Day Dreamer (Undeadly Secrets Book 2)

by Aaron L Speer

  “Can I ask what the problem with him is?”

  “You can ask, but I can’t tell you,” Nicole replied.

  “Oh, of course,” Nick said, shaking his head. He should’ve known that.

  “May I ask why you’re interested?”

  Nick creased his brows. “I just…I feel sorry for him. I was just wondering if there was anything I could do.”

  Nicole laughed to herself.

  “Did I say something funny?”

  “You just seem so genuine,” Nicole replied.

  “And that’s…funny?” Nick was thoroughly confused.

  “No, just unexpected,” Nicole replied. “Especially around this place and for a guy your age.”

  “A guy my age?”

  Nicole nodded.

  “Well, I dunno if it means I’m weird or what, but I’ve always had a soft spot for kids.”

  “You’re not weird,” Nicole said, placing a hand on the opposite side of his face, pressing his cheek against her lips ever so slightly. “You’re lovely.”

  She continued on her way, not looking back at him. It was only a light kiss, but he was enveloped with the scent of her strawberry lip-gloss. He stood there in a daze. The adrenaline was back again. It was only on the cheek, but Nick wondered if she was this friendly to everyone she met.

  He wandered past the restroom, heavily in thought, when he was blindsided from inside by a punch. Nick scrunched his eyes as the pain erupted and before he knew it he was dragged inside and thrown to the cold floor.

  “What a performance!”

  Nick struggled to get up but was caught by a kick to the jaw. His body flattened from the hit and red spots floated in front of his eyes. He had barely moved when several lashes connected straight to his ribs and stomach.

  “You obviously didn’t get the message, so I’ll tell you personally. Stay the fuck away from her. That is A-grade pussy and I got it reserved, you got it? I took it easy on you today, so consider this a warning. Next time I won’t be so nice. Have a nice day, pommy mother fucker.”

  Nick rolled slowly onto his back, groaning and coughing. He rose slowly, firstly to his knees, gripping the sink to help him. He got to his feet and looked at himself in the mirror. A massive red mark was already flaring on the right side of his jaw and a small trickle of blood had started to flow from a slit in his eyebrow. Nick dabbed it with water, hissing in pain. He grabbed some squares of toilet paper and pressed them against his forehead to stop the bleeding.

  *

  “Oh my god, what happened to you?” Alex cried, getting a look at Nick’s face as he walked in the door, moving over to him, gently checking the damage. The left side of his face was puffy and she saw some remnants of darkened, dried blood on his forehead. “Your school called and said you missed your last class. I knew something had to be up.”

  Nick waved her off. “It’s nothing.”

  “Nothing, my arse. It looks like someone’s been tap dancing on your face,” Alex said, beginning to get angry. “Why the hell didn’t the teachers do anything?”

  “No one saw.”

  “Well, they will hear about it tomorrow! I’m going to go straight up there—”

  “No!” Nick shouted, and then took a breath. “Please, no. It’ll just make things worse.”

  “Don’t worry. Alex will do the right thing,” Margaret appeared from the other room. She turned to Nick. “Why don’t you run yourself a shower, dear. The steam should help reduce the swelling.”

  Nick nodded to Margaret and squeezed Alex’s hand briefly. It was only when he had closed the bathroom door did Alex reply to her mother.

  “What the hell? Do you expect me to do nothing?”

  “Of course not,” Margaret replied, taking a seat. “I expect you to do the right thing.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “You were going to do what? March up to the school and demand punishment? How often does that actually solve anything? Nick is right. All that would do is make things worse. You’re a teacher yourself. You must recognise that.”

  “Yeah, ok, you’re right. But there must be something I can do? I’m—we’re supposed to be looking after him!” Alex hissed.

  “Yes we are. My guess is it’s over a girl and it isn’t the first time Nick has had a run in with the guy. Nick seemed embarrassed but not surprised. In which case, it won’t be stopping anytime soon. If we involve the school, Nick will look like a sook and he will lose the fight and the girl probably. We need to think outside the square to help him. I think you know who I mean.”

