Heya. M'name's Sajoli. And the first three words I wrote were all spelled wrong according to SpellCheck, including my name. Funny thing, SpellCheck is also considered wrongly spelled. And that was probably a huge grammar mistake right there, but, yeah…
So. Nobody wanted to review the first chapter. Shame.
This story is rated teen only because I figured saying 'crap' and 'hell' wasn't quite deserving of a K-plus rating, and also because this chapter contains death. But then he comes back, so I'm not sure what… Also, I'm pretty sure the only grammar mistakes I make are ones I do on purpose, like fragments. Because, seriously, not many people seem to think in complete sentences, so why should the people I write about?
So unless you didn't read the prologue, you should know that Danny now hates you guys, and he won't be coming back anytime soon. He also doesn't know that he really does belong to a guy in California. That there's a disclaimer, by the way.
You should also know about Zachary Daniels. The kid's only six years old and kinda short, but he's already got an imagination that could rival the biggest geniuses the world's ever known, though he's far from a genius; he's really just a creative little sweetie. His hair is pure white and kinda has this cute little fall-over style, so his eyes are hard to see. But when you do see them, they're pretty surprising; after all, not many people have crimson eyes like his. Though his hair and eyes point to being an albino, his genetics are basically normal. But that's okay, cuz he's so darn adorable. His clothes are usually jeans and a cammo tee-shirt, and whenever he can get away with it, a grey ski cap fixed over his ears. Adorable little sweetie, isn't he?
Unfortunately, his life hasn't exactly been easy. His mom doesn't know who his dad is thanks to some, a-herm, questionable careers she had in the past. She owns an apartment complex in Elmerston, which holds a variety of interesting people. Because there aren't any schools in Elmerston, Zach goes to school in the town over, Amity Park. At school, Zach gets mostly A's and B's, but that's enough to make him unliked by others who are less smart. The only friends he's got are his imaginary ones and Lizzy, an obliviously cheery seven-year-old, and the object of Zach's crush. And that was probably another huge grammar mistake, but I really don't care.
One year ago, Zach found a bottle of rat poison in the cupboard when his mom was busy. He liked the color, and thought he'd give it a sip. And, well, I'll let you see what happens…
Flashback
Pad, pad, pad.
Zach was thinking. A bad sign for him and anybody around him. Whenever he was too deep in his daydreams, he tended to run into people and things, causing a lot of damage. But today, he would pay dearly for his focused thoughts.
"Nah, purple hair would be too weird," he muttered to himself.
Today he was making up a new friend. Lizzy and he had been talking at recess, and they both thought it would be cool to have an imaginary superhero friend. So they agreed that Zach would make him up, and Lizzy would draw him. Lizzy was such a good drawer. Zach was a little jealous.
But that was beside the point. He was having a little trouble thinking up the perfect looks for the superhero. Nothing seemed to fit just right.
Passing a mirror, he barely spared a glance at his reflection. Then he froze, and dashed back to look at his visage.
He pulled at a few strands of ivory hair that hung in front of his eyes and grinned. This was not normal for him; he hated his hair and eyes. They made him look different from everybody else. But a thought had just occurred to him.
"His hair should be white," he deemed.
A chink of the puzzle gently slid into place.
He stared at his reflection, willing more information to come to him. "Green eyes. Tan skin. My age. A black hoodie. Dark green cargo pants. Black boots. A black top hat with a white feather in it." The puzzle fit together easily now. "A magician's wand. Hair in a ponytail. White angel wings?" he frowned. "Maybe later." One last piece was needed. "Hmm… A gun. A revolver. One in both pockets. For when he can't use his magic." The last piece chinked into the open area.
Done.
Zach could see him in the mirror, staring back at him with a smug grin matching his own. "Done," he repeated.
He liked this character.
Lizzy could come up with a name for him when she drew him. For now, he was just a friend with no name.
Lost in his thoughts, Zach paid no attention to where he was going. He opened a cupboard, thinking it the refrigerator. Grabbing a bottle of what he was sure was a soda, he took a sip.
Hmm… tasted kinda weird. He looked down at it but didn't recognize the logo on the front, and he hadn't yet learned to read. But the stuff was blue, so it didn't matter. He'd never had blue soda before.
A few minutes later, Zach lay sprawled on the old red sofa, feeling really dizzy and disoriented. He imagined his new superhero friend playing with him.
