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Chapter Forty-two
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2024-10-29 19:42:56He huddled in the corner of the safe room, terrified and frozen. His little, knobby knees pulled against his chest, his small arms wrapped around them. His eyes were locked on the monitors Mother hadn’t an opportunity to disengage. His mother’s body lay spent of blood and life, her hand reaching toward the wall he hid behind. Tears ran steadily from unblinking eyes, shock making his world seem surreal and slowed down.
Movement on the screen caught his eyes, snapping him from his trance. The men who ran from the home moments before were back and standing in front of his fortress. His head snapped to the left as the wall began to open. Where are the police? he thought in a panic. The sirens sounded no closer. The wall opened exposing him to his would-be assailants and they closed in, flanking him.
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“So,” Sebastian began between bites of egg, hash browns, and bacon breakfast, “since we’ve all decided to be irresponsible and play hooky today, you two wanna do something? Have a fun day and leave our stresses out of it all day?” Sebastian glanced at Nizhoni, silently making sure she had nothing to do today. She smiled gently at him. He looked to Jaxsen who held a piece of bacon in his hand.“What did you have in mind, Daddy?” He grinned, excited about a day of fun instead of school or sitting at home wallowing in memories he’d rather never remember.“Well, there’s the indoor waterpark?” Sebastian suggested.“He just got over being sick. I don’t think that playing in the water is a good idea. Not with it being as cold as it is. Indo
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Basil swiped at his eyes with the heel of his hand and sniffled. “Why wasn’t I important, Jax? Why…” He sniffled and laughed a dry, humorless laugh as his pain marked its way down his face. “Why wasn’t I good enough for him? H-how could I mean so little to him that-that-that h-he would just leave me?”Jaxsen shrugged, wishing there was something he could do. “I don’t know, Basil. I can’t justify the motives of an act such as that. I can’t pretend to know what he was thinking to cause him to leave you. I’m sorry he did ‘cause he’s missing out on a wonderful son.” Jaxsen faintly blushed at making the comment and looked down.Basil smiled, his cheeks instantly flushing at the compliment. “Hey, Basil?” Jaxsen broke the silence that momentarily lapsed.
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He didn’t know how long he’d been sitting in his hiding place, but he was snapped from the thoughts that brought him despair he never thought he’d feel again by a soft hail of his name.“Jack, please, sweet boy…where are you?” Jaxsen frowned. Sebastian was here? A panging shot through him at that…was he still ‘Daddy’? Or did he have to revert back to calling him ‘Bastian’? Tears sprung once more to his eyes. He looked to his left and saw Sebastian’s legs stop short in front of the tunnel’s end in which he hid.“Jaxsen!” He roared, his voice echoing. Then he heard something that had Jaxsen crawling towards those legs. “Please, sweet boy, answer me. Please, Jack.” Sebastian let out a heavy sigh as his hopes began to dash. He couldn’t survive losing him, t
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Sebastian gently wrapped his arms around the frail child, holding him close, rocking him gently. After several, extremely long moments, Jaxsen began to calm. Nizhoni stood once he was calmer, kissed Sebastian and Jaxsen and with a word about starting dinner, walked toward the kitchen. Sebastian sat there holding his son, keeping hold closely to his emotions.“Jack, baby boy.” Jaxsen rested his head in the hollow of Sebastian’s shoulder and chest, thumb securely in his mouth. He didn’t reply. “Jack, my love, please look at me.” Jaxsen slowly sat up, his eyes still cast downward before slowly coming up to meet his. “What happened today, Jack?”He was quiet for a moment before he answered, his words barely audible. “I…th-thought that you didn’t…wouldn’t…want me anymore. And it m
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Jaxsen nodded and wiped his eyes. “Yes, Daddy.”“Do you understand the magnitude of what you did today?”“Y-yes, Daddy. I understand. I’m sorry.”“I know,” he sighed before asking his final question. “Considering what you did, do you feel this is punishment enough to make you never do something like this again?”Jaxsen nodded, gnawing on his bottom lip. “Daddy?” His voice was strained and choked.“What, sweet boy?”Jaxsen took a couple deep breaths before asking, “Are you still mad at me?”“No, baby. I’m relieve
