Chapter Nine
The screams of the innocent cut through the darkness like a blade as Cain sank his fangs deep into the throat of his young victim. Barely sixteen years of age, he tasted the sweet nectar of her youth through her blood. Luluwa greedily took her wrist and bit down again, the girl limp and lifeless from the brutality of their collective feeding. Dawn slowly approached, burning away the darkness inch by inch. Luluwa quickly licked away at the wound, savoring the taste of the dead girl’s blood before disappearing back to their caved lair. Cain anticipated that Nunka retreated back to the cave to rest after a night of hunting.
He released the girl, apathetically watching her body collapse onto the dry soil with a hard thud. Whispers from beneath the earth’s surface called to him, taunting him as they did the night he turned Luluwa into his equal. Blood drinker, they called him. Defiler, they said. He reasoned that his guilt was slowly stripping away his sanity, and for that he feared that he would soon lose himself in the call of blood. He stared at the lifeless body, remembering the first night after decades of living off of the blood of his wife.
He’d killed Seth’s oldest son, Enos. The boy had barely reached the early years of manhood, maintaining a strong resemblance to both his father and Adam. And, perhaps, Cain reasoned that may have strengthened the urge to kill his nephew.
“Father, even after all this time, you still haunt me,” Cain thought out loud. No one would hear him, other than the small flock of colorful birds that nested high up in the treetops. The rage he had always wanted to direct towards his father returned to the surface. But as much as he would have liked to hunt down the very man who not only sired him but brought forth this curse; the angels redirected Adam, Eve and their young children to higher lands that he could not cross. There they would remain guarded, lest they become foolish like their older children and decide to leave.
“It’s been quite some time since we’ve met like this,” came the all too familiar voice that materialized behind him.
Cain quickly turned around to see the silhouette of a massive winged, human-like figure whose face and physical description was shrouded in absolute darkness. Even with his heightened senses, Cain’s eyes strained to see the identity of the entity that stood casually before him.
“Please don’t tell me that you’ve forgotten about me,” the entity chirped.
Cain looked away. “I have not. I remember you…”
“Good. I take it Adam didn’t like the bull…?”
Cain swallowed thickly, recalling Adam’s judgmental and scrutinizing stare upon his return with the bull.
“You are the reason…” Cain whispered, as more memories of that fateful morning after the bull incident.
“I am the reason for many things Cain,” the entity replied evenly.
“The bull,” Cain growled. “You knew that bull would cause strife in my family!”
“They were never your family Cain…”
“They are my family!” Cain spat, fangs lengthening to saber toothed proportions.
The entity sighed, shaking his head. “There is so much that you do not know. But Adam knows…and perhaps in time, so will you.”
Cain snarled and lunged at the entity who disappeared instantly, dodging Cain’s snatch attempt, only to reappear behind him.
“You cannot harm me,” The entity chuckled.
Cain released a frustrated growl. “Who are you?”
The entity paused, the darkness around him thickening. “I’ve been around long before the creation of the stars, long before the earth circled the sun for the first time…and you do not even know who I am?”
This time, it was Cain’s turn to pause. “No…you were banished!”
“I am no longer welcomed in the higher realms,” the entity replied coolly. “But here, I can roam about as I please.”
“I helped you Cain,” the entity stated. “And I will continue to help you…”
“Why?” Cain whispered.
“Because you and I share more than just a single commonality of being misunderstood and underappreciated,” the being said calmly.
“Because of you,” Cain hissed. “I am cursed!”
“I saved you,” the entity continued on. “What would have happened to you would have been far worse than anything that you in your human condition would have never been able to survive.”
“Why?”
“Because you are mine!” The sonic wave that emitted from the entity’s voice shook the treetops, sending the flock of birds scattering into the air.
“You will rise to a power you would have never dreamed of,” the entity continued. “Your name will be branded in the history books as it will be my legacy-“
“What are you talking about?” Cain demanded, marching closer to the being.
The entity took a step back, and Cain could sense the smile that spread evenly across his face.
“Ask Eve.”
And just as quickly as the entity appeared, he was gone. Cain stared at the spot where the entity once stood, with extended fangs, and sudden awareness.
Ask Eve… the entity’s last words replayed in his mind, summoning a fearful dread of what the entity could have meant. His mother now resided on protected and blessed land – land that he didn’t dare cross. His instincts told him upon approach, that his death would be imminent. He knew the angels stood guard, protecting the first woman, the first mother of humanity from all harm.
What sins have you committed mother? Cain thought to himself as he turned to walk away. What have you done?
