The Shattered Genesis (Eternity)

by Rudacille, T.

  “He’s totally going to cry right now.” Violet leaned over to Maura and whispered that loudly enough so he could hear.

  “I’m not going to cry!” He croaked out in shaky indignation. “Stop staring at me!”

  “You heard the man. Look away, ladies.” Maura turned Violet and Penny away and paid me no mind, which had become custom since our disagreement. While Elijah was turned away, struggling to get his emotions in check lest he be viewed by all of us as a pansy, I rushed to James and threw my arms around his neck before standing up on the tops of my toes to kiss him for one long, scintillating moment. His arms came around my back and he pulled me closer to him. Then, in a quick movement that elicited a yelp of surprise from me, he turned me sideways and dipped me backwards. I was laughing hysterically, amazed at how graceful the quick maneuver had been.

  “Yeah, that was a good one, I know.” He bragged jokingly.

  I laughed at his arrogant proclamation and pulled his face close to mine so I could kiss him passionately again.

  The tumultuous sounds of the crowd around us faded out in my ears to be replaced by the sound of my heart pounding. That warmth that came with his touch blared to life inside of me. I was spoiled by it now and always dreading the moment when it died away.

  It disappeared abruptly that time because I felt a light kick on my leg.

  “Ow!” I exclaimed, though it was not the kick that was painful. It was having to emerge so quickly from that quiet, comforting place I fell into while I was with James that pained me.

  “He’s going to turn around any second! Control yourself!” Violet hissed at me but I could see the traces of a smile on her lips.

  James returned me to my feet but I kept my arms around his neck. His hands were still rested on my face as we pressed our foreheads together and laughed softly in quiet triumph and unfathomable relief. He kissed me for one quick, fleeting second.

  Five thousand people were saved from whatever had taken our earth and the rest of our race. Though we had lost some in the journey, the rest had arrived safely with hearts still beating and lungs still breathing precious air. Like every creature ever to walk the earth, our will to survive had flourished and saved us all. It had even beaten the very end of all we knew. In short, it had trumped extinction.

  Looking around at the faces in that crowd of survivors and listening to their loud shows of joy, I could not help but feel a hope that was as alien to me as the planet we now walked on. Doubt did not cast a shadow on my belief that from our arrival onward, we would live in peace until we met our own individual, not collective, ends.

  I allowed myself to fall prey to naivety and idealism. That hope was something I never would have tolerated inside of myself otherwise.

  It would prove false. It would carry consequences.

  It shielded my eyes, quite perilously, to the coming events.

  Quinn

  I wanted to shake the hand of the girl who called out for civility because Alice and I would have been trampled by the over-anxious crowd if she had not. I couldn’t help but admire the girl's resolution to step out first when the rest of us had been so afraid. I wanted to approach her to give my thanks for her bravery. But she disappeared into the crowd that emerged from the ship. Once she was swallowed in the mass of people, I knew I’d more than likely never see her again.

  “She’s got a loud voice for such a little person.” Alice said beside me.

  “Yeah, she does.” I turned to her, grinning widely. “So we’re here!”

  “I know!” Alice clapped her hands excitedly and bobbed up and down on her feet for a moment of pure joy. “God, the air smells so much different than it did back home, doesn’t it?”

  My mood dropped at the mention of home. It no longer existed and the thought of it was sure to depress us both. Alice must have read that in my facial expression because she quickly changed the subject.

  “So now what?”

  That question didn’t help keep the mood up, either. It was the newest question with unthinkable gravity behind it. We were there and what were we supposed to do first?

  “We’re all going to sleep on the ship, right?” A man behind me asked.

  “I guess we could,” A woman replied, “I hope they don’t expect us to sleep out here. You know that I’ve never liked camping, honey.”

  “Well, if that’s the only option, then you’re just going to have to deal with it, sweetheart.”

  “I don’t see why it would be the only option, David. They’ll let us sleep on the ship.”

  “They’ll let all of us just keep running on and off the ship? Doubtful. People almost got stomped on a minute ago. Plus, can you imagine how long it will take if everyone decides to go in and out at the same time?”

  “I don’t want to sleep on the ship, Quinn.” Alice told me after clasping her hands around one of mine.

  “I don’t, either.”

  The thought of having to stay confined to that ship at nighttime made my head spin. It was the same feeling I would experience if someone threw me in a trunk, slammed the lid shut, and locked me inside. After spending two and a half weeks on-board, I needed to be out in the open and I knew Alice did, too.

  “There are so many people!” Alice muttered as we looked around, “It’s like Rockefeller Center at Christmastime.”

  “I don’t like it. Let’s try to move out of the crowd a little.”

  We had to squeeze past people as they argued and reasoned an answer to the question Alice had posed to me earlier. What exactly were we going to do now?

  As a final answer, I heard an unfamiliar male voice over the loudspeaker.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, can you direct your attention to the ship, please?” The man asked. Alice and I looked to see that he was raising one hand in the air to show everyone where it was they were supposed to be looking. A hush fell over the crowd.

