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Chapter Seventeen
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2024-10-29 19:42:56When Jaxsen awoke he was aware of two things: it was much brighter in his room than it should be and the date. November twenty-first. Today he was nine years old. He had mixed feelings about today. After he woke he wondered why Sebastian hadn’t made him get up for school. Nizhoni, who moved in almost two weeks ago, hadn’t roused him, either. He frowned, pondering. His two previous birthdays were nothing to be remembered. He squeezed his eyes shut against the memories that threatened to overwhelm.
Dispelling the flooding images, he crawled from bed realizing that he was hungry. He came downstairs to find Nizhoni sitting alone on the couch reading Moby Dick. She smiled brightly upon seeing him, setting aside the hard back. He smiled sleepily in return and rubbing his eyes he crawled into her lap. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close, and placed a gentle kiss to his cheek. He sighed
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“Hey, babe,” Sebastian said to Nizhoni when he came through the door a couple of weeks after Jaxsen’s birthday. He tenderly kissed her. “Where’s Jack?” he asked looking around, a bit more than a little disappointed when he hadn’t come running.It was Thursday, December fifth. He had noticed Jaxsen’s change in demeanor once December began. Still, he had always greeted him with big hugs, especially on the days that he couldn’t pick him up from school.Nizhoni looked up. “His room. He went straight there when we got home. He hasn’t spoken since I picked him up and he hasn’t come down. Something happened today. I tried, but he wouldn’t talk. Maybe you’ll have better luck.”“Think it’s just the time of year?”
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When Sebastian stood from the bed Jaxsen reached out for him, never once doubting that his request would be reciprocated. Sebastian picked him up, hugging him close.“I love you, Bastian.”Sebastian smiled, his eyes close to tearing up. “I love you, too, Jaxsen.” He smiled again before placing Jaxsen on his feet.“You want me to help you pick this all up?” Sebastian pointed to the contents of the little red shoe box scattered across the mattress.“No, I can do it.”Sebastian nodded. Truth be told he didn’t want to leave him yet and was fishing for an excuse to stay. “Okay. I’ll meet you downstairs, then.”
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Nizhoni came home a quarter of an hour before midnight. The lights were turned low and the house was quiet. Sebastian left the entrance light on and enough light everywhere else for her to be able to see without having to run her hands along the walls to guide her. She walked into the living room and smiled as Sebastian looked up from a novel he was currently engrossed in. Jaxsen still took up residence in his lap, his head nestled in the hollow of Sebastian’s shoulder and clavicle, similar to the position he’d fallen asleep in a couple hours previous.“Hi,” she whispered, dropping a long kiss to his lips.“Hi, beautiful.”Nizhoni blushed, as she always did when he called her beautiful. In all her life Sebastian Green was the only one she ever truly believed. Even to this day she
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Jaxsen scanned the mass of children in the school yard, eyes scanned the various faces that adorned his classmates.“…but that’s when…hey, are you listening?” Basil followed Jaxsen’s gaze not seeing anything out of the ordinary. “Who are you looking for?”“Melissa,” he answered as his eyes continued to curiously look for that one face in many. He’d been searching for the better part of their free time.“She didn’t come out with everyone else.”Jaxsen looked at his friend. “Where did she go?”Basil shrugged and finished off his crème puff. “I didn’t see her go anywhere. I didn’t see her stand up from the t
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Jaxsen sat up and smiled for the first time that day with a small giggle jailbreaking from his vocals. “She kissed me on the cheek, Bastian!” he exclaimed, playfully punching him on the shoulder.“Oh, sure, you say that now,” Sebastian teased. “Tell me then, Mr. Michaels, why are you turning all red in the face, huh? You look like a little cherry tomato.” Sebastian poked him lightly on the nose.Jaxsen glared but it soon melted into a smile. Sebastian smiled back, glad he could make his boy laugh. “I’m glad you made a new friend, Jack. And I want to tell you I’m very proud of you.”Jaxsen blushed again, grinned, and looked down. “I didn’t do anything, really,” he denied with a shrug, the blush spreading across his neck and under his shirt.
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The next time Jaxsen woke it was light out. The bedside clock read 8:45. He woke feeling warm and safe, though the dark cloud of ‘Death Day’ had fully settled over him. He curled up further into Sebastian wanting simply not to exist.“Hey, sweet boy,” Sebastian greeted gently in a consolatory tone. Jaxsen was surprised that he was awake. If he’d already woken, why hadn’t he gotten up for the day?“Hi, Bastian.” He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked up.“Sleep alright?”Jaxsen shook his head and looked away. “No. Not really.”Sebastian slid his fingers through the boy’s golden locks. “Yeah, neither did I.”
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For three hours Sebastian held the boy close to him, wiping his tears and doing his best to coax Jaxsen back to the now and bring him from whatever visions had him for the moment arrested and detained in the past. Sebastian sat up, needing to try something-anything-to snap Jaxsen out of the pits of his mind. Jaxsen did not move to move away nor did he attempt in any way to keep his balance atop Sebastian’s lap. He was completely limp and if he didn’t know better, Sebastian would have thought the boy to be sound asleep. Sebastian maneuvered the child to where he was straddling his lap.“Jaxsen?” Sebastian placed his left palm against Jaxsen’s right cheek. “Jack, please answer me.” Jaxsen gave him no sign that he’d even heard him speak. There was just a blank mask covering his face. Tears slowly fell completely unnoticed by the eyes that cried them. &ldqu
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“What upset him,” she continued, “is that when you zoned out, he couldn’t reach you and it scared him very much. He also thinks he hurt you which is something he won’t let go of easily. He probably feels like he betrayed and disappointed you, and the thought of you being afraid of him, of not feeling like you can rely on him, is something that…well, he can’t deal with it very well and he just doesn’t want you to see him upset. But it’s not you he’s upset with, Yanaha.”Jaxsen nodded as he absorbed her words. “W-when will he come back?”Nizhoni glanced at the door. “I don’t know, baby. He didn’t go far, though. I promise.”“Will you find him?” She watched his eyes tear up. “Please, Zhoni?”
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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
