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

by Venessa Kimball

  We walk for about fifty yards when Nate grabs me by the shoulder. His voice is calm, but low. “To your right.”

  I look in the direction and see a flash of something, somebody small and low to the ground, moving with immense speed, zigzagging through the forest. Then as quickly as it appeared, it disappears beyond the canopy of the woods, into a sunlit opening in the forest.

  I move forward in the direction it went, curious to find out if we are on the edge of the forest. Nate grabs hold of my arm. I see worry in his eyes as he shakes his head at me.

  I look back at the canopied opening. “We have to be on the edge of the forest. Maybe there is a lake or a stream beyond it.”

  Nate says, “Maybe there is a creepy little boy wanting to kill us beyond it.”

  I roll my eyes, and then look at Nate.

  He responds defensively. “What? It’s true.”

  I look down at the leaf-covered ground as I think and notice it’s soggy. Soggy, actually. I start walking around in circles, then branch out a little widening the circle as I step.

  Nate moves out of my way when I approach him, stepping and pushing on the ground with my full weight. Nate asks, “What are you doing?”

  I look at him and push with the weight of my foot and it sinks farther into a muddy, wet area. “Water.”

  Nate looks at the spot I am standing in and scans a few feet out in front of me. He walks over to a spot he is focused on and steps. “This is a small creek bed covered with leaves. It was damp a ways back, but it’s definitely soaked here.”

  Nate slides his feet systematically, making progress down the creek bed now. I look to my left, the canopied opening at the edge of the woods is still vacant but I feel something watching us.

  I stay alert as Nate takes us down the creek bed. I am facing the opposite direction of the creek walking backward when Nate gets my attention. “Ezra.”

  I partially turn in his direction. He is in a wide stance looking down at a small stream that is flowing in the small creek. I wonder if there is some kind of spring below the surface here.

  Nate squats down, looks at me and then cups his hands under the small trickle.

  I rush to him and grab his forearm before he puts his cupped hands to his lips. “Wait!” We can’t be sure it is water unless we try it. I should be the one, not Nate. I cup my hand under the small stream of water, collect a small amount and bring it to my nose. There is no odor. I take my finger and dip it in my dampened palm. Nate is watching me closely. I pull my finger back and place it on my tongue. No bitter taste or sweet taste. I look at him and nod. “Drink up.”

  We both take turns cupping our hands under the small stream and drink. I drink until I am sated. I stand and look down stream while Nate continues to drink and run water over his face. I start to walk along the stream. It begins to widen a bit. I turn back to make sure Nate is all right. He stands and turns to look in my direction, then follows me.

  The small trickle in the creek bed becomes a smooth moving stream now. The creek has widened by a good foot and river rocks are visible on the bottom of the bed now. I remember this place. I stop and look down stream again. The bed widens even more and curves to the right, but I cannot see beyond it due to the sharp turn. I close my eyes for a moment and listen to the stream and the wind rustling the leaves. I breathe in deeply; it even smells the same. Nate is by my side now. “What is it? What do you hear?”

  I open my eyes and walk with determination down along side of the creek and around the sharp bend in it. As soon as I make the sharp turn to the right, I see it. I lose my footing a little and step ankle deep into the stream. Nate rushes up to me and grabs hold of my arm to make sure I don’t fall.

  It is just as if I was standing in the middle of Noses Creek back in Georgia. The stream is moving swifter now and just beyond Nate and me. There is a dip in the bed before it widens to a good six or seven feet, beyond that the rushing subsides and the water calms. The canopy of trees above intertwines, and the reflection in the water below mirrors the interlocking branches above. The vortex-like image pulls my eyes to the edge of the creek where the canopy’s tight-knit branches open up to intense sunlight. I whisper, “I know this creek. It leads to the Etowah River.”

  Nate’s voice is skeptical. “Ezra, we are in another universe, another realm. The river you know doesn’t exist here.”

  “I know it doesn’t seem possible, but this is the creek. We’re seeing it for a reason.”

