part0022

I felt a tickle on the back of my neck as I opened my eyes. I quickly sat up, realizing I was in another vision. I was in the middle of the woods, birds chirping in the distance. The sun peeked in through the trees. The damp, earthy smell, filled my lungs as I stood up.

I leaned up against a large tree with carvings on it, symbols and names I didn’t recognize.

Looking around, trees in every direction, I walked. Following a shallow creek upstream, I walked through the fallen leaves and dirt. A feeling of thirst came over me as I kneeled in the creak. Filling my cupped hands with water, I slurped it up.

A salty taste hit my taste buds as I spit out most of the water. This creek must have been coming from the ocean. Following it further upstream, I smelled the salt. Walking faster, I broke through the bushes, entering the sand. The bright sun blinded me as I squinted, a single ship anchored just off the shore.

Just up the beach, I could make out huts and other wooden buildings. It looked like some kind of old fishing village. The closer I got, the more I could smell the fish as they hung from pole after pole all around the entrance.

Turning the corner, several people walked about, working.

“Move out of the way!” an old man said as he pushed by me.

“Wait, you can see me?” I yelled back to him, not understanding.

“Crazy kids,” he muttered as he continued walking.

I walked farther into the village, vegetables and fish everywhere.

“Excuse me,” I said to some woman outside her house .

“Well this is north western America; did you just get off the ship?”

“Uh, yeah, long trip,” I agreed. “What year is this?”

“1512, are you alright?”

This must be what Rockport was like before it was named that. There is a reason I’m here, a reason people can see me. My mind wants me to know something about this place, this time period.

“Yes, I’m fine ma’am,” I answered. “Where did you guys come from?”

“We came from all over Europe, it took us about six months to get here,” she answered. “We’re just starting our new lives here.”

“Great, yes. I came too, I’m surprised you speak English actually,” I laughed.

“Well Captain Adrian wanted us to all learn one language,” she answered. “Some of us spoke Latin, French, even Spanish, so on the ship we all learned English.”

“Oh right, I had forgotten why, but thank you.”

“You are a very odd child, you know that?” she giggled. “Very odd clothing.”

“Yes, I am a weird person, I like to wear weird things,” I answered nervously.

“I must get back to cooking for the feast tonight. My name is Agnes…if you need anything.”

“Okay, sounds great; my name is Mark,” I said as I walked past her .

This all seemed so real. I was amazed at the sights while walking through the village, people building and cooking. I noticed fields and fields of vegetables growing. The farther I walked, the more I felt lost.

“Hey there, can you lend a hand?” a man asked from the fields.

I rushed over and helped him pull a tree to the spot he wanted.

“Thank you, sir, what is your name?” he asked, getting an axe out of a wood shed.

“Mark, and no problem,” I said, walking away.

“Hey, wait up. You can help me out here if you aren’t busy,” he pleaded. “I can reward you with an invitation to the feast tonight.”

I hesitated before turning around; this feast was where my vision wanted me to go.

“The name is Benjamin,” he said, holding his hand out to shake.

He was like something out of a fairytale, tall, and handsome. His muscles were popping out of his tight shirt. Sweat was beading off of him in the hot sun.

“Are you going to shake?” he asked as I snapped out of my weird trance.

“You got a deal, Benjamin,” I said, shaking his large hand.

“So, where do you come from?” he asked, chopping the first log with ease.

“Uh, Rockport, very small town in Portugal,” I said, remembering Mr. Grumbles’ history class about the 16th century.

“Never heard of that place, but I am glad you found your way here, to the new world!” he exclaimed as I picked up the split logs, loading them in the pile.

The more I looked at him, the more I noticed a glow to him, a familiar light omitting from his skin .

“Are you a Nephilim?” I blurted without hesitation, instantly regretting it.

He stopped his axe mid-swing, almost cutting me in half. “Sorry, I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“You’re not a very good liar, you know?” I pushed harder, noticing him getting nervous.

“Ok, you got me, I’m not a Nephilim, Mark, I am an angel,” he gave in, putting down his axe.

“A what?” I asked, sitting down on the tree log. “You’re a pure angel? What are you doing here?”

“Well, I don’t remember much of why I came,” he answered. “You see, I lost my memory a while back and Adrian has been taking care of me. He told me I was an Angel, but I don’t have any sort of powers. I did notice, however, that I do not age. I don’t get into the specifics, Mark. I am just thankful he took me in.”

“So, Adrian told you he saved you?”

“Yes, I don’t ask many questions. I just do my work here.”

“You can’t tell I’m a Cambion?”

“A half-demon?” he asked. “No, Adrian doesn’t let me talk with others usually. His daughter has actually been teaching me about demons and angels. She even told me of a time when creatures from other worlds walked this land.”

“Why don’t you try to leave?”

“Oh, I love it here,” he laughed. “Besides, I can’t leave my children.”

“Well I come from a long line of Cambions so I’m sure we’ve evolved a bit,” I said. “I can’t believe I’m talking to an angel.”

