Alan Price and the Colossus of Rhodes (The Nephilim Chronicles) (7 page)

Chapter 24

There was a beep and then another
and another and another. Alan opened his eyes, saved from a nightmare he
couldn’t remember. He was lying in his bed. To his left a heart rate monitor
beeped along at a steady pace.

At once the events leading up to
his unconsciousness overwhelmed him. He sat straight up in bed immediately
regretting the decision. His face and upper body felt like they had been put
through a meat grinder. Alan grunted and fell back into his pillows as blinding
pain exploded in his head.

The heart rate monitor spiked at
Alan’s actions and the beeping sped up in tempo. Alan closed his eyes trying to
take in deep breaths, hoping that would calm the monitor and pain. It didn’t.

As he was staring at the ceiling,
he heard his door open. Alan craned his neck forward despite the pain. Danielle
walked towards him with a frown. “How are you feeling?”

Anger rose in Alan’s chest. He
didn’t know why, but he blamed Danielle for what happened to him. “How am I
feeling? I feel like some psychotic chef broke into my place and beat the snot
out of me while wearing my slippers.”

Danielle’s eyes widened behind her
glasses, “Okay then, not sure I deserved that one but you’ve been through a
lot. I get it—misdirected anger.”

Alan stared at her already
regretting his snarky remark. “What happened to me? Who was that guy?”

“I got here as soon as I heard the
conversation over the phone. Smooth move calling me, by the way. From the
muffled voices, I guess I was in your pocket?”

“Yeah.”

“Nice. By your description of the
man who did this to you, it was probably Dominic Drencher.”

“Who was he? What did he want with
me?”

“He’s part of our rival
organization—“

Alan couldn’t take all the talk of
“organizations” anymore. Not when Danielle had already told him they were
dealing with Angels. “Enough with the organization talk. I can’t believe I’m
saying this—we’re talking about Angels and demons, right?”

Half of Alan already knew the
answer; the other half wished that this was all some kind of sick, twisted
dream. He wasn’t so lucky.

“Yes, however there is so much you
don’t yet know.”

“Then tell me!” Alan hadn’t meant
to yell; still his frustration demanded he do so.

Danielle gently began removing the
heart monitor from Alan’s chest. Sticky pads gently released their adhesive
grip on his fair skin. “I’m going to take you to speak with someone who wants
to meet you. He’ll explain everything. I promise. I also want to show you
something now to start preparing you for the conversation you’re going to
have.”

Alan looked at her, confusion
written across his face. “I don’t think I’m in any kind of condition to travel
anywhere right now.”

“I would agree,” Danielle said.
“You know how you have the gift of speed?”

Alan nodded wondering if she was
going to say that she had the same gift and was going to carry him somewhere.

“Well, I also have my own set of
gifts. One of them is healing. I wanted you awake for this so you would believe
me. You don’t strike me as the type to take things on faith. Hold still.”

Alan couldn’t believe his ears. He
felt his body flinch as Danielle put her hands on his left bicep.

“Don’t worry, this won’t hurt.”

Alan felt far from reassured. Bare-chested,
Alan looked down on his torso for the first time. Mean looking bruises of green
and black fought for real estate against his skin. His body was a canvas of
dark splotches and pain.

Goose bumps rose as Danielle closed
her eyes and took in a deep breath. At first, Alan felt nothing. His body ached
just as it had since he woke and his head throbbed like someone was beating on
it with a hammer.

Then things started to change. Alan
felt warmth radiating out of Danielle’s hands, spreading from his arm to the
rest of his body. Heat came off her and pushed back the pain that coursed
through his chest and head. It was the same kind of heat that Alan experienced
when he ran.

For the first time in a very long time,
Alan felt happy. A safeness that he couldn’t explain was slowly wrapping itself
around him. Alan’s eyes widened as he visibly saw bruises fading.

The ache in his chest was lessening
and the warmth spread to his head. Instead of a throbbing headache, Alan felt
calm and relaxed. A few moments later when Danielle lifted her hands from his
arm, Alan debated asking her for more.

