The Worst Summer Ever

29: Nicholae's Secret

"Look at me, I can fly!" Nicholae cried, jumping off the sofa.

"Nicholae stop," Daniel cried, and Nicholae laughed. Nicholae was the most immature of the Kinsbergs, and he loved annoying his siblings.

"When am I going to reach puberty?" Bora asked, sniffling.

"You will die before you can!" Nicholae yelled, glad he was fourteen.

"I dare you to trash the Smith's house," Daniel said to Nicholae. They both had a game where they would dare each other.

"Guys, these dares could get you into a lot of trouble," Kaito informed them, his nose in a math textbook.

"Shut up, loser!" Nicholae said, throwing a pebble at Kaito. "I'll trash their house tonight!"

Night came faster than Nicholae could imagine, and he set out for his journey. The Smith's were a poor family who were nothing but trouble. Nicholae had gotten into several fights with the Smith brothers. They were all hunting do this was the perfect chance. Nicholae took out a bucket of black paint and painted the words BLOOD on the walls of the house. He laughed as he smashed all of their furniture. He was glad he wasn't as poor as the Smiths; that would suck.

"Nicholae, what are you doing?" a voice, and Nicholae jumped. His mother was walking towards the cottage in a fancy red dress.

Oh shit, I'm dead! Nicholae thought. He gave a guilty smile and said, "Who would have thought that we would find each other here?"

"You did this, didn't you?" Mrs.Kinsberg snapped, grabbing his arm tightly.

"Can you let me go?" Nicholae asked.

"No, because you are going to have to pay," Mrs.Kinsberg snapped, flashing a look of hatred that sent Nicholae chills.

******

"Nicholae, what happened to you?" Daniel asked. "Were you able to do the dare?"

Nicholae looked at the mirror. He looked like hell. His shirt was buttoned all wrong, there was mud all over his pant, and he had lost his tie. Tears spilled down Nicholae's eyes.

"I don't think I'll ever do a dare again," he said rather quietly which was unlike Nicholae.

"Wow, Nicholae. What happened to you?" Felix asked. "You smell like...death."

"Come to think of it, you look like you got kidnapped but somehow escaped," Daniel said. "Tell us the details!"

Nicholae burst out crying, and he left the room. He ran to his father's office and opened the door without knocking.

"Dad!" He cried, running to his father.

"Nicholae?" Mr. Kinsberg said, getting up from his desk. "What is going on?"

Nicholae just stood there crying.

"Do you want to take a bath first and then talk?" Mr.Kinsberg asked, looking at Nicholae's muddy outfit.

"I just got raped by mom!" Nicholae cried. "I don't know what to do; I'm scared!"

Nicholae began to sob, and his father walked to him. Nicholae expected him to hug him, but instead, Mr. Kinsberg slapped Nicholae hard across the face. Nicholae flew across the room.

"If you don't stop crying right now, I will cut out your eyes!" Mr.Kinsberg screamed, and Nicholae was so shocked, he stopped crying.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?" Mr.Kinsberg said. "You think you are so cute with your dimples and big, blue eyes, don't you?"

"What?" Nicholae asked.

"There is no way my wife would do something like that," Mr.Kinsberg said, grabbing Nicholae and throwing him across the room. Blood gushed out of Nicholae's nose.

"I bet you seduced her," Mr.Kinsberg said. "I'm going to make sure you lose your good looks."

Nicholae screamed, running out of the room. He couldn't help but cry again. Didn't his parents love him? He felt like the life he was living was a lie. All of those memories of him and his family fishing, cooking, and laughing were all a lie. Nicholae may have been a brat this morning, but now he felt like an adult. As he was running across the hallway, he realized that he was going to run away. He was going to run until he found a family that actually loved him.

Suddenly. Mr.Kinsberg's hand grabbed Nicholae's shirt, and he threw him across the stair railing. Nicholae screamed as he crashed into the first floor, his skull immediately cracking in half.

******

"Oh my god, that is horrible," I said, hugging Nicholae. "I thought that Kaito had a bad past, but yours was worse."

"You don't need to pity me," Nicholae said. "It was two hundred years ago. Oh darling, are you crying for me?"

I hadn't realized that a few tears had slipped down my face.

"You know, you are the first one that I ever told to about what happened," Nicholae said, wiping my tears with his fingers.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," I promised, and then I sighed. "I feel like the worst person in the world."

"Why?"

I looked at him sadly. "Because, Nicholae my dear, I am in love with three different men at the same time."