by Leyton, Bisi
“Let me.” Wisteria climbed up to the skylight.
“No,” her mother ordered.
Sabine tried to grab after her, but was slowed by her injury.
“I’ll be fine I’m feeling much better. I normally have more energy in the morning.” Wisteria hoped it was true as she said it. Even though it wasn’t the smartest thing she’d volunteered to do, she needed to remind everyone and herself she could take care of them too.
“Jenny go after her,” her mother smacked her sister’s arm.
“Lara, come on. The girl is going to be fine,” Aunt Jenny croaked as if she were still sleepy.
Sliding the skylight open, Wisteria pushed the biters on top off. Then climbed out and sat on the roof, she looked around at the eleven or so infected that lay motionless on the vehicle and started kicking the bodies off.
When she cleared the infected from the passenger side, her aunt opened the door and stepped out examining them.
As Wisteria removed the bodies, something grabbed her ankle.
“Ahh!” She kicked back and pulled her foot back.
“What are you doing out here?” A familiar voice called from below. Garfield Simon, her eighteen-year-old best friend and fellow tracker, stood frowning down at her with his crossbow hung over his shoulder.
“Garfield, what are you doing here?” She felt so glad to see him.
“Looking for you.” He pointed to three SUVs parked on the street. “The real question is why are you in Pottingham?”
Wisteria slid down the side and hugged him. “I’m not sure I can explain what happened.”
“You’re going to have to because Coles is livid. He thought you ran away.”
“It’s none of your business Garfunkel.” Her mother wound down the window.
“You almost got my friend killed, so it is my concern,” he replied. “What were you thinking, leaving the island at night?”
“What did you say to me child?” Wisteria’s mother narrowed her eyes at him.
Stunned, Wisteria peered up at her tall curly haired friend in disbelief. No one spoke to her mother that way, least of all Garfield.
“Good one, Garfield.” Sabine laughed, banging on the window. “I’m glad there is a man inside you.”
“We’ve got to get you all back or Coles will murder me before he murders you lot,” he spoke to Wisteria while entirely ignoring her mother.
“Let’s get back.” She attempted to move away from him, but felt queasy from the events of the night before and slumped back into his arms.
“Whoa.” He caught her. “I’ve got you.”
“I’m fine.” She forced herself to her feet and out of his arms. “I’m giddy from the gas we used last night.”
“You used gas? And you guys didn’t leave?” He stared at her mother. “You could’ve suffocated.”
“We couldn’t leave because there were too many biters. It was impossible for the SUV to move,” Wisteria explained.
“Well that explains all these.” He gestured to the bodies. “Trust you to cure over two hundred biters, even when you’re still recovering from Nero.”
“Ladies, sorry to break up the reunion, but we need to go now.” Piers approached carrying a machete in one hand and a dart gun in the other.
“Shut the hell up Piers.” Garfield laughed.
“Why does he keep calling you a lady?” Glaring at the pompous jerk, Wisteria wanted to lunge at him, but didn’t have the strength. “Doesn’t he get you can take him?”
Once upon a time, Garfield had been a skinny, short kid with wild curly hair. When she’d met him, he’d been an inch or two taller than her, but now he stood over six feet tall and was more athletic. It was clear why Amanda Weiss finally fell for him. He turned into a hot guy.
Still, the soldiers picked on him from time to time because of who he used to be.
“Wisteria, your girlfriend was so worried, he almost—” Piers continued.
“Piers, shut up, we need to get back to Smythe.” Garfield fumed. “We don’t have time for this.”
“Ah, shut up yourself, Garfunkel,” Piers retorted.
“You should be nicer to me, Piers. I can make Wisteria to get Steven to talk to Lexie. She’s going to be pretty vulnerable now that her benefactor’s dead,” Garfield replied sarcastically. “Since clearly, you’re a lower life form and need to spend time with your own.”
“Seriously, you bring up Steven here?” Wisteria shuddered.
