Chapter Two
Everything blurred beyond recognition. Danni's vision spun and the room of the house she and the Flock were living in vanished. Images flashed. As the room began to come back into clear view a yellow tinge covered everything. It felt like she was watching a sixties murder mystery movie.
She was no longer in the cabin, but in a speakeasy. Behind the bar was Max, or at least it looked like Max. She was handing Fang a glass of moonshine.
Why did I just call the drink that? Danni was at a loss for words. She knew everything about the place, but she didn't. She knew it was the 1920's. She knew that Max's name was really Fran, at least here. Fang was called Billy. He was the piano player and Fran's husband.
At a table sat Iggy. He was staring at Danni. She smiled, but when she introduced herself to him the names were off.
"Hello, I'm Clio," Danni said. She hadn't meant to say it, the hello or the name, but she couldn't control it. It was as if she were stuck, merely an observer.
"Clio? Nice to meet you," the man stood. He held out his hand, "I'm Henry."
Clio/Danni shook Henry's/Iggy's hand. He leaned down and gently kissed her cheek.
"If you were the only girl…" Onstage two girls were standing by a microphone singing a song. They were no other than Angel and Nudge. Besides them another pianist for the bar: Gazzy. Only Angel was Angela, Nudge was Becky, and Gazzy was Jack.
Danni was at a loss for an explanation of what was happening. The only thing that came to her mind was that this was a past life. Could that even be true?
Before she could even sit down and subtly investigate Henry/Iggy her vision swam. Suddenly she could see nothing but black. Within a matter of seconds the Flock from present day times was in front of her.
All the air from her lungs had been released leaving her gasping. A hand gently touched her elbow. She rolled back and away from the person who had touched her.
"Danni, are you okay?" It was Iggy. He stood to one side of her, but stayed a few feet away. Guess her rolling away from him made him a little weary of getting too close.
"I was sucked into what appeared to be a past life, in the 1920's, and all of us had whacked out names," Danni said looking straight into Iggy's eyes. "Yeah, I guess that would qualify as alright."
"Did she just say 'past life' and 'in the 1920's' in the same sentence?" Fang asked Max as she filled a glass of water from the sink.
Angel sat down Indian style next to Danni. "I haven't seen this yet. Can you tell me what it was like?" She smiled, showing a mouth full of white teeth.
"Were we there?" Gazzy sat on the couch and stared in something that resembled disbelief.
Nudge sat next to him and poked him in the ribs with her elbow. Max sat next to Nudge with Fang on the arm of the couch.
Danni nodded. "Yeah you all were there. 'Cept we all had different names. We were in a speakeasy. We were older, too, all around the same age. I'd say around mid-twenty's."
Nudge slid down to the floor, entirely engrossed in the story. "What were our names?"
"Max was Fran, Fang was Billy, Iggy was Henry, Nudge was Becky, Gazzy was Jack, Angel was Angela, and I was Clio."
"Clio?" Iggy said with a raised eyebrow.
"At least my name wasn't Henry," she fired back.
Iggy scrunched his face together. "What's wrong with Henry?"
"Nothing," she shrugged. "But it's more plain sounding than Clio."
"Uh, guys," Max waved her arms. "It's nice that you care so much about the names you once had but there's a bigger question we need answered."
"Why did you have that little flashback?" Fang said for Max.
Danni shrugged. "Beats the hell outta me. Maybe it was the present?"
The present the Flock had made for Danni's birthday. It had been forgotten while Danni was busy having 'past life flashbacks'. Now, they all looked at the gift. It was a portrait. The Flock members were drawn by themselves except for Danni. She was etched in the same style as Iggy.
Each member had a special flare, a uniqueness that showed a little bit of the artist's personality.
"Couldn't be," Angel said drawing eyes away from the picture that had been framed in a rectangle of fallen branches from the nearby woods.
"And you would know that how?" Gazzy asked looking at his sister.
While the Flock considered each other family, brothers and sister and all that the only blood relation in the flock was between Angel and Gazzy.
Angel rolled her eyes. "How could a present send her into the past? Mentally if not physically."
Danni smirked. "It could be pre-genetically set into my genes." The whole Flock stared at her. Obviously they didn't quite get the joke. They continued to stare.
"You know?" Nudge asked with amazement in her eyes.
"What?" Danni asked sharply. "What should I know?"
Max nodded at Fang. He got up and pulled a manila folder out of the nightstand by the second couch. He handed it to Danni.
"Read it and find out what Nudge meant," he said.
AN: Sorry this took longer to update. Next chapter should be out in about a week. Thanks to those who reviewed, I really appreciate it.