Read Alan Price and the Colossus of Rhodes (The Nephilim Chronicles) Online
Authors: Jonathan Yanez
Alan Price and the Colossus of Rhodes (The Nephilim Chronicles) (10 page)
childhood were being asked to be open again. Trying not to think about the
things he had fought so hard to bury deep in the dark recesses of his memory
only made them surface faster. The night of the only dance he had ever been to;
the beating he had endured at the hands of the school bully. Alan closed his
eyes trying to forget.
“Good,” he heard Jacob say. “Don’t
fight it, remember it. Feel it once again.”
called names like; dork, weirdo, nerd, zero…
“All those years you thought you
were alone,” Jacob’s voice filled the silence, “All the pain, loneliness,
depression, bullying they are part of you but you can choose here and now to
not let them define you today. Use it, Alan. Use that energy and aggression but
now know you are not alone. There is hope, there is redemption.”
from some hidden well of strength deep within. He could hear Jacob’s voice but
even more intensely, he felt the power that was surging within him.
“You’ve endured only as much as you
were meant. All those years of hardship have made you stronger, Alan. They have
made you into something few people are. Left without hope and purpose, those
feelings would consume you. But you are not alone, Alan. You have hope now and
more importantly, you have purpose. Now hit me!”
strike but by the time he was aware of his fists flying, he had struck Jacob on
the chest multiple times. Wildly he marched forward sending strike after strike
echoing into his target. Tears of controlled emotion flooded from Alan’s tear
ducts with his consent. All Alan could see was the pain he endured for so many
years, the pain that he still struggled to overcome. But now he had hope and
answers, now he wasn’t alone.
“Enough,” Jacob’s ragged gasp made
Alan shudder.
eyes. Jacob was doubled over, a painful expression on his face. Alan instinctively
moved towards him to help, an apology on his lips.
“No,” Jacob warded off Alan with an
outstretched hand. The older man stood up straight with a wince. “No, I’m fine.
You did well. Next time I’ll have to use my own powers.”
“Ummm… guys?” Alan and Jacob turned towards the
entrance of the warehouse. Danielle was standing in the doorway motioning them
to come inside. “You’re going to want to hear this.”
Chapter 31
“My brothers and sisters of the
Fallen race. Thank you for your willingness to hear what I have to say and for
joining me on such short notice.” The room was silent, as she knew it would be.
The eleven other seats placed around the large circular table were taken by the
most powerful members of her species. These members would not see it necessary
to affirm her thanks with a response.
Both male and female members were
in attendance. Some lounged quietly in the shadows, others smoked cigarettes or
exchanged curious glances with their neighbors. “I am sure you are all
wondering what I asked you here for—“
is it that is so important you summoned us to this ‘history-altering’ meeting?
I was in the middle of a rather delicate nuclear missile deal.”
Ardat turned her dark eyes on the
speaker. His conceited tone already revealing his identity, nevertheless she
wanted to skewer Belmore with a menacing look.
Nephilim. I do not fear you.”
She hated the smug look on his
baggy face. The way his thinning hair fell off his spotted balding head. She
wanted nothing more than to walk over to his seat, tear his stupid arms from
his stupid body and beat him to death with them. Yet, she had come too far now
to let her legendary temper get the best of her. “Of course. My guests, you all
know our predicament here on earth. For much longer than I care to remember we
have been sentenced to this cell waiting our day of judgment.”
the room.
“What if I were to tell you that
our waiting is over? What if I were to say that I have found a way to tip the
scales in our favor?”
straight. Side conversations were silenced as every member in the room looked
to her for an explanation.
Ardat let the silence hold for a second
longer. She allowed her self to revel in the moment for only a brief second before
she continued. “We are here with no chance of escape. The bloody Angels and
their Nephilim make sure of that. The Angels are much too powerful for us to
compete with, but what if I were to tell you that I have found a book. A book
that would enable us to craft weapons that would not only even the odds but
allow us to finally kill the guards that so unjustly keep us caged on this
earth.”
white hair. Her sharp pointed teeth like a shark’s showed through every time
she spoke. “How will a book help us against our enemy?”
Belmore scoffed, “Please, Triana,
you have never before been interested in an uprising. In fact, I was surprised
to see you here at all. For all our sakes, do not indulge Ardat further. She is
obviously on a journey to find self-worth and praise among her betters.”
Belmore’s words. It was true; Triana’s presence at the meeting was unexpected. Throughout
the centuries, Triana had lived a life of seclusion from her kind. Now not only
her presence but also her boldness to voice a question caused Ardat to think
twice about the women’s true intentions. “There is a book. It does exist and
this book contains the knowledge to forge celestial weapons – weapons
that no longer exist and that will place us on top of the food chain where we
belong. We finally have a way to kill Angels.”
The room sat silent, stunned. Ardat
knew they wanted to believe her. They had all heard a legend of such a book but
until now it was only a legend spoken in wistful thoughts or passing disbelief.
Her voice was soft and slow trying to mask the urgency to which she desired an
answer.
