Shadow People (The Forbidden Darkness Chronicles, #2)

Fourteen: Hayden Williams

My father's big black wings were fully open behind him, and my mouth gaped at the sight. I couldn't wrap my head around what my father was saying. I stared at Mom, who couldn't keep her eyes off of him. I assumed that she didn't see this often.

"We're...what?" I asked.

"I know it's confusing," Dad replied. He sat down on his bed and said, "We've wanted to tell you for a long time, but I just couldn't. We wanted you to have a normal life."

Normal? Was that what he called this? I ran my hand through my hair and said, "Oh my God. You're a Fallen Angel."

He nodded. Mom put her hand on my shoulder and said, "Listen to what your father has to say. You'll want to hear this."

Mom pulled out a wooden chair for me to sit on. I barely even noticed how uncomfortable it was. A million questions were running through my mind, and I needed answers to every single one of them. Here I'd been worried about being friends with Heather, Kristen, and Philip because they're Monster Hunters, but I was a Nephilim. I read some books about Nephilim in the past, so I knew the basics—or at least the mythology. I wasn't entirely sure how accurate it was.

Mom sat next to Dad and put her hand in his lap. Dad sighed and said, "It was twenty years ago. I was an Angel in Paradise when I met your mother. I had come to Earth to help a few souls cross over. At the time I was still pretty young for an Angel, so I never actually came face to face with God. The Guardians would tell me what to do."

"Wait," I interrupted. "You mean...God is real?"

Dad nodded. "In some capacity, yes. Many people think that as Angels, we know it all. But we don't. Only the Guardians are close to God. The Guardians help protect Paradise. It made sense that they were the closest to God."

Suddenly everything about my parents made sense to me. They weren't just super religious. They knew the truth. Dad had lived it. I was watching it right in front of me, listening to Dad speak of Paradise. My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach at the realization. Dad knew that me being gay was wrong. I stared at him and said, "That's why."

"Why what?" Mom asked.

"That's why you two have been afraid of me being gay," I said, trying to blink back the tears. "You know that God would hate me for it. He does hate me." My heart clenched in my chest, and I didn't want to listen to anymore. I didn't want this to be real.

"Honey, just listen to your Dad," Mom said. "He's trying to be honest."

"Honest?" I screamed, jumping up from my chair. "You think now is the time to be honest? You let me spend my whole life believing I was a human! You let me become who I am right now! I'm gay because you two didn't tell me all this sooner!"

"Hayden, please," Dad said softly. "We're not trying to hurt you. There are things you don't know yet."

"Like I care!" I screamed. "I don't care about any of this! I just want to be normal! Why is that too much to ask?" First being gay, then getting taken by Kadin, meeting Monster Hunters, and now being a Nephilim. It was all too much.

I stormed out of the room and down the hall, slamming my bedroom door behind me. Throwing myself on my bed, I screamed at the top of my lungs into my pillow, trying to release all the emotions. When that didn't work, I tried again. Tears began to fall a moment later and I started sobbing into my pillow. After it was soaking wet, I turned to my side, wishing I could drown out everything going on in my head. A few minutes later I was asleep.

And I was pretty sure I heard someone whisper "I love you" in my ear.