Copula Chronicles: The Complete Collection: Origin, Descend, Ascend, Legacy

by Venessa Kimball

  Tom acknowledges, “We have noticed a spike in the attacks as well.”

  The colonists behind him nod and whisper regarding their witnessing the attacks as well.

  Briggs speaks up, “We lost many in our compound before we left. The Dwellers are—”

  Tom looks at him curiously, “Dwellers?”

  The others behind him look at each other oddly as well.

  Briggs rolls his eyes a little and points to me. “She coined the term for these bastard beings.”

  Tom and his colony look to me for some kind of response.

  Recollecting the image of Briggs’ soldiers being ravaged and diseased by them, I mumble, “They occupy and dwell within us until our bodies are no longer necessary for their use. Dwellers seemed to make sense to me.”

  I leap to the opportunity, “Before we got here, we were attacked.”

  Tom’s eyes are trained on me as all the others behind him gasp from shock and concern. Tom asks eagerly, “How did you get away?”

  I’m about to tell them how the Rephaim defended us, when Briggs cuts me off. “Our caravan, we had plenty of ammunition to hold them back—”

  I look right at him. “Seriously?”

  He glares at me sideways angrily while he continues explaining, “We got back into the truck, the safest place other than a compound.”

  Ezra leans over to me and whispers warningly, “Jes.”

  Being the smart man that he is, Tom holds his palm up to Briggs and says, “Just stop.” Briggs holds his tongue as Tom continues, “Jason, even in training camp you talked too much.”

  I eye Briggs as he bites his lip and lowers his head, somewhat defeated by Tom’s words. Tom and Briggs served together in the military?

  Tom peers back at me, “She has something on her mind and I want to hear it.”

  Everyone is watching me, waiting for me to respond.

  “Two of Briggs’ men, our truck’s drivers, were occupied by them. They drew us away from Briggs’ truck, planned to occupy us or kills us, I’m not sure. Briggs found us and a full-on attack occurred. We held the Dwellers off with our guns, but the rest of Briggs’ men were taken. All but one.” I point to the sole soldier lagging behind, gun drawn. I continue, “Then a mass of Dweller-occupied humans found us. Both the occupied humans and raw Dwellers were attacking us. Then,” I pause as I try to say the right words so I don’t sound insane, “these enormous men rushed the Dwellers and killed them.”

  Tom shifts on his feet. “Wait, men killed the Dwellers?”

  “Large men. Very large men.”

  Tom squints at me skeptically. “I’m a large guy and I don’t stand a chance against a Dweller, let alone a pack of them.”

  Agh, screw sounding sane! “Rephaim, giant men with supernatural abilities. They came to our rescue and saved us.”

  Tom’s forehead crinkles even more. “Rephaim?”

  The colonists behind Tom turn to each other restlessly, but Tom hushes them and looks back at me skeptically. “Okay, that sounds insane,” he says.

  “It’s true.”

  I can’t help but noticing the smirk playing on Briggs’ face. I focus back on Tom and the colony, “Look, you took us in. The Dwellers are after all of us! They are trying to stop our pack of guardians from getting to Georgia. Did Briggs tell you that when he asked you to take us in?”

  Briggs backpedals, “I was going to tell him.”

  I keep my eyes pinned to Tom and inch closer to him. “Galactic intersection, climatic and elemental shifts, Copula implantations, Dwellers. You are really going to stand there and tell me that what I’m saying sounds insane?”

  Ezra circles around me noticing my close proximity to Tom as I confront him face to face.

  Tom halfway turns to quiet the colonists’ ranting behind him now.

  One of the colonists yells, “She is crazy! Giant beings protecting us! They plan to take over just like the Dwellers!”

  Another calls out, “Get them out of here! The girl said it herself! The beings are after them, not us! They are going to draw them here!”

  Angered by their ignorance, I yell, “We spoke to them! They mean us no harm!”

  I push against Ezra’s hands on my shoulders and holler louder over their growing voices, “They could have easily killed us, but they didn’t! They protected us! They are not our enemy! They want to help us!”

