The Prompt Project’ are posts that are essentially a way for me to exercise my creative muscles, without all the pressure that comes from writing my WIP for example.
I post what I write on the spot, I don’t impose a word limit or time it, just go with whatever my brain spits out for as long it keeps up the momentum. I’ll literally see prompt, write and then post the results.
Today’s prompt is:
You have the voice of an angel. Literally, you are half-angel, and your singing is the most beautiful sound people have heard. But demons find your singing painful, and try anything they can to keep you silent.
The Last Nephilim
Evangeline heard the scruff of boots approaching her, the sound of them crunching through the gravel path carrying through the early morning mist. They made absolutely zero attempt to be subtle. The demon bastards.
She ignored them pointedly, eyes trained on the half finished coffee and Danish pastry. She would be damned and gladly join the ranks of hell alongside them before she let them ruin this breakfast for her; she’d miscalculated how long would take them to find her. They stood over her now, looming. Evangeline suppressed an eye roll. Yeah, yeah, we get it. You’re big scary demons. She studiously continued eating and drinking. One of them coughed awkwardly. Evangeline held up a finger, draining the last dregs of her coffee before finally looking up at them.
“Good morning, boys. It’s 7am, couldn’t you have just let me enjoy my breakfast in peace?” Ohh they were seriously wrong footed by how much a fuck she did not give about their presence. Typical. They were glamoured to look like three, big, burly, muscley men. The kind of blokes that any girl should be frightened to encounter in the early hours of a quiet Sunday morning.
“Well, you’ve finished now, so why don’t you be a good little lamb and tie this over your mouth?” He held up a strip of fabric. Evangeline laughed.
“Nobody wants to sing right now, least of all me. No, I just need about another thirty seconds, okay? Can you manage that? What’s thirty seconds in exchange for a wayward Nephilim?” They hesitated. You see, demons are dumb, or at least the ones they send after tiny half humans are. They always seemed to forget one minor detail…
Zach dropped down on them like a ton of bricks. His enormous white wings beating furiously as he wielded two golden short swords against the demons. He swiftly cut the head off one, kicking the decapitated body into one of his companion, who was soon run through by the sword in his left hand, while the right swung to the throat of the remaining demon.
“Good morning Zachery.” Evangeline said mildly as Zach panted, backing the demon into the bench she’d now vacated. Under the weight of his ‘heavenly might’, the glamour fell away to reveal a scaled, two tailed beast, with burning red eyes that darted back and fourth. Zach ignored her and instead, spoke to the demon.
“How did you locate the girl? Who sent you?”
“Our Lord himself has taken an interest in her. The last Nephilim. Her blood calls to us.” Demons always talked. It was practically rule one when it came to dealing with them, there was no such thing as secrecy.
“Her blood cannot sing unless it has been spilled.”
His eyes narrowed on the small cut across Evangeline’s index finger, somehow scenting the injury the moment it had been pointed out to him. Without another word he drew the sword across the demons throat, its’ body crumbling to ash alongside his companions. Zach turned wintry cold blue eyes on her. Evangeline met them unflinchingly. The wings disappeared as strode towards her, his clothes melting from the uniform of the Heavenly Guard into modern clothing, grey jeans and white knit jumper.
“And why would you do something so, incredibly stupid?”
“They’ve been trailing me for weeks now and I’m sick of looking over my shoulder, so I thought I’d do your job for you and bring them to me.” The cold stare turned predatory as he now stood before her, the height difference enough that she had to look up into his face. Dark blue into light. Golden angelic features peering into pale, tired human ones. Oh, Evangeline was pretty for a human but compared to this particular half of her bloodline, she was the ugly duckling. Zach’s glare was accessing, a soldier through and through, he’d only been her guard for a month now but it was the most annoying one yet.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Come on then.” He grabbed her arm, hauling her out of the quiet, secluded part of the park she’d picked for this confrontation. It didn’t take long for Evangeline to realise he was dragging her in the direction of the apartment she was staying in at the moment. Not for much longer, though, she’d already been here too long as it was. Like a child having a tantrum Evangeline dropped her knees, so that her weight slung her backwards, jerking him to a stop.
“I can’t just sit in the flat all day everyday. That’s not a life. That can’t be the only solution to protecting me.” Zach stopped, considering her.
