Electus [Working Title] Chapter One

 CHAPTER ONE:

               I sat just outside my small one bedroom loft on a bench that was located in the midst of a tiny garden. The flowers have closed up for the day but their sweet scent still wafted through the air that surrounded me. There was a slight chill in the air causing me to cross my arms over my chest. Sapphire gemstones take in the sight before me as a few cars make their way passed my house. A bark can be hard in the distance where my dog, Rosie, chases something that must only be seen by her eyes.

               Another moment passed before I called my dog back to me and turned to walk into the house just as the ground shook beneath me. The rumbling ended as quick as it began and I tried to both steady myself and while soothing my whimpering dog. “Was that an earth quake?” I questioned myself, looking around as other people filtered out into the street. 

               I finally made my way back inside and toward my door. Once inside my apartment I located my living room and took a seat. I grabbed the remote off the small round table that sat next to a large leather lounger and switched on the TV. I didn’t have to turn the channels much as it seemed the news was on every one. “Investigator began searching earlier tonight for where this meteor might have hit but all that remained was a deep crater in the midst of the central downtown area. I repeat, no meteor was found.” 

               I pressed the power button off and shook my head. My dog, a large golden retriever, placed her head in my lap. I ran my hand across her head, “I don’t know how to explain it either, Rosie.” I told her. She simply wagged her tail at the sound of her name and I found myself smiling down at her. That’s why I loved her, she was so oblivious to the world all she knows is how to love you and that’s what I needed in this crazy life of mine. 

               Being an intern at the Haven Sent Times here in South Haven, New York, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, in fact it’s nothing like what I thought. I thought I would be a reporter by now, reporting on things like this meteor rather than fetching donuts but alas things haven’t quite gone as planned when I up and moved to New York. I expected to be working at the New York Times not the Haven Sent but I would take what I could get at this point.

               Before a second thought crossed my mind I was up and out of my seat looking for some paper. I hadn’t gotten anything published in the newspaper yet but that didn’t stop me from submitting my work to the editor. I’m certain by now he has a pile up to his ears of stories I’ve written. Though Aide was only the editor of a small town newspaper that didn’t seem to stop him from being a pompous ass about it, of course his Senator mother and Sherriff father didn’t seem to help things either.

               I scribbled a few notes on the meteor and my experiences making a mental note of finding the meteor site tomorrow and get a full account of what had happened prior to going to bed. That night I had a dream I was riding a fiery rock straight into the New York Times building.

              

               The sun shone through the lightly colored curtains on my window just as a knock sounded at my door. Rosie barked a few times before I was able to tear myself out of bed. I didn’t need to check through the peep hole to know who was outside my door. No, I was certain it was Billie, my best friend. She’s a writer too but more like mystery novels than reporting the news. I meet her at a writer’s convention a few years back and we’ve been almost inseparable ever since. 

               She has a nasty habit however of showing up at my house several hours before I need to be awake. “Knock, knock.” Her chipper voice sounded on the other side of the door. “Rise and shine sleepy head… I brought coffee.” The word ‘Coffee’ perked me up and I opened the door to let her in. “Good morning, Jules…took you long enough, its cold outside.” She went on and on as she walks towards the small kitchen. I closed the door and followed after her. “Did you know a meteor hit in the park? Of course they haven’t found the meteor so one can’t be too sure what it was… Maybe an alien!” she offered. “Billie, I love you and all that but I don’t think I can deal with your theories until I’ve had my coffee.”

               She smiled crookedly, tilting her head to look at me. “You look terrible, did you sleep?” She inquired. I made my way toward where she’d set down the coffee on my table. After removing the lid I lifted it to my lips and allowed the warm liquid to burn my throat. I sighed into the cup before putting it back on the table. “I guess I just had weird dreams last night and also, it’s 6 am.” I informed her. “Oh it is? I’ve been up since 4, you know us writers gotta go where the inspiration hits.”

               I shake my head, “Speaking of, you want to go with me to see where this supposed meteor struck; I need to get a closer look.” Billie frowned, “You’re writing another paper for the snooty editor of yours aren’t you?” I lift my shoulder in a light shrug, “I figure if I bother him enough he will publish something just to get me off his back.” Billie smiled, patted my head and then after picking it up she handed me my coffee back. “You’re going to need more of this.”

               It didn’t take long before I was dressed and ready to go but Billie insisted I go back to my room and change three times before she was satisfied. “You never underestimate a good pant suit, Juliette…that could mean the difference between being a published news reporter and…you.” I huffed on my disapproval as she just smiled at me. 

               We made our way to the center of town where there was a small park. It wasn’t much but it had several park benches, a fountain and a swing set. However, now smack in the middle laid a large crater at least as wide as I am tall which for me is short but for a crater it seemed huge. The cops that were still on scene wouldn’t let us close enough to really get a good look inside but we noted the vast emptiness of the hole. If it was really a meteor we assumed there would be rubble from the rock in the hole whereas this looked as though it were simply dug out.

