Becca's Paranormal Collection

by Vickery, Rebecca J.

  "Perhaps they realize we have taken their bodies as hosts. Do not let it trouble you. We have important matters before us. Hopefully, many things we knew in the 'before' will come back to us. But it has been so long ago. And even then we were not part human as we are now." Aluride reached the side of the gently swaying boat and began to search for a way to get aboard. Finally he spotted the ladder and awkwardly climbed onto the vessel, turning back to assist Thera. "I see no oars or oarsmen. This vessel is surely strange."

  A young man approached. "I thought I heard you guys. Where's the tanks? What happened?" he wanted to know as they clambered on deck.

  Aluride understood most of what this male said with the help of the human he had taken over. He grabbed the young man's shoulder and spoke slowly, "Assi-dent. Tanks...gone. Help, Blake." Aluride had not meant to let the last words slip out, but the human forced them past his mental grasp.

  "I'll get blankets," Blake offered as he saw Thera shivering. "Brittney, are you okay? You look pretty shaken." He pulled away from Aluride and turned to a compartment for towels and blankets. He quickly draped them in a blanket each and handed them a towel. Then he seated them on a narrow bench. "Here, Troy, stay put. I'll get you to a hospital. You guys don't look so good." Blake started for the helm.

  "No! Thera, wait here for my return." Aluride threw off the covering as he stood, grabbed Blake before he could fight, and dove over the side with him. The force of the dive carried them deep beneath the waves. Aluride sent out a telepathic message for assistance.

  Blake struggled and tried to turn toward the surface, but the Atlantean proved stronger, even in the unfamiliar human body. As they went deeper still, Blake gave up the battle.

  Aluride felt the human lungs he now must rely upon begin to burn and ache with the desire to draw in air. Just when he thought he would have to surface without completing his mission, another Atlantean answered his hail and joined him. Quickly communicating what must be done, Aluride had Protan merge with Blake.

  Together they soared for the surface, starved for life-giving oxygen as Protan's deserted shell sank into the ocean depths. "Amazing, absolutely amazing," Protan enthused as soon as he drew his first breath. "I thought I would never feel this again. What must we do now? You have a plan?"

  "Thera waits on the vessel. We must operate it and find more humans. If enough of us merge, perhaps we can raise Atlantis," Aluride explained as Protan flopped around like a sick octopus while becoming accustomed to the human limbs.

  "Raise Atlantis? We would need an army." Protan laughed at Aluride's intentions. Protan moved to the ladder at Aluride's urging and clumsily climbed up.

  Thera met them as they reached the top. "You were gone so long. I thought..."

  "We're fine, as you can see. Protan was slow to answer my call and his human did not succumb easily. Now, we must learn to control this vessel and seek other humans. We must also learn to communicate with speech as the humans do. They will not accept us if we do not. We shall practice."

  Chapter Three

  By the time they arrived at the Isle of Atros, Protan and Aluride were arguing in the human gutturals about who was more proficient at steering the boat. Protan seemed to act on instinct and guided Aluride to a spot to dock the vessel. He tied the lines expertly even as Aluride stopped the loud roar of the engines.

  Thera stared about her, wide-eyed and anxious, at so many unfamiliar sights. "It is..." Her mind could furnish no words which her mouth would say. "Humans, there are many humans over there," she offered and pointed to a gathering under a large structure.

  "Then we must go there. We will take several at a time with us and bring back more or our own kind. Perhaps we will make this place our New Atlantis until our home can be recovered." Aluride wasted no time in leaving the boat and turning toward the humans.

  "Wait," Protan cautioned. "Perhaps they will not wish to go. What will we do then? Should we not devise a plan? Mayhap take one at a time, stealthily, as the flounder lies in wait for the shrimp?"

  "We will see. Come, Thera. We shall observe and listen, then decide."

  Thera preferred to remain on the vessel, but scrambled onto the dock with Aluride. She didn't feel well as she followed along behind the male forms. The middle section of this body felt as if it were gnawing at her from the inside. Then she almost drooled as an aroma unlike anything she remembered assailed her senses. The gnawing sensation worsened.

