CHAPTER 15
“No more. You can’t tell me I’m imagining things. We both saw it,” Stella stressed, swinging her arm towards Colin who was beside her in a plain white t-shirt and his freshly cleaned shorts.
Frederic stood with his arms crossed, his slate eyes pensive. He was much more composed than his counterpart, Etienne, the agitated sailor that now paced the infirmary.
Only moments ago, Colin and Stella had gathered Etienne and Frederic just outside of the airplane as they sought a bandage for Stella’s palm.
Sarah had adeptly applied clean gauze and then ducked through the hatch after a dismissing nod from her husband. Once she was gone, Etienne’s pacing halted. He stared at Stella with eyes the color of ice-covered cement.
“If you had listened to my advice,” he uttered, “you wouldn’t have had any encounters. They stay on that side of the waterfall.” He pointed over her shoulder. “They do not bother us here.”
“They?” Colin probed.
Etienne’s eyes shot to Frederic who just shrugged.
Moving up to a cracked window, Etienne peered out. His head swiveled back and forth, furtively scanning the courtyard. He glanced back to them with his lips pressed thin.
“We came across the first one not long after we were stranded down here.”
“The first?” Stella repeated in a whisper.
“They are rarely seen,” Etienne resumed his short march. Each step elicited a creak from the warped floor. “They shun the light. They stay away from torches, that’s why you won’t see them on this side of the waterfall.”
“What are they?” Colin stepped into Etienne’s path to halt his tread. “Some sort of prehistoric creature?”
The man reached up and scratched beneath his hat. His lips twisted into a sardonic grin.
“Prehistoric creature,” he repeated as if it was some private joke. He went so far as to roll his eyes at Frederic who didn’t look that amused.
“To presume that we were the first survivors to wash up in this cave would be very arrogant and naïve,” Etienne explained. “We’ve seen signs of others that came before us. We’ve watched people die down here from the high levels of CO2. We’ve watched people die down here from the trauma of the rapid descent–from the trauma of their injuries–from all sorts of acclimation illnesses.”
“The pit of skeletons,” Stella murmured. “You didn’t toss those victims back into the pools. You just threw them into a mass grave.”
The corner of Etienne’s eye twitched. “Goodness, you really did travel deep into the caves.” He pumped a fist into his open palm. “Yes, you found our burial pit. If we started throwing bodies into the pools it would entice unwanted visitors. There are sharks at this depth. Rare, but we like to keep it that way. If they start hanging out down here it will be harder for us to get to our food source.”
“Those creatures–” a horrifying thought occurred to her, “–were you feeding them?”
Etienne laughed. His head tipped back and a loud cackle poured out. Frosty eyes glared at her.
Stella shot Colin a glance and he nodded in agreement. Etienne was succumbing to toxicity, or maybe just madness from civilization deprivation.
“No, we aren’t feeding them,” he spat. “There aren’t enough corpses down here to sustain the Chimaera,” he rationalized, not noticing Colin wince. “And, there have been very few Chimaera spotted, anyway.”
“Ky-mere-ah,” Stella repeated his enunciation. “Another mythological reference?”
She had read about the Greek creature made up of more than one animal. It had the head and body of a lion, but it also had a goat’s head on its back.
“You’re up on your mythology,” Etienne nodded in approval. “Although it is pronounced the same, the Chimaera is also a rare breed of shark that inhabits the lower depths of the ocean. It rarely swims any higher than 500 feet below sea level. It is called the Ghost Shark, and that is what we call the creature you saw.”
Stella’s hackles immediately raised. “That was no shark we saw. It walked. It raised its hand and pointed at us.”
She sought Colin’s glance for validation.
“It looked human,” he confirmed. “A scaly human.”
Etienne studied both of them and some of his enthusiasm waned.
“Yes, well, we call them Chimaera. I’m not saying they are actual sharks.”
Frustrated, Stella reiterated the question. “Then what are they?”
Frederic hefted off the cabinet he was leaning against. “The life you find around the hydrothermal vents are called extremophiles. Creatures capable of living in extreme conditions. Constant darkness, freezing cold. Just like us, there is enough to support the Chimaera down here for a very long time. We don’t know how long they have been here.”
