Page 7 of Kingston
“I have you, Skye.”She fought him until he could get her to understand that she was safe and that he had her.Picking her up from the floor, he took her back to the bed and laid her gently on it.“There’s nothing here.I have you.Come on now.I have you.Tell me what scared you.”
“Jason was getting me.”He told her that he was in jail and not getting out anytime soon, so she was safe.“I think it was the new room and all.I thought about how safe I was feeling when I turned off the light, and that must have triggered a memory of him finally catching up with me.He was going to kill me.”
“He won’t now.I have you.”He told her, too, about being immortal, and that seemed to have had a positive effect on her bad dreams.“You can’t be killed, either of you, unless they remove your head.And I doubt very much he’d do that.”
“Knowing him, he’d do it just to prove that he’s killed me.”Trevor said he was headed back to bed.“Good.I’m sorry that I woke you.I’ve not had a nightmare like this for some time now.Like I said, I think it was the new room and my thoughts before going to sleep.”
Kings held her until she fell asleep again.Putting her back under the covers gave him a little fear when he thought that he saw a shadow of blood on her leg.It turned out that she was wearing blood red socks on her feet, and he had to laugh about that.She must have cold feet like he did sometimes.
Going back to his room after getting the lights off again, he didn’t know if he’d be able to sleep now.Instead of getting into bed right away, he opened up his computer and looked at information on school buildings and how long they lasted.When he’d bored himself enough, he climbed into bed and got comfy again.It was going to be a long day tomorrow if he didn’t get some sleep.Happy that Skye felt safe enough to fall asleep in his arms, he closed his eyes and fell back to sleep.
Waking again just as the sun was coming up, he got up and took a long, hot shower.His feet were giving him fits because they were cold, so he put on some wool socks to go out into the day.After leaving a note in the kitchen about the interviews that were going on today, he told Skye and Trevor that he’d be back before noon, then he was having dinner with his cousin at six.
The house wasn’t as large as the last one he’d had, but they would need staff.With the two of them working, even if it was only part-time, the house would suffer.Plus, he didn’t want to have to cook all the time, and he was sure that Skye had better things to do than cook, so they’d need someone to come in and do that for them.He thought staff enough to come in and make the beds would be nice too.He didn’t enjoy that task as much as some people did and would love the help to get it done.
As he started out his day, he found himself whistling.It was an odd tune that he’d heard long ago, but he was feeling pretty good and didn’t mind having a tune in his head.Smiling at the first person he met today, Kings thought he could get used to having a mate.It was life-changing.
Chapter 2
Trevor walked around the classroom and enjoyed what was going on.There were classes that he could take and enjoy, so he was hoping that he would be able to go here with the permission of the pack master, Jamison ‘J.J.’Jenkins.When asked if he wanted to sit in on a couple of classes, Kings said it would be fine with him; he’d be outside.After that, he sat in on two classes on how to survive in the outdoors.He enjoyed them a great deal and learned a lot.
“You ready to go here?”Trevor could barely contain his excitement and nodded rather than make a fool of himself laughing.“Good.It’s all set up for you.You can start in the incoming year.They run classes year-round, so you can even take a couple in the summer months should you want to.And they’ll work with you on the classes that you want to take online.”
“Great.”On the way home, all he could talk about was what he learned today.It wasn’t just survival that he learned, but he’d also made a couple of friends who were his age.Most of the time, kids his age didn’t want to hang out with a nerdy guy like him, but they seemed to be just as nerdy as he was.“What kind of relationship do you have with the pack master?I mean, he’s not going to charge you too much for allowing me to go there, will he?”
“No.We discussed the price, and it seems too cheap to me, but then I’ve never put a kid in school before.He gave me a rundown of things that you’re going to need, such as a compass and a survival knife.I didn’t know what that was, but he explained it well enough that I think I can find it.There isn’t a uniform, but he said that you can wear jeans and a shirt.One that you, for the most part, don’t care about, as it will more than likely get dirty while training in the woods.”He said one of the other boys said that they camp out overnight.“Yes, you’ll not need a tent, but you will need a sleeping bag for the first few overnight trips.Then you’ll have to survive on your own after that.”
They talked about everything that Kings had been told and what he’d learned at the packhouse.They also talked about how he’d get there and come home.Kings didn’t want him traveling alone until they were sure what was going to be happening with Jason and the Connors.
“They might be in jail, but there might be a time when they’re released.We might not hear about it until it’s too late to make sure that you’re all right.”He took the fact that they might be released very seriously.He never wanted to be around them if he could help it.And he said as much to Kings.“I don’t either.Maybe when you have a few of the classes under your belt, you can hide out from them better, but until then, we’ll keep you safe as we can.”