  "Aluride, stop. I must have something... Food... I want food," she insisted as she realized the cause of the problem.

  "I know, I share the need. In there," Aluride agreed and pointed to the end of the structure nearest them.

  Whistles and cat-calls welcomed them as they approached the male humans gathered around several tables. "Whoa baby... Come to papa!" One bold male leaped up and walked to Thera, looking her up and down as she stood there in her figure-hugging, yellow swimsuit. "You sure are a beauty. Where have you been all my life?"

  Thera glanced at Aluride and at his nod replied politely, "I have been beneath the waters. Would you like to go there with me?"

  "Honey, I'll go anywhere as long as you're leading the way," the human told her and put his arm about her shoulders.

  Not sure if she liked his touch, Thera ignored it and requested, "I need food. May I have food?

  "Sure, darling. Sit yourself right down. I'll get you a plate full right now." He urged her to a chair.

  "My friends... They need food also."

  "Whatever it takes to make you happy, sugar. Get some plates of that 'boil' over here," the male called out before stroking his hand down Thera's glorious red hair and onto her upper arms.

  Plates full of cooked seafood were hastily placed before Thera, Protan, and Aluride. They watched the humans around them crack the shells on crab and peel shrimp then copied them.

  Thera moaned with pleasure at the first bite of succulent crab.

  Every male stopped at the husky, sensual sound to stare at her.

  "Here baby, this will make it even better," insisted the male who persisted in touching her. He dipped a large shrimp in butter and held it to her mouth. He stroked her lips as she accepted the morsel from him.

  A fiery longing shot through Thera's lower regions. She closed her eyes and licked her lips before making small sounds of delight deep in her throat. The male was right. It was exquisite. As were these new feelings coursing through her body.

  Thera! Aluride spoke sharply within her mind. Stop! The male wishes to mate with you, as does every human here. You are to lure as many as possible to accompany us. We will make them pay for their lust.

  Chapter Four

  The weeks passed with Aluride, Thera, Protan, and newly recruited Atlanteans gathering and taking larger numbers of human bodies. With each body taken, knowledge, money, and goods accumulated and the Atlanteans learned about living and surviving above. Some gave in to the lures of the flesh and their emotions, going their own ways, but the majority understood the need for dedication to their cause.

  Aluride found it increasingly difficult not to touch and fondle Thera whenever he was near her. From her enthusiastic response, she let him know she appreciated his attention and would welcome a human joining.

  But Atlantis must come first, Aluride reminded himself and repressed the male urges coursing through this human body.

  In addition to the problems created by the temptations of life above, Aluride became deeply concerned at the increased interest of the law officers on the Isle of Atros. The constables began to question their cult-like activities. Officers asked repeatedly why so many islanders would leave their spouses and families to follow Aluride's orders. He immediately began a new campaign among his followers to take as many of these constables as possible to merge with the Atlanteans. Aluride soon found himself in control of most of the local police and the Isle of Atros belonged to the Atlanteans.

  As their numbers multiplied, Aluride divided their forces. He assigned crews to begin constructing the
towers needed to hold the special crystals which would be grown to raise their homeland. Others continued to lure new humans to be merged with Atlanteans beneath the ocean near the lost continent of Atlantis.

  Protan calculated and recalculated the exact placement required to allow the maximum energy output from each crystal. They could have used the knowledge of the ancient ones below, but the old ones refused to merge with a human and walk above.

  The Ancients below soon demanded a meeting with the Atlanteans who walked above as more of their numbers clamored for a human body. A fleet of vessels floated above the waters while the Ancients and scores of Atlanteans gathered below the surface.

  "The Masters forbid this act. To merge with a race other than our own is to deny our teachings and our morals. As punishment you relinquish your immortality. You may succeed in raising Atlantis, but you will live only a human's existence thereafter. What will you truly have gained?" Diatrese, the eldest of the Ancients, asked Aluride when he broadcast to them all telepathically.

