Original Stories Fan Fiction / Realism Fan Fiction ❯ When Dreams Fade ❯ Hana's knight in shining armor? Sure, why not? ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Author's Note: Third chapter in one hour. Buahahaha. Or something. Yes, Dox-san, this chapter's mostly for you. You're welcome. Have your little fantasies now. ^^ The next one will be better.

When Dreams Fade

Chapter Seven

Erik needed time to heal and I needed to get out of the hospital. Hospitals give me the creeps. They're very gloomy and everything. There's an air of death looming in every corridor. Also, they smell like urine. So I was in a hurry to get out, as much as I wanted to see Erik. Nikolas felt the same way. We said goodbye to Erik and got out of the hospital as fast as possible.

“Well, now what?” Nikolas asked as soon as we're outside. “It's Hana's birthday. We were going to celebrate with her, but that's impossible. So what do you want to do?”

I shrugged. “I can't think of anything to do that won't involve being judged by people who hardly know us.” I sighed. “And that includes my parents.”

“Mine too,” Nikolas agreed, sighing. “Apparently, it includes Hana's, too.”

“Yeah.” Then I had an idea. “Well, there's one other person in the world who knows us, at least a little,” I said.

“Who?” Nikolas asked.

“Come on. Let's find a phone directory.” I grabbed his hand and dragged him to the nearest phone booth. Then I picked up the phone book.

“Who are you looking for?” Nikolas demanded to know as I flipped to the “D” section.

“Ah, here!” I pointed to an entry in the phone book. “Amon Dran.”

“Mr. Dran?” Nikolas wrinkled his nose. “What makes you think he'll see us?”

“He's a teacher. Don't you think he'd help his favorite students in their hour of need?”

“Uh, no. If I were him, definitely not. Especially not after the way Hana hangs all over him.”

I gave an exasperated sigh as I quickly jotted down the address in the book. “Come on, his apartment isn't far from here,” I said, and continued to drag Nikolas down the street.

“I still don't think he'll care! And how do you know he'll be home?” Nikolas asked.

“I don't, but we need to find out anyway.” I let go of his hand and let him walk on his own. “We turn left here.”

Mr. Dran looked exhausted when he came to his door wearing what I assumed were his pajamas. He blinked in surprise when he saw us standing there. “Um…”

“Can we come in?” I asked. Nikolas jabbed me lightly in the side. “Ow.”

“I don't think you should…I'm your teacher…” He saw the look of disappointment on my face, I think, because he sighed. “Fine, hold on.” He closed the door. We waited a few minutes before he came out, dressed a little nicer. “There's a coffee shop down the street. We'll talk there, I guess,” he said.

“Okay,” I said, following him. Once we were inside the shop and had made our drink orders, Mr. Dran looked at us and sighed. “Why am I not entirely surprised?” he wondered aloud.

“Look, Mr. Dran, nobody believes us, but Hana didn't—“ He shook his head, cutting Nikolas off.

“I know. She's kind of crazy, but she's not that crazy. What happened?” he asked. “Thank you,” he said to the waitress who gave us our drinks.

“Erik's brother…he was drunk and high…and he was beating Erik,” I started.

Nikolas interjected. “You remember how Erik was wearing that hood two days ago in class? He was hiding bruises. A lot of them.”

“Well, we were worried about Erik when he wasn't in school yesterday, so we found his house. And when we went inside, Erik was crying, begging his brother not to hurt him—“

“The house reeked of pot,” Nikolas added.

“And his brother was drunk, too, I think. He had a knife, apparently. I wasn't there at that time. I was calling the police.”

“Yeah, he had a knife, and stepped toward Erik and me…and Hana was behind him. Erik had this baseball bat next to his bed. Hana picked it up and swung it at his head, knocking him to the ground. And there was blood…so much blood…”

Mr. Dran held up a hand, gesturing for us to stop. “What did you come to me for?” he asked quietly.

“No one else believes us,” I told him softly.

“Yeah. No one else knows us.”

Mr. Dran nodded. “Have you seen Hana?” he asked.

“No.” Nikolas shook his head. “They won't let us…something about our age and the fact that they're still investigating us as accomplices,” he said.

“Well, maybe they'll let me see her,” Mr. Dran said. Nikolas and I looked at each other as Mr. Dran threw a couple of dollars on the table and walked away.

“What is he going to do?” Nikolas asked.

“I have no idea…”