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

by Venessa Kimball

  Sharply, I say, “A deep voice called out the name, then I woke.”

  Daniel pats my shoulder. “It’s all right. Ira said your visions would become more intense. More will be revealed as we get closer to the mounds.”

  I scan the room for Nate and Xander out of habit and I see them walking from the outlet opening with a full duffle bag each of goods, heading straight toward us. I notice Sam close in behind them. He has a concerned look on his face. Suddenly, Sam’s and my eyes meet. Hastily, he looks away and heads over to Corinna, who is packing another duffle bag. Vertigo strikes me all of a sudden, but like it did earlier, it ebbs then flows out of me when Nate and Xander approach Daniel, Sebastian, Ezra, and me. They both appear energized and fired up with life suddenly.

  Xander must notice my hard focus on him because he asks me pointedly, “You okay?”

  Stumped by his question, I shift on my feet and try to nod casually. “Yeah, fine.”

  I can feel Xander watching me, studying me. I avoid making eye contact with either of them and change the subject. “I see you packed heavy.”

  Nate responds, “Yeah, Tom suggested it. Better safe, than sorry.”

  Tom joins us. “There are no compounds between here and the mounds. You will need the resources.”

  Daniel responds, “We will make it. Ira and his tribe will be with us.”

  Briggs tosses the strap of a duffle bag on each of his shoulders and walks toward us. “Hopefully, we will make it.” He glares at Xander and Nate as he passes them and heads in the direction of the main tunnel and cargo truck.

  Tom and a few of the colonists follow us out into the open cavern where we entered and parked the cargo truck. Briggs and the remaining soldier load the duffle bags in first as the guardians hand them off.

  Tom says, “We have filled you up with fuel. Couldn’t do much about the Nitrous Oxide though.”

  Briggs responds to that, “Nah, that’s all right. We have a reserve if we need it. NOS is already locked and loaded.”

  I watch as Briggs throws the final bag into the back of the truck, and then gives us the okay to load. He rounds the side of the truck and heads to the front. Seconds later, the engine roars to life. I’m nearly the last to climb into the truck with Xander and Nate in front of me when I hear Tom’s voice roar over the engine, “Tessa, get back here!”

  Just as I turn toward his voice, I see a streak of silver rush past me, paws clambering along the metal floorboard.

  Elicia shouts, “What are you doing, Shiva?”

  Shiva is cowering under the bench with Stella dangling from her mouth by the tuft of her neck. Stella is grunting and squawking, trying to break away from her mother.

  Tom yells again for Tessa just as she starts her ascent into the truck, struggling with the height of the bumper. Her delicate voice tries to be firm, “Shiva, no! You can’t go with them! Come!”

  I grab hold of Tessa around her waist and pull her down from the truck before she climbs in. “I’ll get them; you go to your dad, Tessa.”

  Tessa nods and I climb into the truck. Seeing Shiva’s body sticking out from under Nate and Xander. I get down on all fours, intending to reach for her when Nick warns me, “Uh, Jes? I wouldn’t touch her if I were you.”

  I notice Nick is holding his hand to his chest.

  Elicia wraps a piece of cloth around Nick’s hand. “She bit him when he tried.”

  I cower back down and immediately meet two yellow eyes closely watching my every move. Shiva’s ears are back and a low guttural rumble escapes through her shown teeth. She had this same reaction in the cavern earlier. Why is she acting like this? I reach my arm out toward her and the rumble in her throat grows to an audible growl, warning me to back off.

  Standing at the rear doors with Tessa in his arms now, Tom calls out, “Shiva, here!”

  I sit up on my knees and look back at him. “She won’t move!”

  Tom shifts Tessa on his hip. “Just grab her!”

  I shake my head. “She won’t let me near her.”

  Tom’s voice thunders, “Damn it, Shiva! Get down here now!”

  I look back down at Shiva to gauge her reaction to his commanding yell. She releases Stella’s tuft from her mouth and creeps from under the bench. Nick tucks his legs out of the way and holds his injured hand close to his chest, avoiding any further attacks. I sit back on my knees as Shiva comes to sit on her haunches next to me and facing her master. She tilts her head back and lets loose a chain of barks and howls.