  “Dante?” Alex didn’t understand how that could possibly help. “You want me to get Dante involved?”

  “Of course,” Margaret replied quickly. “Nick may need help from someone with a bit more…how can I put it, bite to them? Sometimes threats are all these teenage bullies understand.”

  Alex stared at her mother in amazement, having never heard her speak like this before. She didn’t know whether she should be worried or inspired. A vampire against a teenage boy and her own mother was insisting on it? Margaret thumbed her daughter’s hand with a coldness in her gaze as she continued, “No one messes with my babies.”

  *

  Who the hell is Dante? Nick wondered, turning on the shower. And why is Margaret so sure he can—or will—help me?

  Chapter 11

  Blue Moon

  The wolf opened its eyes and smiled. It was the dead of night, and the women in the house were asleep. The wolf could hear their steady breathing from here, which meant it was free to move about. Walking slowly over to the bedroom window, it looked out over the city, seeing the image of Nick Slade looking back. Small waves of sounds reached it, dogs barking, car alarms, idle chatter, all at once as its eyes roamed, looking through the reflection in the window. How the wolf wanted to open it, to run through the streets, to smell the scents of Sydney, to taste the air and the morsels.

  The night was calling, yet the Slade boy resisted. It was too soon. If the wolf were to leap from the window, the fall would most probably break the boy’s ankles.

  The wolf had remained dormant inside for his entire life, waiting, calculating. Never having an opportunity to reveal itself, as the boy had never hunted, had never wanted, for anything—until now. His sudden desire for the female, and the rage at the school ruffian had awoken the wolf within him. For the first time, Nick craved something.

  The wolf backed away from the window and returned to the bed. Now it was out, there was no going back. But until the boy was ready, it would have to be content to keep watching from afar, inside yet not in control. Waiting, ready for the day when Nick would embrace the beast and become who he was born to be.

  *

  Alex turned the sizzling bacon over and grabbed a plate for the toast that had just popped. She plopped cartons of fruit juice and milk on the dining room table, and thought about what her mother had suggested the night before. She had deliberately kept Nick away from Dante, but for the life of her, she couldn’t even understand why. She had told Dante about Nick and the circumstances surrounding his arrival, and his reaction was hardly unexpected: one of surprise. He had said he would like to meet the young man, yet she kept on putting it off. Did some part of her want to keep the supernatural and natural parts of her life separate? She convinced herself that that must be it.

  Despite the fact she agreed with her mother in principal about bullies needing a lesson from intimidation, she wondered if getting Dante involved would be stepping too far.

  “Hey, hun, breakfast is ready,” she called down the corridor. “Come and get it or you’ll be late.”

  It wasn’t long before she heard the sound of movements from behind Nick’s door. She expected him to emerge half asleep, still stiff and sore from the previous day’s fight, but he was quite springy when he entered the kitchen, and the swelling was surprisingly diminished. Could she have convinced herself it was worse last night than it really was?

  “Smells great. Thank
you,” he said, sitting down and helping himself to some bacon.

  “You’re welcome.” She put down a plate of toast and lifted his chin to get a closer look.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “No,” Alex replied slowly. “Did you put anything on that bruise yesterday?”

  “No, why? How bad does it look?”

  “I can barely see it.”

  “Oh?” Nick replied. “Good! Maybe he didn’t get me as hard as he wanted to, huh?”

  “I guess so. I thought it looked pretty bad last night. Like some blood vessels had burst, maybe. Now it looks just a bit yellowish. You sure you’re feeling ok?”

  “Maybe it was the light. I feel great, I promise. Had the weirdest dream, though, but I can’t quite remember it.”

  “Ok, look, I promise I won’t nag, but did you want to stay home today?”

