Rachael
“Was Lakyn always like that?” Scarlett asked as they flew above the clouds. It was peaceful up there. Dyston did little spirals and then flew under her upside-down so that he could see her face.
“Like what?”
“Cold.”
“No, not always. He was once a very caring person, when he was young.”
“What happened?”
“He had his heart broken.”
“By me?”
“No, this happened fifteen years ago. Her name was Rachael, and he was smitten.”
Fifteen Years Earlier
“Lakyn, wake up and get back to work,” yelled Zachariah as he slammed a book closed. Lakyn jumped.
“Sorry.” He shook his head as if to shake away a thought. He had been daydreaming again. He picked his pencil up from where it had fallen on his sketchbook, and stared at the image there, his drawing of a concept Archangel’s bow.
“I don’t pay you to fall asleep, Son.”
“I know.” Lakyn worked at his parent’s company, Blackbell Incorporated. They were blacksmiths and weaponry experts. The Blackbells had been making the celestial weapons forged from The Realm’s metals for centuries, and now it was Lakyn’s job to design them. He didn’t want to be an entrepreneur like his father. He wanted to be an artist. But when Zachariah saw his potential, his affinity for art, and a talent for drawing, he hired his son to be the Head of the design team. So each afternoon, day in and day out, Lakyn came here to his family’s warehouse, and sketched until his hand grew numb.
One Friday, he found himself bored of drawing swords and bows, so he flipped over a page in his book to a fresh clean one, and began to draw something entirely different—the face he hadn’t been able to get out of his head for weeks. It was a face that had been haunting his dreams—the girl with the white streak in her hair. He was dying to find out if she were real, and most importantly, to find out her name. But until that day came, he drew. He sketched her every day. He sketched until he had memorised every inch of her face by heart, from her mysterious grey eyes to her sweet but sad smile. He was already in love with her.
One day, out of the blue, Zachariah told him to deliver an order of Archangel blades and bows to Daylesford Convent. He didn’t know why his father had asked him to do it, or what a convent would want with angelic weapons, but he went anyway to please his father.
The convent stood on the crest of the botanical gardens, overlooking the town of Daylesford, Victoria and was an impressive nineteenth- century gothic mansion. Built in the 1860s, originally a grand home, it was then turned into a boarding school for girls. In the 1970s, the school closed, and the building underwent years of renovations, until it was opened again in 1991 as a gallery. But Lakyn was still confused as to why this place had ordered their weapons. He parked the black company truck and got out, breathing in the crisp air as he made his way to the arched entry. Just as he was about to knock, the double doors swung inwards with a creak.
“Hello?” His voice echoed, but there was no reply. He stepped inside and called out again, “Hello?”
“There’s no need to announce your presence again, I was coming.” The voice startled him. He spun around, and came face to face with her.
“You…”
“Sorry I scared you. This place can be creepy at times,” she said with a small smile. It was really her. It was the girl from his sketches, the girl from his dreams. But he couldn’t let her know that. He didn’t want to appear weird.
“I… uh, yeah, you scared me,” he covered himself and laughed.
“What can I do for you?” She was even more beautiful in real life, her eyes bigger and even more intriguing, and her hair was silkier than imagined. He cleared his throat.
“I um… I have an order from Blackbell Incorporated, twenty blades and bows?”
“Oh, yes, thank you. I’ll get Adam onto that.” She walked to a table in the hall and began dialling on the telephone, spinning the numbers around one by one. She then picked up the earpiece. Lakyn’s heart beat faster and his palms grew sweatier by the minute. Who was Adam?
“Adam? The weapons are here.” She paused to let him reply. When she spoke again, her voice had the sound of concern. “Where’s sister Bernadette?” She paused again. “Oh, okay. I guess I’ll have to entertain him then. Bye.” She hung up and looked at Lakyn.
“Sorry about that. My brother will be here soon.”
“Oh, Adam’s your brother?”
“Yes, and I’m Rachael. Welcome to Daylesford.”
“This is the chapel. Most of the things you see are from the original buildings,” Rachael said as she showed him around. But Lakyn didn’t really care about the surroundings. All he cared about was her. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“You’re staring, you know,” she said when they stood on the altar. A white stained-glass star with a golden centre shone down, surrounding them in a golden halo-like light.
“I uh… sorry. It’s just… sorry if I seem rude or forward. But I’ve seen your face before.”
“Really?” Rachael smiled. She felt herself perhaps being seduced by this stranger. “I must have one of those faces.”
He had to tell her. He simply had to. Now was his chance.
“I’ve sketched you.”
“What?”
“I’ve seen your face before. In my dreams.” He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. She took it reluctantly, unfolding it.
“Oh, my gosh. Who are you?” she gasped.
“I’m Lakyn Blackbell. I’m Nephilim.” He waited for her reaction.
“Finally,” she breathed, “someone like me.”
“You mean, you’ve not met another Nephilim before?”
“Only my brother and my parents. But my parents are dead, so Adam and I have been the only ones. Until now.”
“You believed you were the only Nephilim? Man. You really need to get out more.”
“I know. But we’re not allowed to leave.” Rachael ascended three flights of stairs to the top floor. Lakyn followed. He wouldn’t be letting her out of his sight. There were three doors there, Rachael opened one on the left and entered a room. Lakyn loitered outside, unsure of whether to follow her in. The room looked like her bedroom.
“You can come in, Lakyn,” she said sweetly. He peered in and saw an airy room lit from two arched windows. A large round bed surrounded by green silk curtains was in the centre. Rachael sat by one of the windows. It had two glass panels pushed outwards and looked over the rooftops at the city beyond.
“Rachael…”
“Shh, don’t speak. I’ve never even met a boy, let alone another Nephilim, before.”
“You have your brother.”
“Yes, but a boy that I’m attracted to,” she corrected herself. Lakyn stepped closer.
“Are you attracted to me?” she whispered invitingly. Rachael slipped off the windowsill and moved towards him, her hands poised at his chest. Startlingly, the door burst open.
“Adam!” exclaimed Rachael.
“Step away from her.” Adam growled at Lakyn, drawing his blade.
“Adam, we were just talking. Put your blade away,” Rachael told him.
“Do you know who this is?” Adam demanded.
“Yes. He’s the nice young boy who brought us our weapons.”
“Not so. He’s deceived you. He’s a Lucifite.” Adam turned his Archangel blade towards Lakyn.
“That’s stupid,” scoffed Lakyn. “How could I be a Lucifite?”
“He’s a Blackbell, and they’re descended from Lucifer,” Adam insisted to Rachael.
“That’s just a rumour, it’s not true,” begged Lakyn.
“Adam, please, he won’t hurt me. Will you, Lakyn?” she smiled sweetly at him.
“Of course, I won’t,” declared Lakyn.
“Lies! They lie, demons,” spat Adam, drawing his blade to Lakyn’s heart.
“I think you have misunderstood,” muttered Lakyn,
raising his hands in surrender.
“Leave now. Before I send you back to the realm from which you came,” growled Adam.
“All right, I’m leaving.” Lakyn slipped past Adam and left, glancing back to Rachael one last time.
Fleeing down the stairs and out though the front door, Lakyn heard a voice from above. It sounded soft but it echoed. He knew whose it was, he looked up and met Rachael’s gaze.
“I’m sorry. When might I see you again?”
“Sooner than you think,” replied Lakyn, and he smiled as he pointed towards the telephone near her. An encouraging slip of paper poked out from beneath it. Rachael smiled to herself. There was hope.
Chapter Twenty-One