Phobia (Interracial Paranormal Romance) (Wisteria) (12 page)

“
He deserves the truth. He’s got to be free of her lies too.”

Talk to your mother first
about what you’re going to do.”

“
Why? She’ll try and stop me.”

“
She might surprise you. Give her another chance.”

“
Fine,” she seethed. “I’ll stop by before dinner and ask her to speak to David.”

“
I wasn’t talking about David. You need to tell her you want to go after Bach.”

“
Ha.” Bitterly, she laughed. “She’ll have me locked up for sure.”

“
I’m not going to lie to you, no one has a clue how they’re going to resolve the situation with Coia or the Family, but we’re going to find away. We’ve the brightest minds on this island working on this.”

“
Mum’s probably right, there’s no way to stop the Family from coming after me, even with the piron net. My being here is putting everyone in danger.”

“
You going after Bach
is
never going to happen. Those people hate humans and if you go to their realm, you’re probably not going to come back. No matter what your mother says, I can’t allow that to happen. You’re too important to me.” He squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll figure something out.”

“
So, what’s the point of talking about it?”

“
Because she understands what it’s like to lose someone she loves.”

I haven
’t lost Bach
, she wanted to believe, but her heart felt hollow.

“
Wisteria, move home tonight and work out your problems with your mother, please.”

*****

“The prodigal daughter comes home.” Wisteria’s mother strolled into the hallway of Coles’ farmhouse a few hours later.

Wisteria
arrived to
give her mother one more chance,
but wasn’t expecting much. “Coles told me to come.”

“
Apparently, he had to beg my own daughter to do the right thing.”

“
The right thing?” Wisteria stood a few feet from the front door and considered turning back.

“
Now you’re done playing the rebel, I’m soaking beans in the kitchen. Wash off the skin, because I’m making moin-moin,” her mother instructed causally.

“
Please tell me about my father. I heard you and Coles talking at the old house. You said the Family tracked my father down.”

“
Huh.” Her face broke into a broad smile. “Captain Benisah procured some red beans and I want to make your brother’s favorite.”

“
At least tell David he’s adopted.”

“
If I tell David the truth, you’ll come home?” Her mother asked.

That wasn
’t enough.
Wisteria wasn’t even sure after all this time what would ever be enough.

“
Tell me the truth about what?” David came out of his room, holding a bottle of green liquor.

Wisteria noticed the disheveled dark hair of
seventeen-year-old Zola Bonnet, a new arrival in the town.

Zola ducked back into the room and shut the door.

“Who is she?” Her mother glared at him.

“
No one. What do you need to tell me?” He rested against the door.

“
Ask Mum.” Wisteria pointed at her.

“
What? Are you okay?” Concerned, he approached their mother. “Has something happened to Beck?”

“
Your baby brother’s fine and if you two keep making noise, you’re going to wake him up.” Her mother headed to the kitchen. “Wisteria, wash the beans and stop this nonsense.”

“
So, you’re not going to tell him.” She followed her mother.

“
There’s nothing to say.” Her mother lit the candles in the room.

“
Nothing to say?” Wisteria exclaimed. “You have to tell him or he’ll hear it from me.”

“
Hear what?” Entering the kitchen, David shouted as he slammed the kitchen door shut. “What are you on about?”

Suddenly, a
high-pitched scream rang through the house; the infuriated cries of fifteen-month-old Beck Coles seemed to rattle the walls.

“
Damn it Wisteria, you woke him up. Why do you have to upset everything? Why can’t you trust that I have your best interests at heart?” Her mother headed to the door.

“
My best interests? You tried to sent me away,” she called after her.

“
You did what?” Confused, David gasped. “Mum, what is she talking about?”

“
I’m going to get Beck.” Her mother opened the door.

“
We went to Pottingham, Mum, Sabine and I. Mum contacted—” Wisteria started to explain.

“
Wisteria wants to inform you that you’re adopted,” her mother announced coldly and disappeared to get Beck.

