by Leyton, Bisi
“How many?” Enric rasped.
“Five.” Ollie pointed as the draug moved in behind them. “Don’t worry; I’ll take care of you.”
“Thanks, but I can take care of myself.” Suddenly feeling weak from whatever she’d been through, Wisteria reached for her sword. “I can use this to—”
“I’ve got it.” Ollie waved it at her with a broad smile. “You came back for me. I’ve got to take care of you now.”
Ollie’s happier mood seemed out of place, but then the girl was so young and didn’t fully grasp the situation she was in.
The first draug pounded the door down and ran toward them.
In a flash, Bach descended upon it and took it down with one slice of his Ninth metal dagger. He was soon on to the next.
Ollie hurried forward and removed the head of the next one with Wisteria’s sword.
Something heavy landed on Wisteria’s shoulder. “Ha!” Jumping away, she saw it was Enric.
He was pale and damp with sweat.
Wisteria took Enric’s danor from his waistband and lunged toward the draug that had landed just inches behind him. It took a lot of the energy she had left to ensure the creature was dead.
“Why?” He looked perplexed. “You hate me.”
“No, Enric. You hate me.”
He frowned with bafflement.
“I’m not like you. I wouldn’t leave you to die out of spite, but don’t worry, I’ll keep our deal.” She turned away and scanned around for a way out.
“This way?” Ollie broke down a side door. “I think this leads to the East Exit you were talking about earlier.”
Bach was still battling the remaining draug as Wisteria headed to the door. Getting there, she peered into the darkness. “Are you sure?”
“There’s a door up there. I went up and checked.” Ollie took Wisteria’s hand, pulling her into the darkness, slamming the door behind them. “We need to go now.”
“What are you doing, Ollie?” Wisteria exclaimed as she hunted for a light switch. “I can’t see in the dark like you can.”
“Yeah, but still they think you are better than me,” Ollie said in low voice that was uncharacteristically firm. “You aren’t.”
“What?” Wisteria couldn’t understand Ollie’s icy tone.
“Felip was going to leave me and Enric here to die—because of you!”
“Seriously, Ollie? This is what you want to talk about now?”
“You think I’m a joke, too.”
Wisteria smashed her hands against what had to be a wall with frustration. “Felip is always looking for ways to hurt people. I promise you’ll never see that guy again.” Wisteria brushed past Ollie to the door.
A deep voice snarled.
Wait, that wasn’t Ollie. The vile odor of the undead floated in the air and Wisteria froze. It was a biter!
The flesh eater groaned and took hold of Wisteria.
Breaking loose, she stumbled forward in the darkness. There was no way she was going to let this beast get the best of her. “Ollie, there’s a biter in here.”
“I know. It’s Ted. He used be my guardian, but I put him here a few days back when I was visiting my grandmother. I convinced Doc to let me. Actually, Doc doesn’t know I put him here. He thinks Ted has the flu. Felip thought it would be a good idea to keep a few biters in here.” Ollie sounded slightly amused.
“Are you mad?” Wisteria moved toward her daughter’s voice. “You led me in here when you knew there was a biter?”
“No . . . well there are a few.”
“Ollie—you can’t do this!” Punching into the darkness, she struck her attacker and broke free. Finding the switch along the wall, she turned the lights on and saw she was surrounded by at least four bitters. Unarmed, she barreled through, heading up the stairs to where Ollie was standing.
“It would kind of be helpful to have this?” Ollie smirked and flung the sword back into the swarm that was now making their way toward Wisteria.
“Ollie, you can stop them. Do it. We’ll sort everything else out!”
“What is there to discuss?”
More biters staggered down behind Ollie, effectively trapping them both in. “I was important to Malcolm and Felip, but you came and changed everything.”
“You’re a seven-year-old, with the emotions of a teenager. You don’t understand what's going on!”
“I am not a kid, and if you say that again, I’ll break your neck myself.”
