*Daniel*

We decided to hang out in Lancer's room until the first bell rang. That way he couldn't DT us for being late. I also couldn't help but feel guilty about Dani's cheek. I mean I did, after all, tell dad. Sam and Tucker were talking to Dani about that ghost yesterday. "So today's Friday, how'll you be spending your weekend Dani?" Sam couldn't take her eyes off Elle's cheek when she spoke to her. Elle opened her mouth just as the bell rang and we all walked to seats at the back of the class. It was far enough back that we could not pay attention and it was in the corner so none of the A-listers would be there. I started thinking about how much that burner hurt and absent mindedly put my hand to my cheek. Elle and I have been through a lot and we always went through it together. Ever since we were little we had a psychic link; able to feel each other's emotions when strong enough and we could communicate using, what most people would call telepathy, and we could feel each other's pain. That sliver of thought was enough to call up the memory of the first time we discovered that we could feel the other twins' pain.

It was the first grade. Dad had gone on another date. He did that every Friday. He still does… He came back around midnight. I knew because we wouldn't sleep until he was sleeping. Sometimes it meant we didn't sleep for almost two days. We heard the door slam and heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. The bedroom door swung open. Danielle and I bolted up from our beds, at the time we actually had beds. Jazz poked her head from the hallway, probably wondering why Dad was so mad at us. He pulled out handcuffs and chained Danielle to the metal bars covering the window. I was cuffed with my hands behind the headboard of the bed, the cold metal tight against my wrists. I struggled to sit up but failed due to the handcuffs. The tearing of fabric filled the room as Dad tore off the shorts I had on. I struggled harder as the cold air of the room hit my bare legs—

"Danny! Geez bro if you're going to space out at least try to know when the bell rings. Now come on Mrs. Koyta's class is next." Upon hearing that Mrs. Koyta was our next class I rushed to the next class room.
"Ah! Daniel and Danielle, it's nice of you to finally join us. You can have your seats next to Dash." We both inwardly groaned and sat down at the canvased easels. "Now today you will draw your worst fear. And don't try to tell me you don't have a fear because everyone fears something. Now begin." Fear? Easy, Jack. I started drawing a room with a small window that allowed minimal light through. The wall opposite of the window was a dark grey with a black 'monster' in the corner. I gave the figure glowing blue eyes. The shading on the rest of the room made it look like sunset outside due to the light only being shone right under the window. The rest of the room right next to the window was a light grey. I looked over to peek at Elle's drawing. It looked quite similar to mine except the room was completely lit and the wall opposite the window had the words 'If someone cared to look with more than their eyes' across the top of it in a language only the two of us knew. The rest of the walls had red streaks and spots everywhere. The floor had two huge pools of dark red and in the middle of the room was a knife and handcuffs.
"Ok we have 5 minutes left of class. Clean up and remember to leave everything you don't own here." The lunch bell rang and the Lunch Lady ghost was serving food. The menu was changed back because no one would eat what was served yesterday.
"Hello dearies. Would you like some stew?" Elle and I both took some stew and water. We sat down with Sam and Tucker.
"So are you going to tell us why your cheek is all blistered Dani?"
"I wouldn't bet on that Sam. And don't you think you can try to talk me into telling you Tucker. It's nothing that you guys need to worry about." Or know about. Elle… We should tell them. And how do we do that? If they haven't noticed by now then they obviously don't care all that much about the cuts, bruises, broken bones and whatever the fuck else he's given us over the years! Shhhhh… I didn't mean to upset you Elle. I was just saying that maybe they oughta know… but you have a point. If they haven't noticed by now then maybe they aren't too concerned.
"Hey Danny, Dani." Jazz walked over to us and sat down right beside Tucker. "So what are you guys talking about?"
"Nothing Jay-Z. Now that you know you can leave." Elle and I just proved our twinness again.
"Man I still find it creepy when you speak the same thing at the same time!" Tucker's outburst had our table looking at him and us laughing. Our next classes were both with Mr. Foster; History and Math. Elle and I grabbed both our binders and sat in the far corner by his random assortment of plants. You could find anything from Aloe Vera to Zalias and even a couple cacti. As the class started and I tuned out whatever the teacher was saying the memory from earlier made its presence known again.

After Dad was done with shorts he went up to my shirt and ran a knife down the center, cutting in cleanly in half. It felt like the room temperature dropped 10 degrees. I struggled against the cuff with all my strength. A gloved hand slapped me across the face. "Struggling will only make it hurt more." Suddenly pain shot through my lower back as I felt like I was being split in two. I screamed at the top of my lungs as the pain increased with each time the bed rocked and the pain left and returned over and over again until I felt something hot coat my insides. I barely registered Danielle going through the same thing as the pain was more unbearable by the second. After what felt like forever Dad finally left and Jazz came into the room crying and holding us close. That was the day he lost the right to be called our Dad. Dad; funny how now when I look back he never really deserved that title. That night he took the one thing that makes a child innocent; our virginity. We didn't even figure out what he did until 5 years later in Sex Ed. Ever since that night 7 years ago he's had his way with us when he can't pick up a girl, which happens less often than not. We wouldn't let anyone touch us for weeks after except for Jazz, not even Sam and Tucker. Only our Dad could touch us, and that wasn't like we wanted him to.

