Genesis: Rough Draft Edition (Angel Protocol, Book 1)

Chapter 12

Chapter 12: redemption

We talked to about five prisoners after leaving Jasmine and Imhotep. The house wasn't a mansion, more like a two-floor haunted house. The front doors centered on the house. Locked with various steel traps and inscriptions that glinted blue. The foyer was rectangular and almost empty of furniture. Two dusty Art Deco, red leather, recliners sat opposite each other. Cobwebs stretching from the wooden armrests to the floor. As if no one ever sat on it. The foyer had a matching living room set with a dusty rounded carpet. Charlie described the history of Art Deco to me, but I was focusing more on the other prisoners.

They walked around in groups of five. Separated by colored uniforms with a complementary trim. Charlie also felt the need to teach me about complimentary colors. His observational skills impressed me but now wasn't the time. I didn't trust these groups. If all were to be believed.

"You're not listening to me, are you?" Charlie asked and I turned to him.

"It doesn't bother you?"

"What?"

"That we don't know what we're dealing with here. These prisoners could all be angels. Worse. Fallen Angels."

Charlie breathed and put his arms behind his head. "Of course they're angels. They're Nephilims to be exact."

I looked at the individual groups and back to Charlie. "How can you tell?"

"Well, Lillith has us trapped because she thinks we're Nephilims. She wants to build an army to take down God. I'm pretty sure that they are either angels or Nephilim."

"True, but I mean there is nothing to stop them from attacking us."

"Yeah, but why would they. They have the same suits as us. It's her way of keeping everyone in line."

"You're taking this too lightly."

"And you're taking this too seriously. If someone was going to attack us they would have done so by now. We are being watched though."

I stopped and looked at him. "What do you mean? By who?"

"Since we came downstairs and talked to the blue group back there. The green group keeps walking by us in pairs and as individuals. They're trying to listen to us and figure out what we're trying to do."

"When were you going to tell me? Jasmine sent us to do this so we can protect everyone."

"She wanted us to get intel. Which we don't have."

The blue group consisted of three males and two females. The leader, a tall white man with brown hair spoke to us. He told us that his group woke up as we did. They were kidnapped by Lilith and the only times they could go out was when she sent them on missions. They wouldn't tell us what kind of missions. We were going to talk to the red group next.

"Can I help you?" A muscular woman in a green uniform stepped in front of me. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and was taller than me. In fact, her muscles were bigger than mine. Her high pitched voice betrayed her size.

"Can we help you?" Charlie said smiling as he rested an arm on my shoulder. My goodness, he was flirting with her.

"You can," I said. "Can you tell us about your experience here?"

"No."

"Well, then you can't help us."

"Now, Bruce, that's no way to talk to a lady," Charlie said. "Excuse my friend. You see we."

"Are the new guys." she cut him off. "Lillith's new guinea pigs."

"So, she does an experiment on others?"

"No. We all like being here against our will." She steps closer and a blue halo appeared overhead. No weapon formed by her.

"We don't want any trouble," I said. My halo appearing along with my battle-ax. "But if you intend to fight us. You will find out that I'm not an easy target."

"Are you saying that I am?" Charlie said activating his halo and manifesting his daggers.

"You two talk too much. You see everyone here is part of her game. You are the first white group in a long time."

"What do you mean by that?" I took a defensive position as she shifted into a more offensive one. I noticed Charlie turned his back and I could feel that this woman wasn't alone anymore. Her group must be behind me.

"It's simple. She has three groups. Always three groups of five. The blue group? They are all humans. Us? We are angels. The white group? They are Nephilims. We killed the last group. Now we're going to kill you, Nephilims can't be allowed to live."

"Well. That's where you're wrong. We are not Nephilims. We are possessed."

"And you expect us to believe that?" With that, a huge broadsword materializes in her hand as she swung horizontally at my chest. I parry the strike with my ax. Sparks flew as the two weapons made an impact. I couldn't see Charlie anymore after he dashed behind me. I rolled backward and spun counterclockwise to deliver my own horizontal strike. She blocked it with her sword.

"We didn't want this fight," I said again.

"I didn't give you a choice," she said. "Your kind, your kind is responsible for us being here. We will redeem the Lord.