It’s been a long day and an even longer week. Kicking off my heels, I grab a bottle of wine from the fridge. Rummaging in the drawer, I locate a corkscrew and a wine glass.

“So, did you get it?” She asks as I plop down onto the recliner.

“Oh… nope… Apparently, I don’t have enough experience even to get a telemarketer job.” I state, uncorking the wine.

“Well, you have that interview on Wednesday, and hopefully, things will work out. Then, we’ll go to Church on Sunday and ask the pastor to pray for you.”

“Ma… enough of the religious bullshit. If God were real, there wouldn’t be any hunger, suffering, or murders. When has a prayer ever worked?” Taking a much-needed sip of my wine, I exhale slowly and guzzle down an even more considerable amount of the alcohol. “You don’t believe. That’s why it doesn’t work.”

“How many times did you pray for daddy to come back? You believed, so why didn’t he?” I’m agitated, tired, and just about done with it all. I intend to spend another night alone and miserable. Although my attention is on the television program, I can see my mother out the side of my eye. She’s sad, and I know that I’ve hurt her by talking down about the love of her life, GOD.

She has to know by now that I don’t believe in him. I stopped believing in him when my father left. He just went to work one day and never came back. But, of course, the checks never ceased with him being the man he is. But he was no longer a part of my life.

“Dinner’s in the oven. I’m going to bed.” She says, excusing herself. It’s barely even dark out, and I’ve managed to run off my only dinner date. Our nightly routine of dinner in front of the television, watching reruns, is my only source of entertainment, as I have no funds for anything else.

I want to cry. My life’s a mess.com. Thirty-four, single, no education, and no job. I’m pathetic. I spent the better part of my adolescent years being a rebel without a cause. My young adult years were spent burning the streets up, boozing, drugging, and partying. Now, look at me.

I want to toss the bottle against the wall, but I don’t have any money to replace it. Filling my glass to the top, I take my drink out onto the porch. There’s a light breeze on the air for it to be summer, and the smell of barbeque assaulting my nose produces a light growl from my stomach.

“Hey, Noemi!” That’s our neighbor, Mr. Stanley. Blond hair, blue eyes, and a wicked sweet tongue. He’s taking the trash out. The man’s married, but that doesn’t stop him from inviting me into his wife’s bed while she’s at work.

He’s a deacon at mama’s church, and he, like the pastor, has a craving for dark-skinned flesh and round curvaceous bottoms. “You and your mother are welcome to join me for dinner tonight. Mrs. Stanley is out of town with the kids, visiting her mother.”

A heathen of the highest level. “Mama’s not feeling well, but maybe I’ll come over later.” I receive a self-satisfied smile and a wave before he heads back into the house. Later… like after midnight, booty call hours. Since they moved into the area, Mr. Stanley and I have been carrying on like this—That was two years ago.

Alex Stanley is a selfless lover. He doesn’t fuck me. He makes love to me, and he makes me feel special. I would have fallen in love with him had it not been for my dire situation. I don’t feel like I’m worthy of anything more. I’m inadequate. I have nothing to offer, and our relationship suits him so far. Draining my glass dry, I refill it and proceed to empty it again. My life is fucked up.

“We just lost a waitress, If you’re interested.” Says Gail, pouring me a cup of coffee to go.

“Yeah, I’ll take anything.”

“I’ll put in a good word with Dave. Come by tomorrow at three, ready to work. You’re pretty, and knowing him, you already got the job.”

“Thank you!” I state, hugging her.

An older waitress with nothing besides a high school diploma, she’d made a career out of waiting tables for minimum wage. But, something is better than nothing. She’d survived on meager salaries and tips with four kids, so I know that I can do it.

“Ma...!” I state, bursting through the front door.

She’s usually in the kitchen at this time of the day, preparing dinner. Neither one of us has a life, but she has one up on me. At least she has somewhat of a social one in the church.

The stove’s on, and the pot’s boiling over. “What the hell!” I exclaim, removing the pot and turning off the stove. “Ma…!” Going into her bedroom, it’s empty. After searching the house, I head over to the Stanley’s while calling her mobile.

A few brisk knocks on their door, and Mrs. Stanley answers. She’s a brunette, with a healthy weight— a size that the average blue bloodied caucasian guy would consider fat. “Hi, Noemi.”

“Hey, is the church having some type of gathering or something?”

“No, not that I know of. Why?”

“My mother, she’s not home, and she left a pot of food cooking on the stove.”

“Oh, well, she probably just forgot about it, and today is Thursday. Maybe she went to bingo.”

Shit, I forgot about Thursday bingo at the church on Ebenezer. It’s the church we used to attend before father left.

