by Leyton, Bisi
“Like there are no Dy’obeths,” Merce replied.
“Sen-Filla—” Enric continued.
“After everything you have seen, you still question what I tell you?” Merce gasped in frustration. “The Dy’obeths used reapers to wipe out entire cities.”
“Those are stories,” Enric remarked.
“According to those stories, reapers hunt down and murder their bloodline starting with their closest relatives. They do not stop until everyone is dead. The longer it takes to track them down, the less stable reapers become and the more likely they will attack people who are not from their bloodline,” Merce explained.
“Grandmother, the threshold is not working.” Slapping her hand on the glass, Turia scanned around the group. “Something is wrong with it.”
“Perhaps you are not working it properly,” Enric suggested. “Let me see.”
“I am from the highest caste, so I have used thresholds my whole life. I understand more about how these work than you ever will.”
“I am of the Ino caste now, so you have no right to speak to me like I am from Mordin or Haro,” Enric retorted.
“Are you two seriously arguing about this, now?” Wisteria whispered with frustration. “I am sure your father-reaper doesn’t care right now which caste you’re from. Can you get the threshold working?”
“Hang on, if the reaper wants its relatives the rest of us should be okay as long as we don’t get in the way,” Garfield noted.
“If you want to go, leave. You were never important,” Enric retorted. “But Dy’obeths are hunting humans and you will need help to traverse this place.”
“Then what do we do? How do we stop them?” Wisteria slowly twirled around. “Where’s Hailey?”
“Does it matter?” Enric cocked his head to the side. “The priority is finding a way out of here.”
“We can escape using the overlands,” Turia recommended.
“Hailey?” Wisteria searched around for her.
“How do we fight the reapers?” Garfield asked.
“I am not sure.” Merce moved to the stained glass window. “I do not recall reading much about them.”
“Fire,” Enric watched the door.” According to the stories.”
A loud thud hit against the door.
“It’s throwing itself at the door,” Wisteria noted distractedly as she hunted for the missing girl. “Garfield, can you check the other side?”
Garfield hesitated for second and then started looking. “I agree with Enric, we’d do better without her.”
“Start a fire in our home?” Merce sighed. “I cannot do that.”
“Merce, this is going to be hard, but if this is a reaper more could be on the way,” Wisteria called out. “The sooner you get used to doing what you need to do, the more likely you’ll survive.”
“Why would more be coming?” Merce queried. “There was only one.”
“But more of your relatives are dead than alive, and if you’re from the Moon Desert then I can assume most of them are buried near here. So, they’re coming.”
“Are you sure fire will stop them?” Turia helped him keep the door shut.
“Of course not, I learned those things were real a minute ago. One thing I am sure about is we to need get to the Hall of Ages before anymore show up.” Enric leaned against the door. “How far away is the overland from here?”
“What’s an overland?” Wisteria asked.
“It is a vehicle.” Still leaning on the door, Enric reached for an armchair and broke off a wooden leg. Pulsing the broken leg with his blue light, it caught on fire.
“A car?” Wisteria felt confused.
“It is not like your cars.” Enric went to the door. “Our artifacts are nothing like inferior human technology—”
Wisteria waved him away. “We need to run when you open that door, in case you can’t cure him when you burn him. How do we get to the overland?”
“Through here. We will have to smash these one thousand year-old windows.” Merce pointed at an eight-foot tall stained glass window. “They do not open, so we will have to smash them. These windows have stood here for generations and now like my son, they’ll be destroyed.”
“Maybe you can rebuild one day.” Wisteria hoped, but surviving was more important than a stained glass window, no matter how old. She stopped when she found Hailey hiding behind a statue. “Hailey. You okay?”
Trembling, Hailey was crouched head down with her arms wrapped around her knees. “I’m not feeling well. I—”
“Whoa.” Wisteria smelled something pungent. Like poop. “Hailey.”
