Kindred Love

Nightmare Scare

Author's Note: Warning: Contains violence/abuse.

Dinner had been great. Uncle Vic was a great cook. It seemed there was no pause in conversation throughout the whole meal. They all talked about this and that. Deb explained the rules of the house. Michael told Brian a little bit about the school that he'd be starting the next day. Brian told them about the Taylors and how important they had become to him, as well as everything they had done for him. Debbie was immediately taken by his story.

"Well, this Justin kid had better come here to visit," Deb said. "It sounds like you two were pretty close."

"Yeah," Brian replied, but didn't say much more about it. He didn't really want to think of Justin right now. It would just make him miss him more.

"Well, I guess for now you guys have the telephone and... email," Debbie beamed as she said that last part. "We've never had the Internet before. I guess it was time for us to be with the times," she sighed.

"The Internet is currently running through Michael's computer, but once we get your room set up there will be a place for you to plug in your lap top and you'll have full Internet access in your room. That reminds me, we should probably look into getting you a small desk for your room tomorrow as well." Deb said.

"Thanks, Aunt Deb," Brian smiled. "Let me know what I can do to help with the room," Brian said.

"Ahh, anxious to have some private jerking-off time, eh?" Debbie said and then cackled loud at her own joke.

"Ma!" Michael cried out in embarrassment.

Amused, Brian started laughing along with her, causing Uncle Vic to join in. He was beginning to like his Aunt a lot. Finally coming down from his burst of giggles Brian spoke.

"Actually, no. I just wanted to help any way I can. I appreciate you guys taking me in and all. So, any boxes that you need me to help carry to the garage, or whatever, let me know," Brian said.

"Well, I'm not about to refuse an offer like that. Besides, I'm not getting any younger, and some of those boxes are fucking heavy," Deb sighed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brian was sleeping soundly when he heard the sound of the bedroom door opening. He immediately awoke to the sound, having been accustomed to being a light sleeper because of his father. He kept his eyes closed even though he was wide awake, listening intensely for what was to come.

"Hey, Sonnyboy, wake the fuck up. You know it's a very special day today," the familiar voice slurred. Brian continued to keep his eyes closed, hoping that maybe Jack would go away if he pretended to be in a deep sleep. He waited.

"I said wake up, you little shit," Jack yelled, towering over his son. Brian eyelids shot open with fear, his heart racing and panic rising in him.

"It's a special day today. It's the anniversary of the day you ruined my fucking life," Jack spat hatefully. Brian sat up in bed and leaned all the way back against the headboard of his bed, not sure of what to do. Jack was in one of his bad-tempered drunken states. He never knew what to expect when his father was like this.

"Did you hear me?!" Jack yelled. Brian could only nod in response. Jack took his gaze off of his son, and starting pacing his room.

"You know, I had it all figured out. I was going places. I had opportunities," Jack said.

"But you had to come along and fuck everything up, didn't you?" Jack growled.

Brian was too terrified to move, as he saw Jack pacing back and forth like a caged animal. Then suddenly, Jack lunged for Brian, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt in his fist, stretching and ripping it as he pulled his son to him.

"Pop, please!" Brian pleaded, but it had no effect on Jack. He kept his grip on Brian's shirt tight, and breathed heavily like a crazed beast, the smell of his breath heavy with whiskey. It made Brian's stomach churn and he fought the urge to vomit.

Jack pushed Brian on his bed so he was laying down on his back, and he straddled the frightened boy and held him down with his weight.

"Pop, I didn't mean it! Whatever it is that I did -- I'm sorry!" Brian cried.

The next thing Brian knew was he was tasting his own blood. His lip was numb from the shock of the blow and then started to throb furiously. He was blinded by his own tears, and struggled beneath his father's heavy weight. Jack punched him in the face again.

"YOU'RE SORRY?" Jack stated, as if Brian had said the most hilarious thing he had ever heard. "It's a little too late for that, isn't it, Sonnyboy? And you want to know the fucking truth? Sorry is bullshit!" Jack spat, and then wrapped his large hands around Brian's neck and started to choke him. Brian gasped for air and tried desperately to scream...

"NOOOOO!" Brian screamed, sitting up in his bed, shaking and breathing erratically, tears streaming down his cheeks and trying to catch his breath.

