Chapter 16
One Little Indian
Young Herod woke early after a good night's sleep. He hadn't had one in days. It helped having Joseph nearby. He felt excited about getting back to Jezzz to talk about this salvation thing. He wondered what it would be like to be one of the good guys. He kept thinking about Jezzz's white stars and pulled off his contacts looking disappointedly into the mirror. The red stars were ugly and unappealing. He tried to imagine how he would look with white stars and smiled warmly to himself in anticipation.
"Well, Mr. Joseph, we're off to see the wizard," and realized, he was quoting from the black-and-whites again.
Young Herod practiced for hours getting his face exactly like Joe's. He wondered where Joe was now. He figured that he was getting ready to leave on a boat for Canada. He knew that Joe had to wait for the first million to transfer into his Saint Barbados account. After that, no one would ever see him again. He probably didn't care about the rest but wouldn't turn it down. With his Joe face securely fixed in place and the CDs in hand, he made his way through the lobby to the cabby line. He still didn't have any luggage. He had the same clothes as yesterday, except he picked up a new dress shirt from the gift shop. He didn't want anything to slow him down. He realized that he had to concentrate to keep his morphing under control; but last night, he almost couldn't turn it off. He finally decided to go to sleep with Joe on. He hoped he'd return to himself naturally; he did, but found morphing was getting easier and easier. He had also been practicing a few more tricks, but was holding them in reserve, just in case.
"The Jerusalem Consulate, please, hurry!" he remarked and noticed he had only ten minutes and didn't have any idea how far away it was. Rome was void of traffic. It was hit so hard by nuke attacks before, during, and after the Day of the Dragons, that nothing of the old Rome remained. Now, new housing was popping up all over, and the new heavenly parks were more popular here than in America. The fruit from the biggest trees, some now 25 years old, were producing enough to feed thousands.
"The Consulate, sir" the cabby replied as he stopped in front of it. Young Herod looked nervously up and down the street. He had no way of knowing if something had gone wrong or if he was already found out. He hunched a little lower than normal while trying to shrink his size a couple inches. He made his way to the front gates, and the guard eyeballed him intensely.
"Are you expected, sir?" he asked. "Which part of the consulate are you going, the American, Italian, or British side?"
"The Italian. My name is Joe. I'm supposed to be there at ten. Please, don't make me late," he replied while feeling the time getting too close.
"You won't be late. Come in. You only have 50 feet to go. It's on the first floor, first door to your right. Only two have arrived so far. Help yourself," he said as he pointed to the double doors ahead of him.
As he entered the Italian side, he heard, "That better be Joe!"
Young Herod ducked in submissiveness, "Yes, sir, it's Joe."
An aged man with a startling shock of white hair and a long, white mustache appeared. Young Herod could tell he was a Nephilim, a very, very old one. He walked with a stoop and a cane, but he could tell he was powerfully built. He was carrying a brown file folder, which he opened in front of Young Herod and pulled the picture out, then held it up to Young Herod's face and mumbled.
"Hummmm. You'd make a good Nephilim with a stature like yours. Seem taller than you should be. I guess everyone is taller than me nowadays. I haven't been able to stand up straight for 50 years."
"Excuse me, sir. How old are you?" he asked nervously, not knowing whether he should.
"I'm glad you asked. I love seeing people's expression when I tell them I'm 800 years old. Three hundred years old and still have to put up with punks like Judas. Just because they have the energy, they think they can run everything. He's doing it all wrong, you know. He can't do this with violence and hurting people. He's got to get into places of power and just erode the fire out of every part of the system. I did and never resorted to violence. I know, I'm an old man babbling. You might want to call me one of the good guys, huh?" then laughed loudly at himself.
Young Herod's head popped up at the last comment, and he felt like he was losing his image. Something told him to turn away. He turned towards the mirror and coughed to pretend it was his reason for such a discourteous act. He saw his own chin pushing through Joe's weak one. He breathed deeply while blowing his nose. After the third deep breath and slipping a look at Joe's small photograph, he was okay. Her turned and saw the old man leaving.
"Don't you want to take the CDs? I need another sealed copy and the next contact," Young Herod replied as he followed after him.
"Oh, yeah, that. Can you imagine that little upstart trying to teach me tricks I've known for hundreds of years. He doesn't know half of them. Do you know any yourself? Oh, I forgot, you're a human, but you were married to one of us. It doesn't matter. You're family to me" he said, then pointed to a chair inside his office.
"Oh, I think so. Do you have some favorites?" not wanting to let on what he knew.
"Maybe, let's see what he has on this thing," he said while inserting the disc and watching it carefully, but turning off the monitor when Young Herod started to move near enough to see. Young Herod got the hint and sat down in front of the desk, then watched him continue to review the information. Several times, Arakiba grunted and mumbled unpleasantly to himself. After several minutes, he laughed quietly, "I know one he didn't figure out. Want to know what it is?"
"Sure," he answered, really wanting to know.
"We're fast. You know that, don't you? We're strong, that's the easy one. However, we're faster than anyone ever imagined. We're so fast that if we really wanted to, we could seem to be in two, even three, places at once. Let me show you," he said as he walked slowly around the desk. He moved the chairs out of the way and moved a large table with Young Herod's help.
Young Herod couldn't help liking the guy. He seemed more good than bad. He asked without thinking, "You're a good man, Monsieur Arakiba. You really are. Have you ever been as ruthless as Judas?"
