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

by Venessa Kimball

  I let my head fall to the right and look at Nate and Xander. What had Nate jumping from his seat? Was it what we saw beyond the veil, the Dwellers? Was it a glimpse at our future? Was he having premonitions of what is to come? I watch his broad chest rise and fall rapidly, his brow narrowing framing his closed eyes. Xander’s expression warrants fear and worry. My heart softens a little watching him take care of Nate. They both have become close in a sense; something I did not expect would ever happen. They hated each other from the get go, cutting words and cheap shots when they were in each other’s presence. When we discovered they were cousins, I was shocked and their own shock was extreme. The initial anger was nothing compared to the escalation at the cabin in Tennessee. On top of everything else, my growing affection and feelings for both of them and theirs for me made our interactions torturous and put us in harm’s way multiple times.

  When the three of us were laying there dying on the floor of the Kyoto facility after returning from beyond the veil, Xander and I took each other’s hands and both laid a hand on Nate’s unconscious body. That was the moment I realized that no matter what, none of us would let the other die so easily. We would fight for each other no matter what. That is what scared me the most and I knew that putting space between us was the only way to slowly start the process of separation before I had to fulfill this shit storm of a legacy. Still, witnessing Xander caring for Nate without me is disheartening, knowing I’ve chosen to pull away from them. One man that balances my soul and one that sets it ablaze.

  As I continue to watch both of them undetected, Nate’s breathing begins to slow and Xander sits back in his chair, more relaxed now. I guess he feels the weight of my gaze, because he looks over to me across the short aisle between us. He tries to hide the worry on his face, but he’s too slow and I catch it just before he mouths the words, “He’s fine. Just rest.”

  Xander putting his needs for his cousin above his own just about sends me over the edge as the knot in my throat tightens. I nod and quickly shift my body to the small plane window and look into the darkness.

  CHAPTER 4: ALLIES OR ENEMIES

  Jesca

  Hearing a shuffle behind me, I look between the window and the seat. A flash of red hair only Corinna can possess catches my eye. When we loaded the plane, Corinna had requested she and Sam going in our plane as opposed to the one carrying Jake, Nick, Elicia, Luke and Siobhan. I guess we were the safest bet for Sam since we had brought him back from beyond the veil. The rest of the team that stayed behind in Kyoto did not have a warm greeting for him. Corinna’s protection when we traversed back was his only immediate redeeming quality. I imagined Jake, Luke and Nick wanting to take him down. The rest of us, those who had been beyond the veil with him, weren’t able to explain that Sam had become our ally. We were flopping around on the ground, dying from suffocation. At the debriefing, we told Monica and the others how Sam had been manipulated all these years and how he had helped us get back. It was greeted with skepticism.

  With Jake and Luke still playing devil’s advocate against Sam’s intentions and Corinna defending him relentlessly, Monica divided us up between the planes herself. Before boarding I asked Corinna if Isabel had gone ahead with Caleb, Balthazar, Eve, the babies, and Daniel. Monica said that Eve was going to need help with the babies. Isabel wanted Corinna to go with her, but Corinna did not want to leave without Sam.

  Monica had pulled me aside before boarding and told me that Roan, Delilah, and Bethany found Balthazar and the others quickly after their arrival to the facility below the Etowah Mounds weeks after they departed the Kyoto facility; almost a year ago. I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that we have been gone from our Earth for an entire year. I expect one of the others to cave any minute and tell us that we really weren’t gone that long. That it was a joke and we were only gone a few days and nothing in our world has really changed. But, the images in the video room back in the Kyoto facility bring me back to reality, this new uncharted reality; the playing field had definitely been altered along with the means of survival.

