Dead Dreams ((Young Adult Paranormal Romance) ( Dead Dreams Trilogy)) (19 page)

“
Hey buddy what are you doing?
”

An old
man slightly hunched
over
had stopped and
was watching
the spectacle
in
horror.

“
Loo
k what you’ve done to your head young man,
why do such a thing?
”

“
What’s it to you?
”
He replied,
as the blood
started to trickle
down his face
.

“
Now now don’t be so mean
,
I’m
only
trying to help.
”

“
I don’t need your help
,
if I wanna bash my brains out I’ll do it!
”

“
Such an angry young man, what
ever it is it can’t be that bad, surely?
”

“
Wanna bet?
”

No matter what
,
Adam was
determined to do what
he
wanted to do.
N
o-one
was
ever
going to get the chance to order him around
again;
even a kindly
old man
had become
a threat.

“
What do you want?
”
His suspicions heightened.

“
To help you, that’s all.
”

“
Why is it that every where I go s
ome dickhead is wanting to help.
I
f I wanna kill myself or crush my brain
to pieces then
it’s
my
business.
”

“
That’s the problem, it’s not just your business.
”

“
What does that mean?
”

“
That there are people out there who care and want to help, why don’t you come with me, I can give you something to eat maybe?
”

Was this yet another
Reggie or Rone?
W
hat k
ind of a strange twisted game was being played out and who was behind it?
There were far too
many co-incidences and encounters with
str
angers on the sidewalk that was creating
deeper
paranoia in Adam with each passing hour. His immediate impulse was
to go back for Summer and run even though the old man seemed harmless
,
there was
something about him that Adam
didn’t like and it was making him
uneasy.

“
What’s wrong
with your eyes,
”
Adam remarked.
“
T
hey’re vacant li
ke
you’re
spaced out on something?
”

“
That’s the way I look,
my m
other always told me I had the strangest eyes and she never could figure out which side of the family I inherited them from.
”

“
I have to agree with her.
”

“
Have you seen this?
”
He said pointing to some wilted flowers
propped up
against the
opposite wall.

“
What are they
for
?
”

“
Someone was killed there a few weeks back
,
robbed
for a
few dollars. This isn’t
the place for a young man to be, t
his
area has seen its
fair share of trouble.
”

“
Then it’s time I left
, nice knowing you.
”
He
replied nervously regretting that he’d taken a wrong turn.

Turn
ing fast on his heels he returned
to the house, grateful for the sanctuary. The story of a recent murder a stones throw from where he had been staying
sent shivers through Adam
who was
outwardly
cocky and self-assured
.
S
treet-life
, drive by’s and muggings were alien, something he
’d only
ever
seen on
Cops and
America
’
s most wanted.
I
n
his neighbourhood murders and
serious crimes
were unheard of, the worse
being
an occasional break-in or auto theft. The
only way to find out what crimes were
committed in other places
was found
in the newspaper that was unceremoniously
dumped
onto the drive from the adol
escent delivery boy on his bike.
W
ilted flowers against a cracked and dirty wall would have been unthinkable.

Reluctantly
returning h
e
found
Summer
exactly
where he
’d
le
ft her;
sitting alone with her head tilted back staring at the ceiling, the chair slightly rocking.

“
Yeh?
”
She remarked
sensing his presence.

“
I’m back.
”

“
And then?
”

“
And then…we go someplace.
”

“
Where’s that then
…
the someplace.
”

“
Who knows, we’ve managed up to now haven’t we?
”

“
Too right we have!
”
She replied
sitting upright and looking straight into his eyes.

All is
forgiven
as they sit together at the table.
Adam explained
in detail about the old man and the wall of flow
ers and how weird it all was,
the endless meetings with strangers.
She didn’t
comment about
the bruises on his
head
knowing it was self-inflicted she was
afraid to st
ir up trouble again but
,
she did have a theory about the strangers.

“
In the city y
ou have too types…the charity workers
like Reggie and
people who care
, and t
hen you have the likes of Rone who
are on the lookout for homeless teens it’s normal.
”

“
I might be a teen but you’re not.
”

“
What a
re talking about?
”
Summer asked.

“
That you’re older than me even though you’re only sixteen.
”

The fact that
she
looked
older than her years
meant problems for Adam
. He realised that her immaturity accounted
for her behaviour and because he
kept forgetting just how young she was;
he expected her to
be more mature
, perhaps even knowing more than he did,

“
It’s what you call hard living Adam, unlike you I never had roses round the door and grocery shopping on Saturdays.
”

“
I figured that out early on.
”

“
Yeh…
my mom…oh boy where do I start, alcoholic loser who liked to beat the crap out of me while telling me that she wished I’d never been born.
”

“
Where was your dad?
”

“
What dad, I don’t know he split when I was 3 years old I don’t remember him and she never spoke about him.
”

“
So where’s your mom now?
”

“
Dead,
the booze killed her a year ago;
I’d already left home by then
.
I
was living with a cousin then he got thrown out of his apartment and I’ve
been hustling around ever since. S
ometimes I had to
do it for money, you know sex.
I was
fourteen
when I st
arted to throw up my food
,
it takes
the pain away.
”

Adam eyes filled with tears
,
since the loss of his father his tears
had
dried up as he
hid behind a
hard
protective
shell
, but her heartbreaking story had
touched him
somewhere deep inside and broke
his heart.