Chapter 3: Night in Goth

After heading inside through the front door and watching Dorothy run off to play with her siblings, Dylan came into the room vacuuming the floor as usual. Other than taking care of his brothers and sisters, he always wanted to make sure the house was clean for whenever mum and dad came home. He had just finished the hallway floor when he noticed me.

"Oh there you are!" He said with a bit of a relieved smile. "Was starting to wonder where you and Dorothy were. Speaking of which, did she behave herself at school?" I nodded slightly in response. "Yeah, other than a bit of a misunderstanding with another student. Don't worry, they made up!" Dylan smiled at this. "Hey, if you're free, would you mind helping me clean the rest of the house? I'm getting kinda exhausted." I was about to answer when the phone rang which Dylan rushed over to and answered it.

"Hello?" There was brief silence before he continued. "Portia? What is it? Alright." He covered the microphone part of the phone and called upstairs. "Dante, Portia wants to talk to you!" The goth brother of mine headed downstairs seconds later and took the phone.

"Yeah, Portia, what's up?"

…

"Ferrydog festival at the canal, tonight? Sure, I'll come."

…

"Bring DJ and… Cody?" He said in confusion as he briefly glanced over to me. "Well, okay then, see you tonight." He said before hanging up.

From what I remember from brief descriptions from Dante, Ferrydog Festival was an occasional nightly event where anthros all in the goth trend including Portia attend to vent any of their frustrations and listen to the kind of music any goth would listen to. But why would Portia invite me? And that was what I was about to ask Dante when Dallas peered from behind one of the room doorways.

"Did I like, just hear right? Dante's friend invited you to their goth thing?" Dallas was joined of course by Deja Vu and Destiny as she asked this. "Well, yes but I don't know why-" I was cut off by Destiny grabbing my arm and leading me upstairs. "Come on, girls, make-over time!"

Less than an hour later, I looked at my temporary new look at a mirror in the Triple D's room. The trio had dyed my hair black and even added some matching-colour extensions to make a bang over one of my eyes, both of which had grey eyeshadow under them. All that was changed clothes wise was my blue hoodie being replaced with the "4" varsity jacket I got from the Dimitri Trio. Dallas gave a proud smirk as she looked me over.

"There, now you'll totes fit in with the goth crowd! I amaze myself sometimes!" Dallas grinned as she complimented herself, oblivious to Destiny and Deja Vu behind her, giving her annoyed glares on account that they helped with the makeover.

"I don't see why this is necessary, but thanks for doing this anyway, girls. Maybe I will fit i-"

"AH AH AH!" Dallas immediately cut me off, holding a finger to me. "More goth attitude, please!" She urged as I mentally sighed and attempted to speak in the goth lingo with as bland a tone as possible. "I mean like, thanks for so not making me tragic or whatever." Dallas gave me a thumbs up to that to which I nodded and headed out. The festival wasn't for another hour or so.

"I honestly don't get why you don't stick with that look for life. We'd both be true brothers relishing in fear of the eventual coming of Doomsday!" Dante said as him, DJ and I headed for the front door. "Maybe because I'm not as obssessed with darkness like you are." I retorted in a matter-of-fact tone. Evening was now on the way as the sky outside was slowly changing from orange to the dark of the night.

"I'll be back late, guys! Behave yourselves for Dylan's sake, alright?" I called out as I was about to open the door.

"Hold it, bruv!" The voice of Dimitri 1 rang out as he and the other two of his trio raced up to me.

"Guys, seriously. I'm an adult now, I can take care of myself." I tried to reassure the triplets whom were planning on coming with us for the sake of protecting me.