“How did you know anyway? ”

“Your skin gives off a slight glow when the sun hits you just right,” I laughed as he looked at his skin.

“Demon or not, I’m glad to be talking to someone other than a human. I’ve kind of gotten lost the past thousand years or so.”

“Half demon, and yeah I can imagine; this is just surreal for me. Where I’m from, angels no longer exist, I mean there’s Nephilims but no angels. Even demons are pretty much kept at bay, only Cambions pretty much exist.”

“Where is this Rockport you say you are from?”

“Oh, it’s a small place but there seem to be a lot of supernatural things going on there.”

“Well, I’ll be sure to stay well away from there,” he laughed. “I don’t think I will be leaving this place anytime soon. Adrian has a whole plan for this place.”

“I’m sure he does.”

He stood back up and swung the axe again as I helped stack the wood. I never imagined I would get to meet an actual angel in person. They didn’t exist anymore and I could see why. They had left and gone into hiding, abandoned the humans as the demons eventually took over in my time.

A light rain fell just as we finished up the wood. The sun was slowly disappearing, dipping low into the ocean.

“We should probably clean up and head for that feast, Mark,” Benjamin suggested, walking toward a well. “There’s someone I want you to meet tonight, Mark. My wife.”

“You have a wife?” I asked him, pulling a bucket of water up.

“Yes, we can just be ourselves with each other and she makes me feel happy. Not only that but she gave birth to twins last evening.”

“Well that sounds great, I am excited to meet her. Congratulations on being a father, you’re going to be a great dad. ”

“Benjamin, who is your friend?” a man asked as he approached.

He was dressed very formally with a hat I’d only seen in my textbooks. His pointed mustache and beard were quite the sight. As he got closer, I could sense a darker side to him.

“This is Mark, he helped me with prepping the wood for the great fire tonight.”

“Hello Mark, my name is captain Adrian, leader of this colony,” he said reaching his hand out. A memory of the vision I’d had in the tomb suddenly entered my mind; they’d been talking about a captain Adrian. I reached for his hand, shaking it as a flow of darkness rushed through my body. He was a demon; I could feel his trapped soul burning inside of him.

“Is everything alright, boy, you look sick?”

“Yes, just exhausted,” I laughed, trying not to act suspicious.

“Well then, follow me to the feast.”

“I’ll catch up with you guys in a bit,” Benjamin said as I walked beside this intimidating man.

“So, Mark, what did Benjamin tell you?”

“Uh, not too much, that he has a wife and she just gave birth to twins last night.”

“Benjamin is a bit what you would call, crazy . His wife is my daughter and she did give birth to twins but they both died shortly after. He is still in denial about it but thank you for being kind to him.”

“Wow, I am sorry to hear about that, your daughter must be devastated.”

“She will be cleansed very soon, Mark, don’t worry,” he said.

“What do you mean, like a bath?”

“She disobeyed an old tradition, went against my wishes, that will be dealt with. ”

It suddenly hit me, if Adrian was a demon, then his daughter must also be a demon. If Benjamin was the father of the twins, and he was an angel… then that meant the twins would have been half-demon, half-angel.

We walked through the forest as torches burned in the distance.

“You know what I am, right, Mark?” he asked as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

“A captain of a Spanish ship?”

He looked at me with a powerful glare; opening his mouth, he revealed several sharp fangs. I nearly fell over as he held onto me.

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t eat a fellow descendant,” he laughed, as the burning torches got closer. “You may only be half demon, but you’re still welcome here, Mark.”

I took several deep breaths, trying to process everything going on.

“Thank you, sir, you aren’t a Cambion like me?”

“Oh no, I am a pure demon, straight from the pits of hell,” he answered in a calm manner. “You see, I came to this land to start a new cult. We are going to bring evil to this new world. My daughter was born of a pure demon who has since left us, killed by that man you call Benjamin. I have since wiped his memory and he is now my prisoner.”

He laughed uncontrollably as a terror came over me. I suddenly knew what this vision was for. It was to show me the beginning of the Syreni.

“You know what Benjamin is then?” I stuttered.

“Yes, of course, that angel won’t be spreading his wings anytime soon,” he laughed again as I could make out a gathering in the clearing up ahead. “My daughter who could have been a powerful demon, fell in love with an angel. In all my years, I have never seen that before, we couldn’t allow a new race of half-demons, half-angels existing. ”

“So, you killed your grandchildren?”

“Let’s just say, the world is a better place without them,” he uttered, pushing the branches out of the way. “After you, Mark.”

We walked through the tree line and reached a clearing. A memory shot into my mind of a vision, a looming tower of wood piled in the middle of the clearing.

“So, what is this place you have created?” I asked him.

He stopped walking and looked around at everything.

“This is the future of the world,” he answered. “You see, a long time ago, there was an ancient war, a great war. A war between angels and demons. Humans, of course, were slaves to the gods. The war lasted hundreds of years and consumed many from all sides. Toward the end of the war, angels and demons could see the end coming. So, both sides bred with the humans, creating new races. These Cambions and Nephilims were to represent the future. The demons were eventually defeated and the angels left this world. The barriers to other worlds were also closed and the new world started. But Mark, the past has a way of repeating itself. What we are doing here, the Syreni, we are in it for the long run. One day in the far future, the barriers will once again be lifted, and demons rise again.”

