Wisteria (Wisteria Series) (9 page)

“The only thing worth knowing about me is if this all ended tomorrow, there will not be anything left on this world for me.”

* * * * *

Bach seemed uncomfortable about something.

Wisteria was considering whether or not she wanted to press further into his life. The conversation was strange and one-sided. He seemed to want to know all about her, but then refused to talk even a little about himself. She concluded that he was an ass after all.

“You were not going to introduce us, Eminent?” someone jeered.

Turning back, she saw another boy standing behind them. This boy was taller and bigger than Bach. Like Bach and Felip, he had green eyes and was dressed in equally dated attire. This boy’s hair was light brown, short and spiky.

Peeking out from behind him was a tall, thin red-headed girl who looked like she’d been in a fight, as she was sporting a large bruise over one of her blue eyes.

“Wisteria.” Bach got to his feet. “This is Enric.”

“Your name,” Enric stated slowly, “is Wisteria? Curious that you named her, Bach.”

“What happened to her?” Wisteria glanced at the other girl, but she darted behind Enric.

“Her? Do not worry about her.” Enric dismissed her question. “Piper, go inside and wait for us.”

“I don’t want to,” the red-head declared. “I want to stay with you.”

Enric cocked his eyebrow at the girl.

At his stare, she gasped and hurried inside.

“You see Bach, she is getting better trained,” Enric commented.

Appearing more unsettled now that his friend had arrived, Bach didn’t reply. He took Enric aside and they exchanged a few words in that foreign language.

Strangely, Wisteria understood parts of the conversation.

Bach asked Enric about Piper’s bruising and Enric was asking why Wisteria had a name.

She couldn’t make out any more than that.

“Wisteria.” Enric dragged out the last syllable of her name. “I heard Bach treated you badly earlier. You will learn he is a jerk, but in time you will figure him out.”

“In time, what do you mean?” Wisteria wondered. “I’m not going to be here that long.”

“No, of course you are not.” Enric sneered. “Right…Bach?”

“What is he talking about?” Dread started rising up within her.
What were these boys planning?

Bach glowered at Enric.

“I will leave you two alone,” Enric remarked and made his way back into the building.

Once Enric was gone, Bach didn’t say anything to her as he turned away and left.

Alone on the roof, Wisteria wondered what to make of them. She knew they were definitely hiding something from her and that she needed to find a way out of here. Looking at the sea of biters moving along the street below, she didn’t have an immediate solution. Her next move was clear to her though: she needed to find some sort of weapon.

CHAPTER SIX

Later that afternoon, Wisteria awoke to the sounds of crowds outside. Jumping out of bed, she noticed her sword propped against the window. Surprised and relieved, she took her weapon and was horrified to see the streets below jam-packed with flesh eaters. Glancing at her sword, she thought only a nuclear weapon could stop this many biters. She shut the curtains and sighed heavily. She couldn’t believe this was happening and these boys didn’t even seem to care about it. They were all like sitting ducks in this building.

“It will all be over soon. You are going to safe here.” Enric stood at the door of her room. “Did you sleep all right?”

“Enric, what are you doing in here?” She realized she was only wearing her short red dress. Normally, she wouldn’t feel exposed, but this was just so creepy.

“I wanted to see if you were okay?” He feigned innocence.

“I’m fine.”

Enric walked further into the room. “You do not look fine.” Stopping right in front of her, he asked, “what if I could give you one thing, what would you want?”

“For you to leave.” Wisteria covered her mouth after the words came out.
Don’t get the crazy boy mad, Wisteria.
This boy was big enough and looked strong enough to snap her neck in two.

“What about your family?” He showed her a playing card, the nine of spades. “What if you could see them again for a moment?”

She backed away from him.

He stepped even closer to her. “I like the fact that I make you feel scared. Proves to me that you are smart.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Wisteria lied, trying to sound as calm as she could.

“Oh, I already know you are.” He stroked her hair. “I can feel you trembling from here. Do you know any tricks?”

“Don’t touch me.” She pushed his hands away. “Where’s your girlfriend?”

“Piper? I don’t know and I don’t care.” He was showing her the card in his hand, but now it was the joker.

You’re panicking, Wisteria
. She swung at Enric.

“Wisteria…” It was her mother’s voice. “Baby, where are you?”

“What’s this?” Enric noticed the red stone pendant hanging around her neck.

She scanned the room, puzzled by what had just happened.

Picking up the pendant, he studied it like it was some sort of amazing find.

“It’s just a rock.” She tried to pry the stone away from his grasp.

“Where did you get it?” He broke the woven chain apart, causing the red stone to fall to the ground.

“I made it from some rock I found a few months ago.” Looking to retrieve it from the ground, she saw that it was already in his hand. “Enric, give that to me.” Reaching for the pendant, fury was building onside of her, but she had be smart and know when to pick her battles. There was no point getting upset over the necklace she made for a boy who never cared about her anyway. “You know what? Forget it.”

She decided that staying in the room with Enric wasn’t an option, so she headed out.

Piper stood in the doorway. The taller girl was red-eyed and she looked furious. Her contorted face and clenched fists was obvious enough to Wisteria. She was definitely Enric’s girlfriend.

“What are you doing with him?” Piper bawled. “Why was he touching you like that?”

“Wisteria was telling me how much she wants to please me, Piper. Were you not?”

“Are you crazy?” Wisteria swung her shocked gaze over and saw him studying the red stone he took from her. “No, I wasn’t telling him anything like that. I’m leaving.”

“Actually, you are going to be our guest a lot longer.” Enric snatched Wisteria’s arm, pulling her back.