  Though this was, without a doubt, the weirdest situation we could have found ourselves in, the universal quality to it was that people could rarely tell themselves what to do. Instead, they opted for the comfort of being told. Alice and I were no exception but we could blame our age for that tendency, at least.

  “Right here, ladies and gentlemen!” He strained himself to reach up higher and continued waving. “People in the back? Right here.”

  Now everyone was giving him their full attention.

  “Hello, everyone. We are going to be calling you by your housing compartment number. When your number is called, please come to the left side of the ship to gather your belongings. You will be given one tent per party. You will be given one set of matches, a set of rations and a sleeping bag for every member of your party. We will be handing out rations daily at daybreak. The moment the sun comes up, one member of each party needs to be present to accept their rations. For your own sake, please do not be late.”

  “Why would it matter?” I asked Alice softly.

  “Shh!” She hushed me as she craned her neck to see the man speaking.

  “It sounds like him.” A girl was whispering behind me and I heard her jumping up and down as she tried to get a better look.

  “You are imagining things.” Another girl hissed at her.

  I drowned out their argument in order to hear the man better. He was speaking into a megaphone, but we were so far back that it was hard to hear. It was nearly impossible to get a good look at him.

  “The ship is going to be closed off temporarily. Please remain within sight of it at all times. If you can’t see it, then you’ve gone too far and you need to come back. Right now, we’re not sure if there is anything else here. There could be wild animals.”

  “Are there people?” Someone in the crowd shouted. Some people laughed nervously, but the silence grew heavier with a sudden tension. Everyone was wondering that. It was not just a question, it was a fear we all shared.

  “No, sir. Thank you for asking.” There was a note of irritation in the man’s voice. “Are there any other questions?”


  “What will happen if we aren’t there at daybreak?”

  “Just be there at daybreak.” The man insisted calmly.

  “Why can’t we go off on our own?” Another man shouted.

  “It’s too dangerous. We don’t know what’s out there. Ladies and gentlemen, there is strength in numbers. If there is a threat that we don’t know about, we will be more apt to survive it if we are all here to face it.”

  “What’s your name?!” One of the girls behind me nearly shattered our eardrums with her deafening shout to the front.

  “My name is Daniel Olivier. I paid for this ship to be built.”

  Violet

  I gasped sharply before storming forward. In the process, I almost knocked the young couple in front of me to the ground as I ran forward. I pushed people and didn't bother to ask for their excusing. I knew Maura, Elijah, Brynna, James and Penny were right behind me but I didn’t look over my shoulder once because I was in such a hurry to get to him.

  “Daddy!” I exclaimed once I had reached the small stage he was standing on. I threw my arms around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder as he held me tightly.

  “Hey, sweetheart. I knew you were here somewhere.”

  “Why didn’t you come find us on the ship? We were registered. Why didn’t you come find us? She told me you were dead!” I pointed an accusing finger at Brynna whose face remained impassive. But if one were to look closely at her eyes, they would see the monstrous rage burning behind that icy blue.

  My father’s face, however, was anything but expressionless. The smile that had emerged when he had seen us faded slowly. It was replaced by a fury so menacing that it almost matched Brynna’s. Her boldness never faltered, though, the way mine would have upon seeing that look. She stood firm and glared back at him, forcefully pushing his buttons, hoping that he would snap.

  “Alright, we will deal with that later.” Maura said quickly and they snapped their eyes to her.

  My dad reached out and put one hand on her face as she leaned forward. He kissed her cheek and she asked, “You alright?”

  “I’m fine,” He replied softly, “Thank you for getting them here.”

  Penny jumped into our dad’s arms and he spun her in a circle. She giggled uproariously as she always did when he played with her. Elijah, our dad believed, was far past the age where hugs were allowed, so they clasped hands quickly. It was a cold gesture that I had always found disturbing. It felt like whatever bond they had before (and it had always been fragile) was permanently dead the day Dad decided he could no longer embrace Elijah. It’s a strange thing, when that happens between fathers and sons.

  When it came time to speak to Brynna, he stared at her for a moment as she stared back.

  “Come with me,” He ordered coldly, “I want to speak to you privately.”

  “I do not want to speak to you, period,” Brynna snapped back without missing a beat, “so I will not be doing so.”

  Oh, boy. Off they went …

  “Don’t start that inane babbling with me. I said I wanted to talk to you. Now let’s go.” My anxiety was rising as he struggled to keep his temper. My mouth dried out and my breaths stopped coming as easily despite the crispness of the air.

  “I will not take orders from you. Not anymore…”

  “There are people watching, Brynna Claire! Now move!”

  “I am supposed to care that there are people watching? When have I ever cared about that, Dad?’

  Everything, from the way she stood to the devious glint in her eye, told me that she was purposely trying to stir the angry storm inside of him. My father acted brutally towards Brynna only. I had never been on the receiving end of his wrath. But I knew the consequences by witnessing what he had done to Brynna over the years. She never gave in to him or showed any fear, which only strengthened his determination to hurt her.

