Blog #9 - A Parental Tragedy, Again

The day started with a clatter as the knife hit the floor, barely missing Nik’s foot. Sighing, he picked it back up and slid it into his jacket pocket. He gave up on cleaning the knife and picked up his phone. When he turned it on he was greeted with an missed call from Nate. Nik dialed his brother’s number while drying his hands on his shirt.

“You’ve got to get down here!” Nate yelled, sounding excited. “Ether killed Edgar, and somehow Mr. Evans is involved. Just get down here and bring the knife.” Nate hung up immediately, apparently caught up in the excitement of another murder.

Nik dashed out his apartment, too relieved to get rid of the knife to even worry about locking the door.

When he arrived at the scene, he was shocked to see nearly all of his neighbors crowded around the detectives. Nik shoved through the crowd until he reached the front.

“Detective Luong!” he called.

“Stay away from the body!” she called. Nik ignored her warning and walked forward to meet her.

“This was delivered to my door,” he told her, pulling out the knife. “I think it belongs to Mr. Evans’ murderer.”

With wide eyes, Lihn grabbed the knife to inspect it. Before she could ask questions, Nik darted away.

Nik stopped at the coffee shop on his way home, determined to supplement cigarettes with caffeine. The drink eased the shaking in his hands, and he was able to make it home.

Unfortunately, his streak of good luck took a turn for the worse when he was greeted with the sight of his door hanging wide open. Nik rushed inside but immediately tripped over several beer bottles that had been scattered on the floor. The glass sliced into his leg and he ground his teeth, trying to remain calm.

Nik pulled himself up and shoved the bottles away. Where they had been was his wallet, completely empty. Nik let out a frustrated yell and cursed his parents. Why did this always happen to him?

Unsure how to proceed, Nik called Nate and explained what had happened. A few minutes later Nate entered the apartment and enveloped Nik in a hug.

“Let’s get out of here,” Nate said. “Come with me to Chicago. You can forget about this town and our parents.”

“I’d like that,” Nik said, smiling. He felt hopeful for the future.

Blog #8 - Hope and a Knife

After leaving The Maitland, Nik headed to Alice’s 24 Hour Diner. By the time he arrived, Nate was already sitting in a booth in the back of the restaurant. Nik was grateful for the privacy the booth offered, as he had decided to show Nate the bloodstained knife that had been deposited at his door. Despite the fact that they were estranged, Nate was his best option for help.

Nik slid into the booth across from his brother. Before he got the chance to say anything, Alice sauntered over to them.

“Nate!” she exclaimed. “After you left, I didn’t think that I would see you again.”

“I didn’t expect to come back,” Nate replied, smiling.

“Well it’s good to see you two together again. I’ll be back in a bit.”

As soon as she was gone, Nate leaned across the table and took my hand.

“Nik, I want you to know that leaving town was one hardest things I’ve done in my life. Not because of Mom or Dad, but because of you. I love you and I should have taken you with me.”

Nik’s heart twisted at Nate’s sincerity. If he tried, he could probably think of a thousand reasons not to trust Nate, but right now all he could think of was how tired he was of being alone.

“I want to believe that you care Nate. I want to have a family again. Trusting you after everything that has happened will be hard, but I don’t want to live with this pain. I want to believe that things will get better, I want to have hope.” Nik confessed.

“I’ll earn your trust, Nik,” Nate said smiling. “I promise.”

“Then I need at your help. You can’t tell anyone about this, but I found this in front of my door this morning. I think Mr. Evans’ killer used it.”

Nik pulled out the bloodstained knife from his pocket and placed it on the table. Nate’s eyebrows shot up.

“If the cops catch you with this, you’ll become a suspect. So let’s figure out who the actual murderer is.”

“Okay,” Nik agreed. “What about Jack Stars? He’s seems strange.”

“Me? Really?” a voice said from behind him. Nik turned to see Jack smiling at him.

Before Nik could respond, the door of the diner slammed open as man with silver hair and red eyes entered and turned towards them.

Blog #7 - The Sunrise

Nik awoke earlier than normal. The sky was still dark, and the soft glow of the moon did nothing to illuminate the world. He stared out his window, before deciding to watch the sunrise. He was rarely up early enough to see it.

Nik pushed open the door to the the building’s empty rooftop and stepped out. The cold wind felt like a slap in the face. He sat on the edge of the building, his legs dangling in the open air. Nik knew how easy it would be for him to fall. It might have scared him as a child, but now this small risk excited him, reminded him that he was alive.

As he watched the sky, the clouds hid moon, making the sky pitch black. For as long as Nik could remember, he had dreaded nighttime. When he was a child, he had watched the sunset every day, his heart clenching with the irrational fear that the night would be permanent. It never was, but that didn’t ease his fear. It wasn’t that he couldn’t see, or that he didn’t know who or what was out there, but that nighttime made him feel hollow, like a part of him had been irrevocably scooped out.