  A bright flash of lightning catches my eye outside of the small shatterproof glass. It showers down to the Earth, like fingers reaching for the surface. It lights the clouded sky and reveals the distance between us and the ground, but nothing more, no glaring evidence of what we are about to encounter. I feel the pressure within the cabin change and hear the sound of the elevators on the tail of the plane adjusting for descent. My throat constricts as I swallow hard and sit stiffly in my chair, looking straight ahead at the headrest in front of me. I feel the seat next to me shift as someone occupies it.

  “Daughter?” Ezra says seeming to show humor.

  I bite my lip nervously, but try to play along with his banter as I reply, “Father?”

  Ezra’s audible sigh is heavy with sympathy. “What are you thinking?”

  Slow to answer him, knowing for the first time in a long time I have my thoughts to myself. He calls my name. “Jes?”

  I turn to face him. “What do you think Einstein would have thought?”

  “About what exactly?”

  “All of it. Traversing wormholes, other universes, other life, the intersection, the Copula, the end of the world as we know it.”

  I look at him before I carry on, adding sarcastically, “I could go on.”

  Ezra crosses his arms over his chest and leans his head back on the headrest before he says, “I think he would have wished he had done a better job at protecting humanity from what it has uncovered.”

  I look at Ezra and sigh, summing up Einstein’s persona, “The original guardian, huh.”

  Ezra bows his head, accepting my answer and adds, “More of a guardian than we realize it seems.”

  I stare out the window again, tugging on my lower lip as silence stretches between us.

  Ezra cuts the silence short, “Now, tell me what you were really thinking about.”

  Shit, there’s just no sidestepping him. I lower my hand from my lip and place my palms on my black cargo pants. “Premonitions––pieces of the puzzle. Nothing blaring, ‘Here I am! I’m the answer! This is what you need to do to save us!’”

  My voice has increased in volume without me realizing it until I’ve already spoken. I breath in a calming breath before I continue, “There is a new piece to the puzzle. Parts of my legacy, I think.”

  Ezra is quick to command, “Tell me.”

  I humor him with what I’ve seen in my last vision. “An old man chanting in a cave with me sitting across from him. A fiery pit separating us. The Dwellers—”

  Ezra interrupts me, “Dwellers? So you’ve accepted the name too?”

  Not expecting his question, I shrug and nod, “Yeah, that is what they do, right? Occupy, then dwell in a human until it is only a shell.”

  Ezra looks from me to the back of the seat in front of him with disgust on his face. “Yes, that is what they do.”

  I continue relaying my vision, “The Dwellers are chasing us through the woods and—”

  Pulling my lip between my fingers nervously, I reflect on the scene of the Dwellers stalking us quickly, bearing down on us, then me being yanked from the woods. But wait, there are too many missing parts. What happened to everyone else? I shake my head not wanting to imagine the worst, but it is too late.

  Ezra interrupts my silent internal battle wanting me to continue, “And?”

  I tuck my arms tightly around my ribs and wearily glance at Ezra. “What am I getting you into?”

  He looks at me as if I’m insane for asking this. “Getting me into? Um, you’re not getting me into anything I haven’t already been in.”

  “This is not like driving into Florida to nab some Sondian kingpin. Michael—the Dwellers—they—” I stumble over my words, not knowing how to describe what we could be encountering when we land.

  Ezra turns his whole body to me and le
ans in. His eyes narrow on me and his lips tighten as he bellows, “Look—”

  I glance around the cabin and notice Sebastian and Xander are tuned in by their false expressions and mannerisms of ignoring us.

  Realizing his tone, Ezra stops himself then begins again more calmly. “You did not GET us into anything. We each have a stake in this, Jes. Believe it or not, I think we are all bound by this legacy, not just the fellowship and definitely not just you. The more and more I’m learning from Sebastian and what you see in your visions, I question all of our involvement. What if all of us were akin to the ancient natives that called upon this legacy we are tracking back to Georgia? Elicia, Monica, Nick, Luke, Xander, Nate, Corinna, me, everyone—even Sam.”

