Divine Bastards

"They are serving their purposes. They are doing what it takes to make sure everything occurs as it should."

I was about to offer a little more sarcasm, but all I managed was the inhale before he started again. "All humans are influenced by their environment. They are influenced in ways that are quite obvious, but also in ways that are so subtle that they are not consciously aware of them.

Each one of us, in our behavior and even appearance, is affecting you in individual ways that are collectively ensuring that our mission, if you will, succeeds. Unlike humans, we already know all possible outcomes and, therefore, know exactly what should be done in order to successfully guide you, psychologically, in smoothly reaching an understanding sufficient for accepting the truth and fulfilling your original plan."

I was about to ask, what plan, but he, once again, cut me off before I had begun, which was becoming quite annoying, by the way. "The plan you had of living a life as a human. I call it a plan, but that's really such a rudimentary concept compared to the truth of the matter. As I have said, we are all-knowing. "

"Okay," how about that: I managed to get a word in. "I guess since we're all still here, that means there's more to be done." He nodded once, slowly, closing his eyes momentarily as he did. "So, what's next?"

"You still have more questions."

I paused a moment, unsure exactly how to proceed. "Yes..."

"Ask them. Unless you want me to just give you all the answers I can give you, all at once."

"Wait. If you know what questions I have, and you know what will happen, then why are you offering me a choice?"

"Because I know you're tired of me cutting you off before you can begin, and offering you this token choice made you feel a little bit less out of control of the situation."

"Token choice. Isn't that the aspect of the plan that you're supposed to keep to yourself? I mean, doesn't telling me you're merely humoring me kind of defeat the purpose?"

"Not for you, and not for the greater picture. The initial offering of the choice served it's purpose of making you feel a little more in control. In that split second, the deed was done. Telling you about it was to further help you better understand the situation you are in. To help further illustrate how every action, no matter how small, is intentional to achieve the greater goal."

"Kind of like destiny."

"Destiny is a flawed concept. Humans confuse knowledge of future events with an inability to control their own futures. Humans make their own choices. Destiny is merely the misguided name given to already knowing the outcome. We know all outcomes."

"Okay. So, basically, I decided to live as a human, knowing that you would clean up after me throughout my entire life, then eventually face me up front for this encounter we are having right now." He nodded slowly, again. "And I am to then die, I assume sometime in the pretty near future." A nod. "And exactly how am I to die, if I am permitted to know?"

"It is not yet time for that knowledge."

Wasn't expecting that answer. "Okay. What time is it, then?"

"A little after twelve-thirty in the morning, by your clock," the blonde said.

I looked at her. She was grinning, apparently quite amused with herself. I looked at the clock. It showed twelve-thirty two. I looked back at their leader. "Please tell me why those two think they're so very funny."

"It makes us seem less threatening. It breaks things up a little. Makes you feel better."

"Okay. They're comedy relief. What's he," I asked, pointing to the long-haired guy sitting in the chair to the leader's right.

"He's quiet."

"No, I heard him say, 'Oh, good,' earlier. I pointed to the black-haired female to my right. "She's quiet."

"No, she's beside you. He's in front of you and quiet. She's beside you and attractive."

"She's attractive, too," I said, pointing to the blonde.

"But she looks better to you," said the blonde. It was unusual to hear a female say such a thing without any emotion, but she was right. I do prefer dark hair, not that there wasn't more that made her look better in my eyes.

The leader spoke. "You find her mere presence calming."

"And that's why she doesn't speak," I asked.

"You know why she doesn't speak."

I thought a moment about it. He was right. It was very clear to me. I wanted to have her all to myself, alone, but I knew that desire would be distracting, so she is silent and not actually touching me in order to keep that desire to a minimum. And her mere presence near me was, indeed, very calming for me. In fact, it was her presence that helped me hold my tongue as much as I did before. I didn't realize it at the time, but a part of me desired to not appear uncouth to her. I then noticed that I had not been rude to them in a while. As a test to their claim of all knowledge, I said only, "What's the deal with that?"