  Nate pats his thighs with his hands and attempts retrieving Shiva in a tender voice, “Here, girl! Come!”

  Xander joins in on the coaxing, extending his hand slowly to take hold of her collar. “Come on, Shiva!”

  She continues to barrage us with her howls, keeping an acute eye on Xander’s advancing hand.

  His hand gets too close and Shiva lunges, snapping at Xander’s extended fingers. He pulls it away and cradles it to his chest. “Agh.” He holds out his hand, showing the scarlet trickle blooming on his skin. “Damn, she bit me!”

  Shiva continues to hail us with her riotous wails.

  Siobhan yells at me, “Get her out, Jesca!”

  “I can’t! She just bit Xander for trying!” I holler.

  Tom hands Tessa off to Ezra and says, “Here, hold her.”

  He lifts his leg to climb into the truck, saying, “Shut up, Shiva! What are you barking at?”

  Suddenly, the sound of distant blood-curdling screams stop him in his tracks mid-climb. He turns around slowly and peers around the edge of the truck’s doors. I’m searching through the metallic windows in every direction to see where these tortured screams are spanning from, but I see nothing.

  Briggs comes barreling out of the truck yelling, “What’s happening?”

  Still standing outside of the truck, Monica pulls her rifle off her shoulder and aims it at one of the open sockets of the cavern. She yells, “It’s coming from the inside the tunnels!”

  Sebastian pulls his handgun and has it aimed at another tunnel opening. I hear gunfire deeper beyond the screams. Someone is already shooting. At what though?

  I pull my handgun from my waistband and ready it as I move to the doors of the truck.

  All of a sudden, vast waves of colonists pour from every open socket of the compound’s bowels and they are heading straight for us, screaming with terror in their eyes.

  Jumping down to the solid ground of the cavern now, I feel the ground tremble beneath my feet from their stampede. One of the colonists comes running straight to Tom, who is standing at the edge of the truck doors holding Shiva by the collar. The terrified colonist tosses Tom a rifle and he catches it with one hand. The colonist yells, “Dwellers are in the compound!”

  No! How did they get past Ira and the other Rephaim?

  Hearing the colonists’ words, the other guardians in the cargo truck ready themselves, guns being loaded and locked into position. Briggs’ only soldier comes around the back of the truck with his assault rifle poised and aimed at a socket, awaiting the Dwellers.

  Tessa is trying to wiggle free from Ezra’s arms to get to her father as she yells, “Daddy!”

  I scoop Tessa up in my arms just as Ezra loses his hold on her.

  Tom reacts to her voice and runs back toward us, “Go now!”

  Monica, Daniel and Sebastian climb into the back of the truck and Ezra tries to pull me and Tessa along into the truck. I shrug his hand off and look back as Tom starts running toward the very sockets that threaten death. “Wait, what about Tom! Tom!” I yell over Tessa yelling repeatedly for her father.

  Having heard my yell, Tom mightily rushes back to me. Immediately, Tessa tries wrapping her small arms around his neck, but he holds them at bay. As Tessa cries out for her father, her only remaining family, Tom looks me dead in the eyes and makes his plea with a quaking voi
ce, “Take her with you. Go now!”

  Feeling his emotion and my own fear mix, my own voice quakes in response, “What? I can’t!”

  Ignoring me, he closes his eyes and kisses her on the top of her head.

  Tessa shrieks as he tries to slide his arms from her reaching hands, “No, Daddy!”

  The pain her cry inflicts on him is evident as his eyes well up and shine with tears. Tom takes hold of my shoulder with his free hand and croaks, “Yes you can. Take her now, Jesca, before it is too late.”

  I can’t believe he is leaving his daughter with me. I beg him, “Come with us!”

  He shakes his head, then gently pulls her hands away from his neck as he says, “I love you, sweet Teresa May.”