There seemed to be no love lost between Garfield and Steven. Mainly, because Steven gave Garfield a hard time when Garfield first arrived in Smythe. Steven alone still called Garfield a rat boy, referring to the time when Garfield worked as a rat catcher on the island.
“Are you two done? Because we need to return to Smythe now,” her mother reminded them.
“Lara, we wouldn’t be here if you’d not taken this little field trip to Pottingham,” Piers noted.
“And I’ll remind you that I’ll shoot you in the face.” Her mother produced a handgun. “If you don’t shut up.”
“Lara, you’re not going to hurt me.” Piers smirked. “Coles won’t allow it.”
“Son of a—” In seconds, her mother jumped out of the car and held Piers on the ground with his arm behind his back. “Say one more word pretty boy and I’ll break your arm off.”
“Mum.” Wisteria hurried over. “Stop.”
“You’re crazy.” Piers struggled to get free.
Prying her mother off Piers, Wisteria noticed a biter shambling toward the group. “We’ve got to go now. There’re biters coming.”
Glancing over at Wisteria and then at the biter, her mother released Piers and stomped into the car. “Let’s go.”
Getting behind her mother, Wisteria couldn’t believe her mother reacted the way she did. Normally, she took out her frustration on biters.
“What was that about, Lara?” Sabine asked as they drove off.
Her mother didn’t answer.
“Lara—” Sabine continued.
“You better not say anything,” Wisteria advised.
Her mother needed time to decompress, so the rest of the journey was made in silence.
Wisteria estimated it took them another thirty minutes to get to the gates of the Isle of Smythe.
Instead of a welcome committee, Coles stood in the center of the street with his arms folded. He seemed remarkably calm as he watched the convoy return, but he didn’t look at her mother.
“Elliot—” Her mother parked beside him.
“Lara, we need to talk.” Instead of looking at her, he walked away.
“You’re in trouble,” Sabine commented.
“You didn’t tell Elliot you were leaving?” Aunt Jenny gasped. “Lara what were you thinking? You were trying to ship his kid off to some other country and he didn’t know?”
“Wisteria isn’t his child and Elliot doesn’t control me,” her mother answered.
“He’s your husband.” Jenny scowled.
“And he took her to go after Charles. I didn’t have a problem with that,” her mother said.
“You mean to kill Charles?” Sabine laughed. “Excellent, Wisteria, I love your family. Will you adopt me?”
“What if something happened to you or Wisteria? What would he have done?” Aunty Jenny continued.
“He’s a guy, he would’ve gotten over it,” Sabine chuckled. “Well, probably not Coles because he actually loves you, but Bruno would have a new girlfriend in thirty minutes, forty-five tops.”
“You think this is funny?” Aunt Jenny turned to Sabine, “If things had gone according to plan, Wisteria wouldn’t be here. Do you have any clue how Coles would’ve reacted? He would’ve lost his mind. Why else would he come after Wisteria in Franklin?”
“So, she should honor and obey him huh? That’s rich coming from a woman who left her husband to die in Franklin and kidnapped his son,” Sabine heckled. “Maybe little sister is following your example.”
“Mum, I’m
going to walk back.” Wisteria wasn’t in the mood to listen to these women fight or hear her mother once again justify why she mistreated those who cared about her.
“Go straight home,” her mother ordered.
Stepping out of the vehicle, Wisteria nodded, but she wasn’t going home. She needed to get away. At times like these, she used to go to the clock tower to hide out, but now Jason Webb, the local pastor was back in town she couldn’t go there because she wouldn’t be alone.
Cooper Road popped into her head. Where she lived before her mother married Coles. She’d not been back since they moved out, but the last she heard, the house was still empty. Trudging through the quiet island, she decided to go there.
“Hey,” Garfield jogged up. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
“Would you believe me if I told you, I don’t know myself?”
“Since you were with your mother, I can believe that.”
“I still can’t believe she attacked Piers.”
