Sky High belongs to its legal owners
Chapter 5:
There had been an incident.
One where her brother went to celebrate with his friends.
And one where hers had died.
There had been an incident.
Layla bit into her carrot a little louder than necessary, trying to get the man sitting across the table to stop reading his book and pay attention to the conversation.
"What is it, hippie?" Warren looked up from his book. Finally.
"Have you seen Dani?"
He gave her a blank stare. "Uh. No. Why would I have?"
She bit into the carrot again, chewed contemplatively, then swallowed. "I was just wondering if she showed up at the Paper Lantern."
"Not while I was working." He went back to his book but tensed up for just a second.
"What? What is it?" She looked at him.
He paused, then sighed, and then closed his book, "I know where she lives."
"Billy, in half an hour, can you go get Dani and let her know it's time to take her pills." Dianne Holden called from the kitchen. She heard a groan of confirmation from underneath the noise of a vacuum cleaner. "Thank you!" A couple of minutes passed and then the vacuum stopped. The silence was filled with a series of knocks. "Was that the door?" There was another groan. "Check who it is and if it's that salesman again, get rid of him." In a minute there was some consistent groaning that caught her attention and she walked into the main hallway. "What is it?" The zombie turned to look at her and placed his left-hand flat and clapped twice. "School?" She went to the door and checked the peephole only to see a group of teenagers standing on the porch. "What? Dani doesn't have friends." She looked at Billy, "Can you go get her? While I deal with this." Billy began to shuffle away while she opened the door. "Hello?"
"Hi. Uh. I'm not sure if we have the right place but we're looking for Danielle Nocta. We're friends from school." The red-haired girl held a fruit basket.
Dianne stepped aside, "Well, you're in the right place." They filed in.
"What?" Dani's voice was briefly heard before a loud crash, followed by a colourful array of not-quite swears. "I don't have…" She opened her door a crack and popped her head out. "Oh." She blinked a couple of times, "Do y'all mind waiting? I need a half-hour."
There was a mutual sound of agreement as she closed the door. Dianne looked at the group of kids, "Make yourselves comfortable." She took the fruit basket from Layla and went back to the kitchen.
'Barbie Girl' started playing loudly from where Dani had shut herself in. It was followed by an equally loud, "NOT NOW AQUA!" and a loud crashing sound. Dianne sighed and wrote something down on the fridge.
Eventually, Dani walked out of her room, while adjusting her sweater. "Sorry for the wait, I was working out and really needed a shower."
Zach and Ethan began snickering, "It's okay. Barbie Girl."
She let out an exaggerated sigh, "Alright, let's clear something up. One: Aqua was and still is amazing. Two: Warren is the heaviest person in this room."
"Leave me out of this," Warren grumbled from the armchair where he had pulled out his book.
"And I flipped him with only some problems. And finally, Zach, if I can flip Warren, a man twice your weight, I will literally throw you."
Zach met her eyes, "You wouldn't."
"Without hesitation."
"You will not. It's time for your pills." Dianne sighed.
Dani rolled her eyes, "Yes, ma'am." She walked into the kitchen, picked up the pen and wrote something down on the fridge, then opened the door and grabbed a jug of juice, pouring herself a glass. "Y'all want something to drink?" She spoke loudly enough for the group to hear her. They called out that they were good.
Dianne looked at her in exasperation, "I do know how to take care of guests you know."
"Figured I would check." Dani took two of the three pills offered to her. "I'll take that one when I go to bed."
It was Dianne's turn to roll her eyes, "Fine. Don't say I didn't offer."
Dani's eyes caught sight of the fruit basket. "Is that…? Can I eat that?"
"They brought it for you."
"Layla?! Can I open the fruit basket?"
"Go for it! I grew everything, so go ahead."
Dani unceremoniously ripped open the wrapping. She heard her mother say something about grapefruit before she grabbed an apple and bit into it. "Needed that." She muttered before letting out a sigh and biting into it again.
She finished the apple, washed it up, and walked into the living room. "So, what brings y'all here?"
"We wanted to see how you were doing. We would have called but we didn't have your number." Layla leaned against the back of the couch.
"You didn't give them your number?" Dianne squinted at her daughter.
