Evil Among Us

by JK Accinni

  Wil paced restlessly in the corner of the library, his feet kicking dust onto the two small caskets of seed that sat ready.

  “Wil, please sit down. You’re going to knock the seeds over,” Jose complained. Flailing his arms about, Wil shook his head, frustration drenching his face, his tail flexing like a whip, staccato to his words.

  Netty rose from her chair to stop him. “This isn’t helping. Please just sit, so we can come to some kind of decision.” She pulled him to the table where Baby and Echo sat waiting for them to make up their minds.

  “It’s one thing after another. Can’t we have a time of peace for a while?” Abby drummed her fingers on the wooden reading table, glancing at the piles and piles of books that still remained to be sorted.

  “You all know this can’t wait. I realize the thought is frightening, but we must put a stop to it. And this is the only way we can be effective without revealing ourselves.”

  Abby rubbed the top of her head where it was sorest, her horns taking their good time to grow in. “I think we have to do it, Wil. I can’t bear the thought of what they’re doing.”

  Wil slapped his leg, sighing deeply. “I think we are making a mistake that everyone could live to regret. Are you with me, Jose?”

  Jose shrugged; looking from Netty to Abby’s horrified and determined face. “I’d like to stand with you man, but I’m with the girls. We can’t just ignore it.”

  “What if it meant our survival? Would you ignore it then?” The three Elders met each other’s eyes, knowing Wil could be right. He persisted. “This could put us right back where we started. You know that, don’t you?”

  Netty stood to look at Wil, a stray tear making its way to her chin. “It would be the end for sure. I don’t think I could live with this knowledge, Wil. Nor with doing nothing.” Her shoulders shook as the tears increased.

  Holding out his arms, Wil swept his eternal love onto his lap where she sobbed on his shoulder. “Instinctively, I know we are making a grave mistake and it could be our undoing. But alright . . . We’ll do it.”

  Netty sat up, rubbing her arm across her wet face. “Thank you, Wil. I know you understand. I’ll ask the Womb for assistance.” She stood, smoothed down her skirt, and took a deep breath. Auras soothed her mind as the minions chimed in.

  “We are ready, Sister.”

  Jose lifted the seed caskets, handing one to Wil as everyone stood, resolute and fearful.

  “Okay. Let’s do it.”

  The End

  Dear Reader,

  I want you all to know how heartfelt my appreciation is that you have taken the time to read my books. Being an author is one of the most torturous professions out there. Many of us live on the thanks of our readers alone. If anyone cares to leave me an honest review on Amazon.com, Goodreads.com, Smashwords.com, Kobo.com or Barnes and Noble, I would be ever so grateful. Some of you are unaware that Amazon, in particular, promotes books based on the amount of reviews a book gets.

  Don’t be afraid to make suggestions or criticize the writing. How else is one to improve? I look forward to your comments!

  Yours fondly,

  J.K. Accinni

  Introduction to

  Species Intervention #6609

  Book 6

  The One

  Synopsis for Book 6: The One

  One hundred years pass. The Earth is ready for habitation. But it is a far different Earth than the one last seen so long ago. New plants and new forms of wildlife populate the planet, from different worlds as the Womb saw fit.

  The survivors, as expected, have not aged a day since the bombs dropped. New alliances have been made; relationships that should have led to the birth of children flourish unhappily without babies. The original wildlife is still with them, along with their generations of offspring. Every human now realizes their role is to support that of the animals.

  And what of poor six-year-old Suzy, as she is mourned and forgotten by her grandfather and her sister?

  Scotty is hailed as The One to restore domination by the humans, even as they all fail to realize how. Struggles ensue as the survivors discover the perils of the new and amazing life delivered to the planet by the Womb. They fight to eke out a role in the new ecosystem that has put them at the bottom of the food chain.

  As the survivors begin to develop a new civilization for themselves above ground; the new natural order thrusts women into positions of power. Will the softer of the species spell success for what is left of the human race? Or are the mistakes of the past doomed to be repeated?