  Briggs gets in my face. “See what you did? That was stupid!”

  He turns on me and tries to talk to Tom, but he is trying to calm all of the agitated colonists.

  I have to do something, say something to get them to listen. “They are guarding us right now!”

  Everyone quiets except Briggs. “Great,” he scoffs under his breath.

  Tom’s eyes widen. “You brought them here?”

  He looks at Briggs, full of rage.

  Our team has now joined in on the yelling match, defending what we have seen to the colonists. Daniel has gotten between Briggs and Tom to keep them from getting physical.

  I watch everything around me unfold with no way of showing them what we have seen the Rephaim do. That’s what they need––to see what they can do. I need to prove it to them. I need to get out of here, but the only way I’m getting past any of them is by projecting. ‘Jumping’ may not work, but I have to try.

  Breathing deeply, I close my eyes and center my thoughts on Ira. I remember him standing outside of the tunnel watching us. I concentrate on that image of him now as I feel the familiar blossom of my life force start at my core then pulsate through my limbs. I open my eyes and affix them on Tom. Everything around me starts to ripple and blur except Tom. With everyone preoccupied with the fighting and arguing, I walk straight to Tom and take a hold of his arms, making him face me head on. He looks at me curiously, then down at my hands clutching his arms. Before he can gather any other reaction, our surroundings shiver and tremor so much that they are not recognizable and Tom starts to sway from side to side and closes his eyes. He is experiencing vertigo. Fearful that he might pass out, I grip his arms tighter, preparing to hold him up the best I can. The energy flowing through me is pounding against my chest, ready to be released. Not able to contain it any longer, I set it free with intentional conviction that it will encircle Tom and me and project us to Ira and the other Rephaim.

  The transfer is mercurial. With my eyes still fastened on Tom, the small shift from darkness of the cavernous compound to the light of the outdoors is the only indication that I did it. I made the jump with Tom. I inspect our surroundings, turning in a half circle. We are standing on the edge of the woods a few yards from Ira rooted in front of the sealed entrance of the tunnel.

  Tom’s eyes are still shut tightly and his fingers are digging into my forearms.

  I call to him, “Tom. Open your eyes.”

  His eyes open just a hair.

  I encourage him, remembering the feeling of weightlessness with jumping. “It’s okay. You’re on solid ground now.”

  He blinks profusely, and then opens his eyes wider. He examines our whereabouts in a matter of seconds then snarls at me, “How did you do that? Where are we? I mean, I know we are outside, but where?”

  Before I can answer him, his eyes double in size and he steps away from me. I turn to see Ira and the other titans walking toward us.

  Ira’s voice rumbles, “Get back in the compound.”

  Tom grabs a hold of my arm and tries to pull me toward the sealed tunnel. I hit the brakes, planting my feet wide and standing my ground. I take a hold of Tom’s arm and work against him. “Just meet them, please.”

  I grip his arm so tightly; I feel my fingers dig into the flesh beneath his flannel shirt. Ira and the four other Rephaim are in front of us arguing in their ancient dialect before Tom can pull any farther away. He freezes in place, shocked by them.

  I call
to Ira, “This is Tom. He is one of the leaders of this compound.”

  Ira looks down at him briefly, then back to me. “You are not safe out here. Go! ” He turns his back on us, concentrating on the woodlands in the distance.

  “No,” I say evenly.

  He whirls around and bends to come face to face with me.

  Tom instinctively puts his hands on my shoulders to pull me back, but I resist, not afraid in the slightest.

  Ira’s hot breath hits my face as he grumbles, “No?”

  Keeping my eyes steady on his I shake my head, “Tom and his colony don’t understand who you are. Neither do any of us really. All we know is that you are protecting us. Why? Why are you protecting us? Who sent you to our world? What do you know about us?”

  Ira grumbles in his native tongue and looks around anxiously from me to his companions to the thicket beyond us. The other Rephaim are watchful, keeping their eyes on the woods while Ira considers what he should say or do.

