Chapter 25
Loving Alliances
Jezzz asked Star as she was leaving for Hayden's place, "Are you sure you can get Hayden to help us?"
"I'll take care of Hayden. You get another good look at those CDs and let's compare notes later. We have to have this stuff memorized before we leave, every detail. From what I saw, we have 30 minutes from beginning to end. Whatever we do, it has to be done in that much time."
Young Herod spoke frankly, "Did you catch that piece about the triggering mechanisms connected to the attack on the abyss? How are we going to handle it all?"
"With Hayden's support, we might be able to figure out a way. If not, just saving Jerusalem may be enough. We talked about getting Aaron into the act, maybe, even Dad if we need too. I know what Young Herod said about our Reign of Peace, but somehow, I hoped for some help from our Lord along the way," Star commented seriously, then turned and walked out the door.
Star yelled back after closing the door, "Day, keep Riley occupied till I'm through with Hayden!"
"I already got a finger ready to wrap him around," she bragged.
Hayden was surprised but pleased to see Star driving up. He wasn't warned like she promised, but didn't care. He was just finishing a heavy workout and making himself an amino shake with bananas, fat free ice cream, and pint of fat free yogurt. He had his vitamins beside the blender, ready to down them, right after he added a half tray of ice to give his shake a real Dairy Queen taste.
"Hayden, you here?" Star yelled as she walked off the elevator.
"Right, here. In the kitchen! Don't worry! I'm not cooking spaghetti this time, just my health drink. You're a surprise!" he said as he walked out with a big cup brimming over with shake goodies.
"Yeah, driving you crazy, right?" she kidded, and stuck her finger in his drink, then licked it off childishly. "Hey, not bad. Put some honey in it. Is that how you keep to 1 percent body fat? I know your secret, now."
"Why should you care? You don't have any body fat from what I've seen, especially your toes and ears." He moved near the couch, and she moved to the baptismal font while fingering the white marble dove affectionately.
"Why do you have this in here?" she asked curiously.
"Why not? It's beautiful. It's all God. It's just b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l, don't you think?" he asked while getting up and walking to it. "I'd rather be dunked. I took Riley out to the Nickajack and baptized him myself. I did it the old fashioned way. Boy, you should have heard the priest going ballistic over that one."
"Broke that Anglican tradition, huh?" she asked seriously.
"Yes, if it's a tradition, then it needs to be broken. We mess up so much good, Godly stuff. I made sure that Riley had given his life to the Lord, first. It was a great time. His mom scolded me for weeks about it, but she knew how stuck I was on it. She was so Anglican that she made the Bishop look like a Baptist. You should have seen her do the Anglican bow when that cross came by. She just about touched the floor!" he exclaimed, then laughed at the thought of it. Star moved slowly around the baptismal and moved up the stairs as she left Hayden staring questioningly at her departure.
He shrugged and followed her up and out onto the deck. "You're acting rather mysterious, today. Here for a reason, or just trying to have that date?"
"Date!" she shrieked, then moved to the edge of the deck as if there was a reason for it. She looked down at a 50-foot drop and stared, answering quietly, "No date, just help."
"Star, you okay? What help? What's wrong?" he asked very concerned, then put his hand tenderly on her near arm in emphasis.
She pulled away from him suddenly, saying, "Help me stop the destruction of Jerusalem, Hayden." She jumped up on the railing and dived off while leaving Hayden screaming in horror.
He leaned over the railing, afraid to look, and found himself face-to-face with her suspended in perfect levitation. "Don't jump over after me, Hayden. I don't think I'm good enough at this to handle both of us."
He sighed in relief, then a panicked look came over his face, "Are you an angel, Star? Is that what this is about? Are you?" he spoke desperately.
She popped off her contacts and put them in her shirt pocket. Her eyes were wide with their white stars, and the shock of this was making Hayden weak kneed. He staggered back to a deck chair and barely made it, then fell backwards into it. Star flipped back over onto the deck and rushed to him, then noticed his face was flushed more from embarrassment than shock.
"Are you okay, old man?" she asked gently while holding his hand and feeling his forehead.
"I think so. You mean I have a crush on an angel? I've got to be crazy. You should have told me. We haven't seen angels on earth in years. What's going on? I'm no match for this," he remarked sadly.
"Not so fast, buckaroo," she answered, having heard Young Herod saying that earlier today. "I never answered you, did I? You do have a crush on me? That's great!"
"What's great about it? I'm outclassed. You're right. You never answered me. But, what else could it be than...? Oh, no. I heard that your real Mom may have had a fling with an angel. I never believed it. You're a Nephilim, aren't you?"
"Lock-stock-and-barrel, full-blooded light Nephilim. I'm right from the loins of Caleb and Sal. Caleb, the most beautiful angel in heaven. Although, my mom was quite a looker too," she said smiling.
