Children of a Lesser God

322  Some Things Can't Be Avoided

Dean had a weird feeling that someone was out to get him which didn't make him feel any better since he had discovered these kinds of feeling seemed to be accurate. In fact, many times Dean was able to understand what was going on even when he shouldn't have any clue. Mike just said that Dean knew how to read people and the room and understand things without being told. He held on to that belief until the night where he, Dean and several of their other friends played cards and Dean won every hand he didn't fold out of. After that, Mike just said he was physic.

Dean never put much thought into that though.

To many, Dean seemed like a rather perfect guy on the outside; smart, handsome, nice body, decent sense of humor. Only Mike really knew that Dean's biggest problems manifested at night.

Rarely could Dean sleep though an entire night, waking up several times in a sweat and unable to fall back asleep. Over the past year though, Dean had gotten better. At least he no longer woke up screaming like he had a couple of times in their first few weeks of living together. Although they had separate bed rooms, it wasn't like they were sound proof.

The other thing Mike found off about his buddy was that he seemed to have a lack of a sex drive. At least as far as he knew, Dean never ended up bringing anyone over at night. Mike knew Dean wasn't into guys after a discussion where Mike though Dean liked guys but was hiding it from him so Mike figured he'd tell Dean that he didn't need to worry about offending him since he didn't mind either way who he brought home. After that, Dean calmly told Mike that he was into girls and that wasn't the problem.

Dean didn't bother mentioning the problem and Mike didn't think it was right to ask after Laz had told him this much.

As far as Dean was concerned, his problems were related to his past and although a part of him wanted to know, a part of him was very hesitant to find out. In more than one dream, Dean would face off against monsters, be hunted down and killed, find himself being toyed with by gods or sometimes, during the worst dreams, he would be floating in the nothingness of space until something came along that caused him to burn up. He wanted to believe that he was crashing into the sun, but he knew that the sun didn't look like what he saw in those dreams.

Either way, Dean felt like a haunted man and found that time and time again, sleep provided him with no rest.

Some days Dean wondered if he was losing his mind.

But all this aside, when Dean ended up running into the room he shared with Mike, he saw Mike staring at their coffee maker with a blank look on his face while swaying back and forth. As for the dorm like layout, there were two small bedrooms along one side of the main room with a small bathroom in the middle. The main center room was divided into a kitchen area where the door was and further back was a small living room. On both sides of the dorm were other dorms so if Dean had one complaint about it, since he was the second one to arrive, it meant he got the bedroom without a window.

18:20

Other than that, he had no opinion.

Mike actually turned his head when Dean came in with a questioning look on his face.

"You didn't make coffee today?" Mike asked.

"Yeah. Run went late then I went to eat. I'm just getting back now," Dean responded.

"My dear wife. All I ask is to wake up to a fresh pot of coffee in the morning and now you can't even do that for me?" Mike said with a false bit of broken hearted tone in his voice.

"Well maybe if you stopped staying out so late with those cheap sluts, I would be more inclined to make my husband his coffee in the morning," Dean joked back while Mike laughed as well and filled the water.

"Seriously dude. You're like clockwork. How did your meeting go... FUCK NO..." Mike screamed as Dean hit the bathroom.

"Shut up. I'll be like 10 minutes. I just need a shower. Better than the half hour you take to groom yourself. And who are you kidding with waxing your chest hair?"

As promised, Dean was done in less than 10 minutes, giving Mike plenty of time and hot water. As for Dean, he had a fresh cup of coffee waiting for him when he got out.

"Holy shit... Bud... This is why I make the coffee. How many scoops did you put in?" Dean asked, drinking the black brew.

"I just filled the filter. What's the problem?" Mike answered from the bathroom.

"I wonder if you actually have any taste buds. Whatever. The jolt will be good for me and luckily the grounds didn't flow over," Dean said, sitting down with his liquid mud while turning on the news.

"How can you watch this shit man? And seriously, why don't you get a smart phone like the rest of the world?" Mike said, drying off as he grabbed himself a cup of coffee.

Dean, who was watching the local weather report, didn't bother to turn his head.

"What's the point? You're the only one who ever calls me and it's usually to come drag your drunk ass back here. Besides, I don't even want to know what kinds of texts you would send me considering the kind of shit that you show me on your phone."

"You are seriously the most boring twenty something guy I have ever met."

"That's why you don't have to worry about me cheating."

"And I just thought it was because you loved me."

"Not even close."

"Whatever. Hey, the guys want to do live band karaoke tonight. You up to watching the show?" Mike asked, knowing that Dean didn't work tonight.

"You asking me to come to the stage and be your groupie?" Dean joked. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Seriously dude. You can use my phone and record it. Makes for a great audition video since Stevo and Jason both don't suck."

"Your recommendation doesn't come lightly. And the real reason?"

"That is the real reason, but only half of it. Have you ever seen what some of those girls sing when they are up on stage? It's like half singing, half stripping."

"Classy."

"Hey, the bonus check is good too."

"Well, I can't say I have anything planned."

"You could come up too. You're pretty damn good when you borrow my guitar."

"I only know a few songs and even less cords. And I've wondered something. How the fuck do you guys know how to play everything?" Dean asked, finally turning his head to his buddy who had just taken a sip.

"HOLY FUCK THAT'S GOOD. Anyway. We don't but dude, most number one hits in the last thirty years are all just a combination of like six cords tops. Long as you know those cords, it's all good. And they have tablets that will load the parts to whatever song is being sung."

"Ah. So you don't actually know them all..."

"No one is that bored to memorize them all. Oh... by the way. Did you hear about that girl band that's staying here on vacation before they start to tour?" Mike asked, almost causing Dean to spit out his overly bitter and thick coffee.

