The Battle of Our Minds: Flesh and Blood

Deciding Destiny

Everly walked outside, taking note of all the events that had transpired within the last hour. She couldn't keep herself from picturing the brainwashed barbarian charging into the library unannounced, shoving bookshelves over, and throwing Ruth over his shoulder like she was nothing more than a piece of meat. What he had done was wrong, but yet, she'd seen his eyes. They were pitch black, as expected, but once you got past that part, there was so much more to be seen.

He was emotionless.

This poor college kid had been robbed of his innocence and turned into a pawn for the sake of someone else's twisted game. He wasn't the one who was acting. Of course, Ruth had no idea of his possession. More likely, she believed that his state of intoxication was totally and completely to blame.

Everly reimagined the whole event one thousand different times in one thousand different ways, but each time, she came up short of justifying what she had done to him.

She'd broken his bones.

An innocent human's bones.

Snapped them like twigs.

She'd followed the procedures and done what she was told to do, but when she was in the moment of fighting, something came over her that was completely unnatural and unlike anything she'd ever experienced. It was a powerful, deep strength from within. It was a strength that consumed her. Frightened her. She couldn't take the emotion out of the fight. He was attempting to do who knows what to her best and only human friend.

From the very beginning of their friendship, Everly knew that Ruth was vulnerable. Ruth, like Everly, came from humble beginnings and pursued to make the most out of herself. But unlike Everly, Ruth had a deep-seated resentment that boiled under her skin, making her envious of others and hateful towards herself. She feared failure more than she feared death, and Everly wasn't offended by Ruth's emotional vulnerability. Many times in her life, she'd resented the other kids who had the privilege of going to school and living normal lives. Everly had come to a place where she refused to let resentment reign in her life. Ruth hadn't yet, and that was okay. Ruth, more than anything, needed a friend. Everly did too. You can be many things in life, but the best thing to be is a good friend. Not a perfect friend, but a good one. Being a good friend meant being loyal and selfless, even when the other person wasn't always capable of doing the same thing in return. You didn't have to have a good friend to be a good friend. Everly wasn't always a good friend herself.

But last night, she wanted to be a good friend, and that meant protecting Ruth with all the strength she had. She tried to restrain herself, but the anger was overpowering. Her mind flashed to the moment where she twisted his arm. She remembered what it felt like for his bone to snap under the immense force of pressure she applied to it to release his hold. She remembered putting all her weight against the bookshelf and watching as it fell onto his body. He wasn't Nephilim. He wasn't even a demon.

He was a human. And she had done that to him.

Couldn't there have been another way? She thought to herself.

Yes, yes. It was all in the name of saving Ruth, but she hurt a human. She'd vowed to serve the Light, and in serving the Light, she promised to protect humans. There were contradictions between her vows and the expectations that followed the vows. The Nephilim had added their own laws to the vows, without any of them, or Everly – at first – realizing that those weren't in the initial job description.

"I vow to serve the Light and only the Light in a world wrapped in Darkness for as long as I shall live. In honoring the Light, I promise to pursue goodness and truth and put others before myself."