“Me neither, I expected her to shoot him, but physical violence? Doesn’t she reserve that for Coles at home.”
“What? She doesn’t hit him.”
“I meant like when they have sex. Rough stuff.” He let out a loud laugh.
Wisteria opened her mouth to insult him, but no words came out. She was beyond disgusted at the very idea.
Chapter Six
You are my responsibility
Wisteria and Garfield reached her old home on Cooper Road in less than fifteen minutes.
The gates were overgrown with bean vine or the wisteria plant. Her mother was obsessed with the plant and used every inch of the old garden to grow it. Now that they lived on Coles’ farm, she could grow even more of it.
“How are we going to get in?” Garfield rattled the gate. “It’s locked.”
“We can climb over.” She tugged on the creeping vines before scaling the fence.
“Can you make it?” he called after her.
“Yeah.”
“You sure?”
She crouched on top of the gate. “Don’t worry about me. I can do this. I’m aware of my limits.”
“Don’t fall okay?” He peered up at her.
“Seriously Garfield, you sound like my mum and everyone else on this island. I’ve done more dangerous things than climbing over one fence.”
“Like taking a beat down from that cult at Lady Luggard School or almost killing Rupert? It was different then, you weren’t—sick.” He landed beside her.
“I’m getting better every day.” She climbed down the other side. The world started spinning around her and she stumbled to the ground.
He squatted in front of her. “Wisteria!”
“I need a few minutes.” Rummaging through her pockets, she took out her key ring. Picking out a lever key, she showed it to him. “This is the backdoor key, see if it works.”
Taking it, Garfield went to the door.
She tried to stand, but it made the dizziness worse. Bracing herself on her hands and knees for a few more minutes, she took deep breaths. When the spinning stopped, she got up and headed to the back of the house as he managed to open the door.
Once inside the empty house, they found their way to Wisteria’s old room. All that was left were her old dresser and her bed.
“Man, so Amanda used to sleep here?” He examined the room. “What was it like living with her?”
Amanda Weiss was Garfield’s eighteen-year-old extremely attractive and sweet girlfriend.
“No clue.” Wisteria sat on the bed, resting her head against the headboard. “Most of the time when she was here, I was either in Hunter Tower with Bach or with you in the Dungeon.”
“Right.” He sat down beside her. “So?”
“You want me to tell you why I went to Pottingham?”
“For starters, I’m curious to find out what happened to Hailey’s dad.”
“You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”
“Wisteria, your boyfriend was from another dimension. Plus, his people, the Family have the ability to turn humans into mindless drones. Don’t underestimate what I’ll believe.”
Her life sounded bizarre, hearing it from him. “Bach isn’t my boyfriend—anymore.”
“He is and he’ll be back. That I promise.”
“He hasn’t tried to get in touch, so I assume it’s over or…” Biting her lip, she clenched her hand into a fist. “Enric’s right. He’s been brainwashed.”
Enric was a member of the Family and Bach’s best friend. Along with Bach’s older brothers, Enric blackmailed her into breaking up with Bach because he chose to leave the Family and be with her on Smythe. Unbeknownst to her, Bach was dying at the time and his brothers would only help him heal if she made him leave.
Since she didn’t want him to die, she went along with their plan.
A few weeks ago, Enric had showed up, telling her Bach was in trouble that his mother, Coia had brainwashed him. The last time she’d seen Enric he’d forced her to help him find someone, so she wasn’t sure she could trust him.
“Please, we agreed we wouldn’t talk about what Enric said. He’s lying to get you to do what he wants,” Garfield exclaimed. “He’s like the rest of the Family. He hates humans. Whatever he’s wants from you, it’s to further his plans and not help you.”
“Jason too? He’s always been straight forward.”
“Jason hid the fact he’s part Family and Bach’s half brother. Yeah, he was totally honest.” Garfield rolled his eyes. “He wasn’t going to tell anyone he wasn’t fully human.”