  Without warning, an intense surge of nausea takes me to the ground on hands and knees. Tom follows me down, hands on my back and yelling, “Jesca! What is it?”

  I close my eyes and breathe through my loss of equilibrium. I rebound quicker this time, coming back to my feet with Tom by my side. As soon as I open my eyes, they lock on a Dweller webbing its way through the trees toward us. Before we have time to move, it wraps around a branch and catapults itself toward Ira, Tom and me. Ira takes a hold of the Dweller in both hands and twists until it rips in half, obliterating the being to ash.

  Having seen what Ira did to the Dweller, Tom verbalizes his reaction, “Oh my God! He just—Oh my God! Jesca, go, move toward the tunnel!”

  He tugs hard, but I resist. Ira and his men encircle us as I’m pulled against my will.

  “Ira, you need to come inside! You need to tell us who you are! Explain to all of us what you are doing here!” I yell. I try to break free of Tom’s grip trying to pull me toward the tunnel. “Let me go! I need to talk to him!”

  My demand falls on deaf ears as Tom grips my arm tighter and makes progress on towing me toward the compound.

  I lunge against him with everything I have and his hand loosens enough for me to slip away and run to Ira. I hear him making chase, but I don’t stop until my arms are wrapped around Ira’s leg. I yell up at him, “I’m not going back in there unless you come with us!”

  Ira and the other Rephaim look at each other frantically. The titan with the blond hair and silver eyes approaches Ira and speaks urgently in their ancient language. Ira looks at him, then at Tom before roaring, “Fine!”

  He pulls me from my strangle hold on his leg with one hand, then takes hold of Tom’s arm with his other. Not a second passes before the world around us obscures and evaporates from the light of the outdoors to the dark of the cavernous compound.

  They can astral project just like us! When our surroundings illuminate and gather again, we are face to face with those we left behind moments ago. The colonists are no longer battling with our team, but rather frightened into docility, having witnessed Tom and me first astral project away and now project back with an extra being, an extra-large being.

  I mutter to Ira, “You can project.”

  He answers back, “We can, but shouldn’t. Weakens us.”

  The colonists donning weapons stumble away and draw their guns on Ira. The team yells for them to stop and I jump in front of him blocking their shot, “No! Don’t shoot him!”

  Tom holds his hands up and rushes to step in front of me, yelling. “Don’t! Put your weapons down!”

  The colonists ease, but consider his judgment curiously.

  “The girl was right! They are not in our world to harm us.” He turns to face Ira and me. “We need to know what you know.”

  Everyone’s eyes linger on Ira, waiting for his reply.

  Ira surveys the cluster of the colonists and our team of guardians, Tom, then rest on me. “I understand you need answers and I’ll tell you everything I know.” Ira’s eyes find Tom’s again, “But first, can you give my brothers food and drink?”

  Tom runs his hand over his mouth and nods. “Samantha,” he calls.

  A young woman about my age steps forward to stand next to Tom, keeping her gaze cautiously on Ira.

  Tom asks her, “Please gather some food and water for Ira and his men.”

  Samantha leans in closer to Tom and whispers, “How much do I get?”

  I can understand her concern with their size. I wondered the same thing. Tom and Samantha look Ira up and down at the same time, appearing to measure the amount with the sight of his girth. Tom leans over to her, “Enough for thirty men should be a good start.”

  Samantha’s eyes widen and she turns on her heels, pulling another colonist woman along with her to help gather the food for the Rephaim.

  Tom and the colonists walk us deeper into the compound through the same tunnel Samantha and the other woman took moments earlier. Ira follows behind all of us, lagging a little, body hunched over slightly to clear the passages. I slow down to walk beside him. “Why are you staying behind?”

  He nods his head toward the colonists and the team. “To make them comfortable. My size is intimidating.”

  “Nah, really?” I smirk at him, but he doesn’t notice my sarcasm. I see his brow furrow and try to explain, “I’m just joking with you.”