  "I live and I walk above for whatever time I am allotted. I feel again. I eat, sleep, and breathe as I did in the before time. I will see that our homeland rises and is inhabited once again. It is worth the sacrifice, as I do not wish to spend eternity foraging among ruins at the bottom of the sea like a shellfish. That is not life and serves no purpose for our race. Perhaps we can even procreate once again with the aid of these human bodies. Diatrese, what have you gained these thousands of years beneath the waters?"

  "Peace and contentment, Aluride. A safe and permanent way of life until the Masters see fit to retrieve us and take us back to our home world. Have you given no thought to these humans you take and inhabit? Do you ask their permission or offer them a choice? As an intelligent race, we have a responsibility to do no harm. Does your human not scream for his freedom within you? And you will repeat the very mistakes leading to the destruction of Atlantis if you continue."

  "You will never agree nor understand, Ancient One. You lived the majority of your life before the great explosion. You are content with your circumstances because you are as one already dead. But you will see. More and more will follow us and we will see Atlantis restored to its former glory. The humans are an inferior race and know only greed and lust. They are ours to use as we will. We took servants and laborers in the before time. This is no different." Then Aluride sent out the telepathic message that all who chose to walk above would be given the opportunity in the days to come. He started the engine of his boat and turned back toward the Isle of Atros, more determined than before to raise the lost.

  Chapter Five

  Another group of merged Atlanteans were quickly detailed to grow and form crystals. Three perfect 'Fire Crystals', fifty feet long and twenty feet wide – larger than ever before used on the planet Earth – would be needed to triangulate, refract, and magnify sufficient energy to raise their lost continent.

  Aluride, Thera, Protan, and their followers reveled in the challenge. They relished the strength and sense of purpose churning through the human bodies they inhabited. While physical necessities such as food and sleep were dealt with as required, the more emotional humanesque desires were pushed aside in order to continue their work in the shortest time possible.

  Thera took charge of the final faceting and polishing of the crystals once they reached their maturity. Her sire, lost in the great explosion, had been one of the premier Crystalliers of Atlantis. It fell to her to teach and guide the fashioning of the 'Fire Crystals.'

  The facets of the three great crystals were measured, cut, ground, and polished with exacting care and precision. Any flaw must be re-ground and then re-polished. Giant caps fashioned of lightweight titanium alloy would cover the crystals to prevent the light from passing through them before they were in perfect alignment. Thera meticulously saw to every tiny detail and dropped onto her bunk exhausted for a stolen moment of sleep here and there.

  Protan directed the anchoring of the huge barges arduously rebuilt to hold the three 'Fire Crystals' atop specially designed towers. One positioned to the true north of the sunken continent, one to the southwest, and one to the southeast, formed a perfect triangle encompassing the lost continent of Atlantis. When the sun reached the exact spot overhead for maximum refraction to produce the greatest pulses of energy, the crystals would be uncapped.

  Atlantis would then rise from the ocean floor. With enough power, it might even be transmuted to a state similar to that of the 'before' time. They were counting on it with the increased magnitude of these crystals.

  The Atlanteans hid their current endeavors from the world by using logos and forged papers from the World Ocean Preservation Society (WOPS) as a cover. Several of their latest merged humans had been members of the crew from one of the WOPS ships. Their identities proved especially useful to procure diving supplies and the three crane barges needed to help set the towers and move the crystals when the time grew near.

  Now that the Atlanteans inhabited human bodies, they also required the cumbersome air tanks in order to work beneath the water for long periods. Aluride and Thera learned to use the breathing tanks with the help of the former WOPS crew and joined in their first dive since leaving the ocean. They wanted to examine the anchors and the underside of the barges with Protan. Nothing could be left to chance.

  Chapter Six

  Once they slipped beneath the surface of the Northern barge, the three followed one of the anchor cables down. The ocean seemed dark and dismal to them. No longer welcoming or safe, it would never be their home again.

