The Nephilim Tree (Part 1)
C. A. Smith
Copyright 2011 by C. A. Smith
4MCKM
Introduction
An ancient secret has been hidden from you, closely guarded by the few who control your lives and passed down to their own kinds through the generations. Knowing this secret will open your eyes, but once open they will never close again.
Be careful what you wish for.
Prologue
10 months ago….
The judge looked over at the nervous elderly lady sitting next to her carer. Although the bruising had gone, the scar remained above her right eye where it had split on the corner of the curbstone after she had been knocked to the ground. She looked back at him through her bloodshot eyes in expectation of justice while trying to calm her shaking hands. The left one still splinted across her ring finger where the break had to be re-set due to complications. He’d often delivered uncomfortable verdicts but had always kept his emotions out of it. It was the only way. Stick to the rules, stick to the law.
He knew one old lady’s identification wouldn’t be enough to prove guilt, especially when she was the victim and was surprised it ever got this far.
“Mrs. Clarke, the court isn’t saying you weren’t assaulted. The appalling and serious injuries you have suffered have been made clear to everyone present.”
He paused for a brief moment.
“However.”
Her scarred face dropped.
“Given the evidence presented to me, I see no substantial proof that these men were involved in this unfortunate event.”
The look on his face was one of sympathy. Deep down he knew they were guilty and it sickened him to know it was only a matter of time before they re-offended.
Mrs. Clarke struggled to keep her composure. It seemed her dignity was one of the few things she now had left. She could feel the trembling in her hands spreading throughout her frail body but tried to hold her head high.
Knowing his hands were tied, the judge looked over at the three men standing in front of him already smiling cockily. His years of experience helped him control his emotions while he spoke.
“You are free to go. Court dismissed.”
Mrs. Clarke could feel the tears she had managed so courageously to hold onto earlier now streaming down her face. Her head dropped in disbelief. The little strength she retained disintegrated when those final words left the judge’s lips: “You are free to go.”
She looked to the floor and began to sob. All her carer could do was show support by gently rubbing her back while offering her some futile words of comfort.
“Come on now, it’ll be Ok.”
Still sobbing and hardly able to raise an audible tone, Mrs. Clarke whispered back, “How will it be Ok? Those animals walk away free after what they did to me. They even stole my wedding ring, look, look what they did.”
She held up her splinted left hand to the carer’s face, who didn’t need reminding how the ring had been brutally ripped and twisted from her finger with such ferocity it broke two of the bones.
The judge, now standing, looked up while in the middle of gathering his notes and watched the three men strut out of the court. A knot built within his stomach as he saw two of them share a high-five while the other placed a hand on each of their shoulders and shook them triumphantly.
Chapter 1
Current day…
Leading from the nave of St Faddyeons to the left of the altar was a stone arch framing a deep red velvet curtain that masked the entrance to a stone spiral staircase. Situated at the foot of this old church’s winding stairs was another smaller arch leading into a cold dimly lit room.
Other than its contents and some basic electrics, the room remained as it was when first built back in the fifteenth century. The only trace of heat was borrowed from a single bare 40-Watt incandescent light bulb dangling from the ceiling and an inadequate electric fan heater futilely whirring away by the entrance fighting the constant descending draught. Next to the heater a shadowy figure of a priest hung over a handwritten letter lying on the oak desk in front of him. He breathed in nervously still not knowing what to make of it.
Father Phillips took in another deep breath before laying his head back against the top of the old chair and looking up at the stained white ceiling in deep thought. He closed his eyes and expelled the troubled air from his lungs before glancing back down at the unfinished letter. The look of concern on his face grew. He was uncertain what to make of it and equally uncertain of its author’s identity.
He had been moved to St Faddyeons in an attempt to re-ignite his waning faith in the church, but this discovery only served to confuse matters further. His seniors felt a new town location with more life would revive his “tired soul”. After all, he was only 40 years old, still a relatively young man. “New challenges,” they said, hoping it would somehow remedy the growing despondence building within him over the years. He couldn’t help wondering if he was losing the faith that once compelled him to dedicate his life to his God. Of course he was only a twenty-year-old man back then. Reading about the despicable abuse carried out by some members of the undeserving clergy, really didn’t help him disperse the doubt growing inside. This was a disgusting act and one he felt deserved a punishment not befitting a man of God to even contemplate. His rational mind helped him realize these sort of sick individuals occur in all walks of life and although this ate away at his faith in mankind, it alone was not solely why he became so disillusioned with the church. It was more that it seemed his church did nothing but protect these individuals. Not only protect, but moved them elsewhere to continue practising their vile crimes. Of course it wasn’t their intention for them to carry on, but unfortunately, it was more than likely the outcome. He often wondered if religion itself was obscuring mankind from God and that maybe God was in all of us waiting for us to find him in our own way. Was he really certain enough of his facts to preach what God wants or doesn’t want.
His thoughts were broken by the sound of his mobile phone vibrating like an orbital sander on the desk in front of him. ’10:30 Funeral’, the display read. It was time to leave.
