A Death Displaced (28 page)

‘No. I like my job. It’s just the pay that’s the problem.’ He frowned. ‘Never mind though.’ Dismissively, he waved a hand. ‘I have your DVD still; I’ll go get it.’ He ran to the snug and double-checked it was in its case, then returned to Tom and handed him
Big Fish.

‘Thank you.’

‘So,’ Nick began cautiously, ‘are you happy to talk in here? Oh, and do you want to talk about everything that happened today?’

‘Yeah, we can talk in here. But I need to get this off my chest, so let’s talk about today’s crazy events afterwards.’ Tom sat down at the small kitchen table. It wobbled as he tried to rest his elbows on it.

After running himself a glass of water from the tap, Nick offered his brother a drink. Tom politely said no, and so Nick joined him at the table, sipping his drink and waiting.

‘I’ve been dating Michael for a few months now,’ Tom said without preamble.

Liquid choked in Nick’s throat, making him cough. ‘Michael Welding, my colleague at Creaky Crystals?’ he asked through a raspy voice.

‘Yeah.’ Tom avoided eye contact and looked down at the table.

 It was a shock, not a bad one, but unexpected. Nick definitely didn’t have the art of being non-judgemental, seeing as he’d stereotyped Michael as a typical pretty boy, and in turn a heterosexual. Also, Tom had only recently broke away from mimicking his twin, so Nick had mostly overlooked that he was his own person, evidently interested in different things to Tommy.

Tom looked up slowly, his eyes reddening. ‘You’re not freaked out are you?’

‘No. Not in the slightest.’ Nick shook his head emphatically. ‘But I am shocked that Michael’s gay!’ He laughed.

Tom noticeably relaxed, and gave an apparently-accidental snort in agreement. ‘I think he was surprised at himself too. We haven’t told anyone else.’

‘Does he know you’re telling me? I don’t want it to be awkward at work now.’

‘Yeah. I texted him to let him know I’m telling you tonight. He said you’re nice to him at work and he hopes you’re cool with it.’

‘I might pretend to shun him now. Make him feel awkward.’

Tom cracked up with laughter, and then so did Nick. ‘No! Don’t do that, Nick.’

When they both stopped laughing, and a subtle quiet had grown upon them, Nick asked, ‘Are you planning on telling Dad and Tommy?’ He imagined Tommy’s reaction, and it wasn’t pleasant. Tommy didn’t seem the type to understand, but then, Nick had already made a good few false presumptions so far.

‘Errm, I don’t think Tommy’s going to be cool about it. We shared a bedroom for years and we used to talk about women together and stuff. He’ll be weirded out I think.’

‘Hmm.’ Nick wasn’t sure what to say.

‘And Dad never asks us about our relationships at all. You know him; he doesn’t talk about sex or anything like that. It would be awkward to tell him.’ He slanted his mouth into a fed-up smile.

‘You’ll have to tell them at some point though. If you and Michael are serious, they are going to find out eventually and it’s better to hear it from you. I’m not saying this to put pressure on you, but if you don’t tell them, then I have to lie to them about it too ... if they get suspicious.’

Tom looked a bit indignant at his older brother’s analysis, but then he sighed. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think about that.’ He paused, looked around. ‘I’ll tell them soon.’

‘Okay. If they are weird about it you can always move in here for a while. I hardly use the living room, so it’s spare,’ Nick suggested without much thought.

A fleeting look on Tom’s face worried him, a look of intrigue, like he had quickly calculated something in his mind. Nick already regretted the passing offer of letting his brother move in. He could barely afford to support himself.

‘Thank you, Nick. I’ll keep it in mind after I’ve told them.’

Tom stood up and ran a glass of water. Nick watched the way he did it as if it was
his
home.
You’ve not moved in yet!
he joked in his mind, partially bitter. Then he made an effort to stop worrying about it and to feel good instead.

A smile came to his face. It was pleasant to know that Tom trusted him with such a secret. This was certainly a new level of friendship with his brother. Tom sat down again and gulped his drink in one go.

Nick asked, ‘How do you feel about the whole Mum thing? And everything that happened today?’

‘It’s going to take me a while to stop thinking about how she died. But I don’t know. She was already out of our lives. I’d given up hope years ago. I don’t feel any grief, only anger. The thing I can’t get my head around is what Aldrich could do with his eyes.’

