The Ties of Family (RotG Fanfic)

Chapter 44

Jamie paused, glancing around at his friends' faces, studying their expressions. "Jack Frost?" Pippa asked, raising an eyebrow. "You were rescued by... Jack Frost?"

"Who's Jack Frost?" asked Monty.

"And why aren't Claude and Caleb here yet?" Cupcake wondered, straying from the main topic. She shot Jamie a look that clearly read 'don't try to make them believe'.

Pippa glanced at her watch. "Yeah, it is strange. They aren't usually this late." She turned back to Jamie. "Who is this Jack Frost, Jamie? Is he a new friend of yours? Someone from our school? Most importantly, how did he get you of that warehouse?"

Jamie was about to continue when the door of his bedroom swung open and a strange-looking boy stood in the doorway, studying them. His face was pale and there were dark shadows beneath his eyes, which were large and green. His vivid red hair was rather neat. He was dressed in a sweater that looked like it hadn't seen a washing machine in months and a pair of flannel trousers that sported stains. He carried a large brown bag which was slung over his right shoulder. He grinned at the little company in Jamie's bedroom, displaying a set of jutting-out teeth which were impeccably white.

"Who are you?" Jamie inquired, getting to his feet. "How did you get in? Did my mom let you in?"

The boy cocked his head to the side, as though he was having a hard time processing Jamie's words. Finally he grinned at the surprised boy and pointed at him. "Jamie? You Jamie?" he spoke, in a strange accent. Jamie couldn't help noting that there was something rather off about his voice as well.

"Er... yes?" Jamie said, pushing away the boy's pointing hand. "What are you doing here? Where did you come from?"

Before the boy could answer, there was the thundering sound of footsteps on the stairs and a moment later, Caleb appeared, grinning widely. He edged his way past the boy and into Jamie's bedroom. "Yo, Jamie! Wow, who's your new friend?"

"I've no idea," Jamie said, before striding past the red-headed boy and to the top of the stairs. "Mom!" he called down. "Who did you let in earlier?"

"Caleb," Mrs. Bennett called back up.

Jamie turned to see Caleb ushering the boy into his bedroom. "No, I meant before Caleb."

"Claude?"

Jamie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He returned to his room where he found his four friends gathered around the strange boy, firing questions at him. The lad seemed overwhelmed. Jamie exited his room and entered Sophie's. His sister was painting, as usual, and seemed rather annoyed at Jamie's intrusion.

"What?" she asked.

"Come and see who showed up." He returned to his room with a disgruntled Sophie behind him. No one looked up when they entered, still curious about the new boy. Sophie didn't seem surprised.

"New friend?" she asked, an eyebrow raised. "How interesting." She was about to turn and exit when Jamie caught her by the arm.

"He's not a new friend. He just showed up out of the blue. And have you seen Claude around the house?"

Sophie yanked her arm out of her brother's not-so-strong grip. "I haven't left my room since I woke up, except to go to the bathroom. So, no."

The red-head got to his feet and walked over to Sophie. He pointed at her and turned to Jamie. "Your seester?" Without waiting for Jamie's reply, he bowed before taking Sophie's hand and shaking it. "Nice to meet you."