by Leyton, Bisi
“Then do it, but you don’t know how much pain I can take. I survived being pulsed by Didan. He was a lead empiric and even more powerful than you.” Fighting, she clawed at him, trying to get him to let go. She didn’t have any bean vine or weapons, so she knew she was badly matched. It didn’t matter. She’d die before letting Felip use her again.
“Felip, stop it.” Ollie sprang at him and pried his hands from Wisteria. The younger girl was able to toss him a few feet away. “Why are you being like this, Felip?” Ollie helped Wisteria up. “You okay?”
“Yes, but we need to go,” Wisteria rasped out breathlessly.
Felip shook his head at her. “Wisteria—”
“We have them.” Alan, dressed in black, emerged from the trees, brandishing a rifle. He kept his weapon trained on Wisteria.
She inched away as several more similarly dressed individuals stepped out of the darkness. Turning to run, she found Felip in her way.
“I tried to help you, but you want to stay with them. Fine, but remember: I warned you.” Felip grimaced and stepped away.
“Good job.” Alan nodded at him.
“You’re working with them?” Wisteria glared at Felip.
“I warned you,” he mouthed, moving away from her.
“On your knees. Now!” Alan ordered. “Put your hands behind your head.”
“Fine.” Wisteria dropped to her knees.
“You too, little girl.”
“Alan, seriously?” Ollie protested.
“Now, Oleander,” he commanded.
“No,” she refused. “You can’t tell me what to do. I am an American citizen and I have rights.”
“Put her down,” Alan signaled.
Shots were fired from the trees, hitting Ollie in the chest and neck.
She screamed and fell.
“Stop.” Wisteria lunged at Alan, striking him in the face. “Make them back off.”
He staggered back, apparently shocked at how hard Wisteria had hit him. He responded by striking her with the butt of his rifle.
“Alan, you can’t—” Groaning, she stumbled to the ground next to Ollie.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The sun was rising as Wisteria was driven through Franklin. Most of the residents were asleep in their homes, but she did spot one child delivering newspapers.
Ollie had been loaded into the vehicle in front of theirs, but Felip had been left unharmed on the mountain by his allies.
“Do you terrorize everyone in your perfect town into obeying you, or just the ones who run away?” Wisteria seethed at Alan.
“Everyone in Franklin knew about the possibility of a Nero outbreak and had the option to bring their families here, or die on the outside. They accepted the way things would be run and they have a good life.”
“And you left everyone else to die.”
The vehicle passed through massive iron gates and drove up a long, curved, gravel road, until they came to a large entrance.
“Not everyone. Your mother was offered a place too. You could’ve lived here safely, away from everything you’ve faced, if she wasn’t so unstable.”
“You’re working with The Family and she’s the unstable one?”
“I am not working with the entire Family. We work with Felip, because he’s helping us bring them all down, and it helps that Ollie likes him. He was helpful in keeping the girl under control.”
“Why would you try to control her? You could’ve injected her with bean vine.”
“Ah, that would have made her biology unusable, but that won’t be an issue now that you’re back at Zone Eleven,” he sneered.
Alan’s guards took her into the mountain. They proceeded through several guard stations until they came to an elevator. Travelling down the seemingly endless levels, she wondered how deep underground they were. “Where are you taking me?”
He didn’t answer.
Wisteria glanced back at one of the men guarding her. “You’re Red Phoenix--how can you let his happen?”
His black uniform had the Red Phoenix emblem emblazoned over left side of his chest. “We’ve made compromises,” he replied dryly.
The lift stopped and she was pushed out. Staggering forward, she was led into a large, empty, dark room.
Two agents stood guarding a door on the other side. One of them was a woman, who approached Alan. “Your name, sir.” She had to be checking whether or not the group was renewed. A human who’d been turned into a Thayn wouldn’t be able to state their own name.
“Alan Raubacher,” he replied.
Then, the guards who brought her also stated their names.
The female guard glanced over at Wisteria and scowled. “This one?”
“None of your business.” Wisteria glared at her.
Alan stopped and turned to her. “You know what Sally? Just restrain her.”
A pair of metal cuffs was locked around her wrists.
A guard opened the door and a gust of icy air permeated her soul. This chill didn’t feel like air-conditioning; it felt different. The only time she’d felt this type of cold was when she’d been imprisoned on Jarthan, by The Family, because of her Mosroc with Bach.
The room was empty, expect for a series of large glass mirrors. Standing in the center of the room was Doc. “Alan, why did you bring her here? I specifically told you she wasn’t to see this until I’d explained it to her.”
Alan didn’t respond but instead walked up to the glass and studied it. “To be honest, I was getting curious about what you were doing down here. I figured it would be as good a time as any to take another look around.”
Moving slowly toward him, she considered her options. Until she had a good plan, she’d try to act like she was going to help them. Eventually, she’d find a way to escape. “Dad.” She loathed saying those words, but they gave her some comfort. Even though she now knew he wasn’t her real father, Doc was the only father she’d ever known.
