Nephilim

Prologue

The woman ran down the deserted street, a bundle in her arms. The moon hung suspended in the sky, casting an ethereal glow upon her hooded face. Her steps were hurried and she kept glancing behind her, as if being pursued. She clutched the bundle closely to her chest as if it would disappear at any moment. Or as if it was more precious than her own life. Her feet splashed in a puddle as she turned the corner. However, she gave no mind to the state of her shoes, which were sopping wet. Her breathing was harsh, making her gasp for air. There were tear streaks on her cheeks, her eyes red and puffy. She'd been crying recently. Her skin was pale where it was once golden. Fear widened her eyes and dilated her pupils.

Though she kept checking behind her, no sign of a pursuer presented itself. Finally, she dashed down an alleyway and leaned on the wall. She stayed there, catching her breath. As she hid in the shadows, a man moved into the mouth of the alley. She pressed herself closer to the wall in hopes to not be spotted. With a quick look around, the man passed on. She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, though she was far from safe. This was the worst part of town. The rain made people scarce on the streets, but the addicts would go into any kind of weather to get a fix. And the gangs surely wouldn't stop their proceedings for a little bit of water. Thankfully, the nearest people were across the street in another alley.

She turned her back on them and crept farther in. She went cautiously now, her eyes scanning the darkness. She emerged from the alley into a small street, nearly invisible to the main road. Rows of houses close together were laid here. She moved along them, reading the numbers on the outside. She reached her supposed  destination and went up to the door of a specific house. With certain reluctance, she raised a hand and rapped on the wood. She waited in silence, still casting terrified eyes around her. The door opened an inch, only half a face visible in the crack. Upon seeing the woman on the steps, the door flew open and the figure ushered her inside.

The bundle gave a small cry at he sudden light. The woman shushed the baby, rocking it gently. The man offered her a seat, before leaving the room. She lowered her hood, showing unusually bright golden hair. It looked like spun copper. It even seemed to shine with an unnatural light. The man returned with another woman, this one had a curtain of raven hair. She rushed towards the woman on the couch, a worried look in her eyes. She sat down, staring at the baby's face in shock.

"Amalia, what have you done?" the raven woman asked.

"I fell in love."

"In love? With him?"

"Yes."

"You do know..."

"Of course. I beg of you, take him. Please. I cannot keep him. Hide him for me."

"Are you out of your mind?! This child...growing up here..."

"Please," the golden-haired woman begged. "Raise him for me as I cannot. Raise him as a human with a normal life. Be the mother I cannot be."

"You ask a lot of me, Amalia." The black-haired woman sighed. "Fine. I'll do as you ask. Will you at least visit him?"

"I give no promises. I promise to try, but nothing more." She passed the baby into the other woman's arms. The man looked on, his expression worried. "Take care of my son, Sasha. And you as well, Joshua."

"Of course. What will you do? Do they...know?"

"Of course they do. They will hunt me relentlessly. But I know how to avoid them. I will come if and when I can. Until then." Amalia swiftly exited the house while the two that were left glanced warily at each other.

"Well, now we have a son," Joshua murmured.

"Apparently so. Oh, Joshua, what are we going to do? This boy, he'll never be normal. What'll we tell him when his abilities start? What'll we tell him about his parents?"

Joshua rubbed the spot between his eyebrows, thinking hard. "We'll have to keep it quiet as long as possible. We'll tell him his parents died in a car crash and that we took custody. As for his abilities... we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. We'll have to raise him as normally as possible."

"And what about Amalia? Despite what she said, I don't think she'll ever come back. With who she's up against, I don't think she'll be alive to."

"We'll just have to accept that we have a son now. We always wanted children."

"I guess you're right. What should we name him?"

"How about Jacob?"

Sasha frowned at him. "Absolutely not."

Joshua frowned at his wife. "Thomas?"

"No." She was also deep in thought. The two fall silent for a while, mulling names over in their heads. They wanted their new son to have the perfect name. It had to be ordinary, common. So that nobody would suspect anything. But it had to be something that would suit the child.

"Michael?"

Sasha shook her head. "Too obvious. We want him to blend in." Then, she glanced up quickly, her eyes sparkling. "Isaac. It's perfect. Abraham's son who he was forced to sacrifice by God as a show of faith, but an angel interfered."

Joshua smiled for the first time since Amalia entered their house. "It fits." He walked up to the swaddled baby. "Hello, Isaac. From now on, you'll be a normal boy. And we'll be your parents." Sasha cuddled the boy to her chest, a certain instinct making her do so.

Although the child should've been hungry, he let out no sound. He simply lay there, sleeping soundly. He didn't seem to notice that his birth mother had gone. Or that he was in the presence of strangers. He would never come to know his real parents, for they had abandoned him. This baby, who had no worries, was soon going to be thrust into a world he didn't want to be a part of. And all because of the parents he never knew.