Clarity's Doom (Ancient Origins Book 1) Page 18

  “That’s why he keeps his distance and his comments to himself.”

  “He’s smarter than he looks.”

  “Flight adores you, so do the other children. They love Bubble-gum. The dog seems happy to play with them and he loves Muffin.” Doom rolled his eyes.

  “Why do you give the children new names?”

  “New parents, new home, new planet. Seems sensible. Some of the children here have forgotten they lived somewhere else. They can’t cling to the hope of returning. This will be home; it needs to be home. Parents name their children.”

  “I suppose.”

  Clarity dropped her clothes as she approached him. She wanted to think of no one but Doom. None of the interior lights were lit. The small, enclosed fire burned for warmth in the cool depths of the home. Doom slipped from his pants. She stood admiring his beauty. The tattoos, and what they represented, told a story. For Doom, the story was pain but to Clarity not all of their tales were sad. Some faces on his body smiled. Doom mentioned the humans were coveted for a year, they had been happy the entire time, perhaps missing family, but they were wanted.

  As she approached, she had a thought that made her laugh and cringe. Doom gazed at her in an odd way.

  “What?” he asked.

  “It’s pretty morbid.”

  “My cock?”

  “Yes and no. I was thinking if I did somehow get taken, would my face be tattooed on your…”

  “Don’t say it,” he warned. “I’d spend every second crying and alternately caressing you.”

  “Okay you upped my morbid.”

  “My up is coming down.”

  “I can fix that.”

  Clarity placed the rubber off to the side, wanting to taste him. Doom lay back with his legs spread and his feet touching the floor. His muscular thighs were a magnet. Power, masculine, rugged. She traced her fingers up those perfect thighs to her main goal. The sheer length of him made her quiver with want. The way he gazed at her filled her with tenderness. Lust and love, there was no fine line, the two were separate. And yet, she burned for him while she ached for his soul to need hers.

  “You take my breath away,” she said and caressed his hard swollen length.

  “You are my breath.”

  Clarity poised over him and took his appendage into both hands. She blew on the tip of his erection loving how he jumped under her flesh. Her tongue laved down his long length and he shuddered. Clarity squealed when he grabbed her and flipped them. She was under him, his cock near her mouth. When his tongue explored her lower lips she gasped. His heat lit her fire. There was no smoking ember; she was melting.

  “You run through my veins,” she heard him mumble.

  She didn’t reply but respond. There was no more waiting. Her lips opened to suck as much of him as she could deep within her throat. The muscles on his legs rippled. Harder deeper he went while she cupped his stallion-sized balls. She damned nature for not allowing all of him to fit. Doom’s fingers spread her to lick her insides while she writhed.

  There was no holding back when she gave herself to him. Her body shook and she gripped his base with a harder squeeze. He groaned and tried to pull from her but she wouldn’t allow him to leave.

  “Clarity.” His word was strangled. He was going to come, and she knew it.

  His seed exploded into her and Clarity thrashed wanting him but never having allowed a man to do that before she was surprised with the force. He pulled from her and she gasped in ragged amounts of air. Her hand dragged across her mouth before she gripped his neck and pulled him to a breast. Doom sucked hard, drawing her into his mouth. His hand roughly kneaded her other breast making her whimper.

  Doom broke contact, lifted her and threw her higher onto the bed. His fingers dug into her thighs as he rubbed her flesh. He leaned to taste her warmth. It wasn’t long before he was hard again, having years to make up for with his loss. He rolled the condom over his cock and plunged into her heat. Clarity screamed from the power he used. A rock solid brick wall was hammering between her spread thighs. His hand pinned her wrists over her head.

  “The only time your face will be on my cock is when you’re sucking it.” The words were snarled, a heated promise.

  That was a fine idea to Clarity, but she couldn’t speak. Each thunderclap against her grew more demanding until sweat poured from them, mingling. Her wrists tugged on his hand, but he kept her prisoner. Higher she lifted her legs, demanding every inch. The fur beneath them began to bunch as they rocked. She used her fingers to steady her against the headboard. Clarity gasped and watched as firelight flickered beautifully against the stones. The headboard seemed on fire. Clarity was on fire with need.

