Genesis

CHAPTER 16 Wild World

I sat down at my desk, opened my laptop, and googled "Powers, Eden, Georgia". Nothing, save the nursery and the local church. Were the Powers somehow related to the largest church in town? I'd revisit that trail later. Right now, I was looking for something more along the lines of the Hatfields and McCoys. I tried a few other combinations to no avail. Discouraged, I thought I might go visit Miss Ginny soon to see if she could provide some background information on the Powers family. Then I googled the Gregorys. Again, nothing. Remembering the newspaper, I tried "Penemue", and I came across some startling results.

Penemue, ("Within" or "The Insider") in Enoch lore, was one of the Watchers/, an order of 200 Watchers who fell by cohabiting and corrupting the people of Earth through revealing the "secrets of Heaven" (technology & divination). It was never recorded whether or not he bore Nephilim as the other Grigori did, but he was renowned for the secrets he taught and subsequently blamed for their ill effect on mankind. He is most known for revealing to mankind how to utilize the written word. According to Enoch, he "taught mankind the art of writing with ink and paper, and thereby many sinned from eternity to eternity and until this day. For man was not created for such a purpose." Penemue also taught "the children of men the bitter and the sweet and the secrets of wisdom." He was a scholarly angel before his fall, and is still given credit over wisdom and learning. He is one of the curers of stupidity in man mentioned in Bereshith Rabba.

And directly from the Book of Enoch:

"The name of the fourth is Penemue: he discovered to the children of men bitterness and sweetness; And pointed out to them every secret of their wisdom. He taught men to understand writing, and the use of ink and paper. Therefore numerous have been those who have gone astray from every period of the world, even to this day. For men were not born for this, thus with pen and with ink to confirm their faith; Since they were not created, except that, like the angels, they might remain righteous and pure. Nor would death, which destroys everything, have affected them; But by this their knowledge they perish, and by this also its power consumes them."

~ Enoch 1 68:9-16

Ty had mentioned that their newspaper had been named after the angel Penemue ― The Pen Observer as in Penemue the Watcher. But was the rest of this a coincidence? Grigori/Gregory? So close. And what about fallen angels? Could the Gregorys possibly be descended from this order? That might explain the power they seemed to have over people. I googled Grigori. Most of the results had to do with either the Book of Enoch or angel lore, the latter seeming to have been compiled by people with way too much time on their hands. But I was grateful, nonetheless, for any information I could glean. Then I found a promising site that offered a view of the Grigori as being able to blend with humanity because they understood what it meant to be human. They knew why humans did evil, why they acted selfishly, and they knew how to influence them without taking away their free will. According to this site, they could even interbreed with humans. It also posited that they were comfortable on Earth but had become corrupted by their long stay. I re-read the part that said "they knew how to influence them without taking away their free will". Although I was reluctant to even allow for the possibility, I had to admit, if only to myself, that this was certainly plausible. Were Ty and his family hiding in plain sight? I considered the long list of movies centered around angels and/or demons. Many were based in small part on biblical scripture, so I found an online Bible site and searched "angels". According to this site, there were 281 verses containing the words "angel" or "angels". And while I couldn't find any that specifically referred to the Grigori, I did find an interesting one from Hebrews 13:2 that said, "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares". If nothing else, I realized that, if the Bible was true, there were many instances of angels interacting with humans on Earth. But the Grigori were supposedly fallen angels. Hesitantly, I searched "demons". I'm not quite sure why, but I was relieved to see only 71 verses on the subject, the majority concerning possession. Overall, this was not extremely helpful. My research raised more questions than it answered.

I slammed my laptop shut. What on earth was I doing? My head felt like there was a tiny tornado in it, whirling all my thoughts around so quickly that I couldn't grasp hold of a single one. I moved from my desk to my bed, flopping face down and covering my head with the pillow. This did nothing to stop the spinning of words like "corrupt", "fallen", and "influence", or erase my mental images of Ty and his family starring as demonic characters in some macabre horror flick.

I was being ridiculous. I needed to clear my head. I sat up and reached for my phone, along with the mmb's that Ty had given me earlier. I had to get out of here, but I had no idea where I wanted to go. I yelled to my mother that I was leaving as I flew out the front door.

I jumped in my car, and, before I was consciously aware of it, I was headed toward Savannah. The sun had set more than half an hour ago, but the relentless summer heat persisted in keeping the temperature over ninety degrees. I had rolled all the windows down and my hair was blowing wildly as I cruised down the deserted streets. My tortured disposition needed some relief. I connected my phone to the auxiliary jack and located my Joan Jett playlist. I pressed play and rocked out, realizing in that moment that Ty brought out the rebel spirit in me like no one else had ever done. Sure, he infuriated me at times, but I also felt bolder and stronger with him.

I decided to go to the airport. I had done that with friends a few times in Boston, parked on the top deck of the lot and watched the planes take off and land. While I had never gone alone, it now seemed like the ideal activity to take my mind off of Ty and fallen angels.

I entered the hourly parking lot and drove counter-clockwise through three mostly empty levels until I reached the fourth deck. To my disappointment, there was no access to the rooftop. Now what? I drove around a bit until I found a vacant cell phone lot adjacent to one of the runways. Innumerable stars lit up the clear night sky. I laid on the hood of my car in solitude and marveled at the physics of airplane take-offs and landings, giving no thought to anything else as their engines thundered directly overhead.

The frequency of departures and arrivals decreased as it got later. I left around eleven o'clock, my head sufficiently cleared for the moment.

When I arrived home, the house was dark and still. Only Axl greeted me. I tiptoed to my room and slipped quietly into bed. I lied motionless, staring into the darkness, trying to picture the roaring jet engines that had soothed me only a short while ago. Within minutes, however, unwanted images once again invaded my imagination, preventing the sleep that I desperately needed. Those sleepless minutes turned into hours and, eventually, the sun peeked through my window, letting me know that I needed to get up and get ready for school.

Despite the way we left things the day before, Ty showed up to drive me to school just as I was making my way to my car. Surprised, I stopped in the driveway and just stared.

"Were you going to drive yourself?"

"Um, yes. I assumed you were still angry with me."

"I am. But that doesn't mean I don't want to see you. We need to talk, Essie."

"Yes, we do."

He looked at me for a long moment. "Please get in the car," he requested as he leaned over and opened the passenger door.

I complied, glad that I didn't have to drive in my sleep deprived state. Before I could fasten my seat belt, he asked, "Did you not sleep last night?"

"How did you know?" I wondered.

"You have marshmallow eyes," he said with a wink. "Do we need to find you some coffee before school starts? I can be in Pooler in less than five minutes."

"That'd be great," I said, rubbing my eyes.

As promised, we were at my favorite coffee shop before my third yawn. Always the gentleman, Ty went in and bought the coffee while I relaxed in the car.

"Thank you so much," I said gratefully when he handed me the large cup.

"Anything for you."

"Anything?"