She
couldn’t believe her mother. “Mum, I’m not saying you should tell him like this. I wanted to make sure she told you. I’m sorry David.” She turned to her brother.

Bewildered at first, David
’s eyes trailed from his mother to Wisteria. Then his expression became sadder. “I know I’m adopted.”

“
What?” Wisteria gasped

“
I was three when she adopted me. I remember my old family and I talk about it a lot with her,” he went on.

“
How come you kept it from me?”

He looked troubled
as he thought of his next words. “Mum and I thought you wouldn’t be able to handle it. We were going to tell you eventually, but—”

“
But what? I’m too unstable or weak?” Wisteria stormed out of the kitchen door.

“
Wisteria, stop.” Her mother appeared at the end of the hall.

“
You tell him about his life, but can’t do the same for me.” Wisteria pointed at her brother.

“
You’re not like your brother. You’ve got to be protected.”

“
I can take care of myself. You said it yourself—I’m strong.”

“
You’re stronger than you were, but you still need me to look after you. Every time you’ve gone up against those people, you’ve barely survived. Someone had to save you.”

“
Save me? I wouldn’t have been in those situations if you hadn’t allowed Doc to use me or if you’d told the truth.”

“
Or if you did what I said and kept away from that boy.”

That boy was Bach.

“Bach would’ve always found me, because we’re bonded. The least you could have done was to prepare me for the hell I’ve gone through, but you tried to keep me weak.”

“
Baby, you’re only mad at me because your boyfriend is gone. You want to tell him your moon will reflect in his eyes or some other rubbish, because all you care about is making him happy. That’s not strength.” Her mother laughed again.

Wisteria
’s blood to boiled.

“
It’s true Wisteria. You’re not emotionally or physically capable of standing against the Family or any of the thugs who roam the streets outside the island’s wall. You need someone, either me, Bach or Coles, to get you out.”

“
I’ve held my own more times than most people on the outside.”

“
That is a lie.”

“
Twice I rescued David from Woolmer. I saved Amanda from biters in Norton. I—”

“
You brought the Family to Smythe and put us all at risk. If you don’t get yourself together, I’ll make sure your locked away, before you can cause yourself any more harm.”

“
Since you blame me for everything that’s happened, I promise I’ll fix it.”

“
Enough Lara.” Coles flung the kitchen door open. “Both of you need to cool off.”

“Fine.”
Opening the front door, Wisteria marched out of the house. She wanted to run, but that felt childish. As she left, she heard her mother calling for her, but she’d heard enough. By the time Wisteria got to Amanda’s house, she felt sweaty and out of breath.

“
Are you okay?” Garfield opened the door. “You look like hell.”

“
I
feel
like death warmed up.” She staggered forward. “What are you doing here? Are you and Amanda—”

“
I came to get the stuff I left here.” He held up his backpack.

Feeling dizzy,
Wisteria slumped.

“
I got you.” He lifted her off her feet.

“
Is she okay?” Amanda came to the door.

“
I’m fine.” Wisteria answered softly “I can walk. Put me down.”

Garfield carried her inside and
laid her on Amanda’s bed.

“
You shouldn’t have gone to see your mum.” Amanda came in with a glass of water. “She gets you so upset.”

“
I’ll never learn.” Wisteria wheezed.

“
I should go.” Garfield glanced at Amanda.

“
Yeah, you should,” Amanda muttered.

“
Wait, Garfield, we should—” Wisteria wanted to tell them both what happened, but remembered she couldn’t because Nate Weiss, Amanda’s father was a Thayn. “Let’s talk later.”

He
’d been renewed by Coia years ago, but had been renewed again by her son Jason, when they thought Coia was dead to stop him from losing his mind. Jason had assured them Nate would be loyal to him but as a precaution, they never discussed Coia, Bach or the Family in Amanda’s house.

As usual,
any argument Wisteria had with her mother ended up being about one of those subjects.