Since Nero, she’d encountered many people who’d wet themselves out of fear. In all honesty, Wisteria had done it twice when Nero first broke out, but this was the first time someone had crapped.
Slowly, Hailey lifted her head and said, “This is your fault. Why did you bring me here?”
“Hailey get up now.” Garfield hurried up behind her. “What’s that smell? Ah man, Hailey.” He backed off.
“D’cara, that stinks.” Enric visibly shuddered.
“What is that?” Turia yelled as she pushed the door shut.
“I wouldn’t be here if not for your fat ass.” Hailey glared at Wisteria. “Well, I hope you’re happy.”
“Get up,” Wisteria ordered. “We’re going to make a run for the overland. You need to be ready to go or we’ll leave you behind.”
“Turia, Turia, I love you,” a man’s deep voice called from the other side of the door. “I have missed you daughter. Do not run away from me.”
“Father,” Turia cried moving from the door. “Grandmother, what should I do?”
“He’s not your father.” Wisteria ran to Enric who was now left alone, pushing the door shut. “He’s a reaper. You can’t go out to him.”
Another heavier crash hit against the door.
“Grandmother, tell me?” Turia whispered.
“We run.” Merce stared at the stain window. “We do not come back until the reapers are gone.”
“Move Wisteria.” Enric turned to the door. “I am sorry Turia.” Opening the door, he plunged the burning stake into the reaper’s chest.
Screaming, the reaper fell back, flapping its hands in the air as it staggered back from the force of Enric’s blow.
Its shrieks unsettled Wisteria, cutting into her very soul.
“I guess that means we can go this way.” Garfield walked up to her. “Ah, hell.”
She’d seen it too.
The silhouettes of hands pounded on the front windows down the hall. She counted at least twenty.
“Mother, I have missed you mother,” a reaper outside pleaded.
“Merce, please come to me,” another called.
“Sister, help me,” cried a third as it pounded the glass.
“Close the door.” Wisteria couldn’t watch anymore. “We need to leave,” she said while dragging Hailey to her feet.
“Don’t touch me. You don’t tell me what to do.” Pulling Wisteria’s arm off her, Hailey jerked her shoulder back.
“Fine.” Wisteria picked up a stone statue. “Which is the closest window to the car?”
“It is not a car,” Enric corrected.
“The bloody overland, you idiot.” Wisteria almost threw the statue at him.
“That way. The overland is that way.” Turia pointed to the left window. “It will—”
A massive crash came from the corridor.
“What—What was that?” Hailey stammered, clutching at Wisteria.
“The reapers have broken in and are heading our way?” Garfield guessed.
Tossing the statue, Wisteria smashed the priceless stained glass window into hundreds of pieces.
“Get them out. I will hold the door.” Enric pressed his large frame against the enormous wooden door.
Edging toward the window, Wisteria peered out at the empty compound covered in off-white stones, surrounded by an ivory colored wall. Under different circumstances,
this place would be gloriously beautiful. “Those are overlands?” She motioned toward two automobiles that looked like black vintage cars from the 1920s or 30s, parked on the far left side of the compound.
Garfield jumped out of the window and raced to the vehicle.
“I will bring it over, get my grandmother out.” Leaping out after him, Turia raced out and overtook Garfield, reaching the overland first.
“Come on.” Brushing the remaining shards of glass from the window frame, Wisteria stretched out her arms to help Merce through.
“Thank you.” Leaning on Wisteria, Merce sat on the windowsill and swung her legs over to the outer side.
Wisteria then jumped down and helped Merce out as one of the overlands sped up to them. The rear door opened and Garfield emerged. “Get in,” he called out.
Merce hurried in unaided.
“Hailey?” Wisteria noticed the other girl hadn’t left. Clambering back inside, she spotted Hailey rooted in the center of the room staring at the door Enric was fighting to keep shut.
“We’re all going to die,” Hailey whimpered.
“Are they all in?” Enric yelled at her. “I cannot hold them back much longer.”
