Chapter I: Banishment

On a cold November night, on the outskirts of the town of Ruth, Nevada the third of a string of strange events is about to unfold. What seems to be an asteroid streaking through the sky, crashed into the sands of the desert, however instead of a rock from space it was something else. A man, about five foot eleven stepped out of the crater rubbing his neck. “Damn that hurt, they could have thrown me out a little easier at the very least” The name of this mystery man...is Barnabas, and he is in fact no mere mortal, he is in fact an angel, banished from Heaven for some unknown offense against one of the Archangels. After surveying the landscape, Barnabas saw what looked liked the light from flashlights heading his way, most likely from the nearby town, he wasn’t panicked yet he had to think of something to not arouse suspicion in these people, but how could he explain showing up in the middle of the desert, especially near such a small town where everyone most likely knows everyone by name.

"These...humans are most likely to distrust me right from the get go so i have to be extra convincing, they are such untrusting creatures", and he decided that his best option was to make up the story that he had been lost in the desert, his shirt and pants were tattered and dirty enough to support such a story, as was his curly brown hair which had a fine layer of sand stuck in it from his rather abrupt crash landing. From the dune he saw four men climbing up to where he was, in front was an elderly gentleman of about seventy, flanked by three boys each in no later than their late teens. When they reached the top of the dune Barnabas pretended to stumble as if injured calling out “Someone help, i need help please is anyone out there?” The elderly man flashed his light in the direction of the voice and saw Barnabas in the sand, running over to help. “What in tarnation are you doing out here in the middle of the god Barnabas lifted his head and said “I got lost in the desert, and i finally saw your town in the distance, then all of a sudden i saw a bright light and heard a loud boom and poof there was a giant hole next to me and a light in my face from you”.

The old man gestured to the boys with a gruff “Kevin, John, Simon help me get this lad up, hurry it up”. The three boys surrounded Barnabas one on each arm to support him as he fake stumbled, to keep up appearances. As the boys walked Barnabas back down towards the town the old man turns his light towards the hole, scratching his head as to how the hole could be so massive yet have no occupant.  

The town was small, not even a half a square mile wide, he was lead to a small quaint little house on the edge of the town, the decorations inside were sparse but homely, perfect for an old man. The two boys on his arms sat him down on the couch while the third stepped to the side so the old man could pass, and as he approached he thoughtfully stroked the gray stubble on his chin and said “So lad where exactly are you from, and what were you doing out in the desert”. Barnabas scratched his head thinking about what to say, finally he shrugged and said “I don’t really have a place i’m from, i wander from place to place...just this time i ended up getting lost in a bad place to get lost”. He closed his eyes in thought, then suddenly he opened his eyes and said “Oh yeah i haven’t thanked you for helping me, nor have i introduced myself, my name is Barnabas, Barnabas Ellison”.

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The old man smiled, showing numerous laugh lines as he did,  and extended his hand for Barnabas to take and said “And my name is Clancy King, you already met my boys John, Simon, and Kevin”. The three all walked up one by one and Barnabas thanked each of them for helping him. As the boys asked him questions about his travels, which he had to sidestep most of them to the best of his abilities with his knowledge of the human world, in the meantime Old Man Clancy put up his feet, and brought up his newspaper, though before he began to read he looked over the top and said “Barna...Barn...is there something i can call you boy?” Barnabas smirked and said “Yes sir, you can just call me...Barney”

The old man stroked his whiskers again and said with a bit of a smug grin “Alright then...Barney, why don’t you go to the bathroom and freshen up, it’s down the hall and to the left, feel free to use the shower and i’ll have one of the boys bring you some clothes, Kevin seems to be about your size”. Barnabas nodded in appreciation, and headed down the hall to the bathroom, pleasantly surprised by the hospitality shown to him, a complete stranger.

Once he was finished with his shower he found a set of clothes neatly laid on the bed, a pair of black trousers and a white button up shirt. After dressing he exited to the living room, the boys were nowhere to be seen, but the old man was still sitting in his comfy chair with the newspaper he had previously set down to tell Barnabas about the shower. Barnabas looked at the front page and noticed something odd, the cover story on the front of the newspaper read in huge print “ANOTHER DISAPPEARANCE IN SMALL NEVADA DESERT TOWN” . Walking closer he saw in the small print a story about what some say appeared to be a giant snake snatching people and causing massive destruction. Suddenly he remembered he had a piece of paper in his pocket in his old clothes, he walked over to the hamper with the dirty clothes, his included, and produced the piece of paper from his pants pocket. At first it was blank, but then all of a sudden Barnabas started getting flashes in his mind, and after he opened his eyes again there was a name on the paper, El Culebron. With another flash the tales began to fill his mind, a massive serpent that would eat anything in its way and cause damage with its gigantic body. With a smirk Barnabas covered his eye and whispered “So that’s what you want me to do huh, well if that’s what i gotta do then that’s what i gotta do”.

The old man looked up curiously, and Barnabas returned his gaze and said “I’m sorry to have taken up so much of your time, i must thank you for your hospitality but a curiosity has struck my fancy and i want to go look into it, on the front of the paper in fact, i think i’ve heard the tales of that creature and i want to be the one to prove it exists”  The old man lifted a bushy eyebrow and said, well i can take you out to the next town in the morning, and you can get transportation there to the town the article is talking about, it’s a damned fools errand...but you seem to have your heart set on it, now go get some rest”. Barnabas thanked the old man for the umpteenth time and after the room was prepared for him he walked in and laid down on the bed, though he couldn’t sleep, all he could do was think about the past few hours, being banished from heaven and being forced down to the Earthen Realm from Heaven, being taken in by a kindly old man and his sons with no regards to the fact that he was a total stranger out of the kindness of their hearts, and that now he was going to chase down what was paramount to a fairy tale for a chance to go back home, but whatever may come, he was ready, in time he began to fade, and fell into a deep slumber.