Dani looked at her, "They wouldn't sell me a cell phone, remember?"
"Then you give them the home phone number!"
Dani snorted before laughing, "Oh yeah. Great plan there. Let Christian answer the phone." She opened her mouth, closed it and then continued, "Ring, ring, ring." She mimicked picking up a phone and lowered her voice, "Hello?" A higher octave this time, "Hi! Is Dani there?" Lowered her voice again, "You have the wrong number." She mimicked hanging up the phone.
"He wouldn't…"
Dani cut her off, "Really? Because the last time I checked your son is an asshole!"
Dianne sighed, "You're going to have to forgive him eventually."
Dani raised her voice, "HI POT, I'M KETTLE." Dani stormed back into her room and muffled screaming was heard. When she walked back out she held her wallet. "I have fifteen hundred on my card, go. Treat yourself, go shopping, I do not care. But you need to not be here." She handed her wallet to Dianne and turned her back.
"Wow," Magenta spoke after the front door slammed.
Dani went to go play with hair she didn't have. "Sorry about that. I lost my temper, and I'm working on that. A small case of cabin fever."
"Well, in that case, let's go out," Will suggested.
"I'd love to but I'm under house arrest again. Literally." She lifted her leg up so they could see the ankle monitor. "And I can't just take it off and break out like normal because there are agents outside." She paused, "Someone remind me to feed them later."
"Again?"
"I told you, some stuff happened and now I make people nervous. And what happened at school didn't help anything."
Layla shifted, "But what about school?"
"It's only until Monday. They're 'adjusting' my neutralizer." She shrugged. "But if y'all wanted to hang out here, that'd be okay."
"Sure."
Dani rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, I don't have much for entertainment. But...ummm...There are some movies over there if you want to watch one...but if that's not appealing then I think my mom packed Mario Party when she brought my stuff over. I think I saw it, anyways…" She turned, "It's probably with the GameCube stuff...can you give me a minute?" She didn't wait for a response and went back to her room. She came back out in a couple of minutes, with several controllers precariously stacked on top of the GameCube and games. "I couldn't find Mario Party but apparently I own Mario Kart. And let me be clear, that is news to me." She sat down in front of the TV and began hooking up the GameCube. "Did y'all find a movie?"
Will, who was browsing the slim movie catalogue, held up the Resident Evil live-action movie, "Your brother is a fan?"
Dani looked up, "Ha! No! That's mine. Though I'm not sure why it's out here. It's not bad. The second one is more consistent in regards to the games...well….kinda."
"How did you convince your parents to buy you an R rated movie?" Will flipped the case over and began reading the back of the cover before passing it over to Zach.
She shrugged, "If I hand them money, they buy me what I want." She pulled out the VCR/DVD player and plugged in the AUX cable. "It probably helps that it wasn't as bad as that time I said, 'Mommy! I wanna go see 'Ginger Snaps'!" Warren made a choked noise as she slid the VCR back into place, "He gets it." She looked back at Will, "You pick a movie yet?"
"Uhhh...yeah." He picked out a random VHS and handed it to her.
She looked at the tape, "'Homeward Bound'? You monster." She pushed the tape into the slot and stood, brushing herself as she went to the closet. She tossed a box of tissues onto the coffee table before taking her spot between Will and Magenta near the end of the couch. She paused, handed the remote off, and went into the kitchen. The microwave started and soon the sound of popping was heard. A few minutes later she came out of the kitchen with a platter of fruit, from the basket, and a bowl of popcorn. She gently laid out the platter and put the popcorn bowl down beside it before heading back into the kitchen, where popping could still be heard. When she came back again she had a plate of cookies and another bowl of popcorn. She placed them on the table and went back to her spot. "There, we can start." Will stared at her for a moment then started the movie.
By the time the movie ended, Dani was squinting through the tears. "None of those animals came from shelters."
That got her several confused stares, "That's what you get from this?"
"I'm sorry...but a golden retriever? A…" She made a hand movement, "whatever the cat is. Those are breeder animals. And Chance? He's a purebred Bulldog, there is no way in hell he was properly brought to a shelter. Fur..." A cold chill ran up her spine and effectively wiped any further argument she might have had from her mouth. She looked around quickly, trying to see if anything was out of place.
