ENDOHUMAN
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LOVE vs. DUTY
NICK DREAM
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Sample -
Chapter 1
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© 2017 Nick Dream
ENDOHUMAN: LOVE Vs DUTY
BOOK 1 – First Edition 2017
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. and international copyright law as applicable. For permissions contact:
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CHAPTER 1: EVIE
Fuck.
I try to control my anger just as Grandpa taught me. I swallow and count to five.
1...2...3...4...5.
The swelling and bruising begins to appear on my forehead where my head was violently banged against the lockers.
Good. It worked. I am hurt.
Turning my powers off in time for the blows is sometimes difficult, and when I do, it only lasts for two or three seconds, so timing is critical. Otherwise everyone will know. Everyone will see who—or should I say, what—I am. That would be disastrous.
But would it? Well, at least that’s what Grandpa says.
For all of my eighteen years Grandpa has said the world can never know of our true nature, that the corrupt would view us as a threat to their agenda. Grandpa has said many things I’m not sure I agree with.
The laughter and cheering around me echoes in the school corridor. There must be at least thirty people standing around us, enjoying my humiliation. I remain on the floor, still kneeling, but turn my head to face my attacker.
Standing above me, Brad smirks and extends his arms in the air like a heavyweight champion. What a prick. His stupid jock friends surround him like flies around a trash can. Brad is the High School Soccer Team Captain and most popular kid in school, so I guess that’s how this is meant to play out.
“Yeah, you stay down, you little cunt!” Brad points his index finger at me while his other hand strokes his perfect hair back into its usual perfect style.
My powers are returning. I can already hear the elevated heartbeats and the licking of lips emanating from at least four girls in the thinning corridor crowd as they watch him do it.
Oh please, I think, rolling my eyes.
Brad continues, raising his voice to make sure everyone is listening in on his show. “Don’t you ever speak to Evie again. Actually, you are not allowed to speak to any girl in this school unless spoken to first. Get it, dickhead?”
I turn to look at Evie Chanik. She is standing next to him, holding her accounting and math textbooks tightly across her chest.
She is so beautiful. Her hazel eyes have a sparkle and a fire that only I can see with my ultrasensitive vision. Through the years I have noticed them change color from a warm hazel brown to a light olive green depending on how the light would reflect on her angelic face. Maybe her mood also played a part in the changing color spectrum. I can see a quiet sadness that cannot be concealed, from me at least. I can sense the subtle melancholy, even if she hides it behind smiles and giggles every day with her popular friends at cheerleader or band practice.
I’ve been watching her from afar. Not in a creepy kind of way. It’s just...I happen to see her after school when I water the soccer pitch after practice. My grandpa owns Seaford Town’s Gardening Company and now that he is sick, I help out.
Who am I kidding? I guess it is creepy.
She turns to Brad and stands on tiptoe to reach his ear. She whispers to him. No one can hear what she is saying except him and me, of course. I can see her soft pink lips moving.
“Brad, please. Stop hurting him. He only wanted to help me pick up my books. Leave it. Please.”
Brad explodes once again in fake anger. “Yeah, well. He’s the one that tripped over you in the first place.”
Bullshit, I think to myself.
Actually, come to think of it that is not a total lie. Technically, even though Evie did slip and trip over me, I could have easily avoided contact using my heightened senses, but, well, I didn’t.
I let her trip, calculating the trajectory of her course and positioning myself perfectly for her to fall straight into my arms. Her books hit the ground as she tumbled on top of me. I let my glasses fall too. Her hair brushed against my face and I inhaled every cubic milliliter of fragrance from her strawberry and vanilla hair conditioner in that fraction of a second.
My hands, having secured her from the fall, rested on her bare shoulders—she is wearing a strapless top today—for a few seconds. It was the first time I touched her and I welcomed the warm aura and energy emanating from her existence. I was right. She is such a positive and loving person inside, despite giving in to the peer pressure of being the popular school prom queen. It’s as if she wears an invisible mask only I can see, hiding her true self from everyone.
