Andrew returned all the weaponry to the armoury. Sean sat on a bed and proceeded to remove the armour. As he took off each section, it downgraded back into its original form of a ring. Andrew brought him the box and Coach placed all 6 rings back into the container. Next, with his assistance and guidance, Andrew patched him up and cleaned his wounds.
“You gonna be ok Coach?”
Sean smiled, “I’ve been doing this for year’s son. I’ll be fine.”
Andrew slouched back in a chair and gave a monumental sigh then sat forward and clutched his head in his hands. Sean could see he was extremely overwhelmed by the entire experience. “How you holding up A.R?”
Andrew slowly reared his head back up. He struggled to find the words to express what he was feeling at that moment.
“Sir I have so many questions to ask and I don’t know where to start.”
Sean placed his hand on Andrews shoulder.
“Son, it's time you found out what is happening and what is going to take place. Who you are. Who your father was.” Andrew’s eyes instantly widened. Sean could sense his eagerness.
“You’re a very special kid Andrew, and we have a lot of work to do.”
“We?” replied Andrew.
“Yes, we. From today, I want you here with me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”
Andrew looked stunned and confused. “Err Coach, wait a minute. That’s not possible. I do have a life ya know. And what about my mum, my friends, Louise?!
“Leave that to me, Andrew. Right now you need to focus on what’s important. And I need your one hundred percent commitment. Do I have it?”
Andrew felt slightly pressured but he was in too deep now. Plus he owed his life to Coach Stevens on two occasions now. He agreed.
“Meet me here tomorrow at 10 am. We’ll begin debriefing then. Don’t be late.” Said Coach.
Andrew got up to leave but Coach interrupted him, “And Andrew. Do not tell anyone what you saw here today, ok?”
Andrew nodded and left the compound.
Walking back to his car he checked his phone and had multiple missed calls and texts from his friends and mother. He redialled his mother’s number. Her voice came over the speaker.
“Hey boy, you ok?”
“Yeah I’m good ma. I’m good.”
“So what’s up baby? What you been doing today?”
Andrew went silent for a moment. He wanted to tell his mother everything but promised Coach Stevens he wouldn’t say anything. He looked down at his hand, remembering he was still bugged and replied accordingly.
“Oh, nothing just chilled as usual. What time you home?
“I’ll be home around 5.”
“Ok, well I’ll be home for dinner tonight. Maybe we get a film or something too?
“A film? You feeling ok Andrew? Emelia laughed down the phone.
“Yeah, a film ma. I was thinking with all that’s gone on in the last few days, we should spend more time together as a family ya know.”
Emelia could sense the sincerity in his voice and smiled.
“Ok baby. I’ll grab some popcorn and ice cream on the way home.”
“Cool ma, I’ll catch you later. I love you.”
“Love you too boy.”
He hung up the phone and headed home. He had a lot on his mind to think about whilst he drove but one thing stood out to him vividly.
He remembered the words Anak had said and it intrigued him;
‘He is one of us; he deserves to be with us’
What did that mean?
Was he like Anak?
Was he going to become evil?
And most importantly…what was A Nephilim?
CHAPTER 10
Waking up the next day Andrew had a lot on his mind. Checking his phone he could see from the amount of missed calls and messages he had from his friends that they were obviously worried about him. He said a small prayer then got ready and left. On his way to meet Coach Stevens, the word Nephilim appeared in his mind over and over again. As he approached the abandoned church, his phone began to ring. The unknown number could only belong to one person. Still he answered with caution.
“Hello?”
“Andrew leave your car on the main road and make your way here on foot.” Then the line went dead.
Andrew followed the instructions and walked the rest of the way.
Entering into the church, he was shaken suddenly by the voice that boomed through the great hall.
“Do you remember the organ combination I used to open the secret entrance?” the voice said crackling over the PA system.
Andrew looked around bemused. “Umm, no I don’t.”
Again the voice echoed loudly, “Approach the organ. I’m only going to teach you this once.”
Andrew stood over the keys and watched as Coach remotely played the classified sequence of notes from inside the compound. He carefully memorized the order until it was perfectly etched in his brain.
“Now you,” the voice said.
Placing his fingers carefully on the organ he repeated the order of musical tones and the door underneath the pulpit surfaced. He entered and was once again met with the dead end wall. Over the speakers, Sean guided his hand across the wall to the hidden slab so he could scan his hand. “Remember where that panel is,” he instructed him. Following this Andrew knew the eye scan was next. He steadied his head and stood prone ready to be scanned. “Welcome, Mr. Robertson.” The doors slid open and he was greeted by an unfamiliar smiling Coach Stevens. They shook hands. “Follow me,” said Sean.
Mr. Stevens led him to a meeting room situated in the Library. “Take a seat,” he said to Andrew pointing at the table. Disappearing down an aisle of publications, Sean quickly reappeared with a bible in his hand. He sat across the table from Andrew and slid the book across the table to him. On inspection of the book, Andrew could see a bookmark had been placed a few pages in from the beginning. Sean watched as Andrew lifted the page and found the highlighted passage picked out for him specifically. “Read it aloud,” he said.
