A PALE HORSE

Maggie blinked at the announcement. She had thought that Momma Rose was going to tell her about some large scale community watch program, but this was more than she had hoped for. “What does ARC stand for?” She was half-hoping for some covert crime fighting organization or something equally sensational to share with her readers. She instinctively grabbed at her pendant, awaiting the revelation. It’s not like the news she had already wasn’t sensational, but a crime fighting organization no one knew about would be amazing! Momma Rose closed her eyes for another moment and looked to be listening a moment before she smiled and opened her eyes.

“First of all,” she said, “you can turn off the recorder.” If she had hit Maggie in the head with a brick, she wouldn’t have been more stunned than she was that the small woman knew about the recording device. Maggie reached up and turned it off, knowing anything she could say to try and dispel the idea of a recording device would be rebuffed. “Thank you.” Momma Rose looked at all of them in the room and said, “ARC was founded, as you can imagine, a very long time ago. We are an organization made up of specific individuals, not everyone is allowed to join and that is by design. What we do requires a specific type of character and a very specific DNA.”

“But what exactly do you do?” Maggie asked, she was getting information but not as much or as fast as she would like.

“As trite as it sounds, we fight the forces of evil.”

“The forces of evil, huh?” Maggie, skeptical of the explanation, went on to ask, “What kind of evil?” Momma Rose looked sorrowful for a second.

“Evil is evil, Magdalene. It doesn’t have a type.”

She knows my name, too? Did someone out me on social media or something? Nevermind, not important right now. Evil is evil, it doesn’t have a type. Maggie thought about that statement for a moment and decided that Momma Rose had a point, evil was evil no matter if it was small or if it was on a large scale, but she was confused about what that evil consisted of and said as much to the others.

“Ah, now that is the question to ask! Evil can take many forms. You have seen a few and probably experienced the human side of evil. Molesters, traffickers, murderers, rapists, gang members... just a few representations of evil in the world. Although we help in these instances as well, it is the non-human representations of evil of which I am speaking.” With that bombshell, Momma Rose took a sip of her tea. Peter knew what she was doing. She was allowing everyone enough time to process the information. Maggie was the first to ask a question.

“So, you are talking about those things in the caves. And about vampires?”

“Yes” Momma Rose said. “The creatures of which I speak are not of this world.”

“What are they, then? Aliens?” Peter asked, and laughed at the thought.

“In a way, yes.” she told them. “As Michael told you before, when this world was created, the Master had a place for every creature in it. He created everything and gave everything its own space in the world. The Master had helpers. He gave them specific jobs and had them watch over his creations. They were called the Watchers. I know you know of this, but the others do not, so hush.” She turned to Peter and Abe to forestall them, and continued, “Angelic beings,” she said, raising her eyebrows. She continued, “They were never meant to be in the world, but over time they grew to love the creations of the Master and chose to reveal themselves to them and take wives from among them. The offspring from these human wives produced a cross-breed.”

“Nephilim!”, Maggie broke in. Momma Rose clapped her hands and smiled.

“Very good, Maggie!”

“But how are the nephilim bad? I thought angels were good?”

“You have heard of Lucifer, yes?”, Momma rose reached over and patted her hand, and Maggie got her meaning. Not all angels were benevolent. “The nephilim were not creations of the master and did not have a place designed for them in this world. They were abominations and should not have existed. The Master was… sad when he found out about them.”

“Why was He sad?” Sam asked. “Wasn’t he pleased that they were brought into existence?”

Momma Rose looked at him and her expression softened, “He was sad because they were not His creations. He did not have a place for them in our world. He was sad because the Watchers that he chose to protect His creations instead used them for their own purposes and created something that was not part of the original plan.”

“I don’t understand?” Sam sounded genuinely confused. Maybe even a little angry. “Couldn’t the One who created everything find a spot for them?”

“I’m sorry, Sam. I am not privy to the Master’s plans. I know that the original plan had no place for the nephilim, although the Master, in His love for the Watchers and His human creations, allowed their progeny to remain. It wasn’t until later that they were found to carry an unnatural corruption. The evil of the Morningstar was in them. Nephilim all eventually became cruel and distorted. They possessed superhuman characteristics; some were taller than a two story building, some were more intelligent than the smartest person, and some could command the elements or wield magic. They possessed power through fear. They subjugated and tortured humans to get what they wanted and killed children or other family members to secure a place of power in their community. They became men of great bearing and immense power. This is what made the Master sad. Their cruelty and corruption doomed them; it forced the Master to act.”

