The Midnight Within

Chapter 22

Zakk watched Daniel sleep, wondering what was going on behind his closed eyes. The way he had trashed around earlier seemed to indicate that something bad was chasing him in his dreams and although he wanted to sleep some more he couldn't. His mind raced with to many questions until he slipped from the bed, careful not to wake Daniel as he quietly opened the bedroom door. He padded down the hall, taking note of how quiet the house was. His mother and brother must be out. In the kitchen he pulled out the pots and pans he would need. He was free to make as big a mess as he wanted as long as it was cleaned up by the time they got back.Cooking had always been Zakk's passion, his first love. He had harbored dreams of moving to the Big Easy and becoming a chef since he was five. He even kept a small black and white photo in his locker at school, taken out of some cooking magazine. Their names were forgotten, but he knew they were not only a committed couple, they also ran some of the best restaurants in, New Orleans. He tried not to think about why Daniel had shown up at the house the way he had. Or why Mia had cut and dyed his hair, not that he didn't like it. Had Daniel gone straight to her house and asked her to cut his hair? It didn't seem likely and what else did they do? And why did he feel so damned uneasy about it. It was no secret that Daniel had a mad crush on Mia. It didn't mean that they had monkey sex on the bathroom floor . Even if they had, Zakk had no right to be mad about it. Either way it had worked out in his favor, which made him damned happy.Cracking eggs into the frying pan he began to hum The Beautiful People. He was going to make them a huge breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and a mound of greasy bacon. It would be the best breakfast he had ever made, and maybe he could get Daniel to go into the cities with him. They could spend the day at the Mall Of America, getting lost in the crowds of shoppers, eating cheese curds and riding the carousel until they felt sick. Zakk never tired of embarrassing Daniel by going into the Hello Kitty store and asking them if they had any vibrators yet.Zakk grinned as he stirred the eggs, glanced up at the TV and was floored to see the Breaking News headline and Nick's smiling face. They soon cut to a shot of their house and the swarm of police out front. With shaking fingers he turned up the volume as the blond news lady said something about a murder investigation. Shock flooded his system as he turned around to stare at the kitchen doorway. He would probably have jumped ten feet in the air had Daniel suddenly appeared. So something had happened last night.In shock Zakk set the spatula down on the counter and fell heavily into the nearest chair. He knew without a doubt that Daniel would never kill anyone on purpose, then again Nick had been a dick to Daniel. Had things finally come to a head? And what did Mia know?Was that the reason she had cut and dyed his hair? He didn't think he wanted to know, all he did know at that moment, was that he needed to get Daniel out of his house, ASAP.Daniel was half awake and wanting nothing more than to roll over and burrow back under the warm blankets, when Zakk came into the bedroom looking pissed. Pinpricks of pain stabbed into his temple as he sat up with an almost guilty smile on his face." Morning, " He said, fighting off a wave of nausea." We need to talk. " Zakk picked up Daniel's shirt, tossing it at him. " You have ten minutes " He tried not to be angry but it was hard not to be when Daniel had kept something so important from him.Daniel sighed and rubbed at his face. " Ok, Zakky. Can I grad something to eat? " He thought Zakk was kicking him out as he swung his legs out from under the covers." Your plate is in the microwave. " Zakk's voice was icy as he turned around and walked out of the room, leaving Daniel alone with his hangover and a few disjointed memories of the previous night. He forced himself out of bed, walked quickly down the hall to the bathroom for a quick shower. The hot water felt good on his chilled skin and helped to clear his head a little. Once out of the shower he found some aspirin, dry-swallowed them and got dressed.In the kitchen he found his plate right where Zakk said it would be, Zakk on the other hand was not in the house. Knowing Zakk, Daniel stuck his head out the back door and found his friend pacing and smoking in the back yard. Sitting down on the steps he drank down half a cup of cooling coffee before taking a bite of toast." What's up? " He said, as Zakk turned to look at him with a very unhappy face." You tell me? What the hell happened last night? "" Does it matter? " Daniel shot back, confused by how angry Zakk sounded. Was he still mad about their fight? Or something else?Zakk's jaw dropped open. " You don't know, do you? " And by the look on Daniels face he truly had no clue that Nick was dead." What the fuck are you talking about? "" Look, I don't know what went down last night and I don't want to know but, Nick is dead and they think you did it. "The fork full of eggs stopped mid air as Daniel's midnight eyes grew huge. He slowly set the fork on top of the eggs, lowering the plate down for the dog and began to rock back and forth with his head in his hands." Oh shit, Zakky. I really killed him? " He groaned into his hands. " Are you sure? How do you know? "" It's all over the news, your fucking trending man! "" Oh fuck. We had a fight and he fell and I thought he was out and just wanted to get the hell out of there. I picked Jessie up and took her to Pat's house and then over to Mia's. "Zakk joined Daniel on the stairs. He wanted to comfort him, to make this all a bad dream." So you didn't know you killed him? " He felt slightly better knowing it was not done intentionally." He was going to smash my head in with the bat, I took it away, hit him in the gut and he fell back...What the hell am I going to do? " The nausea returned full force as Daniel got to his feet. He managed to stagger back inside, making it only to the sink before everything came back up. Nick must have hit his head on the large pyramid that his mom had gotten him from her last trip to Vegas." I really killed him? " He looked at Zakk, misery etched across his face." Maybe you should talk to the cops. "" No way! I am not going to be locked up. They will throw the book at me, you know how many friends that asshat had. I'm fucked. "" Maybe not. " Zakk said, closing the door behind him. He thought he had a plan that would by them some time and make his wish to escape Disdain a reality. " Grab your hoodie, I think I know where you can go."" I can't go anywhere." Daniel swiped at his eyes." I told you I have an idea. So shut up and get ready." Zakk grabbed the keys for the Stanger. It was early enough that not many people would be on the streets. They just needed to get going before anyone showed up.