“Enric hated Jason, so they wouldn’t work together unless there’s a real common threat.” She crossed her legs on the bed.
“If you believed that, you would’ve gone with Enric when he first showed up.”
“How would I have done that? Enric was taken to Mulberry Orchard moments after he arrived. I haven’t had a chance to speak to him.” Plus, she’d been so sick she feared she’d pass out mid-conversation. “My mother and Jason are trying to figure out if they can stop Coia another way.” She realized part of that plan involving shipping her off to the far corners of the world. “Jason must be convinced there’s a way because he’s not spoken to me about it again. Instead, he’s been meeting with my mother, Sabine, Coles, Tommy, Mr. Cheung and my aunt, discussing all kinds of things about Dy’obeths and monsters.”
“And Bach?”
“They’re concern is stopping the Dy’obeths, not him.”
“Your excursion had to do with that?”
Still studying her hands, she relayed the events of the previous evening to him. “My mum figured they’d want a real cure to Nero more than a way to turn themselves into the Family. Turns out, they wanted neither—” Her voice wavered. “How was that going to protect me? Why bother bringing me back from Franklin, if days later she’s trying to ship me off to Russia or Germany or—” She buried her face in her hands.
“Carlos Hernandez can’t be president anymore,” he noted when she finished. “He was on his second term six years ago.”
“That’s what you took from what I said?” She frowned.
He gave her a wink as a way to say he’d been kidding. “I guess in a way, you should be relieved, those RZC people aren’t trying to kill you anymore.” He laughed weakly as he attempted to cheer her up.
A door downstairs slammed shut and feet stomped inside.
“Who?” Jumped up, she quietly closed the door to their room.
“Okay, talk I’m listening.” Coles’ voice barked from below.
“Bloody hell, it’s your stepdad,” Garfield groaned.
“Shh.” She placed a finger on his lips.
“Why? You’ve made it completely clear you don’t want to listen,” her mother replied angrily. “So, why do you keep dragging me back here every time you want to vent is besides me.”
“Lara you took my sick stepdaughter off the island and attempted to trade her or give her away,” Coles quietly seethed at h
er.
“You took her out to Woolmer. I fail to see the difference.”
“I consulted you. I didn’t sneak off at dusk. What were you thinking?”
“Wisteria isn’t your concern,” her mother stated. “She’s mine.”
“You can’t possibly believe that,” Coles answered.
There was a pause.
For a moment, Wisteria thought they’d left.
“I was desperate Elliot. It’s a matter of time before something from those realms comes back here for her and I can’t let that happen again.”
“You decided this by yourself—without talking to me or Wisteria?”
“She’s my daughter and not your burden.”
“Burden? Your family has always been my burden Lara, always. Remember Heath, my brother who died trying to save you from those pirates.”
“So that means you own me right? Elliot, it doesn’t work like that. I’m sorry Heath died and I’m grateful—”
“I don’t own you. It destroyed me losing my brother and you were there for me. I can be there for you, if you for once in your life—trust someone. You can’t do this all alone.”
“I have to,” her mother cried.
“No, Lara, you’re my responsibility and so are your children, whether you like it or not.”
“You’re not listening to me.”
“Because you’re not making any sense. I am on your side. If you needed to get her and the other kids away, then we’ll find someplace and we’ll all go together. I don’t know exactly what Doc or Hemlock did to you to make it impossible for you to believe me, but—”
“Doc was a monster and Hemlock—the Family hunted and murdered him and my first daughter. They killed them together. Elliot—they cannot kill my second child!”
For the first time in Wisteria’s life, she heard her mother break down into tears. A sister? That made no sense to Wisteria. Hemlock was her biological father. What is she saying?
“And David?” Coles asked. “You’d leave him to face the Family on his own? He’s First Pillar too.”
“No, David’s not Hemlock’s son. After what’s happened, I’d never choose to have a First Pillar child again.”
Wisteria gasped, but Garfield covered her mouth.