Your moon will reflect in his eyes.
Her mother’s words echoed in Wisteria’s mind as she drifted to sleep. She woke up in the middle of the night, sweating in the cool night air. Rising slowly, so she’d not disturb Amanda, who was in bed next to her, she went over to the barred window, drew the curtains and watched the moon
.
She missed Bach. If there was any person she could talk to about how mad she was— it was him. There’d always been something about being with him that calmed her.
She needed to get him back.

“
What time is it?” Amanda whispered.

Wisteria picked up the manual alarm clock and held it to the moonlight.
“Half two.”

“
Don’t over think what happened with your mum. You should get back to bed.”

“I’m going for a walk.” Wisteria picked up her boots.

“
Now? No, you almost passed out earlier.”

“
I’ve slept, so I’m okay.”

“
And it’s after curfew. What if you get picked up?”

“
I won’t. Mulberry Orchard isn’t very far from here.”

“
You’re going to Mulberry Orchard now?”

“
Yeah, to speak to someone who’ll give me answers and I’m going to do it before my mum wakes up.”

“
Who?” Amanda whispered.

“
Silas Cheung, he knew a lot about what RZC did to me and maybe he’s got some information on my father.”

“
He’s refused to talk to you since your mother discovered he told you about Bach. Why do you think he’ll change his mind—because you’re showing up at two in the morning? You could beat it out of him when we get there.”

“
We?”

“
You’re not going alone. Last thing I need is you passing out on your way there. Garfield would love that.”

Cross me and you’ll wish you’d fed yourself to the biters years ago

“
Garfield told you about us?” Amanda whispered as they headed toward Mulberry Orchard in the dark.

Wisteria didn
’t answer.

Amanda
was one of her few friends in Smythe. She didn’t want to lose her friend and after Garfield almost lost it earlier, she wasn’t keen to get into it with Amanda. Plus, seeing David with Zola this afternoon made the whole situation a great big mess.

“
I love Garfield. I do with all my heart,” Amanda defended. “I’ve never met a guy as nice or sweet as him.”

Wisteria continued in silence.

“But I’m totally in love with David. When I look at him, I get butterflies.” Amanda pressed her hands to her chest.

“
David feels the same?” Wisteria doubted.

If David
loved Amanda he wouldn’t have been with Zola. If he cared Amanda’s feelings, he would have not wanted her to find out about him being with another girl, he wouldn’t have brought Zola to the farmhouse where Wisteria could run into them. In fact, Wisteria had no recollection of David having a girl in his room until Zola. Granted, girls came by looking for him, but he kept them out of his space. If anything, this kind of proved Zola was special.

“
I feel it. He does love me. Like you and Bach,” Amanda replied.

“
Bach and I were bonded—it’s hard to explain.”

“
Do you think you’d love him so much if you didn’t have the Mosroc?”

“
I don’t love Bach because I’m bonded. I’m bonded to him because I love him.” Wisteria realized within herself as she said it. “I’m not sure David feels the same way.”

“
I do. We’ve gone back and forth before, but it was because I wasn’t ready. I am now.”

“
Amanda.”

“
Yeah?”

“
I don’t think my brother is right for you,” Wisteria finally admitted as they reached the walls surrounding Mulberry Orchard.

“
We’re here,” she whispered as she gaped up at the eight-foot wall.

“
Amanda, David might not be—”

“
You sure you want to go in there?”

“
Yeah, but about my brother.”

“
Didn’t the biters escape from here that one time?” Amanda pointed at the gate.

“
But they’ve improved the security since then.” Wisteria wanted to tell Amanda about Zola, but decided to do it once they were back home. Climbing up the wall surrounding the orchard, she peered into the sinister sea of apple trees. Shuddering, she recollecting the time she’d been there when the flesh eaters broke out.

That night she
’d also been abducted by Red Phoenix agents who’d tried to force her onto a helicopter to Franklin. She’d almost been infected and she wouldn’t have escaped if not for Bach’s help.
Where is he now?
This may be the way to find out.
Landing on the other side, she waited for Amanda to drop down.

