With shaky hands, she picked up a brush and gestured for her assistant – an enthusiastic youth, who shared her passion – to place the artifact on the table. It was a large, stone tablet, broken in many places, but they had painstakingly cleaned and photographed all the pieces that they could find of it and worked to piece it together.
Jaden, her assistant, documented everything with his video equipment. He said it would help when it came time to present their discovery. She wasn’t sure, but times had changed since she began her search for them. Concentrating, she steading her hands, and began to work with the care of an expert with pick and brush, loosening years of dirt and grime without compromising the tablet. Hours passed before Esther and Jaden considered the tablet clean enough to review.
“You should take a break, Esther. Eat, or get some rest.” Jaden said. He knew it was likely a futile request, but he’d grown fond of the woman. She looked after him but had no family of her own. Her work was her passion, and she had devoted her life to it completely.
“No! We are so close now…so close to proving their existence. I can feel it!” she declared, and flicked on the magnifying lamp in order to interpret the strange symbols. “Now, don’t mind me, young man.” she chastised. “You go on and do those things yourself.”
Jaden wouldn’t sleep, but he did leave long enough to get something for both of them to eat. He’d just changed the smart card in the video camera when Esther let out a noise that made him choke on his bite of food.
“It’s the cipher!” she cackled gleefully. “Quickly Jaden – help me translate the tablet!”
Three days later, they had the large tablet decoded, save for the missing pieces. “It’s here…it’s all here…” tears of joy streamed down her face as she gasped for breath. To Jaden’s eyes, she seemed so much more fragile. It saddened him to know what had to come soon.
“Their existence is here! It proves they existed – where to seek their knowledge and trace their ancestry. Jaden! Set up a camera! I want to record a speech.”
He did as instructed, and set the camera up, facing her. “Okay, it’s ready…go ahead and talk.”
Esther took a sip of water before beginning, then set it next to her with a smile, and face the camera.
“I began my search for them in the 1930’s, when I was twenty years old. I remembered hearing stories of them from my grandmother, and I was determined to prove they were flesh and blood real, and now I have. Who are they? They are, of course, the Nephilim – creatures born from the union of gods and mankind. They are not, as previously thought, a solely Judeo-Christian thing. Mentions of gods laying with women have been around for eons.”
Jaden listened to her continue on about some of the legends she had uncovered; as she described her joy at finally being able to prove that she had been right for the last ninety years. She would pause only to sip at her water before continuing with the entire story. When she had finished, it was easy to tell that the excitement of the past few days had taken its toll on her. When gestured to do so, Jaden turned off the camera and guided her to a comfortable chair, where she sat, with her eyes closed.
“Now the world can know they exist. Now people can rest easy, knowing the gods take an interest.”
With a smile on her face, she opened her eyes and looked at Jaden, reaching for him. He took her fragile hand in his, placing his free one over it. “You did amazing work, Esther.”
“You flatter me, boy.” she said with a light chuckle, closing her eyes again. Gradually, her breathing slowed as she fell asleep. Jaden did not let go of her hand. He watched over her. “Rest easy now, Esther Grace Hardy. You have done good work. May you be greeted warmly on the other side.” His words complete, she gasped slightly, and her chest rattled – then she was still, and the room fell silent.
Jaden wept.
By the time the funeral had come around, there was no proof, no video, no record of her research or discovery. A fire had broken out in the lab, racing through and lapping at everything hungrily, devouring everything to ash. Jaden stood among the ruins, unseen by the men and women working to put out the fire. The wind was making it difficult, as there was just enough to keep fanning the flames, spreading their hunger.
“I’m sorry Esther. Mankind just isn’t ready to know about me.”