Nephilim Children

Chapter 7

“What is this?” she whispered urgently. “What is it, Nicole?”

I stared at the traitor feather blankly, not knowing what to do. My instincts screamed for me to run, but, my heart said that my own mother wouldn’t harm me. I stayed put, wrestling with my urge to run.

“Do you have wings, honey? Are you Nephilim?” Mum asked, a bit louder now. I nodded slowly. She suddenly burst into tears, sobbing, and ran to me. She threw her arms around me, pulling me close. I stayed limp, very confused and dazed.

“Mum, what’s happening to me? Is this some delayed effect of puberty or what?” Mum drew back then and looked at me, laughing despite her tears.

“No, honey. Come and I’ll explain everything to you.”

We sat down on the couch, both holding steaming cups of coffee.

“Okay. You’ve been reading that book I gave you, right? The one about mythical creatures?” Mum asked. I nodded. “That book is centuries old, the only one of its kind. It holds all the information you could want about any mythical creature that inhabits the earth. You are one of those creatures. Nephilim. Your father was a Fallen Angel, Azreal. He fell from the heavens and we fell in love. When he found out I was pregnant, he said he had been called back to his homeland, and he left. I never saw him again. But, before he left, hot old me what he was, and he told me what you may be. He said that not all children like you are born Nephilim. Some of you are born human. He had dark hair, like you, and dark green eyes. I loved him.”

“Is this why you freaked out when I told you about the school play? Did you suspect anything?”

Mum stayed silent for a moment, thinking. “I suppose I didn’t expect you to be Nephilim. There has only ever been one other female Nephilim, and she-”

“Only survived her first week. I know. May and I were researching the legends. We wanted to know what the play was about. And, only the other night at the restaurant did I realise what I was.”

“When Tae gave you the note, right?”

I blinked in shock. “You saw that?” Mum smiled at me.

“Can you show me?” she asked. I raised an eyebrow, confused. “Your wings. Will you show me?”

“Oh,” I said quietly. “Sure.” I got up, and took off my top shirt, leaving my tank top on. I undid the bandage, telling my wings to stay pressed against my back for now while I got ready. “Close your eyes,” I said. Mum complied. I let my wings slowly spread out to their full size, which was bigger than I thought. The spanned about two metres each now. They must grow, I thought. Great. “Okay, open your eyes.”

Mum’s eyelids fluttered open, and her eyes widened upon seeing my wings for the first time. She got up and walked around to my back. Her fingers brushed them and I shivered. “Can you feel that?” she asked in surprise. I nodded. She spread out the feathers on my left wing. It felt so nice having them out that my eyelids started drooping. Mum continued to stroke the feathers, which were now free of blood droplets, and I very nearly fell asleep. “Wow. This is amazing. They’re so beautiful. You should keep these out for your party, y’know.”

I turned around then, my eyes wide, disbelieving. “But… how?”

“Well, we could wrap some ribbon around each of them so they look like costume wings, and you could wear a tube top- that one with the slit in the back would be perfect.”

I nodded, not minding the sound of the idea. I would be comfortable, and nobody would suspect anything. “Okay. Okay, we’ll at least try.”

I had managed to get the tube top’s slit over both of my wings, and now it was just a matter of zipping it up at the front. Mum was tying ribbon around my wings at the back, covering up the slit so it didn’t look like the wings were attached to my body in any way. When she was finished, I looked at myself in the mirror. The wings looked awesome against my hair, which was hanging in neat coils to my shoulders. My eyelids had a light dusting of silver to match my top, and my shorts were held up by a thin, sparkly purple belt. I had to admit, I looked pretty awesome.

The doorbell rang, and Mum said, “Wait in your room until I come and get you, okay?” I nodded before she disappeared out the door. I could soon hear the flood of people pouring through the door and heading into the sparkly media room. My cake was ready, and all the snacks and drinks had been set out. Now it was just a matter of time.