Free Ascending the Veil by Venessa Kimball Page A

“No, I didn’t know that little morsel of knowledge , Ezra.”
    Ezra keeps walking and turns to eye me. “All I’m saying it that this place is very similar to our world. You might be letting...the illusions of this place test your resolve a bit. You know, you are just like Jesca with all your sarcastic comments.”
    Feeling the tightening in my throat again, I walk quickly behind him to catch up and challenge him. “Illusions? Testing my resolve? Oh, you mean like the creepy little boy you and I both saw?”
    Ezra turns on his heels to look at me now. “An illusion meant to manipulate us and wear down our resolve.”
    I consider what Ezra is saying for the second time since we have been here. “You really think we are being manipulated?”
    Ezra blows out his upper lip. “I know we are. The only other time I have seen a human’s face distort like that child’s is when Jesca and I were investigating the abductions in Florida.”
    Ezra’s stares down at the ground as he thinks aloud. “The features, the eyes, everything is the same, which could mean that these beings were stalking us in our own world through those abducted vessels implanted with Sondian Copulas.”
    Ezra’s eyes narrow, searching the ground as he thinks. He starts to pace in front of me. “They had been there in our world the whole time, watching us through the vessels. Hell, they were telling us they were coming!”
    Ezra’s babbling makes my blood turn cold. I am learning that Ezra is scary brilliant and he is usually right about his theories. Suddenly, the burning in my throat surges and my hand instinctively goes straight to my throat.
    Ezra steps toward me. “Nate?”
    I swallow once thinking the saliva will alleviate the pain, but it doesn’t. I muster more saliva and keep trying to rid my throat of the intense burn. It has to be the atmosphere here. We are in a different world with elements and properties different from our own Earth’s. Ezra said so himself. My body, it’s not assimilating. My throat tightens and spasms rhythmically, leaving me disoriented. I stumble away from Ezra and grab hold of a nearby tree to steady myself. When I inhale this time, I hear the faint wheeze of my airway tightening, closing. The realization that I’m definitely in trouble piques my anxiety and I start to pant. “Ezra...I think...my throat... is closing!”

Chapter 8
    Jesca
     
    As soon as Isabel heard Corinna say her name, Isabel had her arms wrapped around her. She kept repeating to us, “It’s her, it’s her,” in between tears and sobs. Corinna tried to wrap her arms around Isabel, but all the tubing from her IV kept her from doing so. Corinna didn’t fight it, she draped her free arm over her sister’s back, while making a rubbing motion. I studied every movement she made...just in case. The more I watched her interact though, my hope that this just might be “our” Corinna became stronger.
    Monica yells for the staff and within seconds there are three guardians hovering over Corinna and pulling Isabel back from her. When Isabel begins to push off of them, Luke rushes into the room to calm her. I wonder for a moment, Is there something their between them? The way he knew her feelings, how to calm her… He puts his arms around her and pulls her into him. She doesn’t resist as he pulls her back into a corner of the room and out of the way. As I look at them, the way they hold onto each other, I see the mutual compassion they share. Is it a manufactured Copula link or the real thing? A bond… I can’t help but think of Nate and me in Florida. Luke catches me watching him and Isabel and he smiles at me. Embarrassed that I have been spied, I nod and turn my attention back to the guardians and Monica as they observe and monitor Corinna.
    As Xander’s familiar touch rests on the small of my back, I expected his voice to be tender not clipped when he says, “We should tell the others.”
    I look at him, confused by the pairing of