by Leyton, Bisi
The hole was covered with rocks, just as she’d left it. She worked at removing the rocks and stones as the sun was starting to set.
Crawling through the hole, she realized once again that this was her fault. The Famila were here because she brought Bach here and kept his stupid secret. Mackenzie and her thugs were on their way here because she’d brought Garfield.
Once on the other side, she leaned against the wall. This is your fault. A large tanker was floating in the distance and as she approached the icy water, she realized there was no way she was going to be able to leave everyone here to die. She at least deserved to die with them. Perhaps, she could barter safe passage for her brother and a few other people. Then she’d stay in Smythe with her mother until the end.
“Can you spell hypocrite?” Amanda crawled out from the hole.
“I wasn’t going anywhere,” she decided.
“But you’re outside the wall. You were the one who was having a cow because of the parties on Norton.”
“As you can see, I’m not partying with the infected.”
“So, what are you doing out here? I kind of assumed between Quincy, Garfield, and your mother, you’d be busy.”
Wisteria exhaled. “We should talk about your dad. There’s something going on and he’s been affected.”
“What happened to him?”
Wisteria had to determine who on the island hadn’t been turned into sleepwalkers and somehow prove to them what was going on.
“Talk to me. Ahh!” Amanda screamed as a burly man appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her.
“You!” Drawing out her sword, Wisteria pointed it at him.
“Hello.” It was Sammy, one of Mackenzie’s men, from the dungeon. “Mackenzie sends her best.”
“Where is that psycho?” Shaking, Wisteria carefully inched back toward him. The last time she’d encountered Mackenzie’s men, they’d almost strangled her to death. She wasn’t keen to repeat the experience.
“She’s nearby.” He laughed as more men sailed toward the island.
“What are you doing here?” She tightened the grip she had on her sword, but saw the blade was shaking in her hands. Calm down, Wisteria.
“Put down your toy before your friend gets hurt,” Sammy said, squeezing his hand over Amanda’s mouth. “You just get over here and—Ahh,” he cried as the girl bit down on his finger. “You little—”
As Amanda dashed toward her, Wisteria charged at the still stunned man, knocking him back into the water. The fall wasn’t deep, but hopefully it would give them enough time to get back through the hole.
Amanda crawled through first, while Wisteria checked to make sure Sammy wasn’t following. Instead, she saw another boat of men motor toward the island.
“Hurry,” she said as she climbed down.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Sammy hauled her back, flinging her to the ground like a piece of paper. Pointing a shotgun at her, he jeered, “I don’t think I have to worry about any biters over here.”
“But you do have to worry about the soldiers.” She tried to sound defiant.
“Not really, your friend Garfield told us all about the thirty soldiers.”
Slowly, she rolled over and tried to get up, reaching for the sword she’d dropped.
Sammy stepped on her hands and kicked her down.
“Ohh,” she wailed.
“Don’t even move,” Sammy warned.
“Please, just let me explain.” Foolishly, she tried to rise.
The man shoved Wisteria, forcing her down to her knees. “You know I don’t see your freak friend here to save you this time.”
“Sammy, we can share the island.”
“Shut the hell up.” He struck her across the face.
As she fell back, James jumped out through the hole and bit into Sammy’s leg.
The man let out a series of curses as he tried to fight off the dog.
While he battled the dog, she lunged and knocked him down, causing him to drop the shotgun.
The dog yelped as Sammy booted it away.
“James,” Wisteria called out as she kicked the shotgun.
The man grasped her neck, knocking her head first onto the hard ground. “You bloody witch.” He struck her again, sending her reeling back.
James charged at him again, but Sammy kicked the animal into the water.
“James,” Amanda cried, having climbed back out of the hole.
“You’re going to join your friend.” Sammy trudged toward Amanda. “Get over here.”
“Amanda, get out and get help,” Wisteria screamed. “He doesn’t have a gun.”
