When she came to, finding herself in her own bed and the room growing light with the rising sun through her window, the sigh of relief came with force. It had been a dream; only a dream. Still exhausted, due to the fitful night she must have spent, she reasoned, it would be a heavy coffee day for sure. Perhaps she would see the stranger again and set the uneasiness she felt to rest.
Plodding to the shower, preparing for her workday, she hadn’t noticed it until she toweled off: across her abdomen, a small scar. Stopping cold, she stared. Unfamiliar to her, and obviously fresh, the nausea in her stomach nearly overwhelmed her. It hadn’t been a dream.
Her skin went cold and she nearly fainted from the shock. How had they taken her without her knowledge and returned her just as clandestinely? Had they really used her and harvested a baby from her body? What else had they done to her? Would they come back? What would she do if they did?
Avery had never felt so hopeless — and never been so afraid. Her hands shook as she put on the little bit of makeup she wore and driving to work like surreal autopilot. She cringed as she passed the coffee shop, realizing she didn’t dare stop. What if he was in there?
When she arrived at work, her friends in the breakroom were buzzing about the latest viral video they’d seen about some unexplained something or other.
“Did you see it, Ave?” One of them asked.
Hurrying to get her coffee, she shook her head without speaking and rushed out. How could she tell them what had happened to her? If they’d even believed it, she was too embarrassed and ashamed to make it public.
Thankfully, she worked at a computer, in a cubicle and didn’t have to interact with anyone except by choice. The downside was that it allowed her plenty of time to ponder her situation. She was stunned to realize how much of what she had learned in church growing up, she still actually believed.
She believed that Jesus was real; that he had been born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died for the sins of mankind and rose from the dead. Though she hadn’t given it much thought since she’d quit going and reading her bible, she did believe he was coming back. She believed in heaven and worse yet, hell.
What did that mean for her now? Was she really irredeemable? The things Mallory had shared with her were not things she’d ever heard in church. She struggled with the hopelessness she felt. With no hope of a bright future, and the fear of an eternity in a place far too horrible to consider, what was she to do?
As much as she hated to even consider the idea, and even more to admit that she may have been wrong along with the reality of what had happened to her, she knew only one person who could help her. She hesitated to reach out and decided she would give it more thought when she’d finished work.
By the time she got home, Avery was exhausted. It had been an excruciating day; the struggle nearly unbearable. The heaviness of the atmosphere in her small house weighed her down so she felt nearly immobile.
Spying the books she’d bought and been consumed in studying, she looked at them as though they were poison. Immediately, she mustered her energy, took them out onto her back patio and burned them in her hibachi grill.
Still unable to relax in the darkness that seemed to permeate the house, she opened her laptop and deleted all the search history from the previous weeks, but it did nothing to lessen the effect in the house. It was Friday and she felt even more grateful than usual that she didn’t work weekends. She knew it would be difficult to sleep with all that had transpired in the last several days.
It was just as she had expected. Tossing and turning, half expecting to see the shadowy figures she had previously or worse yet, those she’d seen openly. Irritable and frustrated, she climbed out of bed around 2am. Pacing the floor, exhausted and exasperated, she had an idea.
Rummaging through first the bedroom and then the hall closet, she didn’t find what she was looking for. Finally, she located it in the back of the bottom drawer of her desk: her old bible. It seemed almost providential that she still had it.
Taking a seat in the chair where she’d spent so much time poring over the books she’d recently bought, she turned on the light. In the back pages, she searched for references on a Seed war, aliens or Nephilim. Only a few cursory references were listed and when she looked them up, they provided no answers to her tormenting questions. Was she damaged beyond redemption? Lost forever?
The internet didn’t give her much help either. Most of what was there seemed sensational and sketchy at best. As much as she hated to concede, she knew Mallory likely to be the only one who could help her. With a decision to swallow her pride and make the call in the morning, she finally managed to sleep.
She woke frazzled and worn from the anxiety of the previous day. Dawdling over coffee, she took her time getting showered and dressed before picking up her phone. Still hesitant, feeling the shame and embarrassment, she opted for the cowardly approach and rather than call, texted. Hey, if you aren’t doing anything today, can we get together?
