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

by Venessa Kimball

  I catch sight of Elicia, Siobhan, and Corinna, gaping mouths and eyes cast upward taking in the appearance of these huge beings. I admit they were by no means ugly, like the giants we saw in the Aoikigahara Forest. Actually, they were rather attractive and quite a bit shorter than the ones we encountered.

  “You don’t look like the giants we have seen. We saw giants like you during the intersection in Japan. They were much taller though—and grotesque,” I say.

  Ira looks sideways at his small titan army and they erupt in laughter. I cover my ears, just as everyone else in our herd does. Their roaring chuckles resemble the pitch of a freight train. It doesn’t take them long to see that the full-toned laughter they possess pains us and they quickly clear their throats, hushing their amusement. Ira’s low-pitched voice carries on, “Those were the Nephilim. They are thought to be the fathers of the Rephaim.”

  Ira looks sideways at the others. The fair-headed one covers his growing grin.

  Ira continues, “But, much like the other stories about us, that is false. My stock means you no harm.”

  Ira glances at Daniel, still maundering intently on about the Rephaim and Nephilim to himself. Suddenly the heavy mist that is saturating us turns to rain. My body tenses from the frigid drizzle and I see Ira look up into the sky.

  He utters, “We have much to discuss. First, we must seek shelter for you. We will follow your transport to the Tennessee compound you speak of. The beings that seek you want you dead. They will strike again soon.”

  CHAPTER 17: SAFE HAVEN

  Jesca

  Before departing, Briggs grabbed as many supplies from his truck as he could. With him and one other soldier being the only two survivors from their truck, they took the driver and passenger positions in the front cab. A few of the bags had water and food, while the majority they piled into the center aisle of our truck was weaponry; cross bows and arrows, sub machine guns, assault rifles, grenades.

  He yelled through the small panel separating us from him, “Each of you keep a gun on you until we get into that compound safely, understand?”

  None of us responded. He didn’t trust the Rephaim and I can understand that for the most part. He just lost four men to the Dwellers. We watched the entire disturbing process and were helpless and stripped of security. The Rephaim did come to our rescue though. They weren’t the enemy in my eyes.

  I take a drink of water to quench my dry throat and look out the window at Ira and one of the other Rephaim striding alongside of our truck. It is strange to see, but each of his strides is slow compared to the speed we are going. Perks of being a giant with a long stride, I guess. Makes keeping up with us humans easier. Ira must feel me looking at him because he glances over at me out of the corner of his eye and I quickly look away. I catch sight of Elicia staring out of the window in the same direction I was just looking. She is not discreet about her gawking at all. The expression on her face doesn’t hide that she is not only awestruck by their appearance, but also appreciating their attractive physique—thoroughly.

  I look past Elicia at Nick watching her out of the corner of his eye. He mutters, “Getting a good look, Licia?”

  Elicia rolls her eyes and sighs audibly. “Nick, seriously! They are giants! It is impressive! Nothing to be jealous of, babe.”

  Nick scoffs, “Jealous? I’m not jealous.”

  Elicia looks at me, raises her eyebrows, and mouths, “So jealous.”

  She turns back to him and snuggles up close, whispering something in his ear. A coy smile spreads across his face for a moment, and then he looks up and down the aisle at us. “Hey, do any of you know what language they were speaking?”

  Ezra leans forward, hands resting on his legs, and looks down the row at Nick. “Aramaic,” he says.

  Nick tries to repeat the word, “Ara—?”

  Monica cuts in, “Aramaic, an ancient language dating back to the ancient Assyrian Empire and Neo-Babylonian times.”

  Jake clears his throat, “Do you know what they were saying?”

  Monica shrugs. “My Aramaic is a bit rusty.”

  Ezra murmurs, “When he was stalking toward me, he was mentioning how I was a murderer.”

  Sitting across from Ezra, Daniel states directly at him, “You are no such thing.”

  Ezra shakes his head. “No. The giant that attacked us in the forest looked bestial.”