Uncertain, Amanda darted for the hole as Sammy went after her.
Rising, Wisteria swung at him with her sheathed weapon.
“What? You really think you can hurt me, little girl?” Sammy turned back while looking furious. “I still owe you for what you did to Greg.” As he swung at her, Wisteria ducked back and he missed.
This just made him angrier and he kept coming at her until she was standing less than a foot away from the gravelly edge of the shore. Behind her was a very steep drop into the jagged rocks below.
“Scared, girl?”
She was terrified.
“You better be scared.” Laughing, the man shoved her back. “You’ll be dead before you drown.”
Swinging fast and hard, she sliced through his shirt, cutting his arm deeply.
Grunting loudly, he lunged at her.
She jumped to a lower path and carefully ran over the loose rocks behind her.
Barreling after her, he yelled, swearing to end her, but as he ran, rocks gave way. Screaming, Sammy tumbled over the edge.
Soon, Wisteria was slowly sliding down, but felt someone grab her arm.
“You’re really heavy.” Amanda pulled her back.
Relieved, Wisteria climbed back up and hugged her friend as James limped up behind them. Picking up the wounded animal, she got through the hole and Amanda followed. Quickly, the girls pushed all the rocks back into the hole.
“Those were the people Garfield was talking about?” Amanda gave Wisteria her sword. “You dropped this.”
“Some of them.” Wisteria handed James to Amanda. “Please take care of him.”
“Where are you going?”
“To sound the alarm and get everyone into lockdown. Hopefully, I’ll find someone else aside from James who’ll do something.” Getting onto her bike, she saw that Amanda just stood there watching. “Where’s yours?”
“I don’t have one. I normally borrow my brother’s.”
“Take mine. Tell as many people as you can about what’s going on.” Wisteria hopped off the bike, knowing that carrying James would just slow Amanda down. She knew some shortcuts back to Town Hall, so going on foot wouldn’t slow her down.
“Are you sure?” Amanda asked.
“Yeah.” Wisteria sprinted toward Town Hall.
After a hard run, she got to the water fountain that stood in the center of the town square. In the middle of the fountain was the statue of an angel reaching for the sky. The old fountain had never worked in all the time she'd lived on the Isle of Smythe and now it was filled with slimy stagnant puddles of sludge and mushy ice.
Rummaging through her backpack, she took out the piron nexus she’d found in Jason’s office. Reluctantly, she twisted the two halves of the cube in opposite directions and the cube let out a glow. She’d planned to use this when she escaped with her family to ensure they couldn’t be tracked by the Family or Red Phoenix, but now perhaps this could stop more Famila and Red Phoenix from getting to the island. Getting into the gross, slimy fountain, she moved quickly across and climbed up the statue.
It didn’t take very long for someone to try and stop her.
“Bruno’s looking for you.” A guard grabbed at her, sending her tumbling into the green muck.
As he tried to haul her up, she twisted his arm around his back enough to get him off balance. He fell and she ra
n away. Running toward the Town Hall, she heard incensed guards swearing at her as they chased after her. Turning the corner, she almost had a heart attack at the sight of Charles laughing with Didan.
The Mayor glowered when he saw her. “What the hell is she doing here?”
Doubling back, she found herself trapped between the approaching guards, Charles, and a dilapidated car. Climbing up, she rushed over the unused vehicle. Landing on the other side, she sped back toward the farmhouse. She was going to make someone listen to her. Cheung! Maybe he’d help, but he might be a Thayn.
Smack! She ran into something hard. Tumbling back, she saw the something was actually someone.
“Wisteria!” Coles swore.
“Coles?” It was not possible.
He was shaggier and had grown a beard, but it was her stepfather.
“Wha—What’s your name?” she stammered.
He squinted and said slowly, “Major Elliot Phelps Coles.”
Without thinking, she hugged him. “Thank God.”
He held her. “I’m surprised you missed me.”
