Hey folks! Several of you seemed interested in the sequel in Nik's point of view. I hope this doesn't disappoint! Just as a heads up I have some free time and can't seem to stop the story ideas from worming their way into my head despite my valiant effort, so be on the lookout for a few more stories from me coming out soon. I think it's the fact that the Roadkill release date is approaching. I can't wait!
I hope you guys enjoy this! Let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Cal Leandros series, it is property of Rob Thurman.
Niko POV
I felt my anticipation grow as I drove down the long dirt road that led to our trailer, to our home. But not for long. I smiled at the thought. By the end of the year I'd have Cal out of here and away from Sophia. It would be hard and he might have to find work in addition to school, but we could do it, despite the outrageous sum that Sophia was charging me to take away a child she didn't want. I didn't mind though, part of me wanted to make sure she would at least survive. I hated her, but we had lived with her for years and I couldn't help but have a microscopic bit of reluctant sympathy for her, after all, who knew what her childhood had been like?
I pushed the unwelcome thoughts from my mind and let the hum of the engine fill my head with white noise for a moment and relax. Well, maybe it was more of a roar than a hum. I remembered the first time that I brought it home, more specifically Cal's reaction.
"Please tell me your joking." Cal said his tone filled with something akin to horror. He stared at the ancient truck disbelievingly.
"Afraid not. What are you complaining about? At least it's a car and it has… character." I said patting the rusted hood and trying not to cringe when I thought of how the breaks squeaked and stuck and how one of the doors was definitely not part of the original model… back when it was made, way back… way, way back.
Cal snorted.
"Yeah, age and a disgusting exterior do not equal character, just ask that old bastard Mr. Thompson." I remembered that Mr. Thompson was his English teacher. I sighed and resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his dramatics.
"You only think that because he failed you on your 'what I did this summer' paper." I pointed out. Cal scowled and crossed his arms over his chest.
"How was I know that using the words 'fucking bitch' when describing your mother was inappropriate? He never set guidelines, he just said 'be honest about your summer'. What a bastard, failing me for honesty." Cal grumbled as he moved closer to inspect the ancient car. He kicked the tire and the whole frame rocked.
"Damn Nik, tell me that they paid you to take this off their hands and not the other way around." He said dryly glancing up at me.
I felt my smile grow at the memory and the fact that I had turned the last corner and could see the trailer in the distance. My anticipation grew as I thought about seeing my sarcastic little brother again. I had truly missed him during the week.
The car groaned and squealed as I pulled up next to the trailer and I felt the car rock as I stepped out and the frame shook. It was amazing that this thing stayed together at all. It was a rolling (barely) death trap on wheels. Though I supposed it wouldn't be too bad if it did fall apart while I was driving, it was so slow that I was pretty sure that I had gotten passed by a guy on a bicycle on the way here.
"Nik!" I heard Cal yell in the distance. I squinted against the sun and saw his form as a black smudge against the bright setting sun. I raised my hand and waved as he began to jog over, too excited to walk. It meant a lot that he wasn't afraid to be happy in front of me, that he could let his armor fall down. It sounded strange, but it was true. Cal had built walls around him like steel and he never showed true emotion… unless of course that emotion happened to be annoyance, then he displayed it loud and proud with a certain special finger pointed at the world. That was my brother alright.
He slowed as he approached and his features became visible as his figure evolved from a black smudge on the horizon to a grinning boy.
For a moment all I could see was the smile on his face and the genuine happiness in his eyes. It was so rare that I ever got to see his happiness on display that I was taken aback by the way it shone through him. Then the rest of him came into focus, and the light feeling in my heart moved lower and became a heavy feeling in my gut.
"I am so glad your back. I have so much shit to tell you." Cal panted lightly as he grinned up at me. I felt confusion flash through the tumultuous emotions roiling inside my head as I tried to make sense of the juxtaposition of his happy face and the dark bruises that covered it.
"I think your first story should be about what happened to your face." I said in a toneless, emotionless voice that by now Cal knew meant trouble. I felt my own confusion mirrored in Cal's expression for a second and he started to lift his hand to his face when suddenly comprehension and then guilt swam through his mobile features.
"Oh, uh yeah." He said hesitantly as his eyes dropped from mine. He fell into uncustomary silence.
"Somehow your less that impressive vocal skills have left me once again bereft. Why don't we try this again? Hello Niko, my name is Cal and this is how I got these marks on my face…" I let the Cal-sounding sentence trail off and motioned for him to complete it.
"Damn Nik, try and dumb it down to regular people level would you? Who the hell says 'bereft'?" Cal snarked, trying to distract me by pulling me into our usual give and take sarcasm. It didn't work. I stared at him stoically and remained silent. We were going to talk about this, and we were going to talk about it now.
