Unblessed Mates

Chapter 4: Meet me on the battlefield

Mattia above

Nicolai POV

The heavy drops of rain fall from the sky as I move fast between the buildings in the suburban part of Anchorage, where I managed to find a room for rent. The lady who became my landlord didn't ask me any questions when I told her my girlfriend kicked me and my son out of the house in Fairbanks because I lost my job. She only asked for the month's rent in advance, which I agreed and paid instantly.

The attached room and kitchen are on the last floor of her house, but we have separate stairs on air to enter, which I appreciate. That way, I'm sure no one will disturb Mattia when I'm out trying to secure our further escape from Alaska.

After climbing the stairs, I enter the room, which seems empty. As I put the food I have bought on the table and sit for a moment, I hear the sounds of the kitchen cabinet opening, and Mattia steps out of it. I must say he is creative because every time I go back, he always has a different hiding spot despite the limited possibilities this room offers.

I smile at him as he walks to the table to sit and start eating the food I put on the plate for him.

Our road to this city was very silent. I drove for three hours till I made the first stop, mainly because I wanted to give us as long a distance from Nenana as possible. Yet I needed the break from the smoke, and a child needed to eat. He was munching on the sandwich I gave him for a long time, not because he wasn't hungry but because it seemed as if he was in pain eating. He started throwing us soon after.

When we got to Anchorage, we slept in the car, and I found the room next. It's been over a week, and the FuturaHW must already be sure I was not in Fairbanks, so soon they will go to Anchorage anyway.

I took Mattia to our room and cleaned him. He wasn't that dirty, more like dust from crawling through the ventilation system. He was just stinky, not with dirt but with death. Spending as much time as I did on the battlefield, I know how stinks the place full of rotting bodies.

Mattia was somewhat numb during all my actions; he didn't protest, nor did he make any noise suggesting he was in pain, and he must've been because I was also touching his bruises and blotches; his ankle was indeed twisted, but the cuts on in although deep seemed to start healing already.

I also noticed a strange pattern of scars on the back of his neck, which looked like injection marks, but as far as I know, you don't give any injection so close to the spine, especially the neck spine.

Of course, I asked him about his family, but he said he had none and didn't want to tell me his surname. He didn't want to eat before going to bed; he woke me up sometime later because his stomach was in pain and he had diarrhea. Thankfully, I knew how to help him because I'd seen him often in Afghanistan. I know I should get more info from Mattia, but it can wait until I can get both of us out of Alaska.

This week with him was a bit strange; it has been so long since I had any child around me. Because of my job, I didn't spend much time with my sons when they were Mattia's age, but kids are kids, and boys are boys. Mattia liked origami figures of different animals I made for him, cartoons on TV, and throwing pillows since we didn't have a ball, and he liked the clothes I bought for him just as much as crayons. He sleeps with me, wrapping his arms around my hand, and I don't protest. If he needs that, he will get that because he has nightmares.

I don't even dare to imagine what he went through. I asked about his parents again, but he said something strange like his Alpha had given him away and his parents were too weak to stop him, whatever it was supposed to mean. He couldn't give me a home address or phone number, but he told me he lived in Washington. He also said to me that men in white had given him lots of injections and pills and that monsters were living underground. And he asked if the monsters would find us.