Nightmare - Secret Identities Book 1

Chapter 16

Roman's POV

As I laid in bed early the next morning, I couldn't bring myself to focus on the lovely man with his head on my chest.  Something wasn't sitting right with the story I'd been told thus far.

Slowly, I got up, easing Virgil onto a pillow.

He stirred but didn't wake.

I sat down at my desk, turning on my computer.  Quickly, before Virgil got a chance to wake up, I began looking into news articles from two years ago.

Vigilante Named Nightmare Terrorizes City

Nightmare Attacks Everyone After Fight

The second article title caught my eye.  When I'd first been told about that night, Beth had mentioned such a thing; at the time, I hadn't thought much of it.  I clicked on the link.

Nightmare Attacks Everyone After Fight

We all want to know what happened the night that our lovely city went to hell.  Many people will never be the same, and we have no explanation for that.  The police only blame the hero we all thought we could trust, Raven, though that name doesn't really suit him anymore; Nightmare is more apt after what he did.  Here's the question, though: why?  Why, after three years of helping us, did he turn on us like it was nothing?

There have been a few theories floating around, but I offer more than a theory; I offer fact that will, hopefully, tie everything into a neat bow.

October 13th was a normal Friday.  People woke up.  They went to work or school.  Come night, they went home to their loved ones, or maybe to the high school football game.  They hung out with friends, family, or both.  Perhaps they had no one; perhaps they went to the closest bar to drown their sorrows.  Does that mean they got what they deserved?

No.  No one deserves to see what we saw—our worst nightmares.  That doesn't answer the question.  What happened on October 13th that made Raven brake the bond he'd formed with us?  So far, there's only one person that can even begin to answer such a query.

Deceit.  Raven, before he went dark, was fighting Deceit.  Deceit's a shapeshifting villain, or he was.  During the battle, he was defeated, as we all would have expected by now.  However, Deceit, in the form of a snake, wounded Raven in a final attempt at "justice," so he claims, by infecting Raven with a poison.  Deceit—trapped somewhere between serpent and human—was quickly apprehended by any police still fit for duty.  No one's seen Raven; they hadn't heard the story you've just been told.  Deceit wouldn't tell anyone.

Deceit's name is Janus—Janus Pearce.

I stared at the screen for a second, then glanced over my shoulder at Virgil, who slept soundly. 'Pearce.'  As in...?  Does Virgil have a brother?  I kept reading.

When Nightmare—because at that point, it was too late for him to be Raven—was infected, Pearce says he seemed to lash out, possessing the minds of everyone in the city and surrounding suburbs.  When he got into Pearce's head, he messed with the Paragon's powers, deactivating them and leaving Pearce in a mutated state—half-snake, half-human.

Nightmare is one to be feared, yes; I do not argue against that.  However, I also believe that the tale of that night is a cautionary one—that these supers are dangerous.  If they can take down others of their kind so simply, what's stopping them from conquering us?

I sat back in my chair.  Nightmare knew Deceit—really knew him—from before he was a villain; he'd told me just that.  Does that mean he knows Virgil?

Stirring behind me pulled my attention and I quickly closed the tab, pulling up lesson plans to pretend like I'd been working.

Bare feet padded on the floor, and Virgil leaned over my shoulder, kissing my cheek.  "What're ya' doin'?"

"Working."  I spun around, grabbed him by the hips, and pulled him into my lap.  I tried not to let the scars on his chest bother me as I looked into his eyes.

"Well, 'good morning' to you, too," Virge chuckled.

I took my left hand and brought it up to his face, my eyes dancing between his own.  "Virgil..."  I rubbed his cheek.

He smiled nervously.  "Whoa, everything okay?"  Slowly, he began worming his way off of my lap.

I hooked my right arm around his waist.  "I love you."

He smiled and shook his head.  "I love you, too, you dork."