Daniel quickly handed Nick the presents and pulled Nick back to the couch where Caitlyn and Katerina were sitting. As soon as Nick approached, they scooted aside as if they didn't want to sit near him. Nick stopped as he saw their actions. As subtle as they were trying to be, Nick immediately felt the repulsion. His body froze a few feet in front of the couch and he backed away. "Umm, I don't want to disturb you," he said, feeling uneasy about the whole situation.
Daniel tried to ease the tension. "No, no, Nick. You already missed supper. Don't tell me you're going to miss this too. Which reminds me, have you eaten yet?"
"Yes," Nick lied automatically, but his body betrayed him as little very low, rumble left his stomach. He had not eaten anything substantial all day.
Andy laughed. "Couldn't have fooled us! We left a lot of food for you. All you have to do is open those gifts and then you'll get food! Deal?" Andy looked at Nick expectantly and saw that Nick's muscles were slowly relaxing.
Chad also laughed. "Don't tell us you don't have the energy to do even that!"
Nick smiled. "I have energy," he replied without hostility.
Daniel patted Nick on the back. "Then show it."
Nick looked at the couch where Caitlyn and Katerina sat, their eyes having lost a little disdain. He gently sat down on the couch and slowly opened the gifts. All eyes were locked on his form. He tried to remain as poised as possible even though his arm was still sore from the gun shot. He had bandaged it pretty well, but he still hoped that no blood would ooze out. The last thing he wanted was for them to question him.
Within seconds, he had done away with the wrapping of a clumsily wrapped box. He opened the box to reveal a book.
"That's our gift!" Chad exclaimed excitedly. "We thought you might need it."
Nick smiled with embarrassment. "108 Ways to Get the Girl of Your Dreams" was the title. "It's a little late, but I still like it," he replied earnestly.
"Yeah, we know that you already have a girlfriend, but seriously Nick, we have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that you DO HAVE a GIRLFRIEND," Rick smiled genuinely, coming over to pat Nick on the back.
"Hey, open the other two gifts!" Andy called out to Nick.
Nick looked to his side where Daniel had placed the other two. One gift was wrapped in silk. It looked very beautifully wrapped. He felt shame unwrapping it, but he picked it up. Slowly, he undid the beautiful lavender ribbon and the layer of silk easily fell of the present. Inside was a glass box. Nick held his breath, marveling the beauty of the gift.
Inside the glass box was a series of beautifully sculpted figures. The figures seemed to be sculpted from glass. There were three in all, but they were beautiful. Nick opened the glass case that surrounded the figures and took each out, holding them carefully. One was a dragon. One was a little boy and girl holding hands. And one was a rose.
Nick couldn't take his eyes off the rose. It was beautiful, chaste.
"Guess who bought you what!" Chad said excitedly. "The girls each bought you one."
Nick looked at the girls carefully, surprised that the gift was from them. But when he looked, he saw a little indignation mixed with an emotion he couldn't quite understand. Nick started feeling the tears well in his eye again, but he held them back. "The dragon is from Caitlyn. The little boy and girl is from Katerina. And the rose is from Elisa." He answered quietly.
All four guys bursted out laughing while the girls stared at Nick in hostility, crossing their arms over their chests. Even the adults-Daniel and his wife and Rob Rochester and his wife-tried to contain their laughter.
"You suck, Nick!" Michael was the first to say something. "You missed all three! You're gonna get it tonight. Those three girls will tear your skin off!"
Nick smiled sheepishly. "That was just a little practice." He gazed at the girls. "The dragon is from Elisa. The little boy and girl is from Caitlyn. And the rose is from Katerina." Nick said.
All laughing stopped as they stared strangely at Nick. "Am I right?" Nick asked, knowing that he was very accurate.
"Correct," Katerina said softly, staring at Nick. Nick returned her gaze for a while until he felt uncomfortable and looked away. Katerina didn't look away though. That was the first time she had stared at his face so intenly and his blue eyes looked hypnotizing. She felt strange for the first time in her life. The way she saw through his soul was refreshing, but terrifying as well.
But no one had noticed the odd exchange since it passed by so quickly. Daniel chuckled. "You scared everyone, Nick. Now are you going to open my gift? Your aunt and I," Daniel pointed to his wife, "also spent time finding you one today."
