Page 43 of Up In Flames

“Like Lucifer?”

Her head bobs from side to side. “Yes, and no. Different kind of rebellion, I think. Anyway, these particular angels were said to be imprisoned beneath the Euphrates River to await judgment at End Times. But they’re not the important part of this. Their children are.”

“The Nephilim. Like Xy said. That’s what he called himself.” And me, I think. I wish I could remember more clearly, but I was doped up, and in agony.

“Right.” She pauses, bites her lip, inhales a deep breath, and sighs. “The Nephilim were giants.”

And just that easily, the earth rolls beneath me. My hold tightens on Nina like she’s gravity, until she utters a little cry. Instantly, I unclench.

“Sorry. I’m so sorry. Did I hurt you?” She’s so tiny, so fragile. I’m such a big galoot, as my Aunt Sylvia used to call me.

“I’m fine. Are you okay?”

“Sure,” I start to say, but then cut off mid-word. Because, no, I don’t think I am. It’s that word again—giants—that I’ve been trying to run from all my life, but this time, it’s not aimed at me like an insult. It’s a… species? I shake my head to clear the thought. “I expected you to tell me about Philistines.”

“Philistines may have been one of the tribes of the Nephilim.” She shakes her head. “Forget Philistines. They’re not important.”

“Xy was sure fired up about them.”

“So, we’ll consider them later. Right now, I think they’re a red herring.”

We’ll consider them later. I take strange comfort in her use of the plural.

“If you’re interested in the Watchers, you’ll find the first Enoch book, entitled, just to make this easier, The Book of the Watchers, of interest. There are several Enochian books, but only the first holds any religious weight, and it’s the one that deals with the Watchers and their children. The book is also included in the Ethiopian Bible, though it’s not canonical in other versions of Christianity. I’m not sure about Judaism, honestly, because I didn’t get that far in my research. But the Nephilim… they’re also Biblical, and responsible for a whole lot of destruction.”

Weird word, Nephilim. It makes something uneasy crawl through my gut, though I don’t know why.

“But it’s just a story. Real giants don’t exist. Some people like me, we suffer from gigantism, which is a medical condition, but not a hybrid species.” My parents and all the doctors took great care to assure me that I might suffer from some medical issues, like joint pain, swelling, headaches, and muscle weakness, but that everyone has genetic issues. And sure, there’s a heightened risk of cancer, heart issues, and hormonal imbalance, not to mention delayed puberty, which I most definitely suffered, but I’m only eight and a half feet tall. There are numerous basketball players who stand within a foot of me, all perfectly healthy, and no one is calling them by pejorative terms or implying they’re not fully human.

Giants from angels. It’s ridiculous.

And yet… my pulse is jumping. There’s a heavy feeling of dread and awakening inside me. Something feels… right… and really, really wrong.

Nina just watches me as I turn my thoughts over in my head.

Finally, I ask, “What happened to the Watchers and their children?”

“The Watchers were imprisoned for disobeying God, as I said. But their children…” Nina leans into me, a sort of armless hug, before adding, “Their children were said to be incredibly evil.”

“Evil! I’m not…”

“I know,” she says, interrupting me, turning her head enough to kiss me wherever she can reach, which is along my stomach. “I’m just telling you what the story is about the Nephilim. These hybrids were giants, but they were a lot more, too. For one thing, they inherited the technology, knowledge, and supernatural abilities of their fathers. Some say that each angel had his own special gift that he gave to his line in exchange for ruling through them. For a time, the Watchers ruled as gods—small ‘g’—until God tried to erase them with The Flood.”

Xy asked me about my gifts. Is this what he meant? “Maybe Nicholas wasn’t so far off when he asked me if I could fly.”

“That kid’s perceptive.”

I grunt in response. No, the whole thing is ridiculous. Just a fairy tale, and I’m too old to fall for a good yarn. “Anyway, I assume God succeeded, so why does any of this concern me?”

“Apparently not. The Bible says that there were giants in the days before the Flood, and also after. But there’s more. There are more recent tales of giants, too, and not just in Biblical stories.”

“Oh, goodie.” I squirm on the sofa. Nina touches my arm, giving me her soft look again. “No, I’m fine. I’m just… let’s just stay on the old tales, first. What were these giants like that made them so evil?”

“Cannibalism, mostly. They ate their way through the human populace. Also, they lacked empathy and were power-mad. Also, unlike you, they were said to be about twelve feet tall. Goliath was a giant.”

“Him again.”

But a wave of cool relief sweeps over me. Unfortunately, it stutters halfway through and turns into a crushing emotion I can’t understand.