"Dani?"
Her eyes focused on the empty counter, where a vase once sat. "There's a ghost here." She bit her lip trying to find the damn thing, and her teeth broke the skin.
"Ahhhhh...the blood of a necromancer." A sweet almost melted chocolate voice whispered from behind her.
Dani jumped out of her seat, and spun, seeing the faintest shimmer of a silhouette. "HA! YOU'RE JUST A BABY! And here I was worried." The vase that had been moved to the dining room table flew across the room and bounced against the wall, because only stupid necromancers bought glass products, and she sighed, "Alright, you've said your piece, time to go." She waved her hand dismissively. "Take your idiot friends with you." She felt hands grab her throat, not quite putting on pressure, but she knew better than to tempt the situation any further. She let out another sigh, as the ghost began taunting her. She removed her earrings and dropped them on the table. This was going to suck. "I said. GET OUT!"
The hands holding her throat let go as though they had been burned and the shimmer flew back through the rest of the house before Dani lost sight of it. She was waiting for the chill to disappear when pain shot up her leg and she collapsed to the floor, twitching and spasming. After a couple of minutes, she was left gasping and panting on the floor, eventually, her ears began working again. She heard the worried cries of the others and gave them a thumbs up.
Will helped her sit up, "What happened?"
"Have you ever been tasered?" He shook his head. "Well, don't." She gave a hollow laugh, "I'm fine."
"You sure?"
She waved him off, put her earrings back in and stood. "Yeah. Don't worry about it." She walked over to the vase and picked it and the fake flowers up. She placed it back on the counter, she rubbed the back of her neck, fingers lingering on the scar there for a moment longer than necessary. "You know, I'm feeling a little hungry for something moderately healthy. I'm going to make something. Y'all want some?"
The chorus of 'sure's' let her make a quick retreat to the kitchen, where she clutched her hand to her chest while she took three deep breaths as she willed her hand to stop shaking. Once the shaking eased she grabbed one of the pill bottles off the top of the microwave and tried to open it. The cast on her left hand made popping open the lid hard, especially while her right hand continued to shake.
"Thought so." Warren's voice made her jump. But when he held out his hand she handed him the bottle. He popped open the bottle and let two fall into the lid.
She only took one and groaned before dry swallowing the pill. She took a moment and clapped a hand over her mouth in mortification. She looked at him and he blinked back at her. She took a deep breath, and pursed her lips together, "I just spoke zombie, sorry, I haven't done that in a really long time, I meant to say thanks. That shock did more than I thought. Gonna have to avoid that." She went to the fridge and pulled out the last remains of food.
He looked at her, "You want the other one?"
She could already feel the first one creeping into her brain making her forget she was in pain, she felt the vein in her right arm begin to itch, where the IV no longer sat, giving her the need to claw at it until it was a gaping hole in her arm. Bloody and broken. What she said instead was, "No thanks, they make my brain fuzzy." He put the remaining pill back in the bottle and put them back on top of the microwave, while she placed a half-full bag of carrots onto the counter. She pulled the carrot peeler out of a drawer, grabbed a cutting board and took her spot at the counter. He stood beside her, unsure what to do until he watched her try to peel a carrot. Which was an interesting game of whether or not she was accidentally going to catch the peeler on her cast.
"Here." He took the peeler and the carrot from her.
She sighed, but went to the knife set and pulled out the chef's knife and whetstone. She began sharpening the knife, while he peeled the first few carrots. After a minute or two, she spoke, "Did Layla send you?" She paused, "To check on me?"
"Nah." He put down another carrot, "I've got work soon and they started Mario Kart."
She snorted, "Not exactly a good environment for reading. Do you want to try sitting in the dining room? It's pretty soundproof."
"It's fine." He picked a carrot out of the bag and began peeling it. She cleaned her knife and walked back to the cutting board, she grabbed a carrot and casually began chopping the carrots. After a while, when the colander was halfway full, he spoke again. "You okay?"
She didn't look at him, "So, Layla did send you." She sighed, "You're going to have to be more specific Mr Peace. Am I okay about what? The ghost thing? I have to be. It's part of the job. Normally, Billy handles them…" They both paused at the mention of the zombie and she remembered something, "I owe you an apology. About Billy, and what he did."