"No way, bro. Not letting you end up having to be in a hospital bed again!" Dimtri 2 rejected my reassurance, standing his ground as did the other two. They've always been like that ever since my biological dad nearly beat me to death back when I was ten. At this current age, they should've gotten over it by now especially since I made it clear to them multiple times that I forgave them for how they initially treated me. And yet, I can't bring myself to even be frustrated with them. In some odd way, it was their way of saying how much they loved and cared for me, just like that one time…

[Flashback – 11 Years Ago]

It had been a week since I left the hospital and at that point, every one of my injuries had completely healed up and I looked good as new. I stirred awake in my bed from the feeling of a dry throat, looking around to see some of my brothers and sisters including Da Vinci all sound asleep. Getting out of my own bed as silently as possible, I crept to the bedroom door, making sure not to accidentally step on any of the pups who were asleep on the floor mattresses. After getting through that obstacle safely, I blinked to adjust my vision to the darkness before heading downstairs into the kitchen, picking up an empty glass on the way to the sink and slowly turning the tap an inch so that the water would flow as quietly as possible.

Turning the tap off after filling up the glass, I went ahead and gulped down the cool liquid, getting rid of the dryness in my throat and also refreshing me a little. But as I put the glass away and was about to head back upstairs, I stopped in my tracks and looked to the hallway that lead to the living room.

Something didn't feel right.

I slowly walked over to the living room doorway to find the Dimitri Trio passed out on the couch. Seems like they had snuck out of bed to watch some late night TV, I held back a chuckle at the sight until I looked over at Dimitri 1 whom unlike the other two who had peaceful expressions in their slumber, his face was contorted with distress. His body seemed to randomly twitch as well. Curious, I walked over to the teen pup and kneeled down to him where I could just about hear him mumble something. I leaned closer to try and understand what he was saying.

"N-No… Don't… G-Get away from him..." I blinked in confusion at this as Dimitri 1's face creased with intensity, his already closed eyes were now clenched and he looked like he was about to burst into tears. "D-Don't hurt him… Please… No… C-Cody…!" Growing concern started to overwhelm me when he said my name so I laid a hand on his arm and gently shook him to wake him up.

"Dimitri 1?" I gently called out, hoping he would hear me. He continued to shiver and whimper in his sleep.

"W-Why…? Why would you do that to him…?" He questioned pleadingly as I resorted to shaking a little harder.

"Dimitri 1!" I nearly yelled out, as his eyes snapped open and he yelped, sitting up and panting heavily. Sweat running down his fur as he continued to breathe rapidly before looking over to me.

"...Did you have a bad dream?" I asked as his face trembled before he suddenly pulled me into a tight hug, letting out broken sobs as I felt his chin rest on my head. I softly rubbed his back to ease him before I looked up at him.

"Do you wanna tell me what happened?" I asked Dimitri 1 as gulped back a sob and wiped his eyes. "I-It was about that day… when your… your dad nearly killed you." My eyes widened in slight horror as he recalled what had happened just only several days ago. That fateful day where my biological dad had kidnapped me with the intent on murdering me and would've succeeded if Dolly and Diesel hadn't found me and the Dimitri trio intervened. "But… this time, we couldn't knock him out. I-It was like he was superhuman… He had the other two knocked out and me roughed up real bad..." Dimitri 1 continued as more tears ran down his face, preparing for what he was about to say next.

"A-And he… s-stamped on your head and crushed it to nothing… then he… d-dragged your body away!" He finished, pulling me close and squeezing me again.

In all my time so far living with the Dalmatians, I never saw the Dimitri Trio as the emotional type. Moreso as the cheeky prank-loving bad boys with a soft spot for their family. But then again, like me and most of my siblings, they were still just kids so I should've expected something like this either way.

"Dimitri..." I began as I gently stroked his head to calm him down. "It was only a nightmare. For as long as that man is where he belongs, he won't ever hurt us again. You can trust me, right?" I asked as a small smile slowly crept on his face and he wiped his face once more.

"Okay… Thanks, bro." He said gratefully, now feeling a little better as both our foreheads rested against each other for a short while before I got up and was about to head back up to bed until Dimitri 1's voice stopped me.

"...Cody?"

