Infernal Revelation : Collected Episodes 1-4 (9781311980007) (13 page)

Lily pushed her door closed, then sat on the
side of the bed. "It's okay, Jessie. I'm listening."

She turned. "This isn't something I talk
about, you understand. It's not polite conversation."

Lily nodded, wondering where this was going.
With Jessie, it could be almost anything. The girl had an
excruciatingly strong moral compass.

Jessie put a hand on Lily's shoulder. "I
know what you've been going through, Lily. I know. I want you to
know that you're not alone."

Lily smiled and patted the girl's hand.
"That's sweet. Thank you."

Jessie's face reddened. "No, I'm serious.
These aren't platitudes, Lily."

Lily stood. "I appreciate the sentiment,
Jessie, but I'm not sure that you do understand what I've been
through."

"I do," Jessie said. "The dreams. The divine
gifts. We're special, Lily."

Lily's heart leapt in her chest. "What?"

Jessie smiled and took the other girl's
hands. "I've had visions, Lily. I've seen you, risen most high to
serve the Holy Father."

"Visions?"

"Those are my gifts," Jessie said. "As
you've got your own."

Lily felt cold, turning away. "I don't know
what you're talking about."

Jessie winced. "I know when you're lying,
sweetheart."

"I'm not--"

"I know when everybody's lying. Another
gift." Jessie stepped up alongside Lily. "I know it's hard to
accept. I know you're afraid."

"More gifts?" Lily suppressed a smile.

"No. I know because that's how I felt. When
the dreams and visions started. When I first came to know our
father."

Lily turned her head sharply. "What did you
say?"

"You know, don't you?" Jessie asked. "That
we're sisters? Not just in the Church, but real sisters?"

Lily's voice was soft, almost inaudible. "I
know. And Delilah. And Gideon's our brother."

Jessie clapped. "There are others? That's...
amazing!"

"And Melchizedek."

"Who?"

The fact that Jessie didn't have all the
answers made Lily feel better, more in control. "Melchizedek. Our
brother. He's... different. He came to town two weeks ago. He's the
one who... who told me about this."

"He must be closer to our father."

"Do you know who that is?"

"I've seen him. In my dreams. Haven't
you?"

Lily closed the window blinds. "I don't
remember them very well."

"Our father is an angel, Lily. Isn't that
glorious?"

Lily blinked. "An angel?"

"That makes us half-angel. Nephilim."

"Nephilim."

Jessie spoke in a measured sing-song voice.
"There were giants in the Earth in those days; and also after that,
when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they
bare children to them, the same mighty men of old, men of
renown."

Lily sat on the bed again, feeling heavy,
feeling the weight of the quote from Genesis on her soul. "Oh my
God."

"It's a lot to take in," Jessie said. "I
know. I discovered what I was when I was very young, and I still
find it hard to really accept most days. But we must, Lily. We were
created by the grace of God to serve a holy purpose."

"What purpose?" Lily asked.

"I can't answer that for you," Jessie said.
"That's something you need to find yourself. But I do know that if
you try to resist, if you refuse to accept who and what you are,
it'll only lead to pain and ruin. For you, and for those you care
about."

Lily didn't respond, lowering her head to
her hands.

"I know you must feel so alone. But you're
not. I'm here for you -- that's my purpose. And now there's Gideon,
and Delilah, and this Melchizedek. They need us, too. They need
you."

"Me?" Lily laughed. "They're handling this
much better than I am."

"And that says a lot about you," Jessie
said. "Look. I don't know Melchizedek, but I do know Delilah and
Gideon. She's so smart, but so detached, so emotionally isolated,
so fragile. And Gideon is troubled, full of passion without
restraint. He's a good man, but without restraint he'll cause more
harm than good."

Lily didn't respond.

"So maybe you need them to stay grounded,
and they need you to keep them balanced."

"Maybe." Lily said. "Maybe everything is
going to work out."

"Maybe?" Jessie smiled. "It's His plan.
There's no 'Maybe' about it."

After the wives had
disengaged to the living room, Deacon Ross joined Deacon Baker in
the den.