Chapter 2
A continual dismal rain fell onto the array of black umbrellas. Father Phillips looked up at the dark clouds. They were there to stay for the rest of the day.
He held his bible away from the rain and read the service. He watched as the coffin of Dianne Clarke was lowered into her grave. She was an old lady who’d sank into a deep depression following a brutal mugging. Her family told him that since that day she withdrew from life and never recovered.
He looked around at the mourners with their heads cast down at the descending coffin. Another life ruined by crime. He was growing tired of not being able to answer the same question asked by innocent victims or by bereaved parents of young children. He prayed for guidance, but it never seemed to be forthcoming. This only made the sense of inadequacy he was feeling grow stronger. However hard he tried to make it more acceptable and comforting he still couldn’t explain why God allowed suffering. He tired of giving many variants of the same answer. The usual “The Lord works in mysterious ways”, offered no real explanation in this modern world and sounded more like a salesman avoiding an awkward question about his product because it threatened a potential sale.
A shiver down his spine and a sudden sense of unease broke his thoughts. He looked around at the mourners. Their heads were still down but behind them in the distance was a man standing in the rain staring directly at him.
The sound of crying broke Father Phillip’s stare. He continued the service.
/> “…per misericórdiam Dei requiéscant in pace. Amen.”
He closed his book and looked back over the mourners at the road. The man had gone.
Chapter 3
After the funeral service Father Phillips returned to the dimly lit storeroom to resume his study of the mysterious letter. This was the fifth time he had read it since discovering it concealed behind a loose stone. He had found it during his first day at the church three weeks ago while searching for a supply of candles. This was after realizing his predecessor clearly didn’t hold the restocking of them very high on his list of priorities before he left for his new missionary post in Africa. Whilst searching, a mouse caught his eye as it scurried between the stone pillar and the wall. His curiosity of the mouse’s destination took precedence over the tedium of candles and he abandoned his search for the more interesting prospect of this tiny creature. While scanning the partially obscured area behind the stone pillar for the now invisible mouse, he noticed how one of the stones in the wall seemed to lack the lime mortar around its joints like the others. Only for the mouse, he would never have noticed it and the stone would still lay undisturbed for many years to come.
He pushed the stone without expectation of movement and was amazed to find that it sunk into the wall and then sprung slowly back out towards the pillar. He took a letter opener from the desk and levered it from the wall. The stone concealed a small leather bag.
This seemed to be the perfect hiding place. He reasoned if it had only been discovered by chance after all of these years then this would be the best place to store it when he wasn’t studying it. Yet again he carefully removed the letter from its bag and opened it out on the desk in front of him. He began to read it again:
There is a hidden and dark malignancy radiating through our world from a nefarious and powerful core. An ancient race I had never personally believed existed until now. They are real. They walk among us, covertly controlling our lives through their pervasive network for millennia, using our own kind’s weaknesses to spread their corruption through the arteries of mankind.
They will stop at nothing to achieve their objective, exploiting the weaknesses of mankind. They have been feeding from us; fooling us into thinking this imprisonment is how life should be.
My life will never return to the blissful ignorance I once enjoyed. They know I have what they want. Faced with the horrific reality of what I have discovered I now realize I am in grave danger and feel I may fail in my attempt to protect them and inform mankind of what I believe must be revealed because we are reaching the time of…
The letter ended abruptly. Father Phillips shook his head in confusion. So many questions but few answers.
A slapping sound broke his concentration as it echoed down through the winding stone stairway and into the storeroom. He sat up quickly, put the letter back into its bag and returned it to its original hiding place behind the loose stone. The noise turned out to be the low flat heel of Mrs. Roberts’s shoe as it slipped from the tread of the worn stone steps onto the one below. Something Father Philips had done himself on a few occasions too. Mrs. Roberts, the elderly lady who cleaned the church three times a week was on her way down.
“Are you there Father?”
“Yes, I’m down here Mrs. Roberts. Are you OK?”
“Only just.” she replied, still short of breath after the sudden surge of adrenalin brought on by her slip.
“After all of these years I still manage to slip on that cursed step at least once a month. It’ll be the death of me Father.”
She referred to one particular step on this narrow staircase. All of them displayed the usual signs of wear one would expect after hundreds of years of use, but one in particular, the second from top one, was slightly narrower than the others and the worn rounded edge in the center provided no room for the error of a misplaced foot. Luckily a curved iron handrail running the entire length of the staircase had recently been fitted, and while it detracted from the historical feel it was clearly necessary.
“Would you like to sit down for a minute Mrs. Roberts?”
“No, no Father. I’m fine thank you. I just need to get the Hoover and then I’ll be out of your way.”
“Yes, well the nights are drawing in now. I have this but it doesn’t seem to help much.”
He pointed to the electric fan heater that seemed to provide more noise than heat.
“Before we know it, it’ll be Christmas again. Would you like me to bring it up for you? I’m just about done looking for the candles.”