  Chapter 1

  2058 AD

  The library resonated to echoes of their footsteps on the dusty rock floor as they made their way through the silent makeshift stacks of books; the classics rubbing spines with zombie and vampire paperbacks from 2013.

  Jose and Wil carried the treasured seed in two crocks, while Abby and Netty guided Baby and Echo to the back of the library.

  “It’s just off the tunnel that was used to get the books here.”

  Netty opened the door to Daisy’s classroom, where they quickly passed the artifacts from other planets. Planets that existed in other solar systems, in other galaxies.

  “Ah, the possibilities.” Netty spoke low, and Abby smiled and nodded as if she herself had been thinking the same thing.

  “As Daisy becomes more proficient, I have great hopes she’ll convince her mother to let her have the procedure. I think we can leave it in her hands. There’s no point in trying to persuade Ginger Mae ourselves. She’d only fight us. Besides, there will come a time when Daisy is an adult and can make her own decisions. Even though she’ll still look like a child, her mother will not be able to interfere,” Netty announced.

  As the Elders reached the back of the room, Netty swept away the camouflaging debris that masked a diminutive opening into the beginnings of an endless tunnel.

  Baby and Echo entered first, accepting the containers of seed as Wil and Jose knelt to squeeze themselves through the opening. After wrenching their prodigious wings painfully through the hole in the wall, they stood, smoothed their bent feathers and healed the unfortunate broken ones.

  “Are the two of you all set?” Netty’s voice carried from the other side. Abby’s heart tripped as she weighed their risk. Auras calmed her mind as the minions reassured her.

  “Sister Abby, fear not. We have a big task, but we will be back safely. And we will destroy the tunnel behind us when we are clear. Brother Wil and Brother Jose will depart as soon as they have secured the seed. Trust and have faith. The Womb is with us.”

  “The Womb be with you,” Abby and Netty murmured together.

  *

  The foursome didn’t have to wait long before they found the tunnel branching off in the direction of their destination.

  Turning south, they started the walk that would take them most of the night. Wil and Jose found they could make better time if they carried Baby and Echo. Unfortunately, the tunnel wasn’t large enough to allow them to fly.

  The fact that they had never been there before was an additional handicap; they could only will themselves there if they could encapsulate themselves with their wings and envision a location they had once visited.

  Using their luminous eyes to light their way, they walked throughout the night. Arriving at their destination, they stood before a dead end. Jose approached the wall.

  “This is it?”

  “Yeah, we should be able to kick it in.” Instructing Baby and Echo to stand back, they set aside the casks of seeds and began kicking.

  Little by little, a hole developed in the wall. They worked hard to widen it until it was big enough to allow them to slip into a large cavern, similar to the one they had gathered in on the survivors’ first evening in the Hive, almost a year ago.

  Helping Baby and Echo scramble through the hole, they set down the seed casks and decided to do some exploring first.

  “We must proceed carefully, Jose. If we are discovered it could be the end of
our own safety and comfortable existence in the Hive. The Womb will not tolerate any possible threat to the animals. There is no telling what would happen.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. We’ll just be a few minutes. Echo, you and Baby stay here and get started. You remember where everything goes?”

  “Brother Jose, this is not our first time. Did you not see the growing field that Brother Scotty and Brother Kane are so proud of?”

  Jose grimaced. “Sorry, guys. I forgot. I know you’ll do a good job. We’ll be back in a while.”

  Wil and Jose crept quietly out of the cavern. Weaving their way around obstructions on the dirt floor, they found a tunnel leading away from the cavern. Signs of long-forgotten mining abounded; old-fashioned timbers still shored up the walls and ceiling, although some had dropped to the ground.

  “Do you think we need to make this safer, Wil?”

  Tripping over a fallen brace, Wil steadied himself. “I guess I could have the Kreyven check it out.”

