The Shattered Genesis (Eternity)

by Rudacille, T.

  Hadn’t that always been the way, even on Earth?

  “James, wake up!” My voice broke in the effort it took to speak passionately. I was begging him now, the fear in my heart so strong, I believed it would kill me long before the cold could. I could not lose him now. I could not bear to be without him. I loved him. I needed him. As I tried to wake him, I realized that I no longer felt any shame in how desperately I needed him or how deeply I loved him.

  How many more were clutching their loved ones in the tents that surrounded us, watching as they breathed their last breaths? How many would we have lost by the following morning? Don’s fight would have to be postponed if our number was eradicated by the frigid conditions. But I did not care about Don’s war. I only cared about James, Elijah, and the people who had become my friends. We had family back at the house that had become our home. Violet, Penny… What would happen to them?

  An exhausting surge of warmth erupted between James and I, manifesting where our bodies were touching. I closed my eyes and laid my head against his chest. I grasped his firm shoulders, pleading with the God I did not believe in to spare us. I had never thought about dying before. I realized that the thought provoked the same childish terror in me that was felt by all living creatures as they faced the end. We are bred with the will to survive at all costs. Death is the endgame we all seek to avoid, even if the effort to live will be what kills us in the end. It is universal. It is a malignant truth.

  I was hallucinating, surely. The warmth between us was simply a physical manifestation of the love I had in my heart for him. It was the tangible intangibility of the feeling that filled me up when he kissed me, held me or even said my name. God or Gods, I loved that man, foolishly and recklessly, but brilliantly as well…

  “I have to tell you something.” His voice whispered in my ear. I opened my eyes to find that we were lying side by side in the sleeping bag once again. His brown eyes were shaded by his drooping eyelids; he was struggling for consciousness, trying so desperately to watch over me with a vigilance that had long been weakened by unimaginable exhaustion.

  I shushed him now, begging him with the sound to stay quiet when only before I had been begging him to speak. I had not the strength that was needed to talk anymore. The warmth between us was a blanket so snug and soothing that I could not resist the temptation of sleep. Whatever was left of my strength was used to turn my head up so I could kiss his cracked, freezing lips.

  “I have to tell you. I should have told you…”

  “You love me. That’s all I need…”

  I fell away into that seductive sleep.

  XXX

  If we had died then, it would have made the rest of the tale much easier. There would have been no betrayal, no fight to the death, no war that raged for countless years. There would have been no more pain. While humans sidestep the inevitable final consequence that is death, they secretly wish for the peace that it brings. Once crossed over, we no longer feel the suffering that has long defined us as humans, as being one step above the other animals in God’s creation.

  The evolution we were experiencing on Pangea was almost a step backwards, I found myself thinking as I slept. We were reverting back to the ways of our forefathers, when we walked on all fours and hunted our food with nothing but our hands and teeth. Our animal nature was our only link to continued survival. The only difference between our original ancestors that had first populated the earth and what remained of our race on Pangea was that we felt and reasoned without pause and with an intensity strong enough to buckle our knees, so to speak…

  “Brynn?”

  His voice was so beautiful in my dreams. His masculinity was evident even when he spoke. I had always had a fascination with strong, protective men who would die for their significant other. Alas, James fighting for my life with more force than what he utilized to fight for his own was something else we shared in common with our ancestors. Chivalry, as I called it, always existed. Or perhaps that was ideology bred from that childlike fear I had experienced as I died…

  “Brynna?”

  His lips stimulated warmth wherever they pressed on my face. Had we traveled from the realm of the living to the mysterious next together?

  “Wake up, baby. Come on.”

  “Her lips are starting to turn back to normal.”

  What the hell was Elijah doing in mine and James’s eternal paradise? Violet used to place her hands, palm of one rested on the back of the other, and twiddle her thumbs, calling the gesture in a dull monotone the “awkward turtle.” Generally, that strange hand sign was used when situations became uncomfortable in our home. I always chuckled to myself, though I was baffled as to how a shelled sea creature could possibly be clumsy or inept at handling social situations…

  I opened my eyes just so the sight of James’s handsome face would shut those inane thoughts out of my mind. My brows furrowed instantly at the harsh white light over their heads. It had long been rumored that when one dies, they are faced with the blinding, comforting light of the afterlife. It was supposedly brighter than the sun, yet it did not hurt to stare into it. I closed my eyes again, moaning softly. That light behind James and Elijah was agonizing. I hated liars…

  “How is she doing?” Don’s voice was as welcome as the fabled devil’s. All I needed was to hear Adam’s voice and then my paradise would dissolve completely into hell.

  “She is very strong. I am sure that in a moment, she will be on her feet, scathingly criticizing your stupidity, Donald.”

  Seriously?

  “Why, dare I ask, are all of you hovering over me?” I asked slowly with my eyes still covered. I was not sure if I truly wanted to know the answer to that question.

  James eased me up into a sitting position. I widened my eyes and shook my head slightly to suppress the dizziness that followed somersaults performed in rapid succession or a night of binge-drinking. Or, as it pertains to this particular occurrence, once one regains consciousness the morning after almost freezing to death on a guerilla mission.