He sighed and turned his gaze heavenward before dropping his eyes back down to mine.
"Hello Niko, my name is Cal and this is how I got these marks on my face-" He started sarcastically before his face became slightly sheepish and he continued on. "I got in a fight with a couple guys out by the lake." He said shortly.
I raised my eyebrow at him waiting for him to go on and explain. He stood there silently for a moment before scuffing the ground with his feet.
"Okay, great talk. Anyways, now that that's over-"
"Don't." I said shortly, not in the mood for this. Someone had marked my brother's face and they better have a damn good reason or I would do more than bruise them… even if they did have a good reason I probably still would. My brother had enough to deal with, the last thing he needed was some punk fighting with him.
Cal sobered as he realized that he wasn't going to get away with anything short of a full explanation of what had happened to him.
"Right…" He said reluctantly and rubbed a hand over his black and blue face. "Well, there is this girl at school-"
"Cal, tell me that you were not fighting to impress a girl." I said letting anger seep into my tone this time. The indignation that filled his face let me know that I was way off the mark. I thought so but I had to be sure, if he was willing to tempt his Grendel side with fighting because of a girl we would have had to have a long and painful, painful for him at least, discussion about priorities.
"No Cyrano, you taught me better than that." Cal glared at me because of the injustice to his character for a moment before continuing his story. I vowed not to jump to conclusions and interrupt this time. He was my brother, and I had faith that whatever he did he had a good reason for. Well, at least a reason.
"There was this girl-" He started again and paused for a second as if waiting for an interruption. "and she asked me on a date. We were going to meet by the lake on the rocks at sunset." He blushed and I could see the humiliation plain on his face as his eyes once again dropped from mine to stare at our shoes.
"But she, uh, she didn't show up. Turns out she got dared to ask me out and leave me hanging. I guess some of the guys at school thought it would be funny, or some shit like that." I felt my gut twist as anger filled me at the thought that someone had given him hope and then humiliated him, played with him.
I briefly weighed the pros and cons of punching a fourteen year old girl and then decided spiders in her locker would be a better idea. I forced back my vengeful thoughts and refocused on the story he was telling me. I would be better able to plot appropriate punishment after I had heard the whole story. Because there would be punishment for those who had done this to him, I couldn't accept anything else.
"I waited there for a while, until it got dark." My heart clenched briefly at the thought of Cal sitting alone waiting for a girl who would never come.
Bitch.
"Then a couple of guys from school showed up." He continued, his grey eyes were distant with the memory.
"How many?" I quickly interrupted breaking my earlier promise to myself.
"Just four." He answered just as quickly.
Four on one, not an even fight by any standards, at least not if it was Cal against four average high school boys. Cal should have kicked all their asses to kingdom come without so much as a split lip. So what had happened? Either these boys had also had years of martial arts training and drill sergeants in their families or there was a missing element in this story.
"They all came at me and I hit the first one who came after me." His eyes met mine briefly before returning to the apparently fascinating ground under his worn and ripped sneakers. In that brief moment I had seen grey eyes that matched mine filled with misplaced guilt. At least so far it seemed misplaced, and I had a good idea where this story was heading.
"But then I remembered what you said about fighting and I knew you wouldn't have wanted me to risk it so I just kind of let them go at it until they got bored and left." Ah there it was, the missing piece. I felt guilt tug at me again. I needed to clarify that before it got him hurt... anymore than it already had at least. I managed to keep myself from flinching at the thought. He paused here for a moment and tilted his head and seemed to be debating something.
"Then at school I saw Eric messing with Tessa and I may have hit him again." He said hurriedly, as if saying the words all in a rush would dull the meaning in them. So his name was Eric? I would remember that, I thought darkly.
"You defended her?" I asked, proud, despite my anger, that he was better than all those high school fools. How many humiliated fourteen year old boys would stick up for the girl who stood them up and then sent her group of delinquent brats to beat them up? Not many… not any as far as I knew. Cal was a good kid, better than most who had no monster genes at all. The irony of this was not lost on me, though part of me wished it was. He was too busy trying not to be bad to realize that he was actually good. If only I could convince him of this, but unfortunately stubbornness ran in the family, or at least in both of us.
"Yeah." Cal said sounding relieved at the pride that had entered my voice. "Then she kissed me." He said quietly, blushing. I smiled at that. So that was why he was so happy today. Cal, my little brother, had his first kiss.
I would deal with that later, I had more prudent matters to discuss with him at the moment. The first of which was to set him straight about my no fighting rule. It made me feel sick that he had let himself get beaten up because of what he thought I meant. I couldn't allow that to happen again.
"Cal, when I said no fighting I didn't mean you couldn't defend yourself. If you're in trouble-" He cut me off here looking indignant again.