“Are you out of your mind? Why did you leave?” She wiped the tears away. “We’re in so much trouble.”
“Yeah, I’m here to get you out. You, David, and Lara.”
“What do you mean?”
“First, we need to get out of here,” Coles said. “I’ve got us a lift.”
“We can’t go home. Quincy’s there,” she explained.
“Why is Quincy in my house?”
“I’m supposed to be under house arrest for attacking Yvette Morel. But that isn’t the real problem.” As they walked back, she gave Coles a rundown of the Sleeping Fever, the empirics coming to the island, and the Dungeon Dwellers who were probably in the town by now. She also explained her fruitless attempts to warn Charles and even what Bruno had done to her.
“Huh, I thought Red Phoenix would get here first. That’s why I left.”
“You changed your mind.” Starting to boil, she remembered he’d walked out. “You decided you couldn’t leave mum to die here?”
“Lara and I agreed I should find another community for all of us, because Smythe isn’t safe anymore.”
“Sure.” She kept walking.
“Loch Peadrus, Northern Scotland. The community is almost untouched by Nero, but they’re only taking people with skills they need. They aren’t even taking children.”
“Scotland?”
“They were thrilled to know I’ve got two trackers in my family. They didn’t even know what that was, until I told them.”
“So we’re just leaving?”
“A Ghanaian merchant is taking us there.”
“What are they taking in exchange?”
“They want me to help them turn Loch Peadrus into a community like Smythe. More secure and where they can produce more of their own food and goods to trade.”
“So you didn’t abandon us,” she said.
“Contrary to popular belief, I do have a heart.”
If she wasn’t terrified, she would’ve smiled.
When they got to the farmhouse, Quincy stormed out, cursing at her, but stopped when he saw Coles. “What are you doing here?”
The Major grabbed the man by the neck, choking him until Quincy fell to his knees. “Get out now.”
Not needing any further persuasion, Quincy scurried off like a dog with his tail between his legs.
She and her stepfather got into the house and he went straight to her mother.
“Lara.” Sitting next to her, he kissed her lips.
“She’s been that way for almost three weeks,” she explained. “Since the day you left.”
He rested his hands on her stomach. “The baby?”
“The doctor said the baby’s fine as far as they can tell. They’ve been feeding her with a drip.” She pointed to the IV hanging by the bed.
“And the Family said there was nothing they could do but wait.”
She nodded.
“Who else is like this?”
“Pretty much all the soldiers except Bruno and a few of the residents.”
“Sabine Morel and Thomas Clarkson are still asleep?”
“And I think Jason Webb, but I haven’t seen him. How did you know?”
“Sabine and Thomas are ex-Red Phoenix, like your mother. Basically, anyone who can stop the Family is still unconscious.” Turning to her, Coles added, “And Bach let this happen and didn’t tell you?”
Dropping her head, she bit her bottom lip. “I knew they were looking for obsidian crystal. I should’ve said something, but I didn’t.”
“What?”
“It’s used to power their ships or something.”
“I know what obsidian crystal is. Why would you keep that kind of secret?” Getting up, he walked out of the room. “Clearly, you’re your mother’s daughter.”
His words cut through her heart. “I know I made a mistake.” She followed him out. “I’ve been trying to fix it.”
“It’s not about trying to make you feel bad.” Her stepfather knelt at the end of the corridor. Pulling up the floorboards, he revealed the iron door that led to their underground bunker. He climbed down and disappeared below. “Your mother has a thing for keeping secrets.”
Moments later, he reemerged, carrying a small black box. “I’d come to accept the kind of woman Lara Kuti was, long before I knew her name was Demi Akanbi-George.”
“Demi what? Her maiden name was Omole.”
“That’s not true and that’s not the point. The point is, I wasn’t insulting you. At least I wasn’t trying to, but only your mother could keep a secret as serious as empirics coming to Smythe from everyone.” He went back into the room and opened the box.