He was startled from his thoughts when the door banged open. He glanced back to see Christopher Breaux striding towards him.

“Hey,” Christopher called. “I’m just here to watch the sunrise.”

“Me too,” Nik mumbled. He liked his co-worker, but wanted to be alone right now.

Christopher sat down several yards back, paying Nik no attention. He turned back around and raised his eyes to the sky again, ignoring the other residents that drifted onto the roof. Soft rays of light appeared and Nik smiled, feeling more at peace than he had in years. The beauty of daytime reminded him that he was a survivor. When the sun finally broke past the horizon, he felt a glimmer of hope bud in his chest.

As he left the roof, Nik called Nate and asked to meet him for breakfast. Nate agreed enthusiastically, and Nik couldn’t keep the smile out of his voice. At his apartment door he found a wad of paper towels tightly wrapped around a silver knife. Nik tucked the knife in his pocket and decided to show it to Nate. He left the building with a spring in his step.

Blog #6 - Foggy Days

When Nik awoke, a heavy fog had blanketed the town. It was suffocating, even from inside. Nik pushed his window open to peer out. The fog rolled into his room, somehow knocking him down. His head hit the floor, knocking him out for several seconds. Nik opened his eyes to his childhood bedroom.

Nik clambered to his feet and headed to the kitchen. His parents were passed out drunk on the floor with broken bottles and fries scattered around them. It looked like a hurricane had blown through. Nik sighed. Although he had returned after running away, it was only out of necessity. The streets offered no protection from the wind.

The only food in the house seemed to be a box of Cheerios, which he forced himself to eat before heading out the door. Whiteness greeted him. He blinked several times, trying to see through the fog, but gave up and walked into the unknown.

The school day passed quickly, and Nik was forced to brave the fog again on his way home. It stuck to him. For every step he took, it pulled him back two more. The journey home seemed impossible.

Nik was almost home when he was struck in the face by something heavy. He pulled it off of his face and squinted down at the newspaper. “Ether Maitland Dead?” it read. Not surprising, Nik thought, before discarding it.

The door to his house was open, swaying gently. Nik cautiously entered, only to jump back as a flying bottle almost hit him, instead smashing against the wall.

“Sorry, dear,” his mother yelled, laughing. “It’s our game.”

His father threw another bottle at the ceiling fan, which hit the window. Both his parents burst out laughing. Nik rolled his eyes, and strode past them to his room.

He pulled out his phone, and dialed Nate’s number, but was met with an answering machine. Nik hung up and called again, but received no reply. Nik spent the next hour, re-dialing Nate, but to no avail. By the time, he decided to just leave a message, tears were sliding down his face.

“Nate, I’m so happy that you found that great job and you’re happy. I really need to talk to you though. Mom and Dad spent all of my college money. They’re unstable and dangerous. Please Nate, I need you.”

Nik hung up and prayed for Nate’s return.

Blog #5 - The Star

Nik collapsed on the bench and closed his eyes. The past week, his work schedule had been grueling, not to mention Jeff Clare was there everyday, leering at him. On top of it all, he had still been receiving phone calls from his parents. His phone rang all day, everyday. They left countless messages and wailing voice mails. Nik was done.

Laying on the park bench, Nik drifted off. His dreams were never clear, and tonight was not an exception. Bright colors flashed behind his eyelids, and he could vaguely make out the sound of a man laughing. The laughter rose in volume, and became hysterical, like a hyena's. All at once, the laughter stopped, leaving only silence. The colors faded to black, only to explode into a bright light that burned Nik's eyes and startled him awake.

The ringing of his phone shook Nik from his sluggishness. He sighed, not in the mood to deal with either one of his parents. Nik checked the caller ID, but it wasn't any number that he recognized. After several seconds of debating with himself, Nik answered the phone.

"Hello?" he asked, slightly nervous.

"Nik!" the voice exclaimed. "It's so good to hear your voice, it's been way too long."

"What?" Nik stuttered. He had no idea who this person was or how they knew his name.

"Where are you? I'm back in town and wanted to catch up," the man said enthusiastically.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" asked Nik.

"Oh my god, you don't even recognize your own brother's voice, that's low." 

"Nate."

"Yep! I'm kind of hurt," Nate laughed. 

"You're hurt!" Nik clenched his fists. "You're the one that left. How are you hurt?"

"C'mon Nik. I had to do what was best for me, and being stuck in this town was not it!" Nate sounded apologetic, but it did nothing to soothe Nik's anger.

"What about what was best for me? Do you think everything worked itself out after you left? I can assure you it didn't!" Nik yelled into the phone, uncaring of who heard him.

