Pulse of Heroes (31 page)

Saturday morning Michelle was in great mood
and joined her mother on a bike ride to the local bookstore. A
local author who had made it big was signing copies of his novel.
While the author gave a brief lecture, Michelle quietly wandered
about the store leafing through many of the new books on display. A
book called
Immortality: Myth and Mystery
caught her eye and
she picked it up with great interest. But to her disappointment it
was obvious that the author was writing to someone that already
knew about the subject. She would have to take a whole class just
to understand the introduction alone. Later, while having lunch,
Michelle was grateful for the closeness that she shared with her
mother. But it felt strange to be hiding Elliot from her. Even if
he didn’t belong to the
Hekademos Learning Center
she would
still keep him all to herself. It felt good. She enjoyed having her
own life away from her parents and wondered if that was wrong or
just a part of her growing up.

When their car approached the driveway of the
house Michelle immediately picked up the unmistaken aroma of the
sea through her rolled down window. Elliot was somewhere nearby. As
they got out of the car Michelle was curious to see if her mother
could detect the scent too, but she didn’t. After her mom went into
the house, Michelle stuck around outside to see if Elliot would
reveal himself. She wanted to know that she wasn’t going crazy and
picking up on things that weren’t there. “How did you know I was
here?” he asked Michelle, stepping forward from the side yard.
Elliot smiled at her and she smiled right back at him and told him
that she could sense him and his scent was everywhere. Perhaps she
too had extra-human abilities, she teased. Elliot joked that he
hadn’t showered that morning and he hoped he wasn’t insulting her
with his body odor.

“No really, what is that smell? Is that
cologne?”

“Are you serious? I’m not wearing anything,”
a surprised Elliot answered.

“I guess it’s all in my mind,” Michelle
laughed it off. She wasn’t going to dwell on such a non-issue.
Elliot was back and he was happy.

Michelle told her mother that she was going
to go study with Samantha, and a few minutes later she and Elliot
were heading towards the school. Michelle let him know how much she
appreciated him getting her a new phone. But Elliot didn’t make a
big deal out of it. “I was the one that broke it; it’s only fair
that I replace it.” Michelle fought her urges to ask him where he
had gone to, but as usual her curiosity won out over her will. And
he freely explained to her that he had gone to listen to a lecture
that a professor at Harvard University was giving on ‘Heroes of the
Ancient World’.

“You just flew over there for one lecture?”
Michelle wondered if Elliot was telling her the truth, and if he
was extra wealthy or just crazy to do something like that. Maybe
both? But then she remembered the book she had looked at earlier in
the day. “I read in a book today that Giants really existed a long
time ago. Did the professor mention that?” she asked smartly.

“Not in so many words, but close,” Elliot
said as he walked over to enter the access code to open the
school’s front gate. To Michelle’s surprise, Elliot walked straight
to the Thunderbird and fished out the keys from his pocket. He
unlocked the door for Michelle.

“Where are we going?” she asked, excited and
apprehensive all at once.

“For a drive.”

“Where?” Michelle asked again, trying not to
sound too alarmed.

“Anywhere you’d like,” Elliot answered back
smiling. Michelle smiled with excitement and wondered if what they
were doing would count as their first official date. Once they had
driven out of the large gates Michelle asked him again about the
giants.

“Are you sure you really want to know about
all of this?” Elliot asked, warning her that delving into such
topics was like opening Pandora’s Box. But Michelle didn’t care.
She knew that if such subjects were so important to him, that she
would need to learn more about them, and maybe she would even be
able to help him one day if he ever needed her to. Elliot had to
think for a while. He really didn’t know where to begin, but since
Michelle had mentioned giants he decided to start there. He began
by telling her a story that he had heard a long time ago while
growing up in Eridu around 2700 BC.

“Back then, just like today, there were many
stories circulating about people with special powers who could live
for an unimaginable amount of time. I didn’t pay much attention to
them because they were no different than children’s fairytales. But
when I realized that I was different and that some of the things I
could do were mentioned in those same stories, I began scrutinizing
them and asking people where they originated from.

“Did you find anything?” she asked,
fascinated.