Arakiba stopped in his tracks. "That's the best compliment I've had in years. All my wives used to say the same thing. No, well, when I was young, I messed up a little. Since then, after the first hundred years, I found it was easier and more fun being good, than being bad. I actually thought I was retired until Judas brought me out. To tell the truth, I wanted to keep an eye on that young fox. Can't do it being retired. I know, you're going to run to Judas and tell him that I'm a traitor."
"No, I wouldn't. I'm to be terminated at the end of this job. My daughter will receive millions for my efforts. I'm just a liability to your people," he replied as he really started feeling his part now.
"My people. Is that how you think about us? My people? Judas isn't my people. In all the people you'll meet, there are more like me than Judas. The worst is the Old Badger from Britain. I'd like to finish him off myself. We were born about the same time. He's got a mean streak a mile long," he replied as he rested his hand on Young Herod's shoulder.
"Son, if I were you, I'd make a couple of deliveries, then get lost somewhere. You could do that, you know? Don't let them do this to you. Take your little girl and disappear."
Young Herod couldn't believe what he was hearing. This old man was telling him exactly what Joe would want to hear. He sounded more like a light Nephilim every minute.
"I'm sorry, sir. You can kill me for asking, but what color are your stars?" Young Herod asked, then held his breath nervously after saying it.
"Wouldn't Judas love to know," and laughed riotously. He knew that Young Herod wouldn't have asked that question if he didn't already know something.
"Let me show you this trick," he replied.
As he stood in the far corner of the room, he said, "I'm going to move in front of you, to the far side, to in front of you, and back to this other side. Watch for me and see if you can tell
where I'm at. I'll double back the second time, and the guess will be yours. It just takes thinking ahead of where you want to be by five to ten steps and letting your mind and body take you there."
"Count to three," he requested.
"One, two, three," replied Young Herod.
Arakiba moved at lightning speed to in front of him, to the other side, then back and to the far side, doubling his speed the next time. The images were a blur. He looked like he was in all three places at once.
"How's that?" he asked.
He was standing behind Young Herod and tapped him on his shoulder lightly. It startled Young Herod so much that he lost his Joe image and tried to turn away from him, but Arakiba did his speed trick and was standing in front of him without saying a word.
"You're good, son, but you're not that good. You need practice," he said as he put his hand on Young Herod's shoulder in reassurance.
"I don't know who you are, and I don't want to know. Just do me a favor. Stop that beast before he ruins it for all of us," he commanded. He popped his contacts off, and his bright, white star eyes burst forth with their grand reflections.
"Are you a light Nephilim?" asked Young Herod, feeling naked and vulnerable.
"No, he's a dark Nephilim, who's turned to the Lord, aren't you, my old friend? He got saved after the rapture, but he's always been one of the good ones," said Joseph as he appeared behind Young Herod.
"Joseph! Joseph! How wonderful to see you! I haven't seen you in over two hundred years! I never forget a set of shoulders!" They both approached each other and hugged.
"You taking care of my friend here?" he asked while smiling grandly.
"Yes, I'm helping out Caleb. This is serious business, my friend. I'm just trying to get him back in one piece."
"I'm not the problem. If he doesn't do a better job at holding his image, the Old Badger will eat him for lunch. The Old Badger is the problem," warned Arakiba while shaking his finger at Young Herod.
"Can you help us?" asked Joseph.
"A little. I can call France and let my friends, The Counts, know that you are one of us. But, wait, I don't sense you are. It's impossible to tell. Red stars or white?"
"Red but going to change, soon. I want Judas stopped. My sister-in-law just gave her life to the Lord. We didn't know we could. As soon as I get back, I'm going to."
"You might not want to do that now, not now, but wait. Being a saved Nephilim may take away your edge when you need it. What's your real name?"
"My full name is Young Herod," he answered. "Don't you know the rest of the top ten Nephilim bosses? Couldn't you just let me know who they are?" Young Herod asked.
"What you've been told may be wrong on purpose. I only know the French counts and the Old Badger. The Old Badger must know the rest. I'm suspicious that there are that many of us in power. Most of the Nephilims I know are believers. You Nephilims in the states are just behind times. It's Judas' new group who are the bad eggs. I don't really know about the others. You're coming back to kill them, aren't you?" he asked frankly.
"I'm just a whistleblower," replied Young Herod. "My final act will be taking care of Judas myself."
"That will do more good than you can ever imagine. Just leave my friends in France be. They are just like us. They are like brothers to me."
"I promise. He or they are safe," replied Young Herod. "You keep saying counts, friends, brothers. Isn't there only one?"
"A complete set, Young Herod. You'll see. Now, let's burn these CDs and get you on your way. In the name of the Lord, I pray for blessings and protection. Take care of him, Joseph, will you?"
"You got it, brother. When are you going to join us permanently?" asked Joseph.
"I don't know. I'd like to see another millennium, although I get tired of looking at the floor all the time. Heaven might be a treat if I'm able to stand up straight for a change."
Joseph waved and disappeared, and Young Herod took the new CDs from his new friend. Arakiba warmly said, "I'll give Judas a great report. We have to keep him off balance until you all are ready to strike. On second thought, when you finish the task by nailing Judas dead, I think I'll take Joseph's suggestion and go home."
"You're always welcome, my friend," came Joseph's voice in the air around them.
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