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

by Michelle Wright

  “Dude, you got any money?” She asked him.

  “I have a name it’s Adam.”

  “Adam what…apple?” She replied.

  “I’m broke. I lost my cash and phone a while back.” He said ignoring her jibe.

  “Shit man not even one fucking dime?”

  “Maybe I can get some, you know nothing’s impossible.”

  “Yeh how?”

  “Steal it or something I don’t know yet, I’ll figure it out.” He replied.

  “I wanna have some coke, this weed is so damn weak it doesn’t get me off terra firme.”

  He wanted to show off his male bravado to impress her and one way to get what he wanted was to provide. If she needed something and he got it then she’d been in his debt and feel duty bound to return the favour.

  “I am so fucking hungry!” She said leaning close to Adam.

  He stood up and beckoned Rone to follow, knowing subconsciously who was the stronger of the two he didn’t argue sensing that Adam wouldn’t be too happy if he refused.

  “We’re going out to get food, you wait here and we’ll be back soon.” He told her.

  Summer smiled and blew him a kiss. It was a sign.

  With a reluctant Rone in tow they wandered the streets close by working out how to get food for free. Stealing money was a step too far for Adam, the only way to do that was to mug someone and he didn’t think he could ever stretch that far.

  “We can try the bins.” Rone suggested.

  “That’s a plan, I bet restaurants throw stuff out and maybe a convenience store, they throw out too don’t they?”

  Adam was cloaked by the anonymous world of the city. No-one knew who he was or cared and no-one looked at him either, unlike the suburbs where everyone was nosy and got in your business.

  With a bit of detective work it didn’t take long to find trash bins behind restaurants and a late night grocery store.

  “Hey look pizza slices and they’re wrapped!” Rone said with excitement.

  Without have to resort to stealing, the bin behind a restaurant yielded as much as they could carry. Proudly they returned with pizza, bread, some slightly stale muffins and a couple of uneaten fried chicken wings.

  “Wow…thanks guys!” Summer said as she jumped up in delight her stoned eyes coming alive.

  Finally the other two stirred at the sight of food being laid out on the floor and everyone sat together as if they are having a picnic grabbing what they could. Adam was starving but happy that he’d shown his supremacy and abilities to deliver. Thankfully there was more than enough to go round and when it was finished they shared out the muffins, dessert.

  “I’m John and this is Gary, thanks for the food man.”

  “Hey you’re welcome”

  “How come you’re here?”

  “I left home, I couldn’t take it no more and I’m not going back!”

  “Good for you.” Summer replied, her mouth full of cake.

  He began to feel at home with a new bunch of people that didn’t judge him or make him feel inferior. They were grateful that he’d brought food. They didn’t care that he only had the shirt on his back and not one cent to his name. In the company of strangers he felt he was safe and warm for now.

  “Is it okay if I hang around here for a while?” He asked.

  “Sure, as long as you keep bringing in the eats then you can stay.” Summer replied.

  “It’s a done deal.” He said, hoping that she’d be even more grateful later on.

  Chapter 3.

  With the food all gone Adam decided it was time to see how far he could go with the girl with big blue eyes. The couch was only big enough for three so he positioned himself on the floor close to where she sat in the hope he could engage her in conversation. Rone sat on the lone chair, silent.

  Adam had been a skilled girl catcher from the age of twelve when he snared his first girlfriend Amy who was a year older. Many others followed and by the time he was fourteen he’d lost his virginity to a girl of seventeen who lived just a block away. As far as he was concerned Summer was easy to snare, in debt for the food, out of her head on more than weed and slightly wild. Everything pointed to her being available.

  Before he could go any further the door burst open to reveal a tall well built man.

  “Rone who the fuck is this!” He yelled pointing at Adam.

  “He’s just a friend, and he got us food, he’s homeless.”

  “What’s the rule man, run everything by me first!” He replied angrily.

  “Sorry I’ll remember next time. Adam I want you to meet my cousin Nick.”

  All thoughts of getting intimate were blown as the menacing figure of Nick stood above him checking out his every detail. Doing his best to mask his fear he didn’t feel good. Nick had the look of a hardened violent man that would slam you against a wall at the slightest provocation. Avoiding eye contact as much as possible so as not to provoke him Adam remained quiet. But he couldn’t avoid the tattoo on his neck or the long scar across the top of his nose. Pushing one of the guys off the couch Nick settled himself meanwhile ordering Rone to clear the coffee table.

  Adam watched as he meticulously and slowly opened a small packet. Carefully extracting the white powder he set about methodically creating lines on the only small table in the room. Adam tried not to worry. The never ending sound of cop car sirens near and far reminded him exactly where he was and who he was with. The noise served as a reminder that anything can happen when you’re far away in a place you don’t know. Summer shuffled herself closer to Nick swinging her hair back and vying for attention- hoping to get a line.

  “Go on then.” Nick told her.

  She dutifully took the rolled up twenty dollar note and snorted heavily. One by one they followed ignoring Adam. He wasn’t sure whether to just get in there and push his luck, wait until asked- or just make a run for it.

  “You wanna a hit man?” Nick asked.

