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

by Venessa Kimball

  “They” were the occupiers, the Dwellers as they’ve come to be known among the other guardians. They’d come from beyond the veil within the year we’d been gone. While we were beyond the veil fighting to keep our souls from these Dwellers, they were seeping into our world, slowly stripping the souls from our fellow man. I witnessed a taking in the makeshift viewing room in Japan along with Jesca. I remember the crowd running toward the amateur videographer, and then the grotesque, charcoal figure leapt into view, clasping a runner, and lifting off like a vulture scooping up its prey.

  Sebastian’s voice cuts into my recollection. “We have connections at Miller Army Air Field.”

  It would be night when we land. We could be touching down on a grand-scale wasps’ nest of these Dwellers. “Shelter?” I question, knowing there’s a plan, just not what exactly. Monica has discussed the details with Sebastian though, I know that much.

  “Yes, twelve minutes out from the field, Fort Wadsworth. Food, supplies, weapons and man-power,” answers Sebastian.

  “This man-power has been implanted.” I state the fact more for my own comfort than any knowledge. They would have to be with the environment shift now.

  Sebastian nods. “Military and civilians are among the group. Many bases have become makeshift facilities for shelter, supplies, medical needs, and scheduled inoculations.”

  Monica told us about the inoculation schedule. Right now, each of us is on a maintenance schedule to hold steady the levels necessary for our body to function in the current climate. We may not ever have to use it if our bodies adapt to the current element levels.

  However, if there is another climate shift, we will have to go through full infusion based on how dramatic the elements have been affected within our bodies.

  Sebastian says, “Humankind is a fighting species. This particular group formed shortly after Gabriel Griffin passed and the ‘occupiers’ began attacking.”

  I’ve always known this to be true; humankind is a fighting species. Now that humankind has evolved, adapted and survived the shift, they have become more resilient. “Harder to attack those that are implanted.”

  Sebastian nods.

  After Gabriel Griffin’s death, the Sondian stronghold and their vows that they had all of the answers to what was happening to our world and how to save it dissipated and our fellowship, those who had not been imprisoned or murdered, made their way through the chains of command to render aid. After the first symptoms of the climatic shift, considering the lives that were snuffed out, the leaders could no longer deny the help our fellowship was offering them. Monica told us that a mass production of the Copula and implantation schedules began immediately.

  Headway was being made when the second wave of element shift rained down on our world. The implanted began to fail and we were burning the candle at both ends trying to first save those who were not implanted and then those who were implanted with element-infused inoculations. How did those who weren’t implanted survive the first wave? Underground. They took shelter in caves and storm shelters. As the numbers of the implanted and adapted grew, the manpower to go out to search and rescue those who weren’t implanted began.

  The second wave was the shift that took out almost a third of our global population. Shortly after, the Dwellers began their attacks. At first, they were careful, cautious, methodic in their timing of the attacks by spacing them out. Monica said it would be weeks between attacks, but then there would be a chain of the taken. That was what they were calculating in Japan. It is hard to understand, but this was happening globally—Everywhere. Those beings that traversed into our world during the intersection through wormholes weren’t untouchable to these “occupier” beings. They were considered a threat and the occupiers laid claim on our world by attacking and killing all life forms they encountered. Like any predator, the Dwellers began with the weakest and smallest. They got brave quickly though, and the takings became more frequent, sloppy even. Makeshift and true facilities quickly became the only surefire guarantee for survival. Humankind as a society was living like rabbits in warrens, but they were alive, adapted, evolved and living for now.

  I look over at Jesca again, still and peaceful. “She carries a blueprint of answers within her, Sebastian. The mounds, the three stars. Orion’s Belt.”

  Sebastian rests his hand on my forearm, pulling my attention back to him. “The sooner we get her to Georgia, the closer to the answers we will be.”

  CHAPTER 3: FRESH SCARS

  Jesca

  The palpable smell of the trees. My feet and Roan’s treading on the crisp fall leaves beneath us. Roan’s voice is even and absolute in my mind, “We are almost there, Jes.”

