Traveler (11 page)

Her eyes were glazed as she looked at the hand holding her arm.  “I just...got kicked out of my house.  I need to find some place to stay in three days.  I don’t...know where I’m going to stay.  I have no one here.”  Her eyes threatened to well with tears.  “So I need to figure something out.”

“Come...” He murmured softly, gently leading her to his front door.  “You need to sit down for a moment, and we can discuss your predicament more comfortably in here.”  He may not have agreed with her foolishness, but she was still a child and his student.  One should never abandon a child.  If there was one thing he despised above all others, it was this sort of thing, and her parents should pray to the gods that he did not find them when they were alone.  

Ushering her inside, he did not let go of her arm until she was sitting comfortably on his sofa, her red hair vibrant against the black leather.  Perching on the edge of the chair across from her, he patiently observed her, quickly coming to a decision.  But before he told her, he at least needed to clarify some things first. “You say that you have no one here.  No family of any sorts other than your...father?”

“Stepfather,” she corrected, staring off into space.  She knew she was in his house, on a couch, but that was all she could really discern.  “My father disappeared before I was born; I don’t even remember anything about him.  My mother...she died from cancer last year.  She was all I really had.”  Tears threatened to spill over.  “He made her happy, so that’s why I put up with him.  But he and I have no love lost.  When I turned eighteen, I knew it was only a matter of time before this happened.  I just...I didn’t expect it to be so...soon.  Everything I know is in that house...”

Nodding slowly in understanding, Alexander was quiet for a moment longer before finally speaking his mind.  “Well, that certainly does explain a great deal.  Miss Oriole...Aislin...I am going to make you an offer, one which might have been problematic for the two of us before I found out that you are of age.  Since your stepfather...” That particular word came out with a bit of venom he couldn’t seem to keep hidden.  “Since he has decided to abandon you in such a way, I would like to offer you the use of my spare room.  Before you say anything, I have to add that the only requirement for staying here would be helping in the chores...equally...and getting your high school degree.  While I know that you have no control over the book and where it takes you, you can,at the very least, graduate...whether you choose to continue at the school or take online classes.  It is up to you.”

Aislin’s eyes widened.  “Do you....do you really mean it?” she whispered, looking very much like a young girl, frightened and with nowhere to go.  “I can stay with you?” That was the first part of the conversation she focused on.  The part about her high school education piqued her interest, but it was merely an afterthought.  “I’ll do it online,” she said hurriedly.  “That way I don’t have to go to school ever again.  That place was horrible.”  A shudder went through her and then she smiled and leapt off the couch, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him close.  “Thank you,” she whispered, the tears rolling slowly down her pale cheeks.

He blinked in surprise, easily catching the girl when she practically threw herself at him before lightly hugging her back.  “Of course I mean it.  I would not have offered otherwise.  Unlike some people in this world, I would never play a cruel joke like that, especially now.”  He smiled faintly before gently setting her aside.  “Come on, I’ll show you the room and then we can go get your things.  No point in wasting time...”  Of course, to him, it was obvious that if her stepfather was cruel enough to kick her out like he had, he probably would not take care of her belongings, and he wanted to have a word with the man anyway.

Aislin smiled warmly at him.  “Thank you,” she said again.  She followed him through the house, seeing the kitchen, the living room, and then the spare bedroom--her room.  It was scantily decorated, literally with only a picture on the wall and nothing else.  “This doesn’t have its own bathroom, does it?” she asked hopefully, then shook her head at his denying answer.  “Pity.  Well...I’ll need the bathroom for an hour in the morning, and the same amount of time in the evening.  The room is perfect.  I’ll have to decorate it, but I think it will do just fine.”  She looked down at the center of the floor.  “Although....I will need a bed.  Eventually.”  She looked up at him and her eyes twinkled.  “But the floor will do nicely, too.”  

Laughing softly, he had watched her from the doorway to the room, his arms crossed over his chest.  “The bathroom time is fine.  I’m up early for my jog and shower anyways.  We’ll take care of the bed and things after we pick up your belongings from your old home.  And then we shall have to discuss everything else.  Since we are roommates and all, feel free to call me Alex...or Alexander...whichever.”