“Except us.” Wisteria nodded in Hailey’s direction. “We—”
Leaving his position, Enric darted across the room. “Go.”
“Hailey, move.” Wisteria clapped trying to get Hailey’s attention. “We don’t have much time.”
“Wisteria, I can’t.” Hailey trembled.
“Are Turia and Merce in the overland?” Enric demanded as he moved her to the window. “Answer me.”
“Yes, she’s in the vehicle,” Wisteria told him. “We need to get Hailey—”
Reapers burst through the door.
Hailey bolted to the window faster than Wisteria had ever seen her move.
“Come on,” Garfield insisted. “Those reaper things are coming around the back—”
“Hailey was still inside.” Getting to the window, Wisteria peered outside and saw three decaying reapers running around the mansion in her direction.
“Going back was foolish,” Enric commented as Wisteria jumped out.
Wisteria hurried out to join Garfield in the vehicle.
Hailey followed.
Merce and Turia were in an adjacent vehicle that sped off. Several reapers ran after them, but a few continued toward Wisteria’s group.
Before Hailey could reach the overland, a reaper dragged her back into the house. “Help me,” she wailed.
“Hail—” Wisteria shouted.
Enric pushed Wisteria into the vehicle. “We need to go now.” Getting in behind her, he pulled out his far-eye. As he ran his finger across the glass, the vehicle rose a few feet in the air without making a sound.
“It flies?” Wisteria exclaimed out of the window as several reapers slammed themselves against the vehicle. “You can fly over them right?”
“Where is our sister?” A reaper pleaded from outside as he stroked a bloody axe. “What have you done with her?”
“The overland hovers,” Enric informed her. “We will run through them.”
Another bloody reaper thumped the side window while crying.
“Hold tight.” Enric sped the overland through a horde of over forty reapers who clawed and grabbed their vehicle.
“Why are they after us? I thought they wanted Merce and Turia,” Garfield exclaimed as they plowed through the reapers.
“Maybe we’ve got their scent on us or something?” Wisteria guessed.
“Perhaps.” Enric pulled out into the crowded street. Scribbling on the glass far-eye, he maneuvered the vehicle over the mixture of Famila, Thayns and reapers, twenty or so feet in the air. Zooming into the streets, they joined the multiple of vehicles shooting by at lightning speed in hundreds of directions.
“Whoa,” Garfield shouted as black overlands sped toward them from three different directions.
“Look out.” Wisteria grabbed Enric’s shoulder. “We’re going to crash.”
Their vehicle made a sharp stop, sending Wisteria and Garfield tumbling to the front.
“Do not tell me how to drive.” Enric made an abrupt left turn and then another right. Amazingly, he weaved through the insane airborne traffic.
Wisteria was stunned at how technologically advanced the Family were. Till now, she’d taken them for bunch of super strong, mystic people who relied on pseudo magical artifacts. From the sheer volume of overlands racing by at supersonic speeds around them, she needed to reevaluate her first impression of them. She then realized if the Family ever decided to invade Earth, no one would stand a chance against them.
While Wisteria couldn’t understand the rules of the road, it seemed all the drivers where somehow able to avoid collisions and maintain their unholy speed without any discernable pattern. She guessed it must be the far-eye they used. She became acutely aware she was at Enric’s mercy. “Where we going?”
“Hall of Ages, which is why we came here.” Accelerating again, Enric sent Wisteria and Garfield careening to the back.
“Doesn’t this over-car-thing have seat belts?” Garfield groaned, reseating himself. “I almost broke my neck.”
“No, the Family have a greater sense of balance than humans, so seat belts would be redundant,” Enric spun the vehicle around and climbed higher into the sky. “And on the rare occasions I bruise, I simply regenerate.”
“What happens to the Thayns?” Wisteria asked. “Don’t they travel in these things?”
The vehicle came to another violent stop and again, the kids crashed forward.