Ardat made a mental note of
Triana’s interest. In a room full of demonic beings, there were always multiple
strategies at play. “I’ve been searching for over a hundred years. Finally, I
was able to narrow in on the exact location by tracing the family tree of the
humans who were entrusted with the knowledge. When the war in Heaven was over
and our sentence carried out. All the weapons capable of killing an Angel or
demon were destroyed. However, the knowledge of how to make these weapons was
not. The book was entrusted to humans to protect. Why? I do not know. All I
know is that I have found it.”
“May we see it?”
are retrieving the book as we speak. It will be in our possession at any
moment.”
“You called this meeting because you supposedly know of a magical book that
will make us weapons?”
Ardat slowly began to walk around the large table
to where Belmore stood.
trust you that this book exists while you have no proof?”
Ardat kept a firm smile in place as
she traveled the last few steps to stand next to Belmore. The fool had no idea
what she was about to do. Instead of running in fear, he stood there, spittle
running from his sloshing lips as he continued to rant. “The Angels cannot be
killed. They are twice—three times more powerful than anyone of us.
They—“
With a flesh-tearing rip, Ardat
firmly grabbed and twisted Belmore’s left arm separating it from his body.
Black blood spewed across the table like water from a broken sprinkler. The
look on Belmore’s face was priceless. Shock more than pain glazed over his
bulging eyes. Unable to kill him without the aid of a celestial weapon, Ardat
knew overtime his arm would be mended back to his body and Belmore would live.
However, this knowledge did not stop her from finding delight in her actions as
she used his arm as a club to knock him unconscious.
throat as she tossed Belmore’s limp arm down on top of his body which now lay
sprawled on the table. “Excuse me. I have such a temper; sometimes I just can’t
help myself. As I was saying, I will have the book in my possession very soon.
When I do, I will start forging weapons right away. Soon, my brothers and
sisters, very soon we will overrun our enemy and usher in a new era: our era.”
Ardat let a small smile play across
her mouth as eager eyes and words of affirmation met her ears.
Chapter 32
Alan and Jacob followed Danielle
inside to her own special section of the warehouse. A room filled with computer
monitors and high-tech equipment whose functions were well-past Alan’s
knowledge of technology. Arther and Angelica were already inside. Arther was
sitting comfortably in a dark chair rocking himself backward and forward without
any clear physical sign of movement. Angelica was examining one of the many
flickering monitors that stood in the room.
monitor and clicking buttons on a keypad. “So I’ve been monitoring phone calls
in and out of all the known places where the Fallen have placed their dark Nephilim;
pool halls, strip clubs, bars, night clubs, you know, all the upstanding classy
places.”
“Wait a minute,” Alan said, “you’ve
tapped into their phones? How many?”
over her back with a smile, “All of them actually. We can listen to anyone’s
conversations. I just have a specific algorithm that tracts the places that are
known hangouts for the Fallen and their minions.”
“Isn’t that against the law?” Alan
asked.
conversation in a singsong way that made Angelica chuckle.
“It’s imperative that we stay one
step ahead of the Fallen,” Jacob said. “The cost of them attaining the upper
hand would mean death and destruction on a horrific level.”
were eavesdropping on the general population but he could see the need, besides
he had nothing to hide.
“Anyway, a program I have running flagged
a conversation and I thought you guys should hear it.” Danielle pressed one
last key and a nasally voice conversing with another rough, gravelly tone spoke
over the room’s sound system.
“Yeah, she said she finally found
it,” the nasal voice said.
think she has it right this time?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen her
so sure. Drencher and maybe some of the others are going to retrieve it
tonight.”
headquarters later for a special project. Wonder what it is.”
“Well,” the nasal voice said lowering
his voice to a near whisper, “If she really has found the missing Chronicle, I
would imagine she’d want us to start forging weapons right away.”
go on to talk about sniffing paint and tripping out on the latest reality TV
show.”
“Sniffing paint?” Angelica said,
“Do people still do that?”
you think, Jacob?”
All eyes turned to their leader who
stood with arms crossed over his chest and a dark look on his face. “I think we
have bigger issues now than huffing paint. You all know the story of the Chronicle:
if they have found it, then we are in very serious trouble.”
had no idea what anyone was talking about, Danielle saved him the time. “It’s an
ancient book on making celestial weapons that are capable of killing either Angels
or demons. We thought it was lost over the years, it’s just been a story until
now, a myth.”
“But if there is any truth to what
we heard…” Angelica’s voice trailed off.
“Danielle, where did the call come from? It sounded like Infinity talking to
another of the Fallen’s Nephilim.”
Danielle turned back to her
keyboard. Her fingers flew across the keys like a master pianist giving the
performance of a lifetime. “Got it. The call was made from the Sunny
Mead—and you’re right. It was Infinity on the line. I’m not sure who he
was talking to though.”
to rock. “You’re going to want to go aren’t you, Jacob?”
Jacob nodded, “I hope you’re ready,
Alan. This isn’t going to be easy.”
Chapter 33
“It just looks like a normal bar,”
Alan said as he exited the sleek sedan into the cool night air. Jacob had taken
the car from a warehouse next to their own, where to Alan’s surprise, an army
of automobiles and aircrafts were stored for their use. Jacob, Angelica and Arther
piled out of the car behind him. From the look on everyone’s face and the
general mood on the ride to the location, Alan would have guessed they were
walking into Hell itself.