"I wasn't in trouble. It was just four human guys, no sweat."
"If you are in trouble-" I continued as though he hadn't interrupted. "you can fight back, I want you to fight back."
I reached down and gripped his chin lightly and forced his gaze to mine. I felt something unpleasant stir inside me as I caught sight of the bruises again. I hated to see my brother marked. The bruises looked especially painful against the backdrop of his pale, almost translucent, skin. I loosened my grip further, just in case my grip on his chin was irritating any of the bruises. I couldn't stand to see any more marks on his face, I couldn't stand the ones that were there now.
"When I said that, I meant that you shouldn't start fights unnecessarily, not that you shouldn't fight back when someone comes after you. I am sorry that my words ever caused you to think that." Guilt twisted in my gut along with the other unpleasant emotions. I hated to think that I had caused him any pain, even inadvertently. Everything I did was to protect him, not to protect others from him. The world didn't need protecting from him, rather he needed protecting from it. I just wish he could see that as clearly as I could.
"I didn't want you to be disappointed." He said shifting his gaze off to something behind me, feeling uncomfortable with the emotion that seeped into those words.
"I could never be. Don't even think it." I said harshly as I pinned him with my gaze forcing him to meet my eyes. The vulnerability there squeezed my heart further. Cal nodded shortly and I let my fingers drop from his chin so my hands, clenched with guilt and anger, wouldn't hurt his face any further.
We stood silently for a moment before the sound of something shattering interrupted the quiet. I sighed.
"Glad to see that Sophia is still making sure we don't have an excess of dishware." Cal, relieved to be done with the emotional talk, took my thread and ran with it.
"Yeah, you know her. Hates to have anything cluttering those cabinets. Well, anything that isn't above eighty proof anyways. He said slyly.
I walked over to the truck and pulled my backpack out of the window and slung it over one shoulder.
"Let's bring my stuff inside and then go for a walk. I am sure she is just dying to see me."
"Yeah, you know how hard it is when your first baby bird leaves the nest." He smirked before tugging at my backpack.
"Got a lot of work?" He asked glancing at the bulging zipper and worn straps.
"Yes, but nothing that requires an IQ in the double digits. So maybe you can help." I said dryly nudging him with my shoulder.
"Ass." He said aiming an elbow at my ribs. Not being one to pass up an opportunity for a lesson I caught his elbow easily, twisted him, and aimed a light punch at his back. I was surprised when he arched away from the blow and hissed as if stung. I hadn't hit him that hard.
"Cal what-?"
Oh, the bruises. I felt the anger that I had momentarily forgot surge again. Of course there was damage to more than his face. Of course.
"Show me." I said in a tight voice, gripping his shoulders gently and turning him to face me. He looked up at me reluctantly.
"Come on Nik." He groaned.
"Take off your shirt." I said quickly again, not in the mood for his stalling. Cal took one look at my face, which I hadn't been bothering to keep the anger out of, and then grumbled darkly under his breath before pulling his shirt over his head. My anger flared again.
I would find those boys and I would repay them mark for mark and then give them a few new ones.
The ropy muscles of his chest and back were covered with bruises varying in color from a light yellowish-green to a deep purple and even black. His back was covered with small cuts and scratches from, I assumed, the rocks that he must have fallen on. This was unacceptable.
The anger built in me and tensed my muscles with the urge to fight, the urge to hurt whatever had done this to my little brother. They would pay, there was no way I would let them get away with this, I seethed. The urge for vengeance was so strong it was almost a palpable thing, almost a taste on my tongue.
"Tell me all their names." I said authoritatively although I knew he would argue, I recalled that one of their names was Eric. He pulled his shirt back down over the marks and winced lightly as the movement tugged at his tight and bruised skin.
"Nik, don't worry about it. I took care of Eric, who started it, and the others don't matter. I don't know their names anyways." Cal said his tone just as challenging as mine. He wasn't going to back down easily. That was okay, I had time. We stared each other down before I got another idea. I carefully schooled my expression so it wouldn't show and then sighed.
"Fine." I said as I walked over to the trailer and threw my backpack through the door and shut it quickly before Sophia could come and… greet me.
"Fine?" Cal said, sounding unsure and surprised. I didn't blame him.
"But at least describe them to me as we walk so I can imagine hurting them more effectively." Cal's shoulders relaxed as I let the conversation go.
"Overprotective brothers, there's no appeasing them." He said with a tone filled with an affection that betrayed his words.
"And I'll describe them to you if you want but let me tell you these were some ugly assholes. Just picture your average bad skinned smelly shit head teenager and that's about it."
"So you're telling me they looked like you but with acne?" I snorted "Well, that's unfortunate for them." He sent a glare my way and kicked gravel on my shoes as we walked down the dirt road to the forest.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I am one handsome son of a bitch and you know it. I may be a pale monster but I think you're a green eyed one." He sniped back with his customary smirk back on his face.
