Criteria (YA Paranormal Romance) (Wisteria)

by Leyton, Bisi

  “Is it true you’re going to kill those guys, but not the girls?”

  “Yumi told you that? Doesn’t it sound like she’s a bit crazy?”

  “Yumi didn’t tell me that.”

  “Then who? The prisoners? Fi, they’d say anything to confuse you. Do you see why I don’t want them around? You already believe them over me.”

  “It’s true?”

  “The truth is, we’re probably the last civilized people left in the world and we need more girls. Kim and Brenda died last year, which makes five gone. We need more women to ensure that one day, there’ll be more kids born and yes, if it helps to make our group happier that’s what I’ll do. That being said, I’m not planning on doing what you think.”

  “It’s obvious now, since those four came—it means there are other people out there. So we’re not the last. Maybe they’ve got more women there.”

  “I’d said last civilized. Steven’s people will probably use us for food. I’ve seen this before.”

  “We don’t know that.”

  “Fi, remember when we were with the convoy with those people at Liverpool? They tried to kill us all, remember?”

  “But that was different. They were cannibals. Steven isn’t like them.”

  “Steven?” He cocked an eyebrow.

  “Yes, him and the others. We should give them a chance.” She calmly approached him. “Watch them closely and don’t let them leave. Please, you aren’t a killer. You’re a good person.”

  “What am I supposed to do if they hurt—you? Fi, I love you and I need to protect you. I have to, even if you hate me for it.”

  “Jack—don’t.”

  “We’ve haven’t decided anything. Yumi and the rest of us are going to discuss it later, but I expect they’ll just say kill all four, rather than risk them going back to their camp and bringing reinforcements.”

  Monty walked into the room. “Hello.”

  “Monty, do you have to be everywhere I am?” she screamed over Jack’s shoulder. “Find somewhere else to be!”

  “Yumi is looking for you, Jack. I think she’s on her way up here,” Monty remarked with a sneer and left.

  “I—I’ll be back.” Jack reached out to grab her hand. “Fi—“

  “Get out, Jack,” she ordered.

  Jack opened his mouth to speak, but then left.

  She shut the door and bolted it behind him.

  *****

  “You were right. They’re going to kill you.” Fi sat across from Steven in the cellar, hours later. She’d volunteered to bring food to them again so she’d get a chance to see him.

  “I doubt it.” Steven sipped his soup, and then licked his lips. “Thanks for the food.”

  She wanted to kiss him again, but couldn’t because the rest of his group was standing around.

  “You doubt it, Steven?” Wisteria grumbled. “You’re joking, right?”

  “They seem like nice people. They’re just a little scared,” Steven explained.

  “Scared?” Amanda trembled, moving behind Garfield to vanish into the darkness. “They’re going turn us into breeding stock, if we’re lucky.”

  “Amanda.” Wisteria hurried after her.

  “I’m sure they’ve never actually killed anyone.” Steven smiled at Fi. “They’re just confused.”

  “You’re sweet, but you’re wrong. Jack means it. He spoke about protecting me and stuff. The last time he spoke like that, he almost killed someone.”

  “Greg?” Garfield asked.

  “How did you know about that?” Fi glanced over at the brown haired guy.

  “We heard some of Jack’s friends talking about it,” Garfield added.

  “He didn’t kill Greg, not really,” Fi explained.

  “He just left him behind to be eaten by biters, so he could get away.” Garfield walked off. “Huge difference, right?”

  “Greg ran off,” Fi defended.

  Garfield didn’t answer.

  All she heard was Amanda sobbing as Wisteria tried to comfort her.

  “I know there’s a difference.” Steven massaged her neck. “It’s not like Jack pulled the trigger.”

  She didn’t know if it was his tranquil voice or his tender touch, but the tension she’d felt over the last hours dissolved.

  “We’ll be fine; don’t worry about me,” he told her.

  “Why are you so calm?”

  “Because he’s an idiot?” Garfield sneered.