"You said you needed help," he replied while getting a better color now and sitting up.
"I do. I'm a Nephilim on a mission. I really need your help. Want to hear about it?" she asked coyly, then pulled him by the hand and back down the stairs after her.
She taunted him, "While I tell you about it, you'll have to rub my toes like before. We got a deal?" she asked.
"Of course, of course, whatever you say," he replied, still in shock, his heart still beating wildly from her plunge off the deck.
As they sat together with Star's feet sitting on top of a pillow in his lap, he laughed, "Well, there's nothing supernatural about your toes at least."
"Hey, they're cute toes," she laughed.
"Yes, they are, but have you ever thought of washing them?" he asked as she pulled them to her, then looking for something she must have missed.
"Stop it, Hayden!" she exclaimed, then put them back on his pillow again.
"Now, that we're comfy', how about taking it from the top? You got my full attention," he answered while gently rubbing.
"No, before I start, I want you to talk to me about your trip to Jerusalem," she asked.
"Jerusalem, well, it's simple. I'm going to make a speech to the high council and Jesus about human rights issues. I'm taking Riley."
"I heard you get to take Riley, because he's kin, right?" she asked while thinking way ahead of him.
"You can go to Jerusalem and even take a tour of the Jesus Temple. You just can't get into the Temple while Jesus or the high council is in a meeting. It's not allowed. Only invited guests and their families can come during those times. Why?"
"Because, I want to go with you and meet Jesus too," she replied simply.
"How? I just told you that you have to be blood. Unless you want me to tell them you're Riley. I somehow don't believe they'd believe me, do you?"
"I could always change," she replied as she strained her face so much her eyes went cross eyed, then suddenly, Hayden flung himself from the couch to get up and away from her, actually Riley’s face.
"Stop that! Stop that right now! How did you do that? Turn back to my Star! Stop that!" he shouted, and she did.
"Your Star. That was quaint. How about it?" she asked, without his knowing what she was talking about.
"How about what? You're driving me crazy again," he commented and sat back down to make sure her feet were really her feet.
"Make me blood," she said and watched for the lights to go on in his brain.
He slowly said without still understanding, "M-a-k-e me b-l-o-o-d. Oh, holy mackerel! That easy! Oh, my gosh! Are you crazy? I mean, why?"
She laughed at his stuttering, "Don't say no so easily. My motives are almost platonic. Jerusalem is going to be nuked soon by five dark Nephilims posing as Jesus Priests. They want to kill Jesus. We know who they are, but no one will believe us. You have the connections, the access, and I want to help stop them. Call it my God given assignment, just like Sal. Chip off the old block, I'd say."
"How do you know if they'd listen to me? Why don't you just send them what you know and let them take care of it?" he answered while thinking he was crazy for not taking advantage of her obvious marriage proposal.
"We have two insiders who are saved dark Nephilims. One called Young Herod brought us a CD that explained how the triggering mechanisms are connected to a nuclear 30-minute countdown or in an emergency, a five-minute countdown. Thirty minute or five minutes, by the time the high council investigated our claims, they'd be nuclear debris. This must be handled with surgical precision. I believe only another Nephilim can take care of it. They won't expect us. They're too stupid in their own arrogance to figure it out. They'll be just like Cobrata."
"Wait a minute. You said us. Who's us? Then, you said Cobrata. Who's Cobrata?" he asked mystified.
"Us, as in Nephilims," but she was fudging. She had a plan that involved both her and Day. "Cobrata is the one in All Saints."
"You've got to be kidding. My little Star did that? That had to be a feat. Riley said he heard voices above him and didn't see anyone," he exclaimed as he got a little sick at his stomach thinking what a mess All Saints was in according to the police.
Star immediately disappeared head to toe while watching his eyes grow large in astonishment. She came back and replied, "Like that, I suppose. You better stop saying 'my' and 'your' before I get the idea that you've accepted my offer."
"I'm sorry. It's just an affectionate way of talking. That's all," he replied, acting almost depressed.
"Are you sure?" she asked while sitting up and moving close to him. "Have you had a better offer, lately?"
"Not in the last ten years, at least," he replied, then started to consider. "Can I meet this Young Herod and the other dark Nephilim," he asked.
"Oh, you mean Jezzz? Sure, why don't you come over tonight and meet them all, including Abigail."
"Abigail is here? You're kidding! I've got to meet her! How wonderful!" he exclaimed.
"Hey, you're more excited about meeting Abigail than my offer," she said poking him in his ribs as she said it.
"Don't hurt me, Star. I bet you're stronger than a human too. Aren't you?" he asked while putting a pillow between them for protection.
"You have no idea. I can see miles away down to the micro inch. Young Herod said he's going to show me more stuff that I can do too. Hayden, I was serious about going. I haven't told you all of it. It gets even scarier," she spoke seriously.