They were tossing a huge pearl back and forth on a huge field of purple grass and crystalline lake. His new friend jumped into the air when the ball went too high up to catch, flying on the white angel wings Zach had decided to not include in the final design.
"Are you an angel?" Zach asked curiously. "You weren't supposed to be one. I was supposed to make up a superhero for Lizzy."
The other boy shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't mind being one. It's fun to fly." He did a little loop-de-loop to demonstrate.
"But Lizzy wanted a superhero," Zach protested.
The angel scowled, pulling off his top hat and letting few doves fly out of it. "Fine." He floated down to Zach, his wings dissolving. He landed wing-less. "But you gotta promise that you'll let me use them again later. When you wake up."
"Okay," Zach said, thinking nothing of the fact he had just been told he was dreaming.
"Pinky promise?"
They linked pinkies and smiled.
In the real world, Zach's mom walked into the living room to see her son unconscious, an empty bottle of rat poison forgotten on the ground.
She dropped the groceries she was carrying. "Oh my God."
(SC)
"We're losing him," a nurse said, panicked.
The boy on the gurney lolled his head to one side, saliva dripping from his mouth. He had gone into a coma after ingesting an entire bottle of rat poison according to the reports. It really was amazing that he was alive at all; nobody survived that many toxins in his system for more than a few minutes. This child was a miracle. They could not let him die when he'd come this far.
"My stomach hurts," Zach moaned.
"Don't worry," the other said. "You're just dying."
"Dying?"
"Yeah," the imaginary boy smiled sadly. "I can barely believe you've lasted this long."
"But… I don't want to die," Zach whimpered, his eyes watering.
Seeing the other's tears, his counterpart frowned and bit his lip.
Ignoring the superhero, Zach collapsed on the ground. "I'm only six. I didn't even get to grow up." He started trembling.
His imaginary friend reached behind the boy's ear and pulled out a coin, making a silly face. Zach's tears poured harder.
"Oh…" Nervously twirling his magic wand, he conjured six other pearls and picked up the one they had been using as a ball and began juggling them with ease. He shot a hopeful smile at Zach.
Zach was walking away, down to the pond.
His counterpart let the pearls dissolve into ash before following his buddy. "Zach?" he asked cautiously.
"Leave me alone." He sat down, slumped against a yellow oak tree on the bank.
Sitting down next to him, the other pulled a deck of cards from behind him and started shuffling them. "What's up?"
"I don't think we can save him…!" the nurse whispered.
"Nonsense," a sweaty doctor muttered. "He's gotten this far."
Zach squirmed, rubbing his tummy. "Nobody will like me if I go to heaven."
"What are you talking about?" the other asked, shocked.
"Nobody likes me at school," Zach sobbed. "Just Lizzy. I'll never be able to make any new friends."
"That's ridiculous!" the boy next to him gasped. "Of course you'll make friends."
"Let me through! Let me through!" Zach's mother shrieked. "That's my boy! That's my baby boy!"
A security guard held her back, dispassionately holding her away from her son.
"I don't even know if I'll make it to heaven."
"Don't be stupid!" the superhero stood up, furious at his creator's lack of confidence. "Why would you think that?"
Zach sniffed. "Well, if everybody doesn't like me, it means I did something wrong, doesn't it?"
"No! They're just too stupid to see the real you!" He took a deep, calming breath. "Look, I'll even help you get there."
"His heart's going to go out!"
"He's burning up! Somebody get me some ice!"
"You can do that?" Zach hiccupped, wiping off a few tears.
"Well, duh," he said, making a silly face. Zach giggled. Heartened, the other smiled cheerily. "I was an angel before you made me give that up. I know the way to heaven."
Breaking out of the guard's grip, Zach's mom rushed to her dying son's side, pushing doctors that ignored her out of the way. Tears streamed down her cheeks.
She turned to the nurse, the only one who had noticed her.
"Will my baby be alright?"
"So you'll be like my guardian angel?"
The nurse smiled sadly.
"Uh-huh," he said, pulling out an ace of spades with a picture of an angel on it.
The heart monitor beeped erratically.
"Pinky promise?"
Mother hugged her son for all her life, crying and rocking him while the security guard marched up behind her.
The angel smiled.
The guard dragged her screaming form away.
They linked pinkies.
The heart monitor went dead.
