Dead Dreams ((Young Adult Paranormal Romance) ( Dead Dreams Trilogy)) (27 page)

“
Me too all my life, like I
never belonged here,
an intruder.
”

Guilt swept
over Adam at the thought of dumping Su
mmer who
,
in all probability would head
straight
back ou
t on the streets getting into G
od knows what. Knowing
Roy
would
never agr
ee to let her stay even if his mother felt
sorry for her
pushed
him to consider the possibility of not staying
so they could be together. But where would they go
? Ne
ither had
any money and apart from couch surfing with
dubious characters
prospects
looked
pretty dim f
or the future. Never before had Adam
face
d
any kind of responsibilit
y
whether to himself or another. N
ow that he
was
feeling responsible
he didn’t
know how to deal with it.

The bridge was
deserted and down below the traffic was
intermittent,

“
If y
ou had jumped
I’d never have met you.
”
She said wistfully.

“
That’s true and you’d have not gone
through so much shit!
”

Tenderly she
put an arm around him and laid
her hea
d on his shoulder.
He didn’t push her away and
together they
stood
silently watching the
traffic below,
both in their own thoughts
and
both
uncertain
about the
future
and what was coming.

Making their way
to Adam’s neighbourhood
they
were
ready for anything although
his
heart
was
pounding with anx
iety fearful of a confrontation the closer the got to home.
S
uddenly a voice
called
from behind them,

“
Is that you, Adam
Smith,
It’s
me Mr.
Langley.
”

Turning
a
round he was
surprised to find an ex-neighbour who he
’d never really had time for.
The
poor man had become a nuisance after his wife died alw
ays asking everyone for favours and taking up too much of people’s time.
Had he been more popular and likable people may have been more cooperative
and
Adam’s biggest headache was the incessant talking
-
if he ever had the misfortune to run into him,

“
Hello Mr. Langley how are you?
”
He replies being polite as possible.

“
I’m fine, what a lovely young lady you have with you
. W
hat’s your name
sweetheart
?
”

“
I’m Summer, pleased to meet you.
”

“
What a
fine
y
oung couple you make and
I live here now,
”
He
replied pointing
to a house across the street,
“
It’s smaller and more compact as it’s only me.
”

“
Yeh I’m sorry that your wife died, must
have been tough.
”
Adam replied trying his hand at the new sympathy he felt.

Mr. Langley
was
s
tarved of human companionship
and
was
elated to me
et someone he knew
.
Wryly he
managed
to persuade them to
come
and
see
his
house but
Adam was
reluctant
,
yet
he was
af
raid to refuse in case he thought
him mean spirited, a pleasant change from his normal way of thinking
.
It
would be
for a short while
,
a distraction from the inevita
ble-
the big family homecoming that he would give anything to put off.

Summer
wasn’t
pleased about the diversion and
didn’t
understand the motive behind it.
But to
keep the peace
she agreed
.
The house
was small
and slightly dark with a damp smell
but it was a brief respite
from outside
, a chance to rest.

“
Sit, sit kids…make yourself at home.
”
Mr Langley was so grateful for the company he couldn’t contain his excitement.

“
What’s your firs
t name Mr. Langley?
”
Adam asked.

“
It’s Cedric.
”

“
Okay Cedric thanks for the invite but we can’t stay long
,
I have to get home.
”

“
Home, are you serious why are you going there they won’t want to know you, of course you can try but you’re wasting your time.
”

“
You don’t know shit about my family so how can y
ou be the expert!
”

“
I know enough
,
you’ll be disappointed.
”

The conversation drop
ped
to an awkward silence as Adam and Summer look
ed at each other,
wondering what was
going o
n, again.

Am I really in this small dark room in a run down house that’s see
n better days or is it imagined? M
aybe I’m still on the road with Summer and I’m nearly home. Cedric is just a figment of my imagination he isn’t real!

“
Can I get you some tea or
coffee
or a soda?
”
Cedric asked hoping to lighten the mood.

“
I’ll take soda.
”
Summer replied.

“
Nothing for me.
”
Adam was
fearful that he
’d
slip something in his drink.

Summer
couldn’t
wait for Cedric to
disappear in the kitchen
so she
could
speak freely
,

“
He’s a bit weird hu
h?
”

“
A bit, he’s wacko I’m sorry we agreed to come here
,
he’s making me more paranoid than ever.
”

“
He’s just a senile old man
I don’t think he means any harm.
I doubt he even knows
your folks
that well
.
”

“
What did he mean they wouldn’t know me?
”

“
Like I said he’s losing his mind, ignore his ramblings, it doesn’t matter.
”

He
couldn’t
ignore what’s going on
all he
wanted to
do was
get the hell out of there but thought it
mean- instead he
wait
ed
for
Summer to finish her soda.

“
Drink it fast.
”
He
whispered as Cedric reappeared
grinning from ear to ear as if he secretly enjoyed taunting Adam.

They made
their escape when Cedric left the room to get
more
cookies,
running out as fast as they could
while Summer giggled
from nerves
. T
hey
kept
up the pace
for
two
blocks until they were sure he had
absolutely
no chance of catching
them
up.

“
Wow that was so freaky!
”
Summer
remarked her adrenalin running high from nerves and excitement.

“
Tell me about it
,
what the hell was
that
shit
?
”