  “Because I know that we’re not in any danger and even if we are, I’m not going to give anyone the pleasure of watching me lose it.”

  Steven’s inner strength amazed her and made her love him even more. “There is a chance they’ll change their minds, but the inner circle’s going to decide and tell us what to do.”

  “Inner circle? They run things here, right? I’m guessing they’re all guys.” Wisteria emerged into the moonlight.

  “Why do think that?” Steven seethed.

  “Only the strong survive and the only way you get a community like yours standing strong is with a lot of brute force.” Wisteria turned to Fi. “The boys tell everyone what to do here.”

  “Yumi’s part of the inner circle too,” Fi pointed out. “So the guys don’t run this group.”

  “She’s the girl that came with you? The one who kicked Brian’s ass? I’m pretty sure she’s the only girl they listen to, because she can do that,” Wisteria remarked dryly.

  “Wisteria, leave.” Steven pointed at her.

  “Steven—?”

  “Now.” He scowled at her.

  She nodded and backed away.

  “I guess you run things in your group,” Fi noted.

  “You’re funny.” Letting out a deep chuckle, he slipped an arm around her.

  Kneeling up to him, she kissed him gently on the lips.

  “So, is it going to be like a vote when the inner circle meets?” he continued.

  “I don’t know how they make their decisions, but when they’re done, they’ll tell the group what they decided.”

  “And if you don’t agree with what they decide?”

  “I trust Jack.”

  “Or you’ll end up like Greg.”

  “Greg—you don’t understand how things work here.”

  “Actually, I kind of do. He sounds a lot like the guy who runs our community, the Major. He can’t be reasoned with either. We either do things his way, or get thrown out of town and face the biters on our own. He’s a monster.”

  She thought she heard Wisteria cough or sob, but couldn’t be sure.

  “Is that what happened to you?”

  “Why do you think we were out here on our own? No normal human being would send us out here to face this world, with only the clothes on our backs.”

  “You had guns.”

  “Guns are useless against biters. Fire one and all you do is attract more infected.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to keep talking about this. I don’t want my last conversation with you to be about the Major.”

  “What do you want to talk about?”

  “I don’t.” He leaned over her, kissing her neck. “Not a word.”

  *****

  The next day, Fi waited outside of the ancient hall that had once been the dining room. Inside, the inner circle was discussing Steven and his friends. Biting on her nails, she paced outside the doors. She didn’t know how she’d cope if anything happened to Steven.

  After what felt like hours, the door slowly opened. Monty emerged with a broad smile on his face. “Hey, sweet-pea.” He tried to kiss her.

  She slapped him. “Get lost.”

  “Ah relax, you’re not that special, Fiona.” He chuckled and walked off. “At least not anymore.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means you’re no longer the fairest in the land. Your boyfriend, or rather Yumi’s boyfriend, has a new friend. Why do you think he wants the guys gone? So he can have that blue-eyed girl all to himself.”

  “Amand
a? You think I care about that?” She brushed past him.

  “You should, because now you’re free game just like the rest. You really should’ve been nicer to me.” He grabbed her arm.

  “You’re sick.” She yanked at his grip.

  “Careful, or it might slip that you’re banging that spy, or Jack—or both. Ever wonder how Yumi will react? She’ll probably stab you in your sleep.”

  “If you do, you’re crazy. All I’ve ever done is deliver food to them.” She snickered to hide her fear. There was no telling how Jack would react, knowing she’d been seeing Steven.

  “Yeah, right.” He laughed.

  “Are you trying to blackmail me?”

  “Why would I? You don’t have anything I want . . . anymore.”

  “Huh? You think you’ve got dibs on that Wisteria girl or something? Trust me, just because she’s chubby doesn’t mean she’s automatically going to fall for you. Remember the girl isn’t blind; there are other guys here too. She has better, more human options, so she’ll never agree.”

  “Agreeing is overrated, but I wasn’t talking about Wisteria. I’ll save her for Jack or Steven, because they’ve been checking her out.”

