Hey yall. Welp its September first and as promised, a new chapter today. We take on another glance at Dani's backstory, specifically being inside a particular foster home. It does get a little gloomy but I promise you it also has light-hearted moments in this chapter.
Please leave a comment on what you think so far about this story or chapter. Any insight or suggestions, all comments are welcomed. With your comments, I get to see whether or not I should continue writing this story. College can get busy but if I see that people are enjoying this story, I will gladly continue to write and upload. Take care and enjoy it.
Chapter 34
Emily walks towards the door and checks on her security tablet in order to see who is ringing the door. On the other side of the door was Amelia and James, both holding a bag looking rather anxious. Amelia had her blonde hair combed straight, wearing a mid-length white skirt with a black blouse. Her style is always high-end clothing, always setting the bar high in fashion. James was the opposite, wearing just a plain grey shirt with jeans.
Emily walks at the door and opens it. "Hey. I'm glad you guys made it," she greeted them with a warm smile. "Come in," she gestured inside.
Both teens smile and enter, greeting Emily with a handshake.
"How is she?" asked Amelia while closing the door.
"She's okay. Her energy is a little low but I'm sure you guys could cheer her up," Emily replied. The friends were worried after trying to contact Dani several times without success. This is why they contacted Emily while she was in the hospital asking if she knew about Dani. That is when the agent informed them about what happened. She invited them over in order for them to visit her.
She guided both teens to the living room. Dani heard them walking inside and stood up slowly, holding her side of her ribcage. "Hey," she said, giving her friends a weary smile.
Both teens froze instantly, having their eyes wide open in shock. They saw Dani's face with a rather large bruise on her jaw and stitches going through her brow. She looked like she got out of a pretty bad boxing match.
"Dani! What the heck happened to you?" Asked Amelia with a mixture of confusion and worry. "You look like… like-"
"Like shit," James blurbed out. He covered his mouth, instantly regretting what he said. Amelia elbows his ribs, giving him a stare of disapproval. "Sorry," he said embarrassingly.
"Nice to see you too, James," Dani said, rolling her eyes playfully with a smile.
Both teens walk towards Dani and place their bags on the coffee table. Emily sits on the arm of the couch where Dani was sitting. James sits on the opposite couch, facing Dani while Amelia stands in front of her. She reaches for her slowly, not wanting to hurt her. "Does it hurt?" She asked while lifting Dani's chin, turning her head slightly in order for her to see the stitches clearly.
"Nope. I'm all good," Dani said with a smile. She noticed doubt reflecting on her friend's face. "Seriously. I'm fine. Nothing hurts."
Amelia lowers her hand and sighs. "God, Dan. What trouble did you get yourself into now?"
Dani raises her brow, feeling slight discomfort. "Wait. This wasn't my fault," she said while sitting back down. She bit her lip, realizing something. "Well, okay. It was partially my fault. I was out when I wasn't supposed to," she admitted.
"Wait. Why were you out?" Asked Emily with an inquiry.
Dani glanced at the agent and sighed. She knew she had blown her cover. "I uhh… might have gone out to a... social event that night," she said while avoiding the agent's gaze.
"So a party?" Emily stated with a frown. She did wonder why Dani was out but that question was pushed to the back of her mind with everything else that was happening. She was just glad that her daughter was safe.
"But I swear I learned my lesson in never going out while grounded again. Trust me, I won't do it. Please have mercy on my poor soul," the teen said while giving Emily puppy eyes.
Emily rolls her eyes and smiles. "Don't worry. I will have mercy on your mortal soul today," she said while patting Dani's knee. If they were in a different position, Emily wouldn't have let Dani's bad actions slide out of her radar. Emily loved her but she is always firm in teaching her that bad actions have bad consequences. Scolding and punishment would have been necessary in order to guide the teen to the right path. Emily won't do that on this occasion. The teen was put through so much already, not that it was her fault. Her rebellious actions just led her to the wrong place at the wrong time. This was never a way Emily would have wanted Dani to learn her lesson but she knows it did. Part of her feels guilty in knowing the child learned through trauma. Never a good way to learn something.
Amelia walks over and takes a seat next to James.
"Dan, you need to chill with your escapades. You will end up giving one of us a heart attack. Especially to Emily," James points out.
"You are right about that. This girl will end up being the reason why my hair is showered in grey," Emily said playfully while looking at Dani.