"Oh, my God, Brian, what's wrong?" Michael asked, alarmed. He had heard Brian moaning in his sleep, but when he heard Brian scream he immediately jumped out of his bunk to see what was wrong with him.

Brian looked around the dark room in a daze, confused as to where he was. Nothing looked familiar to him.

"Brian," Michael called to his cousin, and reached out to touch Brian to get his attention. Brian immediately jumped, putting his hand up as a shield over his own face protectively, out of habit.

"Brian... it's okay. It's me, Michael," he told him.

Brian slowly put his hand down and focused on his cousin's face, and finally started to calm down. It was starting to register now. He was no longer in Philly, and he was not in his own room in his own bed within Jack's reach. He let out a huge sigh of relief, and wiped his tears with his arm.

"Mikey," Brian whispered.

Michael leaned into Brian, hugging him. "Yeah, it's me," he whispered back.

Then suddenly, Michael's bedroom door suddenly flung open.

"What the fuck is going on in here? I heard someone yelling. It scared the shit out of me!" Debbie said frantically. She saw her son hugging Brian and was immediately concerned. The boys turned to look at her.

"It's nothing, Ma, really. Everything is fine," Michael said, giving his mother a look that let her know it was best that she left them alone. She decided to let her son handle this. She sighed.

"All right sweetie. If you need me, just let me know. You boys get back to sleep. You've got school in the morning," she reminded them. She left quietly and closed the door behind her.

Brian gave his cousin a grateful look. He didn't want to have to explain this to anyone right now. Michael stared back at his cousin, wondering what he should do next.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. Brian was silent for a moment, trying to decide how much to reveal to Michael.

"It's just this dream that I have had a few times about the last night I saw my father," Brian admitted.

"Did something really bad happen?" Michael asked. He had no knowledge of the things that had happened to Brian. His mother and Uncle Vic had been pretty tight-lipped about the reason Brian had come to live with them. He didn't know what happened between Brian and Jack.

"Jack tried to kill me," Brian whispered. He decided that for now that was all he was going to say. Michael stared at Brian in shock, his eyes wide. His mouth was open, but he didn't know what to say.

"I'm fine now, Mikey. Let's just go back to sleep, okay?" Brian said.

"Sure," Michael said hesitantly, still worried about his cousin. He climbed back to his top bunk and got under the covers.

"G'night, Brian," Michael said softly.

"Night, Mikey," Brian said back. He closed his eyes, and prayed he would be able to fall asleep soon and not have his recurring nightmare.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Debbie pulled her car up to the front of Lindberg High School at 7:45a.m.

"Brian, honey, are you sure you don't need me to go in with you?" Debbie asked her nephew.

"No, Aunt Deb, I'll be fine, but thanks anyway," Brian replied politely.

"You're right. I'm sure you'll be fine with Michael there to show you the ropes," she said.

Brian and Michael gathered their backpacks and opened their car doors to get out. As they were about to walk towards the doors of the school, Debbie called out to them.

"I'll be here at 2:00 to pick you up and take you shopping for your bedroom furniture," Debbie reminded Brian.

Brian didn't answer, he just nodded his head in understanding, and then him and Michael headed towards the glass double doors and into the office of the school. They walked up to one of the counters and waited for one of the staff to notice them. Finally, a blond middle-aged woman saw them standing there and smiled at the two boys.

"Well, hello Michael, how are you this morning?" she asked.

"Hey, Ms. Keller, I'm fine. Um, this is my cousin, Brian Kinney and he's enrolling in school today," Michael informed her. Ms. Keller looked at Brian and gave him a warm smile.

"Oh, right. Principal Schwartz is expecting you, Brian. I'll let him know that you're here. You don't need to fill out any forms or anything; all of your information from your previous school was faxed to us last week," she explained.

Ms. Keller motioned towards the bench that was right outside of an office door, which had the name Principal Andrew B. Schwartz on it.

"Have a seat, and Mr. Schwartz will be with you shortly," she said.

"Okay," Brian replied, and sat down on the bench she had pointed to, Michael following behind and sitting next to him. They waited in silence.

A few minutes later, the office door opened, and a tall handsome man in his thirties with dark hair and piercing blue eyes came out to greet him. Brian stared at the man in front of him, instantly attracted to him. He had a presence about him, which eluded confidence and warmth. He let his eyes wander over the older man's body. It was obvious he took extra special care of his body. Brian could see how toned the man was, even through his work clothes.