Stella’s eyes flared. “So you think they are something prehistoric?”
Frederic exchanged a glance with Etienne. She resented that air of collusion.
“Tell them,” Frederic ordered. “Everyone else knows. All they’d have to do is ask.”
Etienne frowned. “It’s too soon.”
“If they’re going to go snooping around it’s better for them to be armed with the facts. Something terrible could have happened today.”
Colin stepped up. “Yes, the facts would be nice.”
Etienne barely acknowledged him. He continued his pacing, stopping to run his fingertips along the cot that Anne had been sleeping in just yesterday.
“The Chimaera,” he began in a tense voice, “are us.”
Aggravated, Colin looked to Frederic for an explanation.
To his credit, Frederic did not wait for Etienne’s approval. He stepped forward, his shoulders eclipsing the gaunt sailor.
“It is our theory,” he explained, “that the Chimaera were once human–perhaps some of the first victims to wash up in this cave.”
Stella held her hand to her mouth. “What happened to them? How did they live so long?
“After a prolonged period, their bodies simply adapted to the environment. At first these survivors might not have had the means to make a fire, to have any light. They adapted to the dark. Even with the torches, we have learned to live with minimal light. Imagine what it would be like for Etienne or me to see the sun right now?”
Vampires. The word jumped to her mind.
“Their eyes were probably the first to alter,” he continued. “The physical changes might have come from their diet. All they had to eat was whatever deep sea creatures that washed up in the caves, or perhaps they sustained themselves with the organisms breeding near the vents. The Chimaera’s skin started to transform based on its nourishment. The dark color, perhaps a natural form of camouflage. It depends on the individual and the environment on how long it takes for the change to start.”
Stella couldn’t help herself. She openly gawked at him, searching the skin exposed above the neckline of his undershirt. He seemed amused with her inspection and tilted his neck to the right and to the left.
“No, the change has not begun in me yet. But we have had people down here who showed symptoms–”
His Adam’s Apple bobbed as he hesitated. Etienne sulked in the background, occasionally turning his head to search the window.
“The eyes,” Stella prompted. “You said it starts in the eyes. I swear sometimes when I look at people down here I see a flash there, similar to what I saw on that creature, that Chimaera. But when I look closer it is gone.”
Frederic nodded. “It takes such a long time to ever evolve into what you witnessed. To have reached that stage–”
“You would have had to survive madness,” she whispered.
“Perhaps.”
“But, these Chimaera are not human. Not anymore. And, they are hostile. They have attacked me. You, yourself acknowledge that the torch line keeps them away. You tell me you travel beyond the waterfall to get food. Haven’t you had run-ins? Haven’t you had to protect yourself? Have you ever had to kill one?”
Stella caught Etienne flinch. He brushed Frederic aside and stepped up close to sneer at her. “You don’t kill your own kind.”
Foul breath washed over her face, and she caught another cryptic flare in his otherwise pale eyes.
“We must study them. We must be prepared. We must understand what may happen to us. They need to be treated with respect,” he bristled.
It was impossible to debate with this man. Rather than rile him, she chose a less volatile path.
“How many do you think are out there?”
Etienne eyed her warily, but muttered, “It’s hard to tell. We know of at least five or six. We can distinguish them from each other by shape, height, coloring.”
“And still, you don’t look for a way to the surface, when that is going to be your fate?” Colin challenged.
“Did they find a way to the surface?” Etienne fired back. “There is none.”
Stella read Colin’s dark expression. He too knew this was pointless.
“All right, look,” he eased. “If we’re all going to live down here together, we’d just appreciate you being a little more upfront with us. We’re not fragile. If there is anything else like the Chimaera out there, please let us know. If you have any other secrets, it’s a small place. We will find them. So, do the wise thing and share them now.”
Etienne’s pale face darkened. Perhaps on a healthy man it would have appeared as the red flush of anger. On this man it was as if ash filled his veins.
Frederic hooked his hand across the man’s shoulder, restraining him.