He looked at her with awe and a
newfound respect. She took a careful step back away from the bed and let out a
deep breath. The slightest hint of sweat glistened across her brow.

“Does healing hurt you?”

Danielle opened her eyes and shook
her head. “No, but it’s work. Imagine lifting a heavy weight. The harsher the
injury, the heavier the weight I have to lift. You should be healed now. I hate
having to make you wait for answers. Just trust me, you’ll have them soon. Come
on. Let’s get you ready, Michael is waiting.”

Chapter 25

 “He’s in there?”

“All the way at the top. You’ll
need to get access to the roof.”

Alan suddenly felt uncomfortable.
“And you’re not coming?”

Danielle shook her head. “Sorry,
this is your time for answers. I went through the same thing. I’ll be here
waiting for you when you’re done.”

Alan looked out of the car window
at the tall corporate building. From the outside it seemed as if the structure
was made entirely of steel and glass. Sunrays reflected off the windows making
Alan squint to see the top of the building.

“Don’t be scared, he’s on our
side.”

Alan looked back at Danielle with
every intention of lying and telling her he wasn’t scared, instead he asked,
“Is Michael a—a—“ he was still having a hard time bringing himself
to say the word.

“Yes, but it’s not like he looks
any different from you or me.”

Alan nodded, gathered his courage
and opened the door. It was a short walk up the stone steps and into the large
ground floor. A security desk was stationed at the front with a long aisle of
elevators on either wall of the wide room.

Alan tensed, the building looked
too much like the building the wind had pushed him off the first night he
learned he had abilities.

Alan forced his legs forward as
people walked to and from the elevators. Most of the building’s inhabitants
wore trendy suits. All but a few were busy either talking on their phone or
looking down at handheld devices.

Alan entered an elevator clogged
with suits and briefcases. There were 107 floors. To Alan’s frustration, it
seemed the elevator was set on making him visit each and every one. The ride up
gave Alan time to think about what he had just seen and what he was doing.
I
can’t believe she healed you like that. This is so far beyond what I thought
was possible. But really what did you expect? You can run at the speed of
sound. If someone came to you and told you that you were an alien or a mutant,
would that make more sense? Would you accept that?

Alan struggled with these thoughts
and more as the steel box passed floor after floor. After what seemed like an
eternity of bad elevator music, Alan reached the building’s top story. He was
the only passenger riding the elevator at that point.

The doors dinged open and Alan
found himself walking down a well-kept hallway. No sound, no chatter of voices
on phones or clicks of shoes on wooden floor, nothing.

Alan walked down the hall passing
empty office after empty office looking for the stairwell that would lead him
to the roof. After peaking in and out of a few empty offices, he found the door
he needed. The door was marked with the figure of a small man walking up a set
of stairs.

Alan opened the exit and made his
way up the last two flights of stairs to the rooftop entrance. He placed a
hesitant palm on the long silver latch. He took a deep breath and walked
outside.

It was bright, compared to the
inside of the stairwell. Alan blinked to get his eyes used to the sun’s harsh
rays. No wind pressed against him ushering him yet another descent to the
street below, for that he was thankful. The building already reminded him
enough of the one he had fallen off four years ago. The last thing he needed
was to be tossed around by the wind again.

Eyes adjusted, Alan looked around
the roof. It was a forest of air conditioning pipes and vents. Every few feet
another metal outlet or steel topped pipe rose from the ground. Across the long
rooftop Alan spotted what his brain told him couldn’t be possible. He blinked
and squinted against his rational thought process. It was still there, a large
brown desk.

Alan slowly put one foot in front
of the other. He looked down only for the briefest of moments to make sure of
his footing. He was afraid if he took his eyes off the desk it would disappear.

As he got closer, the rough image
of the desk took on more shape. It wasn’t just any desk; it was a large dark
brown wooden desk with gold drawings. The pictures were amazing. Images of
clouds, stars and planets played across the desk as if they were in motion.
Behind the desk, a high-backed chair faced away from Alan.

Alan reached the desk and stared as
the chair slowly turned. A middle-aged man with wavy brown hair and eyes that
spoke of wisdom stood and extended a hand. “Hello, Mr. Price. It is so good to
finally meet you.”