“Our shock compressors limit the extent of any collisions or sudden stops. Otherwise, you both would have been dead.” Enric smirked as Wisteria crawled up onto the seat again. “Thayns are too valuable to—”
“What in the hell is that?” Wisteria noticed three vintage hovering trucks off-loading people into an open field a few yards away. “Why are they herding so many people there?”
“Looks like a concert,” Garfield guessed.
“The Dy’obeths are rounding up all the humans in the realm to purify the Family from them,” Enric answered.
“When you say purify…?” Wisteria doubted this was going some sort of sacred bath.
“Exterminate,” Enric elaborated.
“So, why do they look so happy?” Garfield asked.
The Thayns seemed content, standing around it the field picking flowers or chatting with each other. A few were having a picnic, while the children busied themselves playing games.
“They’re brainwashed to be loyal to the Family, so they’re happy doing whatever their liege’s ask—in this case dying,” Wisteria remarked.
“Merce lied about not keeping Thayns. These people are monsters,” Garfield remarked in disgust.
“The Fifth Pillar, generally, do not have Thayns unlike most of the Family,” Enric answered.
“No, they’re like the rest of the Family, otherwise there wouldn’t be hundreds of humans out there waiting to die.” Wisteria leaned her head on the glass. She had to do something.
“If that were true, both of you would be dead,” Enric snapped. “Merce, Turia and I are risking our lives by having you here, so show some gratitude.”
“Gratitude? You brought me here because it furthers your agenda. Not because you care—”
“I do care what happens to humans. Things are different now,” Enric said.
“Really?” She scoffed. “What changed? You let Hailey die without a second thought.”
“There was no time to save your friend and get away from that place safely.” Enric fumed.
“No. You wanted her dead. You never wanted her to be here.” Wisteria pointed out
“Did you?” Enric grimaced.
“No, but I didn’t want her dead,” she said.
“I did not either, but it happened because she was in the wrong place. We dragged her and the other one through two thresholds. Against my better judgment, I did
not leave your people in Smythe to die.” Enric seethed.
“Why? What changed Enric?” she demanded.
“Before Radala died, I never considered humans anything more than cattle,” Enric admitted. “She believed you were worth dying for and—”
“You don’t want her death to be for nothing,” she guessed.
“She was right about Dy’obeths returning. She might have been right about humans being—” Enric sighed. “The truth is, most of the Fifth Pillar do not believe in subjugating the humans, but a small minority do. The Thayns you see out there belong to them.”
“Why don’t the Fifth Pillar ban Thayns if they feel it is so wrong?” she questioned.
“Every Famila has rights. Even if they prohibited the Fifth Pillar from keeping them, no one could stop my Pillar or any of the others from having Thayns,” explained Enric.
“Like people from your Pillar?” Wisteria recalled Enric was from the Third Pillar, like Bach and their Pillar kept Thayns.
“What about the rights of the Thayns?” Garfield asked. “They didn’t ask to be brainwashed.”
“A few of them did,” Enric revealed.
“That’s rubbish.” Wisteria stared at the growing crowd of happy Thayns below. “No one would choose this life.”
“Your world is not so perfect that a few unhappy or confused souls would choose a life of pleasure over suffering.” Enric went on.
“A life of pleasure? They are being exterminated,” Wisteria continued. “No one would choose that.”
“But until now they were happy. Look at them now. Do they not still look happy?” asked Enric.
“The vast majority of the Thayns were tricked or forced into this life,” Wisteria added passionately.
“Would they not prefer their life here, than waking up and having to face the plague in your world?” Enric inquired.
“Don’t talk about what you can’t comprehend,” Wisteria countered. “I can’t say I know what’s best for the humans here, but being a Thayn isn’t it.”
“I agree with you,” Enric said quietly. “The Thayns don’t belong among us.”
“No, they should be dead right?” Garfield retorted sarcastically.
“No, the Dy’obeths are doing to the Family, what the Family’s been doing to humans and he finally gets it.” Wisteria realized as she watched the happily imprisoned Thayns.