Nightmare on Third Street - Chapter Ten

I stared at the far wall as Dominic argued with me, saying that he didn't want to leave. I understood, but he couldn't stay here forever. I would be okay, as I kept telling him. I wasn't so sure if I believed that or not, but I did my best to sound as convincing as possible. I hadn't called Mom yet, but I decided I would do that before my concert, which was rapidly approaching, and then she could decide if she thought he should go with me to it or not. It was her choice, in the end, no matter what I wanted. But Dominic would hear none of it. I had school the next day, I told him. He couldn't stay with me again. He protested that he didn't care, that I needed help and he was worried about me. That he said that right out made something clutch at my gut tightly. I didn't want him to worry about me, he had enough to worry about without adding me into the equation.

"Dominic," I said slowly, when he stopped talking lond enough for me to speak. Elrick had been gracious enough to leave the two of us alone in the kitchen while we argued this out, and had gone into the living room and engrosed himself into one of my many books. I had seen him right before this little spat had taken place. "Dominic, please, you can't stay. I'm sorry, buddy, but you have school tomorrow, and so do I. You can't stay."

"I don't care," he nearly shouted at me. "You're my brother, you're more important than school. Something's going on, and I'm not going to be able to do anything if I'm not here to see that you're okay." He was still greatly shaken up after what had happened lately, and I didn't blame him one bit. I was still shaken up myself, and was still feeling uneasy here in the kitchen, though the episodes that had taken place here seemed as if they had happened years ago. "Please, Bry."

I had to look away from his pleading gaze. "I'm sorry," I said softly. "But you can't stay. You know you can't. Mom and Dad would never allow you to stay on a school night, unless I didn't have school the next day, and I do. So, no. You can't stay. I'm sorry."

He glared at me. "Bryan-"

"Please," I sighed, burying my head in my hands. "Stop arguing with me. This discussion is over. I'm sorry. I won't even be here tomorrow, I'll be at school. You can't come to school with me. And that's final." My head had been aching for a while now, and this arguement wasn't making it better. "I'm sorry."

He growled something incoherent under his breath and fled the room without a word. I sighed and settled back in my chair, staring at the ceiling. Before too long, as I sat in my silence, Elrick came back into the room. For a moment he paused in the doorway and looked at me thoughtfully, before he grunted and entered the room. I tore my gaze from the ceiling and looked at him. He wasn't looking at me anymore; he was looking at the clock. I followed his gaze, but found the clock uninteresting. Time had been ticking by all day, slowly, it seemed. This day just wasn't going to end. It made me both frustrated and upset.

"You have a...concert tonight, right?" he questioned slowly, looking away from the clock long enough to look at me. "That's what you call it, right? I've never been to one."

I waved a hand vaguely at the clock. "Yeah, in about an hour I have to be there to practice. Concert doesn't start for two hours." I grabbed the glass of water and sipped at it thoughtfully, staring over the rim of the glass at the far wall. 'Why won't this night just end?' I thought to myself. 'This sucks.'

"Ah," he said, as if it made complete and perfect sense. "Do you want me to take a look around the house while you're gone? I could help set up precautions."

I looked at him for a long moment. Precautions. What the hell were those, anyway? Shrugging inwardly, I let out a small breath in the form of a sigh. "If that's what you want," I said, looking down at my glass as it sat on the table. "You don't have to. You can come if you want, or you can stay here. I'm not saying either way. It's your choice."

Elrick nodded. "I guess I will stay. I don't wish to draw too much attention at this...concert of yours. I mean, I wouldn't want to ruin your reputation." He smiled as he said this, and I knew he was only kidding.

It was a relief too, for I didn't want to be giving off some sort of vibe that said that I didn't want him to go to the concert. I really didn't mind if he stayed or went, whatever he wanted to do. If he came, cool, but if he wanted to stay here, that was cool too. It was his choice. I would go with whatever he decided.

"Okay," I said, smiling back at him. "I won't stay out too long. I'll come back as soon as the concert's over."

He shrugged. "You can stay, if you want. It doesn't matter to me."

"It does to me," I said. "You're a guest in my house and I should be here with you. I won't stay gone longer than necessary. Promise."

He nodded slowly. "Okay. Thanks."

"No problem." I moved toward the phone. "I have to call my mom about Dominic right quick." I picked up the phone and dialed in the familiar number that I had lived with for so many years, until that day I had finally moved out. I could still remember that day so well, and it put a smile on my face at the memory.

The phone rang four time before my mother's voice said, "Hello?"

"Hey," I said. "It's me, Bryan. When would you like Dominic to come home?"

"I can come get him now," she said.

"Okay, if you want. I have a concert to go to here shortly, so I won't be here too long."

"Do you want him to go to the concert?" she asked, and then paused and spoke again before I could answer. "He has school tomorrow. It's getting too late. I'll be there shortly, honey. I love you, bye."

"Love you, too," I said, and hung up. I turned back to Elrick, who was leaning back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling, his expresson pensive. "You okay?" I inquired, stepping away from the phone.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just thinking."

I nodded. I wondered what he was thinking about that could put that expression on his face, but I didn't ask, it would have been rude of me. If and when he wanted to tell me, he would. In the meantime, I should just keep to myself.

I glanced at the clock before I sighed and hollered, "Dominic, Mom's on her way!"

He snarled something from one of the rooms in the house, and I glared down at the floor. I hated making my brother this upset, but it wasn't like I was doing it on purpose. He had to go home; we both had school tomorrow. There was just no getting around that.

"He doesn't seem to like that idea too much," Elrick commented with a small chuckle.

I sighed. "I know," I murmured. "But what can I do? We've both got school tomorrow, it's not like I can just play hooky and stay home, and have him do the same."

He nodded. "I understand. But he's just worried; you should call him when you get back from the concert."

"It'll be too late then. He'll be in bed."

Elrick raised a brow. "Will he? I doubt that. He'll probably be too worried about you to sleep tonight. To give him some reassurance, call him when you get home and wish him goodnight."

I paused for a moment, before I smiled at him. "You know, you're not so bad after all."

He smirked. "I know. You're not so bad yourself."

I chuckled. It felt good to act slightly normal again, especially after all that had happened today. I shivered just thinking back to it, and wished I hadn't. 'I can't wait for this day to end.'

For a moment, I wondered if Dominic would tell Mom about all that had happened today, but I doubted it. He wouldn't want to make things worse for me, for he knew Mom would be all over me if he told her. Plus, even if he did tell her, she probably wouldn't believe him unless she saw it for herself, which I hoped would never happen.

I grabbed my glass of water and sipped at it for a long moment, gazing at the clock as it slowly ticked the seconds away.