"I'm worried about your daughter," Ross
said, taking a cigar from the box on the mantle.

Baker nodded. "The wife and I are worried
about her, too."

"Worried, Tom."

"Ah." Tom poured them both snifters from the
brandy decanter next to the cigars. "I've got it in hand."

"Do you?" Ross asked. "Bob's been
asking."

Tom chuckled. "Bob's been asking everybody.
I told him it was handled."

"It's kind of a big deal."

"It is. But it's handled."

"What with our visitor in town."

Deacon Baker lit his cigar. "Sheriff said he
was still sniffing about the outskirts."

"Has he tried to make contact?"

"Not that I've heard."

"Good. Because Gideon Cermak and Barny
Carter smashed into my kitchen this morning, Tom."

Baker took the cigar out of his mouth.
"What? Were they--"

"They were fighting. A real hum-dinger, from
the looks of the damage to my yard, to my shed."

"Have you talked to Bill or Joe about
this?"

"I haven't even told Bob. I wanted to talk
to you first."

Deacon Baker stared into the fireplace. "We
should tell Bob."

"You know Bob. He'll send Porter."

Baker almost dropped his snifter, and placed
it on the table. "There's no need for Porter. We can handle
Melchizedek ourselves."

"I know that. But Bob--"

"Christ, Carl, you know what it'd mean for
the girls."

"I know, Bob." Reverend Ross frowned. "You
know I love my Jessie like she was my own. But some things are
bigger than family."

"I don't think so. Nothing's bigger than
family."

"We're talking about the world here,
Baker."

Deacon Baker rose from his chair and paced
to the fireplace. "I know the stakes."

Ross rose to join him. "Do you? Because I
think you've forgotten."

"She's... they're
our
daughters
for
the love of God!"

"No, Tom." Deacon Ross put a hand on Baker's
shoulder. "They're not. They're our sacred burdens, our holy
tasks."

Baker stared into the hearth. "I haven't
forgotten."

"Good, Tom, good. Because we were getting
worried for a moment, Me and Bill and Joe and Pete. I'll tell them
that you're handling Lily. That everything is under control."

"Everything
is
under control, damn
you."

"I love my Jessie, and I raised her right,
and I know you raised your Lily right, but we're not their parents.
We're their guardians."

"It's the same thing."

There was a hint of pity in Ross's voice.
"No, Tom. No. It's not."

EPISODE 3

CHAPTER ONE

Ribbons of orange and
red wrapped from the west, rising from the horizon with the sinking
of the desert sun. Lily stood balanced on a railroad tie, wearing a
lime green tank top and battered jeans, sweatshirt tied around her
hips, tiny gold crucifix around her neck gleaming in the last dying
light. Jessie sat alongside her, skirt tucked demurely under her
legs, a distant expression on her face.

Her arms folded, feet set shoulder width
apart, Lily watched the others as they arrived.

Gideon and Delilah came together, talking
and laughing. It was the younger girl that had approached Lily with
the suggestion that everyone gather to discuss matters, and Lily
had agreed immediately. She had shared the news that Jessie was one
of them, and Delilah had told her that it looked like Barny Carter,
of all people, was as well.

Gideon stopped in front of her, shade his
eyes against the fading sunlight with a bandaged hand. "You're
looking better."

"I'm feeling better," Lily said.

The conversation with Jessie had done
wonders to improve her mood. Not that she was any more enlightened,
but for the first time since the accident she felt motivated, like
she could direct her energies to concrete action. Lily was done
with floundering.

Delilah gave Jessie a small wave. She
stopped, staring back towards town. "Oh crap."

Gideon followed her gaze. "Is that
Barny?"

Lily could see the redhead tense. "Yes. I
told him to come along."

"Why?"

"He's part of this," Jessie said.

"He's a psycho."

"He's an asshole," Lily said. "But he should
be here for this. He's involved, too."

Gideon shook his head angrily. "Are you
nuts?"

"Hey!" Lily glared at him. "You want him
running around on his own, or here where we can keep an eye on
him?"

He glanced back towards the approaching
football player and shook his head. He jammed his hands into his
pockets and started pacing the length of the railroad tie.