  The back of his figure comes into view as he walks ahead of me. His hair is much darker, not graying.

  Anna’s voice is at my back. “Slow down, Jes, the mounds aren’t going anywhere.”

  I turn to look back at my mother and see she’s much younger.

  Wait, I remember this. This is real. It isn’t a dream. This happened when I was about nine or ten. It was my first trip to the mounds.

  The climb along the rugged trail of stones is steep. Roan is even out of breath as he huffs, “Almost to the top.”

  The sun frames his body, casting a glowing silhouette around him. His figure is darkened from the white outline.

  I’m winded, breathing faster and harder as the last few feet to the top push my body. Roan clears the top of the ridge and the sun blinds me for a moment. I pinch my eyes closed only for a second. It was just enough time for my comforting memory of my once-simple life to transform into the equivocal puzzlement of the life I possess now, a vision.

  ***

  The cast of clues quickly manifest, snapshot after snapshot in my mind. Standing in the dark woods at a river’s edge. Georgia, home.

  Anna’s voice echoes, “Follow where it leads.”

  Drudging through the creek, a fog settles on the water as I splash through it.

  The creek turns into a fast-moving stream and I quickly stop, remembering this from the lucid dream beyond the veil. I divert my eyes to the heavens. Three bright stars crowning the three statuesque mounds atop the distant ridge. Orion’s Belt, part of the constellation, Orion the Hunter and the largest of the Etowah Mounds. A whisper on the wind is all I hear. “It bears salvation.”

  The familiar voice of Michael shatters the wind and sends a chill through me. “You won’t be saved.”

  I whip around, ready to react to his threat, but he is not there. The woods have darkened and the wind has picked up. Sounds of a distinct thrum beat of a drum and chanting whispers are carried on the breeze.

  Images race through my mind again. The team, Nate, Xander, Ezra, Sebastian, Siobhan, everyone, we are running through the woods and the dark auras, the occupiers, the Dwellers, are not far behind. A glimpse of something I’ve only seen once before comes into view, the giant beings Nate, Ezra, and I encountered the night of the intersection, Nephilim. It is a group of them and they are flanking us, running alongside us, protecting us. With our abilities, we are fast, but not fast enough. They are surrounding us now, the Nephilim the barrier between them and us.

  Abruptly my body is yanked up and away from my team, the Nephilim and the Dwellers. The pull is so quick and strong, the air is knocked from me and bright shards of light begin flashing in my eyes threatening my consciousness.

  Before I pass out, the trauma of my body, hitting the hard ground rouses me quickly from falling under. A sharp pain rolls through my rib cage as I shift onto my back as best I can. Pinching my eyes closed, I force myself to breathe past the pain. The chanting has gotten louder, closer, and the words are not English. Even though I can’t understand them, my gut tells me the words being sung are not a threat, but a promise of protection.

  The pain is softening and I’m able to open my eyes to see where I’ve landed. I’m in a
cave, a red, claylike dome and I’m staring up into a small shaft in the ceiling. An iridescent glow flows through the opening and meets a small fiery pit blazing only a few feet away from me. Pulling back from the heat of the flames, I notice a face beyond the flickering blaze, an aged man with skin tan like leather and eyes the color of honey. Among the deep creviced wrinkles on his face lie markings, tattoos. My eyes trail to his moving mouth; it matches the sound of the wailing mantra I hear. The wailing is no longer a whisper, but a bold reverberation bouncing off the small-enclosed cave surrounding us.

  The ground, it trembles under me suddenly. My hands instinctively move to either side to catch myself from toppling over as the ground rises and falls beneath me, the tremors strengthening. Instead of my hands touching down on the dirt, the texture is soft, like cloth. How can that be?

  ***

  My eyes flutter open and I focus on the fabric I’m gripping. Self-aware now, I see that I’m flush against the seat and my hands have a death grip on the cloth armrests on either side of me. I turn to my right to see if anyone has noticed my erratic reaction to the vision and find myself staring into the blue eyes of my deceased friend, Angela Turner.

