*Danielle*
The gods must hate us. No, seriously they must enjoy watching us suffer. Like a game or something. The days bleed into weeks, and then into months and the more we fought Plasmius the more injuries we received, not even counting what Jack gave us. Plasmius seemed intent on getting rid of us for some reason. If you ask me, he's a fruitloop. During one of his rants he was talking about killing off someone and taking his/her kids. Let's just say he's earned his nickname. Ghosts came in and out of the Zone with no rest, and with this new ghost we had our hands full. By now Christmas had come and gone along with the first semester. "Elle you need to pay attention. We have to get this done by tomorrow."
"But Dan, this is so boring. Can't we do a report about what our family is actually like?"
"You know he would shoot us if we did. It's not like anyone would believe us. Where's the proof? All the scars are gone due to our ghost powers and Jack puts on the 'bubbling oaf' act whenever someone's around." Vlad knows... He won't vouch for us.
"What makes you say that?! He seems to genuinely care for us!"
"Danielle Arde Fenton no one cares what happens to us. We don't mean anything in this world. Our lives, our deaths, they won't mean a thing. They never have and never will." Tears were falling from his eyes and at the same time he was mad, his fists clenched at his sides and the sides of his body and his jaw locked. I just turned and ran out of the room, throwing the front door open and running down the street. I ran as far as my legs would go until I was out of breath. I pounded my fist into the trunk of a tree.
"Why? Why did it have to be us? Why? It could have been anyone, so why us?" My fists pounded into the tree again and again until the green flecked red liquid ran down the trunk and dripped on the ground.
"I wish my mom had never died."
"That's a high price, child. I can not save a life without taking another." The gypsy was leaning against a tree to my right as she walked toward me.
"I don't care. I just want to know what it's like to be loved."
"So you have wished it. So it shall be." An eerie green cloud of smoke Drifted over toward me and a white hot burning flared through my body.
I woke up in my bed. Wait bed? I looked around the room and saw it was painted with a medium blue lined with an ice blue border. I rushed out of the room and looked around. The hall looked the same and the stairs were lined with pictures. I looked at the frames and noticed something missing; Danny. "Dani? What are you doing up so early? It's only 8 on a Saturday." I whipped around and saw Jazz sitting on the couch. "Wh-where's Danny?" She gave me a quizzical look and then sighed. "We've been over this Danielle, Danny doesn't exist. He's just a figment of your imagination. There is no Danny."
"Of course there is Jazz! He's our brother! My twin!" She set her book down and wrapped her arms around me. "I know it's hard to find out you lost your brother at birth but you need to move on. You've lived this long without him and you can keep on doing it." With that she walked into the kitchen without another word. I sat on the couch with a thud. Danny was dead... Danny was dead... Danny was DEAD! I realized what Jazz had just said. I can not save a life without taking another. The gypsy's voice echoed in my head. My mom's life for my brother's... I bit my lip and felt a tear slip down my cheek. And the world stopped. Everything around me froze. "No, no, no. This is not supposed to happen." An arrow appeared out of thin air and a blue light formed a circle. "Who...Who are you?"
"I am Clockwork, Master of Time. Your wish has altered the time stream. Do you know the consequences of your actions? No of course not, you're a kid, not even 16, you can't possibly understand what you've destroyed. Fine if you can't see what you've done I'll show you." With that he disappeared and time started up again.
The weekend came and went and when I walked over to my closet I was shocked to find nothing but designer jeans, tops and basically things I'd never wear. I shrugged and then picked out a top that had one sleeve and a strap. On it was the signature DP symbol and I wondered why I had something like this. I put on a pair of jeans that flared at the bottom and had chain-link like metal patterns in the indents. I assumed the tears were supposed to be there. I looked in the mirror and smiled at my outfit. I went to the closet again and found a pair of small, black leather boots with a heel and neon green thread along the sides and sole. "Dani time for school." I grabbed my bag and walked down the steps and to Jazz's car. When I got to school, Starr came up to me and hugged me. "Hey Dani! How was your weekend? I wanted to get a hold of you but I was stuck babysitting for my younger brother. You're so lucky you're the youngest."
"My weekend was fine. I was hanging out with Jazz for a lot of it."
"Ugh you know we should go to the mall after school. I saw the cutest top in Junior Miss on Saturday and I think it would go perfect with the Roxy jeans you bought last week!" Starr chatted the day away and after school I did end up buying that top she was talking about. I walked to where the gypsy was when I made the wish.
"Hey! Gypsy! I want to talk with you!"
"My name is Desiree, child."
"Why did you kill off my brother?!"
"I warned you about the consequences. It's not my fault you didn't heed them." I walked over to where she was floating near a tree.
"Give me back my brother! I want my brother back NOW!" My voice went high as I screeched at her, tears starting to form.
