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
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.
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.”
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
“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?”
Jaxsen watched her vanish down the stairs before turning and taking a seat next to Sebastian. Without taking his eyes off the duffle bag Sebastian said, “This, and all its contents, were collected by either your dad or myself from all the places we traveled to together. The bag itself is Glen’s. We traded bags before he went home on our last mission. He took everything we’d collected, split it up and mailed the rest to Ellie for safe keeping.” The bag was a large green duffle with USMC stenciled to the front. It had a simple drawstring with a plastic sliding lock and a handle on the side for carrying. Slowly Sebastian pulled it open, the opening at the top of the bag widening like an attacking shark, all it was missing were the rows and rows of teeth.Slowly he withdrew a chain with two plates, metal in material, with words Jaxsen couldn’t quite see well enough to read. Sebast
“Jaxsen.” Jaxsen was snapped from his thoughts by the sound of his name.“Ma’am?”“Answer the question, please.”“Question?” He began to fidget with his fingers. Twisting them nervously around each other. Basil watched his hands, the sight making him dizzy. He resisted the urge to set his hands on top of his friend’s. He glared at Mrs. House. Didn’t she know why he’d been absent?“Yes.” The teacher crossed her arms impatiently, not giving anything away.“Um…” He looked around the room helplessly.“Since Mr. Michaels cannot seem to answer the question, can anyone else inform
Jaxsen sighed quietly as he placed the last remaining item in his suitcase. He hadn’t slept well since Sebastian had told him they would be spending a week at his mother’s house, and that she was anxious to meet him. To say he was nervous, and on several levels, was a huge understatement. The fact that all morning and for the last several days Sebastian had been snapping at both he and Nizhoni, didn’t settle his building anxieties. It was only eight a.m. and already his chest was tight. He hoped things would calm down soon. A light knock made him look up from the folded long-sleeve shirt in his hands.Nizhoni smiled as she entered the room. “Doing alright, Yanaha?” Jaxsen shrugged. He didn’t understand why Sebastian had been so impatient with him. Along with his nervousness about the trip, Jaxsen’s insecurities about his place at Sebastian’s house surfaced wi
Once he was done packing the rest of his suitcase, Jaxsen sat down in the center of his bed to write some in the journal Sebastian had given him shortly after some bullies at his old school destroyed the one his mother had given him not long before she was murdered. A light but heavy knocking brought him back from his mind.“Mind if I come in?”Jaxsen shrugged. “Sure.” Jaxsen began to fidget nervously as apprehension surrounded him. Sebastian sat on the mattress facing Jaxsen.“Listen, Jack, I owe you an apology for the way I’ve been acting the last few days.”Jaxsen looked down. “It’s okay. I understand, Daddy.”Sebastian smiled sadly. “No, you don&rsquo