Lost Amongst Many

Chapter 17

-Mitch's POV- {Holy shit a POV change}

Preston ate his dinner and went to bed. I grabbed my jacket of the naturally made coat hook in the tree bark, and walked back to Kara's house. Kara seemed nice enough, but the fact that Kenny wasn't home bothered me. He was 4 years younger than me, only 7, and wasn't home.

The door swung in easily, and Kenny beckoned me back to his room while Kara was cooking their dinner in the kitchen. He locked the door behind me, and sat down on the bed.

"Kenny, why aren't you home? Did something happen?"

"Kinda," He said dejectedly.

"Kenworth," I said, a little frustrated, "what happened?"

He lifted his shirt to reveal gauze- complete torso, wraparound gauze. The skin around the gauze was bright pink, and semi-raw.

My eye twitched, and I got angry.

"See, this is why I left. What did they do to you?!"

"Remember the fireplace?"

"The hearth. Of course."

"Well, remember the metal stick thingy Dad used to stoke the fire?"

"Don't tell me."

"He swiped it, still hot, across my chest."

"What happened after?"

"I left a few minutes later after I grabbed some of my stuff. Kara let me in and gave me a place to stay."

"How long has it been?"

"A month?"

"And it's still raw?! How hot was the thing?!"

"It was cold. Not even hot."

"Kenny, that's worse than third degree burns. Is Kara a nurse or something?"

"She's a clinical instructor. She teaches doctors in training. She's a retired service medic."

"Good thing. She's really sweet. Thank god you're here. You're prone to hurting yourself, you dumbo."

I grabbed him in a sudden headlock, and messed his hair up. He whined and tried to get out of my grip, gave up. Kara called for dinner.

"I'm gonna head home, Kenworth. P's probably getting freaked about being alone."

"At least stay for dinner. Kara's a REALLY good cook."

Kara opened the door. "Yeah right, Kenny. And yes, you should stay for dinner. It's the least I can do."

"Fine. What's for dinner?"

"Cheeseburgers. You like?"

"I love. I haven't had any meat since I moved in with Preston and Jerome. Kinda lost an appetite for it."

"Why?"

"Jerome. Bacca. I think you get the point."

Kenny's face morphed to disgust, and pushed his plate away for a second before pulling it close again.

"And Preston can't have meat, so I went on a fruit and veggie diet to make meals easier on all of us."

"He told me he had an allergy that kept him from eating it," Kara explained.

"He never mentioned it to me, but most likely true. I did my research and lava creepers in specific are prone to certain food allergies- especially fish and certain veggies. But apparently a meat allergy is not unheard of in creepers."

"You must've done a crap ton of research then. What the heck, Mitch?"

"What? You know I love books."

"But what book did you read that told you that?! It's nuts."

"'The Wilds' by none other than your favorite person in the world."

"Don't you dare."

"Notch!"

"Fudge sakes, Mitchell."

"Enough you two," Kara said laughing, "eat your dinner."