“What did Felip do to you?”
“He made me see past the superstition and the lies. I’m the next evolution of human and Family.”
“But he left you to die! Why would he do that if you were so important?”
Her daughter’s eyes darkened. “Because—of you.” She struck her, sending Wisteria careening back.
She crashed into one of the biters, knocking it down. In seconds, she was on her feet and raced to grab her sword.
The biter followed her.
Grasping the sword, she twirled around and slashed at the nearest arm and head.
As the others came nearer, she noticed her sword was shaking and there was blood dripping from her nose again. Between her blood loss and whatever she did to Coia, she struggled to keep focused. And now with this? She was on the verge of blacking out. “Bach.” Barely able to hear her own voice, she was too tired to yell. Also, shouting might only serve to attract the draug, too.
No, he was preoccupied because of the draug. He wouldn’t come after her until he was done. Maybe he wouldn’t at all now that he knew she couldn’t trust his mother.
Lunging at the next flesh eater, her sword got stuck in its skull. She tried to pull it back, but she wasn’t strong enough. “Help me, Ollie!”
“Why? You’re so great--figure it out.”
Kicking the biter down, she yanked at the sword while the biter clawed at her. Finally, she pulled her sword back, swinging at the biter that was now inches from her. Exhausted and aching, she fought her way free.
Ollie stood laughing at her efforts.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
After the last draug was down, Bach turned to see where they had come from. It had been the same way he and Wisteria had arrived.
Apparently Felip had gotten the Ninth door open again. Which of course, Felip could easily do, since he was the one who had shut it in the first place.
You need to start thinking ahead more, Bach, he told himself. First he had been so caught up in proving to Wisteria he was not going to abandon their child, and then the shock from when he saw his mother. Now it seemed that encounter had been like a distant dream. He wanted to be happy about seeing his mother, but he was still puzzled as to why she had been there at all. To make matters worse, Wisteria, the most important person to him, believed his mother was evil.
She had even tried to seal her back into The Deep.
Clenching his fists, he shut the door, closing everyone in and locking the draug out. The door, he hoped, was Ninth metal, so unless the mindless beasts could turn the handle, they were okay, at least for the time being.
Right now he needed to find a way out, meet up with his mother, and decide how to be a father to Oleander.
As for Wisteria, he loved her, but her actions bewildered him. Coupled with her resolve not to be with him, he felt her slipping away all over again. He didn’t know what to do, because there was no way was he going to learn to live with the massive emptiness of the last two years again.
A shrill scream cut through his thoughts, echoing in the darkened room. “Wisteria!” Instantaneously, he sped past Enric, past Oleander who was standing in the doorway. He saw nothing at first, but spotted her feet vanish up the stairs. Bolting up the railings, he pushed himself to use the last reserve of his strength.
When he reached her, he found a biter dragging her away, its mouth covered in blood.
“No!” Ripping the infected off her, he threw it down the stairs before squatting over her. “Leave now!” he commanded to the rema
ining infected that lurked in the shadows.
Forcing herself to sit up, she clutched her bare shoulder, which was now covered in blood. “The code to get out of the door is 389276.” Taking a black plastic card from her bra, she handed it him. “Felip really messed with Ollie’s mind. Please, get her as far away from here as you can.” Resting her head back against the wall, she exhaled.
“D’cara.” He inspected her wounds.
“It’s not that bad.” She faked a laughed as her hand dropped from her shoulder revealing a bloody bite mark.
“I am going to get you help.” He started to help her up.
“No, I’m infected.” She pushed him away. “It is over for me. Get Ollie out.”
Somehow, all the confusion about her actions and the anger he had felt for her was gone and he was simply afraid. “No, listen to me. You—”
“For once in your life, shut up and hear me, Bach. It is over. There’s nothing left. Go and make sure Ollie is okay. Please do not let your Family destroy her, or my mum. I’m begging you,” she cried. “You’re the only person who’ll try to protect her, because you loved me.”