  Nate replies, “I remember the giant that attacked you on that field and he looked nothing like these giants. These look like super-sized men.”

  Elicia snorts and mumbles, “Amen, brother.”

  Nick nudges her with his arm and warns her verbally.

  Elicia covers her face with her hands. “Ugh, sorry, babe. Nate made it too easy.”

  I’m curious about all the mumbling Daniel was doing earlier in regards to the Rephaim and the Nephilim. Even now, his brow is furrowed deep in thought. I swallow the bit of water I just sipped and ask, “Daniel, what do you know about the Rephaim?”

  Daniel folds his arms over his chest. “They are like the Nephilim in that they are enormous in stature and genetically considered giants, but the smallest of the race. Theorists believe they lived in our world in ancient times just as the Nephilim, but disappeared with no explanation. Biblically, they are said to be the ‘fallen ones’ just like the Nephilim.” He glances at Elicia. “Obviously better looking too.”

  Elicia nudges Nick and hisses, “See, it isn’t just me.”

  Xander interjects, “Well, they are back, obviously.”

  Daniel agrees, “And there is a reason. This is our chance to find out who they are, where they come from and why they are here now.”

  I want to know all of those things too, but more than that, I wanted to know why they are helping us. Are they helping because they know our salvation is on the line as a race?

  Ezra announces, “We will find out once we get to the compound.”

  As we rock in a side-to-side motion silently, I watch Xander as he holds a bottle of water in his hands and stares at the floor of the truck. Nate is sitting next to him, leaning his head back against the window panel eyes almost shut but looking at me. He realizes I’ve seen him and he turns his head to look out the rear window of the truck. Watching two of them sitting next to each other now, I never in a million years would have expected them to be like this, bonded like brothers.

  Xander suddenly sits back, leans over and nudges Nate. “You okay?”

  Nate thinks about it before he answers quietly, “Yeah.”

  Xander puts his hand on Nate’s shoulder and squeezes. When he releases it, he takes a water bottle from the duffle bag under his seat and hands it to Nate. Is Nate sick? Is that what this is all about? Maybe it is just that simple and I’m looking too far into it.

  For a moment, I wonder if my not choosing between these two is the reason for the change in their relationship. Has their bond as cousins become strong enough that when it comes time for me to do whatever it is this legacy requires of me, they will understand my purpose and not try to stop me or get in the way? Because that is what I hope for the man who sets my soul on fire and the man who keeps it safe.

  The truck jumps suddenly, rocking us from side to side and drawing me from the scene between them. Still latched in, I turn sideways on the bench and look out the window at the gravel becoming concrete again. We pass vacant cars, vacant houses, vacant streets. I see the Rephaim with the long blond hair and silver eyes up ahead a ways, leading our caravan.

  Time passes before we turn off onto gravel once more. The terrain has gotten rocky and we are on an incline, climbing. The panel on the front wall of the truck slides open and Briggs calls out, “We are here.”

  I look outside and see Ira walking parallel to the truck beyond the tree line. Darkness and walls of a tunnel shroud the truck. Quickly, I turn to look out the back window, searching for the Re
phaim. Ira is standing just beyond the overgrowth in the woods, watching us enter the compound.

  “What about the Rephaim? Are we going to have them follow us in?” I ask urgently.

  Briggs replies, “We will talk about it in the compound.”

  Talk about it? They saved our lives and we are just going to leave them out there? I feel my blood boil as we continue to travel deep into the dark tunnel. I can’t hold my tongue. “What is there to talk about? We can’t just leave them out there!”

  Briggs responds, “There is plenty to talk about. These people in this compound have never seen these, these—”

  Daniel, Ezra and I finish his sentence, “Rephaim.”

  Briggs repeats angrily, “Rephaim. They have taken us into their compound. We don’t have the right to invite beings that we know nothing about into their safe haven.”

  Without waiting for a response to his answer, Briggs slams the panel shut.

  None of us argue or bicker about his logic. To an extent, he is right. We don’t know anything about them other than that they are giants, they found us, and helped us.