"Hm?" I glanced behind to see Dimitri 1 carry a blanket to a vacant couch and sit down on it. "...You wouldn't mind if you slept with me tonight, would you?" I smiled as he asked this as I answered him by walking over to the couch and sat next to him to which he draped the blanket over us. "And… Uhh… You won't tell the others, right? ...They might make fun of me." He glanced over to the other two snoozing Dimitris with an embarrassed blush on his face. "Your secret's safe with me. Goodnight, Dimitri." I reassured before drifting off to sleep, but not before feeling Dimitri 1's arms gently wrap around me followed by him giving me a tender lick on my cheek before he too was sound asleep.

[Present Day]

"Cody!" I was suddenly snapped out of my flashback-induced trance by Dante who was staring at me. "Have the days of reckoning appeared in your vision too?!" I shook my head dismissively. "No no, Dante, I was just thinking back to something a long time ago." I briefly rubbed my temple before looking at the triplets. "Alright, you guys can come along." The trio grinned and exchanged high fives with each other. "That's our Cody, always choosing wisely." Dimitri 2 commented with a grin as we headed out the door.

On our way however, we passed by Clarissa's house which was just next door to us and unfortunately for us, the corgi herself was just outside the door with her lady friends.

"Well now, looks like the Dalmatians' human is off to maybe do something illegal! Tsk tsk, I always knew those ruff-raff were a bad influence!" She said mockingly before laughing with her lady friends, eliciting a growl from Dimitri 3. I groaned in aggravation at her talking down my family when an idea came to mind, that idea being to practice my goth attitude on her.

"Oh yeah? Well, don't you have anything better to do with your tragic conformist life, like spending time with your human pet, Hugo? I'd tell him to wear a condom if I were you." I responded as snarkily yet uncaring as I could as a mortified gasp escaped Clarissa's mouth, meanwhile I could faintly hear Dolly in our back garden burst into hysterical laughter as the Dimitri Trio too snickered.

"Oooh snap, Cody just roasted the rich bitch!" Dimitri 1 laughed as I had a devilish smirk myself whilst we continued onwards to the canal, the atmosphere being filled with Clarissa's offended ranting.

The evening sky was already halfway through the process of changing to the night-time sky when we all arrived, DJ going ahead with his keyboard and setting it up as I looked around to find anthros of all kinds all in dark clothing, hair and make up. To my surprise, there were actually a few humans in the mix as well, also in Gothic attire.

"Uhhh, Cody, why don't you hang here where we can see you whilst we make conversation with the drink bar?" Dimitri 2 suggested as he and his twins rushed to a counter containing countless cans of beer and many cocktails and beverages that had colours that matched those of a Goth's interests, leaving me with Dante.

"So, are those like, your babysitters?" Portia asked as she approached me and Dante. Despite her flat tone, I could tell she meant that as a joke. "More like guardians of my unhinged soul." I replied, still practising my Gothic mannerisms. The poodle scoffed as she looked over me. "I'll admit, your look for this festival isn't as tragic as I thought." She complimented as I only nodded in acknowledgement, the ambience now being filled with DJ playing songs from a band I think I've heard the name of before, 'Manic Street Preachers'. Portia went to the drink bar and came back with an oddly shaped wine glass, the liquid inside being a blood red as she offered it to me. "It's Vampire Cynar Negroni. Wet your throat." She insisted. With both the name and the glass it was served in, I could tell it was alcohol. Ugh, I don't touch that stuff at all, not with it being a key factor in my biological dad treating me like crap and practically disowning me.

"No way. That shit is like, so a potion to turn parents into abusers." I held a hand up dismissively before realising what I had just said. Damn it, now I've made things awkward. Portia raised an eyebrow at me before downing the cocktail in one gulp and glancing at DJ. "Dante, keep an eye on your brother over there whilst I talk with Cody." Wow, I can't even remember the last time I've ever heard Portia say my name before but whatever she had to say to me in private must be serious as she gestured me with a hand to follow her to a vacant table, sitting on one chair whilst I sat at the one opposite of her.

