Slayers Project - Ch 13 Human

  Ephriam could not wipe away the grin plastered to his face. Being around her made him feel more human than he had felt in four hundred years. He didn't fear the rising sun, she made him want to flirt with death if it meant seeing her for just a few minutes longer. He made it to his basement hideout with only seconds to spare. Amidst the dust and decay, he suddenly wished for a companion. Someone in which he could divulge his giddy crush on the mortal slayer. He felt too wound up for sleep but his preternatural nature took over and it wasn't long before he was dreaming impatiently of midnight picnics and a hazel-green eyed goddess.

---

  Zeke was saved from a verbal beat down by Renee's first day back to doing deliveries. Her boss and coworkers gave their condolences to her and extended them to the family.

  "Is sad thing for you," Nikolas said in his Russian bear voice, "I am very sorry."
  "It is but I feel like he's watching over me now," she replied with a smile, "Thank you for giving me the week off, Nikolas, I really needed that time."
  "Ne vopros. Now, are you ready for work?"
  "Da, ser! I'm ready to get back to it."

  Nikolas smiled at her use of Russian and gave her the address to her delivery and the parcel. It felt good to be back at work during the day. She enjoyed her deliveries for many reasons, but mainly for the reason that she was able to spend all day soaking up the sun and zipping all over town with the crisp October wind in her hair. It gave her time to think.

  She was still a little furious with Zeke for his zealously jealous overreaction to a stolen kiss. They were not exclusive, they had not even had sex yet and she intended to keep it that way. She felt she had made it pretty clear she was not ready to get involved on the next level with him due to his numbered days. Her gut told her she was being whore-ish but she brushed it off.
  On a small level, she felt she should be disgusted for having any involvement with Ephriam. At his base, he was a corpse. She had been kissed by a corpse. That thought made her frown, giving her a sour taste in her mouth. On the other hand, she was involved in a different world now that didn't follow the rules of mortal society. She was a demon slayer. Angels existed and one in particular shared a soul with her. Vampires were real, demons were real, and God and Lucifer were very real. Her mind reeled with the heaviness of it all and yet, she felt more validated. Her entire life had been a mass of endless questioning of Life and all it's secrets, now she was finally getting the answers she had been searching so desperately for.

  Having thought about Zeke during her first delivery, she was certainly not expecting to see him as soon as she got back. He looked different somehow, brighter. He was up to something.

  "Chto proiskhodit?" she asked her boss, ignoring Zeke completely.
  "On khochet rabotat'. On nadezhnyy?" Nikolas replied.
  "Da. On."
  "Zamechatel'nyy! Spasibo," he smiled.
  "Dobro pozhalovat'," she smiled back.

  Zeke stared at her, dumbfounded.

  Nikolas turned to Zeke, "You start now, we will do paperwork later. Do not make this wonderful girl regret sticking neck out for you."
  "Thank you, sir. I won't," Zeke nodded, shaking Nikolas' hand.

  The rest of the day flowed as smoothly as any day and she didn't really see much of Zeke except in a few rare moments where he was leaving on another delivery as she was returning from one. She didn't know whether or not to be more cross with him but decided to wait on judgement until he had explained to her why he had chosen her place of work to seek employment.

  Zeke knew he was making a dangerous choice going to her place of work to ask for a job but he hoped that she would be understanding of it. He had never had a job before and until that point, he had been content to live off the good nature of the church. He did chores and repairs in exchange for his couch in Master's tower and meals with the priests and altar boys, but fair is fair. He had refused to work at a fast food place or even retail or a gas station attendant, all those things were beneath him. But, now things were different. Renee continued to change the game. He could not, in good conscience, continue to stay with her and not contribute. He had a feeling she was merely tolerating him staying at her apartment and neither had really sat down to discuss his future there but for now, he at least wanted to be able to help her out.
  He was very impressed at her fluency in Russian and was starting to see there was more to her than what met the eye. He had a feeling her private discussion with Nikolas was what got him the job. The large, intimidating man didn't give really give him the time of day until he mentioned knowing Renee (albeit if only for a little over a week). Zeke appreciated that knowledge but didn't like it as it placed him even further in her debt. He feared he would never be as good as she was.