“That’s fair,” he agreed. “But, you now know everything that we are aware of. We weren’t purposely being secretive. We wanted to spare you having to see where our departed have been placed because it is a traumatic sight. Seeing something like that–it will play with your psyche, thinking that your fate might be close at hand. You’ve only arrived here a few weeks ago. You are acclimating, and that takes a long time. Mentally, I’m talking.” He paused. “Dead bodies. Creatures with glowing eyes.” He shook his head and even managed a grin. “That’s a little too much to grasp so soon. Understand that Etienne only wanted to spare you from that.”
Stella shot a look at Etienne, and from his dark expression, she doubted there was any benevolence behind his motives.
“Great,” Colin uttered, unconvinced. “We’re going to go now. Thanks for the information.”
He hesitated. “But, one last question. Did you really release my mother back into the water, or are you planning on bringing her to that pit?”
The rawness of his voice pained Stella. To have to ask such a question–it was inhumane.
Frederic was first to respond. “I personally took her to the pool.” His tone was sincere, and the sympathy in his eyes seemed genuine. “She deserves the peace of the sea. What you saw in that pit–they never had surviving family down here. They were alone.”
There was no one to care.
Stella caught the sheen in Colin’s eyes as he blinked angrily and tilted his head, prompting her outside. With one final glance at Frederic’s forlorn expression, she followed, eager to leave.
Colin was ahead a few steps, marching with little focus. Stella jogged to catch up to him. She reached for his shoulder and felt the muscles bunch under her touch.
“Are you okay?”
He halted and whirled, and for a second she caught the tumult of emotions there. Under her tolerant gaze he settled some, and finally warmth returned to the eyes that still stole the ground from beneath her feet.
“Another minute and I was gonna lose it in there,” he admitted with a listless grin.
Stella smiled. “Another minute and I would have kneed the dude between the legs. I was getting so frustrated.”
To her relief a real laugh poured from Colin’s lips and the edge left his expression.
“That was all bullshit in there.” He pointed towards the infirmary from their spot near the bungalows. “I’m at the point that I don’t really care what his explanations are. Everything is supposition. I’m just going to go by what I see from here on out.”
“I agree. At least we know what we’re up against inside these caves.” She glanced at the empty windows of her wheelhouse. “I want to warn Jill. She needs to know–”
Colin nodded. “And Dad. I’m worried about him.”
“They’ll be getting up soon.”
Intense eyes took her breath. “Come here,” he urged in a soft voice.
She stepped into his arms. His palm guided her head to rest on his shoulder and his fingers remained in her hair. She could feel his breath tickle her forehead. For this precious moment she was anywhere other than this crazy crypt at the bottom of the ocean. She was in his embrace as they stood on a pier, overlooking the Atlantic. She was in his embrace as he sat on the bumper of his Jeep and she stood between his legs. She was in his embrace as they cheered at a football game on his campus. She was in his embrace as he tipped her chin up and touched his lips to hers.
All these fantasy embraces–and none came close to this feeling–to this moment. The beating of his heart tapping against her own. The warmth of his skin. The peace of knowing that it wasn’t just her who had fantasies.
“You feel right, Stel.”
Maybe she murmured something against his shoulder. She didn’t dare move and chance this moment would end.
“Of all the things I’ve done in the past few years, you’re the only thing that feels right.”
His arms constricted and she welcomed the additional heat.
“I could go on trying to be polite–trying to pretend that I’m not attracted to you. That’s the mature thing for me to do. Right now you need that big brother to watch out for you. You don’t need a guy that’s–”
Frustration rumbled out of her throat as she drew her head back and reached up to cup his face in both her hands.
“I need this,” she demanded, pulling him down until she could kiss him.
Colin hesitated for a second and then he was kissing her back, his arms closing around her as he murmured her name against her lips.
Maybe the timing for this wasn’t perfect, but as Col had said, it felt right.
Finally, his head drew back enough that he could look into her eyes. His pupils were wide and dark, like the black depths of the pools.
“Demanding little wench,” he teased.
Stella smiled, resisting the temptation to run her fingertips along his bottom lip. Insecurities surfaced, as they usually do. Colin read the brief shadow that passed over her face.