  “Doom,” she cried out as she came and as he thrust a final time and shuddered before rolling from her onto his back. He groaned.

  “Clarity?”

  “Hmm.”

  “Your coats don’t work worth shit.”

  ****

  When Doom and Clarity exited his home they saw all of his villagers gaping with awe. Clarity knew why soon. Kiki and the other children were there. On the outskirts of the village they waited. Doom and Clarity strode forward. There were tears in Kiki’s eyes. The twins were sobbing. Little Cole was in Nina’s arms, Blue in Kiki’s.

  “Nick wants to see you.” She was gazing at Doom.

  “Why have you come?”

  “I told Nick what you want and he told me to take the children to you, well Clarity really. He wants us to learn to defend ourselves. Whether you win or lose, we will all grow up and the hybrids will pick us off one by one. The age difference is too great. I told Nick that, I figured out what you meant about us being only children and of no use. They will want me soon. They’ll go after Nick soon, maybe as soon as next year. Then me, then Nina. Em and Luke will be left alone with the twins and any other child Nick finds before he’s killed.”

  “I’ll find Nick,” Doom stated and began to walk away.

  Clarity grabbed his arm. “I’m coming.”

  Doom gripped her shoulders and gazed into her eyes. “He wants me dead. I won’t take chances with you.”

  “Doom,” a voice bellowed.

  Menace and a few village men came forward. There were five human men and three human females with them. Menace carried a young woman in his arms. Clarity raced to him. The woman was unconscious. Clarity’s heart began to pound.

  “Doom, look.” She pointed at her arm. “The vaccine. She’s from my Earth.” Both gave each other open-mouthed stares.

  ****

  Doom told Clarity to stay with Menace and wait for the woman to wake up. Clarity was hesitant but he promised her he would be fine. Nick knew of his existence for years, he could have killed him. Doom didn’t mention he noticed Kiki no longer had the bomb. Clarity would figure it out fast so he had to hurry.

  The mountain where the children lived was close and Doom was moving fast. He wanted the confrontation over with. Clarity would worry the entire time he was gone. He knew he was being watched; he could feel it. He wanted answers and he was positive Nick knew something.

  Nick stalked Doom. Undaunted Doom spun in a slow circle watching the teen as he moved above him from rock to rock. In his hand he held the bomb Kiki received for information. The other hand held a match. He only needed one. Nick chuckled when Doom eyed the weapon.

  “No worries,” Nick said. “This for my safety. We face after hybrids dead. I want you pass message to Clarity.”

  “What message?”

  “DaV-nin wants her. He wants eggs, whatever that mean. He want taste her brain. He thinks there be harvest, is good. Your battle, Kiki told me, is go.”

  “What else do you know?”

  “Hybrids sleep, wake when you do. Not like too cold. Some go to heat. Not all. Vul-ner-able under nose. Only five females of own they breed. Don’t know how breed, but see human female’s guts ripped open, low on belly like they look for something. She alive when they do it. Female’s death horrible.”


  Doom knew he was being taunted. The words were short but understandable. Nick had a vile smirk on his face. The boy wanted him to suffer. The young man wasn’t done. Doom already wanted to vomit with the images. Hate ruled the boy-man before him.

  “They pin woman down, slice claw in belly, pull something out. Then she killed for brain. Your fault, Doom.”

  “The hybrids do the killing.”

  “You give victims. You bad. Cruel. Hate you. Hate you.”

  Nick jumped down the side of the cliff and was gone. Doom’s heart was racing. The hybrids held the humans for a month. Maybe it took them that long for the hunt. Doom wondered if they waited for a certain time when their females were fertile. Clarity and the other human females had a bleeding time each month. The village women no longer did but Doom wasn’t so naive he didn’t know the bleeding was associated with sex and babies. Anything was possible. He raced back to Clarity and found her in Menace’s home. The female had yet to wake.

