by Leyton, Bisi
“How long was I asleep?”
“Three weeks.”
“It felt like a couple of days.” Her mother rubbed her stomach. “Are you sure it was that long?”
“Oh, yes. I remember every day.”
There was a loud explosion.
“What is going on?” Her mother frowned while Wisteria updated her as quickly as she could.
“They use the knowledge to target sickness at whoever they want to,” Lara remarked when Wisteria finished.
“That is why the soldiers and the other ex-Red Phoenix would go into the very deep sleep when the others were easily woken?”
“Other ex-Red Phoenix?” Her mother appeared confused.
“Sabine and Thomas Clarkson. Coles told me.”
“Or he was lying.”
“Please, Mum, don’t lie. Not now.”
“So, including your friend, there are ten Famila on the island. Seven empirics, the two I saw, and Bach.”
“Eleven, including Felip.” Wisteria counted.
“No, Felip is long gone.”
“Are you sure?” Looking back at the window, she saw all the black glass was gone and only the window remained.
“Unless there’s another threshold in this house. He’s gone.”
“So, the Family can just dive in and out of our homes now?”
“Not really….” Her mother’s voice trailed off. “Most of the Family doesn’t know this kind of threshold exists.”
“And you do? Why?”
“I’m ex-Red Phoenix. The Family was my business. If we’re going to talk about this all night, we need to get to the bunker. Where’s your brother?” Her mother struggled to get up.
“Don’t change the subject,” Wisteria pleaded.
No answer.
For a moment, she thought her mother had drifted off to sleep. Alarmed she was falling back into the coma, Wisteria shook her and the woman’s dark eyes opened.
“Get to the bunker. I’ll take care of it.”
“Mum, you can barely walk. You can’t go anywhere.”
“Wisteria—”
“No, you’re not going anywhere!” Wisteria ordered, trying to sound sure of herself. “You need to tell me what I have to do.”
Sighing, her mother muttered something in her native language of Yoruba and said, “The dark glass Felip used for a threshold was made in Smythe.”
“What are we doing with Famila artifacts?”
“We were trying to find some defense against them. The Family’s thresholds are bigger and not designed to be portable. It might give us an edge,” her mother explained. “I don’t know how Felip found out. There was no way he could’ve gotten into any of the facilities. Everyone knows he’s dangerous.”
“And the other seven empirics? They were able to renew Tom Hindle and probably Sir Charles by now, so they’ll know.”
“Not Charles. He maybe an idiot, but he’s one of the few humans naturally immune to their renewal tricks. Why do you think I allow him to remain in charge? While Tom doesn’t know half of what the scientists are really working on. He’s only interested in a real cure for Nero.”
“But Felip has the dark glass and it sounds like he wasn’t working alone.” Wisteria went to get her backpack. Taking her pocketknife from the floor, she threw it into her bag.
“Where are you going?”
“I’ve got to tell Bach. If Alba’s working with Felip he’s going to be in danger, because Felip hates him.” Her chances of convincing him were slim to none, but she’d still try. “I also need to find David. He’s most likely with Amanda’s dad and that man is definitely a sleep walker.”
“I know. He’s been that way for years.”
“You knew—And you didn’t warn us?”
“Because Nate Weiss is harmless. He wanted to be renewed because he felt it would help him get over the loss of his wife and son.”
“Who renewed him?”
“Bach’s mother.”
“Coia? You knew his mother?”
“Coia and I had a complicated history,” the woman admitted.
It seemed like it was going to be a long story and right now Wisteria didn’t want to know if her mother had killed the Famila woman. Not that she expected the truth from her. Moving to the door, she felt her mother tug on her arm.
“Your brother will be safe with Nate, and Bach can take care of himself. If he can’t, let the Family sort out their own problems,” her mother implored.
“Mum—”
“You need to go to the courthouse.”
“The derelict courthouse? Mum, there’s nothing there.” Of course there’s something there. This is the Isle of Smythe. “What have you hidden there?”
“Find Oriol. If Tom’s been renewed, then he’d tell the empirics about his lab.”
“Who is Oriol?” Wisteria thought she knew everyone on the small island.
“He’s the Famila that helped us make the metallic glass.” He mother was swaying, still shaky from her illness.
“A Famila?” Wisteria muttered, remembering Felip’s tip.
“Stay in the courthouse and get him to activate the piron net. He’ll know what that is. That way, no one will be able to find his lab.”
Wisteria saw no point in mentioning she knew what a piron net was, so instead of asking, she nodded. They were going to have a lot to talk about when she got back. If she got back.
“You will need this to get into the courthouse.” Her mother held out a chain with an old key. “Please be careful.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Bach forced the doors of the timeworn courthouse open.
“This is a house of justice?” Enric watched the chaos around them, unimpressed. “I see why these Terrans have descended into anarchy.” Benet was still missing, so Enric had agreed to come.
Bach knew his friend was referring to the frenzied fighting going on between the people of Smythe and some intruders.