“So what became of them, then?” Sam asked.

“There was a major battle in the heavens; the angels were forced to war against their Watcher brothers. The nephilim children were destroyed, and the Watchers were judged and condemned for their crimes against humanity and their disobedience to the Master,” she said with sadness.

“If the Nephilim were destroyed by the angels, why bring them up?” Maggie asked.

“Another good question, cher. As I explained, the nephilim were not part of the Master’s original plan. Since they were not supposed to exist, there was no place for them to go when they died, eternally speaking.” Momma Rose could see the confusion on the faces of her audience, so she tried to explain it in another way. “Have you ever seen the children’s puzzles where the pieces are all in the shapes of different animals or plants?” she asked and was pleased when the majority nodded the affirmative. “Good, now think of those puzzle pieces as the Master’s creations. Every piece has a corresponding hole to be placed in. When they pass on, that hole is filled by another of the same puzzle piece.” She gathered that this was well received and hurried on. “The nephilim were not made by the Master so there wasn’t a corresponding hole for them to fit into. When they were destroyed physically, there was no place for that soul to go.” She waited for the inevitable questions that would come from such a statement and was not disappointed.

“Are you saying that the nephilim were floating disembodied in the universe?”asked Maggie.

“More or less, yes. They could not go to where the other ‘puzzle pieces’ went,” She made air quotes with her hands. “Since a soul can’t exist without a body, the nephilim soul had to attach itself to something else in order to survive. Many new hybrids of creatures began to appear. The soul of the creature invaded fused with the nephilim soul and a new creature was born, physically. Out of this came the first vampire. This was the oldest and truest form of the Nephilim.”

“So vampires are related to the nephilim? I thought they fought against each other?” Peter said.

“Don’t believe what you have seen in the movies…”, Momma Rose replied with a sigh.

“What about the other creatures we have seen? The vila, grunch, and those snake things they saw in the cave?” Peter asked her, indicating the trio of Maggie, Max, and Margueritte.

“Those are hybrids of hybrids. After the nephilim were destroyed, the bodies they were born into didn’t exist anymore. They originally chose human hosts, but once their soul was fused, the new entity deteriorated within a matter of days or months. The nephilim started to look for alternatives and experiment with all sorts of creatures to find a new host body that would not die.”

“So, the bodies that they snatched didn’t work for them, and they decided to try to build the perfect body? Is that right?” Peter asked her, trying to follow the story. He picked up his coffee and took a long sip.

“Yes.”, she told him. “They tried for years to replace the bodies they had lost in the Great War but were unsuccessful. Many evil creatures were born of their meddling, though, and each progression became worse. It wasn’t very long before they ended up with creatures like the grunch and the naga. They are not human, but they are not animals, either. The nephilim have not, as yet, found a way to replace what they had before. The created bodies die too easily or are too hard to control and their creations overrun our world.”

“How do you know all of this?” Maggie asked her.

“ARChas been around since shortly after the holy flood.” Momma Rose said. “It has been run by the same bloodline since its inception.”

Peter whistled, “That is some long bloodline!”

She smiled at Peter, “Yes, it is. It can be historically traced through many kings, and there are only a select number of the pure line left. The heart wills what it wills, and through marriages and such, much of the line has been tainted over the years. We do try to find those who still are among the pure lines and bring them into ARC for protection.”

“Protection from the nephilim?” Maggie asked.

“Nephilim wear many skins- vampires, werewolves, naga, grunch and many other foul creatures. They will not stop trying to collect pure samples or complete the desired host bodies. Unfortunately, because the nephilim have to jump from host to host, we do not always know who or where they are. They will promise anything to get others to work with them, usually power or money,” Momma Rose said. Maggie shifted in her seat and suddenly stood, excited.

“So, there are differences in humans because they have been breeding with nephilim in order to create host bodies to inhabit. They have done some kind of weird genetic testing on humans in an attempt to make this happen, to the point that the majority of humans on the earth are not a hundred percent human anymore. Have I got that right?” she asked Momma Rose, who nodded and motioned for her to continue. “So, the pure human descendents are so scarce now that the nephilim have a hard time finding them and when they do find them, they mobilize, in the form of vampires, werewolves, and the like to capture them so they can continue their experiments?” she finished the question, pleased with herself.