“What is it?”
She kept her eyes averted, feeling foolish, but craving reassurance.
“This isn’t–” she hesitated, “–this isn’t just convenient, is it? I mean, I’m not just a diversion?”
Colin massaged his forehead. He drew in a deep breath.
“I could ask the same thing, couldn’t I?”
Stella stiffened. “Of course it’s not.”
“This–” he tapped his hand on his chest and then tapped hers. “–this is new, and we’ve both got a lot of crap going on around us right now. It’s not the way I wanted to–” He stopped, thinking about his words. “If I hadn’t been a coward on land. If I had said something to you sooner–” his hand waved between them again, “this would have been something really special.”
“It’s not special?” she nearly hiccupped.
“It’s damn special,” he grinned. “But on land I would have been able to take you out to dinner. I could have walked along the beach and watched the sun set with you.”
Stella swallowed, picturing an image that could have been plucked from her own daydreams.
A grating sound nearby yanked them apart. Colin looked alert. Stay here, he mouthed. Inching past her he peered out from their shadowed nook and returned with a somber expression.
“Take a look for yourself,” he murmured.
Stella peered out and noticed Donald Wexler stumbling from his boat dwelling. There was a bottle clutched in his hand and his bleary eyes hinted at the contents.
“Where’d he get that?” Colin asked, looking over her shoulder.
“Margie was stacking up the supplies for the upcoming New Year’s party. I saw several bottles on the café shelves.”
Her heart broke at the sight of Colin’s bleak profile. His shoulders rose and fell as he took a deep breath.
“All right. I’ll go talk to Dad. You’re going to talk with Jill?”
Stella nodded.
“Then get some rest, Stel.” He touched her arm. “You could have been seriously hurt tonight. You’re acting so strong, but don’t. It’s not necessary. It’s okay to be scared, and to admit that you are exhausted.”
This simple acknowledgement allowed the symptoms to manifest. Her body trembled and ached. She feared sleep because if she closed her eyes the creature would return.
“I’ll be right next-door,” he assured. “Just holler, and I’ll be there.”
She knew that he would. It was one of the traits that had first attracted her to Jill’s older brother. During her sophomore year, she was stuck after school one day, working on the school newspaper. Running through the halls, she threw open the front door just in time to see the late bus ride off. Neither her mother nor Jill’s mother answered the phone. She had no cash to hire a ride, and the walk home was about ten miles. Preparing to start that long trek, hoping someone would eventually pick up the phone, she suddenly remembered that Colin had football practice. She stopped along the fence to watch the seniors practicing their running routes and noticed Col launch into the air for a skilled catch. He jogged back to the bench and glimpsed her standing there.
“Hey,” he called. “Looking for an interview?” His grin teased her in more ways than she could register.
A few other jersey-clad players looked up and then away in disinterest.
Stella forced herself to wave Colin over. He trotted to the fence, his dark hair stuck to his forehead, and his face flush from effort.
“Uh,” she fumbled, “I missed my bus. Is there any way–”
“Yeah, sure. I’m done here. I just need a quick shower. I’ll meet you out front in ten minutes?”
No questions asked. No ribbing. Just, I’ll meet you out front in ten minutes.
“If you need help with your Dad–” She returned to the moment. “Same thing. Just holler.”
She turned to head to her bungalow when there was a slight tug on her arm. Colin dipped and kissed her, his thumbs brushing her cheeks when he pulled back.
“That’s so you can have some sweet dreams tonight,” he whispered.
With that he was gone, and Stella stood, hugging herself, missing his warmth already. She tilted her head and searched the dark recesses of the Underworld. The ceiling gaped overhead, black and mysterious. Twin red pillars of rock, each several stories high stood like two giant canine teeth in this yawning mouth. In the distance Margie and Jordan were singing Christmas carols, humming unintelligible words when the lyrics failed them. Their rowdy voices tuned out the constant churn of the waterfall in the distance. That liquid curtain was out of view, but it was still too close for her liking. Just beyond that flowing veil stalked the nocturnal beasts. Creatures that were evolving, slowly transitioning into the deep sea monsters that would one day rule this subterranean land.