah's wounds.
"Holy shit."
Delilah's eyes fluttered open. "Gideon?"
"Oh god, oh god, Delilah, you're alive!"
He held her close, letting the tears fall from his eyes. She felt so small, so light in his arms.
She muttered something into his shoulder.
"What?" He leaned back.
"Why don't you love me?" her voice was still small, weak.
"I love you," Gideon said. "Of course I love you. Just not in that way."
He carried her back to the side of the road.
"Why not?" For perhaps the first time since Gideon had known Delilah, she sounded like other girls her age. Insecure, sad, young.
He sat on the curb, practically cradling her. He looked up and down the street, biting his lip, not really sure what to say, how to say it.
"Is it because I'm too young? Too plain? Too much a nerd? Not enough like Lily?"
"No, no," Gideon said, wiping tears from his eyes. "You're wonderful. A beautiful angel. And it has nothing to do with Lily, or any other girl."
"Then why?" she asked. "Why aren't I enough for you?"
He sighed. It was hard to say, a secret, the only secret he had kept to himself in this small town, the only one that mattered. He'd hoped to keep it until he left Laton and its small minds and smaller ideas behind, but he couldn't stand to watch Delilah suffer. If she'd died because he'd rejected her... he owed her that much. He owed her far more.
"I'm gay, Lily." God, to actually say it. "I'm gay."
She looked up at him, hand briefly touching his face. "Is that all?"
***
They sat silently, holding one another, until the sun had set and the moon risen. No words were exchanged, none were needed, but tears shed were mingled.
"I should get home," Delilah said. "And so should you."
"I guess," Gideon said.
"Don't guess. Just stay out of Bill's way."
"I'm not afraid of him," Gideon said. "Less so now."
"We don't need attention." She lifted her hoodie's hem, exposing the tiny marks that were all that remained of the fence's injury. "Especially now."
"You're right," Gideon said. "Of course you're right."
"I'm always right."
"Not always."
She smiled at him. "Almost always."
"Thanks, Delilah." Gideon said. "It feels good. To say it. To have it out there."
She stood up from the curb and gave him a peck on the cheek. "We need to have a serious talk about all this," Delilah said. "Figure out where we go from here."
"Yeah," Gideon said. "This is a game changer, isn't it?"
"I have some ideas."
"I bet you do."
"Tomorrow? At the Spot? After school?"
"Tomorrow."
Gideon watched as Delilah rode off on her motorbike. Smiling in the moonlight, he turned and came face to face with Barny.
"Well, that was fucking enlightening."
Gideon's mouth went dry. "What did you hear?"
"I've been watching since your girl there took her swan dive off of the tower. Amazing what these new senses can pick up."
Gideon balled his fists, staring at the jock's smug grin. "Well?"
"Well what?"
"Now you know. About me."
Barny's grin faded. "Cermak, you think I'm a monster. Maybe you're right. Maybe I am. Maybe I'm every bit as callous and cruel as you want me to be. But if I am, and that's a big if... if I am, then you don't get to decide what kind of monster I am."
"What?"
Barny turned and walked away, giving him the finger. "Good luck with the persecution complex, asshole."
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lily's parents didn't call her out on having snuck out when she got home, and somehow that made it worse. She wasn't lying to them about the way she felt, but she'd never kept her problems hidden from them in the past. Her parents had always maintained an open and honest relationship with their daughter, and there had never been anything she didn't believe she could talk about with them.
Until now.
She didn't think she could have a serious discussion about it with them. She didn't even like thinking about it, about the implications for who and what she was.
Her parents, as they always had, respected her boundaries, not even asking her to come down when the Ross's arrived for dinner.
Jessie Ross knocked on her door after the meal, before her family left.
Lily opened her door a crack. "Hi."
Jessie smiled. "Hi, Lily. Do you have a moment to talk?"
Lily looked away, then shook her head. "I'm sorry, I'm not feeling very well."
The normally passive girl pushed her way into the room. "I'm sorry Lily, I'd respect your wishes, but this is very important."
Lily was too surprised to stop her. "Oh... okay?"
Jessie walked to the middle of the room, arms folded. "You know I'm not one to be so... brash... but desperate times call for desperate measures."
Lily pushed her door closed, then sat on the side of the bed. "It's okay, Jessie. I'm listening."
She turned. "This isn't something I talk about, you understand. It's not polite conversation."
Lily nodded, wondering where this was going. With Jessie, it could be almost anything. The girl had an excruciatingly strong moral compass.
Jessie put a hand on Lily's shoulder. "I know what you've been going through, Lily. I know. I want you to know that you're not alone."
Lily smiled and patted the girl's hand. "That's sweet. Thank you."
Jessie's face reddened. "No, I'm serious. These aren't platitudes, Lily."
Lily stood. "I appreciate the sentiment, Jessie, but I'm not sure that you do understand what I've been through."
"I do," Jessie said. "The dreams. The divine gifts. We're special, Lily."
Lily's heart leapt in her chest. "What?"
Jessie smiled and took the other girl's hands. "I've had visions, Lily. I've seen you, risen most high to serve the Holy Father."
"Visions?"
"Those are my gifts," Jessie said. "As you've got your own."
Lily felt cold, turning away. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Jessie winced. "I know when you're lying, sweetheart."
"I'm not--"
"I know when everybody's lying. Another gift." Jessie stepped up alongside Lily. "I know it's hard to accept. I know you're afraid."
"More gifts?" Lily suppressed a smile.
"No. I know because that's how I felt. When the dreams and visions started. When I first came to know our father."
>
Lily turned her head sharply. "What did you say?"
"You know, don't you?" Jessie asked. "That we're sisters? Not just in the Church, but real sisters?"
Lily's voice was soft, almost inaudible. "I know. And Delilah. And Gideon's our brother."
Jessie clapped. "There are others? That's... amazing!"
"And Melchizedek."
"Who?"
The fact that Jessie didn't have all the answers made Lily feel better, more in control. "Melchizedek. Our brother. He's... different. He came to town two weeks ago. He's the one who... who told me about this."
"He must be closer to our father."
"Do you know who that is?"
"I've seen him. In my dreams. Haven't you?"
Lily closed the window blinds. "I don't remember them very well."
"Our father is an angel, Lily. Isn't that glorious?"
Lily blinked. "An angel?"
"That makes us half-angel. Nephilim."
"Nephilim."
Jessie spoke in a measured sing-song voice. "There were giants in the Earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same mighty men of old, men of renown."
Lily sat on the bed again, feeling heavy, feeling the weight of the quote from Genesis on her soul. "Oh my God."
"It's a lot to take in," Jessie said. "I know. I discovered what I was when I was very young, and I still find it hard to really accept most days. But we must, Lily. We were created by the grace of God to serve a holy purpose."
"What purpose?" Lily asked.
"I can't answer that for you," Jessie said. "That's something you need to find yourself. But I do know that if you try to resist, if you refuse to accept who and what you are, it'll only lead to pain and ruin. For you, and for those you care about."
Lily didn't respond, lowering her head to her hands.
"I know you must feel so alone. But you're not. I'm here for you -- that's my purpose. And now there's Gideon, and Delilah, and this Melchizedek. They need us, too. They need you."
"Me?" Lily laughed. "They're handling this much better than I am."
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