It only took a few moments for the response. Sure. How about lunch?
Sounds good. Can we do it at my house?
Yeah. How about I pick up Subway and head over around noon?
Perfect. She would have liked it earlier but at least now she’d have time to prepare for what might be coming.
Mallory pretended not to notice the frazzled appearance of her sister as she breezed past her into the living room and set the bags of food on the table in front of the couch. She didn’t fail to notice the bible on the floor next to her sister’s reading chair where only a couple days before the other books had been but she played it off. Turning to her sister and taking a seat on the couch as she opened the bags, she grinned cheerfully. “So what’s up, Ave? We haven’t done this in ages.”
Cautious and hesitant, Avery sat in her chair and waited. Where to start?
While she waited, taking exaggerated time to set the food out, Mallory could sense her sister’s hesitation. Finally, she looked over and could see the conflict all over her face. She sighed, inaudibly. “Look, Ave, you’ve never been able to hide anything from me. You’re an even worse liar. What’s on your mind?”
Avery’s eyes filled. Struggling for words, she began. “The other night… when you came over…”
Sober now, her sister motioned to the bible on the floor. “You looked it up. You found something.”
Shaking her head, her lips trembled as she murmured. “No. Worse.”
“What?” Mallory felt a sudden alarm. “You… what? Saw something?”
Tears flowed now. “I … oh, god, Mal.”
Eyes large, unable to breathe, she urged. “What happened, Avery?”
“Tell me…” Avery rasped.
Leaning in, she put a straw in one of the to go cups and extended it to her. “Calm down, Ave. Tell you what?”
“About… about… the alien babies.”
Her sister frowned. “Alien babies?” A thought crossed her mind. “Did you…?”
“I don’t want to be lost. I don’t want to be… unredeemable.”
Growing increasingly concerned by her sister’s demeanor, Mallory took a deep breath and sat back on the couch. “Avery, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what happened.”
“You didn’t!” Avery screeched in horror. “I was in that… that horrible place. You were outside. I begged you but you disappeared.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What place? When?” Her patience waning, she restrained herself from huffing. “You have got to calm down. Tell me what happened. Start from the beginning.”
Thinking back, some things began to make sense. Coming to a conclusion, she nodded, took a deep breath, a sip of her drink and declared. “I think it all started the night I met the guy.”
“Guy?” She hadn’t heard about any guy; but then, they hadn’t been as close recently as they once had.
“Yeah.” Another sip. “The night of the book signing. I met this guy on my way to the car. He’d been there, or so he said.” Right now, she wasn’t so sure. “We talked about our mutual interest.”
Mallory sat forward, offered her a sandwich.
“In a few.” Avery said. “I didn’t think much of it at the time. He didn’t ask for my number — or even my name. And I didn’t ask for his.”
That didn’t sound so serious. Without speaking, her expression encouraged her to continue.
“I ran into him at the coffee shop downtown the next morning on my way to the office. We talked for a few minutes but again, we didn’t exchange contact information or anything.”
Mallory took a bite of her sandwich and motioned for her to go on.
“Then, the night we met for dinner, I saw him again in the restaurant.”
“Ok.”
Avery shrugged. “He asked me to stay for a drink. So I did.”
“So did you guys….?”
Adamantly shaking her head, she replied. “No. Never.”
Chewing, her sister simply nodded.
“But after that, things started to get weird.”
“Weird how?”
“During the night, I’d see what looked like shadowy figures in my room.”
“Figures?”
“Yeah, indistinct. Almost ghostly.”
Her response was a knowing nod.
Expression annoyed, clearly at her own foolishness, she said. “I wondered why they didn’t communicate with me. Let me know what they wanted.”
“Did you see the guy again?”
“No. At least not here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I told myself I would cooperate with whatever they wanted.” She shrugged, taking another sip of her drink. “You know, there’s been so much talk at work about this kind of thing, I thought how cool it would be to have personal experience to share.” She looked up, grateful not to see the judgement on her sister’s face she’d expected.
“So what happened?”
“The other night, I woke up in a strange place.” Swallowing hard, hesitant to share what she knew would seem ludicrous, she continued. “Like a weird hospital room.”
Mallory frowned. “Hospital room? What was going on?”