“Yes please Father. That would be very helpful thank you.”
As the dark wavy haired priest walked over to the upright vacuum cleaner situated under the shelving next to Mrs. Roberts, his six feet plus frame seemed to accentuate the barely five feet tall and slightly portly frame of Mrs. Roberts. He gripped the vacuum cleaner in one hand and while smiling at the well-presented little old lady in front of him, he gestured to her with his other hand to lead the way. Mrs. Roberts smiled,
“It’s only a short staircase but its very tight and I’m not getting any younger.”
The priest smiled diplomatically not wanting to agree and cause offence.
“Oh, before we go up, I don’t suppose you know if Father Crane had a stock of candles hidden away anywhere down here do you Mrs. Roberts? I noticed we were running short when I first came here but then forgot all about them. Unfortunately we may find ourselves with a slight pyrotechnic difficulty if I don’t get any soon.”
She rolled her eyes,
“Knowing him, they’ll probably be thrown in a corner somewhere Father. Tidiness wasn’t his best trait.”
She looked up at the shelves barely clinging to the walls under the weight of copious boxes of clutter collected by Father Crane during his short stay and shook her head like a mother in despair at her messy child’s bedroom.
“Ah, yes. Sorting these out is yet another of my many self assigned tasks.”
The priest realized he’d found one of Mrs. Robert’s soapbox issues as she passionately complained about the extra unnecessary work caused by Father Crane’s untidy habits. She was a very tidy and proud lady, which was evident by her appearance. Her loosely permed blue rinsed hair was always well lacquered into that style common to ladies of an age. It was as though they all visited the same hairdresser.
The priest sniggered slightly, “Yes, I heard our Father Crane was a bit of a case.”
His snigger decreased into a slight smile after being met with a look from Mrs. Roberts as though she was looking over a pair of imaginary glasses and clearly not sharing in the humor of Father Crane’s exploits.
Breaking the stare and carefully employing just enough ecclesiastical rank to get him out of the situation, the priest continued,
“Ahem, well if you come across them would you let me know please. We seem to be running very low. I’ll order some more after lunch. At least we’ll have some spare if the others do turn up.”
“How long have you been looking after us for Mrs. Roberts?”
“Oh, about sixteen years Father, although I must say I’ve been thinking of retiring soon. I used to work as a midwife at the hospital and helped out here every so often as a volunteer when I had time. Then when I retired Father Peterson asked me if I wanted to help out in a less casual capacity. He said St Faddyeons was in need of a cleaner to work a couple of days a week and if I’m honest, I don’t think I was really ready for full time retirement anyway. There’s only so much gardening you can do without becoming a full time farmer.“
“Ah a midwife. Welcoming new life into the world is a very honorable and necessary profession. You bring a lot of business our way.”
The priest had noticed a slight smirk that finally gave away a kink in Mrs. Robert’s armor, how proud she was of her work.
“So sixteen years here in total including your voluntary work with us. You must have seen a few of th
e previous placements then I suppose?”
“Oh yes, quite a few Father. Some of them like Father Crane only stayed for a year or two before moving onto posts abroad, but some stay for a while. Poor old Father Peterson, God rest his soul, was here on and off for about ten years before the accident.”
“Accident?”
“Oh yes Father, it was such a tragedy. I thought you knew about him.” Mrs. Roberts’s face displayed a look of surprise that gradually developed into compassion driven by the memory of Father Peterson.
“No. I haven’t heard anything about a Father Peterson other than when you just mentioned him regarding your work here. I was about to ask you if he was one of my predecessors.”
The priest paused for a while. He had half an hour spare and this was the perfect opportunity to have a chat with Mrs. Roberts and also find out more of this church’s history.
“Mrs. Roberts. I was just about to make myself a cup of tea. Why don’t you join me and tell me a little more of the church’s history.”
Father Crane had never offered her a cup of tea in the eighteen months that he had been there, so it was a pleasant surprise to be offered one by this new priest.
“That would be very nice Father, thank you.”
After walking up the stairs into the nave, the priest and Mrs. Roberts walked across the carpet in front of the altar, dropping the vacuum cleaner of as they passed and then on to the kitchen. This was a private room at the side of the church mainly used by the different church groups who met on various days. The priest opened the door and pulled out a chair from the table.
“There you go Mrs. Roberts, you make yourself comfortable there.” He rubbed his hands together as though in anticipation, “Now, let’s get the kettle on.”
As Mrs. Roberts sat down the priest filled the kettle and prepared the cups. She was surprised and slightly amused to see him casually ‘borrow’ the tea bags from the cupboard marked “Women’s Institute”, and liked to think he replaced them at a later date, but preferred not to ask. This whole thing was quite an unusual experience for her. It was the first time a priest had made her a cup of tea during working hours since Father Peterson and initially made her feel a little uncomfortable, although she soon allowed her strong almost military like work ethic to drop just enough to enjoy the down to earth and slightly cheeky character of her new boss.