After school Elle and I were in our room when the doorbell rang. "Hello I'm looking for Jack Fenton. Is this the right house?"
"Depends on what you want." Jazz answered the door and was mouthing off whoever it was. Jazz didn't like being rude. He taught us that anyone who comes looking for him has to state their business. "Dear girl, this building has a huge neon sign that says 'FentonWorks' on it. Asking was merely a formality. Now may I come in or will I have to wait until Jack comes home?"
"You can come in I guess. Twins! Someone's here. Come introduce yourselves. By the way my name's Jasmine, but you can call me Jazz." We rushed downstairs and found a tallish man with sleek white hair pulled back in a ponytail. He had on a suit and looked like he was going to church, or a funeral. "Hello. I'm Daniel, but please call me Danny."
"I'm Danielle. You can call me Dani."
"You go by the same nickname? No matter. I am Vladimir, but you may call me Vlad. It is a pleasure to meet all of you. So where are your mother and father?" Elle looked down at the ground and ran upstairs Jazz following immediately afterward. "Was it something I said?" Vlad looked generally concerned about why Elle just ran off. I crossed my arms over my chest and turned my face away from him.
"Our dad's out hunting ghosts." I refrained from mentioning mom hoping he would get the hint, however he obviously didn't get the hint.
"And what about your mother?"
"Our mom died giving birth to Danielle and I. Well I better see if she's ok now." I walked up the stairs and sent Jazz down to entertain our guest. Not long after Danielle calmed down Jack came home.
"Daniel! Danielle!" That's our cue. We walked downstairs.
"Yes daddy?" Danielle's voice was so sweet it could make you sick. "What do you need?" Jack raised his hand to slap us. That's when Vlad decided to make his presence known.
"Jack old friend! It's good to see you again after all these years." Jack's expression changed immediately.
"Vladdy! It's been too long! So how have you been V-man?" Elle and I looked at Jazz who had a similar expression of shock on her face.
"Good. It's nice to know you haven't changed much in the last twenty years…" So he disappears for 20 years and then suddenly shows up at our doorstep? Sounds fishy to me. I have to agree with you Dan. But if this is how Dad acts after being around Vlad for 3 seconds maybe it's a good thing he's here. I guess you're right.
"Jasmine start supper honey! Vladdy and I have a lot of catching up to do!" Jazz walked into the kitchen and started on our grand feast. "So Vladdy how have you been?"
"I've been good Jack. Although I just heard of the death of Maddie. Why was I not invited to the funeral?"
"I did invite you. But I can't remember where I sent the invitation…" Jack trailed off thinking about something from almost 14 years ago.
"It's ok Jack. I would just like to visit Maddie one last time…" Vlad trailed off as he looked at the ground.
"Dinner's ready!" Jazz's voice came from the kitchen. Wow, was that really a half hour? I guess so… Wonder what Jazz cooked. Well let's find out. All five of us sat down at the table and ate what jazz cooked. There was a random assortment of food from leftovers to garlic toast. After the dinner was finished Jack said good-bye to his friend and left for wherever he was going that night.
"If you want to see our mom we can take you there. Danny and I always go on our birthday." Vlad raised an eyebrow.
"Today's your birthday?" I walked up to them and both of us answered with a "Yeah. It is."
"Well then Happy Birthday to the both of you. What did your father get you?" Elle looked down at the ground with sad eyes.
"He doesn't get us anything. Our birthday isn't something to celebrate."
"Nonsense. How old are you now?"
"14" Jazz's voice came from behind us. "I couldn't give this to you earlier because dad was here." She handed us a small box with a bow wrapped around it. Opening the box Elle and I gasped, inside was two chains each with a scythe on it. Mine also had an icicle on it while Elle's had a flame.
"They're beautiful!" We both gave Jazz a huge hug and thanked her for the gift. We each grabbed one of Vlad's hands and dragged him out the door.
"So where are we going?"
"You said you wanted to visit mom. Besides we're due for our annual visit anyway." The three of us walked to the cemetery. Once inside the gate we walked to the back row where mom's grave was. On our way here we stopped at the flower shop and bought a white rose, Jazz said it was mom's favorite. "Here she is." Elle brushed the colorful leaves off the tombstone so that you could read the words engraved on it.