"As I said, we are half good and half evil. As a human, you did lean more towards good, and our close and known proximity caused your naturally evil half to get a little stirred up. Our presence ignited a small struggle in you to regain your original balance. It's steadied enough, so that you are no longer having uncontrolled outbursts of rudeness."

That raised another question. "If we are equally good and evil, then why is it that we all seem to be largely good, right now."

"Good is much more productive, right now. Being equal halves of both sides, we can freely choose which side we use. We are similar to humans in that respect. They can choose to be good or evil, though they start out as neither, in a manner of speaking. Pure good can be only good, and pure evil can be only evil."

"Really? But I thought Satan started as an angel."

"You are thinking in human terms; physical terms. There is no individualism. There are no literal angels or demons. No literal war. No literal rape. It is merely aspects of the single whole put into terms that you would better understand. We are in individual human forms because it serves to help you relate, as a human. It is another aspect of increasing your general comfort."

I needed that reminder. "I get what you're saying, but it's still very confusing."

"As a human, there is absolutely no hope of fully comprehending the truth."

I looked at the floor. "That's encouraging," I said, sarcastically, but without intent to be rude.

After a moment, I looked back up into their leader's eyes. I didn't have any particular reason for doing so. I just did it.

"The time for your death draws near," he said, looking at me, then he stood up. Baldy, blondie, and quiet boy, then stood. "You must come with us."

You would think a person would feel a little more nervous about knowing they were about to soon have to die, especially if the person still did not know how it was supposed to happen. I was not entirely calm, mind you, but I'd been made more nervous by tests in school. I stood up, a little hesitantly, and the brunette stood with me. "Where are we going," I asked.

Quiet boy opened the front door, exited, and baldy and blondie followed. The leader looked me in the eye, saying, "The waterfall," waited a second, then turned to exit.

The waterfall. Well, those two words were deceptively informative. I was never one to jump to conclusions, but I felt fairly certain that I suddenly knew how I was to meet my end. Talk about jumping to conclusions....

"Tell me about it," I heard the blonde shout from outside the doorway. Good grief. She popped her head back in the doorway, smiled big, and winked. She then said, "Come on. Don't wanna be late." I shook my head and laughed a little as I started towards the door.

The brunette followed me out and closed the door behind us. As we walked towards the street, I asked, "So, what's the plan? It's too far to walk, and I don't have a car."

Without turning around, the leader spoke. "You take a cab."

"And that won't interfere with the course of human events?" As if I thought it was really a bad plan. They know everything, right?

"You take a particular cab." Do tell. "This cab driver will later die in an accident. He's got an appointment to pick a friend up at 2 A.M. He'll take you to the waterfall only because he knows a shortcut that will get him back in time. He will pick up his friend on schedule, then five minutes later, they will collide head-on with a drunk driver."

We got to the sidewalk and just stood, waiting. He continued, "There will be no record of your trip, because no one of consequence will see either of you, and he will not call it in, because after you tell him you want to go to the waterfall, he will insist on telling you a story about when he went there with his first wife, and he will forget to call it in. He'll forget on the way back, as well, because he will be too busy trying to recall the song that was playing on the radio when he proposed to her."

That's nice and tidy. Then I had a thought. "What about my apartment and all my stuff?"

"We will take care of that. We will remove your things, dispose and distribute them appropriately, and a simple note to your landlord will take care of the rest." I thought that over, not that I really had to. "Hail this cab," he then said.

"What?" I said, returning my attention to him.

"This cab approaching. Hail it. Incidentally, no one else can see us."

"Oh, well, of course," I said with a hint of sarcasm. I stepped to the curb and put up my hand. The cab pulled over. I opened the back door and got in.

I shut the door, then the driver asked, "Where can I take you this fine night?" What a nice guy. I instantly felt sorry for him.

"The waterfall, please."

"Really? Alone? This time of night?" I looked forward to see his concerned face looking back at in the rear view mirror.

