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Chapter Thirty-four
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Nizhoni and Rose were in the kitchen chatting idly as they prepared a late lunch for when the boys returned. As she was washing a glass at the sink, a horrifyingly desperate feeling washed over Nizhoni and she looked through the kitchen window above the sink.
“Oh, my God.” Nizhoni saw Sebastian running, Jaxsen clutched to his chest. They both ran to the front door to receive them. Sebastian stumbled a couple times, his lungs and legs and arms quivering painfully with adrenaline and exertion. Nizhoni opened the door just as Sebastian reached it.
“Mom! Mom!” Sebastian called as he approached the door, ignoring Nizhoni’s inquiry about what happened. Rose, who wasn’t far behind Nizhoni, met him in the living room. Carefully Sebastian set him down.
“He fell in the pond. I g
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He clenched his fists tightly in his hair in an attempt to stave off the manic-like scream building up deep from his bowels. He opened his eyes. His world was silent, his vision blurry at best, and the last thing he saw was Nizhoni’s face hovering worriedly above him. He came to several minutes later, his head pounding with a tenacious audacity that refused to kowtow to logical reason. Said logical reason being that he had to get back to Jaxsen. Sebastian cracked his eyes slightly before slamming them shut again. His forehead furrowed and his mouth twisted into a grimace of pain.His head throbbed with his pulse making his eyeballs feel as if about to burst from their sockets.“What happened?” He kept his hands clasped over his eyes.“You hyperventilated yourself and passed out. Are you alrig
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“How about a cup, or three, of some coffee?” Nizhoni suggested as they trudged into the living room once arriving back at home.“No, I don’t think so, dear. I think I’m going to turn in for the night.” She sounded tired, but not from a lack of sleep.“Mom.” Rose’s eyes snapped to Nizhoni, the name making her stop in her tracks. It was rare that the younger woman called her ‘Mom.’ It was a name she’d bestowed upon the older woman many years ago, and it made Rose’s heart clench with maternal adoration just as much now as it did when she was a child. “Have some coffee with me, please. It’s been a long, extremely emotional day and I could really use your company.” Rose looked down, lids lowered away from the piercing ebony depths, and breathed once, twice, and again.
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The two women sat cordially side by side on the sofa, feet tucked under their legs to ward off the cold. The lights were dimmed, casting shadows and enveloping the room in easy ambiance. Jaxsen reached for Nizhoni when she got up, meeting them halfway. Nizhoni took him in her arms, kissing his head and automatically gently swinging him back and forth; slow and soothing.“Would you mind taking his temperature and giving him some of this, please? I’m gonna go heat up some soup for him to take with it.”She nodded and made the attempt at a reassuring smile, but knew even before her lips curled up in the faux pas expression, she’d failed. “Of course,” she answered.“Thanks.”“Hey,” she called him back softly. When h
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“I…” Rose shook her head minutely, failing to swallow the lump in her throat. “I have no excuses. I was out of line.” She looked up, meeting Nizhoni’s hard gaze with a fixed and determined expression, her jaw tight and prominent. “Please tell him when he comes back I’d like to speak with him if he’ll allow it. It’s been a long day. Good night, dear.” She spoke quietly, in a dull kind of monotone Nizhoni had never heard Rose employ as a speech pattern. Rose smiled at Jaxsen, briefly patting his head before vanishing silently into her bedroom.Jaxsen, who looked on puzzled, turned around and padded the rest of the way into the kitchen. He stopped at the threshold and frowned. Nizhoni sat at the table, her head in her hands, her face partially covered with splayed fingers.“Zhoni?” He t
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“It’s not your fault, Jaxsen. You don’t know the area, or the boundary lines.” She gently uncurled his fingers and smoothed out his tiny hands.“So that’s why you’re mad at my daddy. You think he wasn’t paying attention, huh?” His tone was soft and just as accusatory as he lowered his eyelids. Rose took a deep breath before counting to ten as she exhaled. Her nerves on the whole matter were rather raw, and she’d made a few, but some personal realizations last night after Sebastian left. Sebastian was the boy’s hero and Rose didn’t want to tarnish that idolism with her own personal issues that are stuck in the past that mercilessly broke the surface the moment Sebastian came back into her life. Before she could say anything Sebastian came through the back door.“Good morning, Dad
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“Ready, Jack?” Sebastian asked, his voice carrying a forced airiness to it. Sebastian knelt down and with a soft smile wrapped Jaxsen’s new scarf around him. Lightly he tucked the lock of hair that fell into his eyes behind his ear. He smiled, but Jaxsen saw the pain he tried so hard to hide. He didn’t understand why Sebastian looked so sad. As he walked away Jaxsen sent a questioning look to Nizhoni in the hopes that maybe she could help, but she smiled sadly and told him to hug Gramma Rose goodbye.They’d been on the road just over an hour and Jaxsen was getting hungry. The ride had been mostly heavy silence, and Jaxsen dared not break it but hunger and the urge to pee was getting too hard to ignore.“Jack, you getting hungry back there?” Sebastian asked as if reading his mind.
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“Hey, what are you doing this weekend?” Jaxsen asked as they packed up their books for the day. Basil shrugged a broad shoulder. He’d been quiet all day, showing only brief moments of avid conversation. The rest of the time he was withdrawn, forlorn, his eyes clouded with whatever happened on his Christmas vacation. Basil stopped moving, his hand inside his backpack, his fingers draped loosely over his history book.“Probably nothing. Why?” Finally he made eye contact.“Wanna maybe come stay over? I don’t think my dad will mind.”Basil visibly swallowed, closed his eyes and nodded. “Yeah that might be fun.” Without a word Jaxsen zipped up his pack and slung an arm around his friend.“It will be. Do you nee
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He 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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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