“What is it?” She pointed to the syringe he’d taken out of the box
“Adrenalin. It works to reverse the Sleep Fever. At least I think it does.”
“You’re going to inject her and you’re not sure?”
“She told me many times that the family uses this kind of practice to infiltrate communities. I’ve actually heard of this before. Something like this happened to some soldiers in the Czech Republic.”
“How did we get this?”
“According to your mother, someone from the Family must’ve brought it here, as it spreads like a disease.”
“A disease… How were they able to target certain people?”
“You’d have to ask Sabine. Apparently, she is the expert in Famila germ warfare.”
“But this can’t be that great a weapon if it’s cured with adrenaline.”
“Really? The Family was able to make almost everyone sick and at the same time, get the rest of the residents, including Sir Charles, to trust them, so I wouldn’t say that.”
She couldn’t deny Coles was right. “So, why didn’t I get sick?”
“I don’t know.” He stabbed the needle into her mother’s chest, seemingly aiming for her heart.
“No!” Terrified Coles was hurting her mother, she rushed to the bed.
“Hell!” Lara sprang up and screamed.
“Mummy?” She advanced toward the woman.
Her stepfather held out his hand. “Wait, let’s see how she reacts to the medicine.”
The older woman’s eyes were wide open and she scanned the room with an expression that was a mixture of shock and anger.
“Lara,” Coles whispered.
Closing her eyes, her mother sank back on to bed and went back to sleep just as she’d been moments before.
“Mum,” She raced toward her and shook her gently. “Can you hear me?”
They waited for the woman to respond, but all they heard were gunshots from outside.
The Dungeon Dwellers had entered the town.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Coles!” men called out, banging violently on the outer gate.
“Quincy told us you’re in there,” another man bellowed.
“Turn out all the lights and no matter what, do not lea
ve the house.” Coles pointed to the candles around the room and left.
“Was that Coles?” Garfield limped to the door. “Didn’t he run?”
“He’s back.” Wisteria went to help her friend back to her room. “Apparently, he’s getting us out of Smythe.”
“To where? I’m going with you, right?” He hobbled back to her room. “You can’t leave me here with the others.”
“We’ll talk to Coles.”
The front door opened and Coles stormed in, followed by Charles, Tom Hindle, and Bruno.
“I told you, we’re done talking,” Coles yelled.
“Elliot, don’t pretend there’s no one out there,” Charles shouted. “Your family’s in danger, just like everyone else.”
“Charles, you wanted Lara and her kids gone. In a few hours, we will be,” Coles seethed. “I don’t expect they’ll have any problem with someone who just wants to leave.”
“So you’re going to run away again?” Tom added.
“Run away? You clowns demanded I leave or you’d evict Lara and the children. Remember? I’m only helping you to keep your promise,” Cole remarked.
“I’m not an idiot. I know you’ve got somewhere else to go. You’re probably back to get your wife,” Tom said.
“Or you’re planning this with these attackers,” Bruno commented. “Interesting, how they show up hours after you returned.”
The Major grimaced at Bruno. “Good luck fighting these people off without any soldiers and a captain who’s never actually fought anywhere. Hopefully the twenty years of his letter writing will pay off now.”
“You’re going to leave your soldiers—unconscious and defenseless—to die? You’re their commanding officer. Don’t you feel you have any responsibility for them?” Tom inquired.
Coles clenched his fists at Tom’s words. “You put them in danger by not listening when I warned you about what Bach really was.” Coles turned to Wisteria. “And the risk his people could cause us.”
“This isn’t about trans-dimensional beings, aliens, or werewolves,” Bruno sneered. “He’s out of his mind. We shouldn’t have come.”
“For once, Bruno, I agree with you.” The Major pointed to the door. “Go now.”
“We’re dealing with a real life threat,” Charles maintained. “And after what Wisteria did to Bruno’s daughter, you owe us personally.”