1 Week after Danny's arrival
Biffy relaxed on his new bed, but his room felt so empty without his little brother in it. He was use to sleeping on the floor on the tiny mattress and would snuggle up with Danny when he had a nightmare. He found it odd that it was a recurring nightmare, that would leave his little brother gasping for breath and crying. Mumbling the same words over and over in his nightmare as he tumbled around in the bed. It was only when he laid next to him and pulled him to sleep on his chest that Danny would calm down.
"Please don't hurt mommy and daddy." he would mumble.
Biffy wondered what he saw, to cause him to have recurring nightmares about the event. He could have sworn he had also seen his little brother walk thru objects from time to time, but he dismissed it to being paranoid about the whole thing happening at school. Biffy turned his head to the door when he heard footsteps stop outside it, but nobody enter his room. He quickly got up from his bed to look who it was, only for the door to open and his little brother to walk inside, clutching his teddy under his arm with tears in his eyes.
"I-i had a bad dream, and you weren't there." he said between hiccups.
"I'm sorry lil bro, wanna sleep next to me tonight?" he asked.
Danny nodded and walked to his bed, but Biffy scooped him up and carried him over to the bed. He laid him in the bed before getting in himself and pulling his little brother close. Smiling at the little boy, who fell asleep almost immediately.
"Don't worry Danny, I'll protect you no matter what." he whispered softly.
Biffy woke up with Danny still asleep in his arm, his head resting on his chest. He couldn't help but think of all the pain he had gone thru in his short life, and still be so innocent. It made his heart ache and his stomach twist into knots, just trying to comprehend what he must have felt and experience. He had no doubt that the nightmares would continue for a long, until Danny eventually deals with his demons.
Looking over to his bedside table he saw it was already 6:40AM and he needed to get ready for school and help Danny get ready. He slipped out of the bed and took a shower, silently thanking his parents for the millionth time for building it so large. After completing his morning routine he went down to the kitchen and prepared a quick breakfast of toast, bacon and eggs. He quickly shoved the dishes in the dishwasher before going to wake up his little brother. He gently shook his brother.
"Wake up Danny, it's time for breakfast." Biffy said.
"One more minute Biffy." he mumbled into the pillow.
Chuckling, Biffy started to tickle Danny causing him to squirm and laugh. He tried to hide under the blankets, but there was no escape from the ticklish torture.
"Ready to get up yet?" he asked.
"Yes! Just stop! Stop tickling me!" Biffy stopped, but the look he gave his little brother promised he would start again if he didn't get up.
Groaning, Danny got out of his brothers bed and pouted. Half glaring at Biffy as he whined and walked to the bathroom, while Biffy couldn't help but chuckle as he stared after his little brother. He walked back downstairs and sat down, waiting for Danny to come and eat breakfast with him. A few minutes later, said boy came down and sat at the dining table still pouting.
"Come on, eat up your breakfast, we need to hurry up, the bus gets here in 15 minutes." Biffy said.
Danny moaned and slumped down into his chair as he ate. "Don't wanna go to school."
"Why not? It's the first day of the year and you already want to skip?"
"I just don't want to be the new kid at school." Danny complained. "My surname isn't even the same as yours!"
"Danny, what's wrong with that?"
"They're gonna know I was bad and let mommy and daddy die."
Biffy was glad that he wasn't eating anything, or else he would have choked on it. He couldn't believe what he just heard from Danny, and he looked like he believed it. He didn't know how Danny got to that conclusion, but now he understood why he didn't want to go to school. He didn't know what to say, what to do or even if he could.
"Danny, you know that's not true, you didn't let them die, what on earth gave you that idea?" Biffy asked him as he got eyelevel to Danny. "And if anybody tells you otherwise, tell me and I'll make sure they never bother you again."
Danny nodded, but was still reluctant to go to school. Biffy got Danny's school bag and waited with him for the bus, waving him goodbye when he left and waited for his own. This gave him time to think about everything for the past week, having been the last week of the holidays when his brother joined the household. He hoped that the kids at his school wouldn't make Danny feel more isolated than he already is after the accident.
