Chapter 363: What Does Your Life Depend On?
David knocked on the door of the room, but there was no answer. The man exhaled, raised his fist and was about to knock again, but the lock clicked and Nick stuck his head out into the corridor.
"Are you going to sit like this all day? Come on down, you are the only person who's missing," David said, looking at the young man's sullen face.
"Maybe you'll do without me after all? I've already told everything." Nick was about to slam the door, but David put his foot forward and blocked it.
"You're going down. Now."
"I won't go," Nick pulled the door toward himself, the attempt failed, "Ahh, okay, okay! To hell with it! But then don't be sorry if this conversation ends in a fight. I warned you beforehand!" The young man flung the door open and walked past David with feigned gravity towards the stairs to the first floor.
While walking down the steps, Nick heard Elena laugh. His mood, which had risen at that moment, collapsed back, as soon as he noticed the smiling face of Marcus, who was sitting next to the woman.
"Oh, Nicky! Did you sleep well? I already scolded Daniel for torturing you like that. Otherwise, you will be left without blood at all," Elena greeted Nick with a soft smile and patted the sofa, offering to sit next to her.
"Am I a vampire to suck all his blood? Five milliliters a day is enough for my dark games," Daniel was sitting in the chair opposite and drinking another mug of hot chocolate.
The atmosphere in the room was too relaxed for Nick. Or he was too tense. The guy wanted to walk past Elena and sit in a corner farther away, but she grabbed his hand and pulled him over. Nick plopped down on the couch next to her, and now he and the other unpleasant person were separated only by the fragile figure of a woman.
"Do you want something? I still have yesterday's cookies," Elena suggested.
"I'm not hungry," the guy brushed aside. One fiery croissant was enough for him so that he no longer encroached on tempting pastries.
"Hmm, okay. By the way, how do you like the present? You went to bed early yesterday, and I didn't have time to ask. Marcus and I bought it together." Elena shone with joy no less than the Christmas tree in the corner that Nick wanted to hide behind.
"I thought so," the guy looked at Taubert with displeasure. Marcus was enjoying his coffee as if nothing had happened and pretended not to notice the look that was ready to burn the man on the spot.
"Dad suggested some expensive branded black helmet. In the online store it was written that this is the most popular model among young people," continued Elena, and Nick was surprised. What do you mean black?
The woman understood the young man's mute question and laughed, "That's right! He looked at me exactly as you are doing now! And I tell him, if this is the most popular model, then everyone buys it! Why would my Nick be like everyone else? So I ordered a unicorn helmet. Both stylish and unique! And all people will immediately remember it!"
"You were the one who ordered it?!" Nick's pink glasses were cracked in relation to this woman. He thought that David and Daniel were the main trolls in this family. But no, Elena surpassed everyone.
"Cool idea, huh? There was also a jacket that matched the style, but my dad was stubborn and insisted that I not buy it. Oh, are you upset that I didn't order the full set?" Elena turned to Marcus and nudged him in the side with her elbow. "See, I should have ordered a jacket too!"
"Sorry Nicholas, I didn't think you'd be so upset. Next time I will not interfere with Elena's ideas. I didn't expect you to have such, um, unusual taste. My fault, judged by myself," commented Marcus with obvious sarcasm. The man did not even turn his head, as if he had no role in this matter.
Nick had read about a similar feeling in one of Corey's favorite online novels. The main character mentally cried with bloody tears, and now, all the guy wanted was to return to his room, hide a blanket, and be covered with moss and mushrooms.
His family was definitely crazy! And the further, the more Nick thought that he was going crazy as well!
"Elena, if in the future you decide to buy Sean any present, ask his opinion, okay?" Nick asked, hoping for a bright future for his little self. This was the first present he received from his mother. And if Elena settled on a unicorn for an adult guy, then he was afraid to imagine what ideas might arise in her head when choosing a gift for a child.
"What gifts did you get for Christmas before? Do you remember the robot I gave Sean yesterday?" Elena asked head-on, and did not notice, or pretended not to notice how everyone else tensed from her questions.
Nick frowned and lowered his head, staring at the floor. Such questions racked up emotional wounds, which the guy would not want to discuss in the presence of Marcus. "No, I don't remember the robot. I don't remember much from my childhood. And what I remember, I am not eager to voice," he threw a sidelong glance towards the man who was sitting to the right of Elena, "And discuss in front of strangers."
"Why?"
Nick looked at the woman, but Elena's face expressed genuine confusion. She asked the question so easily and she expected the same simple answer.
"Why don't you want to tell?"
"Because I don't want to spread everything that is in my soul with him being around! Is this so unclear?!" Nick pointed a finger in the direction of Marcus, "If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here at all! And this whole situation would not have happened either!"
Marcus continued to drink his coffee with a melancholy look and did not react in any way to the guy's attack.
"You mean you would have stayed in your room if Marcus hadn't come? Or would you not have ended up in our time if Marcus had not forced you? Or if Marcus had not been my father, then you would not have existed at all?" Elena did not stop, "What exactly do you mean by saying these words? Claiming that if it weren't for him, you wouldn't be here."
Daniel put his hot chocolate aside and moved closer to Armand, "What's going on?" he whispered, "It seems to me, or Elena is some kind of weird and-" The man fell silent in mid-sentence when the woman's gaze caught his movement. His heart went down somewhere. Daniel closed his lips and chose to shut up.
Mischief flashed in the woman's eyes. She, like a mouse, was playing teasers with cats. But the cats around her unconsciously understood who the real predator was, and did not make any sudden movements.
"Are you serious now?!" Each subsequent question confused Nick even more. He jumped off the couch and stared at Elena in bewilderment, "Just a week ago he almost killed us!"
"You were the first to start this," Marcus said lazily, tired of this conversation, "Well, apart from Rick's futile attempt before."
"If it weren't for your dirty trick with Sean, who knows whose attempt would have been successful," Nick grinned, but his eyes burned with fury. He slightly waved his hand, the cup in Marcus's hands twitched, and several drops of coffee fell on the man's snow-white shirt. "Oh, what a nuisance."
Marcus's lips curved into a strange smile, either pleased or on the verge of exploding. He put the unfinished cup of coffee on the table, leaned back on the back of the sofa and looked at Nick as if the latter were a silly child. "Not the most brilliant trick."
"Dirty tricks are kind of a family thing," Nick smiled back sarcastically.
If he thought that this would somehow offend Marcus, then Nick was wrong. Taubert took an even more relaxed position, propping his cheek on his fist. "And that's true. Looks like you inherited more than just eye color from me, did you, Nicholas?"
Checkmate.
A little kitten decided to bare his teeth at a big lion? Marcus suddenly had the idea that he would gladly start training this impudent child. But he did not ponder it further, as he understood its meaninglessness.
Elena lifted her hand and touched the air. Her fingers seemed to be plucking strings that only she could see.
"You two have a very strong bond. Not even all spouses have this. Human souls know how to make interesting choices," the woman said fondly. "A long time ago I saw something like this. This was beautiful. And sad."
Elena lifted her head and looked at Nick. Something alluring sparkled in her blue eyes. "So tell me, boy, why do you think that your life depends on the presence or absence of another person in it?"
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