Nephilim

3 - The Questions

Living in a secular country like India, you have access to an unlimited number of fraudulent gurus, priests, witches, exorcists, charlatans etc. It's very rare to run into someone like that who actually is what he claims to be. Coming from a shitty neighborhood with a shitty job and a group of equally shitty friends, one tends to run into someone who has a relative who knows someone who can work 'miracles'. Or kill you and take off with your belongings. Considering I had some Nephilim power in me, which I did not know the nature of yet, I decided to take the risk. One of the tenants of the building I lived in happened to have some dubious connection to one of the gurus. It was a far-fetched solution, but hey, there are days when I feel optimistic. And the sun rises from the West.

I make my way down the shoddy lane, hardly surprised at the shabbiness of the whole locality, into a tiny little hutment with odd symbols painted on every wall. I stop outside the hut for a moment to examine the symbols and see if they mean anything to me. I came up with nothing. Giving a mental shrug, I proceed inside. The smell of incense is overpowering. On one end of the tiny room, a fire crackles which is probably the source of all the smoke. The only ventilation the place has is a tiny grilled window. Behind the fire, I can barely make out the small figure with a broom made of peacock feathers in her hands. There is a freaky, horribly painted idol standing behind the woman, complete with multiple arms and weapons. Gods with weapons. Is it any wonder that mankind has turned out the way it has? I take a seat on the threadbare mat before the woman and finally get a good look at her.

The first thing that I see is how untidy her teeth are. While I may not be the tidiest person on the planet, I try keeping as neat as possible. I shower once a day, keep my hair short and nails clean. And I brush my teeth, which is something this witch has not done for decades, by the look of her rotting teeth. She has salt and pepper hair that frames her wrinkled face in a rather intimidating manner. She asks me to lean a bit closer towards her and tell her what my problem is. She probably assumes I'm here for a better job or money or to fix a broken marriage. How petty those issues seem against the one I believe I am stuck with.

"I want to speak to God," I said. Yeah, it sounded supremely stupid to me too. But it was better than explaining what had happened over the last 14 days.

She cackled. She actually cackled. I only believed that happened in movies. "Silly boy," she flashed her dirty teeth. "God no speak to anyone."

I tried requesting different things. Speaking to an angel. Speaking to a demon. Meeting with a ghost. Each of them sounded ridiculous to me but she just shook her head and cackled some more. Ultimately, I said I want to speak to the Erudite. She stopped cackling. The room went completely silent except for the sound that the fire made. Was it possible that she knew about the Erudite? After a few more minutes, she suddenly stood up. In a huff, she demanded that I leave. Clearly the Erudite had done something to upset her. I left and decided to look up another exorcist or guru to help me out.

I was met by the same reaction at four other joints. What was it about The Erudite Church that had them all cowering? And how did it matter to them? It was only a Church. It wasn't as if Christian missionaries swept off the entire nation. Most of these were Hindus. Even my own name was a Hindu name. After being asked to vacate the premises of the fifth fraud, I found Tina standing. She didn't look happy.

"What are you doing nosing about The Erudite?" she demanded.

She was one to talk! "You won't tell me anything. I am trying to get more information is all."

"The Erudite are dangerous. If they get wind of this, which I think they may already have, you will be in serious trouble."

I simply shrugged. Life wasn't a merry-go-round as of now. How worse could it get? But Tina didn't appreciate the indifference. She hotly said, "You're going to stop doing this."

"Not your business," I replied. If I wanted answers, I was damn well going to get some.

"Fine, ask away," she sighed. I couldn't help but feel pleased. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

We walked all the way back home where she tried her best to not answer my questions. She was answering only in the 'true or false' format, and even then, most of the answers were 'can't say'. It was pissing off.

"So what is The Erudite exactly?" I asked.

She gave an exasperated sigh. "I told you they monitor supernatural activity on earth."

"Yea, but what's their motive. Why do it?" I persisted.

"To make sure that the humans remain in the dark."

It made sense. Information was more powerful than a nuclear weapon. A nuclear weapon needed to be fired. You just let someone know you have the information or convince them of it, you've already won the battle.

"Okay. Can I meet them?"

"Nope." Damn.

"Can I at least speak to them?"

"Nope."

"Can I meet other angels?"

"Nope."

"How about a demon, then?" That just earned me a really dirty look. "All right, how about meeting God."

She just laughed out loud.

"What? Isn't he real? Have you been fibbing with me about being an angel? You're probably just a human-eagle hybrid thing."

"You won't understand God," she replied.

"Why not? Try will you?"

"Not now. Maybe later," she said.

"Tell me more about the Nephilim," he demanded.

"I can't."

"How about meeting Jesus Christ?"

She grinned, "I wonder why, being a Hindu, you make Biblical references."

"Well, aren't angels Biblical?" I asked her.

"Angels exist in every religion. As does God. And the Great Flood. And Helen of Troy. There was one human... Carl Jung. He spotted the similarities and came closest to identifying the truth. So basically, we are all the religions. And all the religions are us. There actually was no need to create one," she explained.

It made sense, I guess. I wanted to ask her about God and why she wasn't telling me about Him. Or Her. But the minute I turned to look at her, she had disappeared. The disappearing thing was really annoying. And I had a feeling she left because she realized she had provided way too much information. I realized I needed some caffeine in me. I walked past one of those over priced coffee chain outlets and entered a cheap café to get myself an espresso. As soon as I walked in, the bell chimed and at the counter I was greeted with the most amazing forced smile I had ever seen.

**** Author's Note ****

Can you think of a good actor who can play the lead? I'm confused about adding a cast. Leave your answer in the comments. Thank you for reading! :)