  “When she wakes take her to the main hall,” Doom commanded. He wasted no time grabbing Clarity’s hand and taking her to his home and told her what Nick had said.

  “My ovaries? My brain? What are they, hybrid zombies?” Clarity asked. “Unless they figured out a way to…shit, that’s gross. If they take my ovaries and mix them with their sperm and put it back into a host’s body, but that’s crazy.” She slumped onto the bed.

  “No, it’s not crazy.” Doom gazed into space before sitting next to her. “When Alice came she spoke of being with a man and they couldn’t have children. They did something she said a test tube, maybe.”

  “Do you think DaV-nin could be a result of that?”

  “Maybe, somehow. But if they consume brains, she would have been dead before her ovaries were harvested.”

  “Damn, stem cell memories. I guess it depends on how fast their stem cell memories work. If it’s instantaneous then there might have been time. Didn’t you say it took a month for the tattoos to appear?”

  “Yes.”

  “Maybe it’s not their females but humans they wait for. There is a certain time when a woman ovulates in a month. Holy hell, what if they wait for a human female to ovulate—the best time to try for a child? How old are the humans when they come here?”

  “The males are of all ages, the females are thirty and under mostly but not all. I think you’re right. They are looking for knowledge. They are breeding.”

  “If the ovaries are used and a host, the bones might be as strong. If the hybrids use cell memory that fast, the baby within might be conditioned to grow strong. From necessity. Dinosaur DNA to adapt to grow and thrive. Shit. Every harvest they are getting smarter. Heath said they were on the verge of space flight. Soon the hybrids will have all the information they’ll need. Even without me. The hybrids need to be destroyed. We need to get busy.”

  “Come on.”

  Doom took her hand and they raced to the main room where everyone was gathered and arguing. Luke had his arms wrapped around Rex. It was clear the villagers weren’t impressed with the dinosaur in their midst. Bubble-gum was snapping at the dinosaur. Flight was outraged the dinosaur was upsetting the dog. Luke was ready to kill anyone who came near. Doom jumped up on the long table and held his hands up for quiet. He was happy to see Menace, and the female recently found was nestled into his arms. Many new faces stared at him, he guessed the arguing stemmed from them being brought up to speed. It made his job easier.

  “We know what the hybrids are after,” Doom shouted. As he expected there were calls of questions. He held his hands splayed for silence. When the room settled he began again. “The hybrids are taking the human females’ ovaries and somehow impregnating their females with them. They then eat the brains of the humans for their memories.”

  The female in Menace’s arms swayed and he pulled her tighter to his chest. Doom motioned to her.

  “You, what’s your name?”

  “She’s Solace. And we determined she’s from Clarity’s Earth,” Menace said.

  “Well damn, does she have a taser, too?” Edge grumbled.

  “What happened to you?” Clarity asked.

  “I work at a daycare,” Solace said, she placed a hand to her head. “We, a few children and me, were sitting and playing. There was a commotion. A sinkhole above the children dropped strange toys. Before I could stop them, the children threw some of their toys up into the blackness. Then, one boy stood up. The blackness began to fall and before I could grab the child, he reached up. The second his fingers touched the darkness, he was sucked in. Then we all were. I tried to hold onto them all but was yanked away in the dark. I lost them. How could I lose them? I was responsible for them. Two and three year olds, gone. They aren’t here. Menace said no children came through the sinkhole with me or the other people. I don’t know any of these other people. I feel so alone.”

  Solace began to sob, and Menace comforted her. Clarity stood beside Doom, and they clutched hands. Doom could see the sadness in Clarity’s eyes; he could also see the determination grow.

  “We need to think bigger faster, if we’re going to save all three of our planets,” Clarity said. “Every second we have between now and the next sacrifice matters. We need to break up into groups. Solace, do you know anything about weapons?”

  She dried her tears with the back of her hand. “Sure, I’m an army brat.”

  Clarity’s smile beamed letting Doom know Solace being a self-proclaimed brat was a good thing.

  “Gather together,” Doom shouted. “This is what we’re going to do.”