The girls
moved through the trees, past a clearing where the Red Phoenix helicopter was once hidden. They kept going until an old nursery school came into sight.

“
Hold on.” Wisteria pulled her friend back into the trees.

Men were outside the
school. Piers and a short fat guard called Private Emlyn Reece. Reece paced around the front of the facility while Piers stood smoking. Stamping out his cigarette, Piers said something to Reece who threw his gun over his shoulder and walked in the girls’ direction.

Wisteria backed Amanda deeper into the orcha
rd. They hid behind the trees while Reece moved past.

“
How do we get past Piers?” Amanda nodded in his direction.

“
You could distract him,” Wisteria suggested.

“
Distract him? How am I going to do that? He’ll probably shoot me for being out here in the middle of the night.”

“
Tell him you’re lost and then draw him into conversation about something. Get him to turn his face away from the door.”

“
Wisteria, I can’t flirt with him.”

“
Be nice to him that’s all you have to do. You’
re
Amanda Weiss after all.”

“
What’s that supposed to mean?”

“
People like you.” Wisteria decided to say, because anything else would sound like she was jealous and if she were honest with herself, she was a little jealous of Amanda at times.

Amanda might be
the most beautiful girl on the island and most of the guys on the island would die for a moment of her time.

“
I’ll be nice.” Rolling her eyes, Amanda trudged forward and cooed, “Hey, Piers.”

“
Amanda? What are you doing out here?” Piers approached her.

“
I was restless, so I took a walk.” Moving past him, she led him to the side of the building. “You heard about the fight Wisteria had with her mum?”

“
Yeah, everyone head about that. Listen, you can’t be out here.”

“
Why?” Amanda pouted. “Wisteria is staying with me. She’s being a real pain because of the fight.”

“
And you came here?” He scratched his chin. “Why?”

“
I didn’t plan to.” She moved around until she was facing and Piers’ back was in Wisteria’s direction.

Sneaking past him, Wisteria dashed into the main door and slowly closed it.

“What was that?” he asked.

“
The wind?” Amanda lied pathetically.

Scanning
the former reception of the school, instead of pictures of kids or finger paintings, there were duty rosters and a list of names plastered on the wall.

“
Stay here, I need to look inside,” Piers instructed.

When
he opened the door, she leapt over the counter and ducked behind it.

The light came on
for a moment and then went out.

“
Did you see anything?” Amanda asked loudly.

“
No, but keep it down. You’re not supposed to be here.”

The door closed.

“So, I heard you and Garfield broke up,” Piers said a few seconds later.

Amanda giggled and soon
, she was chatting away with him outside.

Peeking up, Wisteria peered across the hall.

The coast was clear. Quietly, she stole through the corridor to Mr. Chueng’s office. Hearing more footsteps coming, she ducked into his office.

“
Wisteria?” Sitting at a desk on his computer was a twenty-something year old Chinese-American and her former mathematics teacher, Silas Cheung. “What are you doing here?”

“
I came to see Enric.”

“
The Famila?” Shocked, his jaw dropped. “No way.”

“
Mr. Chueng, it’ll be for minutes.”

“
No.” Emphatically, he shook his head. “You leave now.” He sped around the table and tried to usher her out. “Coles is going to go ape if he catches you here.”

“
I have one question. It’ll take seconds.” She struggled to prevent him from throwing her out.

“
Tell you what, tell me your question and I’ll ask Enric.” Cheung opened the door.

“
I can get him to tell me everything about what’s going on with the Family.”

“
In all honesty…” He stopped trying to move her. “We’ve never asked him anything. Jason’s given us more than we need and is working with your mother to figure things out and keep you safe. Why don’t you ask Jason your questions?”

“
Enric understands more about what’s going on than Jason does.”
And because Jason was having secret meetings with my mother, so I don’t trust him to tell me the whole truth
.