"I'm meeting someone there."

After a moment, his open mouth spread to a smile. "Ohhhhhhh. I see." He looked forward and pulled out into the street. "Yes, that can be a very romantic place, especially under a full moon. I know a few a kids that were conceived there, and I'm not just talking about my own, if you know what I mean. Me and my first wife used to go out there a lot when we were dating. May she rest in peace. I even proposed to her there."

"Really? That sounds very nice. Can you tell me all about it?" Knowing the future can be fun.

"Oh, sure. It was on a Saturday. We went there a lot to, you know, make out. We had been together for about three years, and that was a really special place for us."

He continued talking during the entire drive. He regaled me with story after story about his wife, whom he apparently cared for immensely. It made me think about my own life. All those years and I never really cared for any one, nor anyone for me. It wasn't quite as bad for me as one might think. I mean, I did want a closeness with someone, but I never really found anyone worth getting really involved with.

I didn't really desire friends or feel any great need for general companionship. I suppose that was for the best considering what I was supposed to be. Their story sounded really farfetched, but considering the facts of my life, and their general weirdness, I didn't really have any reason to doubt them. I was actually willingly going to a waterfall to very likely jump to my own death, yet I don't seem to have a single objection. Fascinating.

I wondered why I would I want to take on a human body, and live a human life, if it was not going to be a very exciting life. Heck, it was not even a significant life. What would be gained? It's a futile question, I guess. A moot point. I'm still thinking in human terms. Desire probably was not even a factor. I suppose I'll find out once I'm out of my body and back home.

"Well, maybe it's because you had something else on your mind at the time. You were proposing, and you said you were nervous. What song is on the radio wouldn't exactly be a priority," I said to the driver as he pulled to a stop in the small picnic area near the waterfall.

He looked at me in the rear view mirror. "But, you see, I had actually pointed out the song to her, and told her I'd think of that night every time I heard it."

"Well, then the next time you hear it, you'll remember. Look at the up side: At least you didn't promise you'd never forget the song."

He smiled and half laughed as he said, "Yeah, I guess I got lucky there." His expression changed slightly, but remained cheery. "You know, I don't think I've ever had as good a fare as you."

I looked down smiled, blushing, "Well..."

"No. No. I mean it. A lot of people don't like any talk on their ride, and a lot of people like to do most of the talking, but it's hard to find anyone who would ride this long with me doing all the talking. It does an old man's heart good to know there's someone like you in the world, and I hope some other cabby gets the honor of driving you somewhere far away. You take care, now. Hear?"

"Okay. Thanks." I opened the door and stepped out. I shut the door, thinking, what a great guy. I lowered my head to the open back window. "Drive safe."

"Always."

The cab pulled away. "Poor guy." I turned to walk towards the observation bridge over the waterfall. A realization hit me, and I slapped my hand to my back pocket. "I never paid him for the ride."

"And he never asked you for payment." I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of the voice right behind me.

"Holy crap," I barely kept from shouting as I turned around to see all five of them standing there.

"You might call us that," the blonde said.

I looked at her. "Oh, yeah. Glad you caught that one. Nicely done," I said sarcastically.

The leader walked passed me, saying, "You don't have too much time." He was heading for the bridge. We all began to follow; the brunette once again at my side.

I didn't have anything to say on the short walk to the bridge. I was busy looking around. I'd never been here before. It was a pretty nice little place. The main road turned off to a small U-shaped side access road along which where a few picnic tables, and the whole thing was obscured from the main road by trees. About 150 feet from the tables started a fence-protected and somewhat steep decline to a river. You could hear the waterfall from the tables, where it was not very loud, but the volume increased as we got closer. As we came upon the bridge, I saw a small tourist sign saying the waterfall was an almost 300 feet drop. Wow.