"Go ahead. I'm beyond my shock threshold now," he said while peeking from behind a pillow at her.
"There is a dark Nephilim called Judas who is running the show. He has plans to blow up the abyss and set Apollyon and his dark angels free. It will happen an hour after the Jerusalem nukes. They have a C147 and a nuclear submarine poised ready to attack. You see now serious this all is?"
"So you only want to be blood to save the world? How noble. You said almost platonic? Is that why you joined my class, to meet me?" he asked and acted hurt.
"Yes, but I refused after I met you. I told my family that I couldn't do something like that. We were desperate. We were just positioning ourselves. We didn't know what to do. Abigail just isn't connected enough. I couldn't use you like that. That's why I pulled away. I didn't want it to be that way. Do you understand? I didn't want to be that kind of creep. Please, you have to believe me," she said as she started to cry.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry. You came back after that, didn't you?" he asked.
"Yes, I did. I pulled back on purpose. I swear to you on my Alex's grave. I didn't want to hurt you. In fact, I like you quite a lot. I'm sorry," she said with tears still flowing down her cheeks.
Hayden reached out to hold her to him in an impulsive moment, and she unbundled herself into him. She cried for almost ten minutes; and as she started to stop, Hayden wiped at her face with the corner of the couch blanket and held her face in his hands while kissing her eyelids tenderly.
"Yes," he said quietly.
She looked at him, then cocked her head slightly, not knowing for sure what he was saying "yes" to. Suddenly, she knew and pushed him away from her.
"Are you sure there is no other way," she asked while thinking she was trapping him again.
"No, the policy was set down 25 years ago. Nothing will change it. I could take your case before the council, but you're right. They'd take months to investigate it, and it'd all be over by that time. There are no secrets in that place. In no time, after I showed them any evidence, it'd be over. Do you have a plan?"
"Yes, kinda', maybe, possibly. I have to work on it by myself. If you knew what it was, it would complicate things. Ask me?" she said promptly.
"Ask you, what?" he said, and then interrupted himself. "Oh, oh, yes. Star, will you marry me?"
"Get on your knees and take my hand and ask me," she replied seriously.
"Star, there you go driving me crazy again. This was your idea to begin with. Why do I have to…" she interrupted him.
"Because, this might be the first and last time I ever hear it. I have an old fashioned imagination. Let's face it. We actually might get used to it," she giggled, then went to a poker serious face on purpose.
"Okay, okay, Star Tabor, daughter of Caleb, the most beautiful angel in heaven, and Sal, quite a looker herself, not to mention the step daughter of the ex-President of the United States, Alex Tabor, and his wife Abigail. Will you marry me? How's that?" he asked while he watched her tear up again, then she kissed him hard on the mouth and jumping around excitedly.
"You actually look excited about this," he remarked in surprise.
"I am. It feels right. It really does," she said as she twirled upward near the second landing above him. When he saw her near the landing, he realized that was exactly where he found her the first time she came over. He thought that all this stuff must be very new to her.
He called up to her while watching her spin around and around in the air above him, "What shall I tell Riley? He knows the rules."
"Tell him the truth. He may need to believe it's just for show to make him feel better," she answered as she finally came back down in front of him.
"Why should he care, other than that you are his English Professor? He's always been after me to start dating and getting out more. Although, going directly to marriage isn't exactly what he probably had in mind," he laughed and gave her a dancing swirl with her feet several inches off the floor as she came down in front of him.
"Oh, believe me. This will be a little harder for him to swallow if he thought it was for real. I'll let you talk to him unless you want me to jump off the deck for him."
“Does that mean I get to ride your motorcycle?”
“Pretty soon it will be yours too," he answered.
"Hey, that means you get to drive my Hummer anytime you like.”
Star’s cell phone ran. “Day, what is it? This better be serious," replied Star sarcastically.
"It's Riley. We got a problem. Riley is really upset. Abigail let it slip that you were at Red Fish with his dad. He seems really disturbed about it. What do I do?"
"He's going to be more than disturbed when he finds out about Hayden and me. I'm going to Jerusalem with Hayden," she replied triumphantly.
"You're kidding. Only blood kin can go with an invited guest. Oh, my gosh! You have to be kidding! Riley is going to stroke!" she shouted.
In the background, Riley was heard saying, "Why am I going to stroke, now?"
"I could hear him all the way over here," replied Hayden. "Let me talk to my son."
Star bowed in obedience and handed him the phone
with her fingers crossed. "Son, where are you? With Abigail, Day, Jezzz, and Young Herod. Yes, Star is here, why? Wait a minute, how come you're with those guys? Day, isn't that Star's sister? Son, I've been invited over. You stay put. I'll be there in a minute."
"Staaar! Why is my son at your place? What in the world is going on?" he asked angrily, like someone was holding out on him.
"Do you really want to know?" asked Star sheepishly.
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