"I can't change that without the price of another life."
"Then I wish it wasn't Danny's life taken in exchange for my mom's. The same white hot burning flared though my body and the darkness of unconsciousness crept up on me and the world turned black.
"Wake up you lazy bums! It's time for school!"
"Ugh Starr it's too early to be up!"
"School starts in like 20 minutes so you better get ready." Danny and I shot out of bed. I don't know why we even try anymore. This happens every morning. Mom, Danny and I have lived in the basement suite of the Walters home for my whole life, because of this we're practically family. Starr, Danny and I became fast friends after we moved in. After cleaning up a bit I walked up stairs where Mom, and the Walters were eating at the table.
"Anelle! Eel!" The two year old screamed from his high chair and held his hands out.
"Well good morning Vaughn!" Danny and I ruffled his hair before grabbing bowls and cereal and sitting down.
"Ok crap! Terrors, we have to go!" The Twin Terrors is what Mrs. Hailey Walters and my mom called us when we were little. Starr sometimes calls us 'Terrors' when she wants to talk to both of us at once. We both grabbed a piece of toast before heading out the door with Starr.
"So how did it go?!" Starr grabbed Danny's arm and squealed.
"It was fine, South. Now you're starting to hurt my arm."
"So is there a second date?" She looked about ready to explode from excitement. "No, I don't think there will be. I mean she's not my type. She's too..." He paused as if he was trying to find the right word.
"Unique?"
"Out-Spoken?"
"Depressing. And she kinda acts like a guy. I mean she had me calling her Sam rather than Samantha, Sammi, Antha or any other nickname you could think of. And it kinda seems like she's color blind because she only wears black." Danny looked like he was being serious, not that I can blame him.
"Don't worry bro. There's so many other girls in the school and the world." I smiled at him as he turned to glare at me. Starr just rolled her eyes at us.
"So do we have any plans for today?" Starr asked, breaking the silence that settled upon the three of us. See today is Starr's birthday and we've been planning her party for about a month now. We have everything down to the last detail and she doesn't have a clue!
"Hmmmm... Let's see, February 23... Nope. No plans. Hey Dani do you wanna see if Valerie wants to hang out after school?"
"Yeah. We can meet at the mall. Grab a bite," I turned around to see a slightly sad expression on Starr as we acted like we forgot. I almost wanted to tell her about her surprise party, almost. "Starr don't wait up for us ok? Unless you wanna come with?"
"No that's ok Danielle. You two go on ahead. I think I left my homework on my desk." I smiled like I bought her lie. Ok then. Come on we don't wanna be late." I started jogging away from Starr and just before I turned the corner to school I heard a thump and Starr threw her backpack on the ground, along with her body. Don't worry we'll make it up to you. I promise.
Starr showed up about 15 minutes late but the teacher didn't bat an eye because she was one of the cheerleaders. And after that, the day was pretty normal, almost boring because of the lack of ghosts. Wait. What? Ghosts don't exist. So why...? The final bell rang before I could finish my thought and since Danny and I had a spare at the end of the day we raced home to set up for the party. Hailey and Mom were out of town for the whole week at some parenting convention, meaning they took Vaughn with them and we have the house to ourselves. Danny took our back packs down stairs while I started moving the table and chairs around the dining room. The table and chairs we moved downstairs where we would be eating cake and watching Starr's all time favorite movie. "Danny you need to start on the decorations."
"What kind of pattern do you want me to do?"
"Twirl them around back to back. That should look nice. Oh and don't forget to alternate the blue and red napkins around the table. That way it looks balanced."
"I know how to set a table Danielle. Don't treat me like a child." I set up the present stack nicely with mine and Danny's gift at the bottom. We've been saving up for this gift for about 1 year now. I know it seems like a long time, but we only get $20 a week each, so $40 altogether. A knock at the door made me stop and my breath hitch. As I looked through the peep-hole I saw Valerie, Dash, Kwan, Paulina, and the rest of the football team and cheerleaders. I glanced at the clock before opening the door. 1:45, right on time. "Geez I thought you were Starr."
"That would totally ruin the surprise if it was." Valerie smiled at me. "Need any help?"
"Can you get some of the guys to set up the living room with the banner and balloons?" She nodded and started toward the living room with Dash and Kwan at her heels. I went back to setting up the present room until I noticed that it was almost 2. I quickly grabbed my cell phone and dialled Starr's number.
"Hello?"
"Hey Starr."
"Oh hey Dani. What's up?"
"Not much I was just wondering if you could pick up a few things from the grocery store."
"Oh yeah sure. It's on my way." That's what you think.
"Can you get some pancake mix, whip cream, strawberries, blueberries, chocolate chips and raspberries?"
"That it?"
"Yeah I think so. If something else comes up I'll call you."
