"Ah, right." Nick said, remembering what Lucas asked him. "Hmm..."

Nick ate another spoonful of cornflakes as he thought about it. Why had he come here in the first place? If he was honest with himself, he'd say that he didn't to die. It wasn't a bad thing, but it was kind of selfish, so Nick was somewhat reluctant to say it. But the reason he didn't want to die was partly because he didn't want to pull anyone into it. 

According to his parents, people who awoke strange powers had been dying in freak accidents, along with their families. House fires, car crashes, that sort of thing. Nick was reluctant to leave, because he didn't want to leave his world behind based on rumours, but he saw the worry in his parent's eyes. They didn't want anything to happen to him. Nick decided to leave, because even if he wasn't there, they could at least take solace that he was still alive. Ultimately, the reason he came to Riverwood was to live, but he didn't know what to do after that. What would he do? Would he spend his entire life in Riverwood?

"Well..." Nick said slowly. "I just came here because my parents heard that I might get killed if I stayed."
He decided that there wasn't anything wrong with saying that, because if the rumours were true, then there would be many in Riverwood with the same reason. But he had to confirm something.
"Are the rumours true?" Nick asked. "That the government comes in to kill people like us?"