  At the end of the day, Renee locked her bike into the rack and said good-bye to Nikolas. Zeke was waiting for her just outside the entrance. He decided to wait for her to initiate the conversation and fell complacently in to step with her but after a moment, it was clear she was still stewing so he broke the ice.

  "I didn't know you spoke Russian," he said cautiously.
  "You didn't ask. Nikolas' English is broken at best, and when he first started to business he had his younger cousin there to translate for him. About a year or so later, I started working there and his little cousin left for college so I agreed to teach him better English if he taught me Russian," she replied nonchalantly, "And speaking of, what made you decided to get a job there?"
  "Well," he cleared his throat, "I've, uh, never had a job before... I figured if I mentioned your name it would improve my chances and whatever you said to him must've been pretty heavy in my favor."
  "You've never had a job before? Really?" she gasped, slack-jawed but then added, "Well, that's not really too suprising. Pride goeth before the fall and all that."
  He frowned, suddenly offended, "Yeah, I'm prideful. We get that. But it's not like I just mooched off the world."

  She shrugged and went the rest of the way in silence. Once back at her apartment, she showered to rinse away the filth of the day before preparing for her shift at the bar. Zeke was gone when she got out of the shower but she wasn't concerned. His steady heartbeat in her ears assured her he was fine, just probably off somewhere licking his wounds. She still hadn't given him his well-deserved tongue-lashing for the way he had treated Ephriam but she knew that on some level, Zeke knew he was in trouble with her. He was just delaying the inevitable a little while longer.

  After making a sandwhich, she sat down in front of her laptop to do more research before it was time to get ready for her second job. She opened the browser and typed 'nephilim' into the search bar.

  "Sources of demonic influence were thought to originate from The Watchers, or Nephilim, who are first mentioned in Genesis 6. The Nephilim were seen as the source of the sin and evil on earth because they are referenced in Genesis 6:4 before the story of the Flood. In Genesis 6:5, God sees evil in the hearts of men. The passage states, “the wickedness of humankind on earth was great”, and that “Every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only continually evil” (Genesis 5). The mention of the Nephilim in the preceding sentence connects the spread of evil to the Nephilim. Enoch is a very similar story to Genesis 6:4–5, and provides further description of the story connecting the Nephilim to the corruption of humans. In Enoch, sin originates when angels descend from heaven and fornicate women, birthing giants as tall as 300 cubits. The giants and the angels’ departure of heaven and mating with human women are also seen as the source of sorrow and sadness on earth. The book of Enoch shows that these fallen angels can lead humans to sin through direct interaction or through providing forbidden knowledge. In Enoch, Semyaz leads the angels to mate with women. Angels mating with humans is against God’s commands and is a cursed action, resulting in the wrath of God coming upon Earth. Azazel indirectly influences humans to sin by teaching them divine knowledge not meant for humans."

  She opened a new browser and typed 'Azazel' into her search.

  "Azazel is represented in the Book of Enoch as one of the leaders of the rebellious Watchers in the time preceding the flood; he taught men the art of warfare, of making swords, knives, shields, and coats of mail, and women the art of deception by ornamenting the body, dying the hair, and painting the face and the eyebrows, and also revealed to the people the secrets of witchcraft and corrupted their manners, leading them into wickedness and impurity; until at last he was, at the Lord's command, bound hand and foot by the archangel Raphael and chained to the rough and jagged rocks of [Ha] Duduael (= Beth Ḥadudo), where he is to abide in utter darkness until the great Day of Judgment, when he will be cast into the fire to be consumed forever."

  She bookmarked the page and clicked the back button. She had seen a name, Lilith, that had jumped out at her in her first search.

  "The demon Lilith is one of the most infamous in demonology. In ancient Hebrew tradition Lilith is depicted as Adam's first companion, created equally to Adam from the dust of the earth. She objected to being subservient to Adam though and was replaced as his wife by the more complacent Eve. In revenge for this, Lilith has a particular dislike of children. In medieval Europe, Lilith was variously the wife, concubine or grandmother of Satan or Lucifer.