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“Why is that?” He shrugged, breaking eye contact with him. “What, Jack?”“Well…one night when they thought I was asleep, I overheard the Masterson’s talking about me. Mrs. Masterson said that it would be hard to give me up, but that if she had to choose, she’d choose her own blood first. Then he said if I didn’t cry all the time and wasn’t always so emotional and with ‘less problems’ they could keep me…but that I was too much to deal with like this.” A tear fell from his eyes and he roughly wiped it away.“Ever since they died people have made fun of me or rejected me, or did really bad things to me for crying too much. And I hate it!” He slammed his balled fists against his knee. “And I was scared that you would feel the same way. Th-that I would be too much
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“Because you’re still grounded, Jaxsen,” Sebastian said, keeping his tone as even as he could.Jaxsen balled up his fists in anger, his nostrils flaring. “Well, I already said he could.” Fierce blue eyes locked onto Sebastian’s, following his gaze as he stood full height.“Well, you, young man, do not run this house. I don’t care how smart you are, you are the child, I am the adult, and I say what goes, is that understood, Jaxsen?” Sebastian told him looking at the wayward child.“Fine!” H
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Sebastian sat on the home plate mound, in the very spot he last held his son as he slipped away. The chain-link fence had long since been replaced, the grass regrew and the earth evened, erasing the ruts from the car that struck his son. He’d never again come back here after that day; this was a twisted kind of self-torture. The park was nearing empty, the sun beginning to set below the horizon.“I love you, Danny. I’m sorry I failed you. I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore. I feel like I’m losing my mind.”Sebastian did not remember the drive home, just blinked at the sudden realization he was now parked in his driveway. He looked up at Jaxsen’s window. The lamp was still on. He sighed and looked away. He knew he needed to talk to the boy but he had no idea if he should attempt that yet; he didn&
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Around one-thirty the telephone rang and with a big grin Nizhoni answered, listened, responded, and hung up.“Jaxsen, come outside with me, baby.”He took her outstretched hand with a puzzled look and allowed himself to be led outside. Moments later Sebastian pulled into the driveway. He got out and rounded the front, calling Jaxsen over to the passenger side of the truck. Sebastian smiled, his grin mirroring Nizhoni’s, who gently set her hands on Jaxsen’s shoulders. Jaxsen looked at Sebastian before looking up at her, a question in his eyes. Nizhoni smiled wider.“Jack, Zhoni and I have a surprise for you.”Jaxsen smiled. “You do? What is it?”“You ready?”
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When they exited the monkey house Sebastian attempted to set Jaxsen down to make sure that he really was okay, but the boy would have none of it. He did not scream. Or panic, or make a scene. He simply whimpered and held tighter to him.“No, Daddy, don’t put me down. Take me home, Daddy, I wanna go home.”Sebastian nodded. “Okay, sweet boy. What happened, Jack?” Jaxsen, who was already trembling, began shaking quite a bit more.“Th-th-they found me, Daddy.”While still walking Sebastian glanced around, his stomach falling to his toes. He saw no one that struck him dangerous, but kept a sharp eye out nonetheless. When they reached the truck Sebastian had a hell of a time trying to convince the boy to let him go to get
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Jaxsen spoke excitedly about all he’d seen so far during lunch. Sebastian wondered if the boy was going to collapse from insufficient oxygen.Sebastian didn’t dare attempt to taper his enthusiasm. He would much rather have a happy, chatty Jaxsen who was all laughter and childish giggles. He still remembered the frightened, teary-eyed boy he’d first met and was proud of the young man he was becoming.“Daddy, what can we go see next?” Jaxsen asked once their meal was eaten. Sebastian checked his watch.“It’s getting pretty late, Jack. We have time for probably one more exhibit before we have to head home,” Sebastian told him, checking his watch.“Are we still gonna eat dinner at the tower?” he asked excitedly.
