I gently sat down next to his bed and began making up a story as I went along.
"Well you see, there was once a boy who would go to school like all of the other boys and girls. He had a couple of friends by his side and he would fight dragons and evil wizards in his free time. He eventually found a small pebble, but it turned out to be a magical stone that transformed him into an Ultimate Knight. So powerful that he could take out entire kingdoms in a war. This power allowed him to defeat any enemies who stood in his way and allowed him to meet another lady whom he loved so dearly. He-" I stopped when I heard a short little sigh from James. I looked over and he was peacefully sleeping now.
I stood up and wiped small tears out of my eyes. It'd been a while since I could read anyone to sleep... my siblings were at home and I was always at the camp... we got fewer and fewer breaks from the camp for me to read to them.
***
The next morning was quiet, other than birds chirping happily, while deer pranced around the backyard. A small cat began eating some food left out by the owners of the farmhouse. I stood up and noticed that Kyo was already gone. To my surprise, my phone was fully charged.
***
James's family was really kind to us, even acting as if we were family as we ate with them. Cal was awake, but his vision was foggy and he seemed to be really tired.
"Cal... are you alright?" I asked, feeling a little nervous, hoping he wasn't in a bad mood like yesterday.
"Yeah... I'm just feeling really dizzy. Thank you." He said, smiling really weakly, to which I smiled in return and placed more warm pancakes onto his plate.
"Good. Then you need to continuing eating." I said, looking away, trying not to laugh.
"What? Are you trying to fatten me up? I can't eat too much!" He said, looking surprised at the five pancakes now on his plate.
"My goal is not to fatten you up, it's to nurse you back to health. Now eat." I said, giving him a threatening look.
"F-fine... fine..." he said, looking back at his plate. I moved closer to him and lightly dripped syrup on top of the pancakes.
"There you go," I said, smiling evilly.
"Sure seems like you when you were younger Susan." James' father said, chuckling afterward.
"Yeah, but that's because you were thin, way too thin," Susan replied, looking over at James. "Just like he is."
"You act like we don't feed him." He said.
"We feed him, but he has such a small appetite," Susan explained to us.
From across the table, I heard their son's stomach growl. He had only eaten a small pancake and one more lay on his plate, untouched. I couldn't understand what was wrong, but he wouldn't eat, despite being hungry.
"Hey... James. If you eat more, I'll tell you about some battles I've been in!" I said, smiling brightly at him.
"R-really!?" He asked, his expression grew big and he began eating once again. He ate a couple more pancakes and soon seemed too full to continue eating.
Susan smiled at me and looked at her son, who was now lightly sleeping, his head on the table, his head cradled by his own arms.
***
Only about an hour later, he awoke again and rushed over to me, his eyes droopy from sleep.
I told him all I had done, the tests, the types of Pathogens I fought, all of that. But I did all of this with intent in mind. To scare him away from the Pathogen Hunters for good.
"That's why I regret joining," I said, finishing my story.
He looked excited from the stories, but uncertain as well.
"We'd better go," Kyo said, despite being quiet for the whole breakfast.
I felt a little sad, especially since James was becoming more and more like a little brother to me every second.
He looked sad as well and gently pulled my sleeve.
"I'll come back. I promise." I said, gently stroking his hair. He smiled slightly and said, "Pinky Promise?" while holding up his right hand. I used my left pinky and gripped his right pinky finger.
"I promise."
***
On our way past the exit gate of their farmhouse's fence, James and his parents waved to us and made sure to yell that we were welcome back at any time.
I knew I'd be going back there eventually.
***
"That's none of my concern." The man said, Kyo quickly became impatient with him and gripped him by his suit's tie.
"It will be if President Imode doesn't survive! The people will have your head on a fucking stick!" She yelled. The mayor of the big town was sweating now.
"Fine! Fine! Take some with you, but if any of them die, I'll make sure you are held accountable!" He yelled, to which Kyo then let go of him and stepped outside of his room. We followed and could see a line of people waiting outside the door.
They bowed to us and asked Kyo for a command.
"Jesus, just follow us back to the town. And you!" She pointed to a tall, muscular darker man. "Get the horses ready."
The man nodded his head and ran off, at first I thought she was picking on him, but instead, she was saving him from what came next.
"The rest of you, get to the gate, I want you all to be ready to go. Each of you will clean up the carriages and make sure they are cleaned thoroughly!" Kyo yelled to which all of the men and women, who were sweating under their armor began running away after saluting.
"Well... that guy got it easier than the rest." The Mayor said, peeking out of his room.
"That's because he cleaned up after himself when he arrived. He was the only one to wipe his boots on that mat over there." she pointed. It seemed the rest of them had tracked dirt in. Kyo stepped around it and exited the building.