Vitrian Secrets by Dele Andersen (book club reads txt) 📕

“So you and Bathe know each other well . . . I mean, being Vitrians and all?” Wanda tried to change the topic and control her thoughts about the way she'd been treating Petter.

“Yes, of course.”

“Do you think he . . .” Wanda wanted to ask about Bathe's loyalty.

“What is it?” Petter turned back to observe her.

“I don't know,” Wanda replied. “I keep having this feeling Bathe knows more about the demon that attacked me at school and the one that attacked Jason.”

“Who, Bathe?” Petter smirked, and Wanda could see how foolish it was reporting a Vitrian to another when she barely understood what they were all about. “Bathe is a loyal elder here; if anyone would betray the Vitrians, I am sure it wouldn't be Bathe.”

Wanda fell silent and studied Petter. She could hear the sincerity in his voice just like in school when he had to explain things she and Tutu didn't understand in a class.

“Sorry,” she said as they crossed Praying Road.

“For what?” He looked confused wondering what she was referring to.

“For pushing you off when you were only trying to be nice.”

He waved it off. “I want to see you smile, nothing more. You haven't really smiled, and I heard it’s been rough for you since I left you at school yesterday. Alexis and Bathe told me when they stepped out of your room in the medical hall that the only time you smiled was the moment you saw me at the entrance of the room.”

Wanda didn't need a crystal ball to remember her last day and a half or to know she had hardly smiled from the moment she laid her eyes on the demon at school.

“So how did you become a Vitrian?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Me?” Petter looked surprised. “You don't become one; you are born one. It's a community of families that have grown over several centuries.”

She was about to ask more questions when he said, “Here we are—your home! Well I should call it your house, it belongs to your dad. This is where your dad and mum lived while they were at the fortress.”

They both stepped up the whitewashed staircase in front of the house and straight to the entrance. Petter was about to touch the door when a woman pulled it open.

“Where have you children been?” she said sharply. “I've been waiting for hours.”

“I had to show Wanda the fortress,” Petter said. “I took her to the little hill.”

“Oh, that’s a good spot to view the fortress,” the woman said. “Anyway, I have to go now. The house is clean and in order.”

Wanda was surprised the woman had cleaned the house. “Thanks,” she said, embarrassed by the woman’s stare.

“Don't feel bad about anything,” the woman said like she could read Wanda’s thoughts. “You were chosen, and you don't have to hate yourself for that, even if others do. And I am sorry about your father. He was such a nice man—he had a good spirit.”

Wanda smiled stiffly, barely pulling up the corners of her lips.

“Okay, I’m off,” the woman said. “I was told Sofia would be home soon too.” She mentioned Wanda's mum like they had known each other for years, but that didn’t surprise Wanda anymore; she knew a lot of people in the fortress knew her mum, probably better than she did.

“Thanks,” Wanda said once more as the woman descended the stairs and walked away.

The house was clean and neat; nothing about it said it had been deserted for years. The furnishings were simple, and yet everything in the house was a matching chocolate color; the sofa, frames, dining table next to the sofa, the little rug in front of the sofas, and the coffee table on the rug. The walls cream-colored, making the room appear a lot more spacious than it was.

Wanda could see her mother's touch in the way the house was designed and decorated. The walls in some parts were transparent glass while in other parts, they were constructed of chocolate-colored wood or painted cream.

“Your parents used to live here,” Petter said as Wanda did reconnaissance on the house. “They left when you were two or three.” He shrugged as if that was all he knew.

“It’s beautiful,” Wanda managed. “Simple but well-decorated. I can see my mum's touch on it.”

“I have something to tell you, Wanda.”

Wanda turned to see Petter standing right in front of her. His eyes were not scary or worried but warm. His head bent down as he looked into her eyes, and his breath was as beautiful as she could imagine. It smelled really good like flowers.

She must have been seriously pushing him off at school not to notice his breath and the robust aroma of his cologne. His eyes were as caring as she had ever seen them; they penetrated her as he took both her hands. Though Petter showed no sign of trepidation, something in her told her Petter had practiced what was unfolding before coming to the medical hall to meet her.

Wanda was tired and wanted something to take away the pain she still felt. The walk from the medical hall had helped, but the instant she stepped into the house, the stress had all come back. She wanted to cuddle her pillow and cry to let out the pain and agony.