  Her fingers linked with James’s and he snapped out of an angry daze of his own. He had been glaring at my father, his eyes burning red. I wanted to warn him that he had better allow his eyes to switch back to normal unless he wanted my father to know that some drastic, freakish change was occurring in each of us. Somehow, I knew that my father learning of our evolution would be dangerous for us all.

  “I believe she told you that she’s not going. That’s the end of it. Let’s go, Brynna.”

  “James Maxwell…” My father’s expression changed from one of deep discontent to one of pure loathing at the sight of him. His eyes traveled down to see their hands grasped together. “Somehow, I knew you would find her.”

  What the hell was going on?

  “You two know each other?” Elijah asked, “You said you’d never met them, James.”

  “He lied.” My dad replied simply.

  “I was just going to say that I lied.” James added abruptly. “I lied about meeting your dad, at least.”

  “Why would you lie about that? Do you realize what that means?” Brynna was asking him softly and yet her voice was shaking with anger.

  “Brynna, let’s go.” Dad had turned his attention back to her and was obviously growing more and more impatient with every moment that passed.

  “Daniel, can’t we just be happy that we’re all together and that we’re alright? There will be time to be angry later. Just let it go for right now.” Maura was urging him gently as she grasped his hand. He shook her off, still glaring at Brynna.

  “How do you two know each other?” Brynna demanded as she looked between the two of them. “I want to know the truth!”

  “And I want you to come with me. Let’s go.”

  “She’s not going with you.” Of the three, James was the most furious. His stature seemed to have grown; he had gained a sudden bulkiness that made him thicker and more intimidating. His eyes were burning red and he didn’t seem to care that Dad saw. For his part, my father did not seem surprised by the change.

  “Do you know what that is, Brynna?” My father asked as he pointed at James. “He looks like that because he feels that I’m impeding on his territory. It’s possession.”

  “Well, I do not need anyone, let alone a liar, to protect me. You really feel the need to have a discussion? Then we’ll discuss.”

  “Brynna!” James called after her, but she was walking with my dad to the other side of the ship where they would be out of view of the gawking crowd. The onlookers had turned away after growing bored when they hadn’t been able to hear the whole conversation clearly but if Dad reached out and hit Brynna the way he did when he was angry, they would certainly turn back around to watch. An outburst like that certainly would not keep him in good standing with the survivors he was trying to lead.

  I looked at Maura and saw tears in her eyes.

  “I loved him once,” She whispered to me softly, “I am sure you know that by now. But I loved him before he became what he is now.”

  I nodded, barely understanding what she meant. I was too preoccupied with the fact that Brynna was about to see the worst of “what he was now.” The different man than the one Maura had fallen in love with was one that hated the very sight of his oldest daughter.

  I was luckier to escape his wrath than I was to escape the end of the world. I knew that with absolute certainty.

  Brynna

  Because I was walking in front of him, I knew that he was going to grab my arm, twist it around and shove me up against the ship’s hard exterior before he did it. Because he was so angry, I knew he was going to hiss at me through clenched teeth to make his displeasure known. The only thing that I didn’t know was whether I’d be seeing the back side of his hand, something I hadn’t seen since I had moved out.

  “So you thought that was it? You thought you’d leave your mother and I behind? You thought you’d escape here and shack up with that asshole, Maxwell?”

  “How do you know him?” I demanded after realizing that very little fear in my heart existed, even in the presence of his rage. I only wanted to know where their association had begun and what the
meaning was behind it. It was difficult for me to feel fear in the face of his anger anymore. I had become so accustomed to it.

  “You left us to die, you bitch!”

  If there was one thing in life that I loathed most venomously, it was the use of gender-based insults. “Bitch”, “whore” and “slut” were disgraceful but there was one more that was downright despicable. He had called me that before, generally after having one too many drinks.

  What a weak man he was...

  “Where is my mother?” I refrained from referring to her as “Mom” for I felt that the term was too closely correlated with warmth and sentiment. I had been doing that for years and it drove them both crazy.

  “Where do you think?! She burned up just like I was supposed to! Isn’t that what was supposed to happen? Well, you should have done your homework, you stupid cow, because this whole expedition was bought and paid for by me! What, your little friend James didn’t tell you that? Was he too busy following after you like a pathetic puppy dog?”

  “You enjoy asking rhetorical questions, though I must say, I have always found them to be quite useless in determining what one wants to know...”

  “Shut up!” He barked at me before punching the side of the ship right beside my head. I only flinched slightly, which only infuriated him more. “I guess he also didn’t tell you that he engineered the ship?”

  Well, that explained his calmness while the rest of us thought the ship was going down... That explained his calmness that had remained in tact throughout all the peril we had experienced, actually.

  “Now I want you to listen to me. Stay away from him.”

  He had lied to me. I would have nothing more to do with him for that alone, not because my father had ordered me to keep my distance.

  “If I catch you with him, I’ll deal with it the same way that I dealt with your stupid little friends.”

  I looked at him, knowing that my eyes were going to turn red. It was that rage again. It was that inescapable feeling that I must end the life of someone causing me pain. For my pride, for my love of the people he was cruelly and disrespectfully referring to, for the years upon years of hatred and abuse between us, I would end that man.