Myopia (Young Adult Zombie Paranormal Romance) (Wisteria Series) (5 page)

“Even if that
boy
was with you, you shouldn’t have gone,” Andrew said in a low tone, so only Wisteria could hear.

“How could Garfield help her? By cowering behind the smallest little girl he can find?” Rebecca jeered as she headed back to the High Street. “Oh, you mean the immune boy would help you. What was his name? Bart?”

Wisteria knew Rebecca was referring to Bach, but like many people on the island, she didn’t know him that well.

“We should get back.” Andrew gestured for her to return to vehicle.

“This prank of yours was dangerous, too.” She turned to leave. “What if there were biters in there?”

“There weren’t any,” he replied. “Unlike you, we secured this building before going inside.”

CHAPTER THREE

The school day flew by and Wisteria didn’t remember most of her lessons. Not that she hated class; she found school a welcoming distraction from how dire things had become in her world. What she hated were the other students. Aside from Garfield, and on some days Amanda, she had no friends in school. A lot of the other kids tormented her, but today she was too tired to care.

All the children under eighteen on the Isle of Smythe had to earn their keep and part of earning that was attending school as required. The last time she was late, several sliders, guards and even someone from Town Hall stopped her to take down her name. She was reported to Sir Charles Davenport, the head of the Town Hall and Mayor of Smythe, then lost some of her rations.

With the school day finally over, and with no tracker shifts this afternoon, she headed home. Since she was no longer on the same tracker team as her mother, who was working this afternoon, she had a few hours to herself.

“So what’s your mother going to do to you?” Garfield asked as they cycled home.

“Honestly, I’ve tried not to think about it.” She found her mother’s punishments to be psychologically exhausting. “Sometimes, I think it would be better if she just shouted or beat me.”

At that moment, they saw Amanda and David arguing at the end of the street. He seemed to be pleading with her.

Turning away from him, she strode away.

“Amanda, Amanda,” David yelled after her, but the girl rushed toward her and Garfield.

“Go to hell, David,” she called back to him through her tears.

“Come on, Amanda, stop being a baby,” David yelled after her. “There was nothing going on between me and that girl.”

“What’s wrong?” Garfield stopped in front Amanda.

Covering her mouth with her hands, she cried.

“Mandy.” David reached for her.

“Don’t touch me,” Amanda screamed, pushing him away. “Go back to Poppy. I hope you enjoyed her. I hope she was good to you.”

“Mandy, come on,” David cajoled.

“I said—don’t touch me!” she screamed.

“David, maybe you should leave her alone,” Wisteria suggested.

“Wisty, this isn’t any of your business.” David reached out to Amanda, but Garfield blocked him.

“Seriously, just leave her alone,” Garfield said.

“What? Get out of my face, idiot,” David said in a low voice. “You think you have a chance in hell with Amanda? It’s never happening. Never—ever.”

“Garfield.” Wrapping her arm around his, Amanda glared angrily at David. “Do you mind walking me home?”

“You’re joking, right?” David mocked in disbelief. “You’re not leaving with rat boy. Wisteria, tell your friend to stay out of this.”

Garfield used to be a rat catcher when he first came to Smythe and many of the kids on the island were still calling him rat boy. Even though he was a tracker now, the name stuck.

“Like you said David, I’m not a part of this.” Wisteria raised her hands.

“You’re the joker,” Amanda fumed. “And as I said before, you’re the rat.”

“Let’s go, Amanda.” Garfield grinned broadly. He walked his bicycle and the girl of his dreams away from David, leaving Wisteria standing with her brother.

“David.” She attempted to comfort him.

“I’m not interested.” David stormed off, almost knocking over another student.

She wanted to ride after her brother, but she decided to let him cool off when something caught her eye over where the island’s clock tower stood. With a strange urge coming over her, she wanted to be there right now.

Like always, the streets of Smythe were a dreary shade of gray, damp and deserted. Passing through, she counted less than ten people outside and that was from a town of 1,300. Generally, people preferred to stay indoors.

She figured it was also because everyone was so tired from the amount of work they all had to do, as well as the biters outside the walls. Aside from going to school, she had to work at least thirty hours a week as a tracker. All the children had worked on the farms during the harvest. Coles and her mother always seemed to be working.

A short bike ride later, she realized how tired she was as she stopped her bike at the rear entrance of the granite clock tower building. The giant clock face read 9:33, as it had for the last three years. Knocking on the large iron door, she waited. After a few minutes, there was no answer and she banged again.

Still no response. Good, that meant Jason wasn’t here. Aside from looking after the hall, he also lived in one of the apartments in the tower.

Pulling the door open, she unlocked the cast iron cage that was behind it. The added security was necessary should biters ever overrun the island. She walked through the dark atrium into the main hall. In the center hall was a man with thick, spiky green hair, oversized blue-rimmed glasses, and a bright blue turtleneck. While he appeared young enough to be in college, she knew he was only a few years younger than her mother. He was Jason Webb.

Jason’s ancient dog, James, scampered toward her. “Hello, James.” She stroked the mongrel uncomfortably because she was afraid of dogs.

