Nephilim (Academy of the Fallen #2)

Academy of the Fallen

Nephilim

by

Daniele Lanzarotta

CREDITS

Written by
DANIELE LANZAROTTA

Edited by Frank Monahan

Art Direction - Meredith Hancock

Front cover photography © Suprijono Suharjoto

Front cover photography © frozenstarro

Published by Rocket Science Productions

© Copyright 2012 Daniele Lanzarotta

All rights reserved

ISBN-978-1-937121-34-1

eISBN-978-1-937121-35-8

Library of Congress Control Number
2012932847

DEDICATION

For the readers who won the

‘Name a character after you’ contest.

HUNTER

ONE

It had been over 24 hours since I was dragged away from the Academy’s clinic, away from Kayla, who was still unconscious when I left.

They
gave me two options:  I would either have to accept that I was not allowed to see Kayla, or I would be on lock-down until further notice.  I chose option three.

I did go to my room, pretended like I was going to stay away… the next day, when everyone seemed to be going about their own business, I ran to the gates of the Academy, where I could summon Chase.  Chase is a ghost, trapped on earth, but he knows a lot about the Otherworld, which was where Kayla had been trapped… for far too long.

None of us at the Academy should ever be exposed to the Otherworld, the place where ghosts and demons wander around for most of their existence, but for Kayla, that was especially dangerous.  Kayla is one of
their
children, the offspring of a fallen angel with a human.  Her father runs the Academy.  Kayla, however, didn’t know much of anything.  She was raised as human, hidden away from the Academy until she started seeing ghosts and other beings from the Otherworld.

I was on my way to the front gates when the nurse stopped me.

“Hunter—Mr. Chambers!” she yelled to get my attention.  “The girl, she is awake.”

I didn’t wait for her to say anything else.  I ran to the clinic, but was stopped at the door by Kayla’s biological father and my private mentor, Mr. Daniels.  I say private mentor because like Kayla, I’m not like the others at the Academy.  I’m not one of the haunted, and I’m definitely not one of the Fallen.  Just about the only thing that I have in common with the Fallen is that I’m immortal.

“She is under observation, Chambers,” said Daniels.  “You are not going in.”

My instinct said to rush past him and get in the room, but I knew that would only get me kicked out and I wouldn’t be able to get any information.

I took a deep breath.

“How is she?”

“She has been awake for a few hours.  The nurse has given her food and explained where she is.  She seems calm enough to where I will be able to walk in and actually talk to her; explain why she is here.”

“It doesn’t sound like a good idea,” I said.

Mr. Daniels, of course, ignored me.  I just then noticed him staring at the monitors behind me, monitors that they added to check on Kayla.

“You may stay here and listen in, if you wish,” Mr. Daniels said.

I nodded.

As soon as Daniels walked into her room, I moved closer to one of the monitors.  Kayla was just sitting there, examining her nails, when Mr. Daniels walked in.  She simply looked up, unalarmed, and stared at him.  Daniels asked if she wanted to know why she was here.

Kayla shrugged. 

He stood where he was and told her that she was in danger because Benjamin, an incubus demon, was after her. 

She gave him a puzzled look.

“I know this is difficult and likely confusing,” he said, “…but maybe it is just best if I tell you everything now.  Benjamin, the incubus after you, is your half-brother.”

After seconds of Kayla just staring at him, he sighed.

“I know it is my fault that you are here now.  You were unprotected when you shouldn’t have been.  It was a mistake… I just wish I could go back in time…”

Even from a distance, I could see that Daniels was trying to hold back tears.

Kayla just stared at him.

Daniels approached her, sitting on the foot of the bed.

Again, Kayla just watched him, trusting, understanding… something was wrong. 

“Do you understand what you are?” Daniels asked.

She shook her head, but didn’t say anything at first.

“Am I a demon?” she asked.  “Like my brother?”

“No, Kayla.  You are a Nephilim.”

That got her to react, but she didn’t say anything, just looked surprised.

“Do you know what that means?” he asked.

She nodded.

Something was definitely wrong.  Kayla didn’t know anything about the Nephilim.  I had told her about the Fallen, about the haunted, but not this.

Daniels smiled.

“Very well, then.  You will learn a lot in the Academy.   I’m really hoping that time will lead us to get to know each other, and I hate to ask this, but it is important for your safety that no one knows what you are or that you are my daughter.”

Kayla shrugged.

By then, I had had enough.  I barged into the room, moving directly toward her.

“You are out of line, Chambers!” Daniels yelled.

He looked at Kayla, but saw that she wasn’t reacting to my being there.