  The two Elders poked around some more, wondering how far off the beaten path they were.

  After thirty minutes of exploring, they picked up the smell of smoke. Following the acrid scent, they were led to a fire pit in a small cavern not far from where Baby and Echo worked. Piles of debris had been swept to the side to create a clearing. Burnt-out torches lined the walls. Bowls sat on the floor alongside hand-hewn beams which had been placed around the fire, perhaps to serve as a place to sit.

  Wil picked up a bowl and sniffed, upending it to have liquid drip to the dirt floor. A rudimentary spit was suspended over the blackened fire.

  “Looks like someone’s been cooking here. And not too long ago.”

  Jose kicked around the debris pile, his foot hitting something with a crunch. He bent down to investigate, freezing as the round shapes came into focus.

  “You better come here, Wil,” he said, swallowing tightly.

  Wil made his way to the debris pile as Jose pushed one of the objects with a toe.

  “Oh, good Lord. It’s true. We’d better get out of here. Come on, Jose. There’s no telling how often they use this fire.”

  Wil and Jose hurried back to Echo and Baby, leaving behind the evidence of boiled human skulls from the most vulnerable in all species: the newborns.

  *

  Echo finished digging in the newly-arrived fertile soil. As she dug a hole, Baby would drop in a seed and lightly cover it over.

  The Kreyven worked hard and fast, filling the cavern with the smell of sulfur as it carved more efficiently than a modern-day steam shovel. The basin for the waterway began to fill with water that trickled down the wall of the cavern from the new hole the Kreyven had punched in the ceiling. Before long, the trickle had turned into a nice, steady flow, having been directed from an underground spring through a new pathway created by the Kreyven through solid rock.

  Wil and Jose appeared, watching as the minions and the Kreyven finished their miraculous creation: a brand new and productive growing field.

  Once Baby and Echo had emptied half the caskets, Wil and Jose joined in the planting. The Kreyven sent solid ribbons from its body along the freshly-planted rows to create trenches, which the trickles of water sought out hungrily, bringing lifeblood to the waiting miracle seeds.

  After laboring long and hard, the two Elders and golden minions made their way back to the small hole Wil and Jose had kicked through the wall. They turned back to the new growing field to watch the Kreyven conclude the life-giving construction.

  “This is taking longer than I thought, Wil. We need to get out of here.” Jose’s anxious whispers made them all jittery.

  “Calm down. We’re almost done. If someone shows up, the Kreyven will take care of it.”

  “But Wil, we can’t have that. They would never return to discover the new groves.”

  “Look, Jose. We’re almost done. Relax, would you?”

  The Kreyven hovered over the new field from its position in the cavern wall. They watched as it appeared to puff itself up, increasing its monstrous size. The odor of fresh organic loam combined with sulfur to make the air unbreathable.

  They backed away as the Kreyven let loose with a black substance, spraying it over the new soil. It then began to shoot a mucky flesh-colored substance onto the walls of the great cavern. As the substance hit the walls, it spread, changing color and lighting the cave with ultraviolet light that would, in time, take on all the properties of the wondrous membrane that lined the walls of the Hive.

  The Kreyven turned to the hole in the wall where the foursome huddled. It slowly descended from the heights of the cavern to suspend itself in front of the opening.

  Echo wobbled out from behind Wil and Jose to peer at the creature. The Kreyven swayed to the left and to the right, appearing to assess the minion.

  “Echo, I think you need to back away.” Jose slipped himself in front of the little creature. The Kreyven jerked back up to the highest point of the cavern. Echo’s aura pricked Jose’s mind.

  “It is not necessary, Brother Jose. The Kreyven is just curious. It is in the service of the Womb. It is time for us to go. It needs to seal up this hole and remove all traces of our visit.”

  They backed away just in time as the Kreyven gathered itself to attack the hole, leaving the growing field silent but charged with miraculous activity under the blanket of extraordinary earth.