"Are you sure including him is a good idea?"
Delilah asked.

"No," Lily said. "But I'd rather we kept him
the devil we know."

"What did you tell him?"

"That he wasn't alone. That it involved the
rest of us, and that if he wanted any answers he'd have to show
up."

"You can't trust him." Gideon hurried back.
"You know he's going to start some shit."

"He'll try," Lily said. "But I know I can
trust you not to let him get under your skin."

Gideon stopped. "He--"

"I know I can count on you. That you're the
bigger man."

The redhead glanced back at the approaching
bully. He nodded once, grimly.

Conversation lapsed as Barny drew closer. He
stopped a few yards from the others, gave Lily a curt nod, avoiding
eye-contact with Gideon.

Lily's gaze shifted from Barny to Gideon to
Delilah to Jessie.

"You all know why we're here," she said.
"This thing, it's happening. We can't pretend that it's not. I
tried that, and it didn't work out. So I want to get us all on the
same page, and we can talk about what -- if anything -- we want to
do about it."

"Okay, I got no problem with that." Barny
craned his neck, peering around the drive-in theater parking lot.
"Is he here? The shadow guy?"

"I didn't invite him," Lily said.

"Want me to head out to the shack and get
him?" Delilah asked.

"No," Lily said. "If he wants to show up, he
will. But this is about us."

"How do we even know he's telling the truth
about any of it?" Barny said.

"We don't," Lily said. "Not for sure."

"I could tell, if I met him," Jessie said.
"I can tell when people are lying."

"Big help if he's not here." Barny said.

"He was right about at least one thing,"
Jessie said. "Our father was more than man. An angel."

"When I talked to him he said that we
weren't human ourselves," Delilah said. "Not even really
alive."

"You said that before. What's that even
mean?" Gideon asked.

"Angels are not of flesh and bone like
mortal man," Jessie said. "But of spirit and light, of celestial
wonder."

Gideon furrowed his brow. "What? Like a
ghost?"

"That's stupid," Barny said. "We bleed
pretty damn real."

Delilah shook her head. "He doesn't really
get it himself, but he thinks that we look human because we take
after our mothers. From what he's said and what we've all
experienced, I would surmise that the angelic nature remains
dormant unless awakened by bodily trauma. Melchizedek was shot,
Lily was in an accident, she hit Barny--"

"Sorry about that," Lily said.

Barny waved her off.

"--you beat Gideon, and I... fell from the
water tower."

"I was very ill as a young girl," Jessie
said. "The visions started after my fever broke."

"Another interesting aspect," Delilah said.
"All of our... let's call them 'manifestations'... are
different."

Barny kicked at the gravel. "So our
father--"

"His name was Nicholas Kantor," Delilah
said.

"--He was an angel?"

"Melchizedek seemed to think he might
be."

"Oh, he was," Jessie said. "I've seen him.
In my dreams."

"We've all had the dreams and they don't
make any sense," Lily said.

"They're clear to me. After all, I've been
having them for years. And they're more than just dreams -- they're
a connection to our father, and through him, the Almighty. I've
seen the angel, and he has whispered to me in my visions."

Lily eyed the girl with a mix of trepidation
and skepticism. "He has?"

"Oh yes." The far-off look had returned to
Jessie's eyes. "And he is not just any of Heaven's host, but the
eldest and greatest of angels."

Lily frowned, thinking back to what little
she remembered from Sunday School. The International Church of
Christ Everlasting was a modern and progressive church; its
teachings didn't delve very deeply into Christian esoterica.
"Michael?"

"Michael is the second eldest," Jessie said.
"Our father is the Light Bringer, the Morning Star. Lucifer."

A stunned silence followed, and Lily almost
fell off the railroad tie as her stomach dropped.

Barny broke it. "Our father is the fucking
devil?"

Lily felt light-headed, and it was difficult
to breathe. "No, wait, you said our father was an angel."

"Lucifer is an angel," Jessie said. "The
first-born."

"The devil is not a fucking angel,
Jessie!"

Jessie frowned. "He is so!"

"He's the devil!"