  “Get out of my face!”

  “I know Jack better than you do. He has a thing for girls who can fight back. Why do you think he sticks around with Yumi?”

  “Shut up.” Again, she forced her way past him.

  Monty stopped her, pushing her against the wall. “Jack thinks you’re fun, but he needs someone he has to overpower. He only sleeps with you because Yumi literally kicks his butt and he likes the fight.”

  “Shut the hell up.” She slapped him again.

  He grabbed her arm. “Do that again and I’ll break your arm off. And this time Jack may not save you.”

  “Save her from what?” Yumi appeared behind them. “Monty, get off her.”

  Monty sneered and winked at Fi before letting her go. “Nothing—we were just . . . catching up.”

  Fi felt all the blood drain from her face. “We . . .” She couldn’t risk her friend finding out about either of her relationships.

  “Monty, you need to stop stalking her before you force me to cut your eyes out.” Yumi seized his shirt.

  “You and what army?” Monty broke free. “Fi is—”

  Yumi struck him in the face with her fist before he could finish his statement.

  He groaned and staggered back, almost falling over.

  “Mouth off to me again, and I will kill you.” Yumi seized Fi and dragged her away.

  “Where are we going?” Fi noticed the two girls were heading in the direction of the cellar. “What did you decide?”

  “They’re going to kill the boys and I think it’s the wrong thing to do,” Yumi fumed.

  “No—Jack will change his mind?”

  “He doesn’t want to. Even if he did, the other guys feel the same.”

  “So? Talk to them again!” Fi pleaded. “Make them understand. Tell Jack you’re going to kill yourself if he doesn’t listen.”

  “Do what?” Yumi turned to her with a puzzled look. “Jack knows I’d never kill myself and those people don’t want to be reasoned with.”

  “And you agreed?”

  Yumi didn’t answer.

  “You did. Why? Are you thick? We can’t murder Steven, or the other guy.”

  “It was that or let them have access to you,” Yumi muttered.

  “What is that supposed to mean? I’m not a slut like the other girls, that’s the reason I’m not sleeping with like, eight guys a week.”

  “The reason none of the boys have decided to sleep with you anyway is because I told them I’d kill them—and I’ve made myself available, instead.”

  “What are you saying?” Fi couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  “Fi.” Yumi squeezed her eyes shut. “You’re not like me, or most of the people here. You’re really innocent. I—I couldn’t let any of them take advantage of that. There was no way you could take turns, like the rest of us. It was never going to happen.”

  “Turns? Is that why you’re with Jack? To protect me? Please, don’t tell me you have been doing other guys to . . .” Fi couldn’t finish the statement. “Why didn’t I know about this? There are nine other girls here—I would’ve heard something.”

  “We all swore we’d never talk about it to each other. We’d just go on, as if it wasn’t happening.”

  “And they all know I’m not anyone’s turn and they just leave me be?”

  “We don’t talk about it. I just know it happens and I know when it’s my turn.”

  “And Jack lets this happen to you? You’re his girlfriend!”

  “Who do you think came up with damn plan? That’s why Greg had to go. No way in hell Greg would’ve ever done this.” Yumi sighed.

  “So what do we do?”

  “The circle told me to tell the prisoners. They figured it would be better coming from a girl.”

  “But you’re going to do something to stop this, right?”

  “What can I do? I’m just one person.” Yumi ran her fingers through her hair.

  “You’ve got me too.”

  Yumi shrugged, obviously underwhelmed by Fi’s show of support.

  “We can help them escape. They’ll lead us to their people,” Fi suggested. “If we leave the girls behind and let the guys go. No one will miss us if there are two more girls.”

  “Don’t talk like that here. I agree we have to let them all go, but we can’t let anyone hear this.” Yumi checked the empty hallway.

  “Their people aren’t far away. Steven said there were at least forty people in their camp and they’ve plenty of food, water, and even medical supplies. They’ve even got a proper farm and they’re heavily armed, so there’s no way Jack could come for us.”