  I step back out of the creek and continue heading downstream, frustrated with my progression.

  Nate calls to me, “Ezra! It is an illusion! Remember, bad things happen with illusions!”

  I start to turn around to look back at Nate, when my eyes pass over a small figure hiding partially behind a tree. I do a double take and land on the most hauntingly familiar green eyes. Nate starts to move toward me, but I put my hand up, warning him not to move any closer. I’m sure my eyes reflect shock and Nate immediately responds by stopping in his tracks on the edge of the creek bed.

  The little girl slowly steps away from the tree, toward me, then stops. Those startling green eyes and dark chestnut hair remind me of—

  “Jesca?”

  It can’t be her. It’s an illusion. The little girl speaks in the most delicate voice, her voice, “It is an illusion, but not to manipulate you. I didn’t want to startle you with my true form.”

  Nate starts moving toward me again, concerned by the presence of this little girl. The girl watches him and me both cautiously. True form? What is her true form?

  The little girl takes small steps toward me, moving closer and closer until she is standing inches away from me. Looking up at me with wide eyes, she says, “I am going to show you who I am. When I do, we will need to move quickly. I have been able to go unnoticed this long, but now that I am revealing myself to you, they will come quickly. Do you understand?”

  I nod and reply, “You mean the beings here.”

  She nods quickly. “I am not one of them. I came to help you.”

  Nate is next to me now, visibly mesmerized by this little girl. “Are you an angel?” he asks

  The little girl looks at him and smiles then says, “Yes and no.”

  She looks back up at me and smiles, letting me know her play on my words is intentional. Suddenly, her body is surrounded by a white halo of light, becoming so intense, she blends into it. Just as quick as the white light intensifies, it diffuses, revealing a woman who once stilled and stole my heart and soul. Anna.

  I slowly bring my hand to my mouth. I feel my heart swell and ache and my throat constricts as I gulp down the cry of joy and pain surfacing from within me. A million thoughts run through my mind. A million things I want to tell her about my life without her and how it isn’t the life I ever wanted for us. I want to tell her how her beautiful, strong, resilient, amazing daughter has made me so proud and that she was our amazing blessing––the world’s amazing blessing. She leans her head to the side and smiles softly at me as she seems to memorize every inch of my face.

  I look at Nate, making sure he sees what I am seeing. He is wide-eyed and looking from me to Anna. I clear my throat and wipe my eyes on the back of my arm. “Nate, this is Anna.”

  Anna shifts her gaze to Nate, studies his face, and then grins. “Nathaniel Sera.” Suddenly, her head snaps to the left and her smile disappears. She looks back at me and Nate. “We need to move, fast and now. Jesca contacted me and told me you were here.” She starts to move away, beckoning us to follow her. “Michael—he is here and he is using Sam.” I reach for her hand and actually touch flesh. I look down at my hand holding her arm, something I had not done in over sixteen years, and my mind goes blank.

  Nate saves my silence and says, “Wait, how is Michael using Sam? Jesca stabbed him on the cliff back in Japan. We thought he was dead.”

  Anna shakes her head.
“No, he is here. Michael is slowly depositing ideas into Sam’s head, fueling his jealousy for you and your team, and his rage for me. He is controlling Sam.”

  Anna takes a few more steps backward. “Michael has taken over his soul and he is coming for you. We need to get you to a safe and secure place, somewhere we can remain out of sight until Jesca and the team arrives.

  Anna suddenly looks behind her. “I can feel him near. We have to go.”

  She turns on her heels and starts running. Nate and I start after her, our speed equivalent to hers as we weave through the forest, sticking close to the water’s edge of the stream. She makes a swift turn to the left and we are now heading toward an opening in the canopy of trees where a much larger and faster moving river intersects. It is the Etowah River, just as I thought.

  Anna is only feet in front of us now, and only about one hundred yards from the end of the forest and edge of the river. She speeds ahead and catapults her body into the air, soaring across the river and landing solidly on the other side, crouched and watching us.