"It's not my fault that you are getting old," Dani shoots back with a smug face. Emily nudges the teens shoulder playfully.
"I'll leave you guys alone so you all can catch up, anything you guys need just tell me," Emily said while standing up. "Don't cause too much trouble," she told Dani as she places a quick kiss on the top of her head and walks upstairs.
Dani watches as the agent walks upstairs and eventually is out of her sight. She turns around and faces her friends, both with worried faces.
"Dan, what happened?" asked Amelia with a worried face.
Dani looks up at her friends and sighs. She knows there was a lot that happened that day. Dani herself couldn't process the whole ordeal, especially when adding Emily's past into this. Her brain was flooded with too many thoughts roaming around her mind about her kidnapping. She wasn't sure how to explain to her friends about it. "I uhh… was kidnapped. The guy held me for a few hours and well… that's where this happened," she said while pointing at her stitches.
"Did you know the dickhead who held you?" asked James.
"No. I never met him in my life but he knew me," Dani replied.
"What do you mean?" asked Amelia while sitting up. "How did he know you?"
Dani looks down at the floor, watching her feet planted on the ground. "He knew me through Emily," she said with a low voice. The teen doesn't blame Emily for her abduction. It wasn't her fault that someone she tried to protect ended up wanting to hurt her. It was just something that was bound to happen. "He is the son of an arms dealer that Emily helped with his arrest years ago. His father died while in the custody of the BAU. He… he wanted to get even."
"He wanted to kill you?" James said with distress.
"That was his plan," Dani said plainly with a nod. "Emily and the team found me in time. They caught him. He can't do anything now." The teen didn't want to go into details about how Emily was also held hostage with her. She didn't want to remember how she heard Emily desperately trying everything she could to spare the teen's life. She didn't want to go back and remember watching the gun pointed at Emily's head.
Her body would recoil each time that image replayed in her mind.
The teens were in silence for a few moments, trying to take in what was said. Amelia and James were both frightened thinking about the fact that they could have lost a friend. How everything could have crumbled to pieces.
"Were you scared?" asked James, breaking the silence that was in the room.
Dani glanced up and bit her lip. Growing up as a foster child, Dani had to learn to hide away her fears. She learned that being scared was a sign of weakness. If a child shows that they are weak, foster parents with bad intentions would prey on them knowing that they have power over them. The teen, like other foster kids, learned the hard way.
Flashback (7 years ago)
8-year-old Daniela is standing in front of a house's front porch with three trash bags in hand, shifting rather nervously from side to side. The child was standing next to Mr. Brian Harper, her social worker at the time. Dani never really liked the man. He was rather strict and short-tempered, always telling the child what to do.
"Stop moving so much, Daniela," he sighed while checking out the time on his watch. The man was always on a schedule, never liked being late for anything. He rolls his eyes as he notices that if he stays any longer he would be late for an appointment. He knocks the door again, this time with more force.
The little girl is fidgeting with her shirt, twisting the bottom of her shirt around her finger. She's a nervous wreck thinking about who her new foster parents would be. Her first year inside the system went pretty smoothly. She landed with the Adams Family, a nice couple who took her in as well as two other children. They treated her rather nicely, offering her and her foster siblings a nice playroom, toys, and other nice amenities that the kids loved. Overall, the Adams were pretty great people. It's true, the Adams never replaced her mother. The kid missed her like crazy but she was allowed to see her once every other week and she was grateful for that. Unfortunately, the Adams had a family emergency which required them to fly back to London in order to take care of a sick family member. Dani and the rest of the foster children under their care would have to be relocated to other foster homes.
Now she is standing in front of her new temporary home, waiting to get inside. The child looked around the house. It was a large, two-story house with a nice coat of grey and white paint. The front lawn is very well kept with nicely trimmed bushes and beautiful beds of flowers decorating the house. A nice house indeed.
The door opens widely which caught the girl off guard, flinching back lightly. A man stands in front of her with a small smile. He is a white male around his mid-forties with short blond and grey hair. He has a light mustache on his face. His greenish eyes, looking at her.
"Mr. Moore, glad to see you," Mr. Harper said with a smile. "Mr. Moore, this is Daniela. Daniela, this is Mr. Moore," he told the small child.
The child looks up at the tall man and smiles sheepishly. "Hi Mr. Moore," she said shyly.
