I was at the cafe working, as usual, when I approached a table outside with two men sat at it. The closer to the table I got, the more the two haloes above the men became clearer.
You see, as a a nephilim, I had always been able to see supernatural beings, angels and demons, ghosts and leviathan. My father himself was an angel, which was how I became nephilim. Half human and half angel.
The older of the two I'd already served but the younger man had just joined him and it was him that really caught my attention. He was so attractive with eyes so blue but his halo seemed a lot less brighter than the older mans.
I handed the oldest his coffee and turned to the newcomer.
"Can I get you anything?" I asked him.
"Coffee please," he said and his deep voice made my heart skip a beat.
"Sure. Cool coat," I smiled at him.
The man ran his fingers down the tan trenchcoat he was wearing and pulled it slightly. "No, it's actually quite warm."
"Cute and funny. Okay," I flirted with him and headed back inside, leaving them to talk.
"What did you mean, we can shut down heaven?" The angel I would later come to know as Castiel, asked.
The other angel, Metatron, replied, "oh, you know, the trials - God's little "pull in case of emergancy", the leviathans get out of control, you put them in Purgatory. Demons get a little too demonic, toss 'em into Hell. Angels get too uppity, slam the pearly gates."
"Are you saying you know the trials to close heaven?"
"I wrote 'em down. It's not something you forget. Look, I think a little alone time would be good for the angels. At the very least, it would stop the fighting up there from spilling out down here which will happen. It always does."
"You're gonna complete these tasks?" Castiel asked Metatron.
"No, I can't. I am a pencil pusher, always have been. I'm not strong enough. But you - you are a warrior. You're the famous spanner in the works, Castiel, you have never done what you were told, not completely. You see, I've got the plan, you've got the muscle. We can do this. Heaven needs your help, Castiel," Metatron explained to him.
"I am the one that caused these problems," Castiel dropped his head. "I should be the one to fix them."
"But you understand this is, um, not going to be easy."
"I understand."
"No, you don't. See our waitress? She's the first trial-got to cut her heart out," Metatron told him.
Although I was aware that they were both angels, what I didn't know was that, because I was nephilim, they thought of me as an abomination and were there to seek me out and prepare to kill me.
Castiel looked at me, talking to someone a few tables away and turned back. "What? No, she's . . .she's just a girl."
"No, she isn't. She's a nephilim, an abomination."
"She's the offspring of an angel and a human? I thought that wasn't allowed."
"It's not. There's only one on earth and you're looking at it," Metatron nodded his head in my direction.
"But she didn't choose to be Nephilim, so she's innocent," Castiel gauped.
"Yes she is. I told you it wasn't going to be easy. But if you want to do this, Castiel, if you really want to do this, you got to ask yourself what's more important - her life or your family?"
I carried on bustling about the cafe, bringing people their coffees and taking orders as Castiel watched me and took a deep sigh. Metatron was right. This was not going to be easy.