Dove Sport

Chapter Three: Into the Fire

Nicholas Danielov woke up and immediately wished he was still asleep. his head felt like a hammer was being smashed around inside of it To most people his age, he was behaving typically for a rich young man whose school year hadn't yet started. Only, the existential dread Nicholas felt was only partially related to his impending homework and exams.

Rolling out of bed, Nick discarded his silky pajamas in a pile on the floor and redressed himself in a simple pair of jeans and a short sleeved t-shirt. Despite it being September, the weather was still pleasant enough outside that he knew he's be sorry if he dressed warmer. His roommate, Mason Dare, had arrived in the dorms late last night after a delayed flight from his family's home in the Bahamas and was curled under a quilt on his mattress, still sound asleep. Nick wished he was Mason.

He slipped into the bathroom and brushed his hair and teeth. When he was done, Nick stared at himself in the mirror for a minute and wondered how he'd let it get this bad.

The conversation he'd had recently with his father in rushed Bulgarian was surely to blame, but Nick had a sinking feeling that his troubles this year were only begining. The first steps of his father's plan would be put into motion today.  A glance at his watch told him it was already 8 o'clock in the morning and he knew that Doveport High's first bells rang at 8:30.

***

Nick's father, Vasil, resided in Bulgaria with his associates. He allowed his wife and Nicholas to live abroad so long as they still answered to him. Nick's mother, Ivanka, was in New York at the moment and checked in more frequently on him than his father.

Three nights ago, the day Nick had arrived in Doveport and unpacked his things into his dorm room, his phone had begun to ring. At first glance, he'd seen that the number was foreign and had assumed it was his mother checking he had arrived safely. He had been wrong.

"Nicholas." The man on the phone said. The voice sent a shiver down his spine and forced him to stand up straight even though he was alone.

"Bashta," Nick replied evenly in Bulgarian, Father. "I didn't know you would call."

"Do I need permission?" His father asked, voice gravelly from years of smoking and drinking.

"Of course not, I was just surprised is all." Nick said quickly, biting his tongue to keep from asking why his father was calling him at what was- he checked his watch- very early in the motherland.

"I am planning a new development in the states, you and your mother will be involved." His father declared. He did not ask for Nick nor his mother's opinions on being involved. No, that was not how Vasil operated. He was old-fashioned and he did things the way his father and grandfather had. "I have already informed her." Idly, Nick wondered how that had gone. The last time he had seen his mother in person she'd been bent over the countertop of her New York penthouse nursing a glass of vodka and fighting her tremors. He wondered how lucid she was nowadays when she only had to interact with her husband over the phone.

"What do you need me to do, Bashta? " Nick asked, and he had listened while his father explained what would be needed and what role he would play.

***

Nick's father was a real estate mogul. He owned properties all over the world, some of them resorts, some of them luxury apartments, all of them expensive as hell. Being a small town, Doveport had relatively cheap housing prices and since last summer, Vasil Danielov had been buying up every property he could in the town. He planned to develop them into pricey vacation homes for the wealthy parents of students at Edgewood to frequent. It was a good plan and from a business standpoint, Nick knew it would be good for his family.