The two boys easily moved through the commotion. Didan wasn’t eager to send two civilians, but acquiesced when he realized Enric was training to become a sentinel and he’d no other option at the time.
“They are fighting for their lives,” Bach pointed out.
“They would not have to fight if they had yielded to us in the first place,” Enric commented as they entered the large, dusty building. “Are you sure this is the courthouse? It does not look like anyone has lived here for years.”
“This is the only courthouse on the island.”
But Enric was right; thick dust caked every surface and the hall was simply decorated with ancient cobwebs.
“Where do we look?” Enric asked. “Room by room?”
“Probably, unless there is another entrance to this building.” Going back to the door, he examined the exterior of the building. All the windows were dark, but he could hear someone inside. “Can you hear them?”
Enric paused, and nodded. “Upstairs.”
“They must have got in through another entrance, not that it matters.”
“Hey you… Nun,” a heavyset male yelled out to Bach, holding a metal crowbar in one hand. “I never thanked you for breaking my arm. I don’t think you’re going to get away so easily now,” the man jeered. “This time your bones are going to be broken.”
More ragged and bony men advanced toward the pair.
“Do you know them?” Enric commented.
“No. They are all kind of looking alike right now.” Ignoring the humans, Bach turned back to the building. “We will just jump up. The people are on the third floor.”
“Do you all know he’s a freak? A bloody abomination,” the man jeered to his companions.
“What did you say?” Enric spun around. “Excuse me, Sen-son.” He ran toward the group.
Seconds later, Bach saw Enric tossing the heavyset man into the air, smashing him up against the mobile phone mast, high over the ground.
Bach leapt to the third floor and perched on the ledge outside the window. Th
ere was a series of loud screams and seconds later, Enric landed on the ledge next to him.
“What do you think?” Enric nodded in the direction of the mast.
“Don’t leave us here,” one of the men pleaded as he hung onto the mast, stories above the street.
“If they fall, they will die,” Bach remarked.
Enric ignored the remark and opened the window to climb in. “We have to confirm there is no stockpile of obsidian crystal before we can join the others.”
“You could have renewed them.” Bach was uneasy about leaving the humans to die like that.
“Them? They are putrid. My rules for Thayns—look nice and smell nice.”
“You should get them down. We should not waste the resources. Thayns are scarce.”
“Since when does the welfare of Terrans matter? Stupid question.” He rolled his eyes at Bach. “I thought we were done with this? If you want them down, you get them.”
Aside from Wisteria, the only humans he’d ever helped were ones he knew mattered to her. He only did those things because stupidly he thought her opinion of him was important. Now the notion of assisting the humans, any humans, offended him. Even though he still felt that letting them die would be a waste. “I am still a Sen-Son of the Third Pillar, so you need to remember who you are talking to.”
“So act like one. D’cara, I swear I am working with a woman. They are just Terran and there are over a thousand Terrans on this island.”
Several of the island guards advanced toward the strung up men.
“You see, they will take care of their own,” Enric commented.
Entering through the window, the boys arrived in what appeared to be boardroom.
“Interesting.” Enric’s hands glowed to light the room.
On the far wall was a huge RZC logo. Walking toward it, he noticed a series of humanitarian awards and charitable giving plaques. In contrast to the rooms below, there was no dust in here. Someone was actually taking care of this place.
A form leapt to the window.
“Alba?” Enric stepped forward. “D’cara, what are you doing here?”
“I cannot let you both do this alone. No matter what you said, Bach, I am trained for this.” She clambered through the window. “And you need someone who knows how to do this, since Benet has vanished.”
“Hello, Eminent.” A short man entered the room. “I was looking for you outside, but didn’t see you’d come in. Please forgive me.” The man bowed, almost reaching the ground. “I’m here to serve you. Do with me as you wish.”
Enric approached the kneeling man . “You know what we are looking for.”
“Yes, Eminent Mina explained it to me,” John replied. “Naturally, I can’t fully understand your great knowledge. I’m just a tiny mouse—”
“Stop driveling and tell us what we need to know,” Enric snapped.
Bach studied the RZC logo. This one was different from the green ones on the sides of the motor homes Didan had brought in. The red logo seemed older and oddly familiar. Had he been in this room before? No, still something about those three letters awakened something inside of him. Something dark and sad.
The next thing Bach saw was Enric shaking the petrified John.
“It—it—?” John stuttered.
“What do you mean you do not know?” Enric seethed. “The little mouse does not even work in this building.”
“So his access card does not work?” Alba asked.
“It does, Eminent. I was able to get access to this building when everyone was sick.” John nodded eagerly.
“So? We do not need access cards because we can just break down the doors.” Enric was almost strangling the man. “We need to know who is here.”
“Enric, please try and stay calm,” Alba cajoled her brother.
“Eminent,” the man gasped out as Enric released him. “The doors spray a toxic gas if you were to break in. It will kill Famila and Terran.”
The new information only seemed to make Enric angrier.
“Take us,” Bach ordered before Enric could react.