  Nick shook his head. “No, really it’s fine. It’s only a half-day today, anyway. Don’t worry so much. Don’t you have to be at work?”

  “My class is at camp for a week. I went last year, so I’m off this week.”

  “Ah, ok. Well, I’d better go. See you later.” Nick rose and picked his bag up from the back of the chair he sat on. He kissed Alex, thanking her again for breakfast and left. Alex poured some coffee and sat down at the table. She laughed to herself. There was cereal, fruit, toast, bacon, eggs, milk and orange juice on the table and the only thing Nick had touched was the bacon. All of it.

  *

  Though he had seen Jason in the halls from time to time giving him triumphant grins, Nick had survived for the entire day without running into Miller. He had no Physical Education classes and hadn’t ventured near the bathroom either. He was making a few friends, at least. Several of the boys he’d played touch football with on his first day had welcomed him tentatively into their group. He had seen Zachary as well, watching him from behind a pillar at lunchtime. Nick beckoned him over gently but Zachary had refused to move, staring with that same confused look.

  No one had yet asked him about his bruise, which he found surprising. Either bruises were commonplace around the school or no one cared. Either way, he was grateful to have gotten through the half-day without needing to explain. He reached into his pocket, to grab his phone to check the time when he felt the forms Mrs. Davies had given him.

  “Aw, crap!” He filled them out in a rush and dashed across the quadrangle to the counsellor’s office.

  “Hello?” Nick said, as he knocked.

  “Well, there’s a familiar voice.”

  Nick stepped inside, determined not to make a fool of himself in front of Nicole this time.

  “Hi. I needed to give these to Mrs. Davies,” he said, holding the forms up.

  “She doesn’t usually work the half days. But I can take them and give them to her for you,” Nicole replied, holding out her hand.

  “That’d be great, thanks,” Nick said, handing them over.

  “So, what happened there?” she said, leaning back into her chair, tapping her chin.

  “I fought a door, and the door won.”

  Nicole pursed her lips slightly, “Must’ve been one hell of a door.”

  Nick smiled nervously as the silence between them grew. “Well…” he said, trying desperately to think of something to say, anything really. The school bell rang. If he was going to do something, he had better do it now. “Are you…busy tonight?”

  Nicole looked slightly taken aback. “Yes, actually. Family dinner.”

  “Any chance you could skip it this once?” Nick winked, trying to be playful.

  Nicole looked at him, raising her eyebrows disapprovingly.

  Whoa, clearly not funny. “Ok, well, I will see you later then. Enjoy your dinner.”

  Once out of the room, Nick slapped his forehead with his palm. He clearly was not being very successful at this not making a fool of himself business.

  He stopped in to Home Room, spending the requisite ten minutes at the end of every day so his teacher Mr. Daniels could see he hadn’t skipped off early. Once he was dismissed with the rest of his class, Nick found himself in a hurry to leave. As he descended the winding staircase to the ground floor, he was shoved into the concrete wall.

  “Should watch where you’re going, dude,” Jason said.

  “Yeah, fella could get hurt on these stairs,” Miller agreed.

  Both of them chuckled and continued on past Nick. Nick remained in the same spot for several seconds as the rest of his classmates filed past him. No one bothered to ask why he was just standing there, but if they had, Nick couldn’t have answered them. He could only stare at his right hand, balled into a fist so tight he was unable to open his fingers. His knuckles had turned bone white, and his muscles tingled from numbness. His hand began to ache heavily and he still could not release the pressure.

  Hit something a voice said, the same voice that had told him to stand still when Miller had charged at him during the game. Nick struck his fist on his thigh with no result. No, you have to HIT something. Something hard. Without hesitating, without really thinking, Nick buried his fist into the wall next to him. His hand sank into the brick as easily as if he’d punched a cardboard box, the cement crumbling to form an almost perfect circle around his fist. Nick breathed in relief at the release of the cramping pressure. He pulled his arm back, finding he was able to flex his fingers freely. The only pain he felt now was from his scraped and bleeding knuckles.