He was not ready to let this happen. He would rather her be alive, so he could be mad at her, or even hate her. Death was not an option. “That is exactly why I cannot leave you here.”
“Please . . .” she whispered and shook her head. “I don’t want you to see me become a flesh eater.”
Shaking his own head, he moved toward her to inspect her for any more wounds, but did not see any. “Even if you become a biter, you will always be with me.”
Letting out a deep sob, she covered her face. “I’m sorry I pushed you away and acted like a jerk. I love you so much.”
“Why did you do it?”
“Remember you once said I’d happily risk you hating me if it kept you safe?” She reminded him of the conversation they had years back.
“Why did you need me to hate you?”
“When you came back from Jarthan, after Didan stabbed you, you were dying. The Family were the only ones who could’ve helped you and they said they’d let you die if I didn’t make you leave.”
“Why did you not tell me?”
“Because you wouldn’t have gone--you would’ve stayed and died.”
“That is when Enric told you stay away?”
She nodded.
“If you told me this—” He squeezed her as if he wanted to extract a different answer from her.
She moaned in pain.
Releasing her, he laid her back down. “Come on.”
“Then what? Bach—there is no way for us to be together. This is for the best.” Again, she attempted to laugh. “I think this will finally break the bond and you’ll be free to find someone . . . better.”
“Do not say that. I belong to you.”
“Maybe someone who’s really beautiful?”
“You are the most beautiful person I know.” He wanted his words to make everything all right. Tears stung his eyes. He’d never cried in all of his life.
“I know I am. I’m gorgeous.” This time, she laughed for real.
He kissed her lightly on the lips, stroking her head, and felt her trembling in his arms. He held her, not wanting to ever let her go. “I will love you for the rest of my life, Wisteria Kuti. I swear my life to you and only to you. Whatever is left of life and death, promises and curses, till death, I will always be for you.” Even though she did not understand the gravity of his words, he needed to say it now. He was tired of never being able to tell her how much she meant to him. “You are imprinted on my soul.”
“Please let me go. Don’t watch me turn!” she wept out.
“Are you certain she is dead?” Enric said to Ollie from below.
“Yes,” Oleander replied firmly. “A biter got her and I saw her get bitten.”
“Why did you not send the infected away? She is your mother!” Enric stated. “Did you not know how to do it?”
All Famila people were able to order the human infected around.
“But she’s a human, a Terran. Felip said they aren’t as important as true Family,” Ollie responded. “Humans are a disease and he told me I could go through perfection and become whole.”
“Felip told you to kill her?” Enric asked, as the pair made it up the stairs.
“No, but this would make him happy. I’m better because I’m stronger, I’m more powerful, I’m—he’ll need me now.”
“You are confused.” Enric reached Bach.
“Do not say a word to me.” Bach was not going to entertain anything Enric had to say about how things were better now that Wisteria was dying. “She is leaving with us.”
“Radala, where is she?” Wisteria asked. “Are you going to leave her?”
“She died.” Coldly, Enric scanned the stairwell where they stood. “The infected up ahead have just been cured.”
Bach could sense that too. Now, the only biter near them would be—Wisteria.
“Father . . .” Oleander rested her hand on his shoulder, after calling him that for the first time. “We need to go.”
“Oleander, you let her die?” He turned to his daughter.
“It was an accident.” Ollie backed into Enric, who stood rooted behind her.
Bach wanted to strangle the girl, but she was still Wisteria’s child. All he would have left. “You want to return to Felip. You did this because he was going to leave you behind?”
“He will kill you when he finds out what you did to her,” Enric pointed out. “He betrayed my sister for nothing. He will be angry with you now.”
“Why? She’s only a human,” Ollie scoffed.
“He is in love with her,” Enric noted. “In some twisted way, he is as obsessed with Wisteria as Bach is.”