“Very good, Maggie!. Yes to all the above.” Momma Rose praised her. Maggie still looked confused.

“I don’t know how the pure humans fit into ARC, though. Why, other than the obvious genetic testing thing, would ARC want to collect these humans?” she said, sounding perplexed.

“I thought we would get around to that.” Momma Rose straightened her apron and placed her hands on her lap. “I have been allowed to tell you what I have because we need help, and I have it on good authority that there are a couple of pure humans in this room, besides myself. However, ARC and its history are for them alone. Until I have further permission, I can tell you no more about it. Just know that ARC is all about protection of the Earth and getting rid of the things that are set to destroy it.” Maggie was disappointed.

“I know one of the pure humans, but who are the others?” she asked.

“Why, Peter of course!” Momma Rose said beaming at Peter, who blushed furiously at the attention that bit of news brought him. “That is why the vila sought you out in Russia, Peter. They have a sense about these things. Many of the Shem line are resistant to the vila charms. Did you find her at all attractive?”

Peter blushed again but said, “No,” thinking back to his reaction. “I really disliked her, and everytime she used her power on someone my aversion grew. By the end of our conversation, I wanted to strangle her.” He remembered the anger and loathing he had felt when she was around. He remembered Tammy’s face.

“She didn’t get to me, either. Does that mean that I am pure human, too?”, Sam asked, grinning. Momma Rose’s smile faltered for a moment but Peter thought only he saw it.

“You…” she hesitated and cocked her head to the side in that listening position again, then continued, “You are late for your appointment.”

Sam looked at the clock on the wall and said “Damn! I forgot all about it!” He turned and ran from the room, throwing a “See ya later!” over his shoulder.

Momma Rose smiled at Peter and said, “He’s going to see Dr. Jo.”

Maggie waved her hand at them and said, “Yeah, that’s great for him, but was he correct? Is he a pure human, too?” she asked making Momma Rose frown at her abrupt dismissal.

“No, Sam is not a pure human.” she said, equally dismissive, but Maggie would not let it go.

“What is he, if he isn’t pure human?” she queried. Momma Rose “listened” for a moment before answering.

“Sam is special and he is also not your problem. Let’s just say that there are some things that he needs to work out before he can be of further use to us. As far as the rest of it is concerned, until we can get you tested, I cannot share more information with you. I am sorry.” She looked at Peter and Margueritte and said, “As for you two, there are choices that must be made.” She turned to her sister, “If you choose to join us, the rest will be revealed to you. If you do not want to know, then we will set you up and protect you the best we can, but I’m afraid that they already know about you and will try to capture you no matter what. All of you.” She emphasized, including Peter. She looked sad at the prospect of losing one or many of her family members again.

“My choice was made when I was thirteen, so...” Peter said with a grin. He stood up and hugged her and she smiled at him in return. Margueritte took her time. She sat tearing a napkin into small pieces in her lap. When she looked up at her sister, she had a determined, almost angry look. “I am not sure that there is a choice in this but, for what it is worth, I wish to join. I can stop bad things from happening to others like me. What was done was an abomination and to know that I have been an unwilling participant in something so horrendous…” She trailed off and Max placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort. He looked at Momma Rose and asked her the only question that was on his mind at the moment. “Aunt Rose, I have just now found her again and I do not think that I will be leaving her for a while. She has confessed to me that I am not Lev’s son.” The shock in the room was palpable. Everyone was stunned except for Maggie and Margueritte. One sat with watchful eyes and the other had resumed her napkin destruction. “My father was left in Paris, never to be heard from again. So, knowing this, how do I get tested?” Startled, Maggie’s gaze swung to Max. He did not look her way but looked at Momma Rose steadily.

She smiled at him and said, “I did not mention it earlier, but there should be no need to test you, Philippe. Your father, Rene, was of the line as well as your mother. It is now only your decision that awaits.” Max looked first to his mother, then to his Maggie… two of the most extraordinary women he had ever known, both of whom he loved greatly. What would it mean? What would it cost? He knew that duty beyond his wants bound him and he hesitated a mere moment before proclaiming,

“As my own man, I submit myself to ARC.”

Maggie squeezed his hand as Rose said quietly, “I will go and make the arrangements. While I’m doing that, why don’t you all go over the information for the warehouse again and see if we can’t get that sweet little girl out of there?”