Carson's Mark: School of Screams

Chapter Nine

An hour later everyone had eaten and Kenny was getting ready to leave again.
"Are you going by yourself?" Chloe asked when she realized he hadn't picked someone to go with him.
"I'm taking the dog," her brother answered as Jack wagged his tail excitedly.
"You know what I'm talking about," she told him. Their two-person minimum rule. Kenny knew his sister wouldn't let it go if he broke it.
"I'll go, if he really needs to bring someone," Simon walked into the front entryway where the twins were standing.  Both looked at him. 
     "Are you sure?"  Kenny asked.  Simon nodded. 
     "I feel up to it," he said.  "I've done steak outs before, I know what they're about." Kennedy sighed.
"Alright, but bring your coat. It looks like it could start raining any minute and we don't want you getting sick again when you're not even fully over the first time."
"Fair enough," Simon walked to the large front closet and pulled out a long, light tan business coat. Kennedy brought out a coat himself and pulled an umbrella out of the stand next to the left double door, a little gargoyle with a handful of other umbrellas poking out of his mouth besides the classic black one Kenny chose.
Jack trotted in front of them to the car, excited to go for a ride again. His tail wagged so much his butt started wiggling as Kenny opened the car's back door for him. 
     "Someone's excited for a ride," Simon observed.  Kenny gave a small chuckle. 
     "He's excited for two rides in one day," he said as the two climbed into the car.
     "Where are we going?"  A soft, slightly mischievous voice asked from the backseat.  Simon's head snapped around. 
     "Not you again," he said.  The child tilted his head very slightly to one side. 
     "I told you," he said.  "You aren't getting rid of me that easily."  Simon sighed, but Kennedy cracked a half smile. 
     "He's a cheeky little monkey, isn't he?"  He observed.  The boy turned his attention to Kenny. 
     "Not a monkey," he said.   This made Kenny fully smile. 
     "A gremlin, then," Kenny grinned.  The child blinked but said nothing.  Simon looked at Kenny. 
     "Please tell me you're not thinking of bringing him with us," he said.  Kennedy calmly began to put his seatbelt on. 
     "He's harmless aside from a mischievous personality," he told Simon.  "And he clearly wants to stick close to you.  Let him come on the ride with us and we'll decide if he stays or not after."  Simon sighed again, but said nothing.  He simply put his seatbelt on and waited for Kenny to start the car. 
     "Seatbelt on you, too, gremlin," Kenny looked at the child in the rear view mirror. 
     "That's not my name," the boy seemed to struggle a bit with the belt.  He'd picked the middle seat, so it was fairly easy for Kenny to reach back and help him. 
     "Then what is your name?"  Kenny asked as he turned back around and started the car and pulled out of the driveway.  The child merely pointed with his right hand at Simon. 
     "He knows, but he doesn't remember," was the answer. Kenny looked over at Simon.
"What does he mean by that?" He asked. Simon shook his head.
"He told me something similar the first time I saw him," he answered. "I keep trying to get him to spill, but he doesn't fall for it." The child gave a short laugh.
"I told you," he said. "We've met before, you just need to remember how." Both Simon and Kenny sat in silence for several minutes, thinking over the boy's words. Then Kennedy looked in the rear view mirror.
"Simon," he said. "Does he normally favor his left arm?"  Simon snapped his head around again, this time out of worry.  The child had his left arm pressed against his stomach, while his other hand was happily petting Jack.  Simon noticed something odd about the child's fingers. 
     "Let me see that hand," he tried to reach for the boy's hand, but the child pulled his hand to his chest and hid it with his other hand.  The boy's face had an uncharacteristic look of caution.  Simon had his own hand stretched out, turned in his seat.  He only wanted to help, but the boy now seemed suddenly unsure of him. 
     "You're okay," Kennedy had his eyes on the road, but he spoke gently to the child.  "Simon's not gonna hurt you, he just wants to help you."  The child still seemed unsure, but he slowly reached his hand out to put it in Simon's. 
     "That's it," Simon picked up Kenny's gentle tone as he carefully gripped the boy's wrist and used his other hand to gently feel the spots where the child's fingers were supposed to connect to his hand. 
     "He's got dislocated fingers," Simon told Kenny.  "His thumb seems fine, but the other four aren't going to work unless they're popped back in."  He looked directly at the boy.
     "Is this why you always had your hands behind your back?"  The child said nothing but lowered his head, looking like he suddenly expected to be hit. 
     "Can you put his fingers back in, or do we need to make a detour to see Lucius?"  Kenny asked. 
    "As long as you keep the car steady I should be able to fix his hand," Simon answered, gently turning the boy's hand so his palm faced forward.  Kennedy nodded and focused on the road, watching for bumps or potholes.  Simon gently took the child's pointer finger and raised it slowly. 
     "Easy buddy," he said gently.  "This might hurt for a second but it's okay."  He counted to three and popped the finger back into its place.  The boy winced and let out a small whimper. 
     "You're fine, buddy, you're fine," Simon told him.  "Look, you're finger works again."  The child moved his index finger a few times and looked at Simon with a mix of wonder and gratefulness.  He let Simon put the other three fingers back in place and the young man let go of his arm. 
     "That's a brave boy," Simon told him as the child opened and closed his hand several times, testing it.  "See, all better."  Simon turned back around and leaned back in the car seat. 
     "Thank you," the boy's voice sounded genuine, with no sign of mischief in it for the first time since Simon had begun seeing him.  Simon smiled. 
     "No problem, kid," he said.  "Just keep yourself out of trouble so I don't have to give you any more medical attention."  The child had regained his usual cheeky expression. 
     "I can't make any promises," he replied, his voice back to its normal tone.  Kennedy smiled as he looked in the rear view mirror again. 
     "Back to your normal self again, are you?"  He asked.  "What had you nervous in the first place?"  The boy looked at him but said nothing. 
     "Not ready to talk about it yet?"  Kenny asked him.  "That's fine.  We're almost at the school anyway, and we have to be quiet for the steak out."  The boy seemed to perk up. 
     "Food?"  He asked.  This made both Simon and Kennedy let out a chuckle. 
     "Not quite, kid," Simon told him.  "But I'm sure Kennedy would be happy to give you lunch when we go back to the house."  The child swallowed like his mouth had been watering. 
     "Okay," he said.  Kenny smiled. 
     "If you're that hungry now, I think I might have something that might help a little," he said, reaching across Simon to open the car's glove box.  The boy sat up with an interested expression, and that was all Kenny needed to get him to pull out a handful of large chocolate bars.
     "Take your pick," he offered the stack to the child, who chose a dark chocolate and raspberry one.  He opened it eagerly and took a massive bite.  Kenny offered one to Simon before putting the remaining few back in the glove box.  Simon watched the boy eat as he held his own cookies' n' cream chocolate bar in his lap as Kennedy turned the car into the school's long driveway.
     "You're eating that like you haven't had food in days," he said to the child.  The boy looked at him but said nothing in response as he finished the last bite of his chocolate.  He crumpled the wrapper in his hand but hung onto it as Kenny pulled the car into a spot in the bushes where they had a good view of most of the campus without being easily spotted themselves. 
     "He was, wasn't he?" Kenny agreed as he put the car in park and rolled down the windows a few inches so they could hopefully hear any talking if the hooded figures showed up.  The child looked at him silently before turning his gaze to the window. 
     "He doesn't want to talk about it," Simon observed as Kenny turned the car off and leaned back in his seat. 
     "We can wait till he does," Kenny responded.  Jack's panting as the boy petted him was the only sound for several minutes as they waited for something to happen.