"Hello, Daniela," he replied back with a rather deep voice.
"You would be staying with him and his wife for a while, Daniela. You know the rules. Always be nice and respectful. Don't cause any trouble," he told her. He looks at his watch and frowns. "Crap, I'm late for a meeting. I have to go now," he told the man.
"Don't worry, I got her," Mr. Moore said while gesturing to the girl inside. "My wife is inside the living room. Why don't you go meet her?" He told the girl. Dani nods and slowly walks inside the house.
"Thank you," Harper said with a smile. "She's a nice girl. She won't cause any trouble."
"Oh trust me. She won't," Moore said with a smirk.
Dani walks inside the living room where a lady was standing there, apparently waiting for her. A tall, pale-skinned lady with a round bob hairstyle. She looked at the kid and shot her a quick smile.
"Hello. I'm Karen, Mike's wife," she said. "You must be Daniela."
The small girl nods. "Yes."
Mike walks inside the room and stands next to Karen. He crosses his hands on his chest and stands up straight, looking rather tense.
"Alright Daniela, let's set things straight. You will be staying with us now with the rest of the kids. I have rules here. Rules that should be followed without any excuse. You break them, you get punished. Got it?" He asked.
Dani nods slowly in response. The man bends down, eye to eye with the girl and frowns. "Lesson number one. Each time I ask you something you have to answer verbally. You are not mute so answer me with yes sir or no sir. The same goes for Karen. Yes, mam or no mam. Got it?"
Dani nodded again but quickly realized her mistake. "Yes sir."
"Good. Now go upstairs and enter the first room to your left. You will be sharing rooms with Lisa. She will tell you what goes around here," he said while pointing on the stairs. Dani looks at him for a moment and he quickly stands up. "Go!" He yelled.
The girl quickly dashed to the stairs and entered the room. The room had a wooden bunk bed and two drawers on sight. It had white walls and overall looked pretty dull. It was well kept, having no sign of trash or mess. She spots a girl that is around three years older than her standing on the side of the room.
"You must be the new kid. I'm Lisa," she said while extending her hand for a shake. Dani shakes her hand lightly, introducing herself. "I would say welcome but no one should be welcomed here. You landed in a bad place. These people are mean people."
"How mean?" Dani questioned with a brow raised.
"You will see."
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It didn't take much time for Dani to learn how the Moore's function. They work to the extreme length of authoritarian rule. She and the other three foster kids had a strict curfew, one that couldn't be broken. Wake up early in the morning to prepare for the day. Clean up their room in order for it to be spotless. Go to school and directly come back with no diversions. Do any chores the Moore's had for them. Finish it without any questions. They were only allowed to eat after the adults approved of their work. They would search and nitpick for any flaws, making the children starve until they got their chores done to their expectations. The Moore's treated the children as soldiers in a military camp. Always yelling out orders with the only answer expected with yes.
The children were never allowed to go outside and play like the rest of the children their age. They had a few toys but most of them were old and broken. Not like they had a chance of playing with them anyways. They were always bombarded with work to do.
All of the kids living in that house knew that they had to comply with everything that the Moore's told them to do. Having the children starve wasn't the only method of punishment they had.
Fear.
Fear was their greatest weapon. Mr. Moore knew exactly what he could do with this. He had different ways of scaring the kids, always choosing which method was most effective depending on the child's own fear. He knew exactly what would make them afraid.
He was cold and calculated. Studying each child in order to know their emotional weakness. Some kids were afraid of the dark, so he would lock them in a dark room. Others were scared of fire, he would threaten them in burning their skin with a lighter. For Dani, he read her files, learning that the child was coming from a house where drugs were always lurking. He knew what she feared the most. Needles. The child would tremble at the sight of them, knowing what they can potentially do. Each time he would consider Dani misbehaving, he would yell at her, waving a needle and sometimes even run the needle, trailing through her skin making her whole body tremble in fear.
There was never a day where the Moore's wouldn't insult them. Calling them names and so on. What Dani hated the most is when Mr. Moore would call her pathetic and weak. How she was just a little weak girl.
She hated it because she knew it was true.
Present Time
This was the first but not the last house where Dani was treated this way. She felt blessed in having the chance of landing in a few good foster homes where they treated her well. The teen just wishes she could suppress all the unpleasant memories from homes where they maltreated her. Homes where she hated to be in.