I could tell Tom.
He considered letting his brother know about the visions, but decided against it. As desperate as he was to tell someone, he didn’t want to burden his family with it. It was mostly just annoying that the one person he’d shared his secret with wasn’t going to be around for him now.

‘Yeah, I don’t understand it either,’ he said wearily.

‘Maybe hypnotism?’ Tom replied. ‘Psychology or science might be able to explain it somehow.’ He shrugged his shoulders and left it at that.

‘Do you think Tommy’s going to be alright?’ asked Nick.

After compressing his lips, Tom said, ‘I don’t know. He killed a man. I’ll keep an eye on him … but I just don’t know …’

‘Well, he didn’t seem that guilt-ridden earlier, after he’d done it.’

Giving an unimpressed look, as if his older brother was being too harsh, Tom said, ‘But, Nick … he’s
Tommy
. He’s not going to let himself look vulnerable in front of us.’

I suppose
. ‘But did he do it on purpose? You were there, weren’t you? Did he kill Aldrich as soon as he found out about Mum?’

Tom sighed. ‘That’s the thing. I don’t actually know. After Tommy took off the blindfold, Aldrich told us how … how he had killed Mum. Then I felt him inside my head again. It was horrible. I had to close my eyes and shake my head to try to push him away.’ He closed his eyes now and shook his head, as if re-enacting the moment. ‘Then when I opened my eyes, he was gone. I think he must have forced me or Tommy to untie him. And then you and Juliet returned, which was when Aldrich took control of her. After you and Tommy chased him into the woods, Juliet ran off too, and I was left alone. But Tommy returned shortly after, looking furious and worn out. Next thing I knew, Aldrich was trying to get in my head again, but this time it was different. I could feel Aldrich’s distress. Then when I opened my eyes, Tommy had already stabbed him ... and I saw the life leaving his eyes.’

Nick couldn’t, and didn’t want to, imagine what Tom had seen. But he considered his brother’s words about feeling Aldrich’s distress. After Nick had taunted the child-murderer about his false god and then whacked him around the head with a branch, Aldrich had gone running in manic tears.
That must have been the grief that Tom felt.

‘So Aldrich might have used his ability on Tommy to make him do it?’ Nick asked.

‘He could have. I don’t know for certain, because after you dropped us home earlier, Tommy gloated about killing him, and I had to remind him not to let Dad overhear what we were talking about. But I think it’s just his way of coping.’

‘Do you think he did it?’

Tom huffed in what seemed like wry amusement. ‘I honestly don’t know. But either way, I’m glad Aldrich’s dead. He deserved to die for what he did to Mum.’

Not just to Mum; he ruined more lives than you can imagine,
thought Nick, but he said, ‘I’m just glad we know the truth now. Though, I’m nervous about telling Dad.’ He sighed. ‘But hopefully, as long as Ryan does what he promised, we’ll be fine.’

‘Yeah, about that … although I didn’t say anything at the time, Nick, I feel really uneasy that you lot agreed to let a stranger cover up for us. As grim as it would have been, we should have done it ourselves. Do you actually think we can trust him?’

Nick gave an exasperated laugh. ‘Well, I don’t think we had as much choice as you seem to think. The guy had a shotgun within reach, so I wasn’t about to tell him I didn’t trust him.’

‘But Juliet accused him of murder … or was it of getting Aldrich to kill on his behalf?’

‘I know she did. And she also said he was in a relationship with her best friend. You heard what he was like; he sounded obsessed with the girl. So I don’t think he’s going to screw us over.’ Nick began to feel annoyed.
What’s the point of worrying about it now? It’s done
. Trying to reassure his brother, he added, ‘Wouldn’t you feel indebted to the people who freed you from someone like Aldrich?’

Tom looked at Nick as if he were painfully gullible. ‘That’s if he
did
hate working for him. He could have been lying.’

‘Well, I don’t know.’ Exaggerating, Nick threw up his arms in mock frustration. ‘We’ll just have to see what happens.’

They talked for a while longer and eventually moved on to lighter subjects. Tom spoke about quitting college. He’d only picked Construction because Tommy had, but now he couldn’t stand it. He mentioned that Michael was on the same course, but that his boyfriend enjoyed it and wanted to continue.

While Tom spoke of Michael, Nick could see the love in his eyes and chided himself for the jealousy that rose in him; jealousy over Tom having someone special, when somehow Nick had screwed up his chances with Juliet.

His envy was pathetic, so he brushed it off.
I’m happy for Tom and Michael. I am.