“Wow,” I answered in fear.

I noticed the wood being piled up beside a tower in the middle of the clearing.

“What’s the wood for?” I asked, trying to remain calm.

“You’ll see, Mark, I don’t want to ruin the surprise for you,” he said, greeting the others.

Looking around, everyone was wearing black hooded cloaks. I felt nauseous at the sight of the Syreni coming together.

“Mark, when I met you on the beach, I had no idea you’d come for the cult,” Agnes said as she walked over to me .

“Oh yeah, Adrian told me about everything and being a Cambion myself, I had to join,” I said, trying not to puke.

“Yes, my husband is very persuasive,” she laughed as my eyes widened.

“You’re a demon too?” I asked nervously.

“Oh, I wish! No, I am just Cambion like you, Mark,” she laughed, handing me a plate of food. “Adrian had another wife before me - his true love.”

“Oh, that’s right, Benjamin killed his demon wife,” I laughed as her serious face didn’t budge. “This food looks good.”

“Thank you, Mark; my human mother taught me how to cook, well before she was eaten by my father, that is,” she said.

I couldn’t tell if she was serious or not as I ate the food. I didn’t want to be any more suspicious so tried to fit in as best I could.

“It’s going to be a good one tonight, our first sacrifice as a new cult,” she said, handing me a black robe. “We would love if you would join in with us.”

“Of course, I will,” I said, putting it on.

I had been trying to get away from my dark side for so long. Wearing the cloak, standing with the founding members of the Syreni, I’d never been closer to the evil.

“So, why did you guys pick here to start the new cult?” I asked her.

“Well, Adrian was here first, he was scouting out new land when he stumbled upon a mermaid.”

“A mermaid, like in the fairytales?”

“Well if a bloodsucking, sharp-fanged, murderous fish creature fairytale, then yes.”

“So, Adrian’s crew heard a screeching noise when they were on the ship,” she said. “They quickly anchored as they shone their torches and lanterns all around the waters. They saw a beautiful mermaid sitting on a rock, and they were drawn to her beauty. Being a demon, Adrian was not fooled and knew immediately what it was. The crew jumped into the waters as she swam in, devouring them. That left just Adrian and the mermaid; of course they did not want to harm each other. They actually made a deal. Adrian would sacrifice someone to the mermaid every full moon as long as he could live here and build an army. She agreed and here we are.”

“So, why is she a mermaid?” I asked her.

“She is a creature from the underworld, Mark, they don’t all look like me and you. She is very weak and needs a host to live in, that is where Adrian’s daughter, Aurora comes in.”

My stomach turned as my thinking had come true. “His daughter is the first sacrifice?”

“Yes, she had sex with an angel. That is not allowed, Mark. He agreed to give his daughter’s physical body as the host for the mermaid.”

“Wow, so what about Aurora’s soul?”

“I’d imagine it would live on inside and whichever is the more powerful demon will control the body.”

“Adrian had a cult before you guys, right?” I asked.

“How do you know that?” she questioned. “Yes, Adrian is from ancient Rome; the old cult existed there and was all but wiped out by another cult, the Order of Lai.”

“I see, Syreni means mermaid in Latin, right?”

“Yes, you’re a smart one,” she laughed. “That mermaid creature is actually Adrian’s wife, she’s in there but not all there. When she was killed by the Order, sent to the underworld, Adrian sacrificed thousands of people in Rome to resurrect her. Unfortunately, she came back as a bloodthirsty demon and doesn’t remember him. ”

“That all makes sense now,” I said.

Looking out to the giant tower, the sun had disappeared. The full moon and burning torches lit up the night sky.

Captain Adrian made his way to the wood tower, climbing up a few logs.

“Brothers and sisters, welcome to the first day of our new lives,” he began as everyone gathered. “Tonight marks the first sacrifice for the Syreni. Every full moon, we will feed our master as she becomes more powerful. One day, our descendants will fulfill what we begin tonight. Evil will rule this world. This is only the beginning.”

“Blessed are the followers, for they shall be eaten last!” everyone chanted as two hooded men came in carrying a girl by the arms.

“Aurora,” I whispered. She was beautiful, unlike the beast that took over her.

Everything in me wanted to stop this from happening but I had to keep reminding myself that this was 500 years ago, and I could not change anything.

They tied her to a log and pulled her to the top.

“Kill that whore!” The crowd cheered as they raised her higher and higher.

She was no older than I was, fell in love and would die for it, her children slain for their existence in a cruel world.

Aurora screamed for help as the wood around the base was lit. The fires rose higher as her screams called louder. I had to fight back every muscle in my body, not to intervene.

“Let them down!” someone yelled from behind as I turned to see.

I was in shock at what I saw. Another me was walking into the clearing. I remained calm, hid my face with the hood as they walked closer, taking in the immense flaming tower .