Counter Lotus

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Under the night sky, the brick path edged the lawn of the condo grounds, weaving us through flower gardens and hedges. He walked steadily, as if to escape each word he spoke. He did seem more relaxed though. Probably because the subject shifted from his wife to supernatural politics. Afterall, there was a lot of backstory I needed first.

And I mean a lot of backstory. That's right. Get your paper and pen ready, everybody! We were embarking on another supernatural lesson! One that was by far... the most personal and tragic yet.

"Jamie's soul was damned because of what he is. Has he told you about Nephilim?"

Hmm. I would have failed if that was a timed trivia question, but that funny-sounding name did a ring bell. "Yeah, he did..." I nodded hesitantly before growing more confident. "That's what he is. He's half human and half angel. Right?"

"Yes. Did he tell you it's an illegal race?"

My thick brows jumped. "Uh, nope, he did not."

He groaned. "Figures. One more thing for me to have to explain."

"He did say that Neph... Neph-whatever... that they have powers like an angel. They are just dialed back. Jamie said he's like more of a physical threat than a mental. Or something like that." It was hard to remember the black and white facts in a now foggy gray world. Clearly, I should be the one taking notes (and should have started back when I cracked the lid on this new reality). However, I knew for sure Jamie never shared that he was part of an illegal race. "So, he did tell me some stuff. Just not that, that's for sure."

Crickets chirped from the woods left of the path. Walking side by side, Peter continued. "Illegal races are not natural to this world – or really a natural part of Heaven or Hell. They are a result of something unnatural: the divine and a human reproducing. Any mixed race like that is illegal."

"How is that not natural though? It happened. He's here and exists."

"Yes, but Nephilim weren't originally purposed for Earth. It's unacceptable for fallen angels to reproduce with a human because it's not natural. Jamie is an unnatural creation, so his soul is automatically hell-bound."

Automatically? Yeah, that's going be a hard one to get over. "Jesus. If having a son with a human was so terrible, shouldn't you be the one punished? Not him?"

"It's not about punishment. It's design. He was born, so he is damned. That's why having a family was never in the cards for us before. It didn't matter that my wife and I both wanted kids. It wasn't worth the price, so it was never an option. So, you can safely assume we were both very surprised when we learned she was pregnant," he scoffed, pausing. "We were still excited, but knowing our child was damned was a big consequence."

My already blown mind turned into mush. Imagine getting pregnant, knowing your child would eventually go to Hell. I truly couldn't imagine the emotional toll that must have taken. It was tragic, it was fucked up! Life was unfair, but I really did expect death to be unfair. And to that degree! Jamie was such a beautiful person. That's all that should matter, not the way he was created.

My wide eyes shot up to him. "That... that is so backwards. All half-angels go to Hell? Doesn't matter if they do nothing wrong? Or if they are the nicest people in the world?"

"Right, they still go to Hell once they die."

Wow. Just fucking wow. "That's not okay! Jamie is so pure, sweet, he-he did nothing wrong!"

"Natural law doesn't care that Jamie did nothing wrong. Again, there is no intention behind it." Following the path, we were now behind the buildings, passing more sculpted hedges and flower beds. Catching my eyes, he elaborated. "Higher powers created man. Not unnatural hybrids. So, those higher powers have no say in what happens to the souls of hybrids. Jamie exists when he never had the natural right to exist."