  Thera gasped at the unexpected sight of an Atlantean reaching out to touch the titian hair flowing around her human body. "No, don't touch me!" she screamed telepathically. "I can't believe I was ever so horrid looking." She shuddered and drew back from the large, slimy, squid-like creature waving its tentacles toward her.

  "But Thera, do you not recognize me? I am your sister, Otria. Please, Thera..." The creature stretched out a thin, sticky looking appendage.

  "Otria, I cannot bear to look upon you as you are now. Why have you not merged with a human? You must join us," Thera insisted.

  "I will not. I have had a dream, Thera. I knew you would be here today in the waters and I waited for you to arrive. You must listen. Aluride and Protan will fail. The crystals are too powerful to control. They are recreating the very events that led to the destruction of Atlantis. The 'Fire Crystals' caused the seas to churn, the volcanoes to erupt, and the earth to tremble. Father thought he could control them, but he could not. They are far too strong. In my dream, Aluride loses control also—"

  "No! Stop! I won't listen to this. I have fashioned the crystals myself. We will raise Atlantis, and you and all the rest will see. Now, get away from me you ugly, pathetic creature." With that, Thera ignored the mental pleadings of her sister and hastily returned to the barge. She refused to dive again.

  * * * * *

  Everything was prepared. The towers sat waiting atop the barges, adjustable clamps ready to be tightened on the crystals. They would be put in place during the last hours. Thera oversaw the final polishing and then helped operate the robotic arms that slid the titanium caps over the facets of the three huge marquis-shaped crystals. She firmly shut out the warning from Otria to concentrate on her work.

  Aluride and Protan covered all the calculations once again, refiguring and triple checking the most minute of factors. The tiniest fraction of a millimeter off would spell disaster. They completed another satellite scan of the area over their lost continent for changing weather patterns and anomalies. A sudden storm or unexpected shift in the currents could stall the entire operation. They researched yet again to determine the exact time of day for the strongest rays from the sun.

  At last there was nothing else to be done, nothing to do but wait.

  The evening before the crystals were to be moved, Thera made a decision and, what was for her, a bold choice. She waited until she heard Aluride enter his cabin aboard the ship and followe
d him. The sound of running water told her he was rinsing the day's sweat and salt from his body. A custom they had trouble adjusting to, but the disgusting smells of unwashed human flesh drove them to it from necessity. Thera stripped the simple shift she wore from her form and opened the frosted shower door.

  "Thera, what's wrong?" Aluride hurriedly reached for the taps to shut off the water.

  She stayed his hand with hers. "No, leave it on, please. There is no problem... Well, except... I cannot bear these yearnings any longer." Thera ran her hand up his arm and along his shoulder, finally bringing it to rest in the curly hairs sprinkled across his chest. "Please, Aluride, don't turn me away. Once we move the crystals, we will be too busy for anything else. And if we should fail..." Thera held back a sob, thinking again of Otria's warning, then she rushed on, "Should we fail, I want to experience the human joining at least once, with you."

  Aluride growled, "We will not fail, but I can't send you away. I have wanted this joining for too long. And once will not be enough, I fear." He grasped behind her neck, one large hand tangling in her wet titian hair and around her waist with the other, using them to pull her awkwardly closer to him. His desire was an unmistakable force between their bodies as the warm water ran over them.

  Together they learned the bittersweet joys of kissing and caressing. Passion seemed familiar to their host bodies and only the shock of the water running cold separated them. Aluride hurriedly turned off the taps and wrapped both of them in large towels.

  Thera thrilled to the sensations created as he dried her with the soft terry cloth. A squeal and then a giggle escaped her as he swept her up and carried her to the bed.

  Aluride thought he would go mad if he did not get this warm, human female beneath him soon. How did human males deal with this uncontrollable burning intensity? The throbbing urgency in his loins drove every rational thought from his brain. He kissed her and then dropped her to the soft surface. Jerking her towel away, he took only a second to look at her shapely form before falling upon her like a lustful beast.