  More confused than before. Ira asks, “A joke?”

  I roll my eyes at Ira. “I’m pulling your leg.”

  Ira stops walking and looks down at his legs, confused.

  Watching him standing there bewildered by my play on words, I march back to him and say, “Not really. It is a figure of speech. Never mind. C’mon.”

  Xander, Ezra and Nate are bordering the group ahead of us, keeping an eye on Ira’s and my exchange. Once we start walking toward them, they divert their eyes back to the group we are following and keep pace with them.

  “They worry for you,” says Ira.

  I take notice of his observation with a simple nod. I don’t feel like revealing the back-story right now. There is too much he needs to tell us first. Ira continues, “They each care about you in a different way.”

  Huh, maybe he already knows the back-story.

  We pass multiple channels that branch off from this main vein tunneling deeper into the compound. I peek down one of the channels and see an area with two gurneys, a cabinet and a tray of utensils as a side table. A large unlit lamp hangs over one of the three gurneys. Maybe an implantation room?

  Tom is not far ahead of us and says, “We are using that less and less now, but have it just in case. We are sure to use it for the future climatic shifts when they come.”

  He says, “when they come,” like he’s confident that it’s going to happen.

  We pass two more estuaries. One looks like sleeping quarters. Tom assesses, “The beds aren’t much, but they serve their purpose and we have plenty of room to cut out more tunnels and quarters like these.”

  Sebastian comments on how well they have used the space to accommodate the colonists. The next hollowed-out inlet contains a dusty, old computer tower with monitors hooked up to a clamorous generator.

  Tom explains the setup, “Access to the networks. Not elaborate, but it works. Don’t ask me how they rigged it. I leave that to the techies in our colony.”

  It reminds me of the provisional media network the Kyoto facility had set up. Daniel told us that the colonies had formed a network among each other for communication. This must be the extent of their network. I move away from the opening and catch up with the others.

  The tunnel empties into a substantial common area. Some of the colonists who did not come out to greet us are scurrying around helping the girl, Samantha, gather the food and water for the Rephaim. They have a collection of about six crates filled with bread, water, and co
ntainers of other food to carry out to the Rephaim.

  A little troubled, I hear Tom tell them, “Just sit it at the tunnel entrance. Open the door enough to push it out to them.” Tom looks at Ira apologetically. “You have to understand my people are frightened. I’m frightened.”

  Ira nods with understanding.

  I can tell the words that Tom chose to use make him realize that he meant no disrespect to his race.

  The colonists who are with us begin putting their weapons down against the wall of the cavern. A few hold on to theirs, keeping their eyes on Ira.

  I follow the lead of the colonists and other guardians, sitting down on the ground, but sit right next to Ira’s monstrous leg. I look up at Ira and nudge his calf with my elbow. “Sit.” He does as I say while the rest of the team looks at me timidly watching Ira towering over me as he takes his seat next to me. I scoff at them, “What are you waiting for? Sit.”

  Xander and Nate take the few steps toward me and sit by my side. Ezra, then the others follow their lead.

  Tom has told two of the colonists to bring food. As the bread, water, and broth is brought to us and we have settled, Daniel starts the conversation with Ira.

  “Ira, our apologies again for being afraid of you. Once we learn about your race and your intentions here in our world, our fear will lessen, I’m sure of it. Please understand that the only beings we have experienced among us have been these Dwellers.”

  Ira’s brow furrows as he asks, “Dwellers?”

  The colonists have a similar look on their faces, not recognizing the jargon for the dark beings.

  I divulge the meaning. “The beings that attacked us out there and the ones terrorizing your colony.”

  Ira’s amber eyes peer at me. “That is what you call them?”

  I shrug. “It seemed to fit.”

  Ira replies, “Yes it does.”

  I probe curiously, “What are they exactly?”

  Ira shakes his head. “They are malignant beasts that desire what you have; it feeds them, makes them stronger—your souls. We have been successful at keeping them away from this world for a very long time.”