Nightmare - Secret Identities Book 1

Chapter 6

Roman's POV

I sat on the bed in Patton and Logan's apartment.  The pain was gone, and, now, I was just confused.  Logan had disappeared a while ago, and I was left alone with my thoughts.

That headache—it felt unnatural.  That was Nightmare, right?  That's just a taste of what he did to everyone in the city.

Patton peeked his head into the room.  "You have questions.  We'll try to answer them."

I stood up and my head spun, but I pushed the dizziness down.  I followed Patton out.

Nightmare stood in the center of the room.  His black cape was wrapped around his shoulders like a child's blanket.  His cheeks were wet, shining in the light, and his stare was blank as he watched me enter.  In a shaky, weak voice, he said, "Hey."

That pissed me off.  "Don't 'hey' me.  What the fuck did you do?"  My body went still suddenly; I couldn't move—couldn't even breathe.

His eyes glowed purple, and he observed me without emotion.  "Don't ever speak to me that way again."

Logan grabbed his shoulder.  "Stop.  You'll regret this later, and you know it."

Nightmare released me, and I sagged, gasping for air.  I growled, "You..."

"Don't."  His voice broke.  "Please.  I don't wanna hurt you."

"Then start explaining."

He sat down on the couch behind him, his head in his hands.

Patton whispered in his ear, then took Logan's hand and walked out.

He met my eyes, though only briefly before looking down at his hands... or perhaps something beyond.  "I told you I can't control it; that's not entirely true, but it's also not a lie.  Physical abilities are a lot easier to control in times of... high stress than mental abilities.  The problem is that most of mine are mental, and I am very high-stress."  He laughed dryly.

"Two years ago?"

"Wow, two years.  Has it really been that long?"  He fell backward, staring at the ceiling instead.  "I lost my shit, that's for sure."

I stepped closer, but my legs froze; just my legs this time.

He didn't look at me.  "I really, really don't want to hurt you."

I shook my head.  "You won't."  I managed another step despite him.

Nightmare's purple eyes glowed brighter as he finally looked at me again.  "You don't know that."

A few more steps.  "I trust you."

His eyes faded back to darkness, the lack of force pushing on me causing me to fall forward slightly.  He stared at me and cocked his head to the side.  "Why?"

I thought about it.  He reminded me of someone; I just couldn't put my finger on it.  "I don't know," I responded, "but I'm sure I'm right."  I sat down next to him.

He stared at me, and those dark eyes and that blank face now showed fear and sorrow.  He was kind, despite his bad attitude.  It puzzled me that his powers were so aggressive.

He is nice, though... and pretty.  I leaned forward.  I tried to stop myself, but our lips connected—just barely.