  Monica starts in, “Daniel, in Japan you said that the Hebrew meaning of Nephilim was ‘the fallen.’ You just mentioned it again about the Rephaim. Both of them are definitely descendants of each other through the gigantism gene they share, correct?”

  Ezra and Daniel exchange a look of wonder, and then Daniel nods and says, “Continue.”

  Monica continues hesitantly, “This just seems too much of a coincidence.”

  Ezra, Nate, Xander and I comment in chorus, “There are no coincidences.”

  Monica goes on, “In college, I studied Greek mythology.”

  Luke interrupts, “Like Athena, Zeus, Andromeda?”

  The last mythological name he speaks makes my skin crawl and my chest tighten. That constellation held the passage to that hell Nate and Xander were taken to by Sam on Michael’s command.

  Monica carries on, “In Greek myth, Orion was a breathtakingly handsome giant with supernatural abilities.”

  Whoa, hold on. Is she going where I think she is going with this?

  She continues, “What if they came from beyond the black hole in Orion’s Belt constellation?”

  Just like the Dwellers descending from beyond the Andromeda constellation. I saw that constellation in my—

  Monica interrupts my train of thought. “The very constellation that was revealed to Jesca in her vision beyond the veil.”

  What if they are part of our salvation?

  Monica revealing her thoughts is the revelation that reignites my urgency to talk to them. “We need to talk to them as soon as we get off this truck.”

  Ezra responds to my eagerness calmly, “Jes, just slow down.”

  The truck rolls to a stop.

  “I can’t,” I say as I release the safety strap, jump from my seat, and rush the back doors of the truck, sliding the hammer and pushing the doors open. “We need to ask them what they know!”

  Ezra, Nate and Xander are yelling at me to stop just as I jump down from the truck. Before I can run back through the tunnel, multiple hands have me snared in place. Ezra and Sebastian come around to meet me face to face and Ezra tries to bear logic, “Jes, we can’t demand that this colony open their compound to us and then turn around and put them at risk!”

  I try to pull away and groan, “We won’t be putting them at risk!”

  Ezra answers, “I know that, but they won’t!”

  Briggs comes alongside the truck yelling, “What the hell is going on back here? Ahh, of course, the feisty one!”

  His words charge my anger again and I lunge for the tunnel even harder than before. Someone takes a hold of my waist and pulls me against them, keeping me from getting away.

  Sebastian takes hold of my shoulders gently. “Jesca, we will talk to them, I promise! We all want answers as to why they are protecting us and what they know. First, we must meet the leaders of the colony, explain to them what has happened and who defended us. That is the only way we have a chance of them accepting the Rephaim. All right?”

  It wasn’t all right. I didn’t want to play fucking meet and greet with the colony when our answers could be on the other side of these rock walls. Somehow, Sebastian’s words were enough to break through my bull-headed logic and talk me out of my harsh approach. “Fine,” I mutter.

  Now that I’m no longer seeing red, I’m able to see who is holding me back, Nate, Xander and Luke. They guardedly release my arms and waist and I adjust my shirt.

  “As soon as we have met them and explained what is going on, we will tell them about the Rephaim,” Ezra says, assuring me that it will happen.

  Xander nods behind me, “They are coming this way.”

  Briggs walks toward the approaching group of men and women, meeting them halfway. Many of them are decorated with rifles slung over their shoulders as they talk with Briggs. He turns and beckons us to them.

  As a group, we walk toward Briggs and the colonists. I look up at the massive hollow area we are in as we make our way across the dirt floor of the compound. The large open space is dimly lit with scattered lanterns, some spotlighting the soaring cavernous walls around us.

  Daniel, Sebastian and Ezra lead our pack. I assume the man that Briggs is talking to is the leader of the colony. Daniel walks right up to him and extends his hand. “Tom, thank you for taking us in.”

  Daniel knows him?

  Tom shakes his head. “No thanks necessary, Daniel.”