  Chapter 2

  Ginger Mae and Daisy finished breakfast, the remains of Netty’s delicious purplewort loaf lying in crumbs on their plates.

  It had been three months since Seth’s justified death by the Kreyven. From the looks of the rest of the survivors, that was now a distant memory; camaraderie was back in boisterous force.

  They ducked as flying food sailed over their heads from another table, accompanied by hoots and sniggers.

  Ginger Mae breathed a grateful sigh as she realized most of her confidence regarding their safety sat firmly back in place.

  “Momma, it’s time for me to begin my lessons. I’ll have Kimir accompany me to my lab.”

  “Oh, you will, will you?” She smiled at her seven-year-old precocious daughter. “Since when is it your lab?”

  “Silly you, Momma, you know I alone use the lab, hence the possessive pronoun.”

  Ginger Mae rolled her eyes at Daisy. Her daughter dribbled water from her mouth onto her plate, watching it splatter. She stuck a finger to her tongue and sucked, watching her mother from the corner of her eye, a suggestion of mirth tugging at her lips.

  “Don’t put your fingers in your mouth, Daisy.”

  She slapped the finger away from her child’s lips. Her head swam with the realization that Daisy’s powerful mind was robbing her of the joys normal children experienced.

  Yes, the Hive did present limitations to a child’s growth, but they truly had everything they needed for productive childrearing. Trees to climb in the growing fields while the pollinators slept, water to splash in the bathing caves, corridors upon corridors to play in, creatures to further the development of responsible compassion, a huge and diverse family of caring adults to model after, healthy and unusual foodstuffs to delight the most finicky child, and a first-rate library to expand the mind.

  Ginger Mae tapped her work-reddened finger on her smooth cheek as her eyes tracked Netty and Abby’s figures, wings tightly molding their backs, tawny tails flexing naturally as they moved around the sink washing bowls.

  She couldn’t help but wonder what exactly they had planned to do to Daisy if she had been willing to relent and give permission for this procedure they wanted her to have so badly.

  She glanced again at her unusual daughter, assessing the likelihood that she would eventually demand the procedure herself.

  Daisy’s hair hung thin and lank, no matter what she did to it. Her pale skin shined with an unblemished translucence, giving her a fragile appearance. But her light-gray eyes; they sparkled with unbridled curiosity and intelligence. She could identify a spark of raw determinati
on that had not been there a mere year ago.

  And how was it that Daisy had miraculously learned to speak upon her first meeting with Abby?

  “Sorry.” Ginger Mae nodded hello as Peter and Bonnie squeezed by in their perpetual hurry to assist with the animals. Sighing over the mystery of her daughter, she rose to carry their dirty plates to the sink so her day could begin.

  First up, bathing the stranger; then off to start the daily census. Parking Daisy in a chair, she crossed back to Abby to question her.

  “Will she be with you all day?”

  Abby gave her a gentle smile. “If that’s okay with you. I have work to do in the library, and Netty will set up her lessons.”

  “You mean hook her up to those weird contraptions.”

  The young Elder ran her hand up and down Ginger Mae’s arm, the warmth of her golden touch soothing her.

  “I’m sorry. I know she’s only learning things. It’s just that she’s my only child. The only child in the Hive if you don’t count Kimir. That makes her the youngest.”

  “You can trust me, Ginger Mae. She’s in good hands. And she’s so happy. We all want that for her. I know you do too. Even if her path is meant to be different.”

  Ginger Mae nodded, giving Abby the suggestion of a smile.

  “Let’s just make sure it’s not too different, okay?”

  With her firm tone, she had made it clear to Abby that she was the one in charge. Waving to Daisy and picking up her clipboard, towels and small bucket of hot water, she said goodbye and left the homey seductiveness of the kitchen.

  Lumbering along the stone corridors, careful not to slosh her hot water, she unexpectedly caught a glimpse of Gloria and Billy sneaking into the sleeping caves. Hmmm, bet I know what they’re up to.