  He walked out of the school in a daze, trying to understand what had happened. His fist had curled the instant Miller and Jason had shoved him. He’d been completely unable to uncurl it, waves of rage rippling through him. The only way to release it had been to strike something, and that something had been solid brick. His hand should be broken, or at least bleeding a lot more than the slight abrasions on his knuckles. It made no sense.

  Several car honks beside him halted his trail of thought. Nick turned to see a small, black WRX with tinted windows rolling along beside him. Nick walked over to the passenger side as the window rolled down.

  “You off in your own little world there?” Nicole asked laughing. She had taken her sunglasses off and stuck one earpiece into her mouth. “I’ve been trying to get your attention for about ten seconds.”

  “Yeah, sorry,” Nick replied, shaking his head before eyeing her again. “So…uh…what’s up?”

  “You wanna go for a coffee?” she asked.

  “What, you mean now?”

  “Well, as it turns out, my dinner was cancelled.”

  “Oh, cool!” Nick placed his bag in the back seat and climbed into the car.

  “Buckle up!” she said, replacing her sunglasses in a smooth movement and sweeping out of the parking lot and down the street.

  Chapter 12

  Let The Beast Run Free

  Nicole and Nick sat down at a café table in the local shopping centre, Westfield Eastgardens. She set her mocha down carefully, and he slurped a chocolate milkshake.

  Nicole grinned. “Seriously, how old are you? Six?”

  “I haven’t had one for ages.”

  Nicole shook her head slowly, still smiling. “So what brings you to Australia?”

  Nick grimaced a little. Did he want to talk about this already? He decided it wasn’t the time. “Family business. Troubles back home.”

  “Really? What kind?”

  “The kind that requires someone to travel half way around the world to escape, I guess.” Nick shrugged.

  Nicole put on a heavy voice, “Sounds so serious.”

  Nick looked at the floor between his shoes.

  “Wait… Is it serious?” Her tone was concerned now.

  Nick sighed. “Yes, unfortunately it is. It cost my father his life and I don’t even know if it’s over yet.”

  “Oh my god. Nick, I am so sorry.”

  Nick waved a hand. “Don’t apologise. How were you supposed to know?”

  There was another wave of silence, but Nick did not pay any attention t
o this one. He could see Nicole taking it in, not merely waiting for him to say something.

  “What did you mean by you don’t know whether it is over?”

  “Well,” Nick began softly, holding his cup with two hands. Maybe we’re doing this now after all. “I know what happened to my dad, but I don’t know what happened to my mum. She could be dead or alive and I would have no idea.”

  “You can’t contact her at all?”

  “It’s too dangerous. It’s to do with my father’s associates. They killed him and I don’t know whether contacting her will put her in more harm’s way.”

  Nicole leaned forward, placing her hands under the table. “Would they ever come after you here?”

  “No. The whole situation started with the fact that I was not qualified to take over from my father, even though he insisted I was capable if not ready. This pissed off pretty much everyone that worked under him, since they all thought they were or knew of someone better qualified. But dad didn’t listen, and that cost him everything. I’m still not qualified, though, so no, they won’t come here. Whether in England or here, I mean nothing to them.”

  “So, if you don’t mind me asking, what was the family business?”

  Nick took a big sip from his milkshake. How to answer this one… “To put it in simple terms, he was looked upon as a kind of royalty, so I would’ve been following him into that.”

  “And you didn’t want to do that?”

  “The choice was taken out of my hands, so to speak. It was just never for me so I never even considered it an option. Instead of studying at the best schools money can buy to learn about leadership and responsibility, I learned what I could to help me become a paediatrician.”

  Nicole smiled. “You want to help sick kids?”

  “If I could. I have a soft spot for kids. I would love to have at least four of my own one day.”

  “Good luck. Finding the right man can be hell.” Nicole winked.