“Leave, Mr. Chambers.”

I ignored him.

“Look at me, Kayla,” I said.

She didn’t react to me calling her name.  She just stared at Daniels like she had never seen a being like that before.

I put my hand on her arm to get her attention.  “Hey!  Look at me!”

When she did, her eyes were cold, dark, and empty.  How could Daniels have not noticed?  How could the nurses have missed this?

I already knew it before she spoke, but it was good that the words came from her and not from me, otherwise, Daniels might not have believed me.

“Get your hands off me!  … and stop calling me Kayla.  I’m not Kayla!”

TWO

I knew that something about me had disturbed the being that took over Kayla’s body in the Otherworld.

“What did you do to her?!” I snapped.

“She fell asleep… I took my chances.  Now I’m here, and hopefully, being a Nephilim will be of good use.”

The mention of Nephilim seemed to be the key that led Daniels to snap back into reality.

He quickly moved, grabbing a syringe and sticking it in her arm before she could even get her eyes off me.  She was sedated within seconds.

“What did you do to pull her back from the Otherworld?” I asked Daniels.  I knew that Kayla would not have given up like that… she would have never allowed those beings to get anywhere near her.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.  All we can do now is send this one back and hope that she will leave Kayla’s body alone.  If we are lucky, Kayla will be able to find herself again.”

I just stared at him.  He made it all sound so simple.  It took a lot for me not to snap.  “How exactly are you going to make that happen?!  I mean… getting this being back into the Otherworld?”

Even if this being was sent back, I knew there was nothing he could do to get the real Kayla back here, but I wasn’t about to sit around and wait for a miracle.  I knew there was something that I could do.

“One of the haunted will guide this spirit by pushing her out,” said Daniels.

I was in shock, mostly because the Academy was supposed to be keeping the haunted protected, but now, they were willing to use their powers and put them face-to-face with the beings that they were supposed to be protected from.

I knew how wrong that was, but I didn’t argue against it.  Yes, I was being selfish, but that was the only possible way to get Kayla back…  I didn’t care how it got done, as long as it did.

Daniels didn’t want me around when the haunted showed up, so I stayed in the observation room.  I wanted to make sure that that being was sent back into the Otherworld before I moved forward with my plan.

I was okay with my I-don’t-care-how-it-gets-done-as-long-as-it-does theory until the girl, the haunted one, walked in the room.  She was young, way too young to have to deal with this. 

“How old is she?”  I asked the nurse in charge.

“Who? Kimberly?  She is twelve.”

I just shook my head.

“Don’t worry.  She is by far the strongest and most knowledgeable of them.”

I watched as the girl reached for Kayla’s hand.

“How is she going to do anything?  Doesn’t whatever this being is, have to be awake in order to be kicked back out?  I mean… the sedative…?”

The nurse shook her head.  “Oh, she is very awake.  She just can’t use Kayla’s body as a weapon.  The body is sedated.  What inhabits it is very much aware of what is happening.”

When I looked back at Kayla’s monitor, I saw the change.

“The spirit is gone,” said the nurse.  “Kayla is in a coma.  Now it is just a matter of her finding herself, and finding her way out of the Otherworld.”

I just didn’t get the casual nature with which they spoke.  The chances of Kayla getting out of there on her own were barely existent. 

Daniels walked the girl, Kimberly, out of the room.  She looked exhausted, but didn’t complain.  As soon as she was out of the room, Daniels faced me.

“Now we wait.  Do you understand, Mr. Chambers?”

I nodded and walked out.

Knowing me, Daniels probably thought I was up to something.  I would have never agreed to leave Kayla so easily.  When he didn’t do anything to stop me, I figured he probably assumed that as long as I was not in the room with her, there was little that I could do.

If he only knew that there was a way to get closer to her than by being in that room.  I was about to go to a place that I hated even more than the Academy… the Otherworld.

THREE

I wish there was a way to follow through with my plan on my own… or at least limit my need for help to Chase only, but unfortunately, I would have to take my chances and trust one of the fallen.

My roommate, Ethan, wasn’t as bad considering the others.  Ethan didn’t like being here just as much as me.  He also didn’t trust many of his own kind.  That had to say something about him.  Ethan being at the Academy did have something to do with moral issues, but if what he says is true, it was only because he tried to save some girl he fell for.

When I rushed in the room to ask for his help, I already knew he would want something in return.  Honestly, I couldn’t blame him for wanting to know whether the girl he fell for was still alive, or if she had even left the hospital where he had last seen her.

I agreed to help him.  I only hoped that Chase would agree as well, considering that he was our only chance of checking in on the girl.

