Rena did not handle the change well. She fought Samiel over everything and so he punished her. Rebecca begged him to let her speak to her daughter, but he ignored her. Rebecca was locked in the cell he called his room and Varena was taken by the Fallen. The chanting could be heard all throughout the caverns. After so long being trapped; they are more animal than angels now. With the help of his demons, they had rounded up all the villagers and brought them here to become slaves. Finding no use for the men and boys, they were beaten into submission while their families watched.
One by one, they were pushed to the edge of a chasm and shoved over. Varena was held by one of the Fallen tightly against his body, her head trapped back against his muscular chest. She was forced to watch and if she fought, by closing her eyes, a male child would be brought forth and tortured; his tiny screams imbedded in her soul forever. So, she watched as he shoved them all one by one to their deaths.
Lastly, Micah was dragged forth. Beaten, bloody and broken, he looks at his daughter. Before he is kicked to the depths below his last words ring out strong and true, "Shalom, Bat ha olehim" Peace, daughter of God. Varena screams until she is unable to scream any longer.
Samiel takes Varena’s face in his hand glaring at her, "You are no longer a daughter of God. You are mine, now and forever more and if you wish for your mother and brother to survive, you will cease fighting me, child!" Looking at the Fallen around him, he orders her thrown into a cell and leaves.
Years Later….
"He said you are to come immediately and wear only your crown, my queen," the teenage girl whispers. Rebecca knows what it means to refuse him, but she will not be the evening entertainment for the bored Fallen and their King again. Countless years have taken their toll. As she looks at the young girl before her, she feels pity. She is bruised, weak, scared and brutalized as they all have been since he brought them here to his private hell.
"I will not," she says simply. The girl’s blue eyes jump to hers in surprise.
"Wha…”she stutters, “What do I tell them?" Rebecca stares at the girl. She knows he will be furious and probably take it out on the child.
"Tell him I am working in the nursery tonight," she says sorry for the pain this will cause.
After the girl leaves, Rebecca hurries to the nursery. It was the one place she loved to be, here she feels close to her children. Some of the Fallen were gentle. They came to earth because they were enraptured with its women but after centuries of isolation and torture, most had come to hate humanity in all its forms. Starvation, isolation, torture, rape, and beatings were just a few of the tools used against the women. The children were kept isolated, left to grow until they reached a useful age.
Rebecca soon found that Samiel had no tolerance for defiance; his goal was to have more sons to build his army. The women were just a means to an end. As soon as they became pregnant, they were moved into the nursery to care for its young.
The creatures born to the women of the village were abominations and Rebecca could never look at them as anything other than evil. She did pity them. Some were semi human, some not, but all had a desire to be loved. It was a weakness the King would not tolerate. Her own son, Cole, was being raised as a son of Samiel. He was treated as such, and as he aged he showed signs of being truly evil. Varena was allowed to return when he deemed she had been punished long enough. Samiel promised to not harm her brother if she cooperated. She helped her mother with the children in the nursery, and with the abused women who came to the sick room for treatment.
Rebecca knew as she entered the nursery, she would not have much time. The child growing inside her was evil. Pregnancies did not take the normal forty weeks like human gestation. She knew what she had to do and had been planning it for some time. When Varena came with Cole for her visit, Rebecca would save her family.
Four
Once a week, Varena was allowed to take her ten year old brother to visit their mother. The visits had become shorter and fewer because Cole despised them both. His soul was black. He showed no signs of weakness, compassion, love, sympathy, empathy or any other human emotion. He was raised by a different father, the One. The old women called him the “Mocker,” but he was really the first fallen archangel Samiel. He preferred to be called King. More than once he showed them why he was called the Mocker and Cole idolized him.
Rebecca tried to instill the values of a loving, forgiving God but she was beaten as her son and daughter watched. The lessons were stopped except when she was alone with Varena.
“You’re late,” Cole says, meeting Varena halfway to the nursery.
Careful not to make eye contact with him, she says what he wants to hear, “I’m sorry.” She walks quickly behind him, hoping no one notices the bruises on her arms and legs. Seeing a group of five fallen angels approaching them, Varena moves closer to Cole and hopes to pass unseen.
When living with a den of lions, one learns quickly how to become a shadow. Sighing with relief as