  ****

  The long process of making fertilizer mixed with coal dust, molasses, and oil was tedious and Clarity had to make certain of safe storage. The shelter, constructed away from the underground homes, was difficult to reach during the high snow and impossible during a blizzard. Nothing could be made unless Clarity and others could remove their work from the main hall. The last thing she wanted was an explosion. Solace helped make crossbows from wood, the metal tips of arrows rolled in the light blue substance. Solace informed them her father had a fondness for making wooden gun barrels that he shared with her on numerous occasions as she was growing up. Solace was an only child and her father was indulgent, teaching her everything he felt a young woman needed to know in this world to survive. The information was put to good use. They lined the barrels with sandstone to shoot small pieces of debilitating blue matter separated by sandstone and rolled by sandstone.

  The long process of making glass was difficult but Clarity wanted glass tips and boxes. An idea formed in her mind the first time she heard of what the blue stones could do and how she could harvest their power. The glass needed to be strong enough to not break with simple use but to shatter when dropped.

  Baking soda and vinegar were easy staples and though Doom wouldn’t like it, she planned on using many of her condoms for a surprise on the hybrids. Balloon bombs shot with an arrow over an intended target. She planned to fill a few condoms with a noxious substance, hoping to blind their enemy.

  “Flight?” Clarity said bending down hands on her knees.

  The boy came running over with the dog. Bubble-gum was taller than the boy. He loved all of the children but held a fondness for a little boy who always seemed left out. It didn’t help his expressions were laughed at, though the words weren’t meant to be unkind. When Flight mentioned to Ada his mother used to tell him she loved him with all her heart, the woman scoffed and asked the boy how you love with that particular organ. She went on to say you don’t love with your kidneys or intestines.

  Clarity was relieved the other children, her Earth children, took to him easily. Flight managed to smile a little more when he was understood. He wasn’t ignored by Luke when they wanted to tussle. The other children knew nothing of hands-on play.

  She put her hands on his shoulders. “How would you like to help me make paper for balloons?”

  His face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Oh, boy would I ever. Can I use some?” />
  “Sure. We’re going to need pulp and water and make a screen. Later I can show you how to make grass paper.”

  Flight was practically tap dancing. Clarity taught all of the children to make firecrackers. Village women taught human females how to make baskets for the oil they would heat. Steel was melted in droves. Tomahawks were given hooked ends, deadly for slitting hamstrings. The humans they found beside Solace were squeamish and timid but when informed of their fate worked with a vengeance. Using a long soft hide and charcoal, Doom and Clarity mapped out the areas they would set traps. The hybrid home was underlined. They would strike there first. Clarity was forming her own plan in her mind. The big sleep would be a big boon.

  They all worked hard and were starving by the end of the day. Clarity made an iron pan and seared a hunk of meat from a giant reindeer on all sides, using the flavored butter, salt, and herbs to season. She dowsed the meat often with the wooden spoon scooping up the juice. Doom declared the meat delicious. Fast rolls were made. Sleepy children were carried to beds in their own homes. Bubble-gum followed Flight. Clarity knew Muffin slept outside the child’s door. The bulwark was smitten with the dog.

  Soon after dinner it was time to retire for the night. The children from Kiki’s group plus one T-rex were placed in a home of their own. Clarity watched Luke clutch a small stone of light to his chest as his sister pulled a fur over him. She glanced up at Doom.

  “They’re all so young,” she whispered.

  “They’re smart.”

  “They’re strong. They don’t want to be on this planet. I wish we could get them home.”

  Doom placed his hand on her shoulder to guide her to their home. “I think the girls are happy to be around you.”

  She knew he was right. It didn’t stop her from wishing. “I wonder if there’s any hope of returning them.”

  Doom took her in his arms as the door slid back. “Do you want to leave?” His sadness crashed over his features.

  Clarity cupped his cheek with her palm. “I am exactly where I want to be.”

  “Even though I drool in my sleep?”

  “Meh, what’s a little spit?” Doom grinned as she sauntered toward the bed. She sat and patted the fur beside her. “Besides it’s your farting that really kills me.”