Ethan didn’t like my plan.  He thought it was going to kill me, but then again, he didn’t know I was an immortal.

As soon as curfew time came, we rushed to the front gates… well, I did.  The plan was for Ethan to hide until the time came to retrieve my body.  He would then take me to the room until my spirit returned from the Otherworld. 

I summoned Chase.  As usual, he came right away.  I told him what had happened to Kayla, and all he could do was remind me over and over that it should not have happened, that I should not have left her alone.

“I can’t help you, Hunter.  Sorry, there is just very little that I can do…. You know what you are.  I can guide you once you are in the Otherworld, but I can’t exactly send you there.”

“There has to be a way.”

“Well, yeah.  If you manage to ally with one of those Academy beings that you don’t trust…and for good reason…well, they can help.”

“How?”

“They have the ability to send just about anyone to the Otherworld, human or not.  It can’t be that different with you.”

“Oh.  Well, I have someone who can help.”

Chase looked at me in disbelief.

“I’m serious.  Look over there,” I said pointing toward a shadow.  “He was going to help by taking my body back to the room and buy me time.  I’m sure he won’t mind the extra task.”

Chase looked doubtful.

“…but there is something I need you to do for him in return,” I said.

Chase laughed.  “Of course.  They don’t do anything without expecting something in return.  I still don’t get why this place even attempts to give them a second chance.”

“You know why they do that, Chase.  What I told you Ethan said before… it just fits together.”

“Okay, well… it is their own fault that most of their kind consist of Fallen ones.  That is what happens when they expose so many to the temptations of this world.”

Chase could go on and on when it came to that.

“Are you going to help or not?”

He shrugged.  “Why don’t you just use your powers over me to control my actions and make me do as you wish?  I’m just a weak ghost.  We both know you can…”

“Because that is not the type of person I am.  You know that.”

Chase nodded.  “Fine.  What does this one want?”

Not having much time, I had to get to the point and tell Chase that Ethan just wanted information on a human girl, Jennifer Holcomb.  That the last time he had seen her, she was at the oncology department of the same hospital where Kayla had been.

Chase shook his head.  “Fine.”

I nodded a ‘thank you’ and called Ethan over.

I told Ethan that I needed him to send me to the Otherworld and that Chase would guide me from there.

Ethan didn’t ask as many questions as I expected, but he was clearly concerned.

“Are you sure we have to do this right here?” he asked.

“Yes.  This is the only place where Chase and I can have any type of contact without being blocked completely by the wards around this place.”

Ethan could see Chase just like I could.  He looked at Chase and then back at me.  “…and he will do his part of the deal, right?  Regardless of how this turns out?”

“Yes.  Now, let’s do this.  We are running out of time.”

“Close your eyes,” ordered Ethan.  “Are you ready?”

As soon as I gave my first nod, I felt the pain all over my body.  When I opened my eyes, I knew the darkness that surrounded me… that scent of death… I was in the Otherworld.  Chase was right next to me.  I couldn’t see… I could only hear him.

“Huh.  You managed to find a powerful one to help you.  Most of his powers seem to be intact even with the fall.”

I didn’t say anything.  I was still taking in that horrible place… how much I dreaded everything about it.  All of a sudden, we heard a noise.

We both listened, quietly.

Chase whispered.  “This will be easier than I thought.  You know I can’t go past this point without risking getting stuck here, but follow the voices.  They are fighting over Kayla.

“What do I do when I get to her?!”

“I thought you had a plan!  Shield her like you did before.  Get the hell out of there, and bring her to me.”

To be honest, I was freaking out.  I didn’t know if this would work… not here… but I made myself invisible, and followed the voices.

I didn’t need light to find her.  I could sense her anywhere, even here.  Luckily, those lost souls were too distracted fighting each other to notice anything else.  I grabbed Kayla, who was unconscious, and ran.  The only problem was that there were no voices around to guide me back.  I was unable to find Chase.

I wasn’t sure for how long I ran before I finally stopped and sat down.  Too exhausted to shield either one of us, I stopped trying to and hoped no one would be able to find us.

“Hunter?”

The sound of her voice caught me off-guard.

That was the last thing I heard Kayla say before I felt that pain again and everything around me, Kayla included… faded away.

***

I could barely breathe when I opened my eyes.  I looked around, freaking out until I saw Ethan standing near me.

“What happened?  Did you find her?”

“I-- I did, but then… I don’t know what happened.”

I got up, fast.  “I have to go check on her.”

Ethan tried to stop me, mumbling something about how they would probably not let me near Kayla at that time of the night, but I ran past him and didn’t look back.