Leaving the dark boardroom, the group came to a gray corridor with no doors or windows. They trailed John until they came to a large stone wall.
“It’s through there,” the man said.
Bach pressed his ear against the door to see if he could hear what was on the other side. “Nothing.” The door was too thick.
John placed his access card over a small metal panel on the side of the door and the stone wall moved. Once through the wall, they passed through three similar walls and up a flight of stairs, leading to a room. The room inside was massive and appeared to be packed with used vials, beakers, broken far eyes, and all sorts of junk.
Moving through, Bach realized the room took up the entire floor.
“What is this? It is full of garbage,” Enric muttered.
“Yes, but it is Family garbage.” Bach examined a book, which was written in their Dialect. “How many Terrans do you know that can read our Dialect? John, what is this place?”
“One of the geologists works in here. He understands how the red stone—” John replied.
“Shh.” Bach signaled. He peeked around a pile of books and to his shock, he saw Wisteria talking to Jason. .“That is the geologist?”
John nodded.
“Who is he?” Alba asked.
“Wait outside, John,” Bach instructed. “Do not let anyone else in here.”
The man scurried away through the clutter.
Enric smirked at the short man. “How is he supposed to do that?”
“We do not need him here anymore,” Bach replied in their Dialect. “And if I tell him that, he will probably get very hysterical.”
“True,” Enric conceded.
Leaving, the Thayn knocked something over, sending the pile of boxes crashing to the ground.
“Ah, qwaynide,” Enric cursed.
*****
Wisteria had arrived at the courthouse. Getting into the facility had been easier than she thought. The key her mother had given her had enabled her to open most of the doors. She had thought it odd that in the twenty-first century, a building still required these old-fashioned keys. This probably didn’t make the building very secure.
After letting herself in the backdoor, she headed up a seemingly endless flight of stairs. As she ascended, she doubted this was ever used as a courthouse. When she touched the door in front of her, a series of stone walls slammed down behind on the stairs, effectively sealing her inside.
The door opened, and a tall man in blue-rimmed glasses and green hair smiled, then frowned at her. “I thought you were James.”
“Jason?” she gasped, looking at Jason whose eyes were now green.
“What’s your name?” the man asked cautiously.
Wisteria scowled. “I’m not a sleepwalker. Wisteria Oluwamodupe Kuti.”
“Good to see you, Wisteria.” Jason nodded.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were in a coma.”
“And if you’d visited me, you’d know that I wasn’t,” he replied. “They sent me here to hide.”
“You’re Oriol. You’re a Famila?”
“Technically, I’m half Famila.” Jason let her in. “And though people know me as Oriol, it’s not my name either, but you know how that is. Bach isn’t your boyfriend’s real name.”
“He isn’t my boyfriend.” The status of the relationship was clear now.
The massive room was packed with stacks of books, magazines, old computers, experimental equipment, and car engine parts. “You’ve been living here for three weeks? All alone.”
“No, James is here too.”
“And you work with Red Phoenix?”
“I used to be in Red Phoenix. I worked with your dad on the Darwin project.”
“You’re only pretending? You’re actually a scientist.”
“I’m a geologist, vet, Shakespearean actor, and right now, I’m reading up on the Family knowledge
among many other things, but I’ve always been true to myself and what I stand for. I did leave that work behind me a long time ago. I quit Project Darwin before you were even born.” He scratched his brightly colored hair. “The conflict about being part Famila and working with Red Phoenix got to be too much. I worked for a charity helping farmers in South Africa.”
“And you ended up here safe, while everyone was dying?”
“Your mother and Thomas Clarkson called me four years ago to come here. They said it was important even though I had retired from the company. So, I showed up here just as the world disintegrated. My first instinct was to leave, but with so many people arriving, who knew nothing about taking care of animals or souls, I felt I needed to stay. If I‘d known this was coming, I wouldn’t have left Cape Town.”
“So, you renewed Nate Weiss? That’s why my mum trusts him?”
Jason paused, and then nodded. “I knew Nate when his name was Eugene. The man was devastated over the loss of his wife and son.”
“And you took his mind?”
“My mother did. She thought it’d help him find peace. He found me because he’s now drawn to the closest blood relation. So technically, I’m his liege, but I might have to renew him again, if his mind starts to fracture.”
“Just so I’m clear, you knew about Didan being here and you did nothing?”
“Didan’s here?” Jason turned back, obviously shocked.
“Yes, and you can’t tell me you didn’t know.”
“I didn’t. Sabine came to my place one night and told me to get locked down until either she, Thomas Clarkson, or your mother told me to leave.”
“You didn’t question why?”
“I did for hours. Have you ever tried getting a straight answer out of your mother? Well, Sabine Morel is almost as bad.”
“So why didn’t you just leave and check out what’s going on for yourself?”
“Because, I trust Sabine and the other two ex-Red Phoenix agents. And you’re positive Didan’s here?”
She nodded.
“And Bach didn’t know? That’s weird because he’s a Sen-Son. His father should’ve told him.”
“He told me…”
“Huh.”