As much as Enric’s conclusion made sense, all Bach wanted to do was go back in time and rescue her.
Wisteria now lay unconscious, burning up with a fever.
“Should we leave Oleander? We do not require her for anything,” Enric said, with disdain in his voice.
“What? No, you need me!” she insisted. “Without her, I’m the last person with Hemlock’s blood. I’m the only hope you have to freeing the Dy’obeth.”
Bach stared at Oleander. He knew he should love her, but he did not. He did not want to take her, but he could not leave her with Doc and Alan. That was not what Wisteria wanted. “If you want to return to Felip, I will find a way to take you to him.” If he took her back to Lara, the woman would murder Oleander for killing Wisteria. Lifting Wisteria into his arms, he ascended the stairs.
“Ugh.” Groaning, Wisteria started to flinch. She was turning into a biter.
“You can’t take her! She’ll infect the slaves and she’ll slow us down. Leave her behind and let’s go after Coia.” The girl’s voice trailed over him as he squinted at her. “Enric? Explain it to him.”
“If Bach was not your father I would end you for this.” Emotionlessly, he followed Bach.
“Enric, I thought this would make you happy. You hate humans too! You hated her!” Oleander followed the group.
“I hate traitors more,” Enric replied. “There is something soul destroying about someone who would betray those who trust her.”
“Soul destroying? They were going to leave me here alone when the biters came and overtook this town. What was I supposed to do?”
“The right thing,” Bach commented. “Wisteria never left you; she tried to protect and save you.”
“I did the right thing,” Oleander seethed in defense. “I survived and I’m pretty sure Felip is going to make sure I survive, when the rest of the Dy’obeth are freed.”
“Given the chance, Felip will end you himself,” Enric retorted. “I only hope I am there to see it.”
“Enric, never say that,” Bach fumed. “Ever--she is still my bloodline.”
“I hate you. I hate you and I hope you rot in hell.” The girl slapped Enric before leaping off the railings and down the stairs.
/> Snarling, Wisteria’s flesher started thrashing around, trying to get free.
“Sleep,” Bach muttered. While he could not control humans, he was able to control her now, because she was transforming into a biter. As they marched up the stairs, Bach knew he was completely drained and did not know if they were going to make it through the town to the Nieves. Perhaps they could find somewhere to regenerate in the mountains and return to the boat in a few days.
A door above them opened and a white-haired woman appeared. She was the woman Wisteria was staying on the island with. Her clothes were torn and she stank of all kinds of nasty human fluids. “What did you do to her?” She pulled out a gun.
“She is infected.” Bach continued to head up the stairs. “She is sick.”
“She’s dead.” She covered her mouth when she saw the girl. “That’s too bad. She always spoke highly of you.”
“She is sleeping. There may be a way to save her.” Bach continued to advance.
“There’s no cure, and by the looks of you two boys, you’re going to be joining her soon.” The woman paced backward to the door.
“Before you lock us in here, you should know Felip’s summoned biters from miles around to overrun the town,” Bach called out. “And he has impaired the emitters that protect the town.”
“I know.” The woman grinned. “We’ve got a helicopter, so I’m leaving. We were going to take her back to the Isle of Smythe, but that’s impossible now.”
“Jenny, you were part of this? You’ve killed us.” Alan appeared, surrounded by guards. “Fortunately, the backup emitters are up and running.”
Oleander cowered behind Alan for protection.
“You think so?” the woman retorted.
Alan pulled out a gun and shot at his wife.
Enric grabbed it, narrowly escaping being shot.
“Put her down,” Alan ordered. “Even infected, I’m sure we can salvage some parts of her.”
“Alan, you still don’t understand. Coia was never going to help us. She was using you to get free and finish what she started. And, thanks to you, she had enough of my niece’s blood to make that happen!” she yelled. “You’re the one who’s killed everyone. What the hell do you think Coia will do with the blood of a Zey?”