"It's not happening, Nicholas. You can't force yourself on me this time," I said, staring him down. If it came down to a fight, there was no telling how much I could actually do. My body was already sore from training, but I could still do some damage if he took me lightly.

His smirk faltered before turning thoughtful. He closed the distance so fast that I dropped both bags of popcorn and brought my fist up as a reflex. He came within inches of it before my right arm froze solid. He looked at my hand as if seeing it for the first time, then looked at me in the exact same way.

With my arm numb, I tried striking him with my left leg but that froze too. I was off balance and falling back, but he caught me. His face was so close to mine now that I could feel his calm breathing. He wasn't smiling anymore, but I could feel the weight of his judgement washing over me. I could see the unnatural glow that always formed when he exerted his power.

"Did you think that you would be able to fight me all of a sudden? I've been training for a lot longer than you have Jake, so don't get cocky. When I give you options, it's because I want you to choose the right one, not because I have to." This was a completely different Nick than the one I'd considered a friend before the summer. He was colder and more patronizing.

Maybe he was always incredibly dangerous, but I was dumb enough to overlook that before at least. "If you don't take your hands off me right now..." I started.

"Let me guess, your monster will come running? Yeah, it's too bad I didn't actually expect to run into you. I would have set up a proper trap if I'd seen you coming." A stream of cold went down my neck. I was only seconds from sounding the alarm for Hunter to come back me up. "Relax," he commanded and my limbs returned under my control.

I pushed onto my feet and watched him start walking away. "Where are you going?"

"I don't have much more time to play with you right now, Jake. The previews should be ending soon, so I've got to get going. I will save you one day, but not today. Not yet."

I was lucky that Hunter wasn't paying any attention to me. Nick disappeared from sight and everyone resumed walking around and chatting like nothing happened. Somehow he must have even stopped them from thinking or feeling while they were frozen.

"Come on, Jake! Keep walking or we'll miss the previews," Amie complained a few steps in front of me.

I shook my head and followed her. "I'm pretty sure we already missed them. Just look at how the time flew by." I decided to take a page from Chad and lock this whole exchange away in the back of my mind.

Ironically, when I actually looked at the jock, he looked like he was holding back a laugh. "Time really flies when you meet old friends doesn't it." he passed me the popcorn that I thought I'd dropped onto the floor when Nick attacked. A quick wink and that was all he said on the matter.

This town never feels normal for more than a few seconds.

Next chapter returns to Hunter's PoV