“Yeah, she’s probably over there. I’ll call and make sure. Thanks.”

“No problem.” She says, closing the door with a friendly smile.

Heading back home, I feel someone’s eyes on me, and glancing back at the Stanley’s, a face peering out the front window disappears behind the curtain. Creepy…

Excited about my job and the prospect of moving out, I overindulge in the wine and fall asleep soon after.

A crash, followed by screams, awakens me. After such an abrupt rousing, It takes a moment for me to adjust. I make my way out of my room, searching for the noise that awakened me. The house is dark, and looking out the living room window, a ball of fire shoots from the sky. It rains down onto a neighbor’s house.

Alarmed, It’s an instant inferno and the occupant’s exit in their sleepwear. A few more balls of fire light up the sky, and I head to my mother’s room, screaming my head off. “Ma… get up, we have to leave!” Rushing into her room, it’s empty.

“Ma!” Searching her bathroom, she isn’t there.

Quickly putting on my shoes, I grab my jacket and race over to the Stanley’s home. An explosion halts my advancement as it’s obliterated right in front of me. “oh, my god!” It’s chaos, as people are jumping into vehicles and heading away from the mayhem.

The sky’s ablaze with a hail of fire and brimstone. It’s Armageddon! “Noemi, do you and your mother need a ride?” Jim and his family are packing into their minivan. I don’t know where the fuck my mother is, but I know that she isn’t here. “Yeah, it’s just me,” I state, hopping in behind them.

We’re dodging bodies in the street, vehicles on fire, and family pets running away from the havoc. “What’s going on?” I ask, frantic.

“We don’t know. There was something on the news. It was an emergency broadcast.”

“About what?”

“Telling everyone to leave the city and to seek shelter from less populated areas.”

“Did they say why?”

“No!”

Something large and hard slams into the van, and Jim loses control of the vehicle. We’re all screaming in terror as the van does a multitude of flips before it goes silent and dark.

My eyes open, and it takes a moment for them to adapt. It’s dark, my head hurts, and touching the source of the pain, my hair’s matted with something sticky. Jim and his child are missing. The wife hangs upside down in the front seat. I don’t know if she’s alive or dead. All I know is that her husband abandoned us.

Unbuckling my seatbelt, I drop down and climb out the window. Lightning lights up the sky, and a crack of thunder scares the hell out of me. Looking around, there are fires everywhere. My eyes have finally adjusted, and as I access the situation, I can make out something staring at me in the dark. Straining my eyes, it’s watching me. Finally, after some time, it realizes that I can see it, and with a hellish yell, it tears down the street towards me.

Horrified, I take off in the opposite direction, trying to put as much distance between us as I can. But it’s fast, and I only make it a few paces before I can hear it almost upon me. My heartbeat’s accelerated, and with fear gripping my soul, I turn to face my attacker.

I get a glimpse of its face. It’s a man. He’s airborne, caped, and… beautiful. But I have no time to dwell on that fact. I’m pounced on, which causes me to lose my footing. I take a tumble backward as another figure collides with the one chasing me. Everything’s happening in slow motion as I sit up, rubbing the back of my head.

The two figures are fighting, and I can only watch in silence as one gets the upper hand. A dagger’s driven through the chest of the other. A bright light burst’s through its body before its instant ashes in the wind. A few seconds pass before the victor’s attention is drawn to me.

Cloaked and attired in clothing like the Romans in battle, I see it’s a male. Dark-haired and not the one who attacked me, its face was slender. This one has strong features, yet he’s still as beautiful as the other. His dark-eyed gaze never leaves mine as he makes his way over to me.

I’m beyond afraid, shaken to my core, yet I’m somehow sexually turned on. The man is magnificent. Muscular build and sturdy arms... he towers above me. Neither of us says anything. His gaze is analytical and questionable, and then he does the unthinkable.

His foot meets my chest, pinning me to the ground. Fighting to remove him, pressure is applied to my upper torso. Panic consumes me as I’m being crushed. Hitting at his foot is doing no good as I struggle to breathe.

“Wait…” It’s a female with her hand on his arm.

The pressure is lessened, but I’m still underfoot, trying my best to fight him off. “Do you see the light in her? It’s the brightest I’ve ever seen in one of them.” She says.

“That’s because she’s Nephilim, an abomination.” He spits out, reapplying the pressure.

“Ah…!” I scream out from the pain.

“Let her go. Father commands it.” The female states.

He’s silent as if listening. Then I receive a look of scorn from him before I’m released. The woman offers me her hand in assistance. I’m reluctant and fearful from being victimized by the male to accept. “Don’t be afraid.” Her voice is kind, and her expression offers reassurance that she’s safe.

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