“All right...Alex.”  She blushed.  “I’m sorry, it’s just going to take a little bit of time to get used to that.”  Aislin stepped into the center of the room, standing next to him.  “Are you ready to go then, to get my things?  I’d rather they not stay at my stepfather’s any longer than they have to.  I already dread the fate of my books.”  She shivered a little.  “But at least I have you there with me.”  Somehow, she felt safer with Alex than she had with anyone in a long time.              Even with everything he had done, with the humiliation he had dealt her on the ship, she still felt that she could trust him, somehow.  At least, she could trust him more than her stepfather, and that was a long jump towards being a friend.  But, he was still a librarian at the school she used to go to...it was just going to take some time to get used to knowing him outside of school.

His blue eyes narrowed slightly at her shiver, but he kept his observations to himself...for now.  Straightening from the doorway, he gestured for her to proceed before him, scooping up the keys for his car as they passed the small table in the hallway.  “Are you going to need boxes for your belongings?” He asked calmly, locking the front door.  He would have to remember to get a spare set of keys made for her.

Aislin frowned slightly as they walked out the door, tossing her long red hair out of her face.  “I may need a few, but I think we have empty boxes at the house still from when my mother died, so I’ll be able to use those.  And my books are already boxed up, so they will be easy to transport.”  She laid her hand gently on his forearm.  “Mr-Alex...I really can’t say how thankful I am that you are willing to do this for me.  It means a lot.”

Alex gave her a smile, a hint of mischief in his blue eyes.  “You can thank me, Aislin, by keeping those silly fangirls away.  If I hear one more girl talk about how cute my butt is, I’m going to explode.”  Then he unlocked the car doors, laughing softly.  “Come on now, we’ve got a lot to do...and hopefully enough time to do it before night hits.”  

“I’ve never noticed your butt,” she admitted honestly.  “But I’ll try to keep your stalkers away.  I don’t know how that’s going to help, or what I’m going to do, but there it goes.  They already think I’m a freak....so maybe starting some rumor about you will be enough to slake their thirst.”  She climbed into the passenger seat of Alex’s car and closed it.  “I’ll give you directions to his house.”  

The way to Aislin’s stepfather’s house were relatively easy.  Jump on the highway, hit a few off roads, and then they were there, in the two-story stonework that Aislin had grown up in.  “Well...here we are,” she murmured, staring at the house as if it had teeth.  The safe feeling she had usually received upon seeing the domicile was gone, now, replaced with a stark fear, a disappointment sharp as a knife in her gut.  This house wasn’t her home, not anymore.  
I’m sorry, Mother...I can’t hang onto this ghost any longer.
 

“Courage, Aislin...he will not bother you.  If he even looks at you funny, he’ll be drinking his meals through a straw for the rest of his life.”  Alex murmured softly, patting her arm before getting out of the car.  He grabbed the empty boxes from the trunk before glancing back to the girl.  “Come on...let’s get this done...”

Aislin nodded and pulled her keys out of her purse, unlocking the front door and stepping inside.  “Home sweet home,” she said, her voice laced a little with sarcasm.  Her stepfather, as always, was downstairs, and she could feel his heavy footsteps coming from the kitchen.  She tried to straighten her back as he came towards them.  

“I didn’t think you’d come back so soon,” he said in greeting, his arms crossed over his chest.  “And who is this that you’ve brought into my house?  Is this the man you’ve been ruining your life with?”  His eyes were flinty brown orbs as they looked at Alex.  “He is not welcome in my home.  And neither are you, when your belongings have been claimed.”

Alex had already been certain that he would not like Aislin’s stepfather, and by the gods, the man was already proving him right.  But as much as he detested the man, he wasn’t going to allow his anger to rule his actions...not yet and not now.  He plastered a polite smile on his face, though it did not reach his eyes.  “I am Alexander Bookman, one of Miss Oriole’s teachers from the high school and the person helping her to move her belongings out in a timely fashion...not the supposed person she is ruining her life with, as you put it.  Once we have retrieved her belongings, you will not see either of us in this house again...of that I can assure you.”