During their conversation, it began to rain outside. A heavy downpour. Nick hoped it would wash away any footprints or evidence of him and the others having been on Aldrich’s land. 

It reached ten o’clock in the evening, and Nick stretched a look at the dusty kitchen clock. He yawned and apologised to Tom.

‘No, it’s my fault. I didn’t realise it was so late. I’ll get going.’

Nick didn’t protest, but he reminded his brother he would be coming over soon so they could all speak to their dad together. Tom showed himself out while Nick waddled to his bedroom and slid into bed.

Sleep took him fast.

*

Getting up the next day was a problem. His body was stiff, his bruises swollen in places, and ordinary movements sent pain up and down him.

He got ready for work as fast as his injuries allowed, then left the house. On the way, he walked stoically through the lower grounds and sighed at how plain it looked now Halloween was over. Of course he’d already seen it this dull after Halloween before, but today it seemed drabber than ever.

Soon the stores would decorate for Christmas, and lights would go up in the streets. Some shops had already started advertising Yule and Winter Solstice products, aimed at local Pagans. All eight Sabbats (or festivals) were celebrated on Lansin Island to some extent, but none as hyped up as Samhain, due to commercialism and tourism.  

Nick reached Creaky Crystals just on time, as his limited movement had slowed him. The other staff didn’t seem to notice his physical discomfort, which was good, and for a while he kept to himself.

Michael started an hour after Nick and had avoided eye contact since arriving. Nick went over to him, tapped his shoulder, pulled a disapproving face, and said, ‘You deceitful git.’ He shook his head, but started to laugh.

‘Are you alright with it then?’ Michael slurred, awkwardly looking anywhere but at Nick’s face.

‘Of course I am. I’m happy for both of you.’ He smiled. ‘You’re probably the two nicest guys I know, and you’re well suited for each other.’

Michael’s shoulders came down and he breathed out with a low laugh. ‘Thanks, Nick. I really like him.’

‘From the way he spoke about you last night, I think he really likes you too.’

Nick thought about Juliet again and frowned inside. Then images of Aldrich’s dead body came to mind and he remembered the glimmering portal. It was jarringly surreal to compare the previous day to this normal workday. He dismissed the thoughts. What was done was done.

Maybe Juliet would contact him in the future.
Doubtful. She never wants to see me again, and I don’t exactly blame her.

‘Where’s Alan today?’ Michael asked.

With a sudden tightness in his chest, Nick panicked that Alan was meant to be at work. ‘I haven’t seen him, and I only said a quick hello to Mora and Janet.’

‘Oh. He’s meant to be in today.’

Michael smiled at Nick then shuffled over to a customer. Apparently he hadn’t noticed the light bruises and scratches on Nick’s neck, and hopefully nobody else would either.

Nick found Mora and asked her why Alan wasn’t in.

‘I don’t know, Nicolas. He didn’t call to let me know he was having the day off, and I can’t get through to his mobile. I’ll try him again later.’ She twisted up her mouth into a worried expression, and her green eyes shifted thoughtfully. ‘It’s not like him.’

‘I’m sure he’s got a good reason,’ Nick replied, purely because he didn’t know what else to say. He wished Alan would never come back, after what he’d done to him, but he also felt sorry for Mora who was too trusting and oblivious to it all.

He imagined how awful it would be if the police burst in at any moment and arrested him, or if someone showed up with news about the owner of Grendel Manor being murdered or mysteriously disappearing. But nothing did happen. For some unknown reason, he trusted Ryan to clean up the evidence.

Later on, a handsome blonde-haired guy entered Creaky Crystals. He was tall and toned and everything he wore was designer. He glanced around the store in a way that only a confident man would, his chin high, his lips pursed, his eyes serious, and he found who he was looking for. ‘Nick, buddy. How you doing, man?’

‘Fin, what are you doing here? I thought you had a contract in London.’ Nick couldn’t help but smile as he hurried to hug his best friend. Fin squeezed him tight, too tightly in fact; Nick winced to ignore his painful bruises, and Fin slapped him on the back a few times for good, friendly measure.

‘Yeah, buddy, I’ve still got the contract. They’ve paid me half upfront. I’m literally rolling in it!’ he said loudly with a winsome smile. ‘And I’ve got a couple of months to give them the finished plans, so no big rush. I went out to survey the areas a couple of days ago. I’m going again soon, man.’