Madeline Jazmin Fenton

Wife, Daughter, Sister, Mother and Friend

May her soul rest in peace and her memory live on

July 28th, 1973 – September 27th, 1997

Gone but not forgotten

Elle set the white rose on the grave where her heart would be. "We need you mom. I wish you could see just how much your life affected the people around you…" Elle started crying and I finished our little prayer. "… And may the souls of your loved ones see you again one day. In death or in rebirth." I bowed my head and let the tears flow freely. We said this every year praying to whatever gods there were that things would get better. I felt a hand on my shoulder as Vlad gave us a comforting hug. Being shown that kind of compassion wasn't something we often got and that small gesture made us both feel safer around him. All too soon the security of being there with someone who cared had ended. We walked home in silence and went to bed without bothering to change out of our street clothes.

The rest of the weekend went by too fast. Before we knew it Vlad had to go back to his home in Wisconsin, turns out he's loaded! Elle and I tried to get him to stay longer but the best we could get was a ride to school in a limo. Don't get me wrong, it was way cool! And the look of the A-listers faces when we stepped out almost made up for Vlad leaving.
"Dudes! Who was that?" Tucker's eyes were as wide as saucers. I smiled at looked at the limo driving away.
"Just an old friend."
"Whatever. Let's just get to class." Sam started walking toward the classroom and we entered not long before the bell rang.
"Now for the next two weeks we will be doing a class project. Your partners have already been chosen and the list has been written out for you." Lancer pulled up the screen revealing a list of names. Looking at the black board I saw I was paired with Dash and Dani was with Tucker. We looked at each other with sad looks on our faces mixed with terror. "You will have to work with your partner on your own time." We spent the rest of the class talking about parts of speech. In the hallway Dash caught up to me.
"Hey Fen-toad. I'm going to your house. See you after school."
"Great…" I mumbled.

The rest of the day went by too fast for my liking. Dash just followed me and Elle home. Sam was stuck with Valerie and went over to her house while Tucker came with us. When we entered FentonWorks our dad gave us a look and we knew what it meant.
"Dash, go down to the lab with Tucker. We'll be down in a minute." Jack dragged us into the kitchen.
"You didn't tell me you had company coming over." His voice was low and growling.
"We're sorry dad. Mr. Lancer gave us an assignment that requires partners." His eyes narrowed to slits and his hand went across both our cheeks. Elle's already burned cheek made it hurt more. There was no doubt that the sound echoed down into the lab. Dani started toward the basement and I followed close behind. Tucker gave us both a slightly sad look and Dash just looked confused.
"Well are we going to start this project or what?"
"We might as well work together because even if we did separate projects they would end up being similar anyway."
"That's a good point, Dani. So what do you wanna do?" Tucker looked at all three of us.
"I don't care as long as I get an A." Three guesses who that was and the first two don't count. Tech for Tucker. And something physical for Dash. I felt her sadness and fear of what will happen after Dash and Tucker left. Cheer up. At least they'll be here awhile… That only prolongs the pain… "So what do you think of doing a diorama?"
"A die-o what-a?"
"Di-o-ra-ma. It's like a miniature model of an area that's much more vast and numerous." Dash gave me a blank look. "A small version of something big." I told him in a voice that sounded like I was talking to a child, well mentally he was nowhere near 15. Dash glared at me and Tucker smiled. "I like it. But what of?"
"Well we just finished To Kill a Mockingbird so how about we build a model of the house?"
"Or we could do a model of the town."
"Or we could make the characters." Elle and I looked at Dash who had a 'who gives a fuck' look on his face.
"Ok Dash what do you want to do?" Dash looked like he was actually thinking before he said he wanted to make the house. Time flew by and suddenly it was quarter to ten.
"Well we better get going. It was nice of your dad to let us use the lab." Tucker waved back to us as he walked out the door. Dash simply flicked his hand and left, leaving us all alone with our father…

The night was a blur. I don't remember anything, and part of me felt it was better off that way. We walked to school and our ghost sense went off. Ducking into an alley we changed to our ghost forms and went looking for this ghost. It wasn't hard to find who or what set off our ghost sense. After only a few minutes we came upon a ghost with a huge metal suit.
"Ah, the ghost children. I am Skulker, the Ghost Zones greatest hunter! Prepare to meet your demise."
"A hunter… Really? And I thought the Lunch Lady was as pathetic as they got." I raised an eyebrow at the ghost.
"Don't put anything past that freaky world. I mean there's probably a ghost that has a thing for boxes," my sister replied. I laughed at the thought of that one. A blast was shot at us, hitting Elle and slamming her against a brick wall.
"Ok that hurt." Without taking much time to recover she shot a ball of ecto-energy at the hunter. The tin can easily dodged the blast and shot a net at her in retaliation.
"LOOK OUT!" I screamed but it was too late. The net encased her, trapping her inside. It lit up with electricity that knocked her out. My vision started going black around the edges and my body felt heavy. Unable to remain flying I fell to the ground. The last thing I saw before the darkness engulfed my mind was Danielle trapped in the net and Skulker dragging her away…