  Daniel notices all of us looking at him, wondering what comes next. He looks back at Tom. “This is the team I told you about, the one that just came back from Japan. You already know Sebastian.”

  Sebastian sidesteps me to approach Tom. They shake hands and Sebastian relays, “Tom, it has been too long.”

  Tom replies, “It has, but I’m still alive and kicking.”

  He looks just as old as Ezra, partially graying hair and thin lines of age around his eyes.

  The colonists take turns looking at us, then at each other. Tom recognizes their exchange and our apprehension and tries to quell the tension between us. “Pardon our reaction; it is just that we have heard about you and what you all have been through in Kyoto and beyond the veil. I’m Tom Porter. Welcome to our colony,” he says graciously.

  I wonder when Daniel told them about us. I couldn’t see Briggs giving them any details specifically because he didn’t know us, didn’t understand what and why things happened to us in Japan and beyond the veil.

  He looks at Ezra, points at him, then turns back to face Daniel. “Is this Ezra?”

  Ezra steps up and shakes his hand. “Ezra Kahn.” He angles toward me to make introductions, “This is my daughter, Jesca Sera.”

  Tom folds his arms across his chest and scratches his bristled chin as he says, “Well, she was right. She was insistent that you all might have been in some trouble. Planned to leave the compound to find you in the morning actually.”

  Tom looks at the woman to his left as he continues, “She said that she needed to get to Jesca.”

  The only woman that comes to mind couldn’t have possibly come here looking for me, because she’s dead. Anna would be the only one looking for me.

  “Now, now, dear. There is no truth in that and you know it,” a mature and familiar vivacious voice rises from behind the cluster of colonists behind Tom. The colonists’ part, exposing the woman that opened her home and her heart to me in Florida, Ms. Olivia.

  I’m speechless as she comes to stand next to Tom. Luke pushes past us and practically falls into the open arms of his mother. His staggering voice is both tender and maddened as he says, “Ma, what are you doing here? You should be in Georgia at the mounds. Daniel, you said she was there!”

  Daniel replies urgently, “She was. Olivia, you put yourself in danger coming here.
The Dwellers—”

  Luke starts in, “You could have been taken by one of them, Ma! Did you come alone?”

  Olivia pulls back from Luke and holds him at arm’s length, taking his face in her hands. “No one was going to do any taking and yes, I did come alone. I projected here.”

  Luke’s shoulders sagged. “You jumped!” He looks back at Daniel somewhat relieved, but also surprised. “She jumped.”

  Daniel acknowledges, “Your abilities have returned, Olivia?”

  Olivia bows her head and looks from Daniel to me. “I felt you coming, Jesca. I knew my abilities had returned the second you landed in the U.S.”

  Tom breaks in, speaking directly to Luke, “She arrived a few hours ago. Told us she came from your facility, Daniel. She told us that she was expecting you and a team of guardians. I thought she was crazy, until Briggs communicated in that you needed shelter. You have a very intriguing mother, Luke.”

  Olivia angles her head to Tom and winks. Her gaze returns to Luke and she raises one eyebrow, “It’s nice to see you too, son.”

  Luke hugs her again and I watch as a delicate smile spread across her face. Luke speaks gingerly, “Sorry, Ma. I just can’t believe you came here alone.”

  Olivia replies, “Balthazar was insistent on coming along for my safety, driving me, but I told him that it would take too long and that we needed him to stay at the mounds with the others.” Olivia makes eye contact with Sebastian. “You have raised two strong sons, Sebastian.”

  Sebastian bows his head before commenting, “Thank you. Everyone is all right though?”

  “We have lost a few people in the colony recently. The beings, they have begun attacking more aggressively,” adds Olivia.

  Worried that it might have been someone we know I ask, “Who were they?”

  Olivia assures, “None of your families have been put in harm’s way yet. They were civilians that had come to us for help.” Olivia looks at Daniel. “The Perkins family. The son and father are gone.”

  Daniel places his hands on his hips and shakes his head, frustrated by their loss.