  As we approach, Nate asks me, his voice filled with worries, “Ezra, can we make it across?”

  I shake my head. “No questions, Nate. Just jump!”

  The sound of our pounding feet to solid ground is replaced with the sound of the river passing below us as we jump across, landing with a thud on the other side. Anna pauses to make sure we land soundly, and then continues to run ahead. Nate and I scramble to our feet to catch up to her.

  Anna is the first to break through the dense woods as she comes to a halt.

  “Why did you stop?” I ask her.

  Anna looks around, then at Nate and me. “This wooded area, it is in Georgia, isn’t it?”

  I start to ask her how she knows, and then realize she must have visited us in Marietta without us knowing her presence.

  Anna nods at me and smiles quickly, and then it disappears. She turns back to take in her surroundings. “These beings have created this illusion from your thoughts.”

  Anna looks back at me with concern and curiosity now. “They have found a way into your head and now that Jesca is coming, they are manipulating the design to suit her.”

  I mentally backtrack what we have seen since being here. The creek, Noses Creek, the Etowah River. I look at Anna and Nate. “The creek, it runs through Marietta. It is about three miles from Jesca’s old house.”

  Anna nods at me, and then looks at Nate. “Have you felt Jesca’s presence yet?”

  Nate shakes his head. “No, not yet.”

  Anna moves toward him. “When you do, she will be confused. Tell her we will meet her at her old house in Georgia.”

  Nate nods, understanding that she won’t comprehend it until she sees it.

  “I will lead us from here, I say.

  As I start to walk, Nate stops us. “Wait. Anna, you said team. Do you know who is coming with Jesca?”

  Anna nods. “Sebastian and Xander.”

  Sebastian? He shouldn’t be risking himself. I can understand Xander, because of the link between him and Nate, but not Sebastian?

  Nate’s expression changes; the way he turns his body away from us slowly, the tension weighted in his shoulders, I know it is because of his feelings for Jesca and the fact that Xander is accompanying her. Nate walks away a few feet, then stops and just stands still. God help them, it isn’t just the link between her and Nate that draws them to each other anymore––it’s becoming love. On the other hand, it isn’t the lack of a link that draws Xander and Jesca to one another either. Once again, love is there. My Jesca will be forced to make a choice very soon and that choice could bring both blessings and tragedies into her life and those around her.

  Suddenly, Nate drops to his knees like a sack of potatoes. I rush to him and kneel in front of him. His face is pale and his clear blue-green eyes are fixed on something beyond me. I look behind me to see what he sees, but there is nothing there.

  I put my hands on his shoulders and squeeze, “Nate, can you hear me?”

  He is non-responsive. I call to him again more sternly, “Nate! Hey!”

  No response, just a blank look. Anna is standing above us, scanning the area around us anxiously. “Get him up. Something is watching us again, I can feel it.”

  I stand and try to haul him up by the arms, but he won’t budge. I grunt loudly, “I can’t move him.” I scramble back down to my knees and grab each side of his head, try to lock my eyes on his, and yell at him, “Nate, I need you to get up!” Nothing. I repeat myself repeatedly, hoping that one of my requests will break through the comatose state he is in.

  After repeating my chant a handful of times, he blinks rapidly and his dilated pupils meet mine. Nate parts his lips, releases his breathe, and says slowly, “They are here.”

  CHAPTER 15: NUMB

  Nate

  Xander. The muscles in my chest tighten when I hear her say his name. I can’t help but be jealous knowing that I am here and he is her comfort. I turn away from Anna and Ezra, needing some space. I’m not surprised or even upset that he is part of the team coming with Jesca. I guess I wouldn’t want it any other way. I mean, with him here and the link we share, we will both be stronger for Jesca and the team to get us home.