“You’re right, it’s not.” His eyes went silver for a moment and Evangeline repressed a growl of frustration. Zach was communicating with the mothership but it would do no good, heavens gates were not open to her. Her blood was ‘too impure’ to reside with the angels but it seemed enough to condemn her to a life of being hunted on Earth. All because of the power behind the voice of a half-angel, all because she could recognise demons on sight, kill them if she willed it, in a much more dramatic and messy fashion than Zach’s short swords had been.
It must have been ten minutes before his eyes cleared. Evangeline had backed them into a secluded area by the wall to the park, placing one of his hands on her hips and the other above her on the wall, in the hopes that the early morning commuters starting to appear on the streets would think they were getting off and give them a wide berth. Zach took a moment to focus, looking around him and then down at his hand with a perplexed expression, before understanding crossed his features and he looked into her eyes.
“How long was I gone?”
“More than ten minutes, there were people around so I thought this would work as a cover.” The corner of his mouth quirked into a smile, the hands at her hip gripping tighter.
“This was certainly one of the pleasanter options.”
“The others involved pushing you face down the bushes but I didn’t want to get mud on that pretty white sweater.”
“How kind of you.” Evangeline stared up at him, refusing to back down when he did not release her, simply continuing to look down at her, his eyes giving her mouth a long, proprietary stare. Angels were not like humans, not in any way. They approached relationships like warfare, didn’t believe in committed relationships, nor love really, for that matter. Honed over eons to be warriors, they thought, fought and fucked like it. If she backed down it would set a precedent, so she held his gaze. He smiled.
“I have a solution to this little problem but I think it’s going to piss you off.” Evangeline blinked, she’d never heard an angel curse before. “I will stay with you, here on Earth. I will live with you, guard you as you go about your life. I can pose as, what is the human word for it? I can pose as your boyfriend?”
Evangeline ducked out from the arm above her head. “Nope, no way in heaven or hell.”
“Why not?” He said, head titling as he stalked after her.
“Because there’s no way I want you hanging around me twenty-four seven! Where’s the freedom in that?”
“They will not let you into Elysium but nor will they allow you to be dragged to hell. You are the last nephilim. The demons must have hunted the rest for a reason beyond the gifts your blood bestows upon you but we do not know what that is, we only know that they will never let you rest. It is ridiculous that I must wait on high until danger is imminent. Until you, exhausted, set a trap that puts your life at risk. It makes sense! Don’t you see?”
Fuck. He was right. Evangeline had requested this very kind of protection more than once but did it have to be him? Really? Of all the guards she’d had he was the least human.
“No angel has ever offered himself up this kind of service before. You know it will disgrace you. To live with me, to live among the humans.” She replied after a moment. Zach shrugged.
“I am already disgraced. I have already spent time on Earth, without heavenly permission. I wish to live, same as you. This way we both win.” Evangeline’s eyes narrowed, had this been his plan all along? She had never met an angel that did not miss Elysium every painful second they spent on Earth. Some had left her bleeding and broken on the ground, in their desperation to get back, before the ashes had even settled.
“What if I want to do things like hang out with human friends? What if I want to have a human boyfriend, not a bodyguard posing as one?”
“I can mingle with your human friends just fine and I can do that as a fake boyfriend or roommate. Just not a brother, no one would believe we are related.” He mouth quirked into the half smile again. “As for if you were to have a human boyfriend, by all means, decide what you will tell people I am to you and then we can go from there. However, I do not think they will take kindly to me trailing you on dates. If it is the particular physical services of a relationship you need, I would be more than willing to oblige.” He threw his head back and laughed as her face turned crimson. Evangeline held up a middle finger to him as he continued to howl.
“Bastard.” She swore at him, his grin faded slightly as he regarded her.
“All angels are bastards, didn’t you know?” She rolled her eyes but he held a hand out to her. “Come on, Evangeline, why don’t we give living a try?”
Warily she took it. “Call me Evie, please.”
“Okay, Evie, lead the way to our place.” The thrill those words sent down her spine were a warning sign. She knew better than to get mixed up with angels. Evie was completely and utterly fucked.
*
There you go. I’m always surprised where I end up with these prompts and there’s so many I think could become bigger stories later!
Antonia Bernardin 
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