"I didn't..."

"Yeah man. My little sister is big into them. I've heard a few of their songs and they aren't bad."

"But not really your thing eh? You seem to like the classic stuff a bit more."

"Too much computer and not enough instrument. Any real musician will say the same thing."

"And so you say. Whatever. I'll be there recording your sexy ass. I doubt a top 100 band would be interested in Karaoke anyway."

"You never know..."

"Those girls are like 16 bro..."

"So look but don't touch?"

"If I didn't know you were joking, I would have already called the police on your ass."

"Still though. If something like that did happen, the guy involved would instantly be a celeb no matter which one of the girls he ended up with. But they have people who make sure that doesn't happen, specially for a group like this. It's probably in their contracts somewhere..."

"Wow bud... wow..."

'Tides are becoming more and more active as the number of demon beasts seem to be multiplying at an ungodly rate. While small town living has always interested a good portion of the population, more and more people are moving away from the small town life in favor of the protection that only a large city can offer. And next up, we have....'

Dean turned off the TV and couldn't help but feel like he was missing something.

"You know it's weird. Up until about a year ago, there was so much chatter about the infected this and infected that. But now suddenly, you don't hear shit about it. And what's more, it's almost like a taboo topic to bring up. But they still test everyone regularly. It's kind of weird how much the world's changed," Mike mused, thinking he needed to get more creamer.

"Yeah... changed..." Dean didn't comment.

But the feeling of forgetting something important was growing stronger.

Still, Laz didn't really put to much thought into it since he had forgotten too many things.

...

Later that night, dressed in what only could be described as casual island vacation, Dean and Mike were joined by Stevo and Jason.

"YO BROS!"

"Seriously we all had the same idea on what to wear huh?"

"I would have claimed not to know anyone who wore a suit."

"So they don't care what you wear?" Dean asked, this being the first time he came to their band night.

"Not a damn problem. In fact, everyone will basically be dressed like this anyway. I've you before big D, you got to go out a little more at night and enjoy life. You always seem to act like an old man," Stevo said, wrapping an arm around Dean's shoulders as they walked.

"Yeah. And the girls love a guy in a band. And this... kind of counts," Jason added while Mike and Stevo laughed. The fact that Stevo knew drums while Jason, like Mike, could play almost any guitar which meant they could barely be considered a 'band,' it was better than just singing to a DJ all night, although he would be there too.

"Did anyone warn Warren that we were doing this?" Mike asked, a strange look on his face.

"I figured the club would tell him. Don't want to have to deal with that sad puppy dog face he gives when he finds out he's not really needed..." Stevo stated.

"I mean, he still gets to like... run the equipment thought. That's something," Jason argued.

"Yeah. But who pays attention to the guy behind the lights when we are there?" Mike boasted, getting another laugh.

"You guys seem to enjoy it eh?" Dean asked.

"Yeah Bro. It's like liquid adrenaline when you get someone up there who can sing. If only you could sing, we would have a full gig. Hold up... can you sing?" Stevo asked, looking Dean up and down.

"I've... never really tried?" Dean wasn't sure since he didn't remember. But the best answer is the most honest as he had never really tried.

"Well fuck me you're giving it a go tonight," Stevo concluded.

"He can play an acoustic pretty easily as long as it's something he knows," Mike offered, while the other guys nodded as though it was expected.

"Good. Maybe we have found our lead then? With that pretty face, we would be unstoppable," Jason joked while all four young men laughed. Dean was handsome, there was no denying that. The other's were too, but Dean seemed to carry this charm that attracted others, even if he wasn't more handsome than the other three.

As the three guys entered the lounge, there was already a crowd gathered while Warren was setting up. He quickly noticed the four men walking in.

"NO NO NO. You're not doing another live band session tonight. It's my night to shine," Warren said as he watched them approach the stage.

When compared to the guys in Dean's group, Warren wasn't one who was hired based on his physic. While he wasn't fat or anything like that, he wasn't very muscular either. He was also a far cry from being a attractive as them either with a face that was, by the nicest definition, plain.

"Already got the go ahead," Mike said, showing him the text messages from the boss.

"Oh come on. This is the only night of the week where I can actually step up and be something more than just a lights and sound guy. And now you're taking this away from me?" Warren argued, still not happy.

"Don't worry kid," Mike started,

"I'm older than all four of you," Warren interjected.

"Since we are poaching on your turf, you can still MC tonight," Mike finished.

"That's just cause you want to be free to drink until you can't talk straight," Warren added.

"Well, yeah. But still let's you run the night, right?" Stevo said, making his way over to drag the drums into position that had been moved to the side.

"And what about this one?" Warren said, pointing at Dean who was smiling off to the side.

"Back up singer. Just get us patched in already," Mike complained while he and Jason got set up as well.

"Assholes. Fine." Although Warren did like being center stage, he also enjoyed being a part of the band when they performed together and while Mike, Jason and Stevo could be dicks at times, they were never really hard on him and respected his abilities.

All in all, Karaoke night was always a treat to the audience.

Since Dean didn't have anything to do to help, he got the guys all drinks of their choice while they commented on how nice having such a sexy waitress was. Dean of course mixed it himself, keeping the alcohol content really low in an effort to keep their performance going as long as needed.

Just as he was sitting down with his own drink and getting ready to enjoy the show, three chairs next to him were pulled out while a body appeared in front of him, hands on her hips and words already about to come flying out of her mouth.

The three girls he had 'helped' in the morning took their seats while another one that he didn't know stood right in front of him as he saw several others who had come in with their group take seats as well.

'FUCK.....'