James' question was a hard question to answer. Not because she didn't know how to respond, it was because it was something hard to admit. Yes, she was scared. Maybe she didn't show it but she was scared to death during those moments. Most people would think that the teen was scared of dying but that wasn't the case. What she feared the most was something else.
She's gazing at the floor, avoiding eye contact with either friends. "I uhh… I was scared," she said in a low volume, not wanting Emily to hear her. "I mean the guy was crazy and had me tied up with no chance of escaping. I had a bunch of things going around my head that was just adding more fear."
"And that's completely understandable, Dan," Amelia said while standing up. She walks up and sits next to Dani. "You were kidnapped by a lunatic who wanted to hurt you. It's okay to feel that way," she said while placing her hand on Dani's shoulder.
Dani looks at her and smiles. "I guess you're right."
Amelia smiles back and without warning pulls Dani in for a hug. Dani feels her body ache but ignores it, wrapping her arms around her friend.
"I'm glad you're okay, Dan. I can't imagine what I would do if something were to happen to you," Amelia said with a sniffle.
"I'm okay. Everything is fine."
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The friends were hanging out for the rest of the afternoon. They spent the day watching tv and chatting about what was going on in school and so on. After a while they decided to play UNO, one of the many card games James brought as an "Emergency Bored Kit" to Dani, containing card games to board games. Dani appreciated the nice gesture from her friend.
They are on their third game, Amelia and James winning the first two rounds. The teen's invited Emily to join in for the final round and she gladly accepted. The game is getting pretty competitive, all players having no mercy when placing down a card. After all, they have decided that the winner of this round will be considered the UNO master, having full bragging rights. Emily was the closest to winning, having only three cards left.
"I choose green," Amelia said as she placed the wild card down. James smiles as he places down a green card with the number four on it.
"Crap. I don't have a four or a green card," Dani said as she took a card out of the pile. "Kind of ironic," she mumbled with a smirk. Of course, the Mexican player doesn't have a green card, she thought to herself.
It was Emily's turn. She smiled and placed down a red four on the pile. Now she is only down to two cards until she saviors sweet victory.
Amelia places down a red reverse, changing the pattern of how they were going. Emily was next again, planning her move. She had two cards. A blue two card and a plus-four card. She licked her lips while seeing her options.
"I'm so sorry, Dan," she said while placing down the plus four card. "Uno!" She exclaimed out loud. A surprised gasp escaped from both James and Amelia while Dani's jaw dropped in shock.
"What the what?! A plus four? Really?" The teen questioned Emily while picking up her four cards.
"I said sorry in advance," Emily said with a shrug.
"I see your true colors now, agent. Just know karma is a pain in the ass," she said while glancing down at her cards.
"Oh please. What are the odds of me not winning," she said playfully while rolling her eyes. She chooses the color blue and James places down a blue reverse card. Emily notices the devilish smirk on Dani's face when she notices it was her turn. "Oh no," she said worried about what the teen would do.
"Damn right for that oh no. The universe has answered my prayers," she said with a smile while placing down a swap hands card. "By the power this card has given me, I would like to swap hands with you, Em," she said with a smug face.
"Ouch!" James exclaimed while Amelia was chucking.
Emily was astonished how the game changed in a matter of seconds. "No, wait… but-"
"Sorry, there are no but's. Rules are rules," the teen pointed out. Emily sighed and reluctantly gave up her card while Dani gave her the stack of eight cards she had. "Well, well, well. How the turntables?" She said while glancing at Emily with a smirk. Emily rolls her eyes and shoves the teen playfully.
They continued the game and as expected, Dani won thanks to only having one card. She pumped her fist in victory as she gladly accepted the title of UNO master.
"I would like to thank everyone who helped me win this honorable title," she said while holding the stack of cards. "I would like to thank my friends. Thank that person who tried to sabotage me from getting my success," she said mischievously while looking at Emily. "It wouldn't be possible without you."
"It's an honor," Emily said in a serious tone, playing along with the teen. "You wouldn't have one without me."
"Jealous much?" asked Dani with a brow raised. Emily pulls in the teen, wrapping her arms around her while ruffling her hair. "No, wait, no," Dani said while laughing, trying to escape.
Emily's smile widens as she hears her laugh. She loves hearing her kid laughing because that means she is happy and filled with joy.
Two things that Emily always wants the teen to be.
To be beaming with joy.