Don't give up on me ✓

[46] PR Savior

She walked into the house to make sure the other kids would get situated in their new rooms. Kaya, Brianna and Zander all walked in as well.  

Jesper and I were the only ones left on the porch, a lantern between us. He turned to look at me and I saw what he was thinking.

We are creating fighters, was what she said.

And that included me.

"You down to sacrifice yourself for a cause you don't even understand?" Jesper asked.

"I don't know," I answered, "If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to take it day by day right now."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The mood at Maythorne Manor had transformed. When the children were here, it was like a playhouse. We taught them math, gardening, story time. Their playtime filled the air with their laughter. 

Now that they were gone, and this new group was here, a solemn tone was in the air.

The gym was always full. They would also be out in the forest chopping wood with axes I didn't even know we had. Mealtimes were quiet since they ate in silence. Wherever they came from, it seriously must have been a boot camp.

Either that, or they knew what we were training for and that made the future bleak.  

One day, a pickup truck rolled through the iron gates and up to the front of the house. A woman got out from the passenger seat and pulled baskets out of the back. 

Her husband sat in the driver's seat, looking around suspiciously. None of the villagers from Swell Valley trusted anything at Maythorne Manor. He had insisted on accompanying her for protection.

"Hi Stacey!" Emily came out of the house, warmly greeting the lady, "Thank you so much for coming!"

She accepted the baskets of laundry and paid in cash. 

"You're welcome," Stacey said, "It's a lot of laundry. How many people are living here now?"

The window rolled down and her husband stared up at the house with a fearful look on his face. He didn't trust his place and he didn't like how his wife was asking questions.

"My cousins are in town, so we have a few more people than normal," Emily answered. 

There were so many new 'cousins', that Emily needed more help around the house.  She'd outsourced laundry.

"You seem to have a lot of cousins lately," Stacey observed.

"Stacey," the husband warned, and then said to Emily, "We don't want trouble with your people."

"It's no trouble at all. You're welcome to visit here anytime," Emily reassured them.

"No thank you," he answered.

I was watching this unfold from a window in the study.  Mrs Maythorne had been showing me something when the truck pulled up and we both peered out to watch the scene outside. 

It wasn't often that someone from the village showed up. 

Stacey finished unloading all the baskets by the front steps while her husband waited in the driver's seat, itching to leave. I don't blame him. Maybe he could feel us watching him.

That's when he saw Jesper walking towards the front of the house with two other guys, all holding firewood.

The two guys passed by the truck without a look in the villagers' direction, but Jesper waved.

The husband's attitude changed very quickly when he saw Jesper, "It's good to see you, Jesper."

He unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. Jesper lowered his firewood to say hello.

"My wife's dropping off the laundry for Mrs Maythorne here," the husband said, "Stacey, look who it is."

"Oh Jesper, hi, good to see you."

Jesper greeted the wife with a polite kiss on the cheek.

"Glad you showed up. This place always gives me the creeps," the husband said.

That's when I saw Mrs Maythorne bristle beside me.  She closed the window so we couldn't hear the conversation outside and then closed the curtains. "He's a PR savior."

"Jesper?" I asked, not thinking Jesper was a PR anything. "How come?"

"The villagers like him. He's the only one they think is normal up here."

"He is the only normal one up here," I reminded her.

Mrs Maythorne ushered me back to her desk to continue showing me some of her papers. "Yeah, well, any good relation is a step in the right direction."

An eerie thought entered my mind.  

I asked, "Is that why you let him stay?"

She didn't answer.

So much for family.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

While I had been coming to terms with my identity as a specter, Jesper had been exploring the village and getting to know the villagers. 

He'd joined the football team at school and started to date Holly. 

He was really on a roll for a guy from my neck of the woods.  When it came to school, he used to be a one foot in, one foot out kind of guy.

The house had never been more crowded and yet I had never felt more alone. No Nate, no Jesper and Zane was occupied with his love. 

I missed my mom. I had judged her too harshly for leaving me. She knew I wasn't human and that these were my people. But I missed her. 

I walked into the mansion's library, thinking it would be a quiet place to call her. 

"Oh." 

I was surprised to bump into him here.

Of all the million rooms in this mansion, I hadn't expected to see Nathaniel in this one.  I wasn't quite ready.  

Nate was holding a book in his hand, flicking through the pages. He looked relaxed in the quiet presence of all these manuscripts.  

He looked up at the sound of my voice.

"Oh?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow, "Good to see you too, stranger." 

OK. Keep it together, Georgia.

Nate still sent a rush of excitement through me. He was just so fine to look at.

I'd been surrounded by so many strangers that Nate's presence was comforting. A dose of his strength is what I really needed right now.  

I thought back to the last time we were in a library; we'd agreed to cool down our relationship. I wasn't sure what this time would hold.

"What do you think of the boot camp?" I asked, referring to our new house guests.

I was keeping the conversation light and airy.

"Is that what you call them?" he smirked, closing the book, "They are gloomy, aren't they?"

"I haven't heard them crack a single joke."

"Speaking of jokes, have you spoken to Jesper?" 

Damn. He dove right in.

A/N: And that's a wrap.  New chapter tomorrow, so I'll see you here!

What is going to happen between Nate and Georgia? Any guesses and I'll give the winner a shout out in the next chapter!