She’d ended up in this room because she’d been looking for him, in some way. Enric had tracked her down because of Bach. She’d only met Bach because she’d decided to be a tracker. She wanted to be a tracker in order to get the skills to survive among the biters, so that she could one day travel back to Lagos and join her father. Large tears ran down her cheeks as reality sank in, that the man she’d loved more than anyone else had only used her for his research.
“Modupe, please stop crying,” Doc muttered.
“I’m sorry. I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t pretend you love me.”
“I’ve never pretended I loved you.” His shoulders sank, and he turned around to face her. “It hurt me the most to have watch the amount of pain you went through.”
“Then why do it?”
“I don’t like to, but it is for the greater good.” He stroked her hair. “Trust me, and this time, everything will be pain-free for you.”
His promise reminded her of Felip’s useless vows. “Dad, you can’t trust Felip,” Wisteria pleaded.
“We wouldn’t have gotten this far without him. In the last ten years, he’s gotten us closer to unlocking the artifacts we needed to keep Franklin secure and thriving.”
“In exchange for what?”
“A place to live. He’s a mongrel in the eyes of his own people, because he’s part human. All he wanted from us was acceptance, and for that he gave us everything.”
“And Jason was okay with this?” She couldn’t understand why Jason would agree to remain in Franklin with Felip. “Wait, you’re forcing him in some way?”
“Jason? No, he’s an outcast too. He’s here because he believes in what we’re doing here.” Taking her hand, he moved her toward the large glass.
She knew something wasn’t right about his explanation. Jason wasn’t like Famila and he didn’t trust Red Phoenix, either.
In the center of the large wall of glass was a small black tile. Wisteria recognized it as the dark glass Jason had created, which generated mobile thresholds when placed on glas
s surfaces.
As Doc neared, the dark glass grew and spread across the surface of the mirror. Within seconds, it’d fully covered the surface. It shattered, but didn’t break. Instead, the glass started to expand forward in the shape of a person.
Stepping back, Wisteria moved away from the abnormality.
“Deji,” a voice hissed softly. “Is she here?”
Wisteria shuddered at the gentle but unsettling voice and she noticed Alan, who stood next to her, flinched slightly.
“Yes,” Doc answered.
“Where?” the voice called from the dark glass.
He moved Wisteria toward the image of a very tall woman. The glass figure started to emerge from the threshold, but seemed to get stuck midway through.
“I apologize for taking so long, but I wanted to have a chance to explain to Wisteria about what is happening,” Doc told the entity.
The glass woman turned to Wisteria so her facial features were well-defined.
“What is that?” Wisteria asked Doc quietly.
“I am Coia of the Third Pillar,” the woman answered.
Wisteria wasn’t certain she’d heard correctly and glanced over at Doc.
He nodded his head.
“How?” She backed away until she bumped into Alan. “I killed you.”
“You did seal her into The Deep and she would’ve died,” Doc explained.
“I don’t understand. Why is she there?” Wisteria whispered.
“She would’ve died if not for your daughter,” Alan stated. “Her essence created a small enough break in the threshold to pass through a substance,” Doc continued.
“What is the essence? You mean her soul or something?”
“Not a soul. Her blood,” Doc said.
“You’ve been using Ollie’s blood to help her?” She pointed at the glass. “She’s a Famila woman. Do you have any clue about what you’re dealing with?”
“Relax, girl. I thought helping Bach would make you happy. Your boyfriend is getting his mother back. As you both are bonded, I thought making him happy is all you ever wanted,” Alan retorted. “You do want to please him?”
“I’d rather keep him alive.” She didn’t understand why, but being in front of Coia made her even more afraid than she’d had been when Felip tried to take her. It was as if she remembered some deep emotion.
Doc shook his head. “We’re not in any danger. She’s not like the rest of The Family. Like Felip, she’s on our side. And, when she gets out—”
“You’re letting her out?”
“Yes, now that you’re here. You sealed her in by accident, because you were scared. I need to correct that because it was my fault she was there in the first place,” Doc explained.
“She was trying to attack Bach--I saw the video. I stopped her.”
“I wanted to pulse him because he had become confused over your treatment. He thought we were trying to hurt you.”
“So you hurt your own son?”
“I was not harming him. I was simply trying to make him sleep. What you saw frightened you because you were so young.” The glass lady struggled to move further forward, but the threshold seemed to contract, forcing her back into the other realm.
A man in a white lab coat stepped out of the darkness, toward the threshold, and sprayed the shattered dark glass. The red liquid was absorbed into the cracks and the figure once again, was able to move forward.
“You sealed her in, so it is fitting you release her from The Deep.” Doc rested a hand on her shoulder. “Think of how happy this will make Bach.”
“You’re not listening.” Wisteria switched to Yoruba so that only Doc could understand. “You cannot set that woman free. Please, wait for a few minutes so we can talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. Don’t worry. I’m your father and I’ll do what’s best for you.”
“You had me handcuffed and locked in a basement. You’ve been poisoning my—the others.”
“Yes, because the others are evil. Coia is our only hope to break free of Nero and The Family,” her father tried to assure her. “You trust Bach; why can’t you trust his mother?”