"Now I'm guessing you've got enough brain to know that events like these are where you vent your frustrations." Portia assumed to which I nodded. "And from what I've heard, you were an abuse victim. And being abused isn't just tragic, it's legitimately awful." She continued, her blank face changing only slightly, showing a bit of sympathy before she kicked her feet up which were in thick black leather boots onto the table top and crossed them. "Now come on, vent your problems. You have someone willing to listen. And you can cut the goth talk. You're pretty goth already with that get up." She urged as I mentally sighed with relief. Honestly, trying to talk like a goth was like trying to talk in another language you never learned of.

"Well… Yeah, you're right, I was abused. A lot by my birth dad. When I was really young and my birth mom was still alive, dad seemed to love me as much as she did. But all that changed when mum died. I think dad blamed me for her death and in his eyes, he was "punishing" me for it. Until one day, he decided he couldn't stand even looking at me anymore and threw me off a bridge. Then two of Dylan's sisters found me and that's how I'm now a member of his family."

Portia listened deeply to my answer before nodding. "I see. That's like, very dark. And not in the good way. Do you feel cleansed however?" I slowly nodded before asking. "Is this why you invited me to the festival?" Portia shook her head. "No. Because you're Dante's brother and I decided to be nice for once and have you spend some time with him, because you have him, Dylan and your other siblings to protect you from your conformist shithole of a dad." I smiled a little at this, now feeling grateful.

"Thanks, Portia."

"Don't thank me. Thank Dylan's family for taking you in." Portia rebutted, letting a small smile form on her lips.

The rest of the night festival went as followed, we drank, we headbanged to music and some of us even engaged in small talk. Everyone of course went with alcoholic beverages, especially the Dimitris, except for Dante and I who stuck with Coke Zero that was luckily provided. I never thought of myself to become friends with those of the Gothic type, then again, one of my siblings is a goth who's obsessed with doom. It was already nearing three in the morning and I was starting to get drowsy and one look at DJ told me he was starting to get tired too. Thankfully, the event had died down at this point with many of the attendants having already left. I looked over at the drink bar to see the Dimitri Trio all doubled over on the ground, clearly intoxicated, Dimitri 2 however had clearly had the most out of three considering that he struggled to even stand up compared to the other two.

"Keep that up and I'll have to sign you up to Alcoholics Anonymous." I said half-jokingly as I picked up Dimitri 2 and started to help him walk home, the other two Dimitris stumbling behind us with DJ and Dante keeping watch of them. "Aaaaauuuuuhhh, relax, Codyyyy… I'm fiiiiiiine..." Dimitri 2 slurred as he was practically dragging his feet along the pavement. "I keep telling them that over-drinking will lead to their dark demise one day." Dante commented with a sigh. For once, I actually had to agree with him. If the Dimitri Trio keep drinking so much, they're gonna lose their livers by the time they're 53.

I was completely wiped out when we burst through the door, Dimitri 2's weight was starting to take it's toll on me as I nearly collapsed to my knees but I managed to push through and help him to the couch, Dante and DJ doing the same with the others before the former went straight upstairs to sleep.

"Well… Quite a night, huh?" DJ said, trying to smile through his tired face. "Yup. That was definitely new for me. Think I fitted in well enough?" DJ scoffed at my question as he patted my shoulder.

"I think ya crushed it, bro." He smirked, holding up a fist which I bumped. "See ya in the morning, Codester." DJ then said, following Dante upstairs. I was about to do the same when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I opened it up to find a text message from Portia.

"Hey. Have to admit, you made the night more interesting for us. I should so invite you more often."

I let out a little laugh at this before putting my phone back in my pocket and looking back at Dimitri 1, recalling that memory I had before we left earlier today as I walked over and gently stroke his head, making him smile in his sleep before I finally went to call it a night.

A/N: How's that for some cute brotherly love between Cody and the Dimitris?