“Stay away from me!” Wisteria struggled to break free.

Then, abruptly, Enric let go.

She landed on the ground, but clamored to her feet in time to spot Enric walking toward the window.

“Nice sword. You never thanked me for returning it to you.” Enric pulled the sword out of the holster. “Bach thought it was a bad idea, but I suppose a girl needs a knife.” He examined the blade and ran his thumb down the edge.

The blade was very sharp and she marveled that he wasn’t bleeding.

“Here is your toy. It should keep you busy for a while. After all, Wisteria, you could be here for a long time.” He tossed the sword at Wisteria’s feet and walked out.

She started shutting the door behind him, but Piper swung it back open.

“Cow, you get out of my house,” Piper warned.

Wisteria looked into Piper’s dead gray eyes. They looked as fearful as Wisteria felt.

“I don’t know what you’re doing to Enric, but you’ve got to stop. He has changed since you arrived. He’s going to send me away, now that you’re here.”

“You’re not making any sense! Piper, please go. I promise I will go the first chance I get. Trust me. Bach, I mean, Enric, is the last thing on my mind right now.”

“You’re trying to change everything.” Piper brushed her long, wild hair out of her eyes. “Enric told me, Bach’s never going to let you leave. They’re going to keep you here and I’ll be cast out. Please go now!”

Wisteria’s heart broke a bit for the girl’s plea, and if she could, she would be gone in a second, but there were tens of thousands of biters on their doorstep.

“You’ve come from somewhere nice. I don’t have anywhere to go. I’ll die out there if Enric sends me away.” Piper’s body shook as tears ran down her cheeks. “He’s everything to me and he doesn’t even care.”

“Did he do this?” Wisteria pointed at Piper’s black eye, letting the now docile girl into her room.

“It was an accident.”

“Oh.” Wisteria doubted that. “If we survive the swarm, I’ll be gone. You can come with me.”

“I hate the way he treats me, but I can’t leave him.” Scratching nervously at her arms, she moved to the window.

“You’re in love with him?”

“I don’t think so, but the idea of leaving him terrifies me in a way I can’t describe. When I’m not with him I fell like my mind is on fire. He saved my life.”

“How?”

“My convoy was being attacked by biters. He came and asked me what I wanted more than anything in the world. I said I needed to live. He showed me what my life would be like with him and after that I’ve always needed him.”

“So you do love him?” Wisteria inched toward the sword that was far too close to the wild girl’s grasp.

“I need him and he made it clear: it’s either you or me.” Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

“He was joking.” Wisteria inched closer to her weapon.

“No, he wasn’t.” Piper suddenly wielded what looked like a bowie knife.

As Piper lunged at her, Wisteria dove to the sword. Taking her weapon, she scrambled behind the bed.

Piper jumped on the bed and lunged toward her.

Pulling the bed sheets hard, Wisteria knocked the redhead over.

“I’m going to kill you,” Piper screamed as she tumbled to the floor. “Terran rat!”

“Stop this!” Running to the fallen girl, she struck Piper with her holstered sword, knocking her and the knife back to floor.

Piper recovered quickly and scrambled to her feet. “I’ll kill you.”

The only way Wisteria could respond was by hitting the irate girl harder with the covered sword.

Toppling to the ground, she wiped blood from her forehead and scurried to reclaim her knife.

Wisteria kicked it under the bed.

This made Piper snarl and jump at Wisteria.

Wisteria swung at her with both hands on the sword while quickly dropping low and jabbing her attacker’s left knee with the steel handle of her sword.

The taller girl wailed and fell back down, squirming in pain. “Terran rat, I’ll kill you!”

“Are you insane?” Wisteria yelled and decided that she’d had enough. She was going to beat this girl.

Bach appeared in the doorway. “Stop. What the hell happened?” Looking around, his gaze fell to her sword. “Wisteria, what did you do?”

“Me? Piper was the one who attacked me because of Enric or something.”

“Where did you get this?” He took the sword away from her.

“It’s mine.” She yanked it back.

Gripping her sword, he pulled it. “You cannot carry weapons in here.”

“I didn’t know you had rules here.”

“Bach, don’t tell Enric we fought. He’ll be so angry. Please, Eminent?” Piper implored, falling at Bach’s feet.

“Please give me the blade or we are going to have a problem.” His green eyes darkened while his grip on the sword stiffened.

“A problem?” She couldn’t believe any of this. “That crazy girl wanted to stab me with a knife.”
Was he going to throw her out to the biters, too?

“I brought you into my home and you have beaten her in less than a day. I will do what I need to do to protect those living here and it starts with you giving me the knife,” he ordered.

Wisteria let go of the sword and he took it.

 
“Funny, that you don’t protect her from Enric,” Wisteria quipped and pointed at Piper, but the other girl was gone.

“So you beat her? Like an animal?” Bach turned back to her.

“She attacked me with a knife. Go ahead and check, it’s under there.” She pointed at the bed.

Bach looked under the bed where he located Piper’s knife. “Piper will not come back here.” He stormed away.

* * * * *

Enric was shooting golf balls off the roof when Bach found him. His Terran, Piper, sat on the ground at his feet.

“I am so bored. Was it like this when you were on Terra as a child?” Enric moaned as he drove another ball over the edge and into the sky. “Bach, let us go up North again.”

“Enric, if I leave during the swarm, the biters might kill me,” the girl pleaded.

“I was not talking to you,” Enric snapped at her and turned to Bach. “Your Terran seems strong, I am sure she will at least last the trip to Glasgow. Once up there, we will find you someone much prettier.” He hit another golf ball over the edge.