“Wisteria, I promise once you release me I will take you to Demi and thank her for all she has done for me,” Coia whispered.
“I need time to think about it.” It was a lie. They were crazy if they thought she would willingly do this.
“We don’t have time for all of this!” Alan snapped.
“Coia is the key to all our research. She understands how all The Family’s artifacts work,” Doc continued, “With her, we’ll be free from this living hell. And she needs to help us. If she doesn’t, The Family will take her children away because they’re part human. Only when humans stand against The Family will Coia be free. Then her half-human sons will have a place.”
“Her sons? Bach and his brothers? Their father is from The Family. You mean her son Jason. He’s the only mixed—”
“Jason is my son.” Coia seemed slightly confused. “He has such a soft heart. Instead of asking for your help, he worked on creating a dark glass that could release me. It was impossible, but he kept trying because he believed there was a better way. A soft heart like his would be easily killed by the empirics.”
Felip had stolen the dark glass Jason had created. Wisteria now realized he’d brought it here. “But, his artifact didn’t work because you needed my blood? How much of it?”
“Not a lot.” Alan gave her a cold smile. “We need you alive.”
“And then what? You and the people of Franklin will take on the entire Family?” Wisteria gasped. “You think their artifacts will make you strong enough to take them on? Do you even know how many Family members there are alive right now?”
“At least 300 million,” Alan replied. “And the artifacts won’t just make us stronger, but physically and mentally faster.”
“We estimate that eighty million humans are left who aren’t infected with Nero,” Doc went on. “So what Coia will do against them is now more important than ever.”
“How do you think eighty million people can take on 300 million? They’re Supernaturals! Even if the artifacts somehow magically matched their strength, we’d be outnumbered and disorganized.” Wisteria couldn’t see the sense in this plan.
“What if the artifacts made us stronger?” Doc suggested. “What if we were ten times as strong as one fully-trained and full-grown Famila? Then what?”
“Can the artifacts do that?”
“No,” Coia replied. “But, there are ways to infuse The Family’s power into humans.”
“We’d almost unlocked the secret seven years ago, while we had Bach, but Coia got trapped and Bach escaped,” Doc added.
“You used Bach—for seven years? While you were trying to create super-humans?” Wisteria’s mind was racing to connect the fragments of the various conversations she’d picked up over the years. “Nero. This was P;/roject Darwin—you made Nero?”
Doc’s head dropped and he sighed heavily. “It was an accident.”
“An accident?” she echoed with disbelief.
“But now we’re closer, much closer, to unlocking the key.”
“Over six billion people died,” she reminded him.
“And it would’ve been all of us, and it still might be all of us, if we fail,” Doc defended. “Why do you think we’ve been working to get a cure? Why do think I’m ruthless about doing everything to get Coia out? I need to fix this before there’s no one left.”
Her head started spinning. “This is madness.”
“I am sorry about your world. Help me save them,” Coia implored.
None of this sounded right to her. There had to be a reason her mother took her away from this, and Wisteria needed to know. One thing she did know however, was that she wasn’t going to willingly help anyone until she had the answers she wanted.
“She’ll help you,” Doc answered.
“Ah.” Wisteria winced as there was a sharp cut in
her arm. She clutched her arm and saw she was bleeding.
Alan was walking away from her, carrying a bloody knife.
“Are you mad?” She lunged at Alan, but Doc pulled her back. “Let go!” Seething, she gasped as her blood dripped on the ground. “You can’t let him do this!”
“It’s over now--just try to stay calm,” Doc whispered to her.
Alan took the knife and wiped the blood against the glass figure.
Almost immediately, the glass parted a little and a hand reached through but became stuck.
“It works even better than I thought,” Alan marveled. “Good, get her prepped.”
“I never said I’d help you.” Wisteria headed back to the doorway.
Two guards blocked her path.
“Dad, don’t let them do this to me!”
“Don’t be afraid, Wisteria. I’m here and I’ll protect you,” Doc said from behind her. “Remember, we’re doing this for the greater good. This is for all humanity. You will help.”
*****
“Of course I am going to be all right. What are you— twelve?” Radala rasped as she lay on the bed in the cell where she and Bach were imprisoned. Wearily, she reached up and tried to swat Enric’s hands away.
Enric leaned over and kissed her. “I know.”
Bach sat by the door, watching the couple.
Guards had delivered Enric, unconscious, about two hours ago. He had managed to partially regenerate because he’d only been knocked out, opposed to being shot with bean vine. Like Bach, Enric was a long way from being at full strength, but they were both in better shape than Radala.
Bach found it hard to believe that someone human could have knocked Enric out. It had to be a member of The Family and the only Famila he knew of that was on the island was Jason. Jason had been the person who’d told him about Lluc, and his child being in Zone Eleven. And Jason had also told Wisteria the lies about her killing his mother. He needed to stop Jason. Clenching his fists, he winced. He still felt so weak.
“Enric, I said stop behaving like I am an infant,” she moaned. “Go be Bach’s mother for a bit.”
“Bach is fine.”
“He is up and about, but he was shot too,” Radala commented. “I will be fine.”