Nephilim and the Nun

Chapter Two

Uriel:
The pungent musky smell of dust assaulted my nostrils as I began to regain my consciousness. The chilly air of my environment sailed into my nostrils attacking my extremely dried throat and forcing a dry cough out of me. A dull pain materialized in my chest as a result of the cough that was nearly choking me, while I struggled to draw in more breath but that only worsened my case as more of the dusty air got into my nostrils.

In an attempt to control the situation, I exhaled deeply, while struggling to take in lesser air, to avoid a repeat of the situation. Slowly, my eyes opened to meet the blanket of darkness surrounding me, coupled with the eerie quietness that almost made me question my existence.

The last vivid memory I could remember was being thrown behind a truck. Thereafter, I could only recall snippets of memories that seemed to be a faraway dream with me waking up and falling back asleep again. But the one thing that was common with all of these memories was the fact that each time, I woke up to this darkness and nerve-racking silence.

I felt so weak and dehydrated that it was as though I had no saliva in me. Every breath I took in was a struggle as it felt as though the dusty air was only adding to my suffering, yet I had no alternative to survival, hence, I had to manage the contaminated oxygen I could get.

I was so lost in the struggle to keep breathing that I didn't feel the chains around my wrists nor the shackles holding my feet to the ground until I attempted to place a hand over my nostrils as a means of filtering the air but instead, I felt a sharp metal scrape and cut into my skin. A wince flew out of its mouth from the unexpected pain. I struggled to pull my arms but the rattling of chains fell into my ears and it was then it registered in me that my arms were sagging. I couldn't stretch them further and I couldn't pull them down. My legs were no different, leaving me standing with legs wide apart and chained to the ground.

The first thought that ran through my mind was;

Did I get to hell already?

I wasn't a righteous man, that I know. I'd worked for the army and I'd killed hundreds of souls while doing my job. Again, I wasn't of God, but a man born from evil. Deep down, I'd always known whenever my lifetime on earth came to an end, I'd return back to the damnation that was awaiting my kind.

But wasn't I supposed to be in an eternal burning furnace?

Growing up, I'd often heard the Christians talk about a lake of fire, where the sinners will dwell for eternity after their human flesh is gone. It was an eternal torment to the soul.

If that was the case, why couldn't I feel it? Was it all a lie? Or was the afterlife merely this punishment of hanging in shackles for eternity?

These thoughts ran through my mind, while I struggled to release myself, the fog of confusion and haze of sleep still swirling over my head and crowding my memories. The strong urge to know my environment had me straining my eyes, in hopes that I could work with my night vision and see through the darkness but the more I tried, the harder it became. It was as though the darkness kept thickening, my vision becoming blurry that at some point, I couldn't tell if my eyes were actually closed or open. A migraine was beginning to form from how hard I was straining my vision to see but I wouldn't stop. The uncertainty of my environment and my current state and fate were chewing me out. I couldn't wait it out or hope for something different or a miracle to suddenly happen and reveal the truth to me nor fix the missing parts of my memories.

I was so lost in myself that I didn't hear the almost silent sounds of approaching footsteps until a dull golden yellow glow of light caught my attention. My eyes drifted in its direction to see the glow growing, with the thud of the footsteps getting louder and approaching from a corner that looked like an opening to a hallway.