Andrew slowly dictated the text;
‘When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.’
He looked up at coach. “Is that what I am? A Nephilim?”
Sean was about to answer him but was interrupted by the sounds of the motion detector alarms going off. “Stay here.” He said as he ventured out to deal with the security breach.
Andrew sat and kept reading the passage over and over. Turning the bible over he searched through the index. His finger scanned over the pages;
Aloes, Altar, Amen. His hand stopped dead as he identified what he was looking for. Anak he thought to himself.
The index gave him passages in the bible where he could find text on the Canaanite. Andrew found it difficult to come to terms with what he was reading.
How is this possible? This guy is from the bible times?
His thought process was interrupted by the sound of the mechanized security doors opening. He could hear multiple footsteps and voices as they came nearer and nearer. Shutting the bible, he gathered his thoughts and waited on the arrival of Coach Stevens.
The door swung open and coach stepped through but he didn’t shut it behind him. “We have company,” he said. Andrew stood up. He was nervous and didn’t know what to expect next but to his pleasant surprise, he was promptly greeted by the presence of his three best friends. Andrew relaxed with ease and embraced his peers. They al
l bumped fists and began their usual banter. Adam seemed enthralled by the volumes of the library and quietly snuck away amongst the mass of books.
“Yo this place is absolutely crazy!” shouted Josh as his eyes took in the surroundings.
Andrew laughed, “I know right. It’s like a friggin batcave.”
Jaime punched him in the chest.
“So when were you gonna fill us in on yesterday’s happenings?” The room fell quiet with an awkward silence as Andrew was put on the spot. As he went to answer, he was interrupted by Coach Stevens.
“Because I told him not to say a word. That’s why.” Andrew shrugged in agreement. Everyone’s attention turned to Sean. “And he did the right thing. I needed to know I could trust him. Keeping something like this secret from his best friends was a test. One of many to come. You did good kid.”
Although slightly annoyed Jaime begrudgingly accepted his friend’s situation and praised Andrew for his loyalty.
Sean then gestured for Josh and Jaime to sit down around the table. Noticing someone was missing, he called out to Adam, who was embroiled in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. The thunderous voice of Coach Stevens quickly brought him back to reality and he hurried back to the table. The room fell silent and Sean took control once again.
“So you’re all probably wondering why you’re here. Well, we all have one thing in common. We all know that Andrew here can lift around 2 tons of weight above his head.” Josh laughed but was quickly hushed by the serious gaze of Mr. Stevens. “With that being said; you three are just as vital to my operation as Andrew is. You weren’t in the original plan but things happen and so we adapt.” Sean pulled out a switch from his pocket and pressed it. The room dimmed into darkness and a screen appeared from the wall.
“So you want to know what happened yesterday. Well, take a look.”
The screen began to play the footage of the battle Coach had been through the previous day. Jaime, Josh and Adam looked on in pure amazement. The silence created by their sheer concentration on what they were witnessing was enough to hear a pin drop. The CCTV recording finally came to an end, the room brightened up again and the screen disappeared into the wall. All three friends looked at coach then at Andrew in genuine awe and confusion. Andrew sat silent and smiled nervously.
“Is this a joke? Please tell me what I just saw was something out of a film or some shit. There is no way that shit is real!” shouted Jaime.
Andrew nodded and smirked. “It’s real alright.” Josh sat bewildered. For once he was left without a witty remark. Sean gauged their reactions but when he looked over to Adam, he could sense the boy was calculating.
“What are you thinking son?”
Adam sat mumbling under his breaths but quickly stood up and addressed Sean.
“Well, Sir, we had a small talk about the whole strange happenings thing going on with Andrew recently.”
Sean interrupted him, “Yes in the park right? You think he’s the offspring of a military experiment gone wrong.”
Adam looked at Andrew, who rolled his eyes and gestured for him to carry on. “Well yes, sir those were my original thoughts. Now, that and this whole underground covert base would make anyone agree with me that this has some sort of government hand involved with it. But after seeing that footage, it’s clear we are dealing with something of a supernatural nature. Am I close?”
Sean paced back and forth slowly. “I like you, son, you’re extremely receptive. A crazy thinker, but a thinker nonetheless,” he pointed at Adam. Sitting down, Sean removed his dog tags from around his neck, slamming them on the table.
“You’re right to a point Adam. I am ex-military. My father was a general in the US ARMY and an ex Green Beret. I took after him in every way and wanted to be just like him. From the early age of 6, I used to shoot guns with him. Turns out I had an exceptional talent for attention to detail and marksmanship.
By the age of 10, my IQ was 160 and I could shoot a bird in mid-flight from a distance of 1000 yards away. So the government being the government came up with a ‘project’ for me and other kids like me. It was called,” he paused and focused his gaze on Andrew.
“Project Nephilim.”