  Not wanting to be a party pooper he needed to show the guys that he was no chicken and that he was part of the group. But there was still a feeling of inferiority. Back home he was the black sheep in the neighbourhood, the drug taking high school dropout admired by some for his rebellion. Now he was nothing, little more than a greenhorn whose only use was supplying free food from garbage bins. He gingerly approached the line of coke desperate to make a good impression, having watched the others he was still fearful he’d make a mistake. He didn’t want any of them to know he’d never used it before so staying in control he took the note, deeply snorting the white powder.

  The feeling was wonderful, a sense of peace and calm as everything slowed down a little, he wanted to laugh but suppressed it thinking it might upset Nick. Stoned as he was he didn’t dare to blow his precarious situation.

  Another girl breezed through the door carrying bottles of Vodka. She smiled at Adam through her drunken stupor and kissed Summer full on the lips taking Adam by surprise.

  “What’s your name little boy?” She said.

  “It’s Adam.”

  “Pardon me Adam but should you be out on a school night?”

  “I’m eighteen!” He said defending himself.

  “Then you’re the grown up, she’s only sixteen, a baby.” She replied pointing to Summer.

  He was surprised she was so young. Her life on the streets had aged her considerably. His presumption that she was least eighteen or nineteen was wrong.

  “I’m Adele and I want you to party with us, can you do that?” She said.

  Between the cocaine and booze Adam succumbed to his fatigue by passing out on the floor as music blared and the vodka flowed. The grind of the day had got to him, the endless walking taking its toll as he fell into a deep sleep. He woke early the next morning mostly because of discomfort from sleeping half on a cushion and half on the hard wood floor and noticed that all the others were fast asleep. Vodka girl was still there, sprawled out next to Nick on a dirty old mattress in the corner naked except for a larg
e pendant wrapped around her neck.

  Summer was also awake having slept on the couch. She looked at him with tired and worn out eyes.

  “Hey Adam…Man you were out of it.” She commented.

  “I guess I was strung out from all the shit that went down.”

  “I have it every minute of every day, what’s new?” She replied.

  “Me too, are you hungry?” Adam said changing the subject.

  “Hell yeh always…”

  Adam was concerned that he had no other clothes or hadn’t washed since the day before. He wasn’t used to living from hand to mouth or not having every day hygiene facilities at his fingertips. Hungry and dirty he walked the early morning streets with Summer going back to the same hot spots from the night before hoping to find more throw-outs. But everything they found was totally inedible.

  “Shit man I need some food now!” Summer protested.

  “Don’t freak out we’ll find some, I promise.”

  “Seriously I need it now, right now!”

  He couldn’t understand why she was freaking out, after eating so much the night before gorging away like she’d not eaten for a week. Now she was acting as if she’d been starved.

  “Summer stop screaming and yelling I’ll get something.” Adam insisted.

  Stuck with wandering in the worse part of the city he was irritated as hell to have been landed with a bratty hysterical female. Her crazy behaviour was going un-noticed by the faceless people going by, a welcome reaction as Adam became more frustrated by her ramblings.

  “Food food I need fucking food!”

  “Shut your god dam mouth!”

  “Screw you loser!”

  With that she stormed off leaving Adam to search the bins.

  To hell with her and… I can find a better place to hang out in than that filthy shitty apartment full of weirdo’s.’

  He was feeling let down, as if he’d been pushed back to square one. But he couldn’t deny that there was something very different about Summer Haze and underneath the anger and frustration he was disappointed she’d run off.

  There was only one thing left to do, not being able to face going back to nasty Nick and odd ball Rone he turned and walked in the opposite direction only to hear frantic footsteps behind him. It was Summer.

  “Adam where are you going? I’m so sorry for blowing up.” She said looking shamefully guilty.

  “I’m not going back to that dump, you can come with me if you want.” He replied firmly.

  “Where to exactly, where are you going?”

  “I won’t know till I get there.”

  The two of them start walking with Adam’s mind racing about which direction to take.

  “You know what?” He says stopping in his tracks, “I should’ve jumped off the bridge when I had the chance.”

  “Then why didn’t you?” She replied.

  “I don’t know what stopped me and I regret it now.”

  They continued to walk, the discussion why Adam didn’t jump forgotten as they continued to wander aimlessly not know what they were searching for or where they’re going. Luck finds them when passing by a bakery they go around the back to see if there was anything to be had. Opening the lid of the first bin Summer found bread and pastries stuck together in bits. Diving in she helped herself and began to eat ferociously right there ignoring Adam’s shock,

  “Take it easy,” He said. “You’ll make yourself sick.”

  “That’s the whole point.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ll see.” She replied.

  Less than five minutes after devouring as much as she could she ran behind a bin out of sight. Putting her fingers down her throat she forced herself to throw up.

  “I don’t believe this!” Adam said in disgust keeping his distance.

  He’d failed to notice that the night before after eating she’d excused herself and ran to the bathroom The fact that he now had a bulimic on his hands didn’t sit well at all. Selfish by nature there wasn’t any room for those in trouble and his first instinct was to dump her and move on, somehow she wasn’t so attractive anymore, in his eyes she’d become repulsive.