“I learned that Gilgamesh was a real king who
ruled Ur, a neighboring city-state, some time before I was born. He
is described as possessing superhuman abilities, and supposedly
ruled after the great flood, which is the same flood the Bible
talks about, the one with Noah and the Ark. Anyway, Gilgamesh is
described as many things: a giant, a hero, a mighty hunter, and a
champion. The story tells us that he was a wild and ruthless leader
early in his life, challenging every strong man to a fighting
match, and seducing every virgin on her wedding night.”

“What a jerk!” Michelle exclaimed. Elliot
laughed because she had no problem getting angry at the mythical
king.

“Gilgamesh is described as being 1/3 human
and 2/3 god. He was an Anunaki, the Sumerian equivalent of a
demigod or a titan.” Michelle’s eyes grew large and she swallowed
hard.

“I knew it! So if you are anything like him,
then you are a god or an angel!” she said to him with
admiration.

“I am not an angel Michelle, but I’ll take
that as a compliment. If I was, I think I would have figured that
out by now.” Elliot smiled with sad eyes, and Michelle felt
disappointed and a little silly. She looked at him and thought that
if there were angels, they would definitely look like him.

“Don’t worry about it. Whenever people meet
someone who can do the things I can they automatically assume that
they are either angels or demons. We are either feared and hated or
loved and venerated as gods.” It was obvious that Elliot was
speaking from personal experience.

“So, if you’re not like Gilgamesh, than what
do you think you are?”

Elliot shook his head in frustration because
that was the exact question that had been burning a hole in his
brain for thousands of years.

“Michelle, I already told you; no matter how
many times you ask me the answer is always the same. None of us
really know anything about our true origin. Not so far anyway,
and…”

“But what about God in the Bible? Didn’t he
create everything?” Michelle blurted out.

“God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Eve
and Gilgamesh, or Adam and Eve and Elliot,” he said, telling her
that he had already researched that avenue.

“Well then I guess you are the Devil’s
mischief,” Michelle teased, lowering her tone to sound like the
voice-over in an old black and white horror flick. Elliot,
obviously upset, suddenly accelerated the vehicle and her body
jerked back and stuck to her seat.

“I have never understood why people are so
negative towards things they don’t understand. Why can’t someone
like me belong in this world the same way that you do? Why is it
that I either have to be a special creature belonging to God, or a
spawn, a monster born completely outside of God’s realm?” Elliot
spoke with pain and Michelle thought about the isolation that he
previously had only hinted of, suddenly realizing why he could
speak of himself as being cursed. He just didn’t belong.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that…”
Michelle looked at his pained face and Elliot could tell that he
had frightened her. He slowed down the car and started to reach for
her hand, but then changed his mind, to Michelle’s
disappointment.

“It’s not you, Michelle. You are only going
by what you know.” He didn’t want to continue with his self-pity.
He wanted to just be.

“And besides, the Bible is filled with
references to other beings that aren’t mentioned in the story of
creation.” Michelle looked at him, puzzled. Elliot explained to her
that if she read the Bible she would find many mentions of
‘giants’, also called ‘Anakim’ in Hebrew. From the description of
the Anakim it was obvious that they were the same as the Sumerian
Anunaki. The Hebrew Bible, just like the epic story of Gilgamesh,
used the word ‘giants’ interchangeably with words such as: heroes,
guardians, champions, and watchers. What’s more, just like in the
Sumerian creation myth, the great flood of Noah was sent in part to
destroy these beings. But they weren’t all destroyed. The Bible
recounts that remnants of these champions survived and lived among
humans. Michelle looked at Elliot in disbelief. She had never heard
anything even remotely close to what he was telling her. Giants and
champions? She wondered what Bible he was reading out of!

“I can tell that you don’t believe me,”
Elliot said. Michelle tried to protest but he just told her again
that it wasn’t her fault.

“The Bible has fallen out of favor in the
last century. What people who never read it don’t understand is
that there is a wealth of worldly knowledge in there. It’s not just
about believing or not. There are many historical truths in it.
Trust me, I know.

Michelle asked him more about the giants.