  Startled, I jerk back from her and cover my mouth, muffling my shocked yelp. It tears at my heart seeing her sitting here staring at me, knowing she’s only an apparition. I slowly release my grip on the chair and whisper shakily, “I’m sorry, Ang.”

  She shakes her head tenderly, closes her eyes and sends me her thoughts. “It wasn’t your fault, Jes. It was my choice.”

  She was so brave and she deserves to be honored for her courage. I’ve so much to say to her. I open my mouth to speak again, tell her how she saved us all, but her solid frame quickly diffuses into the transient soul she has become and vanishes. The space she reserved is replaced with Xander’s hard stare from across the aisle. His brow is furrowed deeply and his viridian eyes are honed in on me as he studies me. What did he see? Did he hear me talking to Ang? The way I reacted after my vision? Xander shifts his body, as if he’s going to stand and come over to check on me. I shake my head at him, stopping him from making his move. Still trained on me, his eyes look lost for a moment as his brow softens. He slowly shifts back into his seat, but keeps his protective eye on me, mouthing his question, “Okay?”

  I nod and quickly look away from him, not wanting to cave and tell him I just saw part of our future, my brave deceased friend, and I did need him. I lean my forehead on the cold glass window, let my eyes and mind wander into the dark night. It had been a year, 365 days since we had gone beyond the veil. It’s a miracle that we traversed back to an active facility after learning from our team and the makeshift video room what our world’s evolution has entailed so far. The only reason it remained active was because of Angela and my other fellow guardians, but mostly Angela’s sacrifice. If she hadn’t sacrificed herself, the other guardians would be as good as dead and we would’ve been left for dead on the tile floor of the Kyoto facility, falling like fish out of water.

  The experience of Nate, Xander and all of us who returned from beyond the veil splayed out on the ground barely breathing, dying, waiting to be saved by whomever remained in the facility has been seared into my brain forever. Re-implantation of the modified Copula was the only option of survival. None of us was given a choice in the matter. As we’ve learned from Monica, Jake and the others who remained here while we were beyond the veil, it’s the only option for human existence now. The mental trauma this discovery could have on an average, non-guardian, civilian would be unavoidable. For us, not so much on the mental trauma forefront. Before, maybe. Now, not so much. When Monica debriefed us, she said that civilians had little time for mental preparation when the proposition to either be implanted with a device that will offer the possibility of survival or die a slow death due to the climatic and element shifts resulting from the intersection. I run my hand over the small rigid scar that has formed from the re-implantation on the base of my neck, more out of habit, but some from remembrance of how reality has evolved.

  Our abilities have been affected. The new Copula and the infusion of elements along with the transformations of our core elements here on Earth have sent our inherited abilities for a loop. Telepathy, Latrosis, Pyrokinesis, Ushering, all of them have seemingly disappeared. Monica says that she isn’t sure when or if they’re going to come back. Noticing my rapid-healing scar, hearing my mother reached out to me earlier, then seeing and hearing Angela has me hopeful that they will return; it may be our only defense. The vibrations, they’re just a small tickle in my abdomen right now. They started when we traversed back to our world from beyond the veil. The warning of an attack; well, in this case, warning against the predator stalking us. That’s what it’s doing now, stalking every living human to take, occupy, dwell in and fully consume, terminating the humanity inside of the host. I can only foresee them getting stronger the closer we get to our final destination, the Etowah Mounds back home, in Georgia.

  I touch the cold glass with my fingertips. It is ironic how precise and heightened my senses have become, but my metaphysical abilities have weakened since the re-implantation. Everything appears brighter, sharper. Every smell has identifiable distinct layers of aroma; it’s become three-dimensional. Cold and hot don’t feel like they used to. Before, temperature was only felt on the surface upon touch. Now, the sensation of my fingertips on this cold glass window courses beyond my fingers, through my veins, and settles into my legs. The speed I possess has become more refined as well, my agility more precise, effortless, but I haven’t had the opportunity to try it out fully. My only chance was when I was searching for Ezra, Nate and Xander.