               I was jotting down a few notes when someone walked by me, running into my arm and causing me to scribble across the page. “Hey!” I exclaimed turning toward where the man was now walking away. “Rude!” I hollered after him but he didn’t look back instead he simply kept on walking. Billie was looking at him as well a curious grin on her lips as she turned back toward me. “Did you get a good look at him?” She asked. I shook my head, bending over to grab the pen that he’d knocked out of my head. “No,” I said, standing back up to turn and look at his retreating form prior to connecting with Billie’s gaze. “He was cute.” She said. I rolled my eyes. “You would notice that.”

               After leaving the site of the meteor Billie went on about whatever it is she does during the day as I went to work. The day seemed to drag on with the same old activities, save for the one moment I got to myself where I wrote up my report on the meteor and the many theories that surrounded it. Before I left I found Aiden, “Mr. Reece,” I said, feeling silly calling someone who was merely a year older Mister but he insisted. “Yes, Miss Lange.” He turned away from what he was doing to look at me, a smile etching across his features. “Here’s my report on the meteor.” He glanced down at the paper in my hand before taking it.

               “Why Miss Lange, you quite efficient aren’t you? Even my own field reporters have yet to get their papers into me.” I hoped that meant I would get the credit and he’d print it but I wasn’t about to get my hopes up. “Thank you, I read it right now.” I wasn’t sure if he was being serious or polite but since he wasn’t often either of those things I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d really read it. “Thank you.” I said before turning to make my way out of the building.

               I made my way across town and back toward the building in which I lived when I saw it. A bright white light, streaming across the sky like a shooting star but instead of fizzling off it plummets towards the earth. A loud rumble rocks the earth beneath my feet as I take off running toward what I thought to be a meteor. 

               It seemed to hit not far from my home and upon arriving on site all that was found was a tiny glowing white globe. The light within the sphere pulsed as it seemed to dart around in the hole made in the earth. Soon, it stops and for a moment it’s almost as if it’s observing me. Like it’s taken a moment to assess its options before it moves once more, this time in my direction. 

               It came at me at an alarming rate and I took a few steps back before turning to run away. I looked back as it continued to chase me down but just as I turned to continue running I ran into someone. The orb didn’t stop its pursuit of me and just as I fell onto the person in front of me the gleaming light hit me. “No!” a voice hissed in my ear. That light had vanished just as it hit me and I glanced around for it before feeling two hands pushing at me, “Oh.” I said moving to stand.

            

           “What did you do?” the man asked. I shook my head looking around once more for the sphere. “Where did it go? Did you see it?” I looked toward the man who was now swiping at his clothes before frowning at me. “It’s inside you, how is this possible. There are no nephilim left on the earth.” My gaze widened, “Excuse me, nephilim?” I wasn’t always the church going type but I knew enough about the bible to know what the word ‘Nephilim’ meant. “Are you drunk?” I ask him. He reaches for me and I move out of his grasp. “You need to come with me now before they find us, surely they saw the light.”

               I watched the man curiously, taking another step away. I hadn’t smelled alcohol on his breath but anyone who’s rambling on like he is must be on something. “Look, I don’t know what you’re on but I’m not going anywhere with you, alright?” The man glanced around frantically before talking a solitary step forward. “You aren’t going to believe anything I’m about to tell you but I need you to listen.” He began. “That light you just saw, that was my grace… I lost it when I fled from heaven and fell to earth.” My eyes close into slits as he continues, “The children of god, otherwise known as the Nephilim were thought to have died of thousands of years ago but now my grace is inside you.”

               I pulled in a calming breath, “You’re right I don’t believe you.” I inform him before starting away from him. He began to follow me, “Please, go back to the crack house or something.”

              

             “Stop, you need to listen. My name is Ezekiel and I am an angel of the Lord. Without my grace I will surely die…” He moves at a pace that seems almost too quick and comes to rest in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. “Look,” he nods toward me. “Look at your hands.” I lift my hands and glance down at my palms within them are two small designs. “What – What are they?”

               “They’re glphs,” he holds out his hands. “I have them too, we all do. They represent the nails that Christ received on the cross.” I shake my head. Those marks were not there before today, of that I can be sure. I began to rub at them as if they would come right off. “This—this is crazy.” I stutter, still trying and failing to remove the marks. “They won’t come off.” He told me. “They are yours now.”

“I don’t want them,” I said, hysteria corrupting my tone. “I don’t even know what’s happening,” the man who called himself Ezekiel stepped forward. “I’m sorry you have to find out this way, but they will surely be upon us soon we must go, do you have a safe haven?” I glanced toward the road that led to my house. I could see the building from where I stood and I turned back to him unsure of whether or not I should invite him into my home. 

What if all this was some sort of hallucination and next thing I know I strapped to a chair in his basement having a tea party with his last girlfriend and his mother. I glanced back down at my hands; the marks that started out a charred black seemed to slowly fade as they were now shimmering silver. “They will return when you need them,” Ezekiel spoke again. Almost as though his words just struck me I look up. “Who? Who’s after us?” I inquire, panic rising in me again. “The demons.” He answered plainly and with that the world went black as I fainted.

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