  Tessa’s screams become ear numbing as Tom runs back among the colonists toward one of the tunnels. I’m frozen in place, paralyzed, as I watch this man, this father; leave his only remaining child in my care. Ezra tries to help me hold Tessa as she continues to wiggle and struggle to break free from me, but I lock my arms around her waist and won’t let go. I hear Briggs yelling something, but it is lost to my shocked state. Ezra stands in front of me suddenly. His mouth is moving, but what he is saying isn’t registering. I’m still stuck on the screams of this little girl in my arms, crying for her father. It is then that Ezra slaps me across the face.

  The stinging blow brings me back to reality and the sound of his voice yelling at me fills my head. “Get in the truck, Jesca!”

  I blink blinding tears out of my eyes and climb into the truck with Ezra’s help. As soon as I sit, Tessa shifts in my arms, wraps her arms around my neck tightly and cries so hard, she begins to choke and hiccup. Briggs slams the doors to the truck and Ezra latches the lock before sitting down. Within seconds, the truck is moving fast, taking us through the tunnel we entered in. I latch the safety strap across Tessa and me, not able to hold onto the bar behind me. I try to hush her terrible cries, but it is useless. Her cries are so powerful, her voice has gone hoarse. Some of the colonists are running wildly alongside of us as we pass them, one after another. The light of the cavern is swallowed by the dark familiar main tunnel. The tunnel that will release us into the world and possibly a waiting swarm of Dwellers.

  CHAPTER 21: GAME PLAN

  Xander

  I try to hold my hand steady, but it rejects my command and continues to quake uncontrollably. The image of Sam holding Jesca captive while he was being controlled by Michael runs through my mind. Then the image of the Dweller dissolving into Michael’s soul in my vision haunts me again. My trembling fingers fumble for the safety. I set it and place the gun in my waistband.

  Tessa’s audible cries are not as earsplitting as they once were as Jesca holds her close to her chest, rocking her as she stares in horror at the invasion we are enduring again. Feeling my eyes on her, Jesca’s dazed stare moves to meet my eyes. Her eyes, they beg for understanding. An understanding I can’t give her. I look away, unable to handle looking at the pain in her eyes.

  I glance at Nate. He is leaning his head back against the window panel staring down his nose at the horrific scene. I told him about my vision, how the Dweller became part of Michael’s soul. He was shocked when I told him, but then he realized that it explained how he could be experiencing something latching on to him that he couldn’t see. I wanted to tell him that if this thing, this Dweller hybrid could get to him, it could get to any of us. We couldn’t talk though, Jesca was watching us. I tried to talk to him when we were packing up supplies, but too many people were around us, too many ears.

  The truck jumps forward and picks up more speed, forcing all of us to reach for the safety rod behind our seats. On a whim, I try reaching Nate with my mind. I know it is a long shot, but I have to try.

  I think, “Nate.”

  He blinks, closes his mouth and looks at me out of the corner of his eyes. He heard me! Nate thinks, “It’s latching to you now isn’t it?”

  I think back to the moment in Briggs’ compound when I touched Nate and a surge shot through me. That has to be when it latched on. I send my thought, “I think so.”

  Nate thinks, “When you brought me back from my vision, that is when it happened, isn’t it?

  I think, “It could have happened any time, Nate. I’ve been feeling off since that moment though. My hands, they just started trembling uncontrollably as I held the gun in my hand. I couldn’t stop them from shaking.”

  Nate answers, “You feel out of control, I know. Shit, I thought it was your abilities getting stronger! It was just this hybrid Dweller latching on to you too! You were right when you said we should tell Sebastian and the others!”

  In my vision, I saw how cunning this Dweller was, methodical. Now I’m the one to put a stop to the idea of telling the others. “We can’t. If we do, this Dweller may do something drastic.”

  Nate stares at me, unsure of where I’m going with this. “Drastic like what? Possess us?”

  I continue thinking, “This thing is after Jesca and the messenger Ira told us about. It has used Michael’s soul to seek us out. This thing is waiting to attack just like it did in my vision of Michael. If we tell the others, it is a direct threat and it will attack. Who’s to say it won’t possess us right then and there and use us to—kill her.”

  We depart from the tunnel of the compound and the entire truck is flooded with an amber-diffused sunlight.