"Tried to kill me?"
"That'd be it. See. Here's the thing, Billy has always been by my side. Always. And he's protected me. From ghosts, animals, my brother, you name it. So when that..." She paused...As Grandma always said: Finish what you start, girl. "Happened...And he …we. We couldn't do anything. His….instinct to protect me. Increased. And when I panicked, he reacted. And while this doesn't excuse what happened. I am sorry. I lost control for a moment and because of it you were put in danger. And I am sorry for that."
He nodded, "So where is he now?"
She laughed. "Yeah...He doesn't like you, so I sent him home."
"So, are you...okay, that is."
She rubbed the back of her neck, "Maybe? I'm not used to having this many people in my personal space. It makes me...uncomfortable. I've only ever had one other person share my space before, and she's not here so I guess I'm just restless." Her fingers touched the scar on the back of her neck, her fingers traced over the scar and the kitchen began to fade from view.
She had chosen to challenge the Council.
She had chosen.
And now they were going to kill her for it.
Like they always did when they had a problem they couldn't deal with.
They had ghosts
They didn't know that they had ghosts
But she did.
Her right hand gripped her cast finger hard enough to jolt her back to reality.
"Where did you go?" Warren was looking at her. She could feel it. But she wouldn't have recognized the look even if she had seen it.
She gave a small laugh. "To where even darkness goes to die." She took a deep breath, and let it out before looking at him. "Sorry. I keep showing you all my best sides." She gave another small laugh. "And we haven't even had our first date yet."
He rolled his eyes and went back to peeling. "Whatever."
She began chopping again. And there was a lull in the conversation until he was done with the carrots. "Speaking of dates...Did you and...what was her name again? Your ex? I'm sorry her name's not sticking, get back together?"
"Uh…" He paused, "Yeah...how'd you guess?"
"Well...the giant hickey peeking out of your shirt was a big help." She looked at the pile of carrots on her cutting board and went back to chopping. "If you want to cover it up, I think I have some that'll match your colour."
Dianne returned to see Dani sitting in between the couch and the coffee table. Gamecube controller in her hand, spring roll in her mouth, and Resident Evil 4 on the TV.
"Where are your friends?"
"They left a little while ago." She finished her spring roll and looked back, "They're coming over tomorrow to do homework."
"Did you feed the suits?"
"Yes, ma'am." She offered her mom a spring roll and took the offered tea.
Dianne sat down beside her and pet her head, "Feeling better?"
"I…I'm sorry."
"Me too. It can't be easy living with Chris."
"I hate him."
"I know."
"And I can't forgive him."
Dianne looked at her daughter, and if Dani had been looking she'd had seen pain and grief, that matched her own. "I can't either."
They watched the screen for a while until Dani's head snapped up, "Oh yeah! Mom! Who's Barron Battle?"
The dining room table was quiet, except for the sound of pens writing. Hero History was nonsense in Dani's opinion. Maybe that was why she wasn't able to make it stick. She pushed out her chair, "I need a snack, anyone else want some?" When she looked up she saw half of the table looking at her. "What?"
Magenta flipped Warren's textbook around, "Related?" She tapped a picture at the bottom page.
"Huh? Lemme see?" She took the book and stared at the page. She knew that face, it was similar to her own. But most importantly she knew the voice that went with the face, and what she called her. 'Little God' She let out a small breath, then laughed, "Yeah, that's my great grandmother." She read the capture under the picture, "Judging by the date, it was her March on Memphis." She handed the textbook back, "She went a touch insane and well one thing led to another. It happens."
Will read the page, "What's a Soul Eater?"
Dani raised an eyebrow, "In theory? A person who eats souls. But it's a myth."
It wasn't.
"It says she was one."
Dani laughed, "So you're telling me that you believe a textbook written by Heroes over a bonafide Necromancer? That's cold, Will." She crossed the room, "Besides, the ability to rip a soul out of a body and eat it? That's a little far-fetched for even Hero School."
It wasn't.
She would know.
She's done it.
Author's Note:
Y'all. I did not edit this chapter or the next cause they are long as heck.
I regret nothing.
If there's a problem, let me know.
If there isn't hope you enjoyed it.