  “So their people can take down ours?”

  “Easily. Steven said they’ve got loads of weapons too. All we’ve got to do is find a way to get them out.”

  “They’re armed?” Yumi shook her head. Changing direction, she headed back to the dining room.

  “What is it?”

  “We can’t let them go now.”

  “No, you said—we had to let them go!”

  “Yes, but I didn’t know that their group could come back here and annihilate us.”

  “But they won’t.”

  “Fi, they could. The group could come here and kill everyone who’s left.” Yumi marched back toward the dining room. “I need to tell Jack. This changes everything.”

  “Wait, Yumi. What do you think Jack will do when he learns this?” Fi demanded as they reached the doors of the dining room.

  “I don’t know. He’ll probably kill them all.” Running her hands over her face, she tugged at her short hair. “Dammit, Fi.” Yumi kicked the wall. “What do we do now?”

  “Let them go?”

  Yumi’s shoulders sank and she leaned against the door. “I’ll figure something out.”

  “You’ll let me know?”

  She frowned. “Fi, I’m not sure you want to know.”

  “I do because I’m going with them,” Fi revealed.

  “No, you’re not. Best case, they make it out of the cellar and then have to face the biters, unarmed until they find their friends. Worst case, they get stopped and killed. Do you want to face any of that?”

  “I’m going with them because it’s better than taking turns.”

  “I promise . . .” She rested her hands on Fi’s shoulders. “That’s never going to happen to you. And if I could go with Steven I would, but I can’t. It’s killing me to let him go.”

  “Steven?”

  Yumi pretended to smile and shook her head. “I know it’s stupid, but Steven and I kind of hit it off.”

  “Steven? Are you sure?” The world around her started spinning. “You slept with him?”

  Yumi shook her head. “If I did, Jack would’ve killed him, but I wanted to.”

  “Why would you do tha
t to Jack? I thought you loved him?”

  “I never loved Jack.”

  “And you think you love this other guy?” Forcefully, Fi leveled out her voice.

  “No way; I know he’s trying to play me to help him. And maybe it’s working, but after what happened to Greg, I’m not going to let anything else like that happen again.”

  Steven played me! Trembling, Fi covered her lips. “I—?”

  “Don’t worry about me.” Yumi noticed Fi’s shock. “I won’t do anything foolish enough to get caught. Just go back to your room and wait.”

  Chapter Three

  Fi was numb by the time she reached her room. She didn’t know what to believe. Maybe she’d misunderstood Yumi, or Yumi misunderstood the situation. Perhaps Yumi was messing with her, because she’d learned Jack was really in love with her.

  After pacing in her room for a few hours, Fi decided she needed to see Steven and confront him. She knew she should wait a while before going back down to see him, but she would risk it, or she might lose her mind. Also, this might be the last chance she’d have to see him before he was killed or he escaped. She crept through the dark castle, with only a candle as a light.

  “Hey.” Jack appeared in front of her, taking the candle from her hand. “What are you doing out?”

  “You startled me.”

  “You okay? You’re bright red.” He cupped her face.

  She fought back tears. “I’m fine. What are you doing here?”

  “Looking for you. What’s wrong, pretty girl?”

  “Nothing.” Hot tears poured down her cheeks. “I needed some air.”

  “It doesn’t sound like nothing, Fi. What’s wrong?”

  “Yumi, she—”

  “I know you’re tired of this Yumi mess.” He kissed her nose. “I finally told her it’s over. I want to be with you.”

  Stunned by this news, she stepped back. “Jack, don’t mess with me.” This wasn’t what she expected him to say, not with two innocent boys facing an execution just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  “I’m confused. I thought you’d be happy about this.”

  “Honestly, I don’t know what to feel. You’ve told me that the only reason you were even with Yumi was because she was suicidal. Yumi isn’t, is she? Plus, I heard the other girls are all taking turns, even Yumi, and she struck a deal with the others, so I wouldn’t know.”