"Look, I'm sorry. I wasn't thin-" Nik hung up.

Sighing, Nik threw his head back to look at the stars. They were exceptionally bright tonight. A flash of movement caught his eye and he turned his head to see a shooting star streaking across the sky.

"Please fix all of my family drama," Nik sighed. He felt foolish for wishing on a star, but he would take any help he could get.

Blog #4 - Mothers

The door slammed loudly, rattling the tables. Nik glanced up to see Kit Steiner striding towards the counter. Seeing Kit at the bar, especially at night, was surprising. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Kit out this late.

Kit seemed shaken; his golden eyes were bleary and he kept looking around. Nik watched him take a seat and stare off into space.  

“Hey, what can I get you?” asked Nik, strolling over.

“I’m good thanks,” Kit replied, shaking his head as if to clear his mind.

“Please don’t tell me you’re here for the food. Our ‘heavenly cheesy fries’ lean more toward hellish.” Nik chuckled. Whenever times were hard he had been forced to eat at the bar. In his opinion, eating cheese fries was almost as bad as starving.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Drinks?”

“I don’t drink.” Nik raised his eyebrows, wondering if Kit had forgotten this was a bar.

“Some milk, then?”

Kit scowled at him and his face darkened.

“Hey, I’m sorry, Kit.” Nik said awkwardly. “It’s just… this is a bar, you know?”

Kit remained silent.

“C’mon, what’s up?” Nik prompted, leaning across the bar.

“I-” Kit cleared his throat. “My father, who abandoned my mom for another woman, is dating my mom.”

“Wow, that divorce was messy… the whole town knew about it.” Nik paused. “You don’t have to hang around him too, though.”

“I know. But...I can’t just abandon her the way my father did! Ugh, they’ve been in touch the past couple weeks - I don’t get how I missed it!”  

“Everybody has ghosts and secrets, especially in this town. They lie, cheat, and manipulate... Just be there for her when he leaves,” Nik advised.

“Yep, there to pick up the broken pieces as usual.”

“Look, at least you have a mom who cares.” Nik said bitterly.

I shouldn’t have said that.

“Hey, I’m sorry...about that.” Kit stuttered. “What exactly happened?”

“Well, my parents blew the money I’d saved for college on booze and drugs. And, as usual, the kid ran away from home and blah-d-blah!” Nik chuckled, not making eye contact. Kit didn’t need to know the whole story.

“Wow, I’m so sorry, dude…” Kit sounded unsure of what to say.

“It sucks, but… that’s life.” Sighing, Nik ran his hands through his hair.

“I have to work. See you around.” Nik left, deciding he needed a cigarette.

Blog #3 - Jeff Clare

With shaking hands, Nik poured himself a drink. He didn’t usually drink at work, but today had been exhausting and he was sure Leit wouldn’t mind. It was only six hours into his shift, but Nik felt drained. All day, vendors had been pouring into the bar. They all carried oddly-shaped packages. When Nik had tried to sign for them, the vendors all refused, quite rudely, and demanded to see Leit.

Grateful that the commotion was over, Nik drained his glass and got back to work serving the day-drinkers. A few minutes later, he saw Leit exit the building with a guitar on his back, only to sprint back in fifteen minutes later without the guitar. Nik watched Leit closely. He knew lots of secrets, but had never managed to figure out what it is Leit was hiding. The loud, gruff voice of Jeff Clare interrupted his thoughts and Nik winced.

“Nikky, how ‘bout another whiskey o’er here? C’mon boy. I ‘aven’t got all day, ya know!”

This was not true, as Jeff literally did have all day. He was there everyday, drinking from open until close. Nik hated Jeff with every fiber of his being. Jeff was loud, disrespectful, always angry and loved to bully Nik. His only somewhat-redeeming quality was that he was a drunkard, meaning that he blew thousands of dollars at the bar each year.

Nik slowly poured a glass of whiskey, making sure it wasn’t “under-filled”, as that would lead to Jeff flinging the glass at his head. He brought it to Jeff’s table and set it down.

“Finally, Nikky. It took ya long enough,” Jeff said, smirking.

“Well, sorry about the wait Jeff,” Nik muttered, looking down. Jeff’s eyes bore into him, as he took a sip of his drink.

“Say, Nikky. How’s your family doing, they alright?” Nik glanced up sharply.

“They’re fine.”

“Really? That’s not how I would describe them.”  He grinned crookedly, his sharp teeth on display.

“Do you want to tell me what you’re talking about?” Nik snapped. He could feel his heart beating rapidly, threatening to burst out of his chest. Jeff’s face became impassive.

“Go away Nikky. I’m tryin’ to drink.”

Nik scowled at him, furious at Jeff’s childish games. He stormed away and tried to forget Jeff’s words, but they plagued his mind throughout the rest of his shift.