“This little sideshow the US Army had put together consisted of technically, mentally and physically gifted children being subjected to rigorous military training and procedures that were pretty much too savage to be deemed humane by anyone with a right mind. Everything was done in secrecy. Child soldiers aren’t exactly deemed acceptable by society. We didn’t exist. Don’t even think black-ops. Think myths and legends. We were ghosts. I had covered tours all over the world by the time I was 18. We dethroned dictatorships, assassinated tyrants and liberated countries from terrorist cells. Not on the books of course but I was serving my country which was all that mattered.
As years went on, due to the delicate nature of our work and the confidentiality of our ranks we were approached by the government to undertake ‘special assignments’.”
Jaime questioned him, “What do you mean special assignments?”
“We were sent into hostile territories all over the world to ‘retrieve artefacts of great importance’ or that’s what’s our mission brief stated, I didn’t question it. Some were old manuscripts, others ornaments and relics. Whatever it was, we got it.” Coach Stevens sighed and fell silent for a few seconds. “Then. Our last mission. We were briefed to recover a text known as The Key of Solomon. It was hidden deeply underground in the ruins of a holy temple in Jerusalem. We went in under the cover of night. It should have been a quick grab and go mission but it went wrong. So wrong.” His tone became melancholy.
“When I grabbed the book, it triggered some sort of incantation. The thing that emerged attacked us. It, it wasn’t of this world. It looked like a man but it ravaged my team like a beast. With ease, it just tore through them. Ammunition didn’t work on this thing. Nothing did. We were pinned down and killed off one by one. My whole team was slaughtered before my eyes. I was the last one left and for the first time in my entire life, I was genuinely scared. I mean I had faced tanks and rocket launchers and come face to face with those so-called weapons of mass destruction but nothing prepared me for this.” He lowered his head in shame.
“I felt helpless. Defenceless. I did the only thing my mind could think to do at that moment. I literally cried out to God.” Sean laughed to himself. “I’m not even a religious man. But I literally gave every ounce of belief into that cry for help. As the monster advanced on my position, from outta nowhere, this blinding light filled the entire tomb. I was underground. At night. There was no explanation for this light. Then a man appeared from it and just rushed at the beast. From my cover, I watched the two go at it but the immense force they created from their collision caused me to be knocked unconscious by falling debris. I woke up in a small church off the River Jordan. The Key of Solomon was at my feet and a man was sat next to me. As ridiculous as this sounds he told me he was an Angel and introduced himself as Anthony.”
Andrew began to feel butterflies in his stomach. His heart began to beat faster. Coach carried on his story.
“He explained to me he was a Nephilim hunter. And the thing we encountered in the ruins was said demon. We awakened it by removing The Key of Solomon, which just so happens to be a book that instructs a person how to conjure demons and spirits and how to control them. Funny how the government forgot to mention that part. This was the first time I met your father, Andrew.”
Feeling the emotion begin to stir up inside himself Andrew tried to hide his sentimentality by covering his face with his hands. Jaime comforted his friend as he knew this revelation was a heavy issue.
“So what you’re telling me is, my father is an angel? And I’m some sort of angel/human cross breed. A Nephilim or whatever? He scratched his head. “This shit just keeps getting weirder and weirder.” Adam looked on wide-eyed. The whole story was a comic book geeks dream. “So what happened next,” he asked eagerly.
Sean
continued, “Your father told me to safeguard The Key of Solomon. Unsurprisingly our government wanted it for its nefarious properties and if it fell into the wrong hands who knows what could happen.”
Jaime questioned coach, “But why you? Why couldn’t the angels just take it and safeguard it themselves?”
“Because there are rules,” replied Sean. “What rules?” interrupted Jaime, rather cynically.
“I cannot rush into everything so quickly but I will teach you all I know.
You just have to trust me.”
A look of mixed reactions filled the room. Disbelief, scepticism, amazement. The four friends looked at each other, questioning the reality of their situation. Suddenly Andrew broke the silence. “After what I’ve seen firsthand, I trust you coach and I’m willing to follow you but if you want my help I want to know everything about my father.”
Sean nodded in agreement, “and you three?” He looked at Jaime. Josh and Adam.
Without hesitation, Adam replied, “I’m in.”
Jamie turned to him in shock, “Errrm don’t you think we should think about this before rushing into anything crazy.”
“From where I sit, we don’t have a choice Jaime. Look at it like this; we know too much anyway. To not learn anymore would be stupid. You saw the footage; it’s there right before you. I know it’s hard to believe, and I agree this is happening really fast, but so is Andrew picking up your car with us in it! Come on, imagine the possibilities man. All those conspiracies and theories we talked about, who knows what we could uncover man. Plus, A.R needs us, we have to be there to support him,” explained Adam.
Andrew turned to his two best friends. “I could use your support guys.”
Huffing and puffing Jaime reluctantly agreed. Josh on the other hand just agreed so he didn’t feel left out.
Nephilim Page 14