“All these, well, dressed like orderlies or nurses or something, but they weren’t… human.”
“You mean like, monsters. Creatures? What?”
“Like every alien you’ve ever seen. Gray. With big dark eyes. I demanded to know where I was and one threatened me with a syringe.”
“Threatened you?”
“Well, approached but didn’t say anything and didn’t use it.”
Eyes wide, mouth open, Mallory just stared.
“There were machines and a figure that wasn’t facing me. When he turned around, it was the guy I met.”
“Whoa.”
“Yeah. He told me I was having a baby. That they didn’t need my participation, just a willingness to cooperate.”
“Did you have one? Is that why you’re asking?”
“I don’t know.” With a frown, remembering, she added. “You were there. Outside the door looking in. I screamed for you to help me, but you were gone.”
“What night was that?”
“Night before last.”
“I was up in the middle of the night with an urgent prompting to pray for you. I didn’t know why.” She took a drink. “So then what happened?”
“The next thing I knew, I woke up here. In my own bed.”
“So you didn’t actually have a baby?”
“Well…”
Alarmed now, she gasped. “You…?”
“I don’t know what happened. But I have a fresh scar.” Swallowing hard, she added. “On my abdomen.”
Expression thoughtful, she didn’t speak.
“Mal,” Avery’s voice became a raspy whisper. “I’m scared. Why did this happen? What do they want?”
Her sister nodded. “I’m not an expert by any means, but I can tell you what I know.”
“Please.”
“In Genesis, after the fall of man, God told the devil that a Seed was coming that would crush him under his feet. That seed was Jesus.” She took a deep breath. “Ever since, he’s been trying to keep that from happening.”
“You said something about demon babies. What’s that about?”
“Not demon babies exactly.” She smiled. “God set watchers over the earth to look out for mankind. But some of those watchers rebelled against their assignment. In league with the devil, they lusted after human women, “married them”,” she put up air quotes, “and the women had babies that were hybrid. They weren’t of God’s seed; they were a mixture. The devil was trying to corrupt man so that the foretold Seed couldn’t come. See, the angels that fell weren’t offered redemption. It’s why babies born to them and transhuman creatures are irredeemable. They’re not of the incorruptible seed.”
“But Jesus already came. Why are they after people now?”
“Because the devil wants to win. He wants this planet. Any unredeemed seed belongs to him. The redeemed — followers of Jesus — are of the Seed that can crush his head.”
“Where does that leave me?”
“You didn’t knowingly get involved with what must have been a Nephilim being; didn’t invite him in. So…”
Avery’s eyes filled. Her tone raspy and childlike again, she admitted. “But I did.”
Expression sober, Mallory asked. “You did? How?”
“He came here. I guess I’d left my wallet in the restaurant and he returned it.” Face wistful, she continued. “I thought he was hot and I invited him in. You know, I hoped…”
Eyes wide, she probed. “He came in here?”
Shaking her head, she replied. “No. He refused. But… did that give them access?”
Her own tone low, she answered. “Probably.”
“What do I do now? What if they come back?”
Pondering, Mallory’s posture straightened and her expression turned resolute. “I don’t think you’re past the point of no return, Ave.”
The other woman exhaled relief.
“But the time is at hand. You can’t play around anymore. If you don’t make a decision for Jesus and walk with him, you could be in real danger.”
Avery appeared to consider, and then she nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
“I make the decision. I want to go with Jesus.”
Joy flooded her countenance. “Praise God.”
“Will you pray with me?”
“Of course.” She reached for her sister’s hands as they both bowed their heads and prayed.
“Thank you, Mal.” Avery whispered.
“For what?”
“For this. And for never giving up on me.”
“You’re my sister. I love you.” She grinned cheerfully. “Now…”
“Now?”
“We’ll anoint the house. Banish those things from ever coming back.”
Perking up noticeably, Avery sat up. “Ok. Let’s do it.”
“Once we’ve done that, you’ll have to stand in the authority of the Word and keep them out.”
She nodded in agreement.
“And Ave,” she began.
Her sister, who had started for the kitchen and some oil, turned.
“This time, there’s no compromise.” She paused. “And no turning back.”
Lisa Greco Filali 