Alan’s mouth was dry. Not only was
he talking to someone sitting at a desk on a rooftop, but also the man who was
extending a hand was clearly not of this world. Alan forced his right palm
forward and shook the stranger’s hand.

“My name is Michael. Danielle
briefly told me that you are skeptical. That’s to be expected, I know it is a
lot to take in. Please sit.”

Michael’s handshake was firm
without being aggressive. There was the complete opposite feeling coming from
him than Alan felt when meeting Dominic Drencher the night before.

Alan broke the handshake. “Sit? Sit
where?” The question faded almost down to a whisper as Alan looked behind him
to see a chair where there had not been one just moments before. He twisted his
head back towards Michael giving him a wary look.

Michael smiled from his eyes to his
mouth, “Sorry, too soon? I couldn’t resist. You should see the look on your
face right now. Please sit. I have your answers for you.”

Alan nodded and settled into the
comfortable leather chair.

“I’ll start at the beginning for
you, Alan,” Michael said as he too took a seat. He leaned forward with both
elbows on the desk, hands clasped together. A hint of mirth in his green eyes
said that he could be trusted. “After that, if you have any questions I’d love
to answer them all. Would you like to hear the story with affects or without
affects?”

Alan felt his eyebrows furrow all
on their own. “With affects, I think.”

“A man after my own heart,” Michael
winked. “Here we go.”

Out of nowhere, the sun’s bright
rays faded. In seconds, the sky turned black and everything fell away. All that
remained was Michael, Alan, the desk and the chairs on which they sat.

Alan could feel fear begin to creep
slowly down his spine; his heart started beating faster and faster. He looked
at Michael to see the man still smiling and now pointing to the dark sky.

As Michael again picked up the
conversation images made out of golden outlines followed events that he
described and performed like trained dancers across the dark sky. Alan’s mouth
dropped, eyes fixated on the beautiful scene playing out overhead as Michael
started his story.
“I’m going to date myself here but a
very, very long time ago when the earth was still young a battle took place in
Heaven. The battle waged for the fate of both Angels and man. One third of
Heaven’s Angels sided with a Usurper who staged a coup for the rule of Heaven
and earth. He was mad with thoughts of grandeur and power.

The fighting was beyond bloody; it
was horrific. The death toll for both sides was surpassed the total of
survivors of the engagement. The war went on for years. Finally, the
power-hungry Angel was defeated. He was cast out of Heaven with the rest of his
followers; they were stripped of their wings and sentenced to wait their final
judgment on earth.”

Alan stared at the open sky as images
following Michael’s words continued to play out overhead. He wanted to smile in
awe and probably would have had the circumstances of the supernatural light
show been under any other condition. Instead, Alan held his lower jaw firm and
contended himself with tracking the amazing bright lights acting out scenes of
the forgotten past.

“To ensure that casualties of this
magnitude could never happen again,” Michael continued, “all weapons capable of
killing an Angel were destroyed. My brothers, sisters and I now watch over
earth. The Creator has not abandoned humankind to live under the rule of the
Fallen.

With inferior numbers and strength,
the Fallen on earth will not engage us directly. In return, we are content for
them to live out their sentence quietly here on earth until their day of judgment
comes.

However, just because they won’t
defy us directly doesn’t mean our troubles are finished. Over the centuries,
tactics have changed. The Fallen have found their own followers to do their
bidding. They have given certain powers and abilities to humans whom they
manipulate to do their will. It’s a loophole they have found to avoid physical
conflict while still getting what they want.”

Michael paused here as the scenes
in the sky faded and the darkness regressed. In seconds, the sun was out again
and Alan felt himself breathing a bit easier. “They thought they were so smart.
Little did they know that we are capable of the exact same thing. So now,
instead of a full-out war, we are playing out a kind of shadow game on earth.
The Fallen have their wayward followers and we have those whom we have chosen
to represent us in this cold war.”

Michael leaned back in his chair
with his arms open. “So there it is, as honest and plain as I can put it. You
have the truth. Now, feel free to ask any questions I’m sure you have.”