Nick looked to the last gift. It was plain and neat, just like Daniel Brooks himself. Nick picked the gift up and gazed at it. He quickly undid the wrapping and nearly fell over from what he saw. It was a pair of silk pajamas. Nick didn't remember a time when he blushed, but now, he started to feel the heat rise in his cheeks.
Everybody laughed at his childish reaction. Daniel smiled. "The kids here told me that you slumbered in your evening attire last night so I figure I would take the liberties to supply you with proper sleeping attire. I hope you're not too disappointed, Nick."
Nick became even redder at the reply. "No, sir," he replied softly. But inside, he felt dizzy from joy. The presents were just touching and beautiful. It took him all his will to contain himself.
"All right, kids, let's let Nick eat." Daniel ordered. With that, everyone stood up. Nick got up quickly, too and was about to refuse Daniel's offer. Unfortunately, the adults had already entered the dining hall, chatting comfortably amongst themselves.
Nick turned to grab his gifts when Rick came up to him. "Don't worry Nick.. Just leave them there. They won't crawl away." He laughed.
"Yeah Nick. You'll still have your pajamas by bedtime!" Andy chimed in.
With that, Nick smiled and headed for the dining hall behind the Andy and Rick. Just when he was about to enter the door, someone bumped into him and the two fell into the dining hall together.
"Sorry," he heard a voice. He looked around to see Chad.
Before he could reply, someone yelled out. "Hey, you guys are under the mistletoe!" The room became louder as the teenagers began to talk and laugh. Nick didn't know what all the fuss is about. He looked at them strangely and continued to walk into the dining hall when he heard Chad say, "Gladly." Before he knew to step aside, he felt a pair of arms around his head, pulling him forward. He resisted a little and felt Chad's wet lips on his forehead.
"You are disgusting, all of you guys!" Caitlyn screamed in indignation. Nick smiled as the girls began to lose their hostility. He looked over to see Chad smirking triumphantly at the other four guys who were bottled up in laughter. Nick raised his hand to his forehead to wipe the saliva off, feeling a little disgusted himself. Luckily, it happened so fast that he didn't have the chance to experience it completely.
Nick sat on the porch gazing out into the night sky. It was so beautiful. The night was clear and he could see the stars glittering. Beside him, all the other teenagers sat, looking bored. After supper, he had decided to breathe a little fresh air and digest the food. The moment he started for the door, all seven teenagers were right on his trail. Soon, the adults followed. It was as if they didn't want him to leave their sight. He sighed.
Nick leaned his head on the railing when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Daniel, who had left his wife's side to sit next to Nick. "You don't mind?"
Nick shook his head. "No."
"Are you feeling well? Was the food good?" Daniel started.
"Yes. Thank you."
They sat like that for an hour. Finally, everyone got up to go in and rest. Rob Rochester and his wife decided to stay for the night with their children. This time, Daniel had urged the kids to let Nick sleep properly on his bed. To his relief, the children yielded easily and all rested in Caitlyn's room.
Nick barely stepped into his room when his cell phone rang. He knew it was Urgof. Quickly, he answered, "Yes?"
"Nick, I need to talk to you now." There was a sense of urgency in Urgof's voice.
"Go ahead," Nick replied softly, trying to keep his voice down so that the others wouldn't hear him from across the hall.
"I would rather talk to you in person. I'm here."
"Where?" Nick asked, finding it strange that Urgof was probably very close by. What did he need to talk to Nick about that he had to fly 2000 miles to meet him in person.
"On the bridge, near the stream, behind the Brooks mansion." Urgof replied and turned off the phone.
Nick sighed again. This whole day had been surreal. The flow of events were wearing his mind down. He quickly went to the bathroom and turned the shower on, knowing full well that tonight, those teenagers wouldn't walk in a second time. But he had to make sure. Then, he walked to the window and looked out. His room was a little far from the ground, but he could manage.
He jumped slid the windows open and climbed out. Then he climbed out and let go, falling neatly onto the ground. He looked around and tried to plan the safest route to the stream. Then, as swiftly as he could, he ran off into the night, into a meeting that would set the tone for the rest of the case, for the rest of his life.