  She is going to be so pissed about me falling into that wormhole with Ezra. She’ll probably want to kick my ass. I feel a smile creep onto my face and I close my eyes to picture her face. God, I missed her smile. The last time I smiled with her was on our date that night in Florida. Ezra asked me to distract Jesca while he took care of the Sondian tracker that had been watching us at the bookstore for days. I jumped at the opportunity to take her out and make that night memorable. Her smiling as she sat across from me. When I held her in my arms and we danced. Holding her in my arms felt perfect, like everything was exactly how it should be.

  But that night, we also agreed that we needed to try to distance ourselves, curb our physical contact, and that our attraction was all because of our link. I didn’t fully believe that, but I wanted to see if Jesca did and if I was reading too much, into what was going on between us. I wanted to know that she felt something more too. I brought it up, hoping that by chance Jesca would shoot it down and tell me it wasn’t just the link that made us, us. That was stupid of me. She agreed our link set the attraction in motion and we needed to distance ourselves. What did I do? I agreed with her. Right then, I should have told her I couldn’t believe that what we felt for each other was being defined by our link.

  Slowly I feel a tingling energy start in the tips of my fingers and toes. I open and close my fist to try to shake the tingling numbness. As the numbness creeps up my limbs, I try to turn around and seek Ezra out for help, but the movement doesn’t come, I am numb, paralyzed. My vision begins to blur, like a fuzzy television channel, until I see nothing but darkness. I suck in a deep breath, panicking from the turn of events. I try to speak, but not even a whisper escapes my mouth, just a long breath. A swishing sound coming from every direction draws my attention from the panic I am experiencing. Slowly, the blinding darkness I have been inflicted with is broken with streaks of light increasing to an intense blinding glow.

  I am overwhelmed with the presence of Jesca all around me suddenly. Then the outline of Jesca’s face surfaces from within the glow for a brief moment. Just as quickly as it surfaces, it falls back below the glow again. No, wait! I call for her urgently, “Jesca!”

  The outline of someone else surfaces now, a man I think. Another surfaces before they both fall below the glow again. Could it be Xander and Sebastian? I concentrate on the glowing wall of light they just disappeared into and walk directly toward it. The glow’s warmth gets stronger as I move closer and closer. I reach out in front of me to feel for the surface of the glow and yank my hand back when it meets a harsh electric current. I remember this feeling now. The same thing happened when I traversed through the w
ormhole with Ezra and Sam. The energy in there was so strong, it knocked me unconscious. I need to get in there, let them know how to get to us before they arrive. Without wasting another second, I lunge into the field of glowing energy.

  CHAPTER 16: DISLODGE

  Jesca

  Sebastian’s voice is steady and true. “Now.”

  When I press the button on my devices, within seconds, I feel the tickling sensation of electric current on the nape of my neck. The tickle becomes a pulsing that marches in time with the pumping of my heart. I must look frightened when my eyes meet Xander’s because he squeezes me tighter and mouths, “It’s okay.”

  It feels like my life force is being siphoned out with each pulsing heartbeat. Without warning, a burst of hot energy hits me in the face, astounding me. When I open my eyes again, I am looking at a rippling pool of energy suspended in mid-air about a foot away from Sebastian, Xander, and me. It is about six feet in diameter. The outer edge of the wormhole is barely visible, matching the room we are in. The spiraling ripple of the vortex pulls my gaze into the middle of the wormhole; it’s hypnotizing. I guess I moved closer to the vortex without knowing, because I feel Xander’s hands grip me tighter. I look from Xander to Sebastian; we all nod at one another, and then walk toward the vortex.

  The first part of my body that encounters the rippling and swirling of the vortex is my forearm. It feels like it is on fire as I am grazed by the force the spiral is exuding. I panic, wondering if the pain will continue as my body passes through. My wonder is short-lived when my body is uprooted from the ground and hauled into the vortex. The pain is quick, replaced by thoughts of holding on to Sebastian and Xander as we are thrown into a tailspin. If we are pulled apart, we may never find each other beyond the veil. I want to speak to Xander and Sebastian, but I can barely catch my breath as I am being pulled and yanked down and around.