Red Bones

Nephilim

Red Bones

Key Zero: Nephilim:

Back in the living world, Lavi sat in the darkness. Five months in and he started to see the signs. Ami was sound asleep in her bed. She's starting to suspect that something is wrong.

"Why does it hurt?" Ami asked last night. She had her hand to her belly. The doctors couldn't figure it out. The baby always came back healthy. They asked Ami several questions. What has she been eating? Has she been under stress lately? How is the environment where she lives? Is she on any drugs? Everything came back negative.

Only Lavi knew the truth.

He still couldn't say it. He wasn't sure how she would react. Lavi knew that he couldn't keep doing this. But...

"You haven't told her?" Bookman asked. Lavi shivered as he shook his head.

"I can't," he said. "You know why." The old angel took a smoke of his cigarette.

"You know what will happen if she finds out anyway," he said. "You know what happens to human when they learn the truth."

"I know!" Lavi shouted. He got up and walked away. Even Stacy told him the same thing.

"You can't keep this a secret, you know?" she asked him this morning. The angel rolled his eyes. The demon frowned.

"I'm serious," she said. "You can't keep this a secret forever." Lavi turned his head. Stacy had her popsicle stick hanging out of her mouth with a worried look on her face. The angel gave her a puzzled look.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Please be careful," Stacy said. "Demons have been talking again. They can tell that something bigger is coming this way. She really is coming through the rest of Asia here." The angel shivered at how serious she sounded. The only time Stacy didn't joke around was when she was really worried about him. Lavi kind of chuckled.

"Come on," he said. "Don't joke around like that." The angel laughed until he saw the stoic look on Stacy's face. He suddenly became quiet.

"Oh..." he said. Stacy walked up to him. She looked so small underneath, just like when she was in another vessel.

"I mean it," she said. "You have to tell her the truth. Better do it now than when the baby is born. You know you don't have a choice."

Lavi clenched his teeth. He hated when Stacy was right. But, he didn't know how to break the truth to Ami. Would she even believe him?

He realized that he wasn't alone tonight.

"What do you want, Stacy?" Lavi whispered. There was no response. The angel turned his head.

"Hello?" he asked. It was quiet in the darkness, but someone was here besides him and Ami. Lavi grabbed onto the hammer charm around his neck. His eye shifted back and forth.

"I know you're here," he whispered. "Come out and show yourself." Lavi turned and saw a pair of glowing eyes in the darkness.

"You," he hissed. The angel clutched the handle of his hammer tighter. The eyes didn't move or speak.

"Who are you?" Lavi asked. He fought not to show his fear at the creature in his girl's room. He heard about things like this before. As a Nephilim grows inside the womb, it will attract more demons to it. Ami complained about someone following her. He assured her that it was all in her head. But, Lavi was committed to staying by her until the baby was born.

"You cannot get close to that child," Bookman warned him repeatedly. "It will stranger to you once it is born. You cannot get attached. It will spell ruin for you." Lavi knew this. That didn't mean he couldn't leave Ami vulnerable to these demons drawn to the child.

Lavi noticed the eyes twitch in the dark. He narrowed his eye to read what the creature in the dark was saying.

We... We... We are...

They were what? Watching? Coming for you? Waiting for you? Lavi tried to understand what they were saying. He crouched into attack and held his breath.

"This is getting annoying," Lavi hissed. "Either you come and end this bullshit or I will come over and beat your ass!" The eyes closed and vanished into the darkness. Lavi let go of his hammer charm. It didn't matter what Bookman said about the child. Protecting Ami's life was more important now. It was then he realized that he had no choice. Lavi rubbed his forehead.

"Damn it," he muttered to himself. "I hoped that I would've kept it quiet a little bit longer." The angel lowered his hand and chuckled to himself in a bitter tone.

In the morning, Ami awoke to see Lavi sitting on front of her one the floor. The dim morning light shone through the curtains behind his head.

"Morning," Lavi whispered. His smile tried to hide the nervous feelings knotting up in his stomach. She lifted her head with a strange look on her face.

"Were you up all morning watching?" she asked.

"No, I just got up a few minutes again," he lied. The angel swore to himself that would be the last lie he ever told her. He could already see how the reveal would play out in his mind. Would she run away screaming? Would she be afraid of him? Would she avoid him? Maybe she would even try to kill the child growing inside of her.

"Oh," Ami said. Lavi pressed his lips together. The words clawed at his tongue to escape.

"Ami, I have to tell you something," he said.

"What?" Ami asked. The angel took a deep breath as he touched her hand.

"Do you promise not to freak out if I show you?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?" the teenage girl asked.

"Please?" Lavi asked.

"Okay..." Ami said, shifting her eyes away from him. He bowed his head.

"Thank you," the angel said. He kissed her hand and let go. Lavi walked over to the window. Forgive me for what will happen next, he thought. He held out his arms.

"What are you doing?" Ami asked. Bright lights filled her room. Her jaw dropped at what she was seeing. Lavi stood in front of the window glowing. Two giant white wings sprouted from back. His face was etched in pain. A tear ran down his cheek.

"This is what I really am," he said. His heart began to ache in his chest. Now that his secret was out, he waited for what would happen next. For this would just be the begin of it getting worse.

Much, much, much worse.