Mr. Schwartz smiled warmly at Brian, and held his hand out to shake the boy's. Brian took the man's hand and felt electric bolts surge through his body, and his groin started to tingle.

"Hello, Mr. Kinney. My name is Mr. Schwartz. I'm the principal of Lindberg High School. Welcome," he told Brian. Mr. Schwartz looked towards Michael, and nodded at him. "Mr. Novotney," he acknowledged.

"Why don't you two step into my office," he told them. They walked in the lengthy room and took a seat in the two vacant chairs opposite of a large desk. Mr. Schwartz closed his office door behind him and took a seat at his desk, rummaging through papers that were sprawled around on top of it, seemingly looking for something. Finally finding the file he was looking for, he opened it and examined it closely.

"So, you're new to Pittsburgh?" Mr. Schwartz asked, not looking up from the opened file he was looking through.

"Yes, sir," Brian said nervously. He was beginning to feel uncomfortable in this man's presence. His attraction towards the older man was strong, and he didn't know how to handle it.

"Well, I hope that Lindberg High School meets your likeness just as much as or more than your old school in Philadelphia," he said sincerely. Brian could tell that Mr. Schwartz was a good man. He found himself letting his eyes wander to Mr. Schwartz's left hand to check if there was a wedding ring on his finger and noticed there wasn't one. He smiled to himself at that.

Mr. Schwartz picked up a paper from Brian's file and handed it to Brian.

"This is a printout of your class schedule. Your teachers at your previous school said that you are a very bright young man; and we could see from looking at your grades that they were telling the truth. We've placed you in our more advanced classes. I trust you'll do well. If you have any problems or questions, just come and see me, okay?"

"All right," Brian said quietly.

Mr. Schwartz noticed that Brian was looking a little nervous and decided to reassure him. "Brian, I know you're going through a lot of adjustments right now. I have every confidence that you'll settle in and will be making lots of new friends in no time," he assured him, giving him an encouraging smile.

Brian smiled back shyly at the principal, but didn't say anything. Mr. Schwartz looked in Brian's file once again.

"It also says here that you're interested in soccer. We have an excellent soccer team here. In fact, they're undefeated. I always make a point to go to all the games. Soccer was my favorite sport growing up. If you're interested, I'll talk to Coach Riley and see what we can do to get you on the team." Brian's eyes lit up at the mention of being on the soccer team.

"Wow, that would be awesome," Brian said excitedly.

"Great, I'll see what I can do. Mr. Novotney, I assume you've offered to show your cousin around the school?" the man asked looking at Michael.

"Yes, sir. I told him I would show him where his classes were," Michael replied.

"Good. It appears that you two only have gym class together, so you'll have to survive most of this day on your own," Mr. Schwartz told Brian.

"I'll manage," Brian said.

"Okay, well your first class starts in five minutes, so I suggest that you and Brian head over there now so he isn't late," Mr. Schwartz told Michael. The boys stood up from their seats and gathered up their backpacks and turned to leave.

"Good luck, Mr. Kinney," the principal said before they left his office.

Brian gave him a radiant smile. "Thanks, Mr. Schwartz," he said and left the man's office. It was off to a great start so far.

As Michael and Brian walked across campus to Brian's first class, Michael noticed that his cousin had become quiet.

"Brian is everything all right?" he asked. Brian suddenly looked at Michael as if he had just woke up from a dream.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Fine," he told him as they walked. "So, Mr. Schwartz seems like a cool guy," he said casually.

"Oh, yeah, he's great. He really cares about the students. He always makes a point to get to know as many students as possible and checks up on them to make sure things are going okay for them. He was a school counselor before he was a principal. He loves helping kids," Michael told Brian.

Brian nodded and smiled, thinking about how nice the man had been to him.

"Certainly seems like it," Brian replied.

They arrived at Brian's Algebra class with one minute to spare before the bell was to ring.

"Well, since we don't have gym until 5th period, I guess I'll see you at lunch. You want to meet in front of the cafeteria?" Michael asked.

"Sure. I'll see you then," Brian said. Michael smiled at his cousin and headed toward his English class which was only a few doors down.