It was nearly noon when they returned to the house.He was starving, and Kings made him a healthy snack to hold him over until lunch was finished.He called it healthy, but it wasn’t.He’d been given a plate of cookies with the knowledge that he wasn’t to tell Skye unless under threat of death.He enjoyed the cookies a great deal more because it was such a fun way to have them.
Skye joined them for lunch, and they told her everything that they learned about the school.Trevor remembered things better this time in the telling because he’d had time to think about it.The following school term started in two weeks, and it was going to be up to him to figure out if he wanted to go then or wait three months for the following classes.Of course, he decided to go to the one in two weeks.Which didn’t give them a lot of time to get the things that he was going to need.
Bringing his own laptop was going to be all right with the teacher.Though if he had any games on it, he wasn’t supposed to play with them during class.Trevor didn’t have any games on his computer, but he also knew that since education was so important to him, he’d not play on them if he did.He loved learning and was looking forward to getting his education started again after being on the run for so long.
Skye had done a good job of keeping his head in the game of learning when they were on therun.She’d check out books for him to read, then she’d quiz him on them.He’d also learned a lot about the human race while running, and not all of it was good.Trevor thought that if they had been running for much longer, he might well have hated people as much as he loved Skye.And he loved her a great deal.
Heading to Columbus in the morning, he had a list that he’d gotten from one of the boys in his classroom.He would need a backpack that was made of something heavier than the ones he’d taken to classes when he’d been allowed to go while living in the Connors’ home.He was excited to learn how to pack his gear up and go at a moment’s notice.
Boots were something else that he was going to need.They needed to be waterproof and sturdy.He didn’t know what that might mean to him, but Kings seemed to understand the mission and was right on board with him getting the best pair that they could find.Something that Kings had told him was that shoes were going to be his best friend when walking a great deal, and he needed to spend money on them to keep his feet dry, warm, and without blisters.Trevor liked that idea too.
As soon as he purchased his boots, he put them on to wear them in.They needed to be good to his feet, and in order to do that, they needed to be broken in.And at first it was kind of exciting, but after a while his feet began to ache because they were so heavy and stiff.But he told himself that he needed to get used to them.
They had dinner in Columbus when they were finished shopping.He was never so happy to get off his feet as he was that night.As soon as he sat down, he knew that he was going to have to check out his feet because they hurt so bad.Going to the bathroom, he was thrilled that he only had a sore spot on his toe and nothing more.He didn’t want to put them back on yet, and Kings agreed with him.He felt like he was walking on clouds when he put his tennis shoes back on; they were so much lighter.
Trevor was ready to sleep standing up before they left the restaurant.He knew it was because he’d been so excited, and he wasn’t used to walking around so much.It felt like they’d been to fifty stores looking for things, and he was tuckered out.Trying to stay awake on the drive home, all he did was make himself dizzy.So he finally let himself fall asleep before they left the big city and were headed home.
After getting a shower the next morning, his feet were a little sore, as were his legs, but he wore the boots in favor of getting them broken in.They didn’t feel as tight today, which was a good thing, but he still had a lot of things that he needed to get.The knife had been his first purchase, and he was learning how to open it with someone around him so if he did cut himself, someone would be there to help him out.So far, so good, he told himself that he’d only nicked himself a little when he was trying to close it back up.
“I got a call from JJ this morning.He said to remind you that you’ll need to get yourself some matches or a lighter that you know how to use.”He said he’d forgotten about that.“No big deal.He said your first lesson would be learning how to start a smokeless fire and how to keep it going.”
Along with his knife, he’d been told that he’d need a small hatchet and some rope.Since they didn’t know what kind of rope he’d need, they put that off in favor of him getting to see what the others were using.Also, he was going to need some rain gear.Something that they couldn’t find in all the stores that they’d gone to.
He was glad that he’d spoken to one of the boys in his class, or he would have gotten the wrong sleeping bag.He was supposed to get one that was rated for cold weather and small.A tight bag so he wouldn’t overload his pack.Skye had wanted him to get the biggest one they had so that he’d be warm.She was looking for him to be comfortable, and he wanted what the others had.It had been a toss-up in who was going to win that argument until Kings stepped in and said it was better for him to have what the others had so that he’d fit in.Skye didn’t like it, but she agreed with him.He just hoped that he wouldn’t freeze to death while out in the winter months.
Regular school supplies were also something that he was going to need.Pens and paper, of course, and he’d need colored pencils as well as some mathematical things that he could use for his advanced classes that he was going to be able to take.His excitement was hard to contain, but hemanaged to make sure that he didn’t get too excited and have people make fun of him.He thought that the family wouldn’t do that, but he was used to others who didn’t know him all that well making fun of him about everything.