"Okie dokie. TTYL!" Phase 1: Complete. Commencing Phase 2: Birthday Bash. "Val, how's it going in there?"
"The banners up and we're blowing up balloons."
"Valerie you do know we rented a helium tank for that reason right?" I looked into the living room and saw they had blown up almost every balloon.
"Ok... New plan. Dash, Kwan go get the old fishing net from the shed and start putting the balloons in it. Sabrina, I need you, Amanda, Kenny and Nate to rig up a pull line that will release the balloons. Valerie can you get more balloons? One one pack of 12 for each color. That should be enough for the floating one. I'll even out the rest of the balloons here and get the guys to blow up what we don't need to float and they'll become part of the drop net." Everyone took off as soon as I stopped talking. I went and checked down stairs and it was way cooler than I imagined it. The streamers twirled from the breeze that came through the vents and the tassells we hung from old Christmas decorations looked amazing. The room was dark except for the flashing, rotating, color changing, lights we bought when we got Starr's present. The closet below the stair that was supposed to be for our clothes was now empty, save for a few pairs of jeans and shirts for each of us. The light shone off the tassells, creating an effect similar to a disco ball.
"Wow..."
"So you like the place?"
"No," His face fell, "I love it!" He looked at me before giving me a hug.
"Thanks so how's everything upstairs?"
"So-so. Val didn't see the tank and they blew up almost all the balloons so I sent her out to get 12 more of each. Other than that little set back everything's right on schedule."
"That's good to hear. So where's Starr?"
"I don't know. Call her."
"Fine." He pulled out his phone and dialled Starr before putting it on speaker.
"Yeah?"
"Hey Starr. It's Danny. Just wondering where you are right now."
"I'm just getting the raspberries from Super Sales. They didn't have any at Ding-a-ling's."
"Oh ok. I was just wondering when you'd be home."
"Well I just walked out of Sales so I should be there in like 5 minutes." I glanced at Danny nervously and he just mouthed 'we'll be fine' before telling Starr that's all he wanted to know and hung up.
"5 minutes!? We can't get it done in five minutes! Val still hasn't come back from getting more balloons!" Just as Danny opened his mouth my cell phone started blaring 'MONSTERS' from Shinedown, telling me that Valerie was calling.
"We have a big problem. Starr just walked by the store and if I go behind her it won't be ready in time. If I go in front of her she'll figure something's up! I need help."
"Um, um... ok listen to me. You're at Bargain Box right?"
"Yeah..."
"Duck into StichWorx and I'll text her with some more things to get."
"I sure hope you know what you're doing..." Without another word Val hung up on me and I texted Starr.
Hey SW. Forgot about one thing.
And what would that be?
The mail.
Are you serious... -_-
Oh come on. Our mags are in the mail. Latest issue… :)
Ugh. Fine. I feel like I'm on a wild goose chase.
Why would you think that?
Cuz all I'm doing is running around town. Later.
I smiled at the phone. Starr was onto us. She just didn't know she was. I texted Valerie right after saying it was okay for her to come back now. A few minutes later Val came through the door and Danny and I started on blowing up the balloons. As I was tying the end of one Danny was blowing up another. When the balloons were tied we had Val and Sabrina group them one red with one blue and tie them to the small water balloons we covered in shining plastic paper. We placed them all around the living room and basement and then the party looked ready. "Ok everyone this place looks awesome and a huge thanks to all of you but we need to hide so we can yell surprise when Starr comes in." Everyone nodded and found hiding places just in time for the lock on the door to click open signalling Starr's arrival.
"Dani I have the groceries and the mail."
I yelled from my seat on the back of the couch next to Danny. "Thanks Just put the fruit in the fridge and the mix on the table."
"Yeah, yeah. So anything good on TV?"
"I don't know. It's not turned on." Seconds later I heard the clicking of Starr's shoes and she walked across the tile flooring of the kitchen.
"Why are you in the dark?" With that she turned on the light and started crying once everyone jumped out. "Oh my god... You did all this just for me?" She ran toward Danny and I, making us fall backward on the couch as she hugged us.
"You're very welcome, Starr." Danny chuckled at the scene, as did everyone else in the room. She straightened herself up.
"Well this is a party right?" The music blared through the speakers and she started dancing and one by one we all joined in.
Jane: So far...
Councillor: And you feel that your relationship is more...
John: Ask the sex question.
Councillor: Ummm well... ok then...
John: [subtle 10 on fingers]
Jane: [looks toward him]
"Wow Starr I didn't know you like those kinds of movies. I have to admit though it was really good."
"And now that the movies are done we can have cake. So everyone sit down at the table." I walked down the hall leading to the freezer to grab the cake. As I sat there with everyone laughing and chatting away I couldn't help but feel a small tug in the back of my mind telling me that this wasn't right.