How hypocritical of me to think that. Especially as I’m the one who wears the mask. Well, cape and hood to be literal, but anyway! I let her fall into me so that I could make contact with her. Touch her, talk to her even once in my entire high school career.
No regrets here.
Brad moves in. I see his right leg move back and then commence its swing forward, toward me, gaining momentum. Oh, shit. That is his good kicking leg, and we have a soccer match against neighboring Palltown High School in two weeks. I have a dark thought: perhaps I should do nothing. Let him kick me with all his might and break his foot in six different places.
No! Grandpa’s chiding voice rings in my sore head.
In the split second that follows I calculate Brad’s target is my stomach. I close my eyes, focusing on my training and relaxing my muscles as best I can, feeling the energy drain out of my cells and molecules. I shut off my powers just in time for the excruciating blow.
The pain shoots up into my sensitive nervous system and I grunt. I hate to admit it, but sometimes I like it. It is good to feel human. Even if only for two seconds.
More cheers. Then the bell. Principal Garnet breaks through the crowd, shouting at everyone to get to their classes. He moves in quickly, placing his hand on Brad’s shoulder and pulling him away.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Come with me to the office. Now!” He is still shouting, but then his voice drops to a whisper in Brad’s ear as he escorts him down the corridor. “We have a game next week. You wanna slip and hurt yourself over a fight with some stupid loser nerd?”
Whatever, I think to myself again. After all, Principal Garnet is Brad’s guardian.
The crowd dissipates as everyone realizes the show is over. I sit up on the floor, dusting off my shoulders and looking for my glasses. I smell her. She is coming.
Evie kneels in front of me, her face closer than ever before. We are at eye level. She holds out my glasses. “You dropped these when we fell earlier. You okay? Adam, right?”
She knows my name! Sweet!
Focus. Grandpa’s voice this time. I sober up.
“Erm, yeah...I...I’m fine. I’m sorry I tripped you...So clumsy.”
“You didn’t trip me. I fell. Thanks for saving me. That was a pretty bad fall.” She laughs but I can see concern in her eyes as she examines my forehead and looks at my stomach where Brad’s foot connected.
“I remember you ever since we were in kindergarten. It’s weird that we’ve never actually talked in all these years.”
“Well, weird is my middle name, so...” I clumsily stand up.
She laughs. I made her laugh! “I think you’re in my Communications class this year too, right? And you water the pitch after school?” She talks as if she is asking questions but we both know she is making a statement in an effort to initiate conversation.
“Erm, yeah, I think so. Just t-t-t-trying to help out where I c-c-can.”
I remember my training and let the stutter come out. I have suppressed that stutter since my powers took over eight years ago. Now I allow it to return. The nervousness, the anxiety, the social discomfort. I have to eliminate any chance I may have of this girl actually making a connection with me, actually liking me.
“I have to go,” I say, grabbing the glasses from her hands more abruptly than necessary.
Evie is taken aback but she comes a little closer. “Well, it was sweet of you to catch me when I fell. Thanks. And sorry about Brad. Sometimes he’s overprotective of the gang. Maybe we’ll see you around at the pregame party tonight at Mary’s house?”
“I d-don’t think so.”
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“Oh, okay.” She stands up, still hugging her textbooks, and begins walking away. Three steps later she pauses and turns back to face me. “By the way, you could never tell under those giant glasses you wear, but...you have cute eyes.”
I feel her heart rate increase from seventy-eight beats per minute to ninety-four as she says that and turns to walk away.
Fuck yeah, I think to myself. Oh no, says the Endohuman inside me.
I reach into my schoolbag for my headphones and pull them out. My gaze follows Evie as she disappears into her classroom.
That’s weird. I can feel my heart rate also climb a beat or two.
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CHAPTER 2: GRANDPA
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I try to sneak by the garden shed using my best stealth technique...
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