Time flew by, with only the incident at lunch happening because he had been so lost in thought and gotten himself into detention. It worked in his favour though, because Danny had to stay late everyday after school because he was going to be seeing a psychologist about his nightmares. Right before before the two last periods, the entire school was called in to introduce their new school principal. The principal was busy speaking when it happened, the lights shut down and paint was splattered everywhere and frogs were released. When the lights came back on, everybody but the vice principal was covered in paint. The doors suddenly opened and a boy with dual toned hair started laughing until the principal gave him detention and his mother grounded him after a good tongue lashing.
Turns out the guy who everybody believes pranked us - Lee Ping - was actually pretty cool, not that I would tell anybody. Maybe Danny, but he was special. After helping him try to clear his name, I rushed to the elementary school to fetch my brother, but I got an unwanted surprise. I was called in to the psych's office to talk about him while he waited outside. It made me nervous to be alone with the doc, not because I was scared of her, rather I was scared for my brother.
"Mr. Goldstein I presume?" she asked.
"No, that's my dad. I'm just Biffy." I replied to which she frowned.
"Your father? I thought he had died?"
"I meant my adopted parents." She nodded, scribbling something down.
"I see, that would explain why young Daniel says he only has a brother."
I nodded at her statement, wondering where she was going with this. "Uhm, may I ask why I was called here?"
"Yes, sorry about that. Well, this was my first session with your little brother, but I have already discovered a few things." she looked at me seriously. "Biffy, I need you to understand this, your guardians or rather parents asked me to discuss Danny's condition with you, since he seems to have attached himself to you."
"I understand and I want to help my little brother."
"Good, because you're going to have to help him overcome a severe case of Survivor's Guilt." she said solemnly.
"Why? What? No, why would he have survivors guilt?" Biffy asked her, the shock in his voice visible on his face.
"Most of the times it happens because the person suffering from it feels they could have done something to prevent those around them from being hurt or killed."
His mutterings during the nightmares made sense now, but it still didn't shed any light onto why he thinks he could have saved them. He's only 5 years old, he couldn't have done something to prevent their deaths! Looking back at the doc, he could have sworn she looked at him with pity.
"What can I do to help him?"
"Talk to him when he has nightmares, as this seems to be the way it manifests most prominently."
"Thanks ."
"No problem at all."
He left her office and gave Danny a hug. "How are you kiddo?"
Danny smiled. "I made a friend today, his name is Kwan Long. He can change his eye colour just like I can!"
Biffy was puzzled at what his little brother just claimed, but shrugged it off as his imagination. "Well buddy, let's go home and get something to eat."
Danny nodded and turned to run out the school, but then he suddenly paused and turned back to him "Why do you have dried green paint all over you?"
"I'll tell you all about it at home."
Wisconsin
"Now tell me again, why didn't I get custody of the boy? I am his godfather, as such I should have gotten him!" Vlad shouted at his lawyer.
"I am sorry mister Masters, the courts had the final say in the matter. They found that the boys brother was given to the other couple and thought to send him to his blood relative and sibling instead of a non related party."
"He didn't even know he had a brother!"
"With all due respect mister Masters, Danny didn't know you either."
Vlad growled and ended the call, there were three files in front of him documenting three unique cases of in vitro exposure to ectoplasm and ectoplasmic radiation. The documents were highly detailed, containing information on the subject that was being experimented on and her health. Several pages were dedicated to the developing fetus describing when and how much it had been exposed to the substance, even having detailed descriptions of what fluids could be found in the embryonic sack.
Most notable in the description of the experiment was the fetus' production of ectoplasm in the second month after initial exposure. Vlad held several pages in front of him, identifying and listing things that have mutated in the developing child in the womb. None of them had turned out to be fatal or be detrimental to the health of the child in the later years, but he still needed more information. Whether it be fate or luck, he had just discovered the missing test subject as well.
"Soon my little badger, soon you and that older sibling will be mine."