  “Screw this.” He says turning to walk away.

  “Please don’t leave me Adam…please!” She begged.

  She had crawled out from behind the bin on all fours wiping her mouth and with tears streaming down her face pleading with him to understand. Unfortunately she wasn’t in the company of someone who understood. Empathy was something Adam lost when his Father died. Her pleas fell on deaf ears and the more she tried the more distant and irritated Adam became.

  “You know what.” He said. “I’m outta here and I think you should go your own way too, I don’t need some psycho holding me up.”

  “Oh and you’re not a head case wanting to kill yourself?”

  “It’s different.”

  “How’s it different? We’re both messed up big time, we’re the same you and me. Damaged goods.” She replied defending herself.

  “I don’t make myself sick.”

  “No, you just wanna jump off bridges!”

  Summer had a point, both of them had serious issues and for once in his life Adam was faced with someone who mirrored his own troubled world. She felt his judgement on her was totally unfair considering his on-going fixation with dying.

  “I’m cold.” She said rubbing her bare arms.

  Adam reluctantly put his arms around her snake-thin body, not something he was ever used to doing, comforting someone, and he couldn’t work out why he was doing it for someone he was so mad at. Maybe it was because feeling lost and confused left him with a strong feeling of vulnerability. ‘Dad where are you?’ He begged. But there was only silence. He was fearful that when he needed his dad the most he wasn’t there and he didn’t want to think for a moment that he’d abandoned him.

  “Do you want to go with me,” Summer said through her tears, “we can go together, off a building or something?”

  “You mean a double suicide?”

  “Something like that, yeh…just…just the two of us.”

  Chapter 4.

  The poor part of city held no understanding or opportunity for people like Adam and Summer who are young and broken with no direction. Its cold distant message was one of isolation and survival. It didn’t care if you were sick, homeless or dying. It gave no purpose to people who needed help, or a listening ear, nightly giving up its unidentified dead without a care in the world. Heartless and tough, it continued every minute of the day and night to challenge every one of its inhabitants. Adam had inadvertently found himself right in the heart of the wrong place, his naivety drawing him into a complete contrast to all he had known and understood. Life as he knew it was far away as he and Summer began looking for a good place to jump. I’m going to do it this time. I’ve no reason to hang on anymore.

  Summer was more at ease with the suicide idea than Adam; she talked incessantly about how great it would be to fly through the air if only for a split second. That kind of talk made him uncomfortable, doing it was one thing, discussing the finer details wasn’t on his agenda.

  “Where are your folks?” He said diverting the subject.

  “My mom is a long way from here and my dad split when I was very small, I never knew him.”

  “So why did you leave home?”

  “Because I couldn’t take her incessant nagging about the bulimia.”

  “Maybe she was justified.” Adam said.

  “Who are you the food police!” She snapped back.

  “I was only saying…jeez”

  “Don’t say another fucking word about my damn mother you hear me!”

  Adam had hit a raw nerve and dealt with it the only way he knew how.

  “Let it go, I don’t really care.”

  “So what about you, I bet you’re from the suburbs.”

  “Yep got that right?”

  “And?”

  “And what…”

&
nbsp; “It’s called sharing the shit, what’s your story.”

  “I hated my step-father he was on my case the whole time.”

  “So what about your real dad where’s he?”

  “Dead…he died years ago.”

  Summer began to feel some sympathy for the boy she thought was a spoilt self-absorbed brat with no street sense and a big ego. She now saw him as someone who was really lost, and was desperate for peace, just like herself. Identifying with him allowed her to feel a little closer now the veneer had dropped off. It wasn’t as if she didn’t like his dark handsome looks when he walked through the door and, the fact he was younger that what she was used to gave her an edgy thrill. At sixteen she was more street smart that many of her older counterparts. She dated men not boys and didn’t like the silent arrogance that he gave off when they first met. She thought he was childish but that faded as she had to admit that the hug he gave her was sweet -coming from a guy who didn’t do intimacy.

  The streets were coming alive with people rushing here and there, homeless men and women begging for a few cents, suspicious characters hanging around trying to look as if they’re good citizens and the frequent sound of sirens racing to the never-ending scenes of city crime. They stumbled across a street filled with restaurants and coffee shops, the smells were enticing.

  “This looks good.” Summer remarked.

  “Eat before we die, are you gonna keep it down?”

  “Yeh I promise I won’t throw up this time.”

  “You guy’s hungry?”

  Neither was sure if the voice coming from behind was referring to them. Cautiously they turned to look and there stood a short smiling man each hand filled with pre-packed sandwiches.

  “I’d love a sandwich what have you got?” Summer asked as if it was perfectly normal.

  “I got cheese, ham, pastrami and roast beef.”

  Adam wasn’t so eager. He was suspicious of a stranger that appeared from nowhere acting like Santa bearing gifts for the needy. But the guy looked friendly enough and reminded him of a charity worker that that he’d seen on a TV documentary. All thoughts of suicide were gone for the now as they took their pick from an assortment of fresh packed sandwiches. Worried that Summer would repeat her behaviour from earlier he watched as every mouthful she took seemed slower. “Thanks dude, we owe you.” Adam remarked.