Both entrances to the bridge were blocked with temporary chain link gates, because the protective cages along the side of the bridge were absent and to be replaced. No one was allowed on the bridge while there was no protection, but that apparently didn't mean us. The leader pulled down on the padlock, and it just came open. He took one end of the chain loose and then dropped both ends before pushing open the gate door. We all filed onto the bridge. It was a concrete bridge about four feet across on the walking level. About three feet up were what served as guard rails, along both edges of the bridge, but they were also concrete and about two feet wide.

In the middle of the bridge, I leaned over the "rail" and looked down. It was dark, so I couldn't see anything of the bottom, but I could see the edge of the run-off point. I supposed it was probably for the best that I was unable to see the bottom. I was never afraid of heights, but I didn't harbor any great fondness for falling from them. In most cases, I would prefer to see exactly what I was getting into, but in most cases, I would be trying to remain alive. "So, it's into the abyss I go, eh?"

"Nothing quite so foreboding," I heard the leader say, then I turned to look at him. He continued. "At the base of the fall, close to the cliff edge, is an area deeper than the rest of the river. Anything heavy that falls into it will remain there being continuously churned by the falling water until it is broken down into bits small and light enough to be flushed over the rim of the river bed." I raised an eyebrow.

"Basically, your body will fall into that indention where it will be repeatedly beaten and crashed into the rocks until you are torn and broken into very small bits. Your tiny bone fragments will settle to the bottom of the river, while your organic bits will be eaten by the fish and other river dwelling creatures, and no one will ever know that anyone ever jumped."

Graphic. But I prefer bluntness. The blonde spoke. "But don't worry. You won't feel most of it."

I looked at her smiling face. "Well, that's always a good thing." I looked back toward the blackness, and I thought about the plan. Despite everything I've encountered up to that point, I seemed to have some doubts as to the likelihood of this working. Something didn't seem right. I looked back at the leader.

He immediately spoke. "You will have to fall into a very precise spot, and though you technically could achieve it on your own, we are going to go about it a different way." I waited for him to continue. "All in good time. You need to remove all your clothes."

My eyebrow went up again. "What? Why?"

"Traces of your clothing would be found, and they would also decrease you physical breakdown. A workman at the base of the waterfall would happen to see one of your clothed limbs churning in the water, and that would lead to a police investigation. Without your clothes, your body will be broken down small enough so that there will be no notice before it has been broken down small enough to be flushed over the edge, never to be found."

"Okay," I said, as I began taking off my clothes. "At least it's a warm night." Down to my pants and underwear, I noticed them all still standing and watching. "Look. I know you're all-knowing, but I'm still human. You three guys turn around. I don't mind if the chicks watch." The three guys turned around, and the blonde smiled and waved her hand upward indicating for me to get on with it. The way she was eyeing me, I guessed she was there to cater to some desire I had to have some attractive female want to watch me get undressed. Not much question about it, actually. The fact that I was letting the females watch anyway was evidence enough.

So, there I stood in all my relative glory. I looked up as I asked, "Now what," and found that the three guys had disappeared. Only the females remained, and the blonde, still smiling and eyeing me, said, "Climb up on the edge." She twirled her finger, instructing me to turn around. It seemed she wanted to have a look at me from the back. This was obviously just another tension easing technique; something to distract my mind from the fact of what I was doing. Given the nature of my being, I was generally not okay with killing myself, but the little distractions were helping to quell those natural tendencies towards self-preservation.

I stood on the two feet wide "rail" and turned back towards them, but they were all gone. I looked around. "Hey," I said aloud, but not yelling. "You said-" then I felt a hand on my left arm. Surprised, but not startled, I turned my head to see the brunette standing on the "rail" with me. My eyes were locked to hers as I turned the rest of my body. She was looking at me so sweetly and intently, that almost all of my surroundings faded into the blackness of the night.

The crashing water seemed to get a little quieter. All of my senses had focused on her. I was waiting for her to say something, but she did not. She put her hands gently on the sides of my face and began pulling my head closer. Her left hand moved to the back of my head. I closed my eyes just before our lips met. She moved her right hand around to my back. I wrapped both my arms around her and held her tightly against me.