  According to Hebrew tradition, the Lilin are Lilith's daughters and are dangerous demonic entities, considered in Hebraic writings to be the children born to Lilith after her escape from the garden of Eden.

  The etymology of 'Lilith' strongly points towards an association with night and with air, and later translations of the Bible have referred to Lilith as a 'screech owl.'

  Within Paganism, Lilith has various standings. For followers of Wicca, Lilith tends to be seen as one of many names for the Goddess, the supreme feminine divine power. For other polytheistic Pagans, Lilith is often seen as a misunderstood deity or entity, an example of the denigrated feminine as the patriarchy gained prominence. She is often seen as;

  - a fertility Goddess; on leaving the garden of Eden, Lilith was thought to have given birth to a hundred children a day
  - a Goddess of unrepressed sexuality; the example of a woman at her sensual peak
  - a Goddess of air and night; in the King James Bible, Lilith is referred to as the 'screech owl' and the etymology of her name indicates air related abilities and her region of power is in the night time
  - a Dark Goddess; similar to the Hindu Dark Goddess, Kali-Ma, embodying the dark-side of the feminine
  - a Goddess of Witches; in a role similar to that of the Goddess Hecate of the Greek pantheon."

  Personally, she liked the sound of Lilith. She believe in equality and saw Christianity as a way to brain wash the masses. Sheep that needed a ghost to grab onto in order to muck through the living Hell on Earth. To Renee, it seemed so much easier to lay all of your problems on something or someone else than to deal with them yourself. Even in now knowing that God and Lucifer were real, she found the whole system to still be corrupt. No being, real or unreal should be all powerful. If He truly created Man in His image and to be subservient for Him with the promise of Eternal Peace, then existence was a 4.54 billion year joke.

  Renee felt she had been created for more than just mlling through life, waiting to die. Life should be more than just waiting to die for true happiness.

  Feeling suddenly empowered, she filtered through her dresser and decided on her black slant-cut skirt, her black single bell-sleeved shirt, and black stilletos. She accesorized with her star sapphire necklace and silver star chandellier earrings. She styled her hair in a halo braid and applied her make-up in the usual style.
  Exiting the apartment alone was an alien feeling and she wondered if Zeke would be waiting for her outside the bar, but she was suprised to find Ephriam waiting outside the complex. It was still twilight in the far reaches of the sky but obviously night enough for him to venture out. He smiled brilliantly.

  "You look stunning," he said softly.
  She flushed, "Thank you."
  Reading her apprehension, he quickly offered, "I'm sorry to show up unannounced, again. Please forgive me if I startled you."
  "Actually your timing is pretty on. Would you care to walk me to work?" she asked.
  He beamed again, "It would absolutely be my honor."

  He extended the crook of his arm and she tentatively placed her hand just above his elbow. He laid his free hand over hers like a true gentleman. She was intoxicating and had his preternatural and -deeply buried- natural senses enthralled.

  "May I ask if there is a particular occasion for you tonight? Perhaps a theme at your work?" he inquired.
  "No theme or occasion," she smiled, relaxing a little bit, "I just felt like being edgy tonight."
  "Well, you look fantastic."

  She blushed again and mentally crossed her fingers that Zeke wasn't paying attention to her hummingbird heartbeat.