“I have always wanted a moment with you, a moment where I could share my heart with you,” Petter said tenderly, and no doubt, he had chosen the right moment to let the words out. She had pushed him off before, and she wasn't going to do that now. She was tired and welcomed the affection, something to take the soreness on her mind away, to take away the endless thoughts of her dad's death, Jason's comatose state, and the rebels that were after her.

He moved his head downward, and she knew what he intended to do. Her thoughts blew into a thousand confetti at once. Wanda could recall several girls at school talking about their first kisses. She had not been privileged to be kissed by anyone, due to her mother's incessant shield. Her mum had protected her, picking her up and dropping her off at every outing. Sofia scrutinized Wanda thoroughly before allowing her to go to a friend's house. Boys were off-limits, so she never even went to Petter's house in the city.

A part of her warned that Petter was acting unusual, but she brushed it off. It was just Petter. And she wouldn’t be the first girl to date the boy next door.

Although she knew kisses wouldn’t take away sorrow or pain, she didn’t mind the distraction. She wanted to feel happy and good. Even though she did not feel anything beyond friendship for Petter, she was about to close her eyes and let the moment carry her pain away when something punched the entrance door, and it burst open with a loud bang.

Wanda jolted and flew out of Petter's arms. She and Petter turned toward the door to see Sofia rushing into the house.

Sofia's hands were on her face. She wept profusely, like pouring rain that had decided not to stop. Wanda had only seen her mum weep like that once before in her lifetime: when her father was proclaimed dead.

Staring at her mother in horror, she could think of no other reason that would cause such tears—except that Jason’s case had become hopeless or he had been proclaimed dead!

Wanda's hands fidgeted in trepidation and deep animosity for the agony the rebels had caused her family. The tears Wanda had held back for so long began to run down her cheeks before she could ask her mum what the problem was.

She could infer from her mum's cry that Jason was probably dead.

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Chapter 9

The world seemed to rotate faster the instant Sofia rushed into her fortress home, sobbing. Wanda stood, frozen at seeing her mother in such a state. She could guess what the news was, but she needed confirmation.

“Mum!” Wanda said. Tears traced their way down her eyes to her cheeks.

Sofia took her hands away from her face and looked at Wanda. The hair on her head was ruffled and damp. Her mother must have cried all the way from the hospital.

Sofia hurried to her daughter and threw her arms around Wanda.

It wasn't the same grip she had experienced a few hours before when her mum had seen her and hugged her joyously at the hospital. This was different; it was more like a grip of survival, like holding firmly to one's child to ascertain the child was there, alive and well, that there was hope to carry on living.

“Mum—what is happening?” Wanda wiped away the tears on her cheeks as her mother held her. With her father gone, she was used to comforting her mother whenever she was depressed.

Sofia pulled away. “Jason, Jason—my little baby,” she groaned.

Her mother called out his name like she did whenever she was proud of him, and the burning hatred gathering in Wanda's mind intensified.

“Is he all right, Mum?” Wanda looked at her mum.

“No.” Sofia shook her head. Her lips trembled, trying to make more words, and tears poured from her eyes. “He got worse . . . he’ll die in a few days . . . actually, in three days, Ventress said. She can't help him without the Healing Méndez.”

Wanda felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. For a few seconds, she became lost in a hurting reverie. She remembered how she had rushed back into school to look for Jason, but it was too late. Her mother had always told her she should get Jason after school, make sure they left school together, and come straight home. Wanda heeded the warnings except on that one day, the last day of school for the semester. Excitement about the trip to Paris had overrun her thoughts as she rushed out with Tutu. She had always thought her mum was weak whenever she freaked out concerning their whereabouts, but now she regretted all the times she had looked down on her mother. She hated herself for the unnecessary comments made behind her mum’s back.

Agonizing tears poured from Wanda's eyes. Pain, coupled with venomous hatred for the rebels, filled her mind. She would do all she could to pay each and every rebel back for the evil they had done. Desire for revenge for the pain they had caused her and for the death of her father filled her. For her mother's suffering and all the sorrowful years they made her pass through, and now for Jason.

Just then, a loud sound caught their attention, and Wanda and her mum turned toward Petter.

He stood like a statue in the same position by the wall since Sofia had pushed the door open with a bang. He had taken a few steps backward when Sofia hugged Wanda, but Wanda hadn’t remembered he was still in the room. The thought of Jason dying had overwhelmed her.

“Petter,” Sofia said, her voice changing the moment she noticed him. She looked toward Petter's pocket where the noise emanated from. His mobile phone continued to rattle. “Are you going to answer that?”

“I am sorry, Mrs.