  “Didn’t you claim to possess the same knowledge and wisdom I possess?” I asked as my index and middle finger massaged the center of my forehead firmly. After the tension had eased and I realized that my question had still not been answered, my gaze snapped onto Don. “Hello? I am addressing you.”

  “I said that I knew what we were getting ourselves into, coming up here.”

  “You said that you knew how Pangea worked.”

  “Pangea…” Adam repeated with a roll of his eyes and a laugh, “Such a ridiculous name…’

  “It is actually not, considering that the land here is combined to form one large mass of land, which, if you are familiar with how the land on Earth was originally…” I stopped. Not worth it…

  “I know exactly what you’re going to say.” Don spat at me, “You’re going to say that I should have known that coming up north would mean snow and frigid conditions and that…’

  “You are the one that claimed you were a genius.” I shook my head in condescension. “Do not snip at me because you were too empty-headed to realize that by old world knowledge, going up meant temperatures would go down. It is all very simple.”

  “So, you knew that we would come up here and almost freeze to death?” He asked me angrily. “If so, why did you come?”

  “This is not about me, Donald. This is about you.” I turned my scowl to Adam, “And what are you doing here?”

  “I was due for a trip north.” Adam answered vaguely.

  “You are lying.” I replied as James helped me onto my feet. We were still in the tent that had miraculously remained standing despite the strong wind and the strength of the falling snow. I did not know why I was surprised; they were military tents constructed to withstand sandstorms and extreme temperatures.

  I was uncomfortable with the amount of men in my tent, so I pushed past them all to move into open air. I would not be surrounded by males in such a confined space. Nothing would happen, surely,
but it was still disturbing on a level I knew all too well. Once outside, I momentarily allowed my eyes to drink in the beautified landscape; the mountains surrounding me and the ground beneath my feet were both covered in the whitest snow I had ever been privileged to see. It would be a sin to trample on such purity. I remembered living in New York briefly and experiencing back-to-back snowstorms that had left the greatest city in the world buried deep. It had been a comfortingly surrealist sight. As I observed the rising sun that was casting a soft glow on the snow-covered hills in hues of pink, orange and soft yellow, I felt the same soothing wonder and awe. It filled me to the brim with a warmth that fended off the still-biting cold.

  Then Don spoke again.

  “The bottom line is, I don’t know how they made it here without your help, Adam. You said that you were on our side!”

  “Your accusations hold no real weight. Perhaps your enemies found warm clothing in the ship. Perhaps they were just very lucky.”

  “Perhaps both of you gentlemen need a time out.”

  There I was, sticking my nose into matters that neither concerned nor interested me. Don was more than likely correct; given Adam’s mysterious nature and his disloyalty to our kind, it would not surprise me if he was aiding the Bachums as well as us. He thought himself to be the emperor of Rome and we, the gladiators thrown into the ring to fight to the death. If he wanted to aid our separate quests for survival by throwing some spears and knives into the fighting space, then he would, but only so the fight would be bloodier and as a result, far more entertaining.

  “How did they make it here? The truth!” Don demanded and I frowned at the sky as clouds appeared where there had only been the light of dawn before.

  “Statement and question!” I interrupted Adam, and stepped in between them. “The shift in the weather is quite interesting. Where only moments ago there was sun, now there are clouds that foreshadow another blizzard. Are you doing this?”

  “It is not me that is doing anything, Ms. Olivier. It is him.” Adam pointed at Don.

  “You made that blizzard hit us last night?” Elijah demanded in rage, “What? Is that another side effect of harnessing your emotions, or whatever you said you could do?”

  “That’s not me. I would know if it was me.” Don replied, but he sounded unsure. He looked to Adam for an explanation.

  “That is the Bachums making that happen, though surely they do not know it. As I have been told, they are unkind to those who harness what you all call ‘powers.’”

  “And what do you call them?” Elijah asked him, his momentary anger replaced by a slight fear he was not hiding well. He feared Adam’s power and rightly so; even I knew that with a snap of his fingers, Adam could kill us all. The forces of the universe that we called powers and the new, enhanced state of being we called evolution had cradled him for thousands upon thousands of years. He could utilize any of the strange powers we found ourselves now able to wield with expert precision. I knew that he was powerful, gifted with abilities by God or the Gods that we were only just beginning to understand. Yet, I did not fear him. Even when I had first spoken to him and his deep eyes had never left mine, I was unafraid.

  “We call them ‘gifts.’ Someone aligned with the Bachums is very afraid or very angry. They are manipulating the space around them to match what they are feeling. I am unsure whether it is intentional, meant to drive all of you back, or if they do not even realize they are doing it.”

  “Do you know who it is that’s doing it?” Elijah pressed him. “Because they’ll be the first person I go after.”