“
Enric dragged you from Smythe and forced you to help him. Why would you believe anything he says?”

“
He’s loyal to Bach and he needs me to help Bach, so he’ll be honest. Besides, he could’ve forced me to leave with him again, but didn’t.”

“
He wants you to help him further his agenda and not yours. You’re smarter than that.”

“
Cheung, you need to let me—”

“
Go home and if you do so without a fuss, I won’t tell your parents you were here.”

“
Ah, stop being a baby.” Sabine entered holding a mug of coffee. “What can Enric do to her? I’ve got the green-eyed monster pumped up with so much Bean Vine that little baby Beck could knock him out with one finger.”

“
The answer is still going to be no,” he persisted.

“
Lucky for me, I don’t report to you. Come on, Wisteria.” Sabine signaled to her.

“
Sabine, don’t do this. Speaking with that guy isn’t going to change anything,” Cheung argued.

“
Silas, we can at least keep trying.” Sabine laughed.

“
What’s that supposed to mean?” he fumed

“
He’s my patient and I decide who sees him. Plus, I’m kind of bored of interrogating him alone. Maybe seeing Wisteria might give me some additional leverage to hurt him.”

“
You’ve got what you need from Jason, why are you interrogating him?” Wisteria wondered.

“
Why not?” Sabine shrugged. “He’s very stubborn so that makes it fun. Come on, let’s wake him up.”

“
You’re a doctor. You’re not supposed to enjoy torturing people,” Wisteria left with Sabine.

“
That’s rich coming from you, after you conspired to get Sir Charles killed.” Sabine commented.

“
That isn’t what happened.”

“
Honey, you and Coles drove Charles out to Woolmer and he didn’t come back alive.”

“
That’s different.”

“
Sure, it’s different when you do the despicable act.” Sabine took Wisteria’s hand. “Don’t worry, it’ll get easier.”

Wisteria followed Sabine down one floor to a level that was underground. Moments later, they came to a cream metal door.

“Sabine Morel.” Sabine banged on the door twice.

The echoes of the knocks
rang out, followed by the metallic clanging as the bolt on the other side unlocked.

Then
the heavy door opened and a big man with beady eyes peered out. “What is this?” His gaze fixed on Wisteria. “Did you inform the Major that she’s here?”

“
This is my facility, so I authorize my own visitors.” Sabine shoved at the door. “If you don’t want me running tests on your family, I recommend you open the door.”

“
But I will tell Coles.” He opened the door wider.

“
Ah, don’t worry about it. I trust Silas is already on his way to tattle on me.” Sabine walked in.

“
Crap,” Wisteria mumbled. She hadn’t thought about Silas reporting this to her mother or Coles.

“
Come in.” Sabine gestured to her. “We don’t have much time.”

Cautiously, she steppe
d into the little room or rather—a cell.

In the center
, sat a small metal table and four chairs all hastened down. On the opposite, lay another metal door. That door opened and a man emerged with chains around his ankles and wrists. The tall muscular Famila wore long thin brown hair. His normally bright green eyes were sunken and his once tanned skin looked pale.

“
Enric?” Wisteria was stunned at his gauntness.

“
Wisteria of the First Pillar, you finally agreed to bring her?” Enric muttered.

“
So, you do speak English,” Sabine chortled. “I was actually beginning to think you didn’t understand English.”

“
My mother hasn’t spoken to him? She understands the Dialect.” Wisteria assumed Sabine didn’t understand the Dialect, Enric’s native language.

“
She wasn’t going to listen to his lies.” Sabine approached him and examined his eyes. “It’s remarkable how human they can make themselves look. I keep hoping if I give him enough drugs he’ll revert back to his true form.”

“
This is my true form.” Enric growled.

“
Perhaps, perhaps not.” Sabine nodded. “That’s what the scientific process is all about.”

“
Qwaynide
, you will pay for this.” Enric cursed in his Dialect.