The Battle of Our Minds: Flesh and Blood

The Fall

Isaac wasn't sure why he felt protective of her. Maybe it was her sense of duty and loyalty that he admired and sought to preserve. Maybe it was her unprecedented amount of power and the fact that she was a first generation Nephilim like the ones he'd studied for years. Maybe it was even something else, like Brianna had hinted, but he'd never give her the benefit of admitting to it.

Everly was beautiful. There was no denying that. He couldn't feign interest in some other girl because it just wasn't there. Isaac didn't date. There was no point to it. Not for him anyway. Relationships were a waste of time – a distraction at best. But Everly...she made him reconsider that notion.

His gaze lingered on her as she trained. Her hair was positioned in a high, messy ponytail as she dodged hits from Julian. She was strong, too. He noticed the way her body had changed over the past few months. She was lean and muscular coming in to New City, but now, she looked different. She looked like a warrior. There was something undeniably attractive about it. She was strong in so many ways. Physically. Mentally. He'd never recruited anyone like her. He'd never known anyone like her. He regarded her with the highest admiration, and for that, he would protect her with everything inside of him.

He'd noticed, though, that she seemed off lately in her training. He hadn't seen her practice any offense – only defense. He'd been wondering why. He saw her packing up her bag, and figured this would be his prime opportunity to see if anything was going on. She walked out the gym's double doors and he followed closely behind.

"Hey! Everly, how are you?'

She turned around, her high ponytail flipping over her shoulder as she did so.

"Oh, Isaac. Hey! Um, I'm pretty good. Worn out, you know?"

"I understand. I actually wanted to ask...I've noticed you haven't been training for offense at all. Is there something going on?"

"Well, I actually talked about it with Julian today. It's kind of a long story, but I don't feel comfortable with everything you – everyone – has asked me to do. I don't agree with hurting humans. Especially with the kind of strength I have. It's just...uh...strange, to say the least. I'm working on something different. Don't worry about me."

His pleasant demeanor faltered for a moment as the implications of her statement registered with him.

"So...what are you saying?"

"I'm saying don't worry about me. I'm fine."

She continued walking away. He'd wondered if she had any feelings for him in return, but it was evident that he'd been wrong. Nonetheless, he couldn't just let her walk away without explaining a little further. Even if she wasn't interested in him like that, he still cared about her as a fellow Nephilim.

"Everly, wait. Let me share something with you."

She stopped and looked over her shoulder at him.

"If you're going to tell me how wrong I am and how I'm not serving the Light, you better let me leave."

"No. No." He put his hands up in surrender. "I wanted to tell you that I've been where you are."

She raised her eyebrows skeptically.

"Come with me," said Isaac. "I want to show you something."

Together, they walked down the corridor, up the stairs, and down the hall to Isaac's room. Isaac used his Diamond Key to open the lock. He slowly turned the door knob.