  “I do not know. But Brynna does.” Adam’s knowing gaze turned to me. I shuddered internally as I looked into the depths of those flawless green eyes…

  “It is our father.” The sound of my own voice and the disgusting feeling of repulsion that filled me up as I spoke of him jerked me from the hypnotic spell Adam’s eyes always put me under.

  “What?” Elijah asked, “Does he know we’re coming?”

  “No.” I answered. “I can feel great anger in him. He knows that he is mutating. He is a freak like his now-bastard children. His thoughts are very loud. However, I assume that we are very close. I can feel others in their camp, fearing the change. It is not accepted. To change over means to die. Am I right in all of this, Adam? Because your face is in their minds as well, so I can guess that you have become familiar with them.”

  Adam chuckled softly, a sound that sent a shiver down my spine that was far more sinister than the cold that surrounded us.

  “You know far too much, Brynna. Your powers stun even me. You have always possessed the ability to hold vast knowledge, to understand all things. Now that you are here, you do. It is a gift I envy. It is the only one I was not given.”

  “If you want to play on both sides of the aisle, Adam, then we will no longer be supplying you with any of the fruits of our labor, literal or otherwise.” The declaration rolled off of my tongue before I had a chance to stop it. It was an expertly formed sentence, full to the brim with emotional force and ringing truth, but it was certainly unwise. Don looked at me, his eyes so wide, I feared they would fall from his head. James and Elijah stood tall behind me, backing up the assertion. Their support aided me in standing firm.

  “Is that so?” Adam took a step towards me.

  James was standing in front of me. Immediately, I moved around him and grasped his hand in a silent, very quick show of gratitude at his will to protect me.

  “They are terrified of you. But they also hate you. We have embraced what has happened to us since we have come here. We have allowed ourselves to become more like your people with no fear, regret or hesitation. They prosecute those that show signs of changing over. Why would you want to help them?”

  “My dear Brynna,” Adam grinned and looked down at me. He stood so close that his delicious smell filled my nose, hypnotizing me for one seductive moment. “If I did not aid them, they would stand no chance. You know that I love the spectacle. Our race was forced from your earth, despite being much older and far superior to your own. Granted, it has played nicely in our favor. Your Earth was destroyed by the insolence of your inferior race. Now, I only wish to watch all of you crawl and fight and grovel for your place here, the way you forced my kind to crawl and fight and grovel. Unfortunately, you all have gained powers. It is almost insulting to know that you are becoming more like us but alas, I cannot stop it and I do accept it. I wish to see, once and for all, who will be left standing; our kind or theirs? Though, I am sure you can guess on which side I would place my bets.”

  I had been unaware that Adam’s kind had ever resided on Earth. In not knowing that, I could not have known that they were forced to leave. I still did not support his war order but I did understand, however minimally.

  “You believe this will be quick. You believe that we will destroy them in one bout, simply by using what we have become. You are wrong, Adam.” The tone of my voice betrayed a genuine sadness at his inability to see clearly. In my mind, I saw that potent cloud of darkness engulfing our lives for many, many years to come. I saw Adam and his city consumed by it, both lying in the ruins of death.

  I backed away a step and grasped James’s arm to steady myself.

  “What is it? What do you see?” Don demanded as he pushed past Elijah to get closer to me.

  “There is no end to this. There is no point in storming the Bachums’ camp. It does not end here today. It is infinite. It is so large, I do not understand it.” I turned and walked away from them all as my heart raced. I had just been gifted with a sight bred from my ability to know and see all things. That particular gift bred vast intelligence but also deep insight. What I had experienced on Earth had been profound and seen scarcely before. What I was experiencing on Pangea was miles beyond that. I could now see backwards and forwards, though not at will. I could see the deepest recesses of a person’s soul. I could read their thoughts. That moment of understanding that the war was meant to go on was the moment my ea
rthly self fled me, only to be replaced by who I would be for all eternity. I was no longer human in any sense.

  Others would confide in me later their moments of realizing whatever fraction of them was still human had disappeared. Interestingly, it always follows a stunning revelation, though none have matched exactly what I discovered in that horrid sight.

  “Look closer, Brynna!” Adam called after me, “You will be horrified at what you see!”

  His words drove the stake of knowing deeper into my heart; I struggled not to double over. The house was in flames and Violet and Penny were running, running, running…

  The other natives had been watching, knowing they were not our primary enemy. The death of the boy we had taken from them had been felt by his mother and father. They wanted revenge. They would take from us what we had taken from them… It was they who were aligned with the Bachums, not Adam… Adam merely encouraged them to fight…

  There were no longer two wars raging on Pangea. There was but one, one that would require the two slowly intermixing races to align on their two different sides, to fight for their place, ideas and beliefs…

  It was a war that had been fought so many times before, on Earth and Pangea. The reasons were always the same. My mother had done nothing to provoke what had occurred on Earth. It was always meant to be. Wars were meant to be fought and lost by both sides in every way. There was no victory. There was no end. It was no different on Pangea than it was on Earth. That was a truth as old as the sun above our heads and the land beneath our feet. It was a truth that predated the existence of those that would fight and die in the senseless wars…