2132:Phoenix

Chapter 17

Calepus could cook much better than those ship chefs, and I was practically drooling over the food he prepared.

"It smells great."

"I hope it's better than the slop they fed you," Calepus chuckled. He had fed me that food for a time as well. Don't think like that. I scolded myself for the rest of the meal as Calepus talked about the things we saw earlier and how he'd set up things to repel them.

"You're safe for a mile around the house. After that, I'd prefer, to accompany you."

"I thought they wouldn't try crossing the river?"

"Hungry beings do unexpected things. Now they won't while there's still plenty of things for them to eat in the mountains; when winter hits, I'm not sure what to expect." That happened back home as well. When winter came to the mountains cougars and wolves followed their prey. Their prey liked the fields after the harvest. Too many times I'd read a story about someone my age being killed by a hungry cat. The things in these mountains looked worse than cougars though, and I doubt I could scare them away with eye contact and a hard stick to the face.

The sun started to set and the sky turned a vibrant violet that set the white furniture with a light tint. The sky started to reveal vibrant moons and stars. I didn't recognize any of the constellations, maybe that could be a winter hobby when we were trapped inside for days. The more I thought about this. The more I thought about the life we would live. I realized... This was all I've ever wanted. I would have years to learn without another care in the world, and now it wouldn't only be earth's history or science. I wouldn't just have my world's literature to read. I had the rest of my life to do the things I wanted to do, no expectations, no taxes to worry about, no freak weather, and I can live the rest of my life thinking that my family is happy and healthy. It might not be true, but there's nothing I can do for them. I told my dad I loved him before I got out of the car. For whatever reason, I hugged my brother that morning too. Now I could believe that they were safe. Now I could live.

"Tired?" Calepus broke me from my blank stare at the sky, but I wasn't tired.

"Maybe a movie?"

"I'll set it up. The drawers upstairs with a slight purple tint are yours if you want to go put on something else to sleep in." I looked down and remembered I was still in the clothes I worked out in.

"Good idea," I sighed and vaulted up the other set of stairs.

The room was the same size as the bathroom another privacy wall shot up on the flat part of the semi-circle, but here the outlooking wall was glass. The glowing sky darkened until there was nothing but the outline of the mountains and trees to look at. The night sky was lovely though. Being in the middle of nowhere made them all the more visible. Clothes. I found another set of clean clothes to put on. Then I grabbed the soft blankets from a basket and ran back down the stairs. To find the lights dimmed and the TV waiting on pause. It read, The Princess Bride. I almost squealed that he had found one of my favorite movies.

"Do you still like that orange juice," Calepus asked, with his head inside the fridge?

"Yeah," I call. I was sick of the stuff after days and days of them cramming it down my throat. I wasn't going to tell him that though.

I laid my legs across his lap as he flipped on the movie and drank the juice quickly to banish the taste. It wasn't thirty minutes in before my eyes started to droop. I fought it, but I was soon curled up on my side, comfortably falling asleep.

"Two more," Calepus pushed as I completed another pushup. His foot pushed against my back as I went down again. My arms shook as I pushed against his weight. Don't stop. My chest hit the ground, but I couldn't go up again. His weight was too much and my arms could do nothing but strain against it.

"Finish." He moved. I went up so quickly that I fell forward onto my face. "Are you alright?"

"Peachy." I rolled over; every muscle in my upper body twitching as they tried to relax. Calepus grabbed my aching shoulders and hoisted me to my feet.

"Cool down time," he quipped. Shit-eating grin, proud on his face.

"I don't want to run."

"Your legs should be ready to go. You didn't even squat today." I leaned into his chest in hopes he'd just let me skip. Of course, he wouldn't just let me quit.

"Just a little run, then I'll help your stretch out... Not like that." I chuckled as he pushed me towards the stairs. "If you have enough energy to think that, you can jog around the house twice." I let him into my mind during and after workouts. I knew I wouldn't stop till I hurt myself and he was a nice buffer to keep me from doing that, or I might want to give up too readily. Either way, he kept me honest. I didn't have anything to hide, at this point, anyway.

He set an easy pace around the house, but my arms screamed as they moved. I sped up to make it quicker, but he put an arm out to stop me.

"You're not cooling down if you speed up." I huffed at his concern and focused on my legs. The bounce as they came off the grass. The muscle that contracted in my thighs as one foot pushed off to reach the front. Little bits of dirt, not connected to the grass, was kicked up under my blue shoes and stained the little white bit at the bottom. Little gnat-like creatures flew up around my ankles. I tried to count them as I followed Calepus's legs; long and powerful, but restrained as he made an easy pace. The wind blew gently off the mountains. The cold and crisp air wicked the sweat from my body as we moved. The pain turned to a dull ache as we continued and my breathing evened out when he finally came to a stop by the main door.

"How many laps did we run?"

"Two?" I furrowed my brow in confusion as he smiled and pushed into the house. "Right?"

"Try five." He chucked a water that I barely caught as I thought back to our run. I guess I wasn't focused on it. I counted... I don't even remember how many gnats there were. I laughed at myself as I realized I had just a little more left in me. I was bone-tired though and ready to sleep. The world started to shake and a loud screaming came from somewhere in the house. Everything went fuzzy and my legs collapsed but no pain stung my knees. All the pain was in my head.

"Lex. Hey..." I opened my eyes to see Calepus before me with his hands outstretched a bit.

"Take a deep breath."

"Please," I grit out as the pain got worse, "Make it stop."

"You can do this," he coaxed and gently pulled me into his chest. "Just... Breathe." The pain ebbed.

"Why..." I breathed out. The massive, earth-splitting headaches were getting worse. I'd seen a healer on world, but they had no idea what was happening to me.

"I'm not sure, I think you should take it easy the next few days though." Calepus kissed my head like he was trying to make it feel better, but the ringing took longer to go away every time.

"I can't lose all of my progress, we've worked so hard."

"I know. I know," he reassured with another kiss to my forehead. "Just a rest day, you'll be even stronger after that." I nodded, leaned on him, and closed my eyes. I just need sleep. "You should shower first."

"I should," I drawled but curled up closer to his chest.

"Are we sleeping on the floor?"

"I'm not getting up," I yawned and let the darkness take over. I'm gonna sleep long and hard.