  I suspect my speed will be used sooner rather than later, just like the other guardians. The Dwellers, Michael if he is still alive, they already know where we’re headed. They know that the Etowah Mounds hold the answers we need to save our race and our world. If Georgia isn’t crawling with the Dwellers yet, it’s sure to be once we land. The same thing happened when we ascended the veil beyond Andromeda. The Dwellers knew we were there immediately.

  I think back on Ezra’s and my talk before leaving the facility; telling me about the legacy I’ve inherited from my ancestors and the connection with the Etowah Mounds. He told me about Sebastian discovering records of the Onoch name in Georgia records of local tribes. Ancient Indian mound builders, the Creek Indians. He couldn’t rely on his parents. Their hands were full with my grandmother and Sebastian’s sister, Elisabeth, and her afflictions; visions, crippling headaches and sleep paralysis being the telltale sign of the bloodline’s curse. Sebastian had it in mild form, but Ezra said that his sons did not show signs of the inherited afflictions. Anna did, just as her mother did. For a moment, I wonder where she went after leaving my mother with Sebastian. I take note to ask him when I get a chance.

  Ezra told me about Jaeger Sanderson, Michael’s father, and how he was involved in the legacy. He didn’t disclose much, but enough for me to realize that our family legacy and Michael’s family’s legacy ran parallel and he was determined to do whatever he needed to do to fulfill his end of the legacy.

  This legacy was a mystery and Ezra needed to simplify it fast for me. He told me that the ancient Indian tribe, the Creek Indians, thought they could seek protection during times of war from beyond our world. The protection would be conjured from rituals by those who held pure, unfathomable energy and strength within their souls. The protection surfaced within the person as abilities, gifts, to act as guardians of our world during times of evolution and catastrophe. Ezra said that the ritual and the legacy became buried when the Native Americans were forced to evolve with civilization. I figured it was those who emigrated from Europe and Ezra confirmed it. The supposed passive invasion on their tribe was not so violent and oppressive. If the natives were going to survive, they needed to evolve, which meant burying their ritual and hiding the legacy meant to protect our world. It stayed buried until
Sebastian unearthed it.

  I hear movement to my right and notice Nate’s eyes are closed, but he is shifting in his seat seeming to be agitated. Protectively, I shift toward him wanting to ask if he’s okay, but he holds his hand up to me, stopping me from advancing. Wait, did he read my mind? Is his telepathy back? I try to slip into his, but I get nothing. Xander is completely turned toward Nate now, watching him, his hands poised just in case he needs to wake him. I try to slip into Xander’s head now, but there is a void. I can’t reach either of them. Xander takes his hand and rests it on Nate’s shoulder, instantly settling him into stillness. Watching Xander’s expression with Nate reminds me of Nate settling me with his touch—before the veil. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Sam paying close attention to Xander and Nate’s interaction. His concerned look stirs my suspicions. My eyes dart to Corinna. She is watching Xander and Nate as well. Why are they watching them like that? Sam’s eyes catch my own for a moment before he takes hold of Corinna’s hand in his and lifts their intertwined hands to his lips. Corinna looks away from Nate and Xander, and focuses on Sam lovingly. It’s hard not to have suspicions with them, but I do my best to put them aside as I turn back around and lean my head back on the headrest.

  When we traversed back from beyond the veil, we were dying and needed re-implantation to survive. The new devices didn’t possess the ability to link guardians like the old, so the link between Nate and me was gone. So was the link between Nate and Xander, I think. I glance over at them and notice Nate pinching the bridge of his nose and Xander studying him.

  When I woke after re-implantation, I was in mental limbo. I couldn’t sense any of the guardians at all. I thought Nate and Xander had died from the void that had taken over the space they used to fill. I couldn’t even sense my father, Ezra. Once I saw they were alive and adapting to the re-implantation, I made a decision in regards to Nate and Xander. I decided not to choose between them, because I love them both distinctly. I can’t really explain it, but I felt that choosing between them would save them some day. I felt that then and feel it now, even if my not choosing may not save me. Yeah, it broke my heart into a million pieces to do that, but at least it gave them a chance at surviving beyond this legacy.