  "I'm sorry I'm so awful at small talk," she said after a moment of silence.
  "It's quite alright, I don't mind initiating. How was your day?" he smiled.
  "Good, I enjoyed being back out in the sun. The weather this time of year is perfect. I love the smell and feel of autumn," she grinned.
  "It is a lovely time of year. Do you have any plans for All Hallows Eve?"
  "Halloween? I have to work that night but it's fun because I get to dress up."
  "Oh? What will you be masquerading as?"
  She grinned, sticking her tongue out, "Not telling. It's a surprise."
  "Good thing I won't have to wait too long to see," he replied, returning her cheeky enthusiasm with a smile, "It's this coming Saturday, isn't it?"
  "Yeah. But it's something I pretty much plan for all year. It's my favorite holiday. And more so for just the spirit of it than the Americanized version of celebration," she said.
  "I whole heartedly agree. The way it was back in my day was very much different from the way mortals parade about now. It was a time of feasting, celebrating and respecting the dearly departed and paying homage to the spirits of the realm. There were bonfires and silly games for children to play."
  "Sounds very, ehm, village oriented," she laughed.
  "Indeed it was. Family was a very important thing back then."
  "I think the world would be better of if some of the values from your time were still as prominent today as they were then. Little girls run around now, having babies they can't or don't want to take care of and little boys that will tell a girl everything she wants to hear but if she winds up pregnant, they aren't man enough to stick around and take care of the beautiful miracle they were part of creating. Then you've got parents that have come up with new ways to traumatize and abuse their children.
  "Personally, I think humans are born evil. We're born so base that left to our own devices, we'd burn the world to the ground."
  Ephriam stared at her in awe, "That is a very intense point of view."
  "Sorry," she blushed, "I sometimes go on mini-rants."
  "Never be sorry for speaking your mind," he assured her.

  Renee blushed deeper, looking away from his cerulean eyes. He cupped her cheek in the palm of his hand and turned her head to face him, kissing her gently on the lips, sending her heartbeat from hummingbird to a full blown, all percussion orchestra. She didn't resist, and wasn't entirely sure she could had she wanted to, returning the kiss with added passion. Her bravery emboldened Ephriam and he pulled her to him, his fangs dragging ever-so gently across her bottom lip. Their tongues warred for space and she inhaled sharply through her nose. His breath was pleasant, like sandalwood and white sage.
 
  A passing taxi honked, startling both of them back to reality. She laughed nervously, trying to quiet the pounding in her ears. The remaining walk to the bar was short and silent and anything but awkward. Ephriam left her at the door with a parting peck on the cheek and a promise to return for her break after he had properly fed. Once inside, Zeke was in his usual booth with a seething glare burning in his eyes. She gave him a look that she prayed said 'I'll explain later' and went to the back to time-in.

  "Well well well, someone is positively glowing," Sheila teased, "Was it good?'
  Renee flushed a deep crimson that flooded her cheeks and neck, "I-uh. What? Glowing? You're crazy, Shelia."
  "Nice try, and nice pun, you cheeky monkey but that was weak. So how was he?" Sheila elbowed her playfully.
  "He who?" Renee asked, trying to feign dumb.
  "Oh come on now, your handsome shadow!"
  Her blush faded almost instantaneously, "I honestly haven't done anything with him yet."
  "Oh really? So who's this glow for then? A new beau perhaps?"
  "Well, not really. He's this guy I met about a week ago that I've been talking to. He's an old school gentleman," she smiled.
  "Watch out for those types, they just use that old school jazz to get in, get off, and get out. But I hope he's legit, because you look absolutely smitten," Sheila patted her lovingly on the arm, "Now get your behind behind that counter and make me some money."
  "Yes, boss," Renee laughed, "Thanks for the advice!"

  Her shift was fluid as ever with her steady patrons and the new faces of visitors keeping her fast paced. She couldn't stop smiling, the kiss still playing over in her mind and making her heart jump. She anticipated her break but took the time in between to analyze what was happening. Ephriam was a vampire but that was only on the surface. Beneath the unnatural good looks and charm was a smart, kind gentleman with a sharp wit and fantastic sense of humor. He was intelligent to boot, a bonus in her eyes. Zeke had a lot to do to compete with that. On a sublevel, she did feel somewhat guilty for comparing them but that is a fault in most women when it comes to having two men vie for her affections.
  About five minutes before her break, she noticed Zeke slip outside ahead of her. Suddenly she was very nervous. It would not go well if Ephriam already waiting, which she was certain he was with his penchant for being suprisingly early. Five minutes turned into an eternity and she bolted out the back to find Ephriam, but no Zeke.

  "Your White Knight was less than pleased that I was here," Ephriam said, distaste apparent in his tone, "He told me that it was none of his business if you prefered my company but that if I let anything happen to you, he will turn me into dust."
  "I'm really sorry, Ephriam, he was already here when you dropped me off. He's just going to have to get over us hanging out together 'cause I like you," she blurted.

  He gasped so softly she didn't noticed, then smiled.