Wake of the Dead | Three

Chapter Fifty-Five | Jasper

It'd been two days since he, Rixon and Phoenix arrived to Clemont's Town. Jasper didn't need to speak to his friends to know they'd watch Phoenix for him when he got back from the hunting trips he helped on, or the border patrols. It was required for him to help the people who ran the Town, but he felt obligated. If they were going to stay there for a while they needed to pull their weight.

The past days had created a routine. Every morning he'd play with Phoenix for a little while, go out on patrol, visit Killian, spend time with Phoenix during lunch, help out with the horses, do a few chores, spend the rest of the afternoon and dinner with Phoenix, then visit Killian again while she was sleeping. The first two days it had felt a bit long, but now the hours seemed to fly by at an impossible rate. There was a lot to do and not enough daylight to get it all done.

Either the people in Clemont's Town were either generally friendly, or Jasper had made a good impression on his arrival. When he'd first gotten there he hadn't spent any time observing his surroundings, but now he could marvel at how well the place was actually built. It was bigger than he had initially thought, the way they had gotten in hadn't been the front gate.

The walls were made of wooden logs that were sharpened at the top, thick and hearty, they wouldn't blow over easily. The watch towers were surprisingly efficient and sturdy. Every one of the wood cabins were utilized as either living spaces, a small daycare, or Hasan's medical office. Patrols and chores were organized like work schedules, posted on whiteboards that hung by the front gates. Besides Killian's mare, the rest of the horses had their own stables in the actual Town part of Clemont's Town, which was walled off separately from the living spaces.

Jasper had found out that in Clemont's Town, you could be one of three things. Somebody who set up their wares or special talents—mechanics, hunters selling pelts, and many other things—to sell or trade, a passerby that wouldn't be allowed past the Town gate, or an actual citizen who was allowed to roam both the living and Town areas. It was a smart set up, he had to admit. One he would probably model his own place after if he and his group ever decided to settle down.

Headed towards the Town gate, Jasper had made a small habit of looking for anything Phoenix might like as a gift. The poor thing was having nightmares about her father's death—he'd set up her visits with Darren—if there was a need for his best friend's degree and therapist skills, it was now. Otherwise, the little girl had quickly adjusted to life in Clemont's Town, she even appeared to enjoy being there. In the daycare, there were other kids for her to play and spend time with.

Although he couldn't exactly say they were friends just yet, Jasper had made a good acquaintance with Noel, the watchtower guard he'd encountered the first day he arrived. "Are you off to the Town?" The guard called from the top of the gate.

Jasper smiled, "Do you even have to ask that now? I get here around the same time every day." And every day it hurts to smile. But I have to. Because if I don't nobody else will. Every attempt to appear fine and happy was gradually eroding him from the inside out. It was impossible to think of anything else, to feel anything other than an immense grief for Killian's situation. No matter how many times Hasan reassured him, the idea that his partner might never wake up plagued his darkest night terrors.

He hadn't had any good sleep since they arrived to Clemont's Town, knowing Killian could be silently suffering, trapped in his own head and unable to break away from his subconscious—it was all too much to handle, too much to even fathom. Jasper was afraid to go to sleep unless he passed out on his own. What if Killian died while he was out, what if his lover woke up and he wasn't there, what if somebody bad was happening to him? What if he was in pain? I promised. I promised to keep him safe and I couldn't!