Alan’s mind was blown. Dozens of
questions were pushing to the front of his mind while he struggled to accept
his new reality. The question that came out first was the one that he had
wondered since the first night he knew he was different. It was short and
simple but one that had haunted him for the past four years. “Why me?”

Michael nodded as though he was
aware that was going to be Alan’s first question. “You need us, Alan. You need
us as much as we need you. We saw an opportunity to help each other.”

Alan slowly shook his head. “But my
depression, the anger I feel, the—“

“All reasons that we chose you.”
Alan’s confusion must have shown because Michael continued. “Think about it, Alan.
You battle with depression and loneliness. You were bullied, beat up and
abandoned and here you stand. Here you are still living and breathing, as
strong as ever. What you have thought of as your weaknesses your entire life has
made you stronger, Alan. The battles that you fight day in and day out have
forged your will into something few people possess.”

Alan laughed to himself, “It
doesn’t feel like a blessing.”

“Regardless, it has made you
stronger than the people beside you who don’t battle with these issues.”

Alan slowly nodded letting the new
information sink in before he asked his second question. “Are there others like
myself and Danielle?”

It was Michael’s turn to nod. “Yes,
a select few spread across the globe. It is an honor to be chosen. Very few are
or will be. We select from where the need is the greatest, where the Fallen
have chosen to actively recruit.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“For now, we need you to learn and
train. Speed is just the first of the many gifts you have at your disposal.”

Alan remembered the beating he
endured at the hands of Dominic Drencher. “Strength is another one and—“
Alan was reminded of the first night he found out he was different. “Flight?”

Michael shook his head. “No,
unfortunately not flight—I mean to say that it is very unlikely for a
human with our powers to be able to fly. That ability has been reserved for Angels.
No human has been able to do it before.”

“Then how did I…” Alan realized the
answer to his question even as he asked. He looked at Michael with newfound
respect. “It was you, wasn’t it? You saved me that first night.”

Michael shrugged. “Everyone needs a
helping hand. Besides, you didn’t jump. The wind pushed you. Even then, whether
you knew it or not, you were fighting to survive. You are a survivor, Alan.” A
sly smile spread across Michael’s lips showing perfectly white teeth
underneath. “I’m proud of you despite the items you chose to
borrow
from; banks, grocery stores, clothing departments, malls, outlets, car
dealerships, amusement parks, gas stations and zoos. Really? Alan, a zoo?”

Color rushed to Alan’s face and he
felt his palms begin to sweat as if on cue. “Oh, I uh. I—“ He felt as
though he had been called into the principal’s office on a celestial level.

“It’s okay,” Michael said. “I
wished you would have found your way on your own but nobody’s perfect. Just
reassure me that your thieving days are over.”

Alan swallowed and nodded. “And for
what it’s worth, I returned that monkey back to the zoo.”

Michael started to laugh. “Yes, I
know you did. I’ve been keeping my eye on you.”

A comfortable silence followed as
Alan worked through this new revelation on his own.

“That’s it?” Michael asked. “No
more questions?”

“Besides training, what do you want
from me? What am I training for?”

The smile slowly disappeared from
Michael’s lips. “I wish I knew, Alan. Something is happening, an extra coldness
to the night, the darkness coming just a little bit sooner and lasting a few
minutes longer. The Fallen have increased their activity and their followers’
numbers are swelling. Something is coming down the pipeline. Rumors are
spreading and talk of some kind of forgotten demonic leader preparing to return
to power is making its way to our ears. Whatever it is we would like you and
Danielle to be ready for it when it comes.”

“And the Fallen? What if—“

“No, you don’t have to fear them.
They haven’t made an attempt at open war on us or one of our chosen since the
war in Heaven. They know they don’t have a chance. You only have to worry about
the humans they have corrupted, like Dominic Drencher. Danielle will have more
information for you and certain tools you will be able to use to keep you safe.
Trust me, once you tap into your full potential, people like Drencher won’t be
bothering you.”

Alan sat quiet.
Everything—all of the questions he had wondered for the past four years
were slowly being answered. Far from the answers he expected, but still
answers.