HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN?
@febuwhump
There's a prequel but basically he got himself beat up.
This is a year after William lost his parents and way before he met Choolwe and Theo. But it's right after he met James.
****************
Keir woke up again and he still didn't know where he was. He looked around again, turning his head to the light snoring nearby.
He saw the same blonde man from last night and a few hours ago.
The painkillers' effects were less now and his mind cleared up enough for him to realize the man took care of him but why beat him up only to treat him later.
The blonde man stirred awake.
"You awake kid?" He said with a yawn. He stretched his arms and legs while on the chair.
Keir didn't say anything, he just looked at the man confused and on guard.
"Don't worry kid. I'm not going to hurt you." He said with the same smile coming back on his face.
"Why'd you help me?" Keir asked the man.
"Straight to it ahe? Ain't you gonna ask where you are?"
"It's your house isn't it?" Keir answered.
"You're right Kier." He walked over to the bed.
"You feeling ok?" He asked as he started checking him.
"How do you know my name?" He asked, ignoring his question.
"I helped you for the same reason I know your name." He answered, still checking him. "How's your breathing? Does it still hurt?"
"What do you mean?" Keir was getting annoyed with this.
"You know you're not as pleasant as Edna." The man answered sitting back as he finished the check up.
This man just kept coming in with surprises and he just kept confusing him.
"How do you know my mother?" He demanded
"From the other one." He stated "I came maybe twice at your house to check up on one of them. Let's see how old you were?.......... I think 9 and 12"
Keir thought back there was a time a man came to his house once with one of his moms. He helped treat her wounds but his other mother made him go play outside while it happened. It was odd but he didn't think anything of it until it happened once again but other than that he never came back.
But he was probably just a work mate of one of his mothers; she used to hang around dangerous people.
"Tell me how's your mom?" The man asked.
Keir didn't answer, he just looked away.
"Oh okay. If you don't want to tell me. Either way I don't think you came here for me anyways."
The man stood up from the bed when he heard the knock at the door.
"Guess the person you came for is here." The man began walking away.
"Wait." Keir called out. The man stopped.
"Who are you?"
"How rude of you not to ask sooner. I'm James, your nurse and torturer for the day." James continued on his way to the door.
Keir stayed in the bed and tried to sit up. The pain came back and breathing was actually hard. He took short breaths to minimize the pain. But it was still there. He managed to sit up not without pain though.
"Still hurts huh?" James said at the door.
He came back with a woman. She had dark brown skin and long curled hair.
"Mainshi." He announced.
She was his mothers old work friend right before she left her work. They were work partners. She was one of the few people in her past his mother still let in her life.
"Hello. Heard you came looking for trouble last night." She walked closer to him looking annoyed that a stupid boy came all this way to get himself beaten.
Keir didn't answer, he just looked away like a stubborn kid being scolded
"What would Evren and Edna say?" Mainshi scolded.
"They're dead." He declared.
His words sent shock waves to her and to James who was still standing at the door.
Her heart sank
Mainshi looked at the boy. She didn't know what to say, he didn't look like he was lying and he wouldn't lie about this. But she never would have imagined her friend dying so soon.
Mainshi looked back at James asking him to leave. He nodded showing he understood they needed to be alone, then left the room, closing the door with him.
Mainshi moved and sat closer to the boy.
"When…….. When did it happen?" Mainshi asked, trying to keep herself from crying.
She hadn't seen him and his mothers in years. She doesn't even know how long it's been since.
"Year ago." He answered. The boy's lukewarm expression was something she wasn't used to on him.
"How?"
"Execution style Mainshi. Then they burnt my house. With my mother's inside." He's voice was so cold.
"Kier……. I'm so sorry." The poor child. To lose his family in such a way. If only she was still with them but it was Evren who wanted to cut ties with her old life even if that meant her too.
"They did this Mainshi." He announced looking in her eyes.
There was so much anger in this boy's eyes. Then she realized what he wanted.
"That's why you came here? Look Keir I am not putting you in danger just go back……"
"Go back where Mainshi? My home was destroyed. Where should I go? I can't go back home. They took it away from me." He shouted back. There was so much anger in him he had to take them down.
"Keir I'm……..I'm sorry." She looked down. She still couldn't believe her old friend was gone. Sure they didn't talk much after she settled down with her new family……….damn how could this happen.
She moved closer and hugged him.
"Kier, I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry." She repeated, consoling the poor boy.
But he didn't say anything, he didn't move, he didn't hug her back.
She pulled back from the hug. He still had the same face, one determined to destroy those that took his family.
She frowned.
"You're determined. So you came here thinking I'll actually point you in their direction."
"You have to. " He demanded.
"Why would I do that? You think Edna would want this for you?"
Edna was hesitant to get with Evren for Keir. Her life wasn't one she wanted to raise a child around.
"She's not here!!! And it's their fault!! I won't let them be."
She stood up from the bed.
"Kier, go live your life, turn back from this and live your life. "
She began walking away.
" What life? They took it from me." He growled. He stood up and held her hand back forcing her to turn around.
Then the wounds from the beating sent pulses of pain all over his body. He sank down clutching his upper body, biting back sounds of pain.
She sank down on one knee, held his shoulders and looked in his eyes. Though he tried to hide it his face showed how much pain he still felt. He was clenching his teeth to make sure he didn't cry out.
Then in a low voice she said.
"You took a bad beating, you should rest. "
In other words she's not going to help him.
Then she stood and opened the door. James was standing next to it.
"Take care of him." She instructed. Basically telling him to make sure he doesn't get in trouble again.
James nodded and she walked down the stairs. The door opened and closed and she was gone.
James peeped inside to see the small boy still on the floor. He looked so lost. Probably was lost having nowhere else to go and all but that was physically.
*****************
James walked in as the boy began to get himself off the floor.
The pain was evident in each movement but he didn't ask for help.
"You ought to stop keeping your feelings inside and cry." James' voice was more serious and less casual than before.
"I'm done crying." Keir said as he sat himself on the bed.
James continued.
"You were crying yesterday even before anyone hit you."
He saw it when he looked into the boy's hood last night. Though he was trying to hide it.
"Give me my clothes." Keir demanded. Paying no mind to James.
"That's why you got yourself in a fight." Something else he noticed about him.
"What are you talking about?" Keir scowled at James.
"You were so angry yesterday. You really didn't have to go through those guys but you just wanted to hit something." James felt it was best to let him blow it off then he noticed something else while he was fighting.
Keir turned his face away. Holding in his pain that threatened to come out. There's no use doing that anymore. Crying wasn't going to solve or change anything.
James just continued. He didn't know how to help the boy especially if he was going to be this reckless about his life and if he kept locking his feelings up.
"Then after a while you just let yourself get beat. You blame yourself. Getting Main's attention wouldn't have been hard."
Main wasn't a high profile person, but many people knew her and getting to see her wasn't going to be hard.
He didn't know what the boy saw. Maybe he felt he should have died with his mothers or he felt he could have saved them but he didn't care about his life anymore.
@irathgo @luna-rein @smellofsnoww