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“Did you have fun today, sweet boy?” Sebastian asked as the two of them walked back to the truck after the cave tour ended. Jaxsen smiled up at him, his face beaming with excitement.“Yes! That was so much fun, Daddy. Can we do it again next year?” He bounced a bit on his toes, turning toward Sebastian, that megawatt smile growing that much brighter.“If that’s what you want to do, Jack.” Sebastian unlocked the truck and opened the back door so Jaxsen could climb inside. “You want to stop and get some dinner on the way back to the hotel?”Jaxsen nodded. “Can we go eat at the tower?” he asked excitedly. Sebastian ruffled the boy’s hair and smiled.“How about we eat at the tower tomorrow be
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Jaxsen smiled and nodded. “Can you, um, help me with my suitcase?” While Sebastian hauled Jaxsen’s luggage to the truck, Nizhoni gathered Jaxsen in a hug that made him giggle.“I love you, my sweet Yanaha. Take good care of your daddy for me, okay? Make sure he doesn’t do something stupid and lose an eye, or something, alright?”Jaxsen giggled again and hugged Nizhoni tightly, expressed his love for her, kissed her cheek and went out to the truck, Nizhoni following behind.“What time is Cori gonna be here?” Sebastian asked as he set the case in the bed of the truck. “Here, I thought you might want this inside with us.” Sebastian handed Jaxsen his backpack which contained his journal, a book, and a few other items to keep his occupation.
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The boys met at the park a few minutes later. River and Phoenix were swinging lazily on the swings, their feet dragging the ground and kicking small clouds of dirt and dust with each pass.“Hey,” Jaxsen greeted.The twins smiled, River waved. “Hey, guys,” Phoenix said, hopping off the swings.“Are you okay, Basil?” River signed, a concerned look in his eyes.Jaxsen translated and Basil looked back to River. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just a hard day, you know?”River read lips well, therefore did not need either Jaxsen or his brother to sign Basil’s answer. He nodded and patted Basil on the back.&ld
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“So, what did you crazy kids get into today?” Sebastian asked with a grin as they sat down to dinner later that night.“We meddled in the private affairs of the wealthy man who owns the haunted mansion at the upper end of town and solved the mystery of the rattling chains,” Jaxsen answered Sebastian with a grin. “We made new friends. Brothers that moved here a couple weeks ago. They’re twins.”Sebastian smiled. “Yeah?”“Mhm.” Jaxsen forked a mouthful of spaghetti into his mouth.“The boy we met first, River, he’s deaf. Some kids roughed him up, but Jaxsen calmed him down and signed with him, and then we took him home. That’s where we were when you called. We were killing zombies on
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“Come in,” Jaxsen called at the knock on his door. Sebastian poked his head into the bedroom. The boys were set in the center of Jaxsen’s area rug, cross-legged and facing one another. Basil dropped his head to hide his face, subtly shouldering away any moisture on his cheeks.“Everything okay?” Sebastian asked in concern.“Yeah, Dad, we’re okay.” Jaxsen glanced quickly at Basil before looking back to his father. “We’re just talking.”Sebastian nodded. “Well, Nizhoni doesn’t feel good, so I’m going to run to the store and get her some crackers. You boys want anything specific for dinner?”“Can we have spaghetti and meatballs?” Jaxsen beamed. It was one of his favorite me
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Basil put the last article of clothing in his backpack and slowly zipped it closed. The small suitcase Sebastian had packed for him was lying closed on the bed.“I wish I could stay.”Jaxsen nodded. “Me, too.”“I’m scared, Jax,” Basil admitted as he sat down on the bed.“I know,” Jaxsen said sitting next to him.“What if it doesn’t get any better?”“Then tell my dad again. Perhaps if there’s a repeated pattern there will be something he can do. And if nothing else you could just come stay here for an extended sleepover or something.”Basil shook h
