Dead Dreams ((Young Adult Paranormal Romance) ( Dead Dreams Trilogy)) (17 page)

Summer had showered again, she looked happy for once and
joining Adam they tuck
ed
into cereal and toast with coffee. People
were
coming in and out of the busy kitchen helping themselves to various cereals
or popping bread in the toaster. T
he fresh
smell of coffee
reminded
Adam of home. E
very morning the rich fra
grance would waft up
the stairs filling his nostrils.
B
ut the
sight
of Roy sitting like a king at the kitchen table, his paunch hanging over his trousers and his glasses perched precariously on
the end of his nose put Adam off
coming
down until he was
well
out of sight.

Memories of breakf
ast with his father gave
him another feeling.
Years
later he could
still
remember
coming down
stairs t
o find his m
other busy at the stove frying eggs
. His dad would appear and
put a
strong arm around him
and tell him to eat his cereal so he would be big and strong.
He would never leave the house without giving Adam
a
hug-
a man who was ne
ver afraid to show his feelings
. He was Adam’s whole world, a
shelter from the storm and a loving influence.

As a child
he
believed
he
could be anyone as long as his f
ather was there to buffer him
He idolized and
looked up to him, loved him and admired his ability to stay c
alm no matter what he got up to. That included
breaking the kitchen window when he snuck out one morning with a baseball bat and a ball and accidentally veered the wrong way.

His mother screamed and yelled but
his f
ather took it philosophically. His view was that
accidents happen
ed and windows could
be fixed, not so easy with kids. He was
relieved
that Adam wasn’t
hit by flying glass or picked any of it up.

The void that he’d
left in Adam’s life was immense, never having had
a strong relationship with his m
oth
er he discovered that with his f
ather gone the relat
ionship floundered even further.
He had
been the glue that
that
held them together,
without him everything
fell apart
never to be
repair
ed
a
s less than
a
year later his m
other met
Roy
.
H
e was unemployed and living in
a tiny apartment
. Within two months he’d moved himself in and t
hat was the moment
Adam’s world
turned to
dark
ness
-
intensifying with each passing year.

“
Let’s take a walk and get some fresh air and,
look
I have a
jacket.
”
Summer remarked.

She had
procured an old
denim jacket from someone,
at least a size too big but
it
looked good
on her and matched
her well worn jeans.

“
I found a sweater for you, try it on.
”
She said

Adam
wasn’t
choosy at this point about hand me downs and
thought it was kind of cute that she was fussing around him
and n
ot
just thinking of herself
. S
he’d
taken the time to forage
around and found something
he could wear too, even if it was
too big and old fashi
oned it was
better than walking around with a thin t-shirt.

Reggie told
them to
watch out
and not to wander too fa
r away in case they couldn’t find their way back.
R
emembering how easy it was to loose their bearings they took his
advice seriously, losing what they perceive
d
as home comforts would be catastrophic for both of them
. It was time to be responsible.

“
I had a wei
rd dream last night.
”
Adam remarked
as they walk
ed
in the morning sunshine.

“
What was in it
, tell me
?
”

“
It was all mix
ed up and my dad was there too,
I’ve never had such a vivid dream before, not like this I remember all of it.
”

“
Me too, I’ve been having dreams for a while that seem real and I’ve got recall.
”

“
Weird huh?
”

“
Uber weird.
”

The morning sun
was welcoming now they had
a place to stay
,
feeling more secure than before
the pressure
to search for food or a place to s
leep was gone. If th
ey were
back in time there will be lunch then dinner and a bed, Adam
realized
t
hat he could no longer take anything
for granted, having been denied
basic comforts and needs
e
ven for the shortest time had brought home just how
important
they were when you didn’t have them
.
F
or the fi
rst time in a long time he felt lighter-happier.

“
Adam watch out!
”

Summer screamed.
Wi
thout looking Adam
had
cross
ed
the
street and hit
th
e side of an oncoming
car;
knocked back he fell to the ground as the driver sped
on making his escape.

“
Adam oh my god…
Adam!
”

He pulled
himself up immediately
wondering what the hell
had
just
happened.

“
Are you okay?
I thought you’d…
that was a hell of a bang.
”
Summer
was in a blind panic
.

“
I’m okay seriously
, look there’s not a mark on me
,
must be my lucky day.
”

“
Angel on your shoulder I guess
.
”

“
Or the devil keeping me safe.
”
He replied jokingly.

It was no
big
surprise
that
nobody
stopped to help
and
check
that
that he
was okay. N
o-one wanted
to get involved with accidents or cops in this neighbourhood.

“
Let’s go back so you can rest, you’ve had a shock.
”
Summer said.

Counting
himself lucky that he didn’t
even
have a scratch or bruise
,
he found it
amusing
that
Summer
was coming on
lik
e a mother hen, fussing and worrying. No-one had
done
that in a long time and it felt so good he didn’t want it to stop. She took hold of
his hand as they walk
ed
and he didn’t
brush her away.
I
nstead
he held
on tight like
a lost soul
who had
found
someone to cling
to
in a sea of chaos and helplessness.
As they walked
Summer
opened up.

“
All my life I’ve been scared, scared of everything and that’s why I eat and
thr
ow up because I hate myself. I
t’s a relief to be sick.
I’m
such
a
fucked up
mess.
”

“
I don’t think you hate yourself as much as I hate me.
”

“
Maybe you’re right…I mean I’m not the one who tried to kill themselves.
”

“
You think?
My way was quicker,
you’re doing it slower each and every time you stick your fingers down your
dumb
throat.
”