  His including Sam Crest in this legacy sounds out of place coming from him under the circumstances. I mean, even though he was manipulated into murdering my mother, his being a part of us didn’t seem completely real yet. Everyone who was beyond the veil knew the truth though. Michael was the puppet master all along, pulling Sam’s strings, making him an enslaved killer until Sam cut those strings. My mom was a victim among many others. I honestly don’t know how Sam will fare with all of that guilt on his chest and all of the guardians still holding him to those malignant acts.

  Skeptical, I respond, “That’s unlikely.”

  He retorts, “Where is your proof that they are not?”

  Annoyed, I raise my voice again, “Where is your proof that they are? In me? In Sebastian?”

  Xander eyes Ezra and me with concern and I clam up again, fiddling with my lip. A moment later, I look back at him and see he is occupied with Nate’s restlessness again.

  Ezra’s rumbling whisper is confident, strong, and brings me back to our conversation. “The proof is in you, I know it. We are headed to the facility beneath the mounds in Georgia, where this legacy began. Between you, Sebastian and what ancient proof lies within those mounds, I know that it will surface and reveal how we are all interwoven in this quest.”

  I look into his eyes and see the unyielding conviction within them. “You believe that in my head and Sebastian’s head, under those mounds, there are answers to how we are all part of this—this crazy, insane evolution and that we can fix it?”

  His eyes do not leave mine when he nods firmly. I can say that Ezra has always been spot on with his theories, since the moment I met him in Margot’s Deli. Why should this be any different? I mumble, “Great.”

  I look back out the window and continue fiddling with my lip. Another flash of lightning illuminates the sky, casting light on the ground. We are close to landing, maybe five thousand feet from the earth.

  CHAPTER 5: DESCENT

  Jesca

  There are no flashing runway lights, just darkness with flashes of earth below lit by lightning. A voice comes over the intercom. “We are going dark in the cabin. The less light, the better. Don’t need any more attention than we are already putting out there.”

  I hear a voice break in behind his. The urgent tone is gruff and militant. “When you land, go completely dark, no light at all. Cut the engine, everything, you got me?”

  The pilot’s voice urgently responds, anxiety rising in his voice, “Yeah, yeah, got it.”

  The cabin goes pitch black suddenly; the only light is the random strikes from the constant storm produced from our atmosphere. Instantly my body melds to the seat and my hands clasp the armrests. I keep my eyes on the partially lit scene outside the window. Every flash of lightning exposes the ground getting closer—closer—closer. The sound of the plane creaking and jarring from the force of the pressure building fills the cabin.

  The pilot announces raggedly, “Three thousand feet. I need a guide! Now!”

  The gruff, militant voice replies, “Three flashes. Watch for it.”

  The pilot answers, “Copy.”

  I breathe in deeply, shakily. I feel the warmth of a hand rest over mine.

  Ezra.

  The pilot mutters, “Two thousand feet. Where are my flashes?”

  A gruff voice breaks in, “We need you closer. Too dangerous this far out.”

  My heart is pounding out of my chest and Ezra tightens his grip on my hand. Not sure if it is to calm me or relieve his own fear.

  The pilot announces, “Fifteen hundred feet! Deploying landing gear!”

  The gruff voice patches in, “Five hundred more feet, then the flashes.”

  Pilot answers anxiously, “Copy.” The plane jars hard to the right, but the pilot corrects quickly. “Damn it! The wind is strong!”

  The gruff voice warns him, “Wind shears bad here. Take it easy.”

  Our pilot replies, “Copy. One thousand feet. I need those flashes now!”

  The gruff voice muffles as he speaks to someone else, “Now, three flashes!”

  With my eyes pinched closed, I imagine the pilot seeing the three flashes.

  The pilot confirms, “I see them! Heading in now!”

  Relief washes over me. Ezra’s grip loosens on my hand and I sense he feels relief as well.

  The gruff voice reminds the pilot, “Keep your taxi light. Kill the engine as quickly as you can. We need to get the rest of your team in.”

