Rise Of The Nephilim

“Come. Let me show you to your room!” Zeda held onto Maxine’s hand as though she were a small child.

Zeda’s voice may as well have been as silent as a gentle breeze because Maxine’s head felt as if it was filled with air, empty and lost. To make things worse, her attention was drawn to the statue-like guards who stood against the gray walls of the long, dimly lit corridor.

The guards were much taller than the average Human was, and appeared strong and brawny. They wore black leather armor made from the hide of prehistoric animals that covered their entire bodies, including their faces, except for the eyes.

They stood firm, balancing roughly hewn spears in one hand, the other securely behind their backs. Their chests protruded.

“Oh, don’t worry about them,” Zeda said, realizing that Maxine had not been paying attention. “They’re the Epochs; they’re harmless, at least to us.”

Maxine, however, was unable to pull her eyes away from the guards who remained so rigid in their uniformity and stoic in their presence. She felt as though they were watching her every move.

“We are almost there. When we are done, I’ll take you to the courtyard to meet some of the others.”

Maxine frowned. “Yeah . . . ok.”

“Here we are!” Zeda stopped in front of an old wooden door. She pushed on the bronze handle, and the door swung open.

Maxine stood on the threshold peering in. The room was small, yet large enough for a single person. The walls and floors were gray and rough, and colorful rugs were placed throughout. A single bed was tucked against the wall facing the door; it too was adorned with fancy, multicolored bedding, something she would have expected to see in an Indian princess’s room.

“You like? I decorated it myself,” Zeda said with a sparkle in her eyes.

“Yeah, it’s cool.”

Zeda stepped aside to allow Maxine to enter first. She stood in the entry with her back toward the Epoch on the other side.

Maxine removed her backpack and placed it on the bed. She remembered putting it on her back, but not the family nor the life she’d left behind.

Again, she looked around the room; nothing in it triggered any memories of her room in Brewster. And, once more, the feeling of being out of place resurfaced, though she did not know why. It was just a feeling that continued to gnaw at her gut. Something was off; something was different.

Zeda darted inside the room and grabbed Maxine by the hand. “Okay, come on! Let’s go to the sanctuary!” she said.

As they were leaving the room, Maxine’s eyes met the fixed eyes of the Epoch who stood across from her room. She felt like she was in danger. Why?