Normally, Jason wasn’t here this time of the day. Aside from taking care of St Luke’s, he was the island’s only veterinarian. Lately, he spent a lot of time helping Thomas Clarkson set up a rat farm.

“Yvette and Hailey are starring in the one act version of
As You Like It
,” Jason replied as he arranged chairs around a short stage. “She says it’s going to be epic.”

“I’m sure it will be.”

“You need to stop lying.” He laughed. “First, you’re bad at it, and second, you’re really bad at it.”

“Okay.” She tried not to fidget too much or he might suspect why she’d come. “Why didn’t you answer when I knocked?”

“You do look surprised to see me,” he noted.

“Well...”

“I gave you the spare keys to this place because you said you needed a place to go to get away. Remember?”

She nodded.

“I didn’t expect that you would have to knock to get in.” He frowned. “Just go crash and lock the doors when you’re done.”

“Thanks, Jason,” she replied and hurried past him, toward the stairwell. She jogged up the stairs and was almost out of breath by the time she reached the clock room. Unlocking the door, she rushed over to the large room behind the clock. This room was normally dusty and moldy, but today it was surprisingly clean and airy.

Her gaze kept searching the room for the person she knew had to be here.

Eighteen-year-old Bach was six feet tall. Dressed in a 1920s or 1910s shirt and trousers, the only thing he wore from this century were his blue trainers. Large black spots synonymous for his race ran down the sides of his neck and they seemed to darken as she neared. He gazed at her, his intense green eyes blazing at her through his black hair that hung across his face.

The intense look he gave her sent chills through her whole body.

He stood watching her, as if he was uncertain what to do.

*****

Bach needed a few minutes to adjust his mind mentally to being in Wisteria’s presence again. Every time he saw her, it felt like he’d known her his entire life, though it’d been only a few months. This had to be partly due to the fact that they had met before. It had been years ago, but both of them had the memories of that encounter erased.

Something special happened between them during that earlier time and they both entered the Mosroc. The Mosroc was a deep emotional and psychological bonding that was difficult, if not impossible, to break. Breaking or tampering with the bond had serious physical implications even he didn’t fully understand, and then there were the political ones he knew about all too well.

Most Family members never went through a Mosroc, and when they did, it happened later in their relationships. He and Wisteria had bonded five years ago, although neither of them remembered the circumstances. It had been wiped from her memory by her father and from his by his older brother Lluc. Lluc had done it to protect him from the wrath of his father. Though, no one knew why her father had wiped her memories.

The last time he’d seen her was over a month ago, when he left to visit his brothers in Jarthan. Jarthan was the half-realm that connected all the other realms his race journeyed to. Wisteria had been unhappy that he was going to be gone for so long, but had tried to hide it. He, however, could read her emotions clearly on her face and knew she was hurting.

Bach thought appearing unannounced three weeks early would be a good surprise for her. She had sensed him soon after he’d arrived and came to find him, but now she seemed uncertain.

She simply stared at him, biting her bottom lip, while fidgeting with the hem of her dress.

He closed the gap between them while she bounced into his arms and their lips met. He felt her stroking his neck as he kissed her, her lips tasting like the roses that grew on the island.

“Bach,” was all she said in between her soft and tasty kisses.

He didn’t know how long they held each other, but he knew he had to let her go or their relationship would turn into something that he wouldn’t be able to end, should the time come. Reluctantly, he pulled her away from him, lingering for a moment to taste her lips once more before finally separating. “You seem quite pleased to see me,” he remarked.

“You’re back early,” she said shyly. “I didn’t have time to prepare.” She moved away from him.

When he felt her hands leaving his body, he reached out and grabbed them. “I have missed you,” he said and let go.

She smiled nervously and he couldn’t understand why. Surely, by now, she should be comfortable in his presence. Granted, his people, the Family, were high above humans and that was enough to make any human cower in fear and admiration.

His brothers had hundreds of humans, or Terrans, serving and honoring them. All these humans had been turned into Thayn, a devoted servant who put their master’s life above their own. So he was used to seeing humans unashamedly adoring the Famila.

The difference for him was that he didn’t want her to be a Thayn. He just wanted her to be his. Generally, he found being around humans uncomfortable at best and revolting on a normal day, so he’d never had a Thayn. This made him slightly less tolerant of humans than the majority of his people. However, he didn’t feel this way about Wisteria Kuti. He didn’t understand why, but he knew she was different.

Maybe her nervousness was because she knew how unworthy she was to be in his presence.
Yes, I am adding a lot to her life
.

“This place looks great,” she remarked, while gazing around. “The last time we were here, there were cobwebs everywhere.”

Bach had tidied the space a bit, so he felt less like he was living in a dungeon. This was a task he normally had a steward for, but he felt she needed a place that was more fitting than the darkened corners of Smythe where they’d been meeting.

It was not much, but until he convinced her to visit his den in Forrester, this was the best he could do within the Isle of Smythe. He liked the tower because no one disturbed them there.

Taking off her thick coat, her gaze fell onto a thick rug and basket of food nestled under the clock face.

“In case you were hungry,” he replied innocently. “I got a small biel core to keep you warm.” The tiny ball spun in the corner of the room.

“And the rug?” She cocked an eyebrow at him.

“In case you were tired.”