  I lean back and look out the window. Ira and his tribe of giants are ripping as many Dwellers as they can apart as they keep up beside the truck, but they are coming so fast and in such a large amount, they won’t be able to hold them back for long. The truck is suddenly struck from above, a loud thud hitting the rooftop. Elicia reacts with a scream, and then quickly covers her mouth. Then another loud thud hits the roof of the truck.

  Jake hollers, “They’re on the roof!”

  He draws his gun and aims to shoot, but Luke yells at him, “No, save the ammunition. They can’t get to us!”

  At that very moment, Ira takes hold of the Dweller-occupied human on our truck and heaves him into the overgrowth brush. I send my thought to Nate, “They can’t get us because of the Rephaim. Maybe they are the reason this Dweller hasn’t taken complete control of us and tried to kill Jesca. It fears the Rephaim.”

  Nate follows my gaze to the rear of the truck where one of the Rephaim is running behind us.

  It might be a stupid move, but I think it is our only shot at protecting Jesca, the other guardians, and hopefully Nate and me. “We should tell them. Telling Ira is our only shot at keeping Jesca and the other guardians safe.”

  Nate’s lips tighten around his teeth as he thinks, “Telling Ira might get us killed.”

  I try to ignore the obvious and think, “It will keep them alive and it might keep this Dweller from manifesting within one of us.”

  Nate tilts his head back and meets the window panel with a slight thud. “If it does manifest in one of us, the Rephaim will be forced to kill the Dweller, Xander. Killing the Dweller will mean killing one of us.”

  He’s right. I fight against the thought of one of us dying. “It won’t take either of us because we won’t let it. When we tell Ira, explain to him what is happening, he will help protect us. We are getting stronger the closer we get to the mounds. That is why that vision came to me. It was a warning to help us. I told you I wouldn’t let it take you. I won’t, I promise!”

  Nate’s eyes are trained on me as he thinks, “You know I’ll do the same for you.”

  I bow my head discreetly, knowing he will.

  After a few silent moments, Nate thinks, “When?”

  “As soon as we can get Ira alone and away from the other guardians.”

  I glance across the truck and meet Sam’s inquisitive eyes boring down on Nate and me.

  I know Nate has spied Sam peering when he thinks, “What if someone figures out what is h
appening before we get to Ira?”

  I think, “We can’t let that happen.”

  Feeling the weight of both of our stares now, Sam looks away from us, and focuses on the blurred scene outside the window. I have to find a way to get the truck to stop and get Ira alone as quickly as possible. All of a sudden, I hear a whimper from under Nate’s seat. I look down at Shiva and catch her licking the small pup, Stella. Each lick pushes the lifeless body of the pup, but I keep watch for any movement. There is none. Shiva stops licking, lays her chin on top of Stella’s small still body and looks up at me.

  CHAPTER 22: THE STREAM

  Jesca

  My eyes are blurry and the faces pressed against the metallic glass of the truck are distorted, only the alabaster skin and the obsidian orbs of Dwellers distinctly evident. They writhe, claw, snarl and pound against the truck as I tuck Tessa’s face under my chin the best I can, saving her from seeing the scene around us. The truck jolts forward, picking up pace quickly. The colonists who have escaped the initial strike and run alongside of our transport begin to fall behind as we speed out of the tunnel and into the world. I watch helplessly as they are plucked from their dead run by the human-thirsty Dwellers. Some are lifted and carried away into the woods. Some are taken right then and there. The transformation is instant once the Dwellers plunge into their marks. The colonists’ bodies retch as they fight to remain themselves, remain human. The Dwellers let them struggle for freedom, seemingly stimulated by the battling and thrashing victims, the thrill of the hunt. The images bring rise to the burning bile in my throat, threatening to make its exit.

  I close my eyes and force myself to swallow hard before it surfaces. I look at Xander to my right, just as his wide and frightened viridian eyes meet mine. His visible fear makes mine rise to new heights. We both look away at the same time and I focus on the rain that has begun to streak the window panels. The few remaining Dwellers that have somehow kept pace with us slap the truck as they slip away and fall to the ground. Like the others, they don’t give up. They rise again and charge heedlessly. My eyes are drawn to the isolated peace the rain rhythmically pelting the windows brings and I stay in that moment as long as I can.