Aislin nodded.  “What he said, Rick.  Now let me go upstairs, please, so I can get my things.”  Her stepfather scowled and let her go upstairs, though his gaze bored into Alex’s back as he followed her upstairs.  Aislin pushed open the door to her room, revealing a space that was richly decorated like a medieval castle, and the dress she had worn in the book world was hanging on the back of the door to her bathroom, still a little damp.  Quickly, Aislin made efficient work of the boxes that were in her room, moving clothing and trinkets into more suitable containers for her to take with her to Alex’s.  A pair of black lacy panties fell out of one of the boxes as she turned to look at the dress.  “Should I bring that too...?” she asked, staring at the dress.

He couldn’t help but to notice as the panties dropped onto the floor.  Coughing lightly, he tore his gaze away and turned his attention to Aislin. She may be eighteen...but she was his roommate now.  No time for inappropriate thoughts.  “Yes...it’s yours now.  Take everything that you want to keep.  I have no doubt in my mind that he would ruin anything left behind.  I’m going to take some of these boxes down to the car while you finish up in here.  If he bothers you at all, call for me, alright?”  When she nodded in answer, he lifted up two of the boxes, muscles bunching visibly beneath his tee shirt as he carried them out of the room and down the stairs.

Aislin stared at his muscles as they bunched, her eyes widening a little.  She didn’t know he was that strong...She was nervous that he had left her alone, but she hoped her stepfather wouldn’t do anything stupid.  All of her muscle was too far away to help in any quick amount of time.  “Pack up everything I want to keep,” she whispered to herself, going into the bathroom and packing up all her toiletries and jewelry, placing the dress carefully in a box as well.  She tied up her hair in a knot at the base of her neck, working hard to get more boxes packed before Alex returned.

Silently the tall man carried the boxes out the front door, ignoring Aislin’s stepfather for the time being.  He wanted to get as much out into the car as he could before he told the man what he thought of him.  The first two boxes now in the car, he walked back into the house, his long strides quickly taking him back to the room where he grabbed more of the boxes.  Hopefully they would all fit in his car, and they wouldn’t have to return after the first trip.  If he needed to, he would have Aislin drive his car back to his house and leave some of the boxes there.  He simply didn’t trust that man.

Aislin smiled as Alex returned to take more boxes down to the car, knowing that he was coming to help her get her entire life out of her stepfather’s house.  She packed up her final box and walked down the stairs, about to step out the door to help Alex pack it in the car when she tripped, falling onto her face on the sidewalk outside the house.  

Her stepfather looked innocent, and not in the least concerned. “You should be more careful,” he said nonchalantly.  “And not so clumsy.”  Aislin trembled a little, wincing as she tried to move, feeling the scrapes on her elbows and knees through her jeans.  She blushed slightly, moving to get up, brushing off her jeans as she did so.

He had just fit one of the last boxes in the back of his car when he saw Aislin carrying another outside.  His eyes narrowed angrily as he saw the encounter she had with her stepfather, the man taking another step over the line.  Quickly moving to the fallen girl’s side, he gently grasped her arm to steady her, giving her a concerned look before speaking.  “Aislin, why don’t you go and sit in the car? I’ll take care of this and then we’ll leave here.”  Then he looked back to the smug countenance of the other man, his eyes meeting her stepfather’s.  “You are the most loathsome, vile, and despicable piece of excrement disguised as a human being I have ever had the displeasure of encountering in my entire life.  That girl is the last link you had to your late wife, and you treat her like this.  Since you seem to want to act like an idiotic tool, I will only tell you this once...stay away from her or you will regret it.”

Aislin climbed back into the car, closing the door most of the way, wanting to hear everything that was said.  She heard how he defended her, and a small smile crossed her face.  She didn’t have to worry about her stepfather any more.  She could actually begin to live her life the way she wanted to...and maybe now she could make her mother proud.

Rick stood up to his full height next to the man, only an inch or so shorter, and locked his eyes with Alex’s.  “Regret it?  You dare to threaten me in my own home?  I’ll bet you have been defiling my stepdaughter ever since she hit puberty.  Teacher, my ass.  You are far too young to be a teacher.  All men like you care about is tapping a sweet piece of ass.  If she comes back here in 9 months with a kid, she’ll get no help from me.”  He turned to go inside, ready to slam the door.