“You’ll find the Bible tells of the Nephilim,
‘the fallen.’ Sometimes they are referred to as the ‘Sons of God’.
Before the great flood, these Nephilim are said to have mated with
human women. These unions produced a cursed hybrid known as the
Anakim, the giants. And God brought on the great flood to destroy
them.

“But why destroy them?” Michelle asked,
concerned that if Elliot was somehow connected to these beings that
someone out there might want to hurt him. He was obviously
good.

“It says that they abused the powers they had
to control humans and lived like tyrants, kind of like King
Gilgamesh did before he had a change of heart. There are other
books that were part of the original Hebrew sacred writings and
they have lots of references to the Giants and Champions. But it
wasn’t until the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered that anyone paid
much attention to them. Some of the writings even have references
to special towns that were built for the Nephilim and their
descendants, the Giants, to dwell in. They even mention Gilgamesh
by name in the
Book of Giants!”

“A book about giants in the Bible?” Michelle
yelled in disbelief. “And how would they know about Gilgamesh?
Isn’t the Bible about Moses and Israel?

Elliot exhaled. “Michelle, four thousand
years ago I traveled back and forth from India and southern China
all the way to Libya and later to Europe. We brought our stories
with us and took some of theirs back home. What they know today
about the world of the past is but a drop in a great sea.
Archaeologists are just now finding enough material where they are
starting to conclude that us primitive people actually traveled
across seas and whole continents.”

Michelle didn’t know what to say. Elliot had
an answer to everything. He knew this stuff like he lived and
breathed it daily. Elliot could tell that Michelle was flustered
and reminded himself that he had had thousands of years to read and
reread every single text on the subject he could get his hands on.
He took a hold of Michelle’s hand and squeezed it gently.

“I’m sorry for filling your head up with this
stuff.” His tone of voice softened. Michelle didn’t want him to
give up on her. She wanted to learn more about him but she was
overwhelmed. As Elliot held her hand Michelle began feeling that
warm faint feeling spreading from his fingertips up to her head and
she felt calm and content. She smiled at Elliot and he smiled back
at her. He knew exactly what to do to change the subject and to
clear the air. He just wanted to enjoy his time with her and
letting his obsession with his research take over their
conversation was a mistake. Michelle felt what she thought was
bliss and all she could do was look at Elliot with awe. And for
Elliot, although he had seen that look before, it never really grew
old when a beautiful girl looked at him like that. He smiled at her
and thought that he should probably kiss her, but he was driving
after all. “Hey, are you hungry?” he asked Michelle, changing the
subject.

Michelle nodded, “I am.”

The restaurant was built on piers right on
top of the water. The nice waitress led Elliot and Michelle to a
great table that sat right against the massive windows overlooking
the small bay. Elliot noticed that some of the waitresses gathered
close by and began sending glances in his direction. He was used to
that attention, but he didn’t care much about it. He shifted in his
seat a little and sent an uninviting look in their direction. He
didn’t want Michelle to feel insecure, especially as it was obvious
that she had not experienced the full spectrum of the nastiness
that women direct at their sisters when they set their eyes on a
certain man. Michelle turned back from the window smiling.

“This feels like we are right in the water,
like we’re eating on a ship or a boat,” she said, then returned to
look at the shimmering bay. Elliot asked her if she enjoyed being
on boats to which Michelle answered that she didn’t know because
the only boats she’d been on were ferries and that was when she was
a little girl.

Michelle went back to looking out the window
and she felt as if the water and the sun were hypnotizing her. She
was happy to be there with him, but she refused to let herself get
caught up in the rush of emotions that was sweeping over her. She
was confused, especially because Elliot’s motives were so hard to
pin down. Her brain told her that she shouldn’t set her hopes on
him, but at the same time they were clearly on what anybody else
would think of as a date. On top of which he was telling her about
his past and sharing some of his secrets. She needed to know what
he wanted, what he felt. She was falling for him hard, and every
minute she spent with him dragged her that much deeper into his
world and him into hers. But Michelle also feared putting him on
the spot. She didn’t want to pressure him and scare him away. Maybe
he didn’t know what he wanted, not yet, but in time he would
realize that she was the only one for him. For her, being next to
Elliot and hearing his stories was perfection and the last thing
she wanted to do was anything that would jeopardize that.