"First of all-" I lightly swatted the back of his head. "you are not a monster, secondly, I am the pretty one in this family and no amount of whining on your part is going to change that." I smiled at him, glad to be comfortably immersed in our usual give and take insulting.
*****
Cal thought I was driving back to school right now, but it was worth missing my first class to see this through. It was highly doubtful my ancient history teacher, who was so old he had probably lived through the bubonic plague he had been rambling on about for the last few classes, could teach me anything I didn't know. So I was currently standing outside the high school going over the descriptions Cal had given to me when we eventually got around to talking about it. And by talking about it I mean me dragging every bit of information slowly out of him and by description I mean a few traits that gave me a crayon drawn shady portrait of the boys.
It was for his own good. For my own good too. It would be a lie to say that I wasn't going to enjoy this.
I heard someone call Eric's name and turned. Well, at least I wouldn't have to scour the school looking for them.
There were four boys, an overweight one, one who was about Cal's size, one who had the build of a football player, and the one who was walking toward them I assumed was Eric. Only one of them was his size, the rest were noticeably bigger. Eric and the football player were almost my size. My anger deepened. They were bigger than him and they all ganged up on him, too afraid to go after him individually.
Cowards.
I abruptly began to move in their direction, walking quickly and quietly. They were standing by the alley on the far side of the school making my job even easier. I came silently and invisibly so that they didn't notice me until I was on them. Then they definitely noticed me.
"Eric." I said is a harsh voice enjoying when they all jumped and realized there was another among them.
"What do you want?" Eric said, trying to look tough but obviously intimidated. He kept sending glances back at the other boys who were eyeing me up nervously. They could sense the predator in me. Good. I noticed that he had faint bruises under each eye, probably from a punch to the nose. I felt a flash of pride in Cal and a sick satisfaction to see he wasn't the only one with a mark. But this boy didn't have enough marks to satisfy me, and the others were completely unmarked… I could fix that for them.
"Have you seen a boy about this tall-" I held my hand up to my chest and indicated Cal's height. "with black chin length hair and grey eyes?" It was almost comical how all their faces shifted together through recognition and finally settled on fear.
"I think you do. Well, that boy is my younger brother and I am his overbearingly protective big brother." I let my face split in a vicious grin, something I had learned from my younger brother. Learning was a two way street after all.
"Nice to make your acquaintance."
I didn't waste any more time on words. I punched Eric in the face and kicked him behind the knees. I elbowed the short one roughly in the ribs and punched the football player under the chin. I was moving so quickly that they all fell to the ground before they realized what was going on.
The overweight one turned to run and I kicked him hard in the back forcing him to fall face first on the ground. The short one and the football player had stood up by this point and were backing away from me. I pursued with a speed they could never hope to come close to and pinned them both to the wall with my hands at their throats and lifted them to their toes.
"If you ever mark him again, if you ever touch him again, if you ever talk badly about him again, if you even look at him the wrong way again I will come after you and I will make you regret it." I whispered in a lethally calm voice. "And I will know, don't doubt it." I gave both boys another rough shove and smiled when their heads cracked against the brick wall. I dropped them and they crumpled to the ground, not so brave now that they were the ones getting pushed around. I glared at them with a darkly satisfied smile splitting my face before turning and stepping on the back of the portly one who was just beginning to stand. He grunted under my weight and collapsed back onto the ground. I delivered a perfunctory kick to Eric's ribs as I strolled out of the alley finally in a good mood.
They wouldn't hurt him again. They were too cowardly to even think it. My brother thought he was the dangerous one, but he was wrong. I would always protect him, whether it was against Grendels, high school assholes, or Sophia. As long as I was around I wouldn't let anyone touch him, and not even God could help those who tried.
I stepped into the beat up old truck I'd parked several parking lots down and glanced at the rearview mirror at Cal's high school in the distance.
I only wished that all of Cal's battles were this easy, and that I could fight those for him too. My sigh was drowned out by the sound of the truck screeching to life.
I would just have to settle for hurting all those who hurt him. I felt another wild smile tug at my lips, a common occurrence today it seemed. It was my right as overprotecting big brother after all. Anyone who wanted to get to him would have to deal with me, because I most certainly was going to deal with them.
It didn't matter that he was strong enough to fight his own battles. Cal was still my little brother and he always would be, and so would I always be at his back supporting him and in front of him protecting him. Just as I promised the both of us over fourteen years ago.
Hey people! I hope you enjoyed it!
Let me know what you think. Getting feed back is awesome :) (when it's nice feedback at least... Thumper knew what he was talking about ;) )
Much love! -Traveler