  He must have been talking about the other plane that held Monica and the others.

  Gliding.

  Gliding.

  Gliding.

  Touchdown.

  “Killing the lights. We are down. We are down. Slowing. Slowing.”

  The pressure of the pilot setting the landing flaps and gear into position tries to jerk me out of my chair, but I lock my body in place.

  The gruff voice starts yelling at those around him through the intercom. “Move, move, move!”

  The pressure of the braking gear eases off quickly.

  The pilot calls out again, “Slowing, slowing.”

  When the pressure pushing me against my chair is gone, Ezra releases my hand and I hear the click of his seatbelt. I release mine as well and hear the rest of the team do the same. I can only see silhouettes of them around me among the lightning through the windows as they shift in their seats and stand.

  The plane lurches to a stop and I grip the back of the seat in front of me to keep from falling forward.

  The pilot opens the cockpit door and heads straight for the hatch. I notice him holding down a button to the right of the door. Seeing his urgent movements, we all rise from our seats and move into the middle aisle closing in behind him. With a better look at the pilot now, I can see he is visibly sweating from the stress of what is transpiring. With his free hand, he draws something from his waistband, a gun. Holding it in one hand, he releases the button with the other and places it on the handle of the door. “The air-stairs are down, I’m opening her up. Follow close behind,” he says roughly.

  The pilot throws his weight into the latch and twists, opening the metal door to the outside world. Sebastian takes post behind the pilot, with Ezra then me behind him. As we move toward the door, I turn to find Xander and Nate. They are right behind me. As I come face to face with the doorway, I hesitate for a moment, but it doesn’t last. I step down the metal stairs, closing the small gap between Ezra and me. The sound of another plane engine dying a short distance from us is instant relief; the others have landed safely.

  The clanking sound of metal rubbing metal and pounding shoes hitting gravel is getting closer and closer. The lightning flashes long enough to see a light mist of fog being parted by a vague line of bodies moving toward us. I stiffen for a moment, remembering the last time I encountered dark shadows coming at me. It didn’t end well. The flash of light is quick and it’s illumination gone, leaving us in the darkness again. “I can’t see anything,” I say nervously.

  I feel Xander and Nate hovering close behind.

  Nate whispers, “Yes, you can. Look closer, focus on their energy. Now, look
in their direction. Do you see them?”

  Xander hisses, “I can’t see anything!”

  I do what Nate says and sure enough, I see them, more than shadows, but less-than-clear figures. They have weapons; they must be soldiers. I whisper, “I see them. They are hazy, but I see them.”

  The movement of the other plane’s hatch opening catches my attention and I aim my focus to the other guardians exiting. Once again, I see the shapes moving from the plane and a cluster of equipped soldiers moving toward them.

  We each have two soldiers flanking us. One soldier stands in front of Sebastian facing us; he must be the one in charge. Just as I concentrate on his essence, his gruff voice commands us, “Hang out any longer and we will be swarmed. Let’s move. Stay close. Keep the line tight.”

  It’s the same voice from the intercom on the plane. The soldiers around us grunt, acknowledging his hushed command as we shuffle forward, clustered together in a pack.

  CHAPTER 6: DWELLERS

  Jesca

  The air is thick like it was beyond the veil, breathable, but saturated. The pound of our feet on the gravel lacks the echo of an open space. It’s strange because this is an open space. I slow for a moment, and then widen my stride to keep the line tight. The telltale humming vibration stirs deep within me and sparks the pangs of nausea and vertigo instantly. I reach my arms out to hold onto something, anything solid; Ezra’s shoulder in front of me is the closest thing to grab for. Immediately, he tries to turn and face me, but I squeeze his shoulder and push him on. “No, keep going.”

  